My eyes widened. “What?”
“Felicity!” Leo came down the staircase. He wore a T-shirt and jeans and his hair was wet.
Our eyes locked. “I can see you guys are busy, so I’m going to get going.”
Leo shook his head almost frantically. “Wait, what? No. Busy? I’m not busy at all. These are his friends, not mine.”
I looked over at Sig, then back at Leo. “He said there was an orgy tonight, so I didn’t know what to—”
“What?” Leo’s eyes shot daggers at his cousin. “What the fuck did you say to her?”
Sig turned to me. “There is an orgy happening tonight. Just not involving Leo. You didn’t give me a chance to clarify, Ginger.”
His friends laughed.
“Have you formally met the Marias?” Sig asked.
I blinked. “The who?”
He wrapped his arm around one of the girls. “This is Maria Josefina.” He turned to the other one over on the couch. “And that’s Maria Isabel.”
I nodded. “Nice to meet you both.”
Sig laughed. “I’m sorry to have alarmed you, Ginger.”
“Is that your permanent name for me now? You’ve just used it three times in a row. Are you getting lazy about coming up with new ones?”
“I think Ginger suits you. Yeah. I quite like it.”
Rolling my eyes, I conceded. “I guess it’s better than Freckles.”
Leo continued to glare at Sig as he placed his hand at the small of my back. “Let’s go out onto the deck, Felicity.”
Once outside, he pulled at his hair. “I’m so fucking sorry about that. I’d been outside taking a dip in the bay when he arrived with these girls, so I escaped upstairs to take a shower, and when I came downstairs, there you were.”
“I’m not gonna lie. I had a mini panic attack, thinking I’d interrupted something.”
He shook his head. “I’m sorry. I can only imagine what that looked like.”
“Especially since you haven’t asked me to hang out the past few days. I didn’t know what to think.”
Leo placed his hand on my cheek, sending chills through my body. “You think I haven’t wanted to see you?”
“I don’t know.”
He exhaled. “Felicity... The moment you agreed to spend time with me this summer ended any chance of me hooking up with anyone else. I know we’re not technically exclusive or anything, but I wouldn’t do that to you. Is that clear?”
His words, while comforting, still left me with questions. “You’re a self-proclaimed playboy—at least you said you were in the past, so...” I covered my face. “Never mind. I feel stupid. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be.” He reached for my hand and threaded his fingers with mine. “I’m happy you came over. I wanted to see you tonight, but I assumed you’d be too tired after a long day. I didn’t want to overwhelm you, since we’ve been spending our days together at Mrs. Barbosa’s. I’ve been trying to pace myself, but I’ve been fucking dying to spend more time with you.”
“I really wanted to see you, too, so I figured I would chance it and just come by.”
“And then as luck would have it, Sigmund has his harem over.”
“Is he really with both of those girls?”
“Apparently, yeah—the Marias. He started seeing one of them, and she brought a friend along to their weekend getaway in Newport. That was Maria, too. And the next thing you know, it’s a party of three.”
“Are you sure he’s not hiding a third Maria somewhere?” I chuckled.
“With Sigmund, anything is possible.”
We laughed, and I narrowed my eyes. “Have you ever had a threesome?”
Leo’s pupils flared. “Okay, that came out of nowhere.”
“It really didn’t. We were on the subject.”
“True.” He hesitated. “Yeah. I’ve had one. Once.”
Jealousy coursed through me as I pulled my hand away from his. “I see.”
“I won’t lie if you ask me something. I’ll always tell you the truth.”
Taking advantage of his promise, I added another question, a slight bitterness in my tone. “Did you enjoy it?”
“You may not believe this, but I didn’t like it as much as I thought I would. It was too much choreography—worrying about pleasing them equally. And I found myself gravitating toward one girl over the other. It was awkward. The experience made me realize I much prefer being able to give my everything to one person.” He brushed his hand along my cheek, studying my face. “And Jesus, you’re turning so red. Did I upset you?”
“No, it’s not that.” I breathed out. “When you mentioned giving more attention to one girl, the visual of you in that situation just made me a little... I don’t know.” I stopped before I could vomit out the rest.
He moved a step closer. “A little what?”
“Flustered, I guess. Jealous, maybe.” I chewed my bottom lip. “Never mind.”
A few moments of awkward silence passed. “Did it turn you on?” he asked in a low voice. “To think about me fucking?”
My nipples hardened. God, that word coming out of his mouth.
“Not the thought of you with other girls...just the thought of it.”
“Of course. That’s what I meant.”
“The idea of you, yeah.”
He moved closer. “The idea...of me and you…”
“Maybe,” I admitted, feeling hotter by the second.
He wiped the sweat from his forehead. “It’s warm out tonight, yes?” He looked toward the water. “Let’s go sit on the boat. We can go for a ride, if you like. I’ve never taken it out at night. The lights on it are supposed to be awesome, according to the guy who rented it to me.”
I nodded. “That sounds nice.”
“We should grab water from the kitchen, in case you get thirsty.”
I followed him back into the house. As we entered the kitchen, both Marias were hanging off of Sig as he cooked.
“Are you two joining us to eat?” Sig asked.
“No, we’re going out on the boat,” Leo said, pulling two waters from the fridge.
“This late? You can’t even navigate that thing during the day, Leo.”
“We’re not going far. Just getting out of here.”
“Very well, then,” Sig said as he turned to me and winked. “Goodbye, Kitty.”
Kitty? “I thought you called me Ginger now.”
He pointed to my shirt. “Hello Kitty? Goodbye, Kitty. Get it? Also...are you twelve years old with that shirt?”
His girlfriends snickered.
“Bugger off,” Leo said, placing his hand at the small of my back to usher me out of the house. “I’m so sorry about my fucknut of a cousin,” he said as we made our way back outside.
“I actually find him entertaining. It’s fine.”
“He’s even worse when he’s pissed like he is tonight.”
“What’s he upset about?”
Leo looked confused. “What do you mean?”
“You said he’s pissed.”