Rating:

Explicit

Archive Warning:

No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories:

F/M, M/M, Multi

Fandom:

Game Changers | Heated Rivalry - All Media Types

Relationships:

Kip Grady/Scott Hunter, Gloria Grey/Carter Vaughn, background Eric Bennett/Kyle Swift, Kip Grady/Carter Vaughn, Gloria Grey/Scott Hunter, Kip Grady & Kyle Swift

Characters:

Kip Grady, Scott Hunter (Game Changers), Gloria Grey, Carter Vaughn, Kyle Swift

Additional Tags:

Open Relationships, Queerplatonic Relationships, Non-Sexual Intimacy, Non-Sexual Kink, Grinding, Platonic Kissing, Blow Jobs, Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Kink Negotiation, Bisexual Carter Vaughn, Sexual Fantasy

Language:

English

Series:

Part 7 of hypotheticals

Stats:

Published: 2026-07-21 Words: 8,373 Chapters: 3/3

only lovers work late

Summary

Also, it’s sort of an unspoken agreement, that there is a world where it’s all four of them, and that there is also this: just Scott and Gloria, the same way that there is Scott-and-Carter and has been for a very long time, the same way that there is Gloria-and-Kip, sitting side by side in a sea of Admirals red and whispering to each other, the way that there is Carter-and-Kip and has been from the moment Carter had called her from his car to tell her he’d just met Scott’s boyfriend and he was the cutest guy he’d ever seen and Gloria had thought oh, interesting.

-
Gloria and Scott go out for dinner, Kip and Carter go to a gay club, and Kip comes home to Scott and shares a fantasy.

Notes

Chapter 1

Gloria asks Scott out on a dinner date. It’s implied that he is very much free to veto the date part of that, because they haven’t really done that before, or at least not called it that, but he doesn’t.

When she told Carter about it, trying to gauge whether it was crossing some invisible boundary, all he had to say about it was, “cool, when? I’ll ask Kip out the same night”, and that was that.

So it would seem they’re doing dates with each other’s partners now. She thinks it’s all very sweet, how easily everyone has fallen into this relationship between the four of them. Gloria loves both Scott and Kip dearly, and she can respect Scott not being much into talking about things the way the rest of them like to. But whatever is happening between her and Scott is a little outside Gloria’s usual area of expertise and requires at least a minimum of discussion. Kip told her he’s fairly sure he understands what it is Scott wants, but only as far as Scott himself actually knows that.

They’ve all been pretty good with boundaries so far, so Gloria feels like she can push a little bit and just see how it goes. That’s why she texts Scott on the afternoon of their dinner date, telling him what she wants him to wear, including which shoes and which cologne. (Kip helped her choose; she doesn’t really know Scott’s wardrobe that well.)

Yes, of course, Scott texts back, a little smiling emoji at the end, and Gloria has to physically restrain herself to hold back the good boy her fingers want to type out. He just takes to it so easily.

She gets dressed and ready, putting on her nicest date night underwear beneath her dress, and knowing it won’t actually be seen doesn’t make that any less fun.

“Mhmm, you look amazing, baby,” Carter says when she comes out of the bathroom. “Are you sure you don’t want us to come?”

Carter, really not the best at being left out of things (like, say, his best friend’s relationship with his boyfriend that he then found a pretty fun way to insert himself into), has been trying to turn the whole thing into a double date last-minute, but she really wants to talk to Scott alone. Scott is different with Carter, and she doesn’t need the two of them playing tough guys for each other.

Also, it’s sort of an unspoken agreement, that there is a world where it’s all four of them, and that there is also this: just Scott and Gloria, the same way that there is Scott-and-Carter and has been for a very long time, the same way that there is Gloria-and-Kip, sitting side by side in a sea of Admirals red and whispering to each other, the way that there is Carter-and-Kip and has been from the moment Carter had called her from his car to tell her he’d just met Scott’s boyfriend and he was the cutest guy he’d ever seen and Gloria had thought oh, interesting.

“Nope,” Gloria says sweetly and kisses his cheek, leaving a red lip print. Mine. “And don’t try to convince Kip, he’ll say no, too.”

“This is concerning. You’re conspiring against me,” he complains, but then pulls her into a hug and kisses up the side of her neck, respecting the lipstick. “Have a really good time, I love you.”

---

Scott waits outside the restaurant and opens Gloria’s car door for her when she arrives, offering her a hand to step out. She can’t remember suddenly, whether that’s something Scott always does, or if he’s making an extra effort.

Either way, it’s nice. And she likes already knowing he’s sincere in wanting to please her, that it’s obviously not just some temporary act to try and get her into bed. (Not that she hasn’t thoroughly enjoyed the time she’s spent in bed with him so far.)

“Hi honey,” she says, and quickly kisses him on the mouth because she can, and because it always makes him blush so nicely when she does it in public. “You look good.”

“Thank you,” Scott says. “You, too. I, uh…” He tugs on his coat a little nervously, and it’s not like she needs him to tell her he’s wearing the right outfit as instructed, because she can see that, but –

“Well done, thank you,” she says quietly and sees Scott’s shoulders relax. It’s absolutely adorable how easy that was.

Gloria has made the reservation and Scott hangs back a little as she speaks to the host and they’re led to their table. They’re seated in a private little corner at the back of the restaurant, as requested. She’s not about to bring up any of the stuff she really wants to talk about here, but it’s still nice to have some privacy anyway. She doesn’t need either of them being recognized and asked for autographs this evening.

Scott visibly relaxes once they’re settled in and he pulls a little box out of his pocket, putting it on the table between them.

“I was going to bring you flowers, but that seemed a little impractical, so…”

“You’re so sweet,” Gloria says and squeezes his hand, accepting the gift and unwrapping the little bow keeping the box together. It’s a silk scarf, flower print on a burgundy background. “That’s beautiful, thank you so much.”

He seems pleased he got it right, and Gloria is genuinely a little touched. He doesn’t want anything from her. It’s a rare thing, especially in her line of work, at her level of fame. But Scott bought her a gift and likes doing as she says and wants nothing more than to be her friend and please her. Finding Carter was already a very lucky coincidence, and now this whole thing with his friends is such an unexpected and fun little cherry on top.

Gloria reaches over to take Scott’s menu when he starts to open it, and he gives her a questioning look.

“I’ll pick for you,” she says, gentle but clear, and watches Scott’s eyes widen a little.

“Yeah, okay,” he replies just a bit too quickly and she feels encouraged to push some more.

“Wasn’t asking, honey.”

Sweet, so incredibly sweet, the way he looks at her, all earnest and eager.

Gloria orders him a steak salad and declines the glass of red wine the waiter recommends to go with it in favor of a soda and lime. If anyone or anything makes his head fuzzy tonight, it’s going to be her.

They talk about Gloria’s new project that she’s filming in New York for over their dinner, about the trip to Rochester, about Scott and Eric’s plans for the Kingfisher that seem to be taking shape, and look at some vacation photos on her phone. She flirts with him a little bit just for fun, and Scott smiles at her warmly and occasionally gives a fairly innocent line or two back.

Gloria settles the bill and Scott gets their coats, politely doing all those classic things like holding the door for her on their way out. They take a car back to Scott’s apartment and he brings her a glass of her favorite wine without having to ask. She already wants to keep him.

There are two different types of men that inspire Gloria to be dominant with them – firstly, men like Carter and Scott (and Eric, as far as she’s heard from Kyle’s stories, which is a very interesting and fun fact): loyal, sweet, eager to please. It makes for a fun and healthy dynamic that mostly stays in the bedroom.

The second type is the one she’s learned to stay away from: bossy and overbearing in day-to-day life, arrogant. Men she wants to consensually break. And she’s managed, with a number of them, but the momentary sexual satisfaction it brought her really was the only positive in any of those relationships. She doesn’t need someone who thinks treating her with respect is just role play.

“So, I’m going to get right into it, if that’s okay,” she says once they’re comfortably seated on the couch. “I think we both have an idea of what we want from each other, but I haven’t done this before without, well, the sex part.”

“Yeah, uh, same. I mean, it’s kind of – it just kind of happened naturally, I guess? And I didn’t know you could just do that outside of sex? But Kip said so when I asked him, and – yeah...”

Scott trails off and clears his throat. She can tell he’s really trying to commit to the conversation, even if he doesn’t like talking about these things too much. And though he sounds certain enough of the general direction things are supposed to go, he doesn’t seem to know exactly what he’s after, either. There’s a chance they’ll take a wrong turn here and there. She might need to be a little careful with him.

“Yeah, you absolutely can. But it means a lot of the things I would usually do, or ask you to do, or that would be the motivation behind that just don’t apply here and we’ll have to adapt. Did you like what we did tonight, so far?”

“Yes,” he says, no elaboration.

Maybe telling him what to wear can be their signal. She hasn’t done this kind of thing as a whole lifestyle and isn’t really interested in the massive commitment that would bring. She knows Scott and Kip see it as more of an occasional thing as well. But it’s not so easy to know where to draw the line when all their play is going to be outside the bedroom. So that could work as a segue into it. Scott can just ask her as well, if he wants to initiate.

“Can you tell me why?”

“Uh…I think. It was easy to get it right?”

Okay, skipping a few steps here, but she can work with that. “Is that what you like? Succeeding and being rewarded?”

“I guess? I don’t...uh. I don’t like being set up for failure or, uh, punishment. I like when I get it right.” He looks so serious about it that it makes Gloria’s heart ache a little. Of course that’s what he likes.

“Okay, noted. That’s important. No punishment at all, ever?”

“I would...prefer that. But if you want –”

“Uh uh, no,” Gloria interrupts. “Don’t do stuff you don’t want to because you think I’ll like it. You give me your limits and I’ll do what I want inside of that. Only stuff we both enjoy.”

It’s kind of a shame about the punishments, because that would have been easy to do without getting too sexual. But there are other ways to get creative and she really doesn’t mind a challenge.

“Okay,” Scott agrees.

“Telling you what to do, making small decisions for you? That works?”

“I like it when...uh, when it’s actually useful, too? When you tell me to do something, and it’s not just for the sake of it, but when it’s – real, I guess.”

“That works for me,” she says with a smile. Who doesn’t love acts of service? “How physical are you okay with getting when it’s just the two of us?”

That one makes him look a little twitchy and Gloria takes his hand, holding it between hers. “It’s not a trick question. Don’t try to give me the answer you think I want to hear.”

“Okay.”

“If you’re not sure where no starts, try he other end. You can just tell me something you know you like and we’ll work our way back.”

“I – yeah. So. Kip sometimes – well.”

He looks like he’s psyching himself up to ask for something, and Gloria is absolutely certain it will be something very innocent and shouldn’t feel so difficult for him.

“Do you want to just show me? I’m pretty sure I’ll be okay with it.”

“Yeah?” He looks a little relieved. She knows for a fact Scott is very capable of asking for what he wants with Kip, but he seems so unsure around her with it. Maybe because he feels like he can’t give back in the same way. Which isn’t how she sees things at all.

“Do you want to lie down?” Scott asks.

When she does, he follows suit and wedges himself into the space between Gloria’s body and the backrest of the couch, one arm slung around her waist and his head resting on her clavicle, forehead pressed against the side of her neck. She has one arm around him and her free hand comes up almost automatically to cup his cheek, fingers sliding into his hair.

“Yeah, that,” he says quietly and Gloria feels her heart seize yet again.

“Stroke your hair?” she asks.

“If that’s okay.”

“Oh, honey. Very okay. I like this a lot.” His head is a heavy but comforting weight on her chest, the movement of his chest expanding with his breaths a calming rhythm next to her. And he smells really good, Kip has made a great recommendation to her on which scent to choose.

“Tell me more things you like, please,” Scott says and adds, “I know I can say no.”

“Good. Most important thing. Mhm, what would I like you to do…?” She rubs her fingers against his scalp and Scott makes a satisfied little sound. “You can run lines with me. I can send you out for boring stuff I don’t like, like filling up my car and picking up my dry cleaning, if you like useful stuff.”

“Yeah, of course.”

That was admittedly very safe territory, so she decides to turn it a little more personal.

“Are you good at massages?”

“I think so.”

“Carter tries, but he gets hard like two minutes in and we get too distracted. Haven’t finished a single one.”

Scott laughs and she can feel it reverberate through his body where they’re pressed together. “I can do that. Easy. No distractions.”

“Oh, and I really like having someone wash my hair for me, too.”

“I think I’d like that,” Scott says and something in his tone feels like it might be okay to push forward a little more.

“I could tie you up while we cuddle,” Gloria suggests and Scott draws in a sharp breath.

“Yeah?” He nods and she continues, “I could put a blindfold on you, and then tell you when to breathe and when to stop.”

“Yes,” Scott replies very quietly. “Yes, please.”

Well, that feels like they’re getting somewhere. It seems to be getting easier for Scott to talk as well, close to each other like this. Maybe he’s drifting just a little bit.

“Is that something that turns you on? Or just makes you feel good?”

“Depends, I think. On – the person, mostly.”

“Yeah, that makes sense.” She presses a kiss to his forehead and Scott makes a soft sound in his throat. “So, no getting off when it’s just you and me? The goal is just for it to feel nice?”

“Mhm. Yeah. But I mean. I don’t mind if you…I just...”

“Okay. You don’t need to be worrying about that. You’re okay to be there but don’t want to be involved, yes?”

“Yes,” Scott confirms. He rubs his hand up and down her side absently, like he’s lost in thought for a moment, until he asks, “can I kiss you a little bit?”

“Just a little bit?” Gloria teases him, smiling, and they rearrange themselves on the couch until they’re lying on their sides, face-to-face. He looks at her, so focused now, and waits for her permission.

“So sweet,” Gloria says, stroking her thumb over his cheek. “Go ahead.”

They don’t actually do this a whole lot, and Scott rarely initiates, but she can feel the way he actually needs that deeper connection now. Intimate, but not sexual. He kisses her slowly, with something that almost feels like precision; warm and gentle and only ever with the barest little hint of tongue. It’s precious, how innocent it all feels.

Gloria and Kip kiss like that sometimes, too. Though most times, at this point, Gloria and Kip kiss the way she used to kiss her gay co-star on one of her first movies, in some club in LA they had no idea how they even got to, both of them high on molly at three AM. 22 years old, not a single thought in their heads, and in it for nothing but the love of the game. She has a feeling Kip probably has a story or two to tell that would sound very, very similar.

“Thank you,” Scott says when he pulls away after a while, entirely unnecessary but adorably polite. “That was so nice.”

They cuddle on the couch for a while longer, until they’re both yawning more than talking, and Scott drives her back to Carter’s place instead of just calling a car, walking her right up to the door. He gives her a long hug goodnight, and she thinks for a moment she should have just stayed over. Should have texted Carter and Kip to both come to Scott’s place after their night out, and they would have gotten in maybe a little tipsy and found Scott and Gloria curled up asleep in bed together. Carter and Kip would have woken them up by being loud in the way only drunk people trying very hard to stay quiet can be, and apologized for it a lot, but they wouldn’t have minded at all.

Maybe next time. She gets ready for bed and checks the group chat to see a very cute selfie of Kip and Carter waiting in line for the club that makes her smile.

Don’t know what your problem is with dating gay men, she texts Rose Landry when she’s settled in bed, adding a couple of winky emojis, I just had the best time.

You’re getting dick from your main, you have no idea what I’ve been through, Rose writes back. Okay, that seems fair.

Chapter 2

Carter is feeling ready. He knows he’s looking good, sitting at the bar in the Kingfisher to hang out and also pregame a little bit, because after Kip finishes his shift, they’re going out clubbing. Gay clubbing, to be specific (or bi clubbing, in his case, maybe – unclear what the definition depends on, club or clubbers). Kip is going to show him everything. On their date. Which feels really fun and new to say, and he wants to tell someone about it.

He’d tell Eric, if Eric had come in to hang out like Carter asked him to, but instead he’s at a three-hour long hot yoga workshop with some apparently very famous instructor, and Carter has learned to just accept over the years that this kind of thing is what his friend likes to do with his life on a perfectly good Friday night instead of going out. So Carter tells Kyle instead.

“Cute,” Kyle says, in a way that makes Carter feel unsure whether he’s being made fun of or not, and puts his whiskey and coke in front of him on a little napkin. “You’re wearing that?”

Kyle knows no mercy sometimes.

“What’s wrong with the outfit?” Carter is in black jeans and a pink polo shirt. He thinks it’s very cute. Gloria said so, too.

“I mean, it’s, you know, fun and exciting. If you’re a straight guy in 2008.”

“Harsh, dude,” Carter says. “And yet, I appreciate the honesty. What would you wear?”

“The jeans are fine,” Kyle says, “could be tighter. And, like, just a tank. I’d wear black, you’d look good in white.”

“Huh.”

“It’s not like he’s looking to be picked up,” Kip comments, placing a tray of empty glasses onto the counter that he’s just collected from his table. They trade places and now Kip is behind the bar. “Table 12 wants to pay.”

No, of course Carter isn’t going for that. He just kind of wants to check out the vibes. One hears things about gay clubs in the city; about basements and darkrooms. (Okay, he didn’t hear that, he looked it up on the internet.) It just sounds like a good time and he feels like he’s allowed to be there now. If someone at the door asks if he’s ever sucked a dick before they let him in, Kip can be his witness.

He would have chosen somewhere nicer to take Kip out on an actual date, but officially calling it that came about sort of last-minute with Gloria and Scott, and Kip has to work until ten anyway, so – why not. Clubbing date. They can do fancy some other time and Carter will impress the pants off of him. (And then Gloria will completely outdo him and take Kip to an actual movie premiere or something, but that’s okay.)

“I don’t think I’ve got this bi thing down yet,” Carter says. He has Google open to gay club outfits and Kyle was right, there really are a lot of tank tops. Also, leather pants. An idea what hasn’t even occurred to him. He looks at Kip, who is wearing torn jeans and a tight black shirt. He looks hot, but in a way that’s so casual, it’s like he’s not even aware of it, or didn’t even try.

“I really don’t think there’s an official bisexual dress code you have to follow now,” Kip says, and gives Carter a smile. “You look great.”

It’s not really the outfit thing, if he’s being honest. It’s more – all of it. He feels like Eric sort of took more naturally to it (not that it’s a competition, as everyone likes to remind him) and he’s still learning so much all the time. Then again, he’s pretty sure Eric knows absolutely nothing about queer culture. But it all seems more serious for him, especially with Kyle now. Carter doesn’t feel like he’s serious enough about it sometimes.

Maybe it’s just that he’s heard it one too many times over the years: how he could go so far if only he took things more seriously. If only he wasn’t always turning everything into a joke, getting a little too excited, having a little too much fun. It never made sense to Carter, because it’s not like these two options were ever mutually exclusive, but the message settled into his bones. Well, he was serious enough about hockey to make it to the Admirals. He was serious enough about Gloria to make it work, LA and New York, two busy careers, absolutely insane schedules, a woman who doesn’t need him by any stretch of the imagination but who’s with him because she wants him and she loves him. He couldn’t be more serious about any of these things, and he still doesn’t understand why they can’t also be fun.

Where’s Kyle? Kyle will have an honest answer for him, and possibly deconstruct his psyche in the process, but it’s a risk he’s willing to take. Kip goes off to take the cocktails to his table and Kyle returns a moment later.

“Question,” Carter says. “I don’t feel like I’m bi the same way Benny is and I need you to explain that to me.”

Kyle blows out a breath and gives him a slightly disbelieving look. He’s probably used to it, though. Aren’t bartenders basically therapists anyway?

“Okay, I have thoughts on that,” Kyle finally says.

“Good. Let’s hear them. I can take it. Hit me.”

“Jesus, all right.” Kyle refills Carter’s drink and leans forward, elbows propped up on the bar and his chin in his hands. “One, Eric has known for sure he’s bi for a long time, he’d just never acted on it before. You’re still pretty new to it, so of course you’re not as settled into the label yet. It’s been, like, five minutes since your entire identity changed. Two, if you ask me, I’d say you’re bisexual but not biromantic. I have no evidence for it, just a feeling. And Eric is both.”

“Wait, what exactly does that mean?”

“Interesting,” Kip comments, returning from his table. “It just means exactly what it sounds like, the difference between being into people sexually or romantically. What Kyle is saying is, he thinks you wouldn’t fall in love or have a serious relationship with a guy.”

“Well, I mean...I’m in love with Gloria.”

And for all their openness and experimentation, Carter has a one-track heart that really only has space for one romantic partner at a time. So far. Gloria teases him sometimes, about having a little crush on Kip, and that’s probably not untrue, but it’s also not the same as romantic love.

“Like I said, just a feeling,” Kyle says. “Could also be because you’re in a relationship already, so you’re just not giving off that vibe.”

“Wait, wait, wait, isn’t that like – sort of an asshole orientation? When you like people sexually but don’t fall in love with them?”

“Depends what you make of it. You’re not running around leading anyone on about it, so I think you’re good.”

Nope, Carter is just running around kissing everyone’s boyfriends. But then, everyone involved has seemed pretty enthusiastic so far (even Eric, in his more subdued ways – that apparently weren’t quite as subdued with Scott, and Carter wasn’t there and it’s going to upset him for the rest of his life – anyway, not the point).

“Carter,” Kip says gently, reaching out to give his hand a squeeze. “You’re not being an asshole to anyone, far from it.”

“We’d tell you,” Kyle adds. “Gloria would tell you. You’d be aware.”

“Hey,” Carter says to Kyle, amid a sudden realization of where he wasn’t an asshole, but maybe could have been a little more considerate. “You didn’t get kissed.”

Kip darts in from the side, smacking a noisy kiss to Kyle’s cheek, and then points at Carter. “Wrong.”

“No, I mean in Buffalo. Everyone was all over Benny and – that was rude. We didn’t mean to exclude you, man.”

Kyle huffs out a laugh and gives Kip a quick look as if to say this guy. (Carter knows the look. He has inspired it in a number of people over the course of his lifetime.)

“I mean, I got kissed enough in Buffalo. Among other things. But I’ll keep in mind the offer still stands,” Kyle says with a wink and then turns to Kip. “Are you sure you should bring him into a club full of horny men? Because he might never wanna leave.”

“Hey,” Carter protests. He’s enthusiastic, is all. And making sure everyone feels included and appreciated. Kyle is full-on misinterpreting his intentions, which is actually a little offensive because Kyle is usually the one who flirts with everybody.

“I’m kidding, relax.” Kyle refills his drink once more and then gives him a stern look. “I’m cutting you off after this one, though. No need to get sloppy.”

“So strict,” Carter says and Kyle grins at him.

“I hear you like that.”

Well, he’s not wrong.

---

The club, when they get there, mostly seems like any other club Carter has ever been to at first. It’s not even all men like he expected; there are a few women dancing in the crowd here and there, just groups of friends having fun together.

They go to the bar first and Kip says hi to a few people he seems to know, laughing and shaking his head when one of them gives Carter an unambiguously interested look and asks whether Kip has brought them fresh meat.

“This is my friend Carter, he’s just here as a tourist tonight, so be nice.”

“Too bad,” the guy says and winks at Carter. It’s – very different from what he’s used to. Well, he knows that particular type of flirting from Kyle a little bit, and also knows that it mostly doesn’t mean much. But the difference is definitely pronounced, between this and being in bars and clubs back when he was single and out to meet women. The most assertive they ever got was saying hi to him.

“Get used to this,” Kip tells him as they make their way to the dance floor after finishing their drinks. “People are a lot more direct here.”

Well, he can work with direct. And it’s kind of cute, seeing Kip be a little protective.

Some Lady Gaga club remix starts playing and Kip takes Carter’s hand as they weave through the crowd and to the middle of the dance floor. It makes Carter think of the last time they were out dancing together, the rare occurrence of seeing Scott set foot into a club, and the way Kip looked like he was going to devour him right there with the way they danced together. He’s not like that with Carter now (for obvious reasons – they don’t exactly need to be seen making out in public), but a hint of heat is there; a little touch to Carter’s hip every now and then, pressing closer when the space around them gets more crowded.

A couple of times, other men come to dance with them, hands brushing together, questioning looks – but Carter shakes his head and shouts “sorry, no” over the music each time, and they politely retreat.

It’s nice – a fun night out, the vibes are good; he likes dancing and spending time with Kip and the novelty of the attention they get is kind of exciting. Carter is fully satisfied with his first gay club experience when Kip leans in and asks if he wants to go downstairs.

“What’s downstairs?” Carter asks, before he remembers how these things work, according to his internet research. Of what he read about backrooms and basements. “Oh.”

“No pressure at all. Just thought you’d wanna have a look, complete the experience.”

“Do you – have you been before?” he asks and Kip gives him a look that speaks volumes. Okay. “Wait, have you and Scott also –”

“Not here, no,” Kip says, as if that answer satisfies Carter’s curiosity at all. Have they gone to a club on vacation somewhere where Scott is less recognizable? Was it before Scott came out? The image his mind conjures up is incredibly hot: Scott and Kip in a dark corner somewhere, surrounded by people and yet anonymous, and he knows exactly what it looks like when Scott sucks him off, even knows the sounds now that he makes when Kip fucks him –

“Let’s go,” Carter says and Kip laughs like he knows exactly what just happened inside his brain.

He knows, in theory, that places like this aren’t exclusive to the gay community. There are sex parties and sex clubs for straight couples, but it wouldn’t have occurred to him in a million years to go to one with Gloria. It seems a lot more normal for it to just be an optional part of a regular club, and definitely a lot more common for gay guys. If Kip has been a number of times, by the looks of it. If even Scott has been.

Okay, maybe he’s a little nervous about this after all.

“If you don’t like it, we’ll just go back upstairs,” Kip tells him over the music as they make their way down the stairs.

The lights are already low here, their descent only illuminated by blue LED strips in the walls by their feet. They can still hear the music from the main floor, if a little less loudly, and Carter laughs when a remix of Usher’s More starts playing. His goal song. Well, if that isn’t a sign to be brave.

Kip pushes the doors open and they are enveloped by darkness as they step inside. Carter sticks close to him, letting his eyes adjust to at least make out some of their surroundings and not trip over his feet. The music is still thumping through the walls, but doesn’t entirely cover up the sounds that very clearly indicate people are hooking up in here.

It’s not an entirely open room, some sort of temporary partition walls placed inside to create more private spaces and little nooks. They walk around a couple of corners and it almost feels like a maze.

Kip squeezes Carter’s hand and looks back over his shoulder at him. Carter can barely make out his face. “You okay?”

“Yeah,” he whispers back, pressing close to Kip, chest to his back, like he’s anchoring himself a little. “This is crazy.”

“Do you want to stay?”

Somehow, it hadn’t even occurred to Carter that this wouldn’t just be a quick visit to observe (which would probably be rude anyway?). That they might...participate. The thought makes his stomach flutter, and it’s definitely not all nerves.

Fuck it, why not. Since they’re already here.

“Yeah, all right. You?”

“Yes,” Kip says and they keep walking until they find an available space. It’s undeniably sexy, the way Kip pulls him in with his hands on Carter’s hips, how they navigate each other by touch instead of sight. Carter runs his hands up Kip’s arms, over his chest, and Kip pushes a hand up under his shirt, fingers trailing over his abs. They’re not even kissing yet, but Carter can feel Kip’s breath hot on his face, foreheads pressed together, and it all makes him feel a little crazy.

“There’s a favor I’d like to return,” Kip says, and Carter’s brain just fully bluescreens for a second. “But I’d rather do that when everyone is there.”

He nods, the movement brushing their noses together. He’d much prefer that too. They haven’t really done much more than make out one-on-one; everything else has been with all four of them involved in some way, and that feels right.

“Okay,” Kip says, lips so close now that they brush against Carter’s when he speaks. Carter tries to chase the contact, but Kip pulls back a little, teasing him. Carter makes a little noise in his throat that he’s going to pretend isn’t an actual whimper.

Kip, pushing up onto his tiptoes, ghosts his lips over his cheeks, the corners of his mouth, down his jaw and the side of his neck, keeping it to barely more than a breath. Carter feels like he can’t do anything but hold on, his fingers twisting into the fabric of Kip’s shirt.

Maybe it’s just his imagination, or the heat of the moment turning it into something more than the sum of its parts, but it almost feels like Kip here in the dark is so different from the version of Kip he sees in broad daylight, with that sweet smile on his face and snuggled into Scott’s side. Then again, this definitely isn’t so different from Kip in a hotel bed, holding Scott down by his hips and fucking him harder because Gloria said so.

Kip finally takes pity on him and kisses him on the mouth, still holding back a little, but he lets Carter pulls him closer, arms around Kip’s shoulders and a hand in his hair. Carter moans into his mouth when they’re fully pressed together and he finds Kip half-hard just like he is.

It doesn’t help that his brain is still a little hung up on what Kip said before about returning the favor. He really doesn’t need to; it wasn’t intended as being a debt to be owed, but Carter would be insane to say no to that. Sometimes when he thinks about Kip’s birthday or their night together at All Stars, he still can’t believe it actually happened. He’s far from sexually conservative, but he’d never even had a threesome before, and now they’re doing all this.

Kip is pushing his tongue into Carter’s mouth, all restraint forgotten by now, and it gets a little wild from there: Carter rolling his hips, groaning when Kip ruts back against him, their hands all over each other, shirts pushed up, kisses wet and messy.

For a minute, Carter thinks that maybe they’ll end up getting off like this, making out and rubbing off on each other with all their clothes on, because he knows he probably could. But Kip isn’t pushing it, so he doesn’t either, and that feels right, too.

The music pulses around them, the darkness and the small space making the moment feel so much more private than it actually is, and after a while, Carter is starting to feel a little dizzy with it all.

He’s suddenly hyperaware of all the other men in the room with them, and it feels like one of those moments where he abruptly realizes all of the thousands of people in the stands at Madison Square Garden are individuals who each have an entire life. Imagining that always makes his brain feel like it’s going to explode. That’s kind of what it feels like now, and it’s so distracting, thinking about the other people here, how they got here, what they’re doing. He doesn’t get overwhelmed like this easily, but tonight has been kind of a lot. Not in a bad way, just...a lot.

Carter strokes his fingers over Kip’s cheek, light and gentle, a stark contrast to the heated moment, and Kip eases off, his kisses turning soft.

“Okay?” he asks and Carter presses their lips together firmly once more to confirm and then tucks his face into Kip’s shoulder, hugging him to his chest. Kip rubs his hands up and down his back, letting Carter lean on him.

“You know sometimes when you’re out, and it’s still really fun, but you kinda want to leave because it’s like a tipping point? And you already know you’re gonna be absolutely zapped in about twenty minutes?” Kip asks and Carter breathes a deep sigh. Kip gets it.

“And you’d rather crash in the car than at the club,” he says and Kip hugs him tightly and presses a kiss to his temple.

Neither of them exactly crashes once they’re in the Uber, but they sit in comfortable silence, holding hands on the middle seat between them, and Carter’s head starts to settle. He tells Kip thank you very solemnly and Kip laughs, in that sweet and easy way he has, patting Carter’s knee.

“Absolutely any time. I don’t go out to the clubs much anymore, I almost forgot how fun this is. In small doses, at least.”

They say their goodbyes when Carter gets dropped off first, and he hugs Kip very tightly.

The apartment is quiet when he gets in, with Gloria already asleep, and Carter quickly brushes his teeth, almost impatient to be able to get into bed and hold her. It’s so good when she’s here. She’s been shooting a new miniseries in the city and staying with him for the past week, ever since they got back from their trip. And he knows it’s temporary, that she’s going to go where her work will take her next, the same way he does, but that doesn’t take away any of the joy of having her here.

Gloria makes a little sound in her sleep when he gets under the covers next to her and then rolls over, slinging one arm across his chest without waking up.

He thinks of Kip coming home to Scott, and maybe he’ll wake up, because he can be a light sleeper – bad for rookies trying to sneak in after a night out on a roadie if they’re rooming with him, but maybe good for Kip, who will be held and kissed and asked about their night out.

He also thinks about Kyle coming home to Eric after his shift, who’s probably dead to the world after he’s essentially bent himself into a pretzel in a sauna all evening. But maybe Kyle will just lie next to him and hold him until he falls asleep to an even rhythm of deep breaths, the same way Carter is doing now next to Gloria.

How lucky they all are to have someone they love to come home to.

Chapter 3

Scott is half-awake in bed when Kip gets in, all slow blinks and tired smiles in the dark of their bedroom, and he reaches a hand out for him, pulling Kip close to sit down on the edge of the bed.

“Hi, sweetheart,” Kip whispers and leans in to kiss him.

Scott doesn’t say anything, but his hands speak for him, warm on Kip’s waist and on his cheek, wandering all over as if to check whether all of Kip is still there, returned to him real and solid, still his. Of course he is.

Kip manages to push his jeans down his hips and kick them off, then pulls his shirt over his head, and he climbs over Scott to get to his side of the bed. An endeavor that is a lot more difficult than it sounds when Scott is so intent on grabbing him everywhere, but it’s a complication he happily accepts.

Kip flops onto his side and evades searching hands just long enough to get under the covers, where they can find their home on his body properly, pulling him in, their limbs slotting together in a well-practiced tangle.

“Hi,” Scott finally says and Kip smiles and kisses him again.

“Did you have a nice time with Gloria?” he asks and lets his own hands reclaim their territory all over Scott’s skin, sleep-warm and radiating comfort. Home.

“Yeah,” Scott sighs, clearly still in that comfortable haze of not being completely awake. “Maybe a little – theoretical, for now.”

“Aw,” Kip says. He can just imagine Scott having to power his way through a conversation about boundaries while all he wants is to be put on his knees and not have to think about it. But sometimes things need to be talked about. “Good talk though?”

Scott hums an affirmative, rubbing his nose against Kip’s and then finding his mouth again, his kisses soft and wet.

“And you?” It’s whispered against the side of Kip’s jaw as Scott’s lips move lower, beneath his ear and down the side of his neck.

“Took him to the basement,” Kip says, breath hitching when Scott uses a little hint of teeth. “I think he was impressed.”

“Did you…” Scott seems a little unsure what exactly he’s even asking, but Kip shakes his head anyway.

“Kissed for a bit. That was really hot though.”

Scott makes his way down Kip’s chest until he can lick over his nipple and suck it between his teeth. He definitely seems a lot more awake now. “Can I fuck you?”

“Yes, please,” Kip breathes, and lets Scott push him onto his back.

“Tell me,” Scott says, and so Kip does.

He tells him about being in the darkroom with Carter while Scott maps every inch of his torso with his tongue. About how different it felt now from the hook-ups of his early twenties, how different also from the clubs he went to with Scott in Mexico – the rare trip he allowed Scott to take him on a couple of years ago when they were both so worn down by hiding, so starved for any little sliver of freedom, that it didn’t quite feel like taking something he wasn’t entitled to, but simply like allowing himself to breathe for a week. Their temporary freedom drove them both a little crazy, the sex heated and desperate and often semi-public, and remembering it still feels a bit like something that happened to someone else, or he saw in a movie.

Kip tells him about that thrill of being peripherally aware of the other people around them that he knows Scott will remember, and about not getting off with Carter because they both wanted to wait.

When Scott takes Kip’s cock into his mouth, for no other reason than because he wants to and to make Kip feel good, Kip drifts from reality into fantasy. In the little tale he spins for Scott, he isn’t alone with Carter. All four of them are there; no, actually all six of them, in the dark, after they’ve danced and kissed and had an amazing night together that is about to have an even better finale.

Kip moans when Scott starts fingering him open, but he has to keep talking, because Scott stops moving his fingers and his mouth on him any time the story comes to a halt.

So Kip goes on, building the fantasy detail by detail. Of course it’s so dark down in the club’s basement that they can’t really see each other, but that’s okay because it doesn’t matter who’s touching whom. Any pair of hands is welcome, any pair of mouths meeting, and any tongue moving over sweat-slick skin. It’s okay if Kip doesn’t know whether the hand down his jeans belongs to Scott or Eric, whether it’s Kyle or Carter or maybe Gloria standing behind him and kissing his neck. It doesn’t matter whose hard cock presses against his ass through the layers of clothing, or whose fingers dip into his boxers, smearing lube between his cheeks and pushing inside while his moans are caught in someone else’s mouth.

Scott withdraws his fingers and lets Kip’s cock slip out of his mouth, panting against the inside of Kip’s thigh.

“Keep going,” he says, voice rough, and Kip watches him slick himself up, the sight of it alone making his need feel sharp and urgent. So he continues.

In their fantasy, Kip doesn’t know for sure if it’s Scott who’s pushing into him from behind, and he also doesn’t know who’s on the floor in front of him sucking him off. The logistics are a little complicated but they’re also not important, and Kip switches scenes: maybe it’s not Scott who’s fucking him, because Scott is facing him, holding him up and kissing him while someone else is inside him. Or maybe Kip is sitting in Scott’s lap and leaning back against him while Scott holds his legs open, letting one of their friends lick into him until he can’t take it anymore, and only then will he be allowed to sink down onto Scott’s cock.

Real Scott, right here in their bed, is grunting into Kip’s shoulder as he fucks him, not going all that hard but pushing deep, as far inside as Kip will take him, will let him.

Kip starts losing his words a little bit then; it’s not that easy to keep up any kind of coherent storytelling when he can feel Scott up to his throat and his entire body is lit up and trembling and burning with it.

“I can’t,” he tries, but it makes Scott slow down, pull back, his thrusts turning into a leisurely grind. And – okay. Okay. Maybe they could use a little breather. Kip turns his head to the side and Scott kisses him, one hand cradling the back of his head.

“You’re fucking perfect,” Scott whispers against his lips, “I love you so much, keep going.”

Kip whimpers and claws at Scott’s back, his legs wrapped around his waist and the air between them so charged like something might snap.

So Kip tries. He paints the picture in half-sentences, between moans and cries and oh God, Scott, and he tells him about someone coming down his throat and inside him at the same time, about fingers inside him and someone else’s hand jerking him off, and then both of them together again, wrecked but so happy.

And actually, he thinks, he’ll always find Scott even in the dark; he will recognize his hands and his mouth and his smell, he will feel it in his very bones whether it’s Scott touching him or anyone else, because he knows him, knows his heart and his soul, and and that’s so much more than skin-deep.

In their bedroom, Kip comes with barely a sound, almost like he’s used up his voice for the day. His body trembles and he clenches around Scott, arms around his shoulders and pressing him closer, closer, closer, until he feels him let go as well, smearing messy kisses across the side of Kip’s face and spilling deep inside him.

Kip keeps holding him close, a completely boneless and deflated Scott a welcome weight on top of him as they come back down.

“Mhm. Where did that come from, huh?” Scott mutters somewhere by Kip’s ear, an aimless kiss landing low on his cheek.

“Hah,” Kip says. “Uh.” He doesn’t know; he really doesn’t. It’s not like he actually wants to do all that, but…maybe he got a little carried away.

“You know what, doesn’t even matter, that was hot as hell,” Scott says and props himself up on his elbows so he can look at Kip and kiss him properly.

Kip could ask him the same thing anyway, what it was that inspired that energy he was just on the receiving end of. Not that he is in any way complaining, because – yeah, hot as hell pretty much covers it.

“Maybe not one for the group chat,” Kip says carefully and Scott laughs. He rolls over to his other side to grab Kip’s t-shirt from the floor to wipe it across his stomach and then settles against Kip’s side.

“I thought you were planning your bachelor party for a minute there.”

“Oh God,” Kip laughs. “The wedding night, if anything, since you were there.”

Scott tugs Kip’s left hand closer so he can look at the ring, running his thumb over it. “Well, that’s not gonna work, because that’s the one night I definitely want you all to myself.”

“Orgy rescheduled,” Kip agrees with some finality and Scott snorts against his shoulder.

They fall asleep with Scott still holding Kip’s hand on top of his chest, and Kip’s heart is full. He was always a little afraid of having to share Scott with the world for all his life, but this is different, he thinks. This is sharing joy and doubling it. This is building family. These are the people they love.