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

Characters:

Kip Grady, Scott Hunter (Game Changers), Carter Vaughn, Gloria Grey, Eric Bennett, Kyle Swift, Shane Hollander, Ilya Rozanov

Additional Tags:

Open Relationships, Queerplatonic Relationships, Platonic Kissing, Dom/sub, Spitting in Mouth, Fingers in Mouth, Anal Fingering, Anal Sex, Face-Sitting, Cunnilingus, Vaginal Sex, Bisexuality, Bisexual Carter Vaughn, Book 4: Common Goal (Game Changers)

Language:

English

Series:

Part 5 of hypotheticals

Stats:

Published: 2026-07-05 Words: 7,389 Chapters: 4/4

coursing through our bodies til we're one

Summary

He knows Kip has talked this through with Carter and Gloria, has probably run through scenarios, set limits, planned for contingencies…Scott just needs to be here. Be here and take what he’s given. It makes his head feel all quiet, slipping further down.

“Two fingers,” Gloria says evenly and Kip follows the new instruction, sliding his free hand’s index and middle finger between Scott’s teeth.

-
Everyone goes to All Star Weekend together and has a great time.

Notes

Still loosely follows the Common Goal timeline but Eric and Kyle’s relationship progresses a bit faster than in the book and Eric announces his retirement earlier (before the All Star game).

Chapter 1

Things get a little messy.

Scott’s suspicions about Kyle’s feelings (and Kip’s obliviousness to them) turn out to be right, and it explains a lot about his initial reaction.

Scott is torn. If this had happened in their early days, he knows he would be spiraling about it. About someone else being right there, already a close friend, who wouldn’t bring all the baggage and complications Scott carries. Things are different now though, and as a result, Scott isn’t as insecure. He knows Kip loves him, has stuck with him through well and truly horrible times, and now they’re past all that, solid as they can be. About to be married.

So mostly, Scott feels a strange kind of compassion: to love Kip and not be able to have him is the worst kind of torture. He’d held out for all of two weeks after their break-up back then before essentially groveling at Kip’s feet, and Kip hadn’t really wanted that but also happened to find it kind of hot, which ultimately worked to Scott’s advantage. So he can’t even imagine what months or maybe years of that are like, while also watching Kip love someone else. Kyle must have a stronger heart than Scott.

Primarily, of course, his concern is for Kip, who feels absolutely wretched thinking about how he must have hurt his friend, even unintentionally. Kip doesn’t want to talk about it too much, but Scott can see it in his face clear as day.

And then there is the Eric part of it all. Just like Scott, he seems a little overwhelmed with the situation, unused to the dynamics of Kip’s friend group and the sheer drama of it all. Everyone is aware that no one is at fault, but Scott can see how there is a very real possibility of it causing an issue between him and Eric eventually, so he tries to preempt it as well as he can. 

“Please don’t try to fix this,” Eric says, looking a lot calmer than Scott currently feels. “There is nothing to fix, and even if there was, it has nothing to do with you.”

Scott wants to argue with that, but he knows Eric is technically right. Whatever feelings Kyle used to have are in the past now – or so he’s told both Eric and Kip, and neither has any reason not to believe it. Scott can see how much Kyle likes Eric by the way he looks at him when they’re all at the Kingfisher together, the way he flirts with him and touches him, always with such a gentle undercurrent of care and depth to it.

So whatever Kip and Kyle are working through is mostly an echo of something that is already over anyway, but Scott can see how it still needs to be addressed somehow.

For a fleeting moment, he thinks maybe Eric’s offer to Kyle to join them with Carter and Gloria was some misguided attempt to get him Kip, because that’s what he thought Kyle wanted, but – it makes Scott’s brain hurt to contort itself into the shape of that thought and he is very certain that it never even occurred to Eric either. They’re both simple men, at the core of them – loving and steady and loyal, and deeply confused by dating culture and all the strategizing and scheming that seem to come with it. It’s a language both Kyle and Kip speak, but Scott really has no interest in learning.

Eventually, things settle. Kip and Kyle talk it out, hug it out, and then Scott finds them on the couch together when he comes back from practice one day, shouting at objectively incorrect scoring decisions on Drag Race, and all seems to be well again.

As it turns out, all being well also includes lengthy conversations about everyone’s sex lives, now that Kyle is already in on pretty much all the gay (and bi) secrets the New York Admirals have to offer anyway. Scott was already aware that Kip talks a lot more with Carter and Gloria about everything they do together, and never felt too left out of that – he likes to think of himself as more of a man of action. There is little need to dissect and define and label everything that happens in his bedroom (or Carter’s, or other parts of either apartment, or sometimes hotel rooms, and then of course the occasional locker room-adjacent incident – well), but Kip likes it, and it relieves Scott of having to think too hard about it all. Eric is the only one who seems to agree with him on that one, and though he doesn’t mind details about himself being shared with the group, he’s not exactly interested in being personally involved in those conversations. (All of this much to Carter’s disappointment, of course.) 

Still, they manage to learn new things about themselves and each other. Kyle pronounces Eric demisexual, as if that is supposed to mean something to anyone (it does, just not to Scott, Carter, or Eric himself), but when Kip explains to Scott what it actually entails, it really fits pretty well with what Scott knows about his friend. Carter doesn’t seem to think this in any way impedes possible future encounters with Eric involved, because “he already loves us, so what’s the problem?” – Carter has tasted blood (or rather, dick) and is now unstoppable.

They also manage to completely blow his mind when Kip tells him what being versatile means, to Gloria’s great amusement.

“But how do you decide?” Carter asks, looking a little stressed at the prospect of all the options.

“I don’t know,” Kip replies with a shrug. “Just kinda happens. How do you decide what you do in bed?” 

“That’s easy, he doesn’t,” Gloria says sweetly and Carter smiles at her like that’s the best thing he ever heard.

It tickles something in Scott, that little hint of similar proclivities he’s seen in Carter a few times now, and how Gloria acts with him. He’d probably make the exact same face if Kip told him he didn’t get to decide anything for the night (like he sometimes does).

He thinks about how it felt when Gloria touched him while he was blowing Kip and makes a mental note to ask Kip whether that’s anything. Anything actionable, that maybe isn’t strictly sexual, but that he likes and Gloria also seems to like, and that has nothing to do with technically incompatible orientations. Kip will probably tell him he just accidentally invented something that people have actually been doing for 300 years and that there’s a complicated name and a whole porn category for it. (It wouldn’t be the first time that happened anyway.)

There’s also one more thing that Scott thinks requires some prior conversation, and he brings it up with Kip first, for Kip to manage the rest of it.

“Did you want me to fuck you on your birthday?” It’s a simple question but with many implications and Kip shrugs and tilts his head.

“I mean, yeah. I think it would have been hot. But I can see why you didn’t. We haven’t really talked about how much they’re both okay with, you know, seeing. So that was probably a good call.”

“But you’d be fine with it?” Scott asks and carefully ventures into the little fantasy that has started playing in his head lately. “With, uh, either of us…”

“Oh, sweetheart,” Kip says, looking delighted with the direction their conversation is going. He reads Scott so well by now, and this time is no exception. “You want me to fuck you in front of them? For Gloria to tell me exactly how? And for Carter to be all wide-eyed and impressed with you?”

Scott’s brain feels like it might turn into liquid and ooze right out of his ears at any moment. Yeah. That. He wants that.   

Chapter 2

“Last week, Eric was talking about taking me to Greece, and now somehow I’m in Buffalo instead,” Kyle says, looking around the hotel lobby with a vaguely unconvinced expression on his face. “In February.”

“Ask me how I feel, we’re cutting our trip to the Caymans short,” Gloria adds.

Eric frowns a little, and Scott can practically see the gears turning, rethinking his decision of inviting Kyle to come along to All Star weekend, when Kyle leans into his side and softly says, “I’m kidding.”

“And so are you,” Carter reminds Gloria, who pats Eric’s knee and nods. Gloria likes Eric a lot, Scott knows; she likes how polite he is to her, how they can talk about books and old movies and whichever bendy new yoga pose they last learned.

Carter isn’t playing and wasn’t going to go with them at all, but after hearing it was Eric’s last season before retirement, he wanted to stop by their last All Stars together at least briefly as a guest. Despite Eric not being a fan of all the attention, they know it means a lot to him, having his friends there for all the milestones. Even if they happen to be taking place in Buffalo.

Kip on the other hand looks perfectly happy, one of the sparkly welcome drinks in hand and thumbing through the hotel’s brochure.

“Won’t catch me complaining about being somewhere with a spa, a jacuzzi, and free drinks,” he says with a shrug. “You guys are just snobs.”

“Three and a half years dating a literal millionaire and you’re impressed by free spa access?” Kyle asks. “Are you happy making yourself live like this?”

“Perfectly,” Kip says primly. Scott is tempted to side with Kyle here, but he’s not going to touch that whole thing now. He’s already managed to sneak in an entire European summer vacation for their honeymoon under Kip’s very strict not-a-sugar-baby radar; he’s picking his battles.

And anyway, he’s just happy that Kip seems to be enjoying the trip. He’s looking forward to the weekend as well – he likes seeing the players from some of the other teams in a less confrontational environment, seeing everyone with their families they brought along, playing just for the fun of it. And now, for the first time, he gets to bring someone, too. He doesn’t have to look at the others with a pang in his heart and think about how much he wishes he had Kip there, because here Kip is, for everyone to see, and Scott can kiss him whenever he wants. No more hiding, no more secrets.

And he’d like to think he made it a little easier for Eric as well, to be able to bring Kyle here. Not that Eric really seems to care about anyone’s opinion, and he shouldn’t – he should be enjoying his last season in whichever way he wants to. But if Scott had even a small part in making that easier, he’s happy about it.

Instead of flying back with the team, Scott is taking Kip to Rochester for a couple of days after the official event is over. They’re already almost there anyway, and Kip wants to see where Scott grew up. It’s going to be a little strange; he doesn’t exactly go back a lot. There are many old memories waiting there that he doesn’t usually think about, but he still wants to revisit them with Kip. Kip is his future and it feels right to share his past with him.

They get checked in and settle into their rooms, Scott with practiced efficiency that is almost mechanical, and Kip taking his time to inspect everything: the view, the large bathroom, the living-room area with a sofa, the mini bar.

It’s a little funny how Kip almost aggressively doesn’t care about the luxuries Scott’s money could buy them, but for some unknown reason turns absolutely feral any time he’s in a really nice hotel room for more than two minutes. Like they are right now. Because Scott was sneaky and upgraded them to a suite.

In other words, he is prepared for it when Kip pushes him down onto their huge bed, tongue in his mouth and hard-on grinding against the crease of his thigh. Scott flips him onto his back and blows him, fully clothed and pants shoved to his knees in their hurry, Kip moaning and sighing and his fingers twisting into starched white sheets, beautiful and uninhibited in his pleasure.

Really, Scott thinks, there is absolutely no reason to be bummed about being in Buffalo.

---

With Kip satisfied (for now) and smiling almost serenely, they head back down to meet the rest of their little group for an early dinner in the hotel restaurant.

Some of the other All Star players are around as well, and Carter is engaging in one of his favorite hobbies at these kinds of events, forcing Shane Hollander to socialize with him – which, now that Scott knows what he knows about Carter, is actually kind of interesting.

Hollander looks a little flustered the same way he always does when Carter unleashes his full Carter-ness on him, but he’s smiling and playing along like he secretly enjoys the attention. But maybe that’s just Scott’s imagination. Not everyone is suddenly into men just because his friend group is going through some sort of collective bisexual awakening. And last he heard, Hollander was dating Rose Landry anyway.

“Oh, no, that’s long over,” Gloria corrects him. “She says he’s a really sweet guy though, they’re still good friends.”

She waves at Shane and he waves back a little awkwardly, then laughs and pats Carter’s shoulder when Carter heads off to join Scott and the others at the table.

“He’s handsome,” Kyle says idly and Kip nods. “Recruit him for your polycule.”

“It’s not –” Kip starts Gloria makes a thoughtful little sound like she’s considering the idea.

“We’re still working on you two,” Carter says, “can’t cast the net too wide, you gotta concentrate your efforts, you know.”

Eric looks like he is somehow both a little uncomfortable and very flattered, and Gloria smiles at him from across the table in that confident, flirty way she has, like she has him all figured out. “You boys just take your time.”

“Or, like, don’t – I mean, no pressure,” Scott adds, because surely someone has to.

“Relax, they’re just playing,” Kip says softly, a hand on Scott’s knee.

Scott knows that’s true. Carter is the last person to push anyone into anything, despite the way his mouth runs away with him sometimes. And it’s not exactly a secret that both Scott and Eric sometimes need that spark, that kind of fun and easy energy, the nearly boundless amounts Carter seems to have of it. But of course if Eric said no and meant it, Carter would stop. Which brings about another interesting thought: he hasn’t said no.

---

The evening carries them down to the lounge with some of the other players and families that have pretty much taken over the space. Scott makes the rounds, introducing Kip to some of the players he’s friendly with and ignoring those that he knows are anything but. (Who keeps inviting Dallas Kent to these things? He’s not even good.)

After socializing has been crossed off the list, they return to where Eric and Kyle already sit on a plush red couch, enjoying a round of people-watching. Carter and Gloria are still standing by the bar, taking a bit longer on their journey around the room.

“Their vodka tonic tastes like ass,” Kyle says conversationally and Kip hums, taking a sip of Kyle’s drink after he’s sat down on the sofa opposite theirs with Scott.

“Much worse than ass, actually.”

“Well, figure of speech.”

“Is cheap vodka, not Russian,” comes a voice from somewhere behind Scott’s left ear. He sighs. Classic Rozanov jump scare. Somehow he is never quite as prepared for those as he thinks.

“You know what, that might be it,” Kyle says.

“If you are here, I think you two are fucking now, yes?” Rozanov asks Kyle, without so much as saying hello, and Eric turns a little pink while Kyle looks completely unimpressed. “Is good! Good for you. Always follow my advice.”

“It’s a long story,” Eric tells Scott with a wince. “There was no – no one asked Rozanov for his input.”

Scott remembers Rozanov briefly talking to Eric alone at the Kingfisher a while back, but wasn’t aware they were talking about, well, all that.

“Last time I saw you,” Rozanov continues, addressing Kyle and taking a seat on an armchair next to Kyle and Eric’s sofa as if someone invited him to stay, “you also wanted to fuck Hunter’s boyfriend. I forgot to say I have obvious solution for this.”

“Jesus Christ,” Scott sighs, watching Kip narrow his eyes at Rozanov. Not this. They’ve just gotten over this.

“I have a name,” Kip says, and ooh, Rozanov has triggered his bitchy two percent. “And I’m right here.”

“Yes. Yes, you are, and do you agree there is obvious solution?” He gestures at all four of them. “I did not see last time, but there is a vibe now.”

“If the vibe is unsolicited advice on everyone’s sex lives, who are you fucking?” Kip asks. “Are they here?”

Something that almost looks like sadness crosses Rozanov’s face, and Scott isn’t entirely sure why. Because the answer to that question is usually some socialite or model, and they’re not ever in short supply for Rozanov, so it makes no sense that Kip’s question would upset him. Or maybe he got dumped?

“No, here is boring,” Rozanov says weakly and downs the rest of Kyle’s drink as if that’s just a normal thing to do, pulling a face as he puts down the empty glass and gets up to leave. “And drinks are gross. Have good night – think about what I said.”

“Interesting,” Kyle says and Kip tilts his head thoughtfully.

“Didn’t think that would land.”

“No, no, you’re on to something.”

“What do you mean?” Scott asks.

“Okay, look, I would never – he was being pretty rude, right? So I tested a theory. And he chickened out. So I think I was right.”

“Gender-neutral pronoun when Kip asked who he’s fucking,” Kyle adds when Scott and Eric still look a little lost.

“Oh,” Eric says. “I thought they as in plural.”

“Which wouldn’t be surprising for Rozanov, honestly.”

Eric gives Scott a pointed raise of his eyebrows as if to say look who’s talking, and Scott coughs to cover the laugh that threatens to spill out. Yes. That’s right. He forgets sometimes that he’s a person who does things like these now, too.

“But that’s not what made him look like that,” Kip continues.

“How –” Scott is honestly still a bit puzzled by it all. How does Kip know these things?

“A vibe,” Kip and Kyle say in unison and then start laughing.

“I have two words for you boys,” Carter’s voice interrupts and he leans against the arm of the sofa, one hand on Kip’s shoulder and the other tugging Gloria into his side. “Karaoke machine.”

Chapter 3

It’s very clear that there is absolutely no arguing with that change of plans and so they get some beers and a soda for Eric at the bar and follow Carter down the hallway to a conference room. Two young Pittsburgh players have turned it into an impromptu karaoke bar, using the video conference system to play the songs and project the lyrics onto the wall. One of them is currently holding the pink microphone and belting out Don’t Stop Believing with more gusto than even Journey themselves ever did and they’ve already drawn quite the crowd.

Scott isn’t much of a singer and decides to hide behind Eric and try not to be seen for as long as he can, but Kip clearly has no such reservations. He whispers something to Kyle, who replies with a decisive yes, and then they’re off. Some of the women in the room scream in excitement as soon as the first chords to their song play a little later, but Scott is lost (again).

“Oh,” Eric says. “Because of the bar and everything.”

“What?”

“Dude,” Carter almost shouts into his ear. “Coyote Ugly?”

“Who?”

“Oh – wouldn’t have a seen a movie about a titty bar, I guess.”

“It is so much more than that,” Gloria points out and Scott just shrugs and smiles at Kip, looking so joyful and alive at the front of the room, just having a good time with Kyle.

To everyone’s great delight, someone sings All Star from Shrek after that, and even Hollander, wisely standing out in the hallway to observe the proceedings and not actually in the room with them, smiles and sways in place a little bit.

Scott drags Eric to the front of the room with him when he can’t fight the intense peer pressure in the form of Carter anymore and they kind of cheat a little by picking Sweet Caroline, because they know everyone will sing along anyway.

Someone brings in a tray full of shots at one point and, naturally, things kind of devolve from there.

Both Carter and Gloria put on an absolute performance for every song they choose (turns out Gloria is also a trained singer, which seems a little unfair) and it all culminates in a somewhat tipsy duet of Jessie’s Girl. First with Carter playfully serenading Kip, making everyone around them laugh at his antics, and then Gloria singing the second verse to Kyle, dancing up on him and sliding her hand over his shoulders and chest in a way that makes Kyle laugh and Eric look nervous. There’s less of a reaction to that one, most of the others probably thinking Kyle is some lucky guy Gloria picked out of the room at random.

“That what the – the titty bar movie was like?” Scott asks Eric after the song is over, and these are words he has never said before in his whole entire life, but he’s feeling loose and happy with his friends by his side, Kip in his arms, and admittedly a little bit of tequila in his bloodstream.

Eric clears his throat and shakes his head. “No. I mean. Kinda.”

It must be an interesting life, being bisexual, Scott thinks. Everyone is potentially exciting.

Kip and Kyle, practiced professionals at herding drunk people and also knowing precisely when enough is enough, suggest to take the party to one of their rooms instead, and Eric grabs snacks and water bottles for everyone from one of the vending machines in the hallway on their way to the elevator.

Carter rents Coyote Ugly on the hotel’s pay-per-view service and everyone makes themselves at home in Scott and Kip’s room, half watching as background entertainment. Scott gains an unexpected tactical advantage during the game of Go Fish they play when his friends get a little too distracted by the movie and exploits it shamelessly.

“So is that what happens at the Kingfisher when I’m not there?” he asks, and Kip gives him a flirty little grin.

He’s sitting in Scott’s lap, hands wandering to barely still appropriate places and occasionally leaning in, his mouth pressing hot and wet against the side of Scott’s neck.

“Maybe.”

He knows it’s not true, but if Scott indulges in a little bit of distraction of his own in the form of a fantasy of Kip in leather pants and a tank top spilling a jug of ice water on himself – well, nobody needs to know about that. (Except Kip, who will be told about it at length at some point in the near future.)

Everyone sticks around for a bit after the movie until Eric and Kyle are the first ones to say their goodnights. Eric cites being “an exhausted old man, so close to retirement”, but Scott has seen the way he’s basically been undressing Kyle with his eyes for the past half hour and suspects that sleep is going to be the last thing on anyone’s mind once they get to their own room.

“I’m gonna miss you, man,” Carter says. He gets up and throws his arms around Eric’s neck, pulling him into a hug.

“You’re gonna see me at breakfast tomorrow, Vaughny. I think you’ll be okay,” Eric tries to deflect, but Carter isn’t letting him.

“You know exactly what I mean. I’m so glad we got to do this one last time though.”

Eric rubs his hand up and down Carter’s back, his eyes going a little soft. They all know Carter is being so sincere right now, never one to hold back his love for his friends whenever he feels it most.

“Hey, uh.” Eric sounds a little uncertain and he looks over at Scott for a second, biting his lip. “If you still – if you want. Just, uh – just go for it.”

“Oh,” Carter says quietly, pulling back so he can look at Eric. “Yeah? Really?”

Eric nods, hands dropping from Carter’s back to his waist and Carter makes an excited little noise like he can’t believe this is really happening. His genuine joy at getting to kiss men still amuses Scott sometimes. Like a little treat he never even knew he wanted for such a long time and now that he can have it, he’ll indulge.

Carter holds Eric’s face in both hands and leans in. The way he kisses him is nothing like how he was with Scott the first time – a little flustered, hesitant. With Eric, Carter is sure of himself. Not forceful, just certain, and it looks like that’s just what Eric needs to relax into it, eyes slipping closed as Carter kisses him.

“Okay, I see it,” Kyle whispers to Kip and Kip huffs out a small breath, amused, and leans into his side.

“Told you.”

Carter pulls away when Eric drops his hands, clearly not trying to be completely overeager, and takes a small step back. “Damn.”

Eric laughs, the sound more of a rumble in his chest and his eyes dark and still focused on Carter. Scott has never seen him look like this; it’s almost like he completely forgot he’s usually self-conscious and just replaced it all with sexy instead. Scott reaches out for Kip, now respectably sitting next to him, hand on his thigh.

Gloria gets up from where she was sitting on the edge of the bed, snaking an arm around Carter’s waist and putting her head on his shoulder.

“I’m getting in line, just so you know,” she tells Eric and he shakes his head with a small smile.

“You’re all – ridiculous, I hope you know that.” He’s back to being a little shy, but they’ve all seen a glimpse of what’s hiding behind that now.  

“I think you just don’t know how attractive you are,” Gloria replies easily and Eric shrugs. She takes his hand and steps forward, head tilted up. “May I?”

Eric nods, one hand coming up to cup her cheek as they kiss, gentle and unhurried.

“Quick question for the gays,” Kyle mutters, low enough so only Scott and Kip can hear. “Is it normal that I’m unexpectedly very, very into the straight kissing right now?”

“I think that just means you really like him,” Kip says softly and Kyle makes a thoughtful sound. “Do you need to collect your man and work through the feeling?”

“I think I do.”

After Gloria steps back, Kyle gets to his feet and sidles up to Eric, pushing one hand into the back pocket of his jeans. Eric leans into the touch, meeting Kyle’s lips in a quick kiss as well.

“Come on, Mr. Popular. I believe you said something about bedtime?”

“Mhm. I did,” Eric replies, voice low and his eyes on Kyle.

“Get it, Benny,” Carter says under his breath, which feels extremely restrained because Scott knows he’d probably like to shout that right now.

“Goodnight, everyone,” Kyle says pointedly and, in a tangle of hands and quiet laughs and little whispers, they’re out the door.

Chapter 4

Kip climbs back into Scott’s lap as soon as the door closes, facing him this time, and unmistakably hard.

He’s been a little extra affectionate with Scott all night (the hotel room still working its magic maybe), but keeping it down for – well, probably Eric’s sake, actually, because Scott doubts Kip is inclined to be polite in front of Kyle. And Carter and Gloria being there are, if anything, a reason to escalate, not to hold back.

And that’s what Scott wants now, when the opportunity almost couldn’t be more perfect, and pushes his hands up the back of Kip’s shirt, seeking more skin to touch.

“Can we –” Scott starts, but Kip cuts him off with a kiss, decisive, demanding, and that’s probably answer enough to his question.

He tugs on Scott’s lower lip with his teeth and grinds his hips down, the dual sensations making Scott’s head feel a little fuzzy.

“You want it? Like we talked about?”

“Fuck,” he breathes against Kip’s mouth. “Yes. God. I want you.”

He hasn’t even noticed Gloria walking over to them, her hands resting on Kip’s shoulders as she stands behind him and watches, her eyes calculating.

“Hold his mouth open,” she tells Kip and Scott feels it all the way down to his toes, that tone of voice he’s never heard from her before, but there’s no hesitation. She’s an actress, of course she can sell the fuck out of this.

Kip complies, his thumb and index finger pressing into Scott’s jaw, forcing his lips to part with a breathless sound.

He knows Kip has talked this through with Carter and Gloria, has probably run through scenarios, set limits, planned for contingencies…Scott just needs to be here. Be here and take what he’s given. It makes his head feel all quiet, slipping further down.

“Two fingers,” Gloria says evenly and Kip follows the new instruction, sliding his free hand’s index and middle finger between Scott’s teeth.

Scott moans around them, already so turned on he doesn’t know how he’s going to get through this, and he looks at Carter out of the corner of his eye, sitting on the bed and just watching very attentively.

“Suck them, honey,” Gloria says, “nice and wet, you know where those are going.”

Fuck. Scott feels his eyes flutter closed and the last thing he sees is Gloria turning around and stepping out of her pants on her way to join Carter on the bed.

“So good, baby,” Kip whispers to him, “you like it?”

Scott makes a muffled sound of confirmation in his throat, lips wrapped tightly around Kip’s fingers and his tongue sliding all over and between them, coating everywhere he can reach in saliva. He gets lost in it for a little bit, Kip’s weight in his lap and the taste of his skin in his mouth, a clearly defined job to do.

“That’s enough,” Gloria says after a while and Scott opens his eyes only to be greeted with the sight of her straddling Carter’s chest, panties pushed to the side and his mouth on her. He wasn’t really expecting that but there’s no time to dwell on it because –

“Kip,” she continues evenly, “spit in his mouth.”

Kip withdraws his fingers and does, and Scott whimpers, cheeks hot. He tries to swallow but it doesn’t really work with his mouth still held open, which is probably the point. Kip does it again, hitting the corner of his mouth and Scott moans when he feels it drip down to his chin. He secretly likes being a little gross sometimes, even though this is probably mild. But he wants this from Kip, anything from him, his spit, his come, his sweat. Loves it all.

He also wants to kiss Kip very badly, but this is all he’s getting right now. It’s okay, he can wait.

Gloria makes a soft little sound and rolls her hips, hands braced against the headboard and looking back at them over her shoulder.

“Lose the clothes and come here.”

Scott almost trips over his feet in his haste and Kip smiles and gives him what he wants: kisses him sweetly, and then he helps him out of his pants and pushes him back down onto the bed almost the same way he did his afternoon. Only this time, Scott finds himself right next to Carter, so close he can hear the wet sounds of his tongue, of his deep breaths through his nose.

Gloria reaches over to stroke her fingers down Scott’s face and then bury them into his hair, yanking his head back to bare his throat, a wicked grin on her face.

“Get him ready,” she tells Kip, voice a little unsteady now and a visible full-body shiver running through her when she grinds against Carter’s face.

Kip grabs the lube from their bedside table and Scott wants to remind him suddenly of what Gloria said before, and he’d be happy to suck his fingers again and have Kip open him up just with his own spit, make it hurt a little bit – but, small deviations from the plan are probably allowed, and he stops being worried about it when Kip kneels between his legs and pushes a finger into him, cool and slick.

He can tell Kip is eager as well, going almost a little too fast, but it feels just right. Scott doesn’t know where to look, so he closes his eyes again, feeling Kip’s fingers inside him and then, Kip leaning over him and kissing him again, thrusting his tongue into Scott’s mouth almost like he’s eating him out too, and he knows Kip is thinking it, his breaths blending into one with the sound of Carter and Gloria next to them.

It almost feels like a dream, with how everything is just a little absurd, how Scott never would have thought he’d be doing this – almost like it’s just the fantasy he had about it a few times now, but then again Kip is so very, very real where he’s holding him close, feeling warm skin over hard muscle.

He thinks maybe he won’t be allowed to touch for long though, maybe Gloria will say so the same way Kip sometimes does, has him keep his hands by his sides or ties them together above his head so he doesn’t touch himself while Kip fucks him. So that Kip’s cock is the only thing making him come, and that’s good, that’s more than a fair trade-off for keeping still, the way it always feels like Kip drags the pleasure out of him from so deep inside.

Gloria is busy for the moment however and she isn’t telling him anything yet, her thighs shaking and her head tipped back, panting and then crying out as Carter grabs her hips and pulls her against his face more, licking her through her orgasm.

Kip sits back on his haunches and starts slicking himself up with lube, and Scott is really looking at him more than at Gloria and Carter, because Kip is the one who’s going to give him what he needs. Except he doesn’t just yet. He’s just waiting, pumping his cock slowly and running his free hand over Scott’s thigh in an almost soothing motion. Waiting for instruction.

Scott makes a frustrated little sound and adjusts his position, grabbing a pillow to put under his hips, legs spread, making himself so very available, so very convenient, Kip, please.

Gloria swings her leg over and moves to lie on the bed next to Carter, and he’s heaving in deep breaths and looking pleased.

“That was so good, baby,” she whispers to him, then a quick kiss, and she turns around to her side, facing Scott and Kip, with Carter wrapping an arm around her waist and doing the same.

“Kip, honey, you can put poor Scott out of his misery,” she says with a smile. “Even though he looks so pretty when he’s desperate for it.”

Scott feels embarrassment course through him, hot and sharp, and he exhales a shaky breath. It feels good somehow, exciting when he’s floating out of his head a little like this.

“Didn’t even – ah.”

And that’s – Scott can’t fully see it, but he knows what’s happening anyway, Carter positioning Gloria with a hand on her hip and then groaning into her shoulder, that and the hitch in her breath a tell-tale sign he can definitely read.

“Didn’t even beg for us though,” she finishes, pushing back into the slow grinding rhythm Carter starts up behind her. It looks almost elegant, the way they move together.

“Please,” Scott says simply, because he doesn’t know what else to say, and he needs Kip; he can feel him, the blunt pressure of his cock against Scott’s rim now, the promise that moment always holds, right before pushing in. “Baby, please.”

Kip is leaning over him, stretching up just enough to kiss him when he does, and Scott clutches him close, shuddering through the stretch, the pressure inside him, so intense it almost knocks the breath out of him.

“No hands, I think,” Gloria says, as expected, and Scott drops them to the bed, turning his head to the side when Kip kisses down his neck, hot and maybe, maybe bruising a little bit if he keeps it up long enough.

There’s a moment of eye contact with Carter that could potentially be kind of confusing, Scott thinks, because he’s aware seeing this is probably a different ballgame compared even to giving Kip a blowjob, but Carter looks just as slack-jawed and engrossed as Kip predicted he might, like he’s a little impressed by Scott like this.

“Fuck,” Carter says quietly, and that could really mean anything or anyone, with the way he’s fucking Gloria at the same time, but that breathy, almost reverent little “yeah, take it” that follows is clearly for Scott.

It makes something hot twist in his belly and Scott feels his body strain into it, hands and feet digging into the mattress, his hips meeting Kip’s thrusts.

“You love it,” Gloria says breathlessly, “look at you. Can you take more?”

“Yes,” Scott grinds out, fuck, yes, of course he can, and he wants to.

“Go harder, Kip,” she instructs, “make him – mhm.”

She’s moaning again, shaking, Carter’s hand buried between her legs, but whatever Kip is supposed to be making him feel, Scott is very certain he’s already halfway there anyway.

Kip buries his face in the crook of Scott’s shoulder and holds him by the hips, driving into him, shallow and relentless, the way Scott knows is going to make him come untouched.

He feels like somehow he should be thinking more, paying more attention to the moment, to Carter and Gloria next to them, but Scott’s world quickly narrows down to nothing but Kip. Panting into his shoulder and whispering unintelligible little things against his skin that Scott knows mean love; claiming him and sharing him with their friends all at the same time.

“Feels amazing,” Scott slurs, which might be the most complex sentence he can currently come up with, with his brain disengaged and his body in overdrive like this. His cock is rubbing against his stomach with every one of Kip’s thrusts, but he barely even feels it, not with Kip hard and perfect inside him.

He’s thrashing his head back and forth, hands balled into fists by his sides and he barely even hears the sounds of Carter groaning and Gloria crying out again next to them, everything drowned out by the way Kip is muttering “so close, you’re perfect, come for me” right by his ear.

It’s always for you, Scott thinks to himself, oddly sentimental given the moment, and shoots all over his stomach.

He just lets himself drift after that, still shivering in aftershocks as Kip comes inside him, then kisses him and showers him with love and praise, and tugs Scott onto his side when he lies down next to him, warm and solid, back against Scott’s chest. Scott feels quiet and content, the way he does when he wants something and gets it and it’s exactly how he imagined. It’s rare. But not so much anymore these days, actually.

He blinks his eyes open and looks at Carter, who is still holding Gloria much the same way and looking a little emotional.

“Oh man,” Carter says, sounding slightly choked, and Gloria twists her head back to look at him.

“Baby,” she says softly. “Are you okay? You’re not even the one who just got railed like that.”

Scott smiles at that, like he always does when Kip’s efforts are recognized (though usually that happens in slightly more academic situations).

“I did spiritually, a little bit. Through the bond of our friendship.”

Kip laughs and Scott shakes his head. Sometimes Carter just says ridiculous things and means them. Like, “hypothetically…” – and then they end up here.

“Speaking of the bonds of friendship between you guys,” Kip says and no one needs him to finish that sentence because it was pretty clear where Eric’s night was headed as well.

“Warms my heart, man. All three of us at the same time? All Stars for real.”

It might be silly, but it kind of warms Scott’s heart, too. They all had such a good night. He’s not going to forget this any time soon.

“But, look, also – I have questions. I have concerns. Like didn’t that hurt? Are you gonna be able to play tomorrow?”

“He’ll be fine,” Kip answers for him, always more patient with these things, always better at the talking, and tilts his head back so he can look up at Scott, his eyes gentle and warm and Scott feels so full of love for him suddenly, one of those moments where it still knocks him off his feet, even after over three years.

After Gloria and Carter have left, Scott pulls Kip into his arms and just kisses him for what feels like hours, and he hopes Kip will understand what he’s trying to say because he couldn’t possibly put it into words; they all feel too old and too small. Everyone says I love you all the time, but no one actually does in the way that Scott loves Kip, he’s absolutely certain.

---

Breakfast the next morning is a bit of a rushed affair, at least for Carter and Gloria who have a flight to the Cayman Islands catch. Their goodbyes are a little more extensive than necessary, but Scott is never going to say no to a hug, Carter leaning into him and squeezing him hard, like he also doesn’t quite know how to say everything he wants to. He does the same with Kip, and Scott would never say it but it’s goddamn adorable how short Kip looks next to Carter, how he tucks his face into Carter’s shoulder.

“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do,” Carter says when he lets go, one hand on Kip’s shoulder and the other one patting Kyle’s.

“Too late, they’re going to a museum this morning,” Eric says dryly.

“Hey, I go to museums,” Carter replies, taking the bait, and Eric gives him a doubtful look. “…to impress my girlfriend, which still counts.”

“Come on, impress me by not missing our flight,” Gloria says with a smile, which is a fair point, and they watch them hurry outside.  

Scott sits through their morning meeting still a little dazed. The coaches take them through the program for the weekend: practice times and warm-ups, the line-up for the big game, the schedule for the skills competition.

He looks over at Eric who just shrugs, not looking overly invested either. They’re going to watch some fresh-faced rookies out-speed them and feel superior about it for just as long as they can until the next batch comes in and takes their records from them in a few years; the natural progression of things.

It doesn’t seem as important as it once was to Scott. They’re here to have fun, to see Kip and Kyle waving at them from the stands, to spend time together as friends. And really, given the events of the night before – who knows what might happen?