The Disney Diaries Part Two: The Triad Arrives

I was waiting until I got a bit farther in this one before posting the next part, but since that seems to be taking forever, here it is now. Thank you to everyone who has reached out and shared their well-wishes. I’m doing better right now.

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Bradley

Justine’s family lived in a big, brick house surrounded by manicured bushes. The neighborhood looked like the kind of place where kids would flock on Halloween for the best candy. The kind of place where the kids who used to call me “trailer trash” grew up.

I parked Brian’s car in their driveway. He unbuckled his seatbelt. “Coming?”

The front door opened and Justine stepped out into the glow of two exterior lights at the top of the steps. She wasn’t alone. A burly man followed her, carrying a suitcase. Unlike her, he had no jacket on. I could see how his biceps bulged. He set the case down on the walkway and turned back into the house to get another. Justine waved towards the car.

“That’s her dad?” I asked.

“Yeah.” Brian looked at me. “He doesn’t know you’re dating her, remember.”

True. I got out of the car and pushed my hands into my pockets on my way up to the door.

Justine hugged her father as he put down the second suitcase. “Thank you, Daddy. We can take them from here.”

Brian grabbed one piece of luggage. “Good evening, Mr. Cameron. This is our friend, Bradley Platt.”

I stayed far enough back not to have to shake hands, and nodded.

“Nice to meet you,” he said, in a Southern drawl that Justine rarely had. His gaze moved back to her. “Now, pumpkin, drive safe and let us know when you get there, alright?”

“We will. It could be after three in the morning, though.”

“That’s fine.” He hugged her again.

A woman’s voice called from inside the house. “Have fun at Disney! Love you!”

“Love you, too, Mama!” Justine shouted back.

Then her father let her go and went to stand in the entryway, watching Brian and I carry the bags to the car. We put them in the trunk with ours. Justine walked around the hood and opened the front passenger-side door.

“Hey, I had shotgun,” said Brian.

She smirked over her shoulder. “Yes, well, I outrank you, Midshipman.”

He rolled his eyes as she got in.

Her father had disappeared by the time Brian was in the back left seat and I was behind the wheel once more. I was glad. That made it easier for me to concentrate on getting the car in motion.

I ran through all the steps Brian had taught me in the Target parking lot. Press the clutch and brake pedals in, turn the ignition, put it in first, move your right foot to the gas, slowly release the clutch while pressing on the gas, and if all goes well…

It jolted forward and stalled.

A groan escaped me. “Sorry,” I mumbled. “I’m still learning the manual transmission.”

Justine smiled over from the passenger seat. “It’s okay. The fact you’re driving it on a road trip so soon is pretty impressive. When I first learned to drive stick, I rolled the car backward down a hill into a fence.”

“This car?” I asked.

Brian snorted. “If it had been this car, she never would’ve driven it again.”

“No, it was my daddy’s Mustang,” said Justine. “He turned the most interesting shade of purple until he saw all the damage was to the fence. Then he just said, ‘Pumpkin, we’re going to get you a nice automatic.’ But I improved with practice.”

“Bradley’s been a quick study.” Brian leaned forward to touch the back of my neck. “You got this, pet. Start again.”

I did. This time, it worked. I sighed with relief as we pulled out onto the road.

Justine waited until her house was no longer visible behind us. Then she kissed my cheek and whispered, “I’ve missed you so much, honey.” Her breath tickled my earlobe.

A moment later, it was her teeth, nibbling at it. I clutched the wheel harder.

“Hey!” Brian took a grip on the base of her ponytail and pulled her away from me. “No making out while Bradley is driving, little girl.” He gave her a kiss himself before pushing her back into her own seat.

She laughed. “That wasn’t making out. That was just saying hello. Right, bunny?”

My face went hot. It seemed like she only called me that when she wanted to draw attention to how turned on I was (very). I glanced at Brian in the rearview mirror and decided it was best not to answer.

*

The highway cut through a section of strip malls before we left Charleston. Brian watched them pass out the side window with heavy-lidded eyes. I was tired, too.

Then Justine yawned, stretched, and dropped her hand right into my lap.

Her fingers danced over my inner thigh while she looked straight ahead. I didn’t stop her. If she wanted to test my concentration, that was her right. I simply continued driving like normal, though my breathing sped up along with my pulse. Brian remained oblivious.

She found the tip of my cock and lightly flicked it. I covered my whimper with a cough. My palms were sweaty now. I wiped the left off on my pant leg. Moving my right arm would look like I was trying to block her, so that one stayed on the wheel. With two fingertips, she rubbed circles on my stiffening shaft. My hips rocked involuntarily.

“Do I need to pull this car over?”

I didn’t jerk the wheel, but it was close.

Justine kept her hand between my legs. “How? Bradley is the one driving it.”

My heart stuttered. I could see Brian’s expression in the mirror—how he narrowed his eyes in the face of her defiance—and it made me harder. Without looking away from her, he growled, “Here’s how: Bradley, pull the car over.”

“Yes, Sir.” I switched on the turn signal.

“Bunny!” Justine protested.

Shrugging helplessly, I replied, “Sir said.”

He smirked at her. “You see, I outrank you in this.”

She finally stopped touching my dick and just pouted as I navigated into an empty bank lot and slowed to a stop the way he’d taught me, shifting into neutral.

“Park it in first and kill the engine,” Brian said. When I’d done that, he tapped Justine’s shoulder. “Back here, little girl.”

“Why?”

He gave no answer other than a stare. The clash of their wills could almost be heard. I think curiosity was what, after several seconds, made her unbuckle and get out. She didn’t look cowed. I twisted in my seat for a better view.

The moment she swung the rear door open, he looped his arm around her neck and yanked her forward. She landed face-down across his lap, with her legs hanging outside. If she’d wanted to, she could’ve gotten away easily. She only wiggled her round, jean-covered bottom.

Brian raised his hand to the car’s roof and swung hard. I winced before it even made contact.

“OUCH! Sir!” Her feet kicked up as she bucked.

I tore my gaze away for a split second to look through the rear windshield. No other vehicles were slowing on the highway.

“Apologize to Bradley.”

She giggled and turned her head to peek up at me. “Why? He was enjoying it, weren’t you, bunny?”

Brian didn’t wait for my answer to swat her again.

“Ooowwww!”

My mouth felt as dry as paper. I had enjoyed it. But I was enjoying this even more. Could that be right? I knew what a real spanking felt like now, and this… well, it wasn’t real. She wouldn’t be grinning if it were. It must truly hurt, though, a lot more than the other one he gave her with me watching. More than the ones he gave me while I sucked him off. Maybe because what she did could’ve been dangerous? But he wasn’t allowed to punish her.

As I tried to make sense of it, he spanked her again, and again.

“Ow, ow! Okay, I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” she said, laughing. “Let me up!”

I was a little surprised she gave in so quickly. Perhaps she feared someone else seeing us.

“No,” Brian said. “Look at Bradley and tell him you’re sorry you were naughty, and if you giggle while you say it, I’ll give you another.”

“Not fair!”

“Want your pants to come down?” His fingers curled under her waistband at the small of her back.

“No, no!” Her face was turned to the upholstery now. I heard her take a deep breath and compose herself. Only then did she look at me. “I’m sorry for being naughty, Bradley.”

“Um, that’s okay,” I said, weakly.

She bit her lip and covered her mouth with her hand as her shoulders trembled.

Brian shook his head. “Don’t encourage her, pet.”

“Sorry, Sir.”

He wrapped his arm around her waist, lifted her up, and scooted her further into the car. Then he unbuckled his seatbelt and slid out from under her legs. “Now you can stay in the back seat, where you’ll keep your hands to yourself, until it’s your turn to drive.”

“Ohhhhh!” she whined.

Brian ignored her and took shotgun again. While she sat up, he reached over the gearshift, squeezed my erection once, and let go, with a wink.

So it was okay to like it.

*

Brian’s fingers stroked my cheek. “Wake up, pet. We’re here.”

Blinking sleepily, I lifted my head off his shoulder and looked around. Street lamps illuminated the parking lot full of cars outside. Other than that, there wasn’t much to see. “Wuh’here?”

“Disney’s Caribbean Beach Resort!” Justine smiled back at me from the driver’s seat. “Our room should be in that building.” She pointed. I could barely make out anything through the trees. “We’re in Aruba! Come on.”

The three of us unloaded the car and wheeled the luggage up a curved path, surrounded by the chittering of insects. No one else was outside this late. The solitude felt intimate. Us, together in the darkness. It really hit me that we were on the first vacation of our relationship.

Justine used her MagicBand to unlock our room. She dropped her bags next to the small round table inside and headed for the bathroom while Brian turned on a lamp. I sat at the edge of one of the king beds and began to untie my shoelaces. The other bed was the only thing I could see. When Justine came to Annapolis for the weekend we did our first scene, we’d all shared a bed because we didn’t have another option. With room to spread out, would they want their space? Even a king-size could be small for three people.

But I had loved feeling them both near as I slept.

Brian took his toothbrush out and went to the sink Justine wasn’t using. “Bradley, come get ready for bed.”

“Yes, sir.” I lined my shoes up by the nightstand before going to unzip my own suitcase.

Then it was easy. He finished first, and when I was done stripping to my underwear, I turned around to find him already shirtless in the nearer bed. He held up the covers and beckoned to me. I obeyed without question. His hand rested on my hip.

Justine took awhile doing whatever it is girls do with their bottles of creams. She stepped out of the bathroom eventually, wearing just a long t-shirt with a drawing of Ariel on the front. “Hey, I want to be in the middle!”

Immediately, I moved away from Brian to give her room. He made a noise not quite like clearing his throat.

“Do you mind?” she asked me.

I shook my head. Afterall, Brian and I got to lay next to each other in our racks every weekend.

She smiled and crawled up the bed between us, and Brian helped her get under the covers. Then he reached over her to pull me closer on the other side. I could smell the apple scent of her stronger than ever. She gave each of us a kiss. As Brian turned off the lamp, I felt her soft curves move with a happy sigh.

Zain

My legs had that day-after-a-marathon stiffness going on. Not too bad, just enough to make descending the deck steps from the cabin a little awkward. I wanted to bound to down them, but I was forced to hold the railing and take each one at a time. Quint felt about the same from what I could see. He wasn’t hobbling, though. The ice bath did its job well.

To save time, we left the van behind and caught the ferry from Fort Wilderness directly to the Magic Kingdom gates. Seb slipped on his acupressure wristbands as we sat down, which kept him from looking green around the gills during the short boat ride. Approaching from the water made it a whole different experience.

“They designed it on purpose so you can’t just drive up,” I said as I watched the kingdom grow on the shoreline ahead. “Isn’t it more magical this way?”

Seb rolled his eyes. “Sure.”

“Where are we starting today?” Quint asked in the row behind us.

I turned slightly towards him. “I figured Adventureland. Opposite side of the park from Tomorrowland where we spent most of our time on Saturday. Our first FastPass is Splash Mountain, which is right next door in Frontierland, so it’ll be easy to get to. Plus, I really want to do the Jungle Cruise at least twice. It was my favorite ride as a kid.”

Theo laughed. “Of course it was.”

“Why ‘of course’?” Seb asked. “What is it?”

Before Theo could answer, I said, “No spoilers, babe.”

He frowned between Theo and me, but Platt chose that moment to text us saying he, Myrick, and Cameron had arrived safely in the middle of the night, and it distracted Seb from questioning further.

The triad wasn’t even out of their hotel room yet. Slowpokes, I wrote. You can sleep in when you’re not at Walt Disney World.

We weren’t sleeping, he replied.

I looked at Seb with my eyebrows raised and a smirk on my lips. “Do you think that means what I think it means?”

“Shut up,” he said, glancing around at the children nearby. Then he texted back, Ignore him. You don’t have to rush. Text us when you get to the park and we’ll decide where to meet.

I filled Quint and Theo in on the conversation as we moved off the ferry onto the dock. Then I sped us all up as much as sore legs would allow. I wanted to get a good spot to watch the brand-new opening ceremony in front of the Castle.

Justine

There’s something to be said for waking between two gorgeous guys. Brian was spooning me from behind, his morning wood pressed to my derrière. Bradley was also on his side, but facing me, his head close and his knees bent so our bodies made almost a diamond shape. I had missed them both so much. I vowed then and there to soak up every moment together on this trip. Starting right away.

I brushed my lips over Bradley’s chin before alighting on his mouth with soft pressure. His lips twitched as he came to and cracked his eyelids apart.

“Mm,” he said. And then, “Mor’in’, m’lady.”

He called me “my lady” even half-dozing. How cute. I blocked more words with kisses, though, rather than answer.

After several seconds, Brian stirred and stretched against my back. I felt the bed dip as he lifted himself up on his elbow, and heard his sleep-scratchy voice ask, “Starting without me?”

Why not? They’d certainly started plenty of things without me over the past few months.

I tried not to feel jealous. It wasn’t their fault I was a year ahead and picked a medical program across the country, while they had each other to touch all the time. The whole purpose of this trip was to address that imbalance. Making out with Bradley alone seemed like a great beginning.

But he pulled away from me and said, “Sorry.”

My spine went straight like a poker. Was Brian always going to outrank me in his eyes? This wasn’t a scene. Or was it because of that other thing between them, the discipline?

Brian sat upright and dragged his hand over his jawline with a groan. “I need coffee.”

“Good idea,” I said. “Can you go get us some from the canteen? Should be along the path around the lake.”

“There’s a coffee maker next to the TV,” Bradley pointed out, also sitting.

“No,” said Brian. “Coffee. Not whatever crap that makes. Yeah, I’ll go.” He swung his legs off the bed. “You two want your usual?”

I nodded, and Bradley said, “Yes, thank you.”

Brian put on some clothes and went out. Then I grabbed the front of Bradley’s shirt and yanked him down for a few more smooches. When I released him, he looked dazed. I made a show of checking the time on the nightstand clock. “Oh, we should get going! I call first shower.”

Rolling over him, I felt his erection pressing through his briefs. A girl could definitely get used to this.

*

I wrapped a damp towel around myself and stepped from the room with the tub and toilet to the separate vanity area. I had already claimed one of the sinks last night. While I squeezed toothpaste onto my brush, Bradley went into the bathroom, clearly trying not to look at my bare skin as he slipped behind me. He’s such a gentleman.

Before he could close the door, I said, “You should use my purple shampoo. Great for blondes.” Not that his hair wasn’t lovely, but he definitely had some brassy notes under the platinum.

His expression was like I’d suggested using a dead fish instead of a loofah.

“What?” I asked.

“It’s for girls,” he said.

Oh, for Pete’s sake. I turned to face him fully and put my hand on my hip. “It’s shampoo. Are you afraid your balls are going to shrivel up and fall off?”

He blinked a few times, then scowled. “No. I didn’t say that.”

I sighed. I forget how defensive he can be sometimes. Honey would work a lot better than vinegar if I wanted him to get over this fragile-masculinity bullshit. And I did. I knew it originated from the same fear of weakness that was holding him back from having sex with Brian. He needed to be comfortable with his softer side.

Stepping closer, I touched his neck just beneath his ear and smiled. “I know you didn’t. Guys use purple shampoo, too, though, and no one else will even know. Will you give it a try just once? For me?”

I could feel him wavering under my fingers as his glower faded. He does so love to please Brian and I. I wasn’t surprised when he said, “Okay.”

“Thank you. Leave it in for a couple minutes while you soap up the rest of your body, and then use conditioner.”

He nodded.

*

When he came out in a towel after his shower, I could already see a difference in the tone of his hair. “Ooh, you look sexy,” I said, pausing in the middle of working a comb through my own wavy locks. “How’d you like it?”

He frowned, but it was more puzzled than disgusted this time, and he sounded a little disappointed as he said, “I thought it would smell like apples.”

I laughed in delight. Brian never comments on my signature scent. I’m half-certain he’s never even consciously noticed it. Trust my subby boy to associate it with me already.

“That’s my body lotion.” I picked up the bottle on the counter and showed it to him. “Want to try some?”

“Um… it probably smells better on you, my lady.”

He was smiling, so I couldn’t be mad. His title for me did spark another idea, though. I tossed the bottle to him. “In that case, you can help me put it on. It’ll save time while I do my makeup.” Letting my towel fall on the floor, I turned back to the mirror and casually ordered, “Start at my neck and work your way down.”

I heard his gulp from two feet away.

“Y–yes, my lady.”

For the next few minutes, his hands moved over me like I was a priceless treasure entrusted to him for safekeeping. He didn’t make any improper advance, either. I had to actually encourage him to reach around and touch my breasts, and he lingered there just long enough to rub the lotion in. As he went lower, he got to his knees and massaged each of my legs in turn. It felt wonderful. I paused my makeup application so I could focus on his touch.

Brian came in then. Bradley jumped and looked around when the door opened, and I put my hand on his head—half to reassure, half to keep him there. We both waited to see what Brian would say.

If he utters one word about us starting without him…

But he took in me, Bradley, and the bottle of lotion, and then put the two paper take-out cups he was carrying down on the table by the door. He walked over to kiss the nape of my neck. Just loud enough for Bradley to hear him, he said, “I’m going to take a shower. He looks good, kneeling for you.”

Bradley ducked his head and leaned closer to my thigh. I grinned. Sometimes Brian surprises me with a streak of emotional intelligence.

Zain

From the moment our boat pulled away from the dock and the skipper, who we learned was named Gabby, told us to wave goodbye to all her biggest fans “turning round and round in the ceiling up there,” I knew I was going to love the Walt Disney World version of the Jungle Cruise just as much as I loved the Disneyland one.

Seb, of course, groaned. “Oh, gods,” he said, under his breath. “What did I let you get me into, Z?”

“Hush! I don’t want to miss the commentary.”

And Skipper Gabby gave awesome commentary. My favorite bit was when we left the Congo section of the ride, she said, “Now, here’s the Nile river, which goes on for niles and niles and niles, and if you don’t believe me, you’re in….”

“Denial!” I shouted, as Seb tried to hide behind Quint’s shoulder and all the other passengers looked at us.

“Africa,” she said. “I like your confidence, though.”

Seb bit his lip and snorted.

The deeper we got into the jungle, the more he lost control of his giggles. He tries to pretend his sense of humor is soooo sophisticated, but I know the truth. He enjoys a cheesy quip just as much as me.

The only joke that didn’t land at first was when Gabby would point to a random animatronic hippo or something, declare it to be the fastest land animal, and say it could run up to sixty miles per hour, only to contradict herself a minute later by saying something else was the fastest and could run up to sixty miles per hour. I didn’t get it until we neared the end.

“Up ahead,” she said, “you will see two docks, that’s the paradox of the Jungle Cruise, and two skippers, which are the pair of dorks. Skipper Tom is on the left. Fun fact: He is the fastest land animal. Yeah, he can run up to sixty… miles… an hour.” She paused. “That was a running joke just for all you marathoners on board today.”

Best ride ever.

*

“Well, that was enlightening,” Quint said outside the exit.

“Enlightening?” Theo asked.

“Yes.” Quint looked at me. “I can see how your parents taking you on the Disneyland version of that ride in your young and impressionable years explains a lot about you.”

I cracked up.

“Oh, yeah,” said Theo, grinning. “All Disney’s fault, clearly. So where are we going next?”

“Can… can we go up the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse?” Seb asked. “It’s right next to us.”

I was so thrilled that he’d taken enough interest to notice and suggest it, I grabbed him around the shoulders as Theo laughed and said, “It’s almost like they designed this section of the park for you two. ‘Put the silly jokes beside the giant, climbable tree! You’ll never get them out of there!’”

Quint smiled. “Of course we can, mon chaton.”

After the Jungle Cruise, I’ll admit the treehouse felt a tad low-key. Maybe I’d’ve appreciated it more if I’d watched the movie. I could tell a lot of work was put into every detail of it, but I didn’t know what anything referenced. Plus, my sore legs protested at all the steps.

Seb enjoyed it, though, and just watching him taking his time to explore a Disney attraction with curiosity sparkling in his eyes, like we were at an art gallery, made it worth it for me.

On the way down the many, many flights of stairs, Theo pulled his phone out and said, “Hey, Pirates of the Caribbean has a short wait. We should do that.”

How could I have almost forgotten Pirates?! With a cry of, “Yes! Let’s go,” I shot past Seb.

But then, a few steps from the ground, my knee didn’t want to bend properly and my foot hit the tread wrong, and my fingers clutched the railing as I sat down hard.

“…Ow.”

“Zain! Are you hurt?!”

I looked up at Seb and his wide, green eyes staring at the hand I’d grabbed onto my ankle with. Quint and Theo were close behind him. “I twisted it a little. I’ll be fine.” To prove that, I used the railing to pull myself back to my feet. The ankle throbbed. I didn’t let the pain show. Seb would blame himself somehow.

“Let me see,” Quint said, crouching in front of me. He made a ring around each of my ankles with his thumb and forefinger, as Theo watched in concern.

“It’s the right one,” I said.

“I’m checking for swelling,” he said. “Can you put weight on it?”

I had been holding onto the railing to avoid doing that. “Yeah,” I said, and let go. The pain throbbed harder, but it was bearable. “See? Just need to walk it off.”

He shook his head. “You should sit down and ice it for at least fifteen minutes.”

By which time, who knew how long the line for Pirates would be, or if we’d be able to fit it in before Splash Mountain. “Nah, I’ll be okay. C’mon.” I limped off towards the Magic Carpets of Aladdin with my jaw clenched.

I got barely a yard when Quint came up beside me and lowered his voice to ask, “Is this the example you want to set for Seb?”

I stopped. When I glanced back, the two Brats were a few steps behind, both looking more puzzled than worried. Seb, especially, is used to me making a huge fuss over any minor injury. That’s the example I want to set. Even in Disney World. Especially in Disney World.

“Damn you, Hanniford.”

His lips twitched. “I’ll get a cup of ice from the nearest restaurant.”

“Yeah,” I said, sighing. Then I spotted a sign on the pagoda ahead of us. “Oh, we can go into the Enchanted Tiki Room while I rest!”

“Good idea,” he said.

As he went to find ice, I explained the change in plan to Seb and Theo. “Sorry that Pirates has to wait.”

“Don’t be,” said Theo.

“It’s more important that you’re okay,” Seb agreed. He offered me his shoulder as support all the way to the pre-show area. When we sat down, though, he made a face.

“What?” I asked.

With a glance towards Theo, he leaned closer and whispered, “More fake tiki. It’s worse than the Polynesian. You’re not bothered by this?”

I smiled. “A little, but you’ve taught me when you analyze art, you have to consider the context, right? The resort and this show were both created during the tiki craze, and the Disneyland version is the first attraction to feature Audio-Animatronics, so it’s an important part of Disney history. Picasso had an African period, didn’t he?”

He frowned for a moment, then sat back. “Yeah, I guess I can look at it that way.”

“Just try to enjoy the silly songs,” I said. “‘Cause you know I’m going to.”

Bradley

I visited Disney World a few times with my mom and dad. Mostly, I remember the excitement of arriving. Walking in with Brian on one side of me and Justine on the other, I got an echo of that.

Justine had us all pose for a photographer on the street leading up to the castle. She bought sequined Minnie Mouse ears from one of the stores to wear for it. Brian refused to buy Mickey ones for himself. I stayed quiet, but if she’d asked, I would’ve.

Then she wanted to shop for a charm to put on the bracelet she was wearing. “It’s my tradition to add a new one to my collection on every visit,” she said. “I can’t leave without it!”

“You can’t get it later, though?” Brian asked. “We have people waiting for us, princess.”

I checked my phone. “Seb says they’re in the line for the pirate ride, and then they have to do Splash Mountain before their FastPass window ends, so we have at least half an hour.”

“Which gives us plenty of time,” Justine said. She led the way to the jewelry store on the corner while Brian sighed.

It took her a while to decide on a charm. Brian and I were covering yawns by the time she found one shaped like a heart with a sparkling Mickey symbol in the center. I helped her take off her bracelet, add the charm, and put it back on as we walked to Liberty Square.

I’d have to ask my mom to be sure, but I think that was my dad’s favorite section. He loved history. He would’ve gotten a kick out of the guy in a colonial costume who was introducing himself as the town crier when we arrived. Then all the Muppets appeared in the windows of one of the buildings and, with his help, told the story of the Declaration of Independence. It was pretty funny. They made even Brian chuckle.

My phone buzzed as it ended. I read the notification and told him and Justine, “Mohyeldin says they’re coming out of Splash Mountain now. They’ll be here in a few.”

“Oh, good,” Justine said. “That gives us enough time for another tradition.” She linked arms with Brian and I and pulled us towards a wooden platform built in the center of the square. A pillory stood on top. It had space for two people to be ‘locked in,’ but the holes were clearly big enough to escape easily.

“Every time we came here when I was growing up, my parents would take my picture in this,” she said. “I’m not saying it led to me developing certain inclinations, but…” She trailed off and grinned. “Will you take my picture, Sir?”

“Yes,” said Brian, unhooking his arm and pushing her ahead with a glint in his eye. “I want Bradley in it too, though.”

I felt my skin go hot. Dumb. It was only a photo prop, not a real piece of bondage equipment. “Okay.”

She stepped onto the platform, went around to the other side, bent slightly, and put her head and hands into the holes. I stayed where I was, trying to work up my nerve. Then Brian’s firm grip wrapped around my elbow. “Come on, pet,” he whispered into my ear as he hustled me forward. “Time to serve your sentence.”

My bones burned and my knees went weak. He dragged me up next to her and moved his palm to the back of my neck, giving only the slightest pressure to make me bend over. Once I was ‘secure,’ he let go and stepped away.

“Hmm,” I heard him say under his breath. “I could really use one of these.”

Through her giggles, Justine said, “Brian, take the picture.”

“What makes you think I’m not?” he asked, deadpan.

“Of our faces!” she said, starting to pull her head out to look at him.

He pushed her down. “Stay.” And then to himself again: “Where’s a paddle when you need one?”

I bit my lip and snorted.

“Brian!”

“Alright, hang on.” He came around in front of us and stepped to the ground, then pulled out his phone. “Say cheese.”

We looked up as much as the wooden boards allowed, and smiled. He took two photos, one close and one farther away. I thought that was the end of it, but as I was about to stand, Mohyeldin appeared. And not far behind him were Seb, Quint, and the one responsible for Quint—and who knows how many other people—finding out about Brian, Justine, and I even though I told him my feelings for them in confidence. Theo.

Seb

Malaise hit me from the moment Zain walked up to Myrick and volunteered to take a photo of him with Bradley and Cameron in the pillory. Something felt chilly. It wasn’t because we’d all gotten a bit wet on Splash Mountain, either. The air was warm enough today. The chill lived in my head, not my body.

Maybe it was Myrick. He accepted Zain’s offer, stepped onto the platform to lean against the center post of the pillory, and crossed his arms with a steely expression, as though he actually were a guard keeping his partners imprisoned. But he always looks that way, and while it makes me avoid attracting his attention, it never inspired this level of anxiety just by being around him.

“Act repentant, you two,” Zain said, holding Myrick’s phone up to frame his shot.

Bradley did a better job of that than Cameron. He hung his head like he really didn’t want to be there, while she just stuck out her bottom lip in an exaggerated pout.

Zain tapped the shutter button twice. “Okay, you can come down now.”

They did, and all three of them started exchanging greetings with us. I still couldn’t put my finger on the source of my uneasiness, until I heard Theo say, “Good to see you again, Brad,” and Bradley reply softly, yet with venom, “Don’t call me that.”

I went motionless as stone. The others didn’t notice. Quint was asking Cameron how she was doing in medical school, and Zain was showing Myrick the photos.

“Jeee-eez,” said Theo. “You don’t have to jump down my throat.”

Bradley turned away from him without answering. Over his head, Theo met my gaze and raised his eyebrows as if to ask, what was that about?

I had no idea. My mind raced with possibilities, though. The nickname might have a very specific meaning to him, like ‘Sebby’ does with me, and he didn’t like Theo using it for that reason. Or he didn’t like it altogether, but his reaction seemed way more hostile than needed in that case. Maybe we just caught him in a bad mood. His texts had sounded normal, which in itself could’ve been a sign. He’d been excited about this trip last week. Where was that now? Did he hit more relationship rough patches?

But Cameron, while still talking to Quint, put her arm around Bradley’s waist and leaned into his side, and his smile for her was adoring.

I glanced at Myrick to see if he shared their happiness, and found him frowning at me. My heart jolted. I dropped my gaze and stepped automatically behind Zain.

Then, thankfully, Myrick looked to Cameron as she turned and addressed all of us.

“I don’t know where you guys were headed next, but we were planning to go on the Haunted Mansion as our first ride.”

“Awesome!” said Zain, bouncing. His ankle was definitely feeling fine now. “We’ll join you!”

Without any further discussion, Theo began to lead the way through the crowd, and the rest followed. My feet, though, stayed where they were as if I’d grown roots. Haunted?

Zain came back a second later and ran his hand down my arm. “Babe?”

I looked over his shoulder to make sure none of the others had turned around. Even so, I could feel my blush. “Is… how scary is it?”

With a reassuring smile, he said, “On a scale of one to ten, with ten being Space Mountain, I would say a four or five. It’s really more goofy than frightening. Think Casper. Or… mmmaaybe Casper’s uncles.” He squeezed my hand. “If you don’t want to go on it, though, habibi, I am totally cool with finding something else to do with you. I can always ride it later.”

I bit my lip. Was he truly as okay as he appeared? Patience is not one of his assets. Then again, he’d made himself slow down enough to ice his ankle. I don’t know what Quint said to him, but I know he couldn’t have forced Zain to delay going on Pirates unless Zain wanted to.

And if I said I was too afraid for the Haunted Mansion, he would want to stay with me. He’d be fine with setting aside a piece of his childhood dreams for my sake. That’s why I would never ask it of him.

“No,” I said, shaking my head. “If it’s only a four, I’ll go.”

“You’re sure?” he asked. His brown eyes were warm as melted chocolate. “There is this one jumpscare at the beginning in the stretching room. The lights go out and there’s a thunderclap and a scream, and if you look up, you can see a fake body hanging overhead. Guests sometimes scream, too.”

I hate jumpscares. If I knew it was coming, it couldn’t be too bad, though, could it? “There aren’t any other moments like that?”

“Nope. The rest is just creepy and goofy.”

“Then let’s go,” I said, determined.

He looked at me a moment more before kissing my cheek. “Okay.”

We caught up with the rest of the group in the queue area. They were gathered around a large crypt carved with images of musical instruments, letting everyone else pass.

“There you guys are,” said Theo as we came up. He didn’t ask where we’d been, though, just said, “Watch!” and touched the carving of a horn. It played music. “Isn’t that cool?”

“Yeah,” said Zain. He pressed on the harp. More notes came from the other side, where Bradley, Myrick, and Cameron were running their fingers over weird-looking instruments.

After another minute or so of playing with them, Quint ushered us forward. He also passed around a small bottle of hand sanitizer, saying, “Use this, please, all of you. That thing must be coated with pathogens.”

Theo rolled his eyes at Bradley. “Be warned, this is your future. Becoming a doctor makes them think they can see germs.”

“I said ‘must be,’ not ‘is,’” Quint pointed out.

Bradley turned away and followed Myrick into the mansion without replying to either of them. I frowned. He’d been fine until Theo spoke to him.

Standing inside the doorway was a woman in a green, striped maid’s uniform, who directed us into an octagonal room with cartoonish portraits hanging on four walls. “Kindly drag your wretched bodies into the dead center of the room,” she said.

I shot Zain a suspicious look. “Is this going to be punny?”

“Not nearly as much as the Jungle Cruise,” he said, grinning. “This is the stretching room, by the way.”

“Why is it named that?” I asked.

“You’ll see. Shhhh.”

I fell quiet as a male voice boomed from a speaker somewhere. Or maybe several speakers. It flitted around us. “Welcome, foolish mortals, to the Haunted Mansion. I am your host. Your ghost host.”

While he continued to speak, the room grew taller. I couldn’t tell if the ceiling was going up or the floor was going down. The frame for each portrait elongated, revealing macabre details that had been hidden before. I spun slowly to see them all. Zain stayed behind me with his hands on my hips. “Jumpscare,” he whispered into my ear, “in three… two… one…”

It was exactly as he’d described. I still jumped.

Bradley

One of my rules is about not being mean. I’ve gotten better at biting my tongue when I want to say something nasty. Brian hasn’t put hot sauce on it once since that first time. Having Theo around was testing me, though. If I confronted him or told his Top about what he did, I wouldn’t be able to help myself from spitting vitriol. Then I’d get in trouble too. I decided it was best to ignore him. Eventually, he’d stop pretending like we were friends or some shit.

I stayed close to Justine and Brian inside the Haunted Mansion stretching room and the short line to get onto the ride itself. One of the Disney employees, a guy dressed as a butler, strolled along the moving walkway next to the vehicles, gloomily intoning, “No more than three people to a doom buggy. That includes your children, because whether you like it or not, they are people too.”

Justine snickered. I was just happy they allowed three, so we wouldn’t be separated. All the better when I got the middle spot and spent the ride with their thighs and shoulders pressed against mine. It made it easy to forget Theo was around.

In the hallway leading to the exit, Mohyeldin asked, “So you liked it, babe?”

“Yeah,” said Seb. “The effects were very creative.”

“I knew you’d get into the art again,” Mohyeldin replied. “Oh, speaking of which, we haven’t gone on It’s a Small World yet! I think it’s right around the corner, too.”

Brian looked back at him with his eyebrows up. “You’ll sing the song all day.”

“I mean….” Mohyeldin smirked. “That’s true whether we go or not…”

“And I love It’s a Small World,” said Justine.

“Really?” Theo asked. “It’s so annoying.”

I wanted to tell him he could piss off, in that case. Quint spoke first. “Be that as it may, I don’t think my first visit to Disney World could be complete without riding it. You can wait outside the entrance if you wish, angel.”

Theo sighed. “No, I’ll go.”

Like it was some huge inconvenience. Why was he even here?

At least when we got on the boat and started winding through all the colorful rooms, and Mohyeldin swayed himself and Seb back and forth to the music, Theo joined in with the rest of us.

*

After, Brian suggested the Seven Dwarfs roller coaster. That one was new since I’d been a kid. We walked past a section of it that wound around outdoors, and it looked cool. But the sign over the entrance had a wait time of eighty minutes.

“That’s actually not bad, from what I’ve experienced,” said Justine. “Do we want to brave it?”

I glanced around to see everyone’s reactions. Seb’s skin had an ashen tone. “Are you okay?”

He nodded quickly. “I just need to test.”

I almost asked, ‘test what?’ Then I remembered his diabetes. He doesn’t talk about it much in our emails.

Mohyeldin went with him a few feet away to lean against the low stone wall surrounding the coaster. Seb turned his back to the crowds of guests as he took a tube thing out of his bag. I couldn’t see what he did with it.

Mohyeldin’s expression was calm. Quint, the doctor, didn’t seem all that concerned either. Justine looked curious. She had no idea about Seb’s illness, I realized. So I said, “Blood sugar test, I think. He has diabetes.”

“Ohhh,” she said, and everyone glanced at Seb and Mohyeldin again.

Except Theo. Out of nowhere, he glared at me like I’d purposely stepped on his foot. My own face snapped into a scowl aimed right back at him. He shook his head after a second and looked away.

What was that about?

“He’s okay, isn’t he?” asked Brian, still frowning towards Seb.

“Yes,” said Quint. “He may need to have a snack, but he’ll be fine. Speaking of food, where are you three planning to eat lunch? We have a reservation at Be Our Guest.”

“So do we!” said Justine. “Lucked into it at the last minute. What time is yours?”

They kept talking. Between their voices, I could hear snatches of words from Mohyeldin: “If you don’t want… Peter Pan… same wait time.”

Seb watched a mine train whizz by on the other side of the wall. His shoulders moved like he was taking a deep breath. He said something that got lost under the screams of the passengers. Mohyeldin nodded, and the two of them walked back over. Seb had a single-serve applesauce pouch in his hand now.

“Ready to get in line?” Mohyeldin asked us.

*

I guess the applesauce was enough of a snack. Seb sucked it all out of the pouch as we waited in the first section of the queue, and just minutes later, his skin was its normal color.

“That thing is adorable,” Justine said, craning to get a better view of the cottage set back behind some trees and grass on one side of the line. “So well done, too. Like they pulled it straight out of the movie and plonked it down. It makes me feel like I’m Snow White.” She glanced around and grinned. “Oh, and look! I have six of my seven dwarfs here!”

Immediately, Mohyeldin shot his hand high in the air. “I call Dopey!”

We all laughed. Justine asked, “Okay, so who are the rest of you guys?”

“I think I have to be Doc,” said Quint.

Grabbing Seb around the waist in a half-hug, Mohyeldin said, “And my habibi here is Bashful.” He kissed his neck. Seb tried to push him off even as he blushed.

“Who does that leave?” asked Theo. “Grumpy, Sneezy, Sleepy…”

Justine smiled at me, and I felt the warm glow of it inside. “And Happy. I think Bradley should get him.”

Theo blinked. “Sure. Um… I guess Sleepy fits me, especially on this trip. I am not used to waking up before eight every day.”

Figures he’d be a lazy slacker.

“So my choices are Grumpy or Sneezy?”

The rest of us turned to Brian. His thick eyebrows were lowered.

“I agree, that’s not much of a choice,” said Mohyeldin. He reached out and clapped Brian’s shoulder. “You’re clearly Grumpy.”

Brian gave him a flat stare as most of us cracked up. All except Seb. Seb dropped his gaze to the ground and bit his lip as if he was nervous. Of what?

Seb

This coaster wasn’t like Space Mountain. The queue had more stuff to do, and Zain kept me occupied with all of it. Putting my hands into streams of water that lit up in different colors and played chimes rooted me in reality like an oak. I was able to see the coaster’s track outside, too. Although it took several hairpin turns, there were no high drops or inversions. My nerves were small, fluttering wings, not the hoofbeats of a wild horse stampede they’d been for Space Mountain.

Whatever was going on with Bradley and Theo also helped distract, in a less pleasant way. The energy between them thrummed with tension from some unknown source, just subtle enough that I could tell no one else had picked it up. I hated it. Piled on top of that, Myrick’s stony-eyed gaze seemed to land on me far more than it should’ve.

So when it finally came time to climb into the mine cart next to Zain, it was almost a welcome relief.

Then I saw the Audio-Animatronic dwarfs, each one so vividly expressive it was a drawing come to life again. Did the original artists ever dare dream of their work being transformed this way? They made the screaming part of the coaster worth it.

After, we wandered into Tomorrowland again. I was no more fond of its aesthetics than the first time, but Zain had challenged everyone else to beat his high score on Buzz Lightyear, and I’ve learned military folk can’t resist a contest.

“Oh, did I mention,” said Cameron as we neared the entrance, “that this is one of my favorite rides and I know all the best targets?”

Zain was undaunted. “Yeah, well, don’t tell me what they are, because I don’t need your years of experience. I’m gonna be a Galactic Hero on my second ride-through, using pure skill.”

Sighing, I asked, “Being my hero isn’t enough for you?”

“Awwww.” He paused to cup my cheek and look deeply into my eyes for a moment. “No, it’s not.”

His whoop when he maxed out the score could be heard loud and clear over the cacophony. In the end, we all had a blast despite the crazy competitiveness. One glance at the ride photos taken of us showed that. Even Myrick had a satisfied smirk on his face as he sighted along the barrel of his raygun.

*

Theo and Bradley said nothing to each other through lunch. I couldn’t tell if they were deliberately putting up a wall or were both too absorbed in the theming of the restaurant to pay attention to anything else. All of us found it hard to stop looking around at the interior of the Beast’s castle long enough to eat.

We sat in a room that was clearly part of the forbidden wing, draped in cobwebs and dust, with the enchanted rose glowing in the dark window and the destroyed portrait of the prince hung on the wall above the fireplace, half-covered in torn brocade curtains. Sound and light effects created a thunderstorm outside.

Just after the waitress brought our food, there was one loud crack of thunder with a flash of brightness, and the portrait flickered into the snarling face of the Beast. I gasped. The others all looked at me.

“What’s wrong?” demanded Myrick.

“N–nothing.” I felt silly. The portrait showed the human prince again now. It was only a clever trick, like everything else Disney did. But for a split second, I’d forgotten and believed in the magic.

Theo

Platt inhaled two cupcakes after his sandwich. All his sweetness must’ve been contained in a single tooth.

I had no idea what made him decide to hate me, and I wasn’t planning to waste any time or energy on finding out. If he didn’t want to be friends, why bother? So I was glad that we split into two groups again for the afternoon. The triad went off to explore parts of the park we’d already covered, while Zain, Seb, Quint, and I took a slow tour of Fantasyland.

In the circus area, we met Mickey and Minnie. They didn’t talk here. Seb looked more relaxed with that setup, but he still let Zain hog most of the interaction time showing off his and Quint’s marathon medals.

Then we went back to Main Street to watch the big afternoon parade. My favorite part was actually before, when a barbershop quartet made their way down the center of the street keeping the waiting crowds entertained. They were incredibly talented and way better than the music during the parade. I did love the steampunk dragon float that breathed real fire, though.

We used the hours between the parade and dinner at Cinderella’s Castle to squeeze in a few more rides. Zain and Seb decided to go on Peter Pan one more time. While they were doing that, Quint and I rode the only roller coaster we hadn’t hit yet: Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. Quint’s idea. Who knew he was such a thrill-seeker?

I was the one who suggested the riverboat. It looked like something straight out of Huckleberry Finn, and the view of Tom Sawyer’s Island on the other bank only increased that impression. We stood at the aft railing, and Quint’s hand slid into mine. I was surprised. He’s not big on public displays of affection, even subtle ones. I guess the romantic, lazy atmosphere of watching the river slip by brought it out of him.

Justine

Darkness filled the sky as we left Liberty Tree Tavern. I walked a step ahead of Brian and Bradley. “Hurry up, guys. We have to stake out a good spot to watch Wishes.”

Brian stretched his arms overhead and yawned. “We’ll get a spot. Don’t worry.”

“A good spot,” I said. There was no point in watching if the view was obstructed.

My favorite place, by Casey’s Corner restaurant, was already crowded when we arrived. But a few feet of curb lay unclaimed between a family of four and a trash can. I examined the ground for spilled sodas before taking a seat. We had half an hour still until the fireworks began.

As Brian sat down beside me, I smiled up at Bradley. “Honey, go get us some popcorn. There should be carts nearby.”

He nodded readily and weaved off between people.

Brian watched him go, then looked at me. “Enjoying giving him orders?”

I snorted. “Oh, like you don’t. And he likes it too, you know he does. He has a born inclination to serve. Who am I to deny that?”

“Mm. Just remember to reward him, too.”

I wanted to bristle. Of course I would reward Bradley! Any idiot could see he wasn’t the kind of sub that craves cruel treatment and being ignored. He needs a firm, yet loving, touch. Sometimes I think Brian forgets I’ve taken a dominant role before.

His dominance fills him up, though. I would never say it’s stronger than mine, but I can admit it’s a more prevalent part of his nature. Unnecessary protectiveness is standard. I bit down on my annoyance and said, “I will.” Then I changed the subject. “Are you enjoying the vacation?”

He blinked. “Yes, why?”

I shrugged so my shoulder nudged his and teased, “You could try showing it more. Maybe cracking a smile.”

“I’ve smiled,” he protested.

“When you don’t think anyone’s looking at you.”

Not quite true, but true enough. The only time I saw him smile towards Bradley was when Bradley hit the furthest target in the Frontierland Shootin’ Arcade.

Brian’s dark eyes dropped to the pavement for a moment as a crease appeared between them. Playfully, I poked the wrinkle-line. “Oh, don’t be a broody bear. We know you aren’t prone to wearing your heart on your sleeve. Neither of us mind.”

“Mm,” he said again, then took out his phone. I watched him text where we were to Mohyeldin. A few moments later, Bradley returned with a bucket of popcorn and a drink big enough to share. Brian tipped his head up and curved his lips warmly. “Thank you, pet. Sit down.” He patted the curb on his other side.

“Wait,” I said. “Come here first.” I gestured until he bent to offer the bucket. Ignoring it, I grabbed the back of his neck and pecked a kiss on his mouth. He went pink as I let go. “That was your reward.”

“Thanks,” he murmured, sitting where Brian had directed.

Brian took the bucket to hold in his lap. “The others are coming to meet us in a few.”

Bradley nodded. I leaned against Brian’s side, my arm snaking behind him to brush Bradley’s ass and make him start. No one was paying attention to us. The middle of a large crowd is sometimes the most inconspicuous place.

We sat, munching on popcorn, until the two couples showed up. Then we had to stand so there was room for everyone in our small patch of ground, but it wasn’t long before a voice over the PA system announced the beginning of the show.

As the sky lit up with colorful explosions, I stood sandwiched between my men and got the same feeling I’d had when I first watched Wishes at ten years old. The future was bright, and anything was possible.

*

About half the people headed straight towards the exit once the fireworks ended. The park was closing. Mohyeldin, though, called over the din of voices, “Into the shops! They stay open for another hour.”

Man after my own heart.

All the little storefronts beyond Casey’s Corner are actually connected into one extended emporium that runs the length of Main Street. We ducked through the nearest door and the noise quieted enough for us to hear each other without shouting.

“Not sure what you guys are planning, but I want to be the last one to leave,” said Mohyeldin. “You get the best pictures that way.”

I grinned. “Sounds good to me. Meet back here in fifty minutes?”

They all agreed, so we spread out among the racks and tables of souvenirs to browse. First on my list was a Dooney & Bourke bag. On the way to find them, though, I spotted a men’s t-shirt with Grumpy’s face and the words “Not Just A Mood, It’s a Lifestyle”. I had to get that for Brian. He’d spank me for sure.

I was taking it to a register when I saw Bradley. He stood in front of a wall of Mickey ear headbands. I watched him pick up a pair, hold it for a few seconds with his bottom lip caught between his teeth, and then put it back and walk away. Hmm.

Quickly, I grabbed the headband. A plush Stitch hat sat on the shelf next to it. I got one of those on a whim, too, and piled them all on the counter. “Hi there!” I said to the cashier. “Can I have two bags for these? They’re gifts, and I want to hide them.”

“Sure,” he said.

Once they were safely tucked away, I spent a long time looking at the Dooney & Bourke section, but I couldn’t decide on a design. Oh well. I’d have plenty of time to shop before our trip ended. I went to find the guys.

Every last one of them was gathered in kitchenwares, examining dishes. As I walked up, though, Mohyeldin went, “Oh, check this out!” and abandoned the Goofy mug he held in favor of a spatula. It had a bamboo handle and a thick silicone business end in the shape of Mickey’s unmistakable white glove. He smacked it against his palm and grinned at Seb. “What d’ya think, babe?”

Seb glanced over, flushed, and then glared at him. “Not if you want to survive this trip.”

“But it’d be so handy!” Mohyeldin said. “Get it?”

His fiancé crossed his arms. “I will for serious strangle you in this shop.”

Mohyeldin sighed. “Fiiiinne. Does anyone else want this excellent implem– I mean, utensil?” He waved it in the air. “Myrick? Quint?”

My eyebrows went up. Was he implying Quint was kinky? I could not imagine a less likely person.

Or maybe he and Theo just practiced discipline. That made more sense.

Whatever the case, Quint smiled and shook his head. Brian turned it down, too, saying, “That’s weird, man. It’s Mickey.”

“I’ll take it,” I said, reaching over to pluck it from his fingers. “It’ll be perfect for making cookies.” And painting Bradley’s tush pink.

Mohyeldin laughed and winked at me before going back to the mugs.

When none of them were paying attention, I picked up a second spatula. It wasn’t right for Mohyeldin not to have one, too.

*

“Ooooohhhh, my feet ache!” I moaned, collapsing backwards onto the nearest bed in our hotel room with my lower legs dangling over the edge.

Brian put his hand on my knee and bent over me to smirk. “Med school making you soft, Ensign?”

I flipped a lazy bird at him.

“Careful, little girl,” he said softly. “I’ll christen that spatula on you.”

“Tomorrow,” I replied. “I’m too tired tonight.” I turned my head to see Bradley watching us with arousal in his eyes. That gave me a wonderful idea. “Bunny.” I pushed up onto my elbows as Brian straightened. “Know what I would really love before bed? A foot rub.”

His throat worked as he swallowed. “It’d be my pleasure, my lady. Would… would you like one too, Sir?”

The hesitation was so sweet. He needn’t have worried, though. Brian tilted his head and studied him a moment, then sat next to me. “Yes, I would.”

“Wet a washcloth with cool water,” I instructed. “Then come back here.”

He did more than obey. On the way back over to us, he put the washcloth in his mouth and dropped to a crawl. I watched with a delighted smile. His technique was pretty, if a little unpracticed. That could be changed.

“We should get him knee pads,” Brian murmured in my ear.

I nodded. Leaning behind Brian, I picked up one of the pillows and dropped it in front of us to give Bradley a cushion. He settled onto it but kept his head bowed. Together, Brian and I reached down and touched his chin so he looked up with the washcloth still held between his teeth like a gag. His eyes were nervous. They seemed to ask, Did I do this right?

“You look good,” I said. “Kneeling for us.”

The corners of his lips curved up.

Quint

“So, did you enjoy seeing the cinema classics of your childhood brought to life?” Theo asked me after we exited The Great Movie Ride and stood in front of the Chinese Theater at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, discovering the handprints left by various celebrities in the concrete.

I frowned at him. “Alien and Raiders of the Lost Ark, classics? I suppose you could call them that, but I wouldn’t go so far as to put them on the same level as something like 2001: A Space Odyssey.”

“I meant The Wizard of Oz,” he said, clearly holding back a grin. “That came out when you were a kid, right?”

From my other side, Zain snorted, and I glanced over to see Seb covering his own mouth. I decided to play along. In a deadpan, I replied, “Oh, yes, I was the OG friend of Dorothy.”

All three of them burst into laughter. “Did– did you just use the term ‘the OG’?” Zain asked. “Correctly?”

I suppressed my desire to raise an eyebrow. “Believe it or not, pediatric doctors do tend to learn current slang from our patients. Even those of us supposedly born in the 1930s.”

“We know,” Theo said, still laughing a bit. “But that was… incongruous.”

I shook my head fondly. Let them all have their fun implying I’m old and staid. It didn’t bother me much, especially today. Perhaps it was because I’d woken to find my legs recovering surprisingly fast just 48 hours after the marathon, or perhaps it was the general atmosphere of the theme parks. I felt as if I’d taken a step back to my prime years.

“Speaking of my actual childhood,” I said when they’d calmed down, “I would love to see the Muppet attraction next, if no one minds.”

“Of course we don’t,” said Seb. “Let’s go find it.”

That proved to be fairly easy. There weren’t many options for getting lost. The construction going on in Hollywood Studios was extensive, with large sections of the park blocked off behind blue walls painted with phrases such as, Please pardon our pixie dust!

“They’ll have finished building everything when we’re here for our honeymoon,” Zain told Seb as we ran across yet another of these barriers. “It’ll be so cool to see Toy Story land and Star Wars land complete, won’t it?”

Seb rolled his eyes. “Or we can come to see them some other time, not for our honeymoon.”

If I were prone to gamble, I would not bet on Zain losing this particular debate. He knew, though, how to pick his battles, and he dropped the subject temporarily.

*

The Muppets’ show was delightful. I had wondered if it would feel dated for Seb and Zain, but they came out of it smiling as much as Theo and I did. Then Theo spotted a restaurant around the corner.

“PizzeRizzo! Anyone else hungry?”

It was a very well-executed replica of an old-fashioned New York pizzeria, clearly meant to be owned by Rizzo the Rat. I wouldn’t mind looking around inside. Having a meal, though, was another story. “It’s only ten o’clock, angel,” I said, “and Zain, didn’t you mention something about a place here you wanted to try?”

“The 50’s Prime-Time Café,” Zain said, his eyes lighting up with excitement. “It’s so cool, squirt. The whole place looks like you’re eating in the kitchen of a house from the 50’s, and the wait staff is in character as your ‘aunts’ and ‘uncles’. They scold you for putting your elbows on the table and stuff.”

“Yeah, okay.” Theo gestured to PizzeRizzo. “But does it have pizza?”

Zain laughed. “No, I don’t think so. But we’re only in Hollywood Studios for half a day. We can get pizza somewhere else, can’t we?”

Casting another longing glance towards the restaurant, Theo said, “Okay, let’s put it to a vote. Who wants to have lunch here?” He raised his hand.

After a moment, Seb did as well.

“Babe,” Zain said, with a small pout on his lips.

Seb dropped his arm again, ducked his head, and fiddled with his alert bracelet. “Sorry, I just, um, don’t want to be scolded while I eat.”

Zain grinned. “Don’t worry. I’ll be so badly-behaved, they won’t even notice you.”

I rather wanted to see that. Since we had no one to act as a tiebreaker on the vote, I proposed another solution. “Angel, what if we have a snack here now and a late lunch at the other place?”

Slowly, as if he wasn’t sure I’d heard my own words, he asked, “You’re going to let me have pizza as a snack?”

“We are on vacation,” I said with a smile. “Consider it a one-time-only deal.”

He agreed to it straightaway, of course.

*

After splitting a personal-pan cheese pizza between the four of us, we reconvened outside, in a fairly deserted area between a gift shop and another construction barrier. Zain checked the map on his phone. “Okay, our FastPass window for Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster is starting. It looks like the Beauty and The Beast stage show is right near it, so Seb and I can see that while you guys ride, and then you come out, rejoin Seb, and I’ll go on alone while you three–”

“Wait,” Seb interrupted. “I want to ride.”

Theo and I exchanged a glance.

“Uhhhhhh, no you don’t,” said Zain, laughing a little. “This thing is like Space Mountain’s bigger, badder cousin.”

Standing near Seb as I was, I could hear his breath pick up. He crossed his arms low over his stomach and scuffed a foot on the ground. “I got through that one. I won’t dissociate this time, I promise.”

Zain craned his head back and looked all around us. As if to himself, he said, “Huh, that’s weird. It looks like an amusement park, not boot camp. Almost like the point is to have fun…”

Theo stepped closer to Seb’s side, aligning himself with the other Brat. “If Seb wants to cure his fear of roller coasters, what’s the big deal?”

I, however, was remembering how pale and shaky Seb appeared as we exited Space Mountain. He had handled the Mine Train much better, yes, but it was far less intense. “I’m not sure subjecting himself to that level of stress is necessary.”

“Exactly,” said Zain. “Also, he doesn’t actually want to cure it.”

Seb scowled at us all. “This is stressing me out, too.”

“What is, mon chaton?” I asked.

“Knowing I’m disrupting everyone’s vacation.”

My eyebrow rose. Disrupting?

Zain grinned. “Well, that stress we can cure.” He walked directly at Seb with a purpose. Theo backed out of the way, and Zain caught his fiancé’s arm and continued on without pause, pulling Seb with him into an alcove.

I turned to check for anyone else nearby. All the other guests exiting the restaurant and shop were headed back to the main area of the park, thankfully. I am not sure what I would have done to block them from stumbling on an awkward scene.

We heard approximately a half-dozen swats, perhaps a few more. Theo winced. “Ouch.”

“He’ll feel better for it, angel.”

“I know, but.” Shrugging, he glanced over his shoulder as the distant sound died off. “Good, they’re coming back.”

I looked as well. Seb was a half-step after Zain, his face bright pink. Their hands were tightly entwined. Something about the air between them had changed—settled and smoothed—in a way I could recognize from my own relationship. I offered Seb an understanding smile. One corner of his lips curved up in response, even as he moved further behind Zain, who came to a stop in front of us.

“Okay, so we’ll be watching Beauty and The Beast while you guys are on the coaster,” said Zain.

This time, Seb didn’t argue.

*

I believe Theo enjoyed the queue and the pre-show more than the ride itself. It started outside with a prodigious red Fender guitar whose strings extended beyond the neck in swoops and curves that hinted at what we could expect inside. Once entering the building, we were transported to a faux recording studio, all part of the imaginative storytelling that went with every Disney attraction. Glass cases held various pieces of audio equipment and instruments, all labeled by plaques. I watched my angel read each with excitement glowing in his eyes, especially at a Les Paul that looked rather similar to the one I gifted him on his last birthday.

Finally, we stood in an area cleverly designed to seem as if it was the vocal booth, looking into the control room beyond, where Aerosmith appeared in a short skit explaining the rest of the backstory. Then we had to hurry to our “stretch limo” to make it to their concert.

It was truly a wild ride. We careened around, under, and above road signs at high speed. When it seemed as if we were going to hit one, Theo grabbed my hand. I squeezed his fingers, and as soon as we came to a stop, I asked, “Are you alright?”

“Yeah,” he said, grinning. “That was great. Would’ve been much better if you could hear the music over the roller coaster. But it was still cool.”

“It was,” I agreed.

I had a difficult time removing him from the gift shop. In fact, I completely failed to do so. “Angel, Seb and Zain are waiting for us,” I said as he sidestepped the exit once again to pick up a cartoonish, oversized top hat with flames rising from the brim.

“You can go meet them.” He put it on and checked his reflection in a mirror nearby. “I’ll stay here until Zain comes out.”

I smiled at the picture he made. “Alright. Don’t spend all of your money in one place, though. You might regret it later.”

Zain laughed when I found him and Seb on a bench in front of a sign showing Beauty and The Beast. “Squirt’s still in there, isn’t he? I figured it might be his favorite. Okay, meet you guys back here.” He jumped up and went off, weaving through a large family wearing matching t-shirts.

I looked down at Seb. “Would you like to see another show while we wait, mon chaton? Frozen, or The Little Mermaid?”

My practiced eye caught his fingers going to the charm on his medical alert bracelet, although he pulled them away a moment later as he said, “Actually, could just we walk around? My sugars…”

He had been mostly stationary since the pizza, I remembered. “Of course.”

We strolled along the street that, on Sunday, had been divided in half with the runners on one side and spectators on the other. I smiled, recalling how the cheering of strangers had buoyed my exhausted body. “I believe they named this section Sunset Boulevard. Does it resemble Los Angeles? I’ve never been there.”

Seb looked around at the buildings and the palm trees rising overhead, then scrunched his nose. “About as much as the Muppets area resembled New York, I guess. Everything is too clean, too perfect. Even the stuff that’s made to look dirty.”

I could see what he meant about the unnatural lack of grime, yet I wasn’t sure why that should be a bad thing. Trying to understand, I said, “You’d prefer the dirt.”

He shook his head, though. “I know why they have to keep it nice for paying guests. I just… want an authentic experience of a place, without skipping over the inconvenient or uncomfortable elements. This is fake. It’s cheating.”

His choice of words surprised me. “Cheating” implied something morally wrong, not simply unpleasant or tacky. I began to wonder if he was enjoying himself on this vacation at all. Had he been pulling one long Good Boy Act since we got on the plane?

At that moment, he caught sight of me from the corner of his eye and halted mid-step. Confusion and alarm could be read all over on his face, plain as day. “What?”

No, I thought. He hasn’t hidden his emotions to that degree. Zain would have noticed it sooner, too. I consciously softened my expression and kept walking, before we held up everyone behind us. “Nothing, mon chaton.”

However, the notion that he wasn’t allowing himself to take as much delight in the trip as we were pained me. Perhaps a shift in perspective would help. I turned over his words in my mind, framing my counterargument. Then I said, “It is an authentic experience, isn’t it? Not of Hollywood, but of an amusement park. That comes with its own inconveniences and uncomfortable elements, such as waiting in line. No one here is fooled into thinking they’re truly in Los Angeles.”

Seb looked around at the rivers of people flowing up and down the street, eating food and posing for pictures with their companions. Many of them wore Disney-themed clothing. Almost all had Magic Bands around their wrists. “I guess,” he said.

We had reached the end of the boulevard. Seb turned towards the Chinese Theater. I walked beside him in silence for several seconds, trying not to be as obvious, this time, in my observation of him. He seemed far from convinced by my reasoning.

“Perhaps there’s value in encouraging people to escape the real world, for a few days, and believe magic is real,” I suggested. Then I hesitated a moment. Seb has never explained his spirituality in great detail. “I don’t wish to pry. If you would rather not answer or feel the question is offensive, let me know, but you do believe in magic in other areas, don’t you?”

He glanced at me, then opened his mouth without speaking, as if he was searching for the correct words. Slowly, he said, “I believe in rituals and energies and intentions that operate through powerful means that science maybe won’t ever explain. But not in… fairy-tale magic. Not outside of books.”

I smiled, and he worried at the strap of his bag crossing his body. His face was flushed.

“I know it sounds silly–”

“I didn’t say that, Seb,” I interrupted before he could put more words into my mouth. “I was actually remembering a period of my childhood when I very much believed in fairy-tale magic. In fact, I had proof of its existence.”

He frowned. “How?”

“It happened during a summer vacation from boarding school. I was around her age,” I said, nodding to a girl licking an ice cream bar as we passed. “I had a set of two books filled with fairy tales, each one beautifully illustrated. The covers were nearly identical, though, and somehow, even while reading from both frequently, I went years without seeing the pair together. Therefore, I was under the impression it was a single volume.

“Then one day, I wanted to revisit a favorite tale, and it simply was not in the book. I knew it had been there. I’d read it many times. I checked the entire table of contents. I flipped through every page, searching for the illustration that went along with the story, in case I had forgotten the correct title. But it wasn’t anywhere. So, within an hour, I became convinced I owned a magical book that could change its text.”

“You did?” he asked, staring at me. “Did you tell anyone?”

I chuckled. “No. I hid it under my bed. I knew no one would believe me, and anyway, things like that are better if they’re kept secret.”

“How long did it take you to find out the truth? Weren’t you crushed?” His eyebrows drew together in worry for my younger self.

“Perhaps a week, and…” I shrugged. “I won’t deny some disappointment; however, I was also glad I’d had the opportunity to experience the wonder I felt in that brief period. When you’re able to believe that magical things happen, it makes the world a hundred times more beautiful. It allows you to truly trust that nothing is impossible.”

We stopped at last, directly in front of the Chinese Theater where we had begun the day. Seb studied its facade as if his mind was a million miles beyond it. “You think Disney World can do that for people?”

“When they have the right attitude and an open mind,” I said. A bit pointedly, I will admit. I wasn’t sure I had been successful in my aim of letting him set aside his reservations. However, he did stay thoughtfully quiet until Zain and Theo rejoined us.

From that point, the list of things available to do in Hollywood Studios rapidly neared its end. As we left the Indiana Jones stunt show, Theo said, “I think we can fit in Tower of Terror before lunch.”

“Babe, you’re–”

“Not going to like it, I know,” Seb cut in. “But if you three split up, it’ll take too much time.”

I thought he was about to insist on riding it for our sakes, and was preparing to back Zain up if needed. To my surprise, he said no such thing.

“You all go together. I want to ride the Toy Story one again. I like the effects they did to make you feel small.”

Zain gave him a proud smile and a kiss on the cheek before we separated.

*

“Are you getting flashbacks to when you were a kid in the 50s?” Theo asked.

“This morning, you were claiming I was born in the 30s,” I pointed out as I settled back on the mid-century modern sofa where we had been directed to wait for our table. “I suppose the 50s are an improvement on that.”

“I would’ve loved growing up in a house like this,” Zain said. “Look, that old TV is playing vintage Mickey Mouse Club!”

A few feet away, Seb was examining the knick-knacks set on a bookshelf. They had done a stellar job with the theming in the restaurant, as usual. The entire lounge area could have been an I Love Lucy set. We enjoyed it for a few minutes, and then a woman bellowed our names from across the room. “Lunch is ready,” she called. “Hurry up!”

Seb chewed on his lip and stayed to the rear of our small group. The woman led us through several different rooms too quickly for me to notice much beyond the art deco wallpaper and people eating. As we walked past one doorway, however, I am quite certain I heard a small child shriek with glee, “Daddy got a spanking!”

I blinked. Just how far were they willing to take this servers-as-family ruse?

Finally, the woman stopped at a table for four which jutted out at an angle from a corner done up to look like a 50s kitchen. A retro television set similar to the one in the lounge faced the far end of the table. “Alright, sit down,” she said. “Aunt Georgia will be out with the silverware in a minute. And I hope you all washed up!”

That reminded me. I took out my Purell and passed it around as we sat, Theo and I on one side of the table with Zain and Seb on the other. Seb was closest to the wall, opposite Theo. He scooted his chair even further into the corner as he sanitized his hands.

“What do they do if you ask to speak with a chef?” Theo wondered. “Pull ‘Mom’ from the kitchen?”

Seb’s eyes went wide. “We aren’t finding out! I’m going to order off the menu.”

“Yeah, you should be fine with whatever the vegetarian option is,” Zain said. “It’s not like Hoop-Dee-Doo where you get ribs or nothing.”

‘Aunt’ Georgia, when she appeared, was a woman no older than myself. She told us her name and passed out menus, and that was where the normal dining experience ended. “This is what we have in the kitchen today, boys. Look it over and,” —her eyes landed on Seb— “keep your elbows off the table.”

He yanked them away from the tabletop, turning pink. “Sorry.”

She smiled gently. “That’s okay, honey. As I was saying, look it over and I’ll be back to find out what you want.” Along with the menu, she had brought a plastic tray of silverware and napkins. Now she dropped that on the center of the table with a crash. “You’ll have to set your own places. I’ve got things to do. And put those napkins on your lap. I’m not doing laundry until next week, got it?”

“Yes’m,” said Zain.

After she bustled off, Seb smacked his fiancé’s arm and hissed, “What happened to you misbehaving so she wouldn’t notice me?”

“Well, if you hadn’t broken a rule right when we sat down,” Zain teased. “I wasn’t prepared. Don’t worry, though. Now she’s got the sense you’re not into it, she’ll go easy on you.”

Seb unfolded his menu in front of his still-flushed face.

That was why, when I saw Aunt Georgia returning to take our drinks order, I very deliberately rested my elbows on the table. Zain winked at me. Then he picked up his spoon and began attempting to hang it off the end of his nose. Theo joined him. Seb buried his own nose in the menu as if he couldn’t bear to see us.

Aunt Georgia stopped with her hands on her hips. “What on earth are you hooligans doing? I leave you alone for one minute! You keep those elbows off the table, young man, and you two are going to be washing dishes if you dirty up all the spoons. Put them down.”

Theo was laughing so hard his had already fallen off his nose. A few people at the next table joined in when Zain stuck his tongue out to dislodge his, and then pulled a face at Aunt Georgia before grinning.

She shook her head. “I can see already you’re going to be a troublemaker. Alright, what would everyone like to drink? I’ll start with the only one of you minding his manners.” She nodded to Seb and held a pad and pen at the ready. “What’ll it be, honey?”

“Um, Diet Coke?” he said, not meeting her eyes.

“Alright. For the three cheeky boys who don’t deserve soda pop, maybe I should bring water?”

I did, I hope, a fairly passable imitation of Theo’s pout. “But Aunt Georgia, I wasn’t putting spoons on my nose!”

“Am I going to find you with your elbows on the table again?” she asked.

“No, ma’am,” I said. Actually, I had other mischiefs in mind.

“I’ll hold you to that,” she warned. “What would you like to drink?”

“Iced tea with no sugar, please.”

She wrote that down and looked expectantly at Theo and Zain. “Do you two have something to say?”

“We’re very sorry, Aunt Georgia,” said Theo.

“Very, very sorry, and it won’t happen again,” Zain added, folding his hands together to beg. “Can we pleeaase have soda?”

She sighed. “Alright.”

Once she’d taken their orders and left to get the drinks, Theo asked Seb, “Aren’t you glad we came here now? Where else do you see Quint being told off?”

Seb frowned at me. “You don’t have to for my sake.”

Shaking my head and smiling back, I said, “I’m enjoying myself.”

*

Those words became even truer when Aunt Georgia returned. She dropped a handful of straws between us before passing out the glasses. Zain did his usual taste test to ensure Seb had been given a diet soda. I used all of their distraction to my advantage, hiding my straw under the table so I could remove the wrapper from two inches at the end of it. As Aunt Georgia took her pad from her apron pocket once again and turned to Theo, I brought the prepared straw to my mouth.

“What are you having to eat, dear?”

“Grandma’s Chicken Pot–”

The wrapper flew past the end of his nose and hit the TV screen. I had been aiming slightly lower, but I was glad to see it fell onto the table rather than the floor. I had no wish to create extra work for the employees.

Theo, Seb, and Zain all stared as if they suddenly didn’t recognize me. It was difficult to keep a straight face. Aunt Georgia had no such problem, however. She raised both eyebrows and studied me until I almost wanted to squirm. Yet, the longer it went on, the funnier it grew. The laughter started with Zain, then Theo and the other tables in the room. Seb was slower to join them, and when he did, he bit his lip to stifle it.

Finally, Aunt Georgia said, “I see skippy here isn’t the troublemaker after all.” She tore a sheet of paper off her pad and slapped it in front of me, along with her pen. “Now, you are not getting any lunch, young man, until you write, ‘I will not shoot straw wrappers,’ ten times.”

“Only ten?” Theo asked.

“Hush, unless you’d like some to write as well.”

“No, ma’am!”

“Good.” She took another pen from her pocket. “Now, you said the chicken pot pie, right?”

He nodded.

“Okay,” she said, writing it. Her sharp gaze flicked to me. “Get on with those lines, young man.”

I coughed into my hand to cover a chuckle and diligently began printing. By the time she got around the table to take my order, I was only midway through the third repetition. She jotted down my choice of pot roast and promised to return to check on my progress soon.

The moment she was out of sight, Zain said, “You stole that trick from me!”

“I beg your pardon,” I said, “but I was shooting straw wrappers before you were born, skippy.”

“You were?” Seb asked, fascinated.

“Was that during your mooning days?” Theo wanted to know.

“Around then, yes.”

He grinned. “Now will you tell us the story of when you mooned someone?”

“No,” I said, and when his face fell, I added, “There are children nearby, angel.”

“Later?” he asked, leaning closer. “When we’re alone?”

I’ve never wanted to talk about my brief ‘wild days’ before, yet I nodded without thinking twice. I’ll blame it on the atmosphere. It had me feeling very nostalgic.

*

Aunt Georgia returned for the third time with a platter of food, which she put down on an empty table next to ours. Before removing any of the plates from it, however, she asked to look over my sheet of lines.

Theo pointed at the eighth one down. “His writing got sloppy here. He should have to redo the last few.”

My eyes narrowed. The difference between them was hardly noticeable. Not to mention, I was growing hungry. “They’re legible,” I said. “Therefore, they count.”

“Yes, they pass,” said Aunt Georgia. She started to set Zain’s pot roast in front of him, then paused. “Oh, you boys still have your menus! I was so distracted by someone’s misbehavior earlier, I plum forgot to pick them up. Could you…?”

We quickly gathered the menus together, out of her way.

“Thank you,” she said, tucking them under her arm and going back to the plates.

As she set Seb’s vegetable lasagna down, Zain tipped his chair onto its back legs.

“All six feet on the floor!”

Zain’s head jerked up, startled. He’d clearly done it without thinking. “Wha–?”

“Your two and the chair’s four,” said Aunt Georgia. “That makes six.” She then did something very close to what I have often longed to do: The moment Zain dropped the chair onto four legs again, she reached around him with the menus in her hand and whapped the bottom of his seat loudly several times, counting. “One, two, three, four, five, six! Perhaps that will help you remember. Or do I need to get Dad out here to give you a worse tanning?”

Zain’s expression went from mild surprise to astonishment and then to uncontrolled laughter. He bent forward over the table and howled. Theo was not far behind. Even Seb had both hands clamped over his mouth to muffle his giggles.

“Yes, get Dad,” I said, through my own barely-stifled amusement.

“I wasn’t speaking to you, young man,” said Aunt Georgia. “I was talking to skippy here.”

“S-sorry,” Zain choked out. “Won’t do it again.”

“Mm-hm, I’ve heard that before,” she said. “Now, all of you eat your vegetables. I have stickers for boys who clean their plates.”

Theo

I might never beg to go to a pizza place again, if I got this instead. Watching Quint ‘misbehave’ was surreal. And wonderful. Sure, he did it to draw the attention away from Seb, and only because the rules of the place encouraged it, but I could tell he was loving every minute just as much as me. Like he’d only needed an excuse to let go of his usual propriety. All through us eating—the food was delicious—he laughed at the shows playing on the vintage TV. Real, full-body, laughter, unhidden by coughs. I relished how happy and free he looked.

Not to mention the hilarity of it all. When Zain absentmindedly tilted his chair again, instead of raising an eyebrow or politely asking him to stop, Quint teased, “You’re going to get a spanking if Dad sees you!”

Seb and I cracked up. Zain rolled his eyes as he thumped the front legs onto the floor. “It’s a habit!” he said. “I don’t even think about it.”

“Proof that you need something to help you remember,” I said. “Maybe if you can’t sit for a while, you’ll take the privilege more seriously!”

He stuck his tongue out.

Aunt Georgia returned a few minutes later. “How are my boys doing?” she asked. “No clean plates yet, I see. Do I need to feed you all?”

The portions had been huge. Only Zain was close to finishing, because he puts food away like it’s going out of style. Swiftly, he scooped up the last bite of mashed potatoes that had come with his meatloaf, ate it, and then lifted his plate for her approval. “Look, Aunt Georgia!”

She made a show of being impressed. “Good boy!” From one of the many pockets of her apron, she pulled out a long, narrow strip of stickers—the kind that comes on a roll for teachers. They said Official Member, Clean Plate Club. She peeled one off and held it out. “Here you go, dear.”

Zain, grinning all over, stuck it to his shirt.

Quint leaned forward and stage-whispered, “Suck-up.”

Putting her hands on her hips, Aunt Georgia said, “You should follow your brother’s example, young man! Look at all those veggies on your plate still!”

Quint’s jaw dropped. Probably no one in his life has ever lectured him about eating more vegetables. Then he pointed at Zain with indignation and said, “He tipped his chair back when you were in the kitchen!”

Seb let out an audible gasp.

“Oh, now you’re tattling?” Aunt Georgia asked. “Obviously, you’ve been paying too much attention to him and not enough to finishing your carrots.” She shook her head, picked up his fork, and began stabbing the tines through one carrot after another. “Don’t know why I should have to do this with a big boy like you. Here we go. Everyone make an airplane noise!”

I swear, she actually held the fork up high and ‘flew’ it around, going, “Vrrrmmmmm!” A few people at the other tables in the room joined in, because of course we had all of their attention the moment she came near us. Swooping the fork down, she singsonged, “Open up the runway for landing!”

Quint was laughing so hard it was silent, and tears were coming out of his eyes. The full fork hovered in front of his lips for a moment, waiting for entry. He couldn’t part them. So Aunt Georgia set the fork down and took his wrist instead, no-nonsense enough that my stomach, at least, flipped.

“Alright, that’s it. Come with me, young man.”

She didn’t pull him. She just sort of stepped away, still holding his wrist, and he got up and followed readily. I could’ve told him that was a mistake. But I was too excited to see where this went. Was he being dragged off to the mythical ‘Dad’ for a hiding?

“You don’t want to eat your veggies, you tattle, you shoot straw wrappers and put your elbows on the table,” she said, loud enough to be heard over everyone cracking up, as she guided him across the room. Once she reached the doorway, she stopped and pointed at the wall to the left of it. “You can stand with your nose right here and think about behaving.”

I guess they never heard of corners? Anyway, it was amazing. I’d lost my breath completely and was getting a stitch in my side, and that was even before Quint choked out, “You– you only want me t–to think about behaving?”

Hey!!! That was my line!!

“Face the wall,” said Aunt Georgia.

He did. His shoulders were shaking still.

Stepping back to the middle of the tables, she said, “Now everyone say, ‘Naughty naughty naughty, na-na-na-na-na-na!’”

The entire room chorused it together. Well, maybe Seb didn’t. He was clinging to Zain, red all the way down his neck, with Zain’s sleeve caught between his teeth.

Quint took a few loud gasps for air and managed to compose himself enough to say, “I’m sorry, Aunt Georgia,” to the wall.

“You keep on saying that,” she said, shaking her head. But she relented just a few seconds later. “Okay, go sit down.”

Not even a minute! If that had been me, I’d’ve been stuck there until we left, I’m sure.

Aunt Georgia turned to another table asking a question, and I tutted at Quint as he took his seat again. “What are we going to do with you?”

“Really,” said Zain. “If anyone should get spanked…”

“Oh, hush,” Quint said, wiping his eyes. He caught sight of Seb. “Are you alright, mon chaton?”

Seb straightened up, leaving a wet spot on Zain’s sleeve. “Yeah. That was hilarious! I’m glad we came here.”

“Perhaps you could even say it was magical?” Quint asked.

I don’t know what it was about that question, but Seb got more thoughtful, and then smiled. “Maybe,” he said.

*

We’d left Hollywood Studios and gotten all the way to the van in the parking lot before I remembered. I leaned forward and wrapped my arms around the back of the passenger seat, which Quint had taken because his legs are so damn long. “Quiinnnt, you said you’d tell the story of how you mooned someone.”

He paused for a split-second in the middle of buckling up. “I did, didn’t I?”

“Can’t change your mind now,” Zain said, grinning at him from the seat next to me.

Quint gave a resigned sigh as he settled in. “Very well. We can start driving, though. It’s a long story.”

Seb turned the key, checked his mirrors, and began to reverse out of the parking spot.

“I was fifteen,” Quint said slowly, like he was gathering his thoughts. “I had just made my first varsity boat in rowing, so I was eager to fit in with my teammates. In particular, there was one I wanted to impress. A senior named Curtis Dane.”

“Awwww, did you have a wittle cwush?” Zain asked.

The teasing didn’t affect Quint at all. He simply said, “No, a major one. Completely hopeless, of course. He was straight.”

“What did he look like?” I asked, not really sure what I wanted to hear as the answer. Quint’s never told me if he has a type. If every guy he’s attracted to resembles me, is that good or bad?

“Hmm…” He drummed his fingers on the door handle. “Like a young Matt Damon, I suppose.”

I tipped my head to the side and narrowed my eyes in consideration. I look nothing like Matt Damon, so that answered that. But I was still a little surprised. “Okay. Bit clean-cut and WASPy. Then again, it’s you we’re talking about. I guess I can see it.”

“Everyone was clean-cut at my school,” he said. “That was part of the dress code.”

We pulled out of the parking lot and onto the highway. “Are we heading back to Fort Wilderness?” Seb asked.

“No, I wanna see the resorts you guys visited while we were running,” said Zain. “I have the directions pulled up on my phone. Just go straight for now.”

Seb glanced over his shoulder. Our eyes met. I tried to telegraph be cool to him. There was no reason anyone would find out what happened at those resorts during our first visit.

“In any case,” Quint went on, oblivious to our silent conversation, “we were hosting a regatta, which meant a number of crews from other schools were staying the weekend on campus, in our guest house, and Curtis wanted to pull some sort of prank on them.”

I forgot my worry and grinned. So his type was ‘mischievous’. Should’ve guessed.

“After some debate among the rest of the team, mooning was determined to be our best option for getting away with it. As an added safeguard, only a few of us would actually participate. While they might still punish the full team, we felt reasonably sure the punishment would be milder than if we were all directly involved.”

“Did they have corporal punishment at your school?” Zain asked.

Quint smiled and shook his head. “They did at one point. Thankfully, they banned it a few years before I would have become eligible. My crew coach kept his old paddle hung on his office wall, but he never took it down after the ban.”

“Get to the good part!” I said, smacking the side of his headrest. “How did you wind up being chosen as one of the ones to moon the other teams? Just because you were new?”

“I volunteered.”

Huh?

“Curtis had already said he would lead it,” he explained. “I saw an opportunity to be closer to him.”

I smirked. “And to show him your ass?”

He twisted around to look at me with one eyebrow raised. “That is not how mooning works.”

“I wouldn’t know,” I said. “I’ve never done it, being a well-behaved angel.”

“So what happened?” asked Seb, over Zain’s snort.

“It turned out to be only Curtis and me,” Quint said. “The third volunteer claimed a stomachache. We snuck out to the lawn of the guest house in the dead of night and positioned ourselves bent over, side-by-side, with our rear ends facing the bedroom windows. Curtis had a klaxon, which he used to ensure the opposing rowers were awake.

“The moment we saw the drapes part, we did it. Then, when we heard the front door begin to open and one of their coaches shouting something, we yanked our trousers back up and ran like hell.”

Seb’s eyes were wide. “Did the coach chase you?”

“Yes, but Curtis pulled me behind a bush just when we would have been caught. I remember we stood in close proximity, face to face and hardly breathing. I’m sure it was only a few seconds, but it stretched into eons for me.”

I could bet. Trapped with your crush, adrenaline racing, teenage hormones going nuts… Why did I suddenly want to recreate this scene with him?

“That, alone, I felt made it worthwhile,” he said. “Until the next day.”

“So you did get caught?” Zain asked, leaning forward.

“No. They couldn’t even prove it had been members of the rowing crew. However, our own coach gathered us all in the boathouse and gave us such a lecture on sportsmanship, I will never forget it. If I hadn’t known it was likely I would get Curtis in trouble as well, I would have confessed then and there. As it was, I delayed until the next season, after he had graduated.”

“Wait,” I said. “You confessed a year later? God, you are such a Top.”

Zain raised his hand. “Um, I wouldn’t have confessed, and I’m a Top.”

“You don’t count,” I told him. “You’re weird.”

“What happened at the restaurant today doesn’t make me weird, too?” Quint asked, like he was a bit disappointed.

I grinned. He brought up a good point. “A little weird. But back then? Such. A. Top.”

“Did you get in trouble when you confessed?” Seb asked.

“No,” Quint said. “My coach said he was proud of me for coming clean. Then he almost immediately guessed that Curtis had been the other boy. He said, ‘I noticed how you admired him,’ and admitted he himself had done foolish things to impress girls in his day.

“At that point, I wasn’t out to anyone. His comments and manner hinted that he suspected my sexuality—more importantly, that he wasn’t bothered by it. That was one of the many reasons I chose him as the first person I came out to.”

“Awww,” I said. “See? Breaking rules can have good consequences.”

Zain laughed as Quint sighed and said, “This is why I hesitated to tell you this story.”

“Don’t worry,” I said. “I’m sure you’ll remind me of all the negative consequences with the next rule I break.”

Given where we were headed, I probably shouldn’t have encouraged that. Our first stop, at the Contemporary, went fine. Seb got to take more photos of the tile mosaic, and we visited some of the shops that had been closed the morning of the marathon. Then we left, though, and continued around the lake in the opposite direction we took before, to the Grand Floridian.

The older guy in the seersucker suit and boater hat was standing out front as we approached from the parking lot. “Welcome!” he said, pulling the door open for us. His eyes landed on me. “Oh, or welcome back, I should say! Here to test-drive our piano again?”

Quint frowned at me. “You didn’t mention playing their piano.”

“That’s because I just sat at it,” I said, quickly. “I didn’t even touch the piano itself.”

“No, but he was a maestro of air piano,” said Mr. Seersucker. “You’re welcome to give an encore performance.” Then he winked. “Just as long as there’s no sliding down the banisters.”

I gave a nervous chuckle. In my head, though, I was thinking, Really?! You had to say that? How’d he know anyway? The woman who scolded me must’ve been a gossip. When I dared to glance at the others, Quint’s eyebrows had gone up, Seb looked spooked, and even Zain was giving me that weird smile he does that makes me want to protect my butt.

With a polite nod at Mr. Seersucker, Quint said, “Thank you,” and finally went into the building.

I followed, lowering my voice. “Okay, before you react, I didn’t actually slide down the banister, either. I only pretended I was going to do it to tease Seb. Ask him!”

“He’s telling the truth,” Seb chimed in from behind me.

Quint stopped between two of the poofy couches scattered around the huge lobby and turned so we were all facing each other in a circle. He studied Seb.

“Anyway, you just saw that guy wasn’t exactly upset about it,” I said.

“Yeah, but Disney as a whole probably wouldn’t approve,” said Zain, still smiling. “You gotta respect the House of Mouse, squirt.”

Nodding gravely, Quint said, “I couldn’t have put it better myself.”

“I won’t do anything like it again.” I crossed my heart. “Promise.”

To my surprise, Quint just said, “Alright, then let’s explore.” I expected at least more of a lecture. But I wasn’t going to argue.

*

After we all had our fill of ooo-ing and ahh-ing the hotel, and I drooled over the Steinway again, we went back to the van.

“Next stop, the Polynesian!” said Zain.

Seb shot me a guilty glance. I wanted to tell him to chill out. No way anyone saw us in the pool area without us knowing about it.

Then I remembered Quint’s belated confession to his coach. Weird and overly Toppy, yeah. Also noble and touching, though. And his coach had been proud. Plus if I didn’t say something soon, Quint or Zain were going to notice Seb gnawing on his lower lip as he started the engine.

I took a deep breath. “Um, Quint?”

He did a double-take at me in the rear view mirror and then turned in his seat to get a better look. “Do you want to talk in private, Theo?”

“No, this is fine.” Seb needed to hear, and I didn’t mind Zain being there. “I wanted to say, when we were at the Polynesian before, I, uh, hopped a fence so I could stick my hand in their pool.”

Quint blinked a few times before frowning. “Why?”

“Well, everyone should get their chance to be young and foolish, right?” I asked, shrugging one shoulder. “I was trying to give Seb his.”

At that, Quint looked over to the driver’s seat. “You hopped a fence, mon chaton?”

I answered before Seb could even shake his head. “No, he refused to come with me.”

Zain was lounging against his door as we spoke. He cleared his throat—or maybe laughed very quietly, it was hard to tell. “Who said Seb hasn’t had a chance to be young and foolish?” he asked. “I took care of that when we were teenagers. And, like, two weeks ago. It’s kinda what I’m here for?”

Now Seb was frowning at me, too. “That’s why you were acting that way?”

Damn. I should’ve realized Zain had it covered. My eyes dropped to the center console. “Yeah. It was pretty dumb. My intentions were good, though.” Lifting my gaze, I leaned closer to Quint. “That counts for something, right? And I already promised not to do anything like it again.”

He tapped two fingers alternately on the center console. “Did anyone see you? Will we be discreetly asked to leave if we go there?”

With a shake of my head, I replied, “I’m telling you because I knew it was bothering Seb, not because I’m being forced to.”

The fingers tapped a few more times while I held my breath and awaited my fate.

At last, he said, “No more breaking rules while we’re here, alright? I don’t wish to punish you on our vacation.”

“Yes, sir.” It was the last thing I’d wish for, too.

“Good,” he said. Then he reached between the seats and rested his hand on my knee. “Thank you for telling me. I’m proud of you.”

Happiness spread from his touch to fill me entirely. Those words are all I ever want to hear.

Justine

Sitting on the cobblestones of Diagon Alley, with the train tracks of the Hogwarts Express shading me from the sun, I shimmied my shoulders along with Celestina Warbeck and her three backup singers as they built to a soulful crescendo. When the music died out, the audience erupted in cheers. I clapped along with everyone else.

Everyone except Brian. He had been getting into it just a minute before. I’d seen his smile. This was after a full day of him poking fun at how seriously I took the whole Harry Potter experience, right down to lining up with the much younger kids to wave the wand I’d bought at Ollivander’s and practice saying my spells. “I don’t think the magic words are necessary,” he’d said. “It’s just a camera tracking your movements to make the effect.” I’d told him to shut up.

But now he was looking over me, at Bradley rummaging through the bag from Honeydukes sweet shop. He pulled out a chocolate frog, and Brian said, “You’ve had enough candy for today, pet. Put that away.”

Surprise flashed across Bradley’s face, yet with just a single, longing glance at the chocolate frog, he started to obey.

My jaw dropped. Who did Brian think he was? I lay my hand on Bradley’s before he relinquished the chocolate frog again. “Ignore him,” I said. Then I glared at Brian.

He narrowed his dark eyes right back. “We’re going to be leaving to have dinner soon.”

“So?” I flicked my ponytail in his face as I turned to Bradley. “You can have candy for dinner if you want, honey. You’re an adult.”

“Jus…” Brian said. It was his warning tone, which only pissed me off further.

“His rules say nothing about food!” I snapped, trying to keep my voice down, although the audience from the show had mostly scattered by then anyway.

“It’s okay,” Bradley interjected. “I’m kind of getting a stomach ache.” He shrugged, like it was no big deal.

I pressed my lips together and shook my head. This discipline thing was supposed to only cover certain pre-agreed areas. The rest of our relationship was for all of us. “It’s not okay for him to give you orders don’t fall under your rules.”

Brian said, “Think of it as a D/s order, then.”

“No,” I said, shaking my head again. “You don’t get to tell me what to eat.” I still had a hold of Bradley’s hand, and I squeezed it hard.

“I wasn’t,” said Brian. Impatience crept into his tone; fire into his gaze. “I was telling Bradley.”

“That’s not any different! If you think you can tell him that, then what’s to stop you from telling me?” I demanded.

Brian’s mouth opened to give whatever weak reasoning he thought would appease me. At the same moment, Bradley pulled his hand out of my grip, and the rustle of plastic made me look around at him. He had put the chocolate frog away.

“I think my first rule should be, ‘keep yourself as safe and healthy as possible,” he said. “I’ll change it on my list.” They both still carried in their wallets the hand-printed lists of rules from the day we started this experiment.

“Good idea,” said Brian. “You can also write a new essay on how to apply it.”

“Oh, now you’re going to make him write essays during our vacation?” I asked.

“No, after we leave,” Brian said, at the same time that Bradley said, “It’s fine. The essays help me understand better.” He clearly wanted to move on.

I took a deep breath and stared at the vacant stage. However they both felt now about this new rule, I hated the way it had come about. Brian wasn’t supposed to impose new restrictions like that. Rules have to be communicated before they can be broken. I’d told him to put that one on his list myself.

“Writing the essay isn’t a punishment,” Brian said. His palm found my lower back and began to rub as his voice dropped into a soothing murmur. “It’s a learning tool, and a way to ensure we’re on the same page before I hand out any punishments in the future. And I wouldn’t restrict your diet, either as your Dom or as your boyfriend. You don’t have to worry about that.”

I looked into his eyes. “You should’ve talked to him about changing the rule before you gave the restriction.”

“You’re right,” he said. “I will in the future.”

That set my mind at ease more than his touch or Bradley’s reassurances. I nodded, and decided to let go of my remaining questions for now. Weasley’s Wizarding Wheezes looked much less crowded than it had been this morning. We had to hit them up again before we left.

*

Mohyeldin, Quint, Seb, and Theo were all out on the deck of the little cabin as we walked up. We’d left Brian’s car at the main Fort Wilderness parking lot and taken the internal bus system to get to them, so they didn’t notice us coming until we were almost at the steps. Quint was the first to spot us. He raised his hand and smiled. “We hope you’re hungry. There’ll be plenty of food.”

I could see what he meant. Seb was peeling a huge mound of potatoes and letting the skins fall into a stockpot between his feet. On the opposite end of the picnic table, Theo—wearing one of the giant, flame-printed top hats from Rock N Roller Coaster—was shucking ears of corn, while Mohyeldin stabbed pieces of various vegetables with metal skewers, and Quint pushed the top of a salad spinner filled with leafy greens.

“I’m starved,” I said, coming up the steps. “Lunch at the Leaky Cauldron was hours ago.”

“The Leaky Cauldron?” Seb asked. He obviously recognized the name.

“Mm-hm.” I took a seat on the bench across from him. Brian sat next to me and struck up a conversation with Quint, while Bradley leaned against the railing behind us without speaking. “We spent today at Universal,” I said to Seb. “Mostly in the Harry Potter section. Are you a fan?”

He nodded, and I smiled, thinking maybe this was the way to get him to stop being so damn quiet. I’ve never met a true Potterhead who can’t talk for hours about the books. “Oh, good.” I jerked my thumb at Brian and Bradley. “These guys don’t really get it. Which character is your favorite?”

“Remus,” he said.

“I love him, too!” I said, leaning over the table. “I cried when… well, you know. He’s not my absolute favorite, though. That’s Luna. What makes him your favorite?”

He shrugged and dropped his gaze to the potato in his hand as he used the peeler to remove an eye. “Um, his personality, I guess. How he handles being a werewolf.”

“My favorite is Sirius Black,” said Mohyeldin. “And you can’t tell me he and Remus weren’t banging like bunnies, by the way.”

“They so were,” I agreed.

Seb didn’t say anything. He just kept peeling the potato. The fact that he was friends with Bradley was enough that I wanted to be friends with him too; but even more, knowing he was a Brat made me hope he’d open up so I could get an experienced outsider’s perspective on this discipline stuff. It wasn’t going to happen if I couldn’t engage with him.

After several seconds, I said the only thing that came to mind to reopen the conversation: “So, what’s your Hogwarts House? No, wait! Let me see if I can guess.” Then I paused and thought back on everything Bradley has ever mentioned about him. Mainly, just that he was a great friend. “Hufflepuff.”

Mohyeldin grinned.

Looking from him to Seb, I asked, “Well, am I right?”

Seb shifted on the bench. “Pottermore sorted me into Gryffindor, but–”

I held up a hand. “You can stop there. Pottermore is official. No buts.”

“I’m not that brave,” he said, his nose scrunching. I had to hand it to Mohyeldin. He certainly picked out an adorable fiancé.

From the end of the table, Theo called, “Neville Longbottom didn’t think he was brave enough for Gryffindor, either.”

“Exactly!” I said. “Seb, you’re a Neville-Longbottom Gryffindor. I should’ve guessed.” Then I turned to Theo. “You’ve read the books?”

“Listened to them,” he said, smiling. “Quint read them to me.”

I looked at Quint. “You are a Ravenclaw.”

He chuckled. “Yes. Am I that obvious?”

“Yes, but I’m also pretty good at this,” I said. “Theo is another Gryffindor, right?”

He and his husband both nodded, and I smiled, pleased with myself.

“That’s easy,” said Mohyeldin. “If you want a real challenge, tell me my House.” He twirled an empty shish-kabob skewer between his fingers as silence fell over the table.

I’ve gotten to know Mohyeldin pretty well, I think, yet for a few moments, I was stumped. “Hmmmm…. You’re not patient enough for Hufflepuff.”

“Also way too lazy,” he said, smirking.

I nodded. “And I don’t think Ravenclaw fits, either.”

With a dramatically outraged face, he asked, “Are you calling me dumb?”

“Well, you are a Marine,” I said. Bradley snorted. I leaned my elbow on the table and rested my cheek on my fist. “I’m going to say you’re a Gryffindor, too. Singing ‘Be Our Guest’ in King Hall when the Dant is there is a very Gryffindor thing to do.”

With a poker face, Mohyeldin looked around to everyone else. “Any other guesses?” He pointed at Seb, who was biting his lip to hold back a smile. “Except you. You’re disqualified from guessing.”

“I agree with her,” said Theo, and Quint and Bradley both nodded.

“I don’t know enough about it,” Brian said.

One corner of Mohyeldin’s lips went slowly up. “Babe? What House am I in?”

Seb sighed deeply. “He’s a Slytherin. No one else ever gets it.”

I straightened with a gasp of delight. “But I should’ve! I’m a Slytherin, too!”

“Really?” Mohyeldin asked. He held up his hand for a high-five. “House pride!”

As I smacked my palm to his, Bradley stepped away from the railing. He was frowning. “You… you can’t be Slytherins.”

“Why not?” I asked.

“Because they’re the bad guys,” he said.

From his expression, this was actually distressing him, so I didn’t roll my eyes like I would have if anyone else tried to pull that. “Not necessarily, hon,” I said. “Peter Pettigrew was a Gryffindor, and there have been good Slytherins, too.”

“Exhibit A,” said Mohyeldin, pointing to himself. “Sorry, Platypus, but you’ll have to accept it.”

“Now that I think about it, it does make sense,” said Theo. “Competitive and cunning.”

Mohyeldin winked, clicked his tongue, and made a finger gun at the same time.

Looking around the table, I smiled again. “That means we have two of everything except Ravenclaw, ‘cause my guys are both Hufflepuffs to the core.”

To my shock, Bradley reacted even more strongly to that. He went ramrod straight and shot daggers out of his eyes. “No, I’m not!”

I stared at him. “Why not?”

“Because!” he spat.

“Bradley,” Brian said. “Calm down. It’s just a silly game.”

“I don’t care.” Bradley crossed his arms. “I’m not going to be in Hufflepuff.”

“What wrong with Hufflepuff?” I asked. “A lot of people think it’s the best House, you know.”

Bradley shook his head. “It’s a girly House.”

Theo put down the ear of corn in his hand and looked up at the sky. “Oh, good lord.”

I kind of had to agree with him. “How is Hufflepuff the ‘girly’ House?” I frowned, adding, “And what’s so bad about girly, anyway?”

“You know what I meant,” he said, his shoulders coming up defensively.

I leaned back, crossing my arms too. “No, I really don’t.”

Seb sprang to his feet and mumbled something about washing the potatoes. Mohyeldin watched him carry the pot full of them into the cabin, but he stayed where he was. So did the rest of them, with emotions all along the spectrum from calm to annoyed to brooding stillness.

After a second, Theo spoke. “He meant it’s the gay House.”

Quint began to say, “Theo, I–”

“No, I didn’t,” Bradley snapped. “Fuck off and mind your own business.”

At that, Brian came to life and growled, “Bradley, come with me.” He went down the steps without waiting to see if Bradley would follow. He did, of course, though his eyebrows were low and mulish.

The pair of them went around the far end of the cabin, back into the woods aways. On the deck, no one moved or said a word. I could hear Brian’s voice in the tone that gives me shivers, but I couldn’t make out anything. There was a pause, and a muffled pop noise.

Theo’s head whipped towards the sound. He got its significance a lot faster than I did. It took him saying, “So he is a Brat!” for me to recall how it sounded that afternoon several months ago, when I teased Brian in the middle of a store until he gave in and smacked my ass right there. Yummy.

But with Bradley, it wasn’t a game.

Wait, how did Theo guess?

Mohyeldin was stifling laughter. “You just figured that out now?”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Theo demanded.

“Did you want me to tell him things?” Mohyeldin asked.

I inhaled and leaned forward as it hit me. “You’re a Brat, too!”

Theo’s ears turned pink, and Quint put a hand on his shoulder. After a second, though, Theo shrugged. “Yeah,” he said. “I guess that means so are you.”

“No way!” I said, then bit my tongue. “Sorry, that didn’t come out how I intended. I’m… still getting used to all this.”

“Are you a Top?” Theo asked, frowning.

I laughed and shook my head.

Mohyeldin grinned. “Y’know, the first time we spoke, I thought you’d be an excellent Top,” he said. “Of course, you were dressing me down at the time.”

“Oh yeah, after you sang in King Hall,” I said, smiling back as I remembered how he danced in his seat while his voice carried over all the other mids. “I thought it was hilarious. I had the hardest time not cracking up in front of the Dant.”

“I appreciated your punishment,” he said. “An essay on Gaston’s leadership style. Very nice.”

“Thank you!”

Theo hadn’t lost his confused look. “So… what are you, then?”

“A damn fine woman,” I said.

He opened his mouth, and then his focus shifted to the steps. Bradley was climbing them, followed closely by Brian. They stopped at the top rather than crossing the few feet of deck to the table again. Both of them stood at attention.

“Bradley has something to say,” said Brian.

I saw Bradley’s chin jut out stubbornly. He stared over everyone’s heads and spoke in a quick, robotic monotone. “I apologize for my inappropriate language.”

Silence stretched until Quint said, “Theo.”

His husband’s mouth dropped open. “You want me to accept that?”

Quint looked at Bradley, and then Brian, like he expected one of them to talk. When neither did, he pressed his lips together for a moment before nodding.

Theo scowled. “Acknowledged,” he said, his clipped tone matching Bradley’s.

Well, that solved nothing, I thought. So much for the benefits of discipline in resolving arguments. But I also had more pressing things on my mind. “Getting back to the matter at hand,” I said, turning to Bradley, “did you notice I also put Brian in Hufflepuff? How can it be such a terrible House if he’s in it, hmm?”

He dropped the thousand-yard-stare to look at me, and then glance at Brian.

“Hufflepuffs are hard-working, devoted, trustworthy, and honorable,” I pointed out. “I think that fits you both well.”

Tucking his hands into his pockets, he lowered his chin. “But they’re the weakest House,” he said. “Aren’t they?”

My heart broke at the vulnerability, overshadowing any annoyance that ‘girly’ apparently meant ‘weak’ in his mind. “No, they’re not. You thought I was calling you weak, honey?”

He nodded slowly.

“Well, I wasn’t. I admire people with Hufflepuff qualities.”

“I’m sorry,” he said, stepping forward, and unlike with Theo, he gave me eye contact as he apologized. “I overreacted.”

“Yeah. But you can make it up to me.”

“How?” he asked.

“I don’t know.” I smirked. “I’m sure you’ll come up with something.”

Little spots of pink appeared on both his cheekbones. “Y–yes’m.”

Mohyeldin clicked his tongue and got to his feet. “Seb’s probably done washing those potatoes by now,” he said, cheerfully. “I’m gonna go give him a hand.”

As he went inside, Quint said, “Angel, the grill should be preheated enough. Let’s bring some of these plates down to it.”

They started to gather them up. “I’ll help, sir,” said Bradley, taking the two they couldn’t manage. “Are they just going on that folding table down there?”

“Yes,” said Quint, with the barest hint of a smile. “Thank you.”

I thought I saw Theo roll his eyes as he turned away.

Once they were all gathered down by the simple grill, I whispered to Brian, “You swatted him here?”

“He left me no choice,” he whispered back, coming to sit down next to me. “If I had hot sauce with me, I would’ve used that. What did you tell them the noise was?”

“Quint and Theo?” I asked. “They recognized what it was. Turns out they do the discipline thing as well, so I’m the odd one out, I guess.”

His thick eyebrows came together. “They… Theo is a Brat?”

“Yep.”

He grimaced and glanced through the deck railing. “I wish I’d known that before. How– how did he react to finding out? Did he seem surprised I’m a Top?”

“Which one?” I asked, wondering why it mattered.

“Theo. No, Quint. Well, both of them.”

I narrowed my eyes. “Are you nervous about what other people in discipline relationships think of you, Bri?”

“No, I’m not nervous.”

Snorting, I said, “Yes, you are. Oh my gosh, that’s why you’ve been staring at Seb all the time, too! You’re worried Brats will think you’re not a good Top!”

He leaned close. “Be quiet, little girl.”

“You’re so cute.” I tipped my head to one side and bit my lip. “‘Will they think I’m scary enough, Jus? Will they respect my growly-bear ways? What if I brood more?’”

“Shut up or I won’t spank you for the rest of the trip.”

I gasped. “You wouldn’t!”

He gave me a flat look. “Try me.”

Damn, he would. I tossed my hair and shut up.

The door opened behind us. Seb stepped outside, followed—no, make that pushed—by Mohyeldin, who set the pot of potatoes down on the table and immediately hugged Seb from behind. “There, see?” he said, smiling from us to his fiancé. “Nothing went ‘boom’ out here, did it, guys?”

“No,” I said, wishing I could hug Seb, too. “You don’t have to look so worried.”

“I… I heard Bradley and Theo fighting,” he said.

“I took care of that,” said Brian.

“Yep, you sure did,” Mohyeldin said. Did I detect a note of sarcasm there? Hard to tell.

Regardless, Brian seemed not to notice, and then Bradley walked over from the grill and looked up at us. “I’m sorry I made you uncomfortable, Seb,” he said. “It was just a huge overreaction.”

“That’s okay,” said Seb, before quickly adding, “I mean, thanks. Apology accepted.”

Bradley’s shoulders relaxed.

After that, the evening passed fairly smoothly. Quint and Theo did most of the grilling, and we all ate together on the deck, passing around plates with bottles of beer or soda, and talking together long after the last shish kabob had been devoured and the porch lamp had automatically turned on.

When I slipped inside to use the powder room, I discovered Seb sitting on the couch with a book. “Oh! I didn’t even notice you were missing!” I said as he looked up. “Actually, this is just the opportunity I was hoping for. Stay there, I want to ask you for something.”

His eyes went ridiculously huge.

“It’s not the nuclear launch codes,” I joked.

“Um. D’accord.”

I didn’t know what that meant, but he hadn’t vanished by the time I came out of the bathroom, so I took it as an invitation and sat down on the other end of the couch. “I need your perspective on an incident that happened earlier today, when Brian, Bradley, and I were at Universal.”

Briefly, I explained Brian telling Bradley not to have any more candy. “But that’s not one of their rules. If Mohyeldin did something like that, would you… how would you feel? Not about eating candy specifically, but something that wasn’t covered under your discipline agreement.”

His mouth made small twitches like it couldn’t figure out how to form the right words. Finally, he mumbled, “It’s– it’s different with Zain and me.”

“How so?”

“I don’t know how to explain,” he said, shrugging helplessly. “I’m sorry. I wish I could say more.”

I sighed. The strain he’d put on himself to even say that much was clear, yet I felt disappointed. “I was hoping to get the opinion of someone experienced in discipline, from the submis– Sorry, I mean, from the Brat side. Maybe Theo would be willing to talk about it?”

“Maybe,” said Seb. “It’ll be different for him, too, though.” He chewed on his lip, then asked, “Have you talked to Bradley at all?”

“Not since it happened,” I said. “At the time, he seemed like he was just going along to get along.”

After a moment’s consideration, he shook his head. “I don’t think he’s really like that. If he believes something is wrong, he’ll say so.”

“That’s true,” I said, slowly. The Platt I first met, the one who silently took abuse and poor treatment, had been gone for months now. Bradley spoke up for himself. “Y’know, I think I will talk to him. Thanks, Seb.”

“You’re welcome,” he murmured, before pulling his bony knees up to his chest and going back to his book.

Bradley

We returned to our own resort without me making a bigger laughingstock of myself. Justine went into the bathroom as Brian and I took off our shoes and shorts. A moment later, she poked her head around the sliding door. “Oh, Bunny!” She smiled. “I just figured out what you can do as your repentance for earlier. Come in here, please.”

I started forward eagerly. But before I could get very far, Brian spoke. “One minute. I need to discuss something with him.”

Justine narrowed her eyes. “What kind of discussion?”

“The kind you don’t like to be involved in,” he said. My insides swooped.

“Will he still be willing to do what I want once you’re finished?” she asked.

Brian’s gaze engulfed me for a moment. “Depends on him.”

“I–I’ll be in as soon as I can, my lady,” I said. Repentance wasn’t only owed to her.

She looked doubtful, but vanished behind the door again. The shower turned on.

“Over here,” said Brian, sitting on the edge of one of the beds and pointing to the other.

I sat down and made myself look him in the eye.

“Quint and Theo have a discipline relationship as well.”

I blinked. Was that all he wanted to say? “I know.”

Now he seemed surprised. “You knew before today?”

Nodding, I said, “Seb mentioned… he didn’t come right out and say it, but it was enough for me to connect the dots.”

“Hm,” he said. Then he reached across the space between us and put his hand on my knee. “If I had known before, I wouldn’t have worried about them overhearing a few more swats today. Keep that in mind going forward.”

I flushed. “Yes, sir.” Silently, I vowed never to break a rule anywhere near Theo in the future. No way was he going to listen to me being punished.

Brian didn’t straighten up or move his hand. He stared at it with his dark eyes shadowed by the lamplight so they were even harder to read than usual. Any second, I expected him to tell me to stand and lower my underwear. But he withdrew the contact and said, “You’re dismissed,” in his quiet, military way.

I escaped to the bathroom with my heart beating fast.

Justine was in the shower. I stopped outside the doorway separating it from the vanity. “I’m here, my lady.”

The shower curtain slid back to reveal her. Breath caught in my throat. Quickly, I lowered my gaze so I wasn’t staring.

“Oh, he didn’t…?” she asked.

My face burned as I shook my head.

“Huh. Okay. Strip off and get in here.”

I pulled my t-shirt over my head and let it fall to the floor, then dropped my briefs. My dick was already hard as stone. She moved out from the spray of the showerhead to make room for me in the little tub. I stepped in, then went to kneel.

“No,” she said.

Uncertainly, I raised my gaze as far as the anchor tattoo on her pelvic bone. “How may I serve you, my lady?”

She plucked the bottle of body wash off the shelf behind her and held it out. “By soaping me up and answering my questions.”

I swallowed and accepted the bottle. We hadn’t talked while I applied her lotion. I wasn’t sure I could’ve. I sank so deep into serving her, it was beyond words. But this was what she wanted, so I flipped the bottle open, squirted a dollop into my palm, and asked, “Questions about what, my lady?”

She took the bottle back and set it down. “You and Brian and his forbidding you to eat sweets.”

The words startled me into looking her dead-on. “That again?”

“You didn’t see it as an issue?” she asked, one eyebrow arching. “You guys had a pre-agreed set of rules, and he went off script.”

I shook my head and shrugged at the same time. “He was right, though.”

“What if he wasn’t?”

“Then I would have told him no,” I said, simply.

“You could do that?” She crossed her arms, and I got distracted by what it did when she was naked. So distracted I don’t know how long it was before she singsonged, “Braaaaadley.”

I yanked my eyes back up to her face. “Sorry, mistress.”

She was smiling, though. “It’s okay. My fault for trying to have a serious conversation in the shower. But I didn’t want you to worry about Brian hearing, so you could be fully honest. Are you?”

“Being honest?” I asked, with a frown. “Of course I am! It wasn’t that big a deal.”

Sighing, she pushed her fingers through her wet, golden locks of hair. “I don’t like the idea of him adding to the rules arbitrarily.”

I bit down on the part of me that wanted to snap it wasn’t for her to like or not. If we’d both been dressed—if I hadn’t been hard and willing to do anything to make her happy—that part would’ve won. But my soul was already halfway to laid bare. I rubbed my palms together to make a lather with the body wash so I could massage the tension out of her shoulders.

Her skin was slippery silk. My eyes closed as my fingers trailed from her clavicle to her wrists and back up. With a deep breath, I let the walls fall down and the words come. “I don’t want him to ignore behavior he knows isn’t good for me, just because there’s no rule about it. If I’m doing something bad, something not in my best interests, and he doesn’t put a stop to it, it’s like he doesn’t care about me, just about keeping the rules.

“We’re all taught that what’s right isn’t always written in the regulations. You have to use your judgment, too. And I trust Brian’s judgment. With all my heart.” I parted my eyelids and looked into her blue irises, inches from my own in the steam of the water. “Don’t you?”

Her hands gripped my elbows tight as her face filled with emotion. “Of course I do, honey. I wouldn’t be able to submit to him if I didn’t. But I see now what the difference is.” The corners of her lips turned up. “For me, submission is a game. And a game is really just a set of rules. Rules can be followed or broken—which is more fun—but if the rules are unknown or change on a dime, then… it’s not a game anymore. It’s life. And I’d never want my whole life to be submission. I’d feel trapped.”

“Because you’re a switch.”

“Yeessss,” she said, musingly. “But more because I’m not a Brat. You have this natural instinct, this need to complement Brian’s.” She leaned in and brushed her lips over mine. “It’s beautiful. Thank you for letting me see.”

Zain

The fold-out couch let out a metallic twang when I reached across the mattress and yanked Seb to me. He grunted a protest, which I ignored in favor of running my hand from his neck to his hips in one long sweep. Just as I suspected: He was tense as a coiled spring. I let my palm come to a rest on his butt. “Spill, babe. Why aren’t you sleeping?”

“You should know,” he grumbled, slipping closer and twisting his fingers into the hem of my shirt. “Theo and Bradley.”

“Theo and Bradley?” I asked, as if I’d never heard the names. “What about them?”

“Zain.”

“Shhh. Quint and Theo are asleep.”

He sighed and whispered, “They’re not getting along.”

I widened my eyes. “Quint and Theo?”

His nails dug into my stomach, hard.

“Ow, ow, okay,” I said, catching his wrist and squirming away. “Okay, okay, I know who you meant.”

“So why haven’t you done something?” he demanded.

I grinned. “Like what? Make them wear the same t-shirt until they learn to work together? …Actually, that sounds hilarious. We should totally do that.”

He sighed again, louder. It was more of a huff, really. In the darkness, his eyes glimmered. “What if they never get along?” he asked, pain lacing his voice.

My heart twisted. I rolled on top of him and gave him a kiss. “Habibi, this isn’t your conflict. I know you want them to be friends because you’re so close to them both, but you can’t force it, and neither can I.”

“You’re saying it’s hopeless?”

“No, not at all.” I wiped his cheek with my thumb. It was wet. I kissed him again. “I’m saying they’re a pair of stubborn hot-heads, so you have to expect a few fireworks before things settle down. Just try to sit back and enjoy the show.”

“You know I can’t do that,” he said. “Why don’t you at least make them talk to each other?”

“Because Myrick will tell me I’m not Platt’s Top,” I said. “And he’s right. He’s gotta learn how to deal with stuff like this himself.”

“Then tell him how! Give him advice!”

I sighed. “If he comes to me and asks, of course I will. Unsolicited advice from me, though… he won’t welcome it.”

“He’s an idiot, then,” said Seb, all the pleading replaced with sharp irritation. “He should embrace the wisdom of more experienced Tops!”

I put my hand over his mouth, but not because he’d gotten louder. His words just sparked an idea. After thinking about it a few seconds, I dropped another kiss on the back of my own fingers and grinned down at him. “Babe, you are a genius.”

“Whuhm?”

“Tops, plural. Quint has skin in this game, too. I bet Myrick will be way more open to advice from him, framed the right way.”

He pushed my hand off his face. “So you’ll get Quint to talk to him?”

“I think all of us together,” I said. “We’ll have a friendly little Tops’ Summit, tomorrow after the trail ride.”

Seb

My bay mare’s name was Caprice, and she had the softest, most velvety nose. I spent a few minutes petting it while everyone else dismounted. The woman in charge of the trail ride had said that was fine, and Caprice seemed to enjoy it. Her long eyelashes drooped like she was getting a massage. I murmured to her in French, thanking her for carrying me.

Zain handed his chestnut gelding’s reins to the nearest Cast Member and walked over on bow-legs. “Why am I sore in places I didn’t know you could be sore?” he asked. “Well, I did, but not from this.”

Giggling, I said, “Because riding horses uses lots of muscles.”

“And you wait to tell us,” he said. “Quint and I just ran a marathon.”

“That was days ago, you baby.” But even as I said it, I was turning to check on Quint further down the line of horses. He was patting his mare’s neck and smiling. “See, Quint’s fine.”

Zain wasn’t paying attention. He’d pulled out his phone to read a text. “Myrick says they’re waiting in front of the ranch. We should get going.”

I bit my lower lip nervously. Ever since he announced the Tops’ Summit, I’d had an idea brewing in my head about Theo and Bradley. A very Zain idea. Now it was time to decide if I wanted to act on it. I hadn’t asked Zain’s advice, afraid he’d not only encourage me but put it into motion himself.

When I stepped away from her, Caprice knickered. I sighed, thinking, Yes, I wish I could stay here too.

*

We found Bradley, Myrick, and Cameron standing by their car in the parking lot. Butterflies filled my stomach as we approached them. By contrast, they looked happy and relaxed. The cloud of intensity that surrounds Myrick had cleared away. He was smiling down at Bradley. Cameron saw us first. “Good morning!” she called. Then, shading her eyes from the sun with one hand, she peered behind us and asked, “Where’s Theo?”

Zain grinned. “Horses kinda freak him out, so he stayed at the cabin and slept late.”

“Horses freak him out?” Bradley asked as we all stopped in front of them.

“Growing up in the city doesn’t give you much opportunity to be around them,” said Quint. “The ones we saw before were also quite a bit larger than the ones used for trail rides.”

Bradley turned his head, but I could see his eyes roll. If Quint did too, he ignored it.

“Anyway, thanks for coming back,” said Zain to Myrick. “We figured now that you know about Quint and Theo, and they know about you, it’d be a good time to do your official induction into Topdom. Teach you the secret handshake and all that.”

Myrick and Bradley blinked. Cameron crossed her arms and leaned back against the car. “Oh, so that’s why we’re here? Classified power breakfast? Gonna compare the size of your paddles or something?”

“Don’t have one,” Zain said, with a laugh, “and I’m sure Myrick would win that contest, anyway.”

She smirked. “He sure would.”

Myrick didn’t look amused. He frowned from Zain to Quint as he tried to decode them.

Calmly meeting his eyes, Quint said, “It’s a unique lifestyle we lead. I’ve learned over the last year and a half that it’s often very valuable to talk about it with someone who understands. I wanted to offer that to you, as well. If you’re uncomfortable, though, I can bow out.”

“Where will Bradley and I be during this meeting of the minds?” Cameron asked.

I forced myself to speak up. “Bradley, I wanted to take a walk around the campgrounds with you, if that’s okay.”

“And you’re welcome to join us,” Zain told Cameron. “Only the handshake is a secret. Or you can go with them.” He shrugged and smiled. “However you’re feeling today.”

“No, I want to keep an eye on you three,” she said. “This should be interesting.”

“Okay. What do you say, Myrick?” Zain asked.

He exchanged a glance with Cameron, nodded, and reached behind her to open the drivers-side door. “We’ll give you a ride to your cabin.”

I stayed where I was as Zain kissed my cheek and then climbed into the back seat of the vehicle. Myrick was talking quietly to Bradley, keeping him occupied. Now was my chance to tell Quint what to say to Theo. What if he didn’t like the idea, though? He’d know. I would never be able to hide my true intentions. My gut burned and my heart fluttered as if it had wings, and I couldn’t make my lips move.

Quint gripped my shoulder for a brief moment. Then he climbed in, too. Merde.

With his hands shoved deep into his pockets, Bradley came to stand beside me and watch Myrick pull the car out. “You’re not worried about them talking?” he muttered from the corner of his mouth.

“No,” I said.

“You look worried.”

I shook my head and turned around. “Let’s go find something to do.”

He followed me as I began to reconsider my strategy. How did Zain make this kind of thing look so easy?

Theo

It was the day of weird texts, apparently. First I’d checked my phone as I blearily made myself a cup of coffee and found an extremely long one from Quint explaining that I needed to be out of the cabin before they got back without much of a reason given beyond some sort of conversation they wanted to have with Myrick. And now, after I’d gotten dressed and wandered down to the resort loop bus stop with a vague idea about finding breakfast, my phone dinged with one from Seb that just said, Come meet me at the bike barn.

The bike barn was the building they used to rent out all sorts of stuff, not just bikes. I remembered it being near the arcade where we played Guitar Hero on the day of the marathon. I hopped on the bus pulling into the station as I walked up and found a seat before I answered him. On my way. Kicked you out too? Wonder what they did with Bradley.

I didn’t really care. Maybe he and Cameron were off somewhere together. My mind still boggled at how she could be in a relationship with them and not take any part in the discipline. How the hell did that work?

More than anything, though, I was dying to know what Quint, Zain, and Myrick were going to talk about. Bradley needing to get his butt roasted more, hopefully. I could tell Quint had been less than impressed with the excuse of an apology he gave me.

The bus ride took several minutes, with stops to pick up other guests on their way out to the parks for the day. Yet Seb never responded to my text.

Brian

Upon entering the cabin, Quint offered us drinks. “A black coffee, thank you,” I said, moving so my back wasn’t to a door.

“I’ll take one with milk,” said Justine.

As Quint poured them, Mohyeldin walked down the hallway and stuck his head into the bedroom for a moment, then returned. “Theo’s out,” he reported.

“Good. We can discuss things openly, then,” said Quint. “Please, have a seat.” He gestured to the couch. Justine and I sat down together, and he brought our mugs over to us before sitting himself and crossing his legs. Mohyeldin lounged on the armchair. After exchanging a few pleasantries with Justine about the coffee, Quint said, “Zain has told me that you and Bradley started discipline very recently, and that you’re in a trial period.”

“Yes, sir,” I replied. The trial would expire at the end of the trip, after which we were supposed to decide whether to continue. Yet neither of us had mentioned the planned end-date in weeks. I still wasn’t sure how to broach that subject with Bradley.

Quint smiled briefly. “You don’t need to call me sir.”

I hadn’t been aware I did. He had a quiet, dignified quality that reminded me of my grandfather, though, and I always used ‘sir’ with him growing up. “I’ll try not to,” I said, and bit my tongue on the ‘sir’ that wanted to follow.

Mohyeldin kicked his feet up onto the coffee table and asked, “Did you and Theo start out with a trial?”

“No,” said Quint. “However, we agreed going into it that we’d discuss what was working and what wasn’t at least once a week, and if we had any serious reservations, we would bring them up right away. In my case, I was the hesitant one. Theo knew what he wanted, despite being nervous to ask for it.”

“That shows impressive maturity and courage from him,” I said. In the brief time I’d known Theo, I had only noted his musical talent and his obvious care for Seb—both of which I also appreciated.

“Yes, it did,” said Quint. “I was very glad he brought it up, and helped me to understand it. Discipline has been most helpful in our relationship. What about with you and Bradley? How are you getting on?”

I put my mug down on the end table and rested my empty hand on Justine’s far shoulder as she leaned into me. “I… I’m not certain.” It was an uncomfortable feeling. Slowly, as I worked it out in my mind, I went on, “It has been helpful the few times I’ve used it, yes, but we’ve also had problems.”

“Part of that being down to me,” Justine put in, with one of her sweet smiles. “It’s taken me a while to get this. I think I do now, though, after Bradley and I talked last night.”

So they hadn’t been just sceneing together in the shower. “I’m glad,” I told her.

Her ponytail swished as she turned to me and said, “One thing I don’t get is why you didn’t actually spank him when we got back to our own hotel. I thought you were going to, since what he did here was a pretty clear rule-violation.”

Mohyeldin, who had been watching with his hands intertwined on top of his head, let them fall to the armrests. “You didn’t.”

It wasn’t quite a question.

“He’s my Brat,” I pointed out.

“Never said he wasn’t,” he replied, lightly. “Just wondering why, too.”

I didn’t want to say, especially in front of Quint. But I couldn’t lie to Justine. “I was going to,” I admitted. “And then… I second-guessed myself.” Not something a leader should do. My eyes lowered in shame. “I thought the reprimand I gave him here was enough. I didn’t want to be harsh.”

“How did Bradley react to you changing your mind?” Quint asked.

“He didn’t know what I was planning,” I said.

Beside me, Justine snorted softly. I looked at her, and she shook her head, saying, “He knew, same way I did. We were both confused when you let him go.”

“Unsettled?” asked Quint, calmly as a doctor gathering symptoms from a patient.

Justine’s eyebrows arched. “Not in my case.” Then she shrugged. “Bradley, maybe. He told me– we were talking about something else, afterward, but he told me that he doesn’t want Brian letting him get away with things, basically.”

“Yeah, ‘cause he’s a Brat,” said Mohyeldin, on a puff of laughter. “That’s the definition of it.”

“I didn’t let him get away with anything,” I said, my back straightening. “He apologized to Theo.”

Mohyeldin and Quint exchanged a glance.

“In a manner of speaking, yes,” said Quint.

“Which was the problem,” added Mohyeldin. “His manner of speaking.”

Quint held up a hand, warding off any other comments from him, and looked to me. “What did you think of the apology he offered?”

I thought back to Bradley standing at attention with his eyes on the boat. “He was professional.”

“That may be, but Theo isn’t his colleague,” Quint said, with utmost tact.

In a voice that hovered slightly over a whisper, Justine put in, “He did give the impression he was only apologizing because you were making him.” Then she spoke louder, to Quint. “Can I just say, though? Theo didn’t need to accuse Bradley of homophobia.”

“No, he didn’t,” Quint agreed. “He and I talked that over in more detail last night, and the next time he sees Bradley, he’ll apologize.”

Theo

I spotted Bradley standing outside the bike barn, looking up at the sign showing the prices for everything. His hair shining in the sun caught my eye. My first thought was, Oh, great, figures he came here too. My second was about the ‘sorry’ I owed him. Not that he’d appreciate it, but I was going to be the bigger man.

So I steeled myself to approach the kid, and that was when Seb stepped away from the barn’s service counter so I could see him, too. See him walk right over to Bradley, and at the same time, reach into his pocket, look at his phone, and put it away again.

My mouth fell open. He hadn’t answered that text on purpose!

I marched up to them, and from the moment he noticed me, Seb’s face flashed guilt all over. It made it difficult to stay upset with him about whatever this was. I was still curious to know why he did it, though. “Hey, Bradley,” I said. “Fancy seeing you here. What’re you up to?”

The kid made a face like he smelled something unpleasant. “Seb invited me to go canoeing.”

We both looked at Seb, who shifted his weight uncertainly as he said, “I thought Theo might want to come along. The canoes sit three people.”

I’m sure my expression mirrored Bradley’s then. A morning spent in a very small boat with the bad-tempered, self-loathing, little brat was not my idea of a good time. Heavy silence stretched out. Seb chewed on his lower lip and darted his gaze from me to Bradley and back again.

“Please?” he asked. “I want you to get to know each other better.”

I didn’t see how that would help. We’d already spent enough time together on this trip. “I’d love to,” I lied, “but I haven’t had breakfast yet, so–”

Before I could finish the excuse, Seb was opening his messenger bag and pulling out a couple of applesauce pouches. “Here, you can have these.”

“I’m not going to eat your snacks for lows!” I said, flabbergasted that he’d even offer. Lyra had asked for one of his granola bars once when we were out at a park, and Seb had looked really uncomfortable until Quint had intervened and gently explained to her that they were like medicine for Seb, not to be shared. He must be desperate for me to stay. I sighed. “Keep them. I can skip breakfast. Yeah, let’s go canoeing.”

There was no protest from Bradley. Maybe Seb’s appeal worked on him, too.

We stowed our personal stuff—Bradley’s and my phones and Seb’s entire messenger bag—in one of the lockers standing in front of the bike barn before we got fitted with green lifejackets. A Cast Member gave us each an oar and a short safety spiel. Then she lead us to the line of boats in the sand on the riverbank and flipped one over so half of it floated. “Climb aboard! I’ll hold her steady.”

Bradley went first. He walked up the centerline of the boat to the hard plastic seat at the far end. I watched carefully for any sign of wincing as his ass made contact with it, but he seemed entirely comfortable. Figured.

Gesturing after him, Seb said, “Want to take the middle?”

“Sure,” I said. If Bradley got too annoying, I could ‘accidentally’ splash him with my oar from that position.

Seb stepped into the rear of the boat once I’d sat down. “Ready?” asked the Cast Member. We nodded, and she pushed us out onto the peaceful water.

Brian

“How is Theo apologizing because you’re making him any different than what Bradley did?” I asked. I was irked at their rejection of Bradley’s apology, when I knew how much pride it had cost.

Quint didn’t visibly react to the slight barb in my tone. “I’m not making him. I simply helped him to remember and imagine how Bradley feels during this period of getting comfortable—not only with his own sexuality, but with a new, complex relationship at the same time. Theo wanted to apologize at the end of our talk. I didn’t need to force it.”

He might’ve been speaking about me rather than Bradley. My own footing was unsteady when it came to the discipline and to being with him and Justine, much as I tried to hide it. Maybe that had spilled out and made Bradley more insecure. If he’d had confidence in himself, a silly thing like being a Hufflepuff wouldn’t bother him. I needed to find a way to give him that confidence.

I sighed. “I should’ve punished him last night. Is it too late now?”

Quint and Mohyeldin shared a look. Mohyeldin hummed and rocked his head from side to side. “Sorta depends on Platypus. If he thinks he did something wrong, he’ll want to make up for it no matter how much time has passed. If he doesn’t…”

“You have to be careful not to appear capricious,” said Quint. “Which isn’t to say you can never have a change of heart or be unsure. But if you are, I find it’s best to let your Brat in on your thought processes, even to get him involved in the decision-making, so the motivation is clear.”

That made sense, so long as I kept in mind this was a personal relationship and not a military one. Officers were meant to be decisive and impersonal when meting out discipline. But Bradley was my partner, not my subordinate here. Justine nodded along with me as I said, “I’ll do that. Thank you for the advice.”

“You’re welcome,” Quint said, with a smile. “And don’t worry. This part of it does get easier.”

Mohyeldin rested his elbow on the arm of the chair and his cheek in his palm and grinned at us briefly. Then he asked, “Hey, while you’re talking to Platt about that, could you also get to the bottom of why he’s decided to hate Theo? Because it’s really bumming Seb out.”

My eyebrows furrowed. Next to me, Justine blinked a few times. “Hate Theo?” she asked. “That’s a bit strong. They just had the one argument.”

“I picked up on more than that,” said Mohyeldin, “and Seb picked up on ten times as much as I did, I’m sure. There’s definitely been tension between them since you guys arrived.”

“Have you considered it might be coming from Theo?” I asked. The fight yesterday was started by him, from what I could see.

“Some of it could be,” Quint agreed with equanimity. “However, Theo isn’t the type to take a dislike to someone unbidden.”

“And Bradley is?”

Justine snorted. “Well, yeah, Bri. Look at how he treated Mohyeldin– hell, look at how he treated everyone during his Plebe Summer. He goes through life with his hackles up until you gain his trust. But I thought Theo already had. They were getting along the weekend the three of us got together, weren’t they?”

“Yes,” said Quint. “That’s what makes this confusing.”

“Maybe Theo did something to lose his trust,” I suggested, doing my best to keep my voice even.

Quint nodded. “It’s possible. I can’t imagine what he could’ve done, though, and until we know, there’s no way to fix it.”

“And it needs to get fixed,” Mohyeldin put in. “For Seb’s sake, at least. He was crying about it last night.”

An image of Seb with tears running down over his freckles swam before my eyes. Oh, hell.

“He was?” Justine asked, sounding as troubled by the thought as I was.

“Yeah,” said Mohyeldin. “So what d’you say? Wanna make a plan to figure this out? ‘Cause if I know Platt like I think I do, he won’t just give it up when asked.”

No, he probably wouldn’t. I swallowed the last of my coffee as I considered how I might get him to talk.

Bradley

Why the fuck did Seb have to invite him along?

I didn’t feel guilty for swearing in my thoughts. Much. It was justified, wasn’t it? Theo was breathing down my neck while chatting away to Seb like I wasn’t even there.

He had no idea how to use an oar properly, either. Since I was in the bow, I should’ve been setting the pace, but he kept paddling faster or slower than me, making the canoe turn this way and that. When it went too close to the bank, he used his blade to push against a rock just before we collided with it. The boat rocked sharply.

“Don’t do that!” I said, twisting to look at him. “Are you an idiot?”

He smirked. “No, you must be seeing your own reflection in the water.”

“Guys, please don’t argue? Please?” Seb asked. His knuckles were white on the handle of his oar, and his eyes were big and wet.

Theo reached back and touched his knee. “Hey, it’s okay. We’ll play nice, promise. Right, Brad…ley?”

My nostrils flared. Did he do that deliberately? Or did he just forget I don’t like the nickname? I bet it was the former. I considered telling him to call me Platt. That would probably upset Seb more, though. Turning back to face the river, I said, “Right.”

After that, the only noise for a while was the splashing of the paddles and the chirping of insects and birds all around. Seb was the first to speak, minutes later. He pointed to a turtle with its head poking up out of the water. “I went through a turtle obsession when I was little. That one’s a snapping turtle, I think.”

Theo jerked his oar up away from the reptile, even though it was still yards off. “Oh, Christ! Is it going to attack us?”

Seb giggled, so I didn’t try to hold back my own derisive snort. “Nooo,” he said. “They only bite if you bother them, and usually only on land. In the water, they swim away and hide. See, there he goes.” The turtle had vanished with hardly a ripple.

“Swim away and find a good spot to ambush us, you mean,” said Theo. “Let’s paddle faster and get around this riverbend.” Then he gasped. “I just realized what this outing is missing without Zain here!”

“Oh, mes dieux, don’t–”

“What I love most about rivers is, you can’t step in the same river twice,” Theo sang, his voice in an unnatural falsetto. “The water’s always changing, always flowing! But people I guess can’t live like that, we all must pay a price. To be safe we lose our chance of ever knooowwinggg, what’s around the riverbeeend! Waiting just around the riverbend!”

Seb started giggling again. Theo timed his strokes to the song, which made it easier to steer the canoe and propelled us forward at a decent clip. Yet every note grated on my nerves. Singing Disney for no reason was Mohyeldin’s thing. Just because he wasn’t here didn’t mean Theo got to do it. And did he have to be so high-pitched?

“Can I ignore that sound of distant drumming? For a handsome, sturdy husband who builds handsome, sturdy walls– Which is Quint to a T, by the way,” he interrupted himself.

“Would you lower your voice?” I asked. We’d gone around the loop and were near the bike barn again. I could see people stopping what they were doing to look at us.

“Why?” Theo asked. “Oh, because I’m singing about having a husband? Wouldn’t want anyone to know you’re with a faggot, would we?”

That stung. All the more because it wasn’t so long ago that it would’ve been true. “No!” I snapped. “Some of us just don’t feel the need to be fucking loudmouths all the time.”

“Bradley, Theo, please–”

Theo tutted. “Isn’t that the kind of language that got you in trouble last night? Clearly, Myrick didn’t spank you hard enough.”

My skin went hot all over. I could hardly breathe through the press of anger and humiliation in my chest. I had to get away.

As we’d argued, the canoe had drifted sideways in the current. The bow was now pointed at the sandy beach we’d launched from. I shoved my oar’s blade deep into the riverbed and used the leverage to propel us closer, until the bottom of the boat touched ground. Then I grabbed the gunwales to steady it as I got up and stepped over the last foot of water to dry land.

“Bradley!” Seb called from behind me. I ignored him and marched off toward the big bins full of life vests in front of the bike barn, my fingers wrestling with the buckles of my own. The sooner I returned it, the sooner I could get out of here.

“Hey, where are you going?” Theo demanded. “You need to help us with this thing!”

There was a scraping sound, a thump, and a yell, cut off by a splash.

I spun around to see Theo standing on the wet sand at the edge of the beach with his mouth hanging open, staring at the canoe. It was upright and rocking gently. But Seb wasn’t in it.

I ran forward to help, thinking he was stuck under the canoe somehow. Curse Theo for just standing there!

When I got closer, though, I spotted Seb’s head and green life vest on the far side of the boat. His jean-clad knees poked up out of the water, too. It looked like he was sitting on the bottom of the river. Thank God it was shallow.

Theo grabbed the bow of the canoe in one hand and stretched his other out as far as he could reach. “Shit! Are you alright?”

Seb didn’t answer for a moment. Slowly, he climbed to his feet. Buckets of water poured off him. His hair and clothes were plastered to his skin. Spreading his arms out, he shook himself like a dog, but it didn’t help much with the mud and algae. Then he sloshed to the shore and right past Theo without taking his hand. “Je renonce à vous!”

“What?” I asked. From Theo’s expression, he didn’t know what it meant, either.

Seb ignored us both. He yanked the life vest open and dropped it on the ground. “I’m going back to the cabin.” Then he strode off.

Behind his back, Theo glared at me. “Now look what’s happened!”

“I didn’t do it!” I said. “I wasn’t even near the damn boat. It must’ve been your fault.”

“What the fuck ever,” he said. “I have the key to our locker, so if you want your phone, you’ll help me pull this thing up on shore.”

I scowled, but went to help.

A Cast Member approached from the bike barn before we’d gotten it more than half out of the water. “Is your friend alright?” he called. “Saw that capsize from inside.”

“Yeah,” Theo called back. “Just went to dry off.”

“Okay. I’ll take care of the canoe, if you guys want to go with him.”

We both thanked him and hurried off to the lockers.

Zain

It was going better than I’d thought. Quint knew just what to say to defuse a tense situation, and I had been right about Myrick’s willingness to listen to him. Even Cameron was acting much more comfortable discussing discipline than she had in the past.

Just when I would’ve declared the success of the First Tops’ Summit, though, there were heavy footsteps on the deck, and the door opened to let in Seb.

All of us froze for a second, staring at him. He stared back, looking woebegone as a wet cat. Literally wet. Absolutely drenched, in fact, and covered with muck. I crossed the room in the blink of an eye. “Babe?”

“I’m f-fine,” he said, his teeth chattering. When I grabbed his arm, his skin was icy and all his hairs were standing on end. Florida or not, this wasn’t the kind of weather to go walking around in soaked clothes.

“You’re chilled to the bone,” I said. “What happened?”

“Fell in th-the r-r-river,” he said, without looking at me, Quint, Myrick, or Cameron, who had all sprang up and crowded behind me.

“Where’s Bradley?” Myrick asked. “Did he fall in, too?”

He shook his head.

“So where is he?” Cameron asked.

“I lef-f-t them b-b-by the bik-ke barn,” he said. Color spread into his pale cheeks. “Th-they’re okay.”

Them. He’d been with Platt and Theo by the river.

Quint nodded and turned to me. “We can work that out later. He needs a hot shower. Now.”

“Yep.” We were on the same wavelength. I gave him Seb’s hand, saying, “Can you–? I’ll get him a change of clothes.”

Seb grunted in protest—whether at the idea of a shower in general, or the idea of Quint escorting him to it, I didn’t really care. I swatted his thigh, below where the worst of the muck clung to his jeans, and grabbed a paper towel from the table to wipe off my palm on my way to his suitcase over by the TV. Aside from his yelp, there were no more peeps from him. Quint pulled him off to the bathroom and the sound of water started. I flipped open the suitcase.

Myrick, meanwhile, had taken out his phone. He held it to his ear with his gaze locked with Cameron’s and sighed. “Not answering.”

She opened her mouth like she was going to say something, but then she pointed out the window at the narrow end of the cabin. “Oh, he’s walking up now! With Theo!”

That wasn’t precisely true. He trailed Theo by a good fifteen feet. I was glad to see Theo had Seb’s bag in his hand, though. I’d been afraid it got lost it in the river. I watched him come around the side of the cabin and up the steps. Platt sped up as he did, so he was right behind Theo when the door opened. Both of them glanced around worriedly as they stepped inside.

“Seb’s here, right?” Theo asked.

“He’s in the bathroom,” said Cameron. She ran her hand down Platt’s arm, like she was checking he was really dry. “What happened?”

Platt scowled. “It was Theo’s fault.”

“Excuse me?!” demanded Theo, with a look that could cut glass.

But Platt took no notice of it. He spoke to Cameron, Myrick, and me, with his back turned to the other Brat and his chin jutted out. “He tipped the canoe.”

Theo sucked in an outraged breath. “It wouldn’t have tipped if it hadn’t been rocking already from your little tantrum and stomp-off!”

“Tantrum?” Myrick asked.

As Platt began hotly contesting that, I dug out clean underwear to go along with the shirt and pants I’d already found. Most of my focus remained on Seb, shivering in the bathroom. Myrick could deal with the other two for a minute. I carried the outfit right past them and knocked on the closed door, then opened it without waiting for an answer.

Quint sat on the edge of the tub with one hand under the running faucet. Seb stood on a towel in front of him, still dressed. He had a thermometer sticking out of his mouth.

“Here, habibi,” I said, setting the clothes on the counter.

The thermometer beeped, and Quint held out his dry hand for it. Seb passed it over.

“Is he…?” I trailed off, not sure how to finish the question.

“Only slightly below normal,” Quint said, nodding at the thermometer. “I wanted to check first. Active rewarming–”

Platt’s voice rose and spilled through the door frame around me in the middle of the sentence. “–rocking a little. You really don’t know anything, do you?”

“Don’t call me dumb,” Theo snapped back.

They began to talk over each other so I couldn’t make out distinct words from either of them. Seb wrapped both his arms around his torso, and I knew it wasn’t just because he was cold. A fat, wet tear fell down his cheek before he turned away to hide his face.

Okay, that was it.

As brightly as possible, I said, “Be right back.” Then I shut the door behind me and returned to the kitchen in a few strides. Brushing past Myrick, I stopped right in front of the two Brats, close enough that they had to look upwards to meet my eyes. They only did for half a second, though. It was like I’d hit the pause button. They both froze in place with their arguments dying on their lips.

I crossed my arms. “Hey, guys?” I asked, quietly enough to make sure Seb couldn’t hear and, as an added benefit, give my tone an ominous overcast. “Seb just walked in on the edge of hypothermia, soaked and barely able to talk from shivering, and all he’d say is he fell in the river. Which means he’s covering for one or both of you, because that’s what friends do and the two of you are his best friends. So for his sake, you need to learn how to at least be civil to each other, because he’s crying right now listening to you fight. Got it?”

“S-sorry,” Platt whispered. Unlike Theo, his head was held high, but he fixed his gaze over my shoulder. Red splotches painted his skin. He swallowed and glanced at the bathroom door.

Theo shifted from foot to foot and looked up guiltily through his lashes. “I brought his bag?” he said, holding it out like a peace offering.

I smiled as I accepted it. “Thanks, squirt.” Then I took a step back from them. “And stop making me use my Toppy voice. You both know it messes with my rep.” I gave them a wink and turned to take the bag to Seb, only to almost bump into Cameron gawking at me. “What?”

“I… had no idea you could be so…” She blinked a few times.

Myrick pulled her out of my way with his eyes narrowed. I rolled my own. If he wanted to get jealous over her reaction, he could do it later. We all had Brats to attend to.

This time, when I walked into the bathroom, the shower curtain was drawn and the only sign of Seb was the pile of his wet clothing on the towel, which Quint was gathering up in a bundle. I put the bag down next to the sink.

“He needs close supervision,” Quint said. “The change in temperature could make his blood pressure drop. I’ve told him if he feels the slightest bit dizzy, to let you know and come out of there so he doesn’t faint.”

“Thanks,” I said, pulling my shirt off. “I’ll go in with him to be sure.”

“Hopefully, by the time you’re out, we’ll have that situation sorted.” He nodded towards the hallway.

Grinning, I said, “Good luck.”

As he left, I shucked off my pants and climbed into the tub.

Brian

We all stood in silence for several moments after Mohyeldin disappeared into the bathroom. How was I supposed to handle this? I was the only Top in the room now, and Bradley and Theo were clearly in need of direction, yet I didn’t feel comfortable giving Theo an order. He barely knew me. Mohyeldin was justified in lecturing them because their actions were affecting Seb, and because—I was beginning to see—he had a very special kind of relationship with the older couple. I didn’t hold the same right. So I could only put on an intimidating expression and wait for Quint.

He came soon, thankfully, and pointed at the dining table with its bench and three chairs. “Why don’t we all have a seat and discuss this issue with respect and courtesy?”

“Yes,” I said, being careful not to look relieved. “Sit down, Bradley.”

He slid onto the bench obediently. I took the spot next to him, and Justine circled the table to be at his other side while Theo and Quint settled into two chairs. There was another pause.

Quint folded his hands together on the table. “First, I’d like to hear how the three of you ended up canoeing together. Theo, I thought you had gone to get breakfast.”

“I did,” said Theo. “But Seb texted me saying to meet him by the bike barn.” He glanced at Bradley. “Without mentioning he’d be there.”

“He didn’t tell me he was inviting you, either,” Bradley retorted. “If he had, I would’ve left before you arrived.”

Perhaps that would’ve been best all around, I thought, as Theo glared across the table and asked, “What is your problem with me?”

Bradley scoffed, slouched on the bench, and made a face as if he could smell something nasty. “Like you don’t know.”

“I assume it’s because I’m gay,” Theo said, raising his eyebrows, “but you keep claiming to be over that. Not sure I believe you.”

“Could I be friends with Seb and Mohyeldin if I weren’t?” Bradley asked. He gestured to me. “Or in a relationship with him?”

Theo’s eyes rolled back into his head. “It’s called internalized homophobia, sweetheart. Look it up.”

Snapping his spine straight, Bradley snarled, “I am not homophobic!”

I frowned. Up to that point, they’d both kept their volume down below the level Seb could’ve possibly overheard. It was clearly a sore spot with Bradley, though. I thought I knew why. He wanted so badly to have completely shed his old attitudes and beliefs. But I wasn’t sure it was really driving his feelings towards Theo. Should I intervene?

“Then what is it?” Theo asked. He spread his hands out as if he were truly as baffled as I felt. “What the fuck did I ever do to you?”

Quint cleared his throat. “Language, Theodore.”

A mean little smirk twisted Bradley’s lips and distorted his features into ugliness. “Yeah, Theodore.”

Did he just…?!

“Bradley Christopher,” I said, in a tone far more astonished than stern. “I expect better from you, little boy.”

At least he still blushed. His gaze dropped to the table as well, though his face didn’t soften.

Again, Quint broke the tension, this time with a deep sigh. “I don’t think we’re getting anywhere along these lines. Perhaps if we separate and regroup?”

He was speaking to me, I realized after a moment. Separate to do what? I thought.

But then I knew. I set my chin and nodded.

“Good. Theo, come with me.”

Theo barely glanced at Bradley before following his husband down the hallway into the bedroom.

I leaned to look past Bradley, into Justine’s frown. “You probably don’t want to be here for this,” I told her.

She simply nodded and got up. “I’ll wait on the deck.”

Once she’d gone as well, I slid the chair Quint had been sitting in further away from the table. Then I moved to it. “Bradley, come here.”

He went pale. “What?”

“I’m not going to repeat myself, little boy.”

“But…” His eyes darted behind me, to the various doors with people on the other side. “They’ll all hear!”

“I warned you last night I wouldn’t be concerned about that anymore,” I replied. “I should’ve done this then, because you’re clearly still in need of an attitude adjustment. I won’t make the same mistake twice.”

He stayed motionless, yet he looked like he was in shock, not defiant. I felt sorry for him. It was my own fault we had to do this now, after all. “Mohyeldin and Seb probably won’t be able to hear over the shower,” I said, trying to make up for it. “I’m not sure how much longer they’ll be in there, though.”

That got him moving. Two fewer people listening in was worth it. He shot to my side. Twin spots of pink stood out on the whiteness of his cheekbones. His hands went to his waistband and then hesitated.

“Yes,” I said. “Lower them. You can leave your shorts up.” They wouldn’t muffle the sound much, but perhaps psychologically, they would help.

No sign of an erection under them when he slowly lowered his jeans. Good. That meant I didn’t have to wait for him to lose it before I really started. I took his arm and pulled him forward and down. His hands closed tight around my ankle as he settled across my lap. In different circumstances, I would’ve found it cute how he always clung to me like that. I took a moment to smooth the thin cotton over his rounded bottom. Rapid and forceful, I decided. No more shirking my duty, or his need.

I raised my hand and brought it down.

Theo

The mattress bounced as I threw myself onto it. I landed on my side at first, then quickly corrected so I was sitting cross-legged and cross-armed in the middle of the bed. “See what I’ve dealt with?” I asked. “He’s a prick for no reason!”

Imperturbable as always, Quint came to lay his hand on my shoulder. “I can imagine it’s frustrating, especially because you don’t know what’s causing it,” he said. “However, that doesn’t excuse needling him with accusations. We went over this last night, didn’t we?”

“Yes, and I was going to apologize for that,” I said, looking up at him. “But you should’ve seen his face when Seb suggested canoeing together! Like he stepped in dog shit. It’s not like I want to fight with him and upset Seb.”

I really, really didn’t want that. It twisted my gut with shame to think Seb was crying in the bathroom because of me. Plus, Zain got scary. Not as scary as when I messed with his gun, but close.

“Whether you fight with him or not is within your control,” Quint said. “If you refuse to react, things can’t escalate.”

“So I’m supposed to just take it? I’m sick of trying to be the more mature one in this.”

Quint’s eyebrow arched as he sat down next to me. “He’s nineteen years old, Theo. You are the more mature one. He’s also a new Brat. I know you’re capable of setting the better example he needs.”

“What he needs is a good tanning,” I said, daring Quint to contradict it.

He didn’t. His lips pressed together, and I knew he was holding something in. Probably agreement.

A series of smacks began to carry through the wall then, over the sound of Seb’s shower. I snorted. “Sounds like he’s finally getting it. Too little, too late.”

“Theodore! You would never be so spiteful if it were Seb out there. I’m surprised at you!”

It was clear he meant it. The expression on his face was like he didn’t even recognize me. Pain pierced my chest. Quint will never tell me I disappointed him. He knows how it would trigger echoes of my past. When he looks at me like that, though, he doesn’t need to say it. I dropped my gaze to the bedspread as my ears heated and a lump formed in my throat. Past it, I forced out words. I had to explain. “Because Seb is a sweetheart. I don’t know what he and Zain see in Bradley that makes them want to be his friend.”

Quint sighed. His arm came around my shoulders and tipped me into his embrace. “Probably the same thing I see: a sensitive kid with very little confidence, covering his insecurities with bluff and bluster. He reminds me a bit of you, years ago.”

“I wasn’t…”

I’d been about to say I wasn’t mean-spirited like Bradley. But I was, back in the canoe before he stormed off. And again seconds ago.

“Wasn’t what?”

In the other room, the spanking continued. Myrick had kept up the same fast pace from the start. Only now did a much fainter noise begin to follow each smack, though. Bradley was whimpering.

Two things hit me at the same time. First, he had to know that Quint and I, and his girlfriend, and possibly even Seb and Zain, would be able to overhear, yet he still couldn’t completely muffle his reaction. His pride must be hurting as badly as his butt. Second… he sounded so young.

I drew back from Quint, making myself meet his eyes. “Bradley stormed out of the canoe after I teased him, and I got mad. I wasn’t paying attention to where I stepped when I followed. So Seb falling in the river was mostly my fault.”

Quint listened and calmly nodded. “Thank you for telling me. Would you like to deal with that now, or later?”

My nose prickled at his kindness. He didn’t need to give me a choice. Especially since Myrick hadn’t even waited to get Bradley back to their own hotel.

“Now,” I said, undoing the button of my fly. “It’s not fair otherwise.”

He smiled and kissed my cheek while I slid my jeans down over my hips. “There’s the man I married.”

The happiness that ignited was nearly enough to overpower my embarrassment and dread as I laid myself down across his lap. Nearly.

Seb

I knew Zain hadn’t been fooled. He could tell some of the droplets running down my face were tears, not water. Without commenting on them, he massaged shampoo through my hair, gently tipping my head back under the spray. Then he moved down my body with only some soap on his hands. The skin-to-skin contact was intimate and comforting, like being curled up in front of a warm fire.

When the steam surrounding us had soothed away my shivers, he leaned out of the shower to pick up one of the towels on the edge of the sink. I turned off the water. That was when I heard the noises coming from both my right and left. I froze as if I’d been dunked into the river again.

Zain raised his eyebrows at me, whispered, “Spanking in stereo,” and started to laugh.

I punched his shoulder twice, hissing, “Stop it! You’re awful!”

He wrapped me up with the towel before I could get a third hit in. Then he grabbed a smaller towel and put it over my head so I was blinded. As he rubbed my hair dry, he said, “Yes, I’m awful. But they both needed that, clearly. Maybe now we can get to the bottom of whatever’s causing the tension between them.” The towel lifted, and I looked right into his warm, amused brown eyes. “Unless you figured it out already with your little trick-them-into-canoeing-together scheme.”

I flushed. “It was a stupid idea.”

“Not necessarily.” He dropped the small towel on the floor and began patting down my body with the bigger one. “I might’ve done the same thing.”

“…Like I said.”

He grinned and swatted me lightly over the towel. “Brat.”

The pace of the smacks coming from the living room slowed to a stop. That only allowed me to hear Theo’s pleading with Quint better. I swallowed on a sob. “This is all my fault.”

Zain blew out a very unimpressed scoff. Stepping from the tub, he lifted me by my hips and set me down in front of him, then took another towel to dry himself. He wasn’t nearly as wet as me, since he’d made me stand directly under the showerhead without any room for him. As he bent to swipe his legs, he said, “What I’ve gathered so far is you invited them both to go canoeing with you in hopes they’d get to know each other better and be friends. At some point during this canoe trip, they started arguing, and that led to one or both of them getting out of the canoe so carelessly that it flipped over and you fell in the river.” He straightened to look me in the face again. “Any of that untrue?”

“No, but–”

“Then you did nothing wrong.”

“You said yourself I tricked them!”

“I was exaaaggerating, babe,” he said, rolling his eyes. “All you did was maneuver a little to get them both in the same place at the same time. What they did after that was their choice.”

I scowled and crossed my arms. “Of course you see nothing wrong with maneuvering. You’re a horrible, horrible Top.”

“Probably,” he agreed, cheerfully unrepentant. “I don’t care. You want a punishment for it, go try to convince Quint to give you a turn when he’s finished with Theo. The only thing I would’ve done differently is been there with you so something like this couldn’t happen.”

Theo’s spanking ended with four swats louder than the rest. The silence in the cabin afterward was potent enough to start me crying again. “I wish you had been,” I said, wiping my nose on the edge of the towel. “Now they’ll hate each other and me for getting them into this.”

“They will not.” Zain plucked the shirt off the pile of clean clothes he’d brought me. “Here. Put that on and I’ll prove it to you.”

*

After we both got dressed, he stuck his head out into the hallway and called, “Ready to rumble?”

A few seconds later, I heard Myrick say, “Yes, we’re finished.”

Zain rapped on the bedroom door at his right. “Guys?”

“We’ll join you in a moment,” said Quint.

Neither of the other Brats spoke, I noticed. I could only imagine how they were feeling right now. I must be the last person they’d want to see. Yet Zain grabbed my wrist and dragged me from the bathroom with him.

In the kitchen, Myrick stood next to the table with his hand resting on Bradley’s lower back. I avoided looking at Bradley directly. I didn’t want him to feel like we were all staring.

Zain glanced around. “Has Cameron been banished, or…?”

Myrick went to the front door and opened it. As he spoke to Cameron out on the deck, Bradley moved closer to me. Quietly, he said, “Seb? I’m sorry for my part in the canoe tipping over.”

“I’m sorry I forced you to go canoeing with Theo and got you in trouble,” I whispered back.

“You didn’t,” he said, sounding confused. “I got myself in trouble. You weren’t even out here.”

Zain heard that, from his smirk. Cameron coming in gave me no time to argue. She cut between us and flung her arms around Bradley. “Honey, are you okay? I heard you crying.”

“I never cried,” he said.

She pulled back to look at his face. I did, too. It was pink all over, except for his eyes.

“No tears,” Myrick confirmed. I couldn’t read his tone. Was he proud of Bradley? Disconcerted by his lack of reaction? Grateful? When I glanced at Zain, he wore a thoughtful frown.

Cameron gave Bradley a kiss, then brushed her fingers through his hair as she studied him closer. “You’re okay?”

He nodded.

Down the hall, the bedroom door opened and Quint came out with Theo wrapped around him from behind, shuffling along in his wake. They walked to the kitchen like that, but then Quint reached back, hooked his husband’s belt loop, and tugged him to his side instead so we could see Theo’s red ears and downcast eyes. Quint cleared his throat. Theo peeled his cheek away from Quint’s chest.

“Seb, I’m sorry my carelessness made the canoe tip over. And I’m sorry for fighting with your friend. I should’ve just ignored it.”

The ‘your friend’ cut. I swallowed around the pain. “I don’t understand why you two suddenly hate each other. You’re both great guys with a lot in common.” Couldn’t they see? When I moved to Maryland, I wanted to be able to have them both over to the house at the same time. If things kept on as they were, my whole life there would be torn in half. “What happened?”

“Ask him,” said Theo. “All he’d say to me is that I should already know.”

I turned to Bradley. Everyone else looked at him too, all of us waiting for an explanation. After a few seconds, he shifted his feet and pushed his hands into his pockets with a rough shrug. “Why is it a big deal? Seb doesn’t like Brian and no one’s getting on his case.”

I sputtered. “Th-that’s not true.”

Myrick’s frown, which had been fixed on Bradley, was suddenly aimed at me, and ten times as severe as I’d ever seen it. I shrank into my skin, wishing I could somehow hide without moving.

“See, he can barely even look at him!” said Bradley.

“Seb is shy,” Theo said, defensively. “You ought to have realized that if you’re such good friends!”

“I have,” Bradley snapped. “But he knows Brian. Why would he still be shy after all this time?”

Then Zain pulled me against him, back-to-front, his strong hands sliding over my churning stomach. Loudly, he popped his lips together and said, bright as sunshine, “Weeellll, maybe we could try asking him, instead of talking over him like he’s not standing right here.”

“Well-spoken,” Quint murmured.

My face heated. “It’s… it’s what Theo guessed. My shyness.”

I felt Zain’s snort in his diaphragm. “Nope, try again.”

Twisting, I looked at him, and the bastard had his head tilted and a grin on his lips. He already knew. He was going to make me say it.

I took a few moments to squirm in his arms and gather my courage before I could raise my gaze to Myrick’s and whisper, “You’re intimidating.”

His head jerked back like I’d startled him. Bradley looked confused. Cameron, though, began to laugh. She quickly covered her mouth with her hand to muffle it and said, “Sorry, I don’t mean to make fun, but it’s so priceless. This whole time, Brian has been intimidated by you.”

I blinked. “Moi?”

She giggled harder. “Oui. You’re experienced in this whole world of discipline.”

That still made no sense. Zain was just as experienced as me, and Myrick didn’t stare at him like he was trying to turn him into stone. He didn’t look at Quint and Theo that way since he found out they practiced discipline, either.

“Justine, do you remember what I said would happen if you kept talking about this?” he asked. “One more word.”

Cameron stuck her tongue out.

Turning to me, Myrick held up a hand, palm forward. “Seb, my intention isn’t to make you uncomfortable. How can I resolve this?”

“You could try smiling more,” Theo said.

“Yeah, that might help,” said Zain. “Really, though, I think you guys just need to get to know each other better. Later today when we’re at Disney Springs, you two can split off and go shopping.”

I shot him a horrified glance over my shoulder.

“What? Forced togetherness is good for Theo and Platypus but not for you?” he asked, with a wicked grin. “Speaking of which, this conversation got derailed. Let’s all sit down and wait in uncomfortable silence until Platt actually answers the question.”

With that, he grabbed my wrist, tugged me over to the armchair, and dragged me into it with him while Myrick guided Bradley to the couch. Cameron perched on Bradley’s other side. Quint pulled one of the dining chairs away from the table for himself, and Theo dropped readily into his lap. I saw Bradley’s eyes widen at that. I hesitated. Zain’s strength pressed up against me, steady as a rock. “Bradley?” I asked, softly. “Please don’t get mad. Is it maybe a little what Theo said? About him being gay?”

“Baaabe,” Zain whined. “Did you not hear the plan? Uncomfortable silence.”

Myrick put his arm over Bradley’s shoulders protectively. “We’re not here to judge you, pet,” he said. “Tell us what you’re feeling.”

Bradley

None of them were going to leave me alone until I said everything. Fine. Theo asked for it.

“I’m feeling angry. Why should he get away with stuff?”

Theo tossed his hands up. “What stuff did I get away with? I was just spanked, same as you.”

“Not that,” I said, crossing my arms and blushing hard. “Telling other people’s business.”

He looked truly baffled as he said, “I have no idea what you are talking about.” Must make it such a habit, it was easy to forget.

I turned to Brian. “Before we got together, that weekend, I spent time with him and talked to him about my feelings in confidence, and then the second I left, he blabbed it all to his husband.”

“Ah,” Quint said. “No. I’m afraid you’re mistaken.”

How could a Top lie so quietly and calmly? I’d thought Quint was better than that. My eyes narrowed at him, sitting there with Theo on his lap as if that were a normal thing to do. “So you expect us to think you guessed?”

A millisecond later, Brian’s hand was clamped to the back of my neck. “Bradley Christopher, wipe that sneer out of your tone or I will put you over my knee again right now.”

The coffee table was suddenly the most interesting spot in the room. It took me several seconds to catch my breath before saying, “I’m sorry.”

“Are you apologizing to me or to Quint?” Brian asked. “If it’s to him, you need to give him eye contact.”

I swallowed. Inside my chest, my heart was going mad. Dead silence fell as I raised my gaze, expecting to see annoyance, at least. If not anger. But Quint’s expression was tranquil. Theo and Seb both looked uncomfortable and a bit scared. Mohyeldin seemed curious, like he was watching an interesting TV show. I didn’t want to see Justine.

“I’m sorry, sir.”

Quint nodded. “Thank you. I accept your apology.”

“But what makes you think Theo told him?” Justine asked, touching my knee.

“He knew the day of the barbeque.” I glanced at Quint again, less certain. “Mohyeldin said so. He wouldn’t have told, and neither would Seb, and they were the only others who knew.”

“No one told me,” Quint said. “You were correct, in that I deduced it for myself, after observing the three of you. The only person I spoke to about it was Zain, and he declined to comment. Theo did nothing to hint at what was happening.”

I don’t trust easily. Yet his gentle tone and steady blue eyes, and the way he held Theo so securely…. The betrayal I’d felt. Losing a new friend. All for nothing.

Theo huffed. “Jesus, if that’s all it was, you could’ve asked. I still think you were looking for an excuse to hate me.”

My shoulders rose. “I am not homophobic. Just because I don’t flaunt it–”

“Whoa whoa whoa,” he said. “Flaunt it?”

“–or be loud all the time–”

“Why does that bother you?” Brian cut in.

“It’s annoying.”

“Why?” he pressed.

I scowled. “It just is!”

Mohyeldin leaned forward in the armchair. “Do you get annoyed when Seb and I ‘flaunt’ our relationship?”

“No,” I said. “You’re not obnoxious.”

He gasped. “How dare you! I am completely obnoxious! I work very hard at it.”

Seb was twisting the hemp bracelet he always wears. He licked his lips. “What if… what if what you see as obnoxiousness is really courage, and confidence, and self-love? And what if the reason you don’t like it is that Theo makes it look easy? I’ve been jealous of him for that, too.”

Everyone’s eyes fixed on me again. I frowned and shifted. “I’m not jealous. I have plenty of courage.”

“I didn’t mean you don’t,” Seb said, quickly. “I swear. I meant that it’s hard for us—both of us, for different reasons—to have that sort of courage, to be open about who we are and to be comfortable with affection in front of others the way Theo is.”

I looked at Theo, resting his head on Quint’s shoulder. My stomach hurt.

Justine ran her hand down my back. “Honey, you didn’t want to use my shampoo because it’s for girls. Same thing with Hufflepuff. You don’t like being associated with anything that seems ‘soft’ or ‘feminine,’ which I think you’re associating with gayness.” She leaned closer to whisper for me alone. “And you still haven’t had intercourse with Brian.”

Why hadn’t I? She’d spent weeks helping me overcome the reflex that made me feel lightheaded when something penetrated me. I loved Brian, and I wanted to share myself with him. But the idea was also terrifying. Because it would be gay sex.

“I thought I was a better person now,” I said (small and young).

Brian pulled me in. I made myself hold still. His voice rumbled through his chest into my ear. “You are, pet. Nothing we’re saying means you’re a bad person. You’ve been taught something your whole life, and now you’re trying to learn something radically different. That takes a long time. We understand. I understand. Trust me.”

“Yeah,” Theo added. “It wasn’t always this easy for me, either. I had to do a lot of figuring shit out when I was a kid, even younger than you.” He gave me a half-smile. “I have about a twenty-year head start. You’ll get there eventually.”

Quint nodded. “In the interim, the first step to showing you are that better person is to recognize the problem isn’t with Theo, but with the culture you’ve been indoctrinated into, and with the attitudes you’ve unconsciously internalized. Can you do that?” His voice was firm, but there was no judgment in his face. Or in Seb’s or Mohyeldin’s. It was like Brian had said.

“Yes.”

“Remember rule four?” Brian asked. His arm squeezed my shoulders.

“‘No meanness towards anyone, including yourself.’”

“Follow it.”

“Yes, sir,” I said.

Quint touched Theo’s chin, guiding him to give eye contact. “Angel, it’s understandable, given your history, if you don’t feel you can be patient with Bradley while he works through this. However, I need to know now so I can take precautions to prevent an incident like today from occurring again.”

Theo was quiet for a few moments. Then he took a deep breath. “I can do it.”

“You’re sure?” Quint asked.

“Yes. I promise I’ll be patient with him.” He looked at me. “And I’m sorry for antagonizing you earlier.”

“I’m sorry, too,” I said. “I never wanted to stir up anything from your past.”

He blinked like he was holding back tears. “Thanks.”

Mohyeldin stood, grabbed Theo’s arm in his left hand and mine in his right, and tugged us both to our feet. “Now hug it out,” he said, pushing us towards each other.

Theo spread his arms wide, grinning at me. I felt my flush as I stepped into them and patted his back twice. He snorted. “You hug like a straight boy.”

“Theo,” Quint said.

“Only teas– Ah!” he went, as I lifted him up and spun in a circle. Mohyeldin whooped while Justine applauded. They were all smiling when I set Theo down.

“Way to go, kid,” Mohyeldin said. “I’m proud of you.”

I glowed.

“We’ve got a few hours before we should head to Disney Springs,” he went on, glancing at his watch. “I wanted to put in a movie. The river gunk needs to be washed out of Seb’s clothes, though, or they’ll reek.” He looked from Theo to me. “There are laundry rooms in the comfort stations.”

Seb sprang up. “Don’t worry,” he began, but his fiancé casually reached over and swatted him. His cheeks turned red.

“We’ll do it,” I said, quickly.

“Yeah, it was our fault,” Theo agreed.

Brian frowned at me. “If you go alone together, you won’t fight?”

“No, sir.”

Mohyeldin clapped his hands and bounced. “Oooh, Quint, get one of your shirts so we can make them both wear it at the same time while they do it!”

Justine burst into giggles as Theo, Seb, and I all began to voice our objections.

“What?” Mohyeldin asked. “It’s a bonding experience.”

Quint and Brian looked at each other. Simultaneously, they said, “No.”

Thank God.

*

A couple of minutes later, I was walking next to Theo along the side of the road. We were almost at the comfort station, yet neither of us had spoken since we left the cabin. The silence was different than it had been when we followed Seb home. More awkward than angry.

I tucked my hands into my pockets. “I… I really am sorry. I wasn’t just pretending because the Tops were there.”

He glanced at me. “I know. So am I.”

We still didn’t talk, though. Not until Seb’s clothes were spinning in one of the washers lined up against the wall of the laundry room. The opposite wall had a row of dryers. Between them were two picnic tables, and on the far side of those was a vending machine for detergent and another for drinks. Theo went to the second one. “Want a soda?” he asked over his shoulder.

I hesitated. “Brian probably wouldn’t like that. Yesterday he said I’d had enough junk food.”

What was I saying? It was none of Theo’s business. It made me sound as if I was a little kid who needed his daddy’s approval for sweets.

But Theo just asked, “For the day, or for the whole trip?” Totally non-judgemental.

I bit my lip, trying to remember Brian’s exact words. “…I’m not sure.”

Theo turned around with a frown. “I got the impression you have your rules all written out and numbered.”

“They’re sort of a work in progress right now.”

He laughed a little. “Yeah, that doesn’t end.”

I blinked. Part of me had assumed the rules would be fairly set after the trial ended. “How long have you been doing this?”

“Discipline?” He turned around and fed a dollar into the machine, then pressed the button and bent to retrieve his soda. “About ten years.”

“And you’re still figuring it out?” Would Brian have the patience to put up with me for so long?

Theo squinted at the ceiling as he twisted open the soda cap. “Well, no, I wouldn’t say that.” He sat down on the nearest picnic table bench. “After a while, you can accurately guess what’s going to get the dreaded raised eyebrow. But it can change depending on the circumstances. Like, if we were home, yeah, Quint wouldn’t approve of this Coke. Since we’re on vacation, things are a little more lax.” Shrugging, he took a sip.

I sat down across from him with my legs straddling the bench. “It makes a difference where you are?” The thought produced a swooping sensation in my stomach. Right ought to be right, no matter what.

He looked at me, and his whole expression changed. It was almost a smile, but not a patronizing one. “Only if you want it to. I was just giving an example from my relationship. Me, I enjoy being able to let loose occasionally. Which doesn’t mean he’ll never reign me in or spank me during a vacation. Today demonstrated that.” He shifted and gave an exaggerated wince.

“So… it depends?”

Theo nodded. “Absolutely. It isn’t a bad thing, kid. In any relationship, not only a discipline one, you have to switch up how things work every once in a while. It just means you’re growing together. You don’t want to stagnate, do you?”

“No,” I said. If Brian, Justine, or I refused to change, we’d break up the moment one of us was deployed without the others. Thinking of it like that helped me understand what he was saying. I brought my other leg under the table so I was facing him. “You talk about this so openly.”

“Only because I know you get it.” He took another, longer pull on the soda, swallowed, and wiped his mouth. “I’m glad you’re a Brat. Before I met Seb, I had no friends I could really discuss my lifestyle with and know they’d gone through something similar. Now I have two.”

My face contorted. “‘Friend’ is a strong term.” I don’t bestow it easily.

Theo laughed. “We’ve heard each other getting spanked. That makes us friends, whether you like it or not, kid.”

I somehow didn’t mind him calling me ‘kid’. His tone was good-natured, the same way Mohyeldin said it. That wasn’t why I could feel myself blushing. I had hoped that the sound of the punishments only traveled one way. Yet he seemed so unfazed. Maybe he was used to it. “Have you and Seb ever heard each other?”

“Yeah.” A sigh. “Multiple times.”

I tried not to recall the pleas I’d heard from the bedroom earlier. Tried not to replace Theo’s voice with Seb’s. Although the one time I had witnessed a split second of Mohyeldin spanking Seb, he’d been sobbing, not talking. I swallowed. “That must be terrible, hearing him so often.”

“Oh, it’s the worst,” Theo agreed. “I usually try to leave, or put on headphones and blast music until it’s over. I know it helps him, but…”

“It just doesn’t seem right,” I said.

“Exactly! He’s literally the sweetest person I’ve ever met. Hell, probably the sweetest person in the whole world. I don’t know how Quint and Zain can bring themselves to force him to cry.” He shuddered. “Makes me so glad I’m not a Top.”

“Yeah, me too.”

The room grew quiet once more, except the sound of the washer. It was different again. Easy.

“Maybe I will have a Coke,” I said, starting to stand up.

Theo beat me to his feet. “I’ll buy it. Then if you get in trouble, you can say you didn’t want to refuse my gift and cause another fight.” He winked.

I bit back a smile. “Thanks.”