After brunch, Kennedy dropped them off at their apartment like a mother dropping her kids off at the little league game. She waved and blew kisses at them through the open passenger window, which prompted Micah to lean into frame just to stick his middle finger in her face and tell her to shove it.

On the walk up the stairs, Benny said, "I knew Kennedy was a freak but I didn't think she was that freaky."

Micah was slightly out of breath and weighed down by carbs. He paused at their level while Benny went ahead to the door. "You're seriously surprised? It was a shock, for sure, but that's just because she wasn't even on my radar of people Alistair would sleep with."

"You'd think she would have mentioned the club thing to us sooner."

"I doubt it. You're spicy vanilla, but too vanilla for that scene."

"Rude! And not true!"

Waiting for them on the leather couch was Erika with an ice cream sandwich and a leg thrown over the back cushion. "Yo," she said, "what's this about vanilla? You want a bite?"

Micah did, in fact, want a bite. He kicked his shoes off as he crossed the living room to take a chomp out of her ice cream sandwich. As he chewed and checked his bottom lip for extra, Benny explained, "Did you know Kennedy's a member at a BDSM club?"

Erika barked out a laugh. "You didn't know? Girl's a freak."

"Told you," Micah said. When Benny threw his hands down in defeat, Micah reminded him, "Anyone who's into being spit-roasted has some potential in that department, don't you think?"

"Whoa," Erika said, eyes wide and smile even wider. "So that's how that went down?"

"Well, that's how it ended," Benny sighed, hand over his eyes.

"How did it start?"

"She never told you?" Micah and Benny said in tandem. They stared at one another in silent telepathy wondering why a freak like Kennedy would keep details like that from her ex-girlfriend.

"No... She didn't," Erika said, slowly. She took another bite and, mouthful, relayed, "I think it was a respect thing for you two. Believe me, I tried to pry."

"Well, you'll be happy to know we have no respect for ourselves," Micah said, and walked off to get changed for class and work.

"Wait, how did it start!" Erika screamed.

"I think it started with... What was it? Hendrick's?" Benny hummed, teasingly. Erika shrieked out a groan, head back against the pillows as Benny, too, blue-balled her by walking away.

Micah was certain friend-therapy about roleplay would solve his "situation". Only now, his situation became a problem.

He spent the rest of the day knowing for a fact Kennedy was getting her rocks off thinking about Micah thinking about her getting railed by Alistair. And then there was the feral look in Alistair's eyes. It played on repeat in his head like a devious TikTok thirst trap he spent too long watching until Benny would come in the room and say, "You've been listening to that song for hours man. Put your headphones in."

That night, Micah hit his pillows face-first and groaned until his lungs wore out all the air in them. Thoroughly suffocated, Micah urged himself to think about literally anything else.

He couldn't survive another dream where Alistair appeared to him in public. He knew New York City was big, but it wasn't big enough to stop him from wondering if, at every turn, he'd see Alistair out in the wild.

He wondered if Alistair thought about thigh-fucking Micah the way Micah thought about Alistair pinning one of Micah's best friends to the bed and "having his way with her."

He wondered if Alistair thought about Micah that entire time. He had to of. Anything to do with Kennedy, in Alistair's eyes, was inherently fused with Benny and Micah.

Micah turned onto his side, hands to his face.

"Fuck..." he groaned, because, Alistair probably gets his rocks off defiling his brother's entire friend group.

With this bitter thought in mind, Micah was able to rest easy. Micah was just a pawn to Alistair. It was no different than the way Micah screwed around, and he'd prove it, too. The part where they differed, though, was that Micah didn't normally care who he fucked so long as it wasn't with attachments. He never planned to screw people with the intention of muddying the relational waters of Kennedy's social ecosystem and if he did, then so be it.

Alistair was the one hand-picking his conquests. Alistair was the one making a deliberate show of power by ticking all of Benny's friends off a goddamn list. Alistair needed to be put in his place.

Micah's best and only course of action, then, was to fuck someone Alistair knew.

Micah started with what he knew: that Alistair was the shiny new toy to the swingers who'd hosted the Halloween party.

Theo and Lottie, as Micah was beginning to understand, were also freaks. Like gays, freaks tended to flock in packs, which made sense that both Kennedy and Alistair would know them. They were closer in age to Alistair, though, and getting dinner with them that Friday night confirmed for Micah that Alistair did, in fact, look like the perfect new shiny toy for them.

"It's so nice to properly meet you—! Oh, I love all of Kennedy's little pets," Lottie cheered the second she caught sight of Micah down the sidewalk. She rushed to smother him with her breasts (incidentally and not, Micah believed, on purpose). She was taller than him, wearing heels, and hugged like she was consoling him. Or nursing him.

Micah smiled despite himself. "That's me. Kennedy's pet, I guess."

"Sorry we missed you at the party. We would've greeted you," her husband said, shaking Micah's hand. "Theo."

"Micah. But you already knew that."

Lottie steered him toward the door, arm under his, and said, "You'll love it here. And everything's on us, of course. Order whatever you like."

"Oh, you don't have to—"

"We insist."

It was the perfect time of the year to be sliding into Theo and Lottie's DMs without intending to follow through on some long, drawn-out affair. They had a delightfully enigmatic way of sucking the life out of their conquests, which Micah only knew after a brief texting crash course with Kennedy prior to the dinner.

Kennedy had only encouraged Micah to meet with them solo because: "They won't bother you after one night because they're off to Australia for the winter next Friday. So if you sleep with 'em, you'll never have to see 'em again. They'll come back with some new pretty thing to play with, I can promise you that."

Once drinks were delivered, Micah had determined two things: Theo was already bored and Lottie was cheery like a zooted 50s house wife trying to entertain her husband's guests. Painful, Micah thought, and hoped bringing Alistair into the conversation would alleviate some of the tension.

"I was actually wondering if you two could help me with something. Or even just give your opinion," Micah said.

Lottie blinked at him. She leant back a little, hands to her lap, and said, "Oh. Okay, what seems to be the problem?"

He'd rehearsed this in his head. He leant into the table, hands nursing his glass, as he said, "I don't want this discussion to leave the table. It involves someone you might know personally—nothing bad, of course, and there's nothing to worry about."

He had Theo's attention at last. The man's eyes were no longer glassy and focused on the live music across the restaurant. They were on Micah.

"I'm not interested in gossiping," Theo said. "Especially if it's about someone we know."

"Oh, come on," Lottie said, elbowing him. She gestured to Micah. "Continue."

"I was wondering if Alistair ever talked to you two about friends he might have in the city," he said.

"Alistair? You know him?" Lottie said.

Theo rolled his eyes. "Of course he does. He's related to Kennedy's other pet."

"Oh, that's right. You two live together, right?"

"Me and Benny? Yes."

"What do you need Alistair's friends for?" Theo asked, leaning low and forward as if they were at a police investigation.

Lottie gasped, grabbing his forearm. "Maybe it's for a party. We'd love to help."

"Yes, and the party's a surprise," Micah said, thinking to himself, Holy shit, the perfect lie. "Benny would be here himself, but a coworker called in last minute. Anyway, what do you know about Alistair's friends?"

They pondered a moment. Theo hummed a little, leaning back to look at the ceiling. Lottie tapped her chin, murmuring, "Alistair's friends... Alistair's friends..."

"How... close are you to Alistair? If you don't mind me asking?" Micah asked.

"We met when he visited back in September," she explained, which sent Micah reeling. Only one evening had been spent without Alistair, and it was because he'd been out to dinner with coworkers.

Had he seriously gone to a BDSM club instead? Micah wondered, and almost laughed at the idea. He didn't blame Alistair for using his coworkers as a cover considering it took Kennedy literal years to bring the topic up at brunch.

"And since then?"

"Dinner once a week, usually. Sometimes twice. But again, he hasn't been in town long," she said. "We'd spend more time with him if we could, but our schedules haven't really allowed it."

"So people from the club, then?"

"Oh, I wouldn't invite them," Lottie said, an apologetic grimace on her face. "A lot of folks don't like to blend friend groups. Imagine a relative shows up to the party as an acquaintance and asks, 'How did you meet Alistair?'"

Micah winced. "Okay, that's fair." I'm not sure I could handle anyone at the club anyway... His pride stung at the admission. "He doesn't talk to Benny or I about his work."

"Oh, I don't know..."

"There is that one guy," Theo said.

The magic words.

Micah hadn't realized there were so few names divulged by Alistair that he might have only been given the name of a woman. Unfortunately, Micah wasn't inclined to sleep with a woman even if it was to piss Alistair off.

Lottie turned to Theo, voice quiet in an aside. "What guy?"

Theo matched her volume. "The other director."

"Which director?"

"Babe, I don't know his name. He signs off his emails with, 'at rock bottom'."

"Oh!" Lottie returned to Micah. "Eugene Lennon. He seems nice and Alistair likes him."

Micah pulled out his phone to write the name. This one name spawned a reminder of others from a singular story Alistair had told regarding his first few weeks at the new office space. Soon, Micah had his list and could enjoy the remainder of the dinner listening to Lottie and Theo bounce off one another with stories about their college days.

All the while, Micah was writhing with demonic joy. Even if Alistair never discovere Micah's meddling, Micah would sleep like a baby if he ever managed to fuck one of Alistair's coworkers.