Cool With Her (14 page)

“We’re getting low on a lot of things,” I added.

“Jason’s ready for us to leave.”

Casey smirked. “Maybe you, but I doubt he’s ready for me and Amber to go. You should have seen him last night. Incredible.”

I actually blushed at that.

“Remember Europe?” Casey asked.

“How could I forget?” Paul said. “I planned the whole damn thing.”

In the summer between high school and college, the three of us decided to backpack around Europe—our last hurrah before we all went our separate ways.

Casey went on. “You guys were so set on going—and me coming along—that I never had much of a chance to stop and think about what the hell we were doing.”

“I think we all felt that way,” I said. “I remember getting on the train heading to some new city—Prague or Budapest or whatever—and having no idea where we’d sleep that night.”

“But it was thrilling, right?” Casey asked.

“One of the best times of my life.”

“Kind of like now, huh?” Casey paused, letting us make the connections.

She was right. Everything about these past few days was crazy, uncertain, but in the end, more fun than I could ever have imagined.

Casey continued. “And you know what? We’re better people for that trip. We know ourselves better. I don’t think college would have been the same had I not gotten drunk in some village in Austria, stumbled home, and vomited in my hostel bed.”

Paul cleared his throat. “I believe that was my bed.”

Casey smiled. “That’s right.”

“So you’re saying group sex and swinging is equivalent to backpacking across Europe?” I asked.

“I’m saying that we should never stop seeking that adventure. I’ve been thinking a lot about it since Vegas. Life’s too hard to plan everything out. Take the adventure as it’s presented. You won’t regret it.”

“Spoken like someone totally single,” I said.

“Hey, I have a boyfriend!”

“Mostly single, then. I’m just saying that while you’re right—we need to remember that
fun is a state of mind
and all that—we also need to remember that we’re in this with someone else.”

I looked toward the house, where Beth was busy doing whatever she did after fucking another guy all night—sleeping or showering were my guesses. I felt the tug to join her, to be with her.

I stood, brushing snow off my pants. “Sounds like you’ve got a really understanding, cool guy now. My advice would be to keep communicating—even when you don’t think you need to. Now, time for me to do as I say. See you in there.”

****

I found Beth in the kitchen, alone with a bowl of cereal and a couple slices of toast. She’d dressed already, putting on a beige cable knit sweater and a pair of tight jeans. It was the facade of the girl-next-door. Did I believe it anymore?

“Morning.” Beth’s voice was a little rough around the edges. From moaning all night? Or just from lack of sleep?

I shifted at the uncomfortable questions. “Morning.”

I sat down beside her, taking her hands in mine. She didn’t have bags under her eyes, although I detected the faint sparkle of concealer there. When she looked at me, all I saw was the bright, vibrant woman I’d fallen in love with.

“You have fun last night?” I said.

Beth looked away briefly, color mixing in with her freckles. “Yes.”

“I know. I heard some of that.”

“You heard?”

“This morning. Sounded like you didn’t get much rest. I was on my way down, and heard you two.”

The color in Beth’s face deepened. “I’m sorry.”

“Why? It was...amazing to hear,” I said. “Last night, when you saw me with Amber, did it upset you?”

“Nope. It was as hot as I’d imagined it. I mean, I got a little jealous, but I expected that. It was cool because I knew exactly how she was feeling. I recognized your moves—like some personalized porn shoot or something.” Her expression turned serious. “But it was different with me and Paul. You didn’t get to watch. I...I shouldn’t have let him lead me away like that.”

“Hey, no, it’s cool.” I squeezed her hands, tracing the diamond on her engagement ring.

“No, it’s not. We didn’t discuss that.” Tears began to form in Beth’s eyes.

I scooted my chair closer and put an arm around her. “Hey, Beth, I promise, it’s okay.”

Beth smiled. A tear pulled loose, sliding across her cheek. “I got caught up in the moment.”

“You got caught up in the idea of Paul’s super cock, you mean.”

“No, of course not,” she said quickly. When she saw my frank expression, she sighed. “Okay, maybe that had something to do with it.”

“Honestly, was he better than me?” I winced at how that sounded.

“No, not even close.” She wiped the remnants of her tears away and snuggled into me. “He was different, of course, and he knows what he’s doing. But what you and I have...I’ve never had that with anyone else.”

I thought of the wild sex I’d just had last night with Amber and Casey. “I know exactly what you mean.”

“So I ran into Casey after the shower. Sounds like you three had a good time, too. So you fucked them at the same time, huh?”

My turn to blush. “Yeah. It just sort of happened.”

Beth let out a laugh, clear and heart-warming. “That’s sort of the motto of the weekend, isn’t it?
It just sort of happened.
”

“And you’re still not mad? Or hurt? Or at all upset?”

“I’m not. Not mad, anyway. Definitely not hurt. Makes me a little jealous if I’m honest, but also really turned on.” She twisted to face me, running her hands up my chest with a sigh. “You’re so sexy, baby. Thinking of you keeping up with Casey and Amber is so fucking hot.”

She kissed me, our bottled emotions spilling forth as our tongues lashed. I felt her hand cup my crotch, finding me hard.

Beth drew back, her lips hovering close. “It makes me proud of you, as fucked up as that sounds. Makes me excited to know that I married a man who can make those two sluts beg for it.”

I wanted to take her right there on the kitchen table. The kissing didn’t help. But Beth shifted back to hostess mode before I could get us there.

“We need to think about lunch. The leftovers from the party are pretty much done.”

“Keg’s empty, too.”

Beth laughed. “Of course you’d know that. I was thinking that we cook up a big batch of pasta. Do spaghetti carbonara or something. After last night, we could all use some carbs.”

“Someone came through and plowed the driveway. We could probably get to the store.”

Beth hesitated. “We could...”

“Yeah, I feel the same way. Stay disconnected from it all. At least for one more day.”

“One more day,” she agreed.

“Besides, we’ve done everyone’s fantasy but yours.”

Beth grinned. “I didn’t say it. So you’re sure you’re okay with it?”

“If I can handle you spending the night with Paul, I think I’ve proven that I’m okay with sharing you.”

“Fair enough.”

“Actually, I’m looking forward to it. My one regret last night was that I didn’t get to see you in action.”

“Well, let’s start on that carb-filled lunch. I think we’re all going to need it.”

****

We had lunch. I showered. Paul showered. Casey spent a long time on the phone with her boyfriend, coming out flushed yet quiet.

We watched the news. Temperatures were on the rise. Streets were getting plowed. The government wasn’t immediately closed down tomorrow. This was probably our last day as a group, and we all knew what that meant: this game that we’d begun had one final hurrah.

We all kept waiting for someone else to make the first move. We played video games. We read. We grazed in the kitchen. The house buzzed with nervous energy—metaphorical virgins on the metaphorical night before prom.

Of course, that didn’t stop Beth from teasing me every chance she got.

Things like, “I’m wearing that lacy black bra and thong you got me for my birthday last year. Think Paul’s going to like it?”

Or, “Paul prefers his women clean shaven. Maybe I should try the look.”

Or, “I can’t wait to feel Paul’s hot come fill me up. Again. So naughty.”

She’d whisper the teases, give me a quick kiss, then saunter off before I could come up with a response.

Amber and Casey were no better, although they were not quite so obvious. Amber wore her black yoga pants and a long, tight sweater that she’d borrowed from Beth. It looked good on my wife, but Amber filled it out like it was designed to be. Casey wore a sweater-dress over her skin-tight jeans, tight and short enough to make me wish she didn’t have the jeans.

They seemed to revel in the taunting. Casey made sure to flash those tits at me with a smile every chance she got. Amber was actually more subtle, staring at me a beat too long, touching her hair like she harbored a crush.

Amber and I ended up chatting as I fed new logs into the fire.

“How do you and Beth do it?” she asked.

“Well, we normally like to be naked in bed—although she sometimes wears some lacy lingerie—and we start with kissing—”

“Stop, you goof. You know what I mean. You two are so happy together. I could swear you’d just gotten married sometimes. The way she looks at you, or you at her.” Amber shook her head. “I’m envious.”

I wasn’t sure what to say to that. I was supposed to be seducing her, not having a conversation about the strengths of my marriage. “You and Paul look like that, too.”

“Please.” She glanced into the fire, where the new logs were catching. “Paul and I are good, but...I don’t know. If we were
really
good, we wouldn’t be talking about other guys.”

“But that turns you on, too, right?”

She sighed. “Yeah. I’m not saying this is all on Paul. That’s just it. It’s my fantasy, too.”

“And that makes you feel guilty.”

“It does.” She looked at me, firelight dancing across her striking features: her cheekbones, her nose, her high forehead and perfectly groomed eyebrows. “I guess I never got all that out of my system back in college. Not like Casey or Beth—”

“Doesn’t seem like it’s totally out of Casey’s.”

Amber released a begrudging laugh. “No. But she’s also single...”

“As single as you. She’s got a boyfriend, too.”

“Anyway, my point is, sometimes I think about what it would be like, being with other men. Like that guy at the bar, Andrew. I’d be lying if I told you that I wasn’t tempted. But I still love Paul. I want to marry him. I want to spend my life with him.”

“So you’re having a hard time linking those feelings up with the other ones.”

“Right! How can I want Paul, and also want to get picked up in a bar by a stranger and get fucked in the bathroom?”

My cock stirred at that thought. I stuck with the Good Friend Routine. “But here’s the thing you’re missing, Amb. Paul also wants you to have those experiences. He gets off on them.”

“And is that something to build a marriage on?”

“Stop being so conventional. What we’re talking about in broader terms is honesty. You two have these fantasies; it’s better to talk about them openly rather than harbor them in secret.”

I let her chew on that thought for a moment.

“You asked me how Beth and I do it.
That’s
how. We’re open and honest with each other. We don’t let things fester. If either of us has a problem, we tell the other.”

Amber cracked a smile. “So neither of you had a problem with last night?”

Her smile was infectious. “Nothing that’d qualify as a
problem
. There was some jealousy, sure, but we worked through it. And we trust each other.”

Amber leaned forward and kissed me softly on the lips. “You two are still a wonder. I’m happy to have you guys as friends.”

“Eh hem.” Beth cleared her throat from the doorway from the den, startling the two of us. Behind her stood Paul, his expression blank. Turning back to Paul, Beth said, “See, can’t leave those two alone for five minutes before they’re all over each other.”

“Hey, it’s not like that—” Amber began.

Paul hugged Beth against him. “Two can play at that game.”

Beth turned in his arms and rocked her head back to accept his kiss. I gasped. I couldn’t breathe. Beth pushed her tongue past Paul’s lips. Paul’s hands went to her ass, squeezing them through her tight jeans.

I felt Amber’s hand clutch at my thigh, just above my knee. She shifted beside me. Her eyes were wide, barely blinking.

“Are you okay?” I whispered.

Amber snapped out of her trance and glanced at me. “I’m good. Horny, though.”

Casey’s voice boomed out from the top of the stairs. “Okay, y’all. Everything’s set up here.”

Beth and Paul detached. I looked quizzically at Amber. The blonde smiled and shook her head:
I’m not telling.
Instead, she stood and offered her hand to me.

“Come on. We’ve got a little surprise for you boys.”

Beth and Amber led us upstairs, where Casey was waiting by the door to the master bedroom. I could smell the burning wax of candles. Beyond, the room flickered and danced with their pale light.

The room was filled with every candle we had in the house. The bed was made up in the black satin sheets that someone had given us as a gag gift that we never got rid of. Pillows were stacked along the headboard.

On either side of the bed, facing each other, were chairs from our dining set—the chairs designed to sit at the heads, replete with cushioned arms. Piled in each chair were a tangle of my neck ties.

“Gentleman,” Casey said, “Please take your seats.”

Chapter 12:

Beth’s Fantasy

Beth led me over to my chair, sitting me down as Amber did the same for Paul. I gave Beth a look that I hoped asked,
What’s going on here?
She just smiled, shook her head ever so slightly, and reached for the bundle of ties.

Paul wasn’t as quiet. “Amb, you know I’m not into this shit.”

“Hmm…I’m not so sure about that.” The blonde yanked the tie holding his wrist tight and knotted it off. “You pretend to like being in control, but I think that deep down, you like giving it up even more.”

He looked ready to fire back, but didn’t stop her from tying down his other wrist. Casey floated over, tying his legs to the chair before checking his restraints.