The Ex (10 page)
“Boys? Oh, boys?” she said, enunciating “boys” as two syllables. “Your lovely women have put dinner on the table.”
Sharing a meal with Ian and Gena was like spending time with old friends. Maybe it was because they actually
were
Neil’s friends. But it was different than being around Valerie and Rudy. They were more like family to Neil, so they knew way too much about our personal business, and for me, being around them was like being on trial. We had different boundaries with Ian and Gena, and it was a refreshing change.
“So, Sophie. I know you work at a magazine—” Ian began.
Neil cut him off. “Sophie actually founded the magazine, and she’s co-editor-in-chief.”
“My friend Deja is my partner,” I added.
“Ah. Apologies.” He turned to Neil. “And you’re retired, so you’re a boring old arsehole. What about you, Sophie? How do you spend your time, what do you like to do?”
“When I had free time, I liked to smoke pot and watch stupid movies,” I said with a shrug. “And shop.”
“And force me to watch stupid movies, as well,” Neil said with a chuckle.
“What about you guys?” I asked, sitting a little straighter in my seat.
“Well, I am an interior decorator,” Gena said, lazily swinging her hand on her wrist to gesture at herself.
“And I am an architect.” Ian reached for the bottle of wine and poured himself a second glass. “And I dabble in some drawing on the side.”
“He’s downplaying.” Gena rolled her eyes. “He’s a very successful artist.”
“What kind of art?” Neil lifted his arm and rested it along the back of my chair.
“Portraiture, mostly. Figure drawing. Anything that doesn’t require a computer and loads of fucking math.”
“Maybe we could see some of your work sometime?” I suggested. “It would give us an excuse to get together again.”
“Oh, you don’t need an excuse, love. You can come and see us any time.” Ian said with a wink.
The food was fantastic. Julia had really outdone herself. I could have easily eaten myself into a food stupor, if I hadn’t been keeping the other possibilities of the evening in mind.
Everyone else must have been thinking the same thing, because at the end of the meal they all declined my offer of dessert.
Gena cleared her throat. “So, Sophie and I were talking while you two were off playing your traditionally masculine roles.”
“I assume you were talking about the same thing we were,” Neil said, and though he smiled, the air took on a tense, delicious charge.
My stomach fluttered.
“We discussed the possibility of…having a little fun together.” Ian leaned forward, his arms crossed on the table. “But we laid down some parameters. I know this would be your first time, Sophie, and I don’t want you to feel,” he turned his hand over and back, as though he were turning the page of a book, “and Neil, obviously, agrees—”
“We don’t want you to feel pressured to do anything you didn’t want to do,” Neil interrupted, for the sake of coherence, I assume.
“Oh, um.” How did I phrase this with Neil right next to me? Ian ran the tip of his middle finger around the rim of his wine glass absently as he listened, and I couldn’t look him in the eye. “I wouldn’t be…averse…to, um.”
“Sophie?” Neil asked, a note of humor in his voice, and I realized that he’d noticed my intense concentration on Ian’s hands. I raised my eyes guiltily and caught Neil’s smirk.
“Well, you two spoke about it in more depth than we did,” Gena said with a sigh. “But I agree, Sophie, you shouldn’t do anything you don’t want to do.”
“No one will be disappointed if we just have a lovely dinner,” Neil reassured me, and I knew what he was really telling me: he wouldn’t be upset if he didn’t have sex with Gena.
That made me feel a lot better. Knowing that the two of them were a “package deal”, as Neil had once referred to them, it was only natural that Neil might worry I felt obligated to sleep with Ian so he and Gena could hook up.
How to approach this and reassure them, though, was still a delicate question. Did I just up and say, “Gena, I want to fuck your husband?” Would they believe me if I tried to couch it in more cautious language.
I settled for, “Why wouldn’t I want to do it?”
Ian’s slow smile made me shift in my chair and press my thighs together.
“Well,” Gena said, her gaze sliding from me to settle on Neil. “If we’re all in…”
“Ian and I have already exchanged medical details,” Neil told us. “But, if the two of you would also like to see proof—”
“I don’t need to,” Gena said.
I echoed her, adding, “But I do want to use condoms for intercourse, at least.”
“That’s a necessity,” Ian agreed. “I’ve never done the snip, and we don’t need any awkward accidents.”
“I have an IUD,” Gena replied.
“Hey, me, too!” It was like we were in a club or something.
“Good, then we’ll all be double protected,” she said with a nod. I was glad that safety was important to them, too; it made me trust them more, overall.
As we walked, Ian put his hand at the small of my back. “Are you nervous?”
“A little,” I admitted. “We’ve done threesomes, and that was awesome, so…”
“It’s going to be fun,” Gena promised. “There is nothing like watching your partner fuck someone else. Especially someone as cute as you,” she said with a wink.
“Here we are.” I stood beside the open bedroom door and gestured them inside. I was acutely aware of Gena’s facial expressions as she looked around. I hoped she didn’t find the decor lacking. Neil loved the warm oranges and brownish-reds of the room, but I was undecided. Gena didn’t look utterly revolted by it, so I breathed a sigh of relief. Being friends with an interior decorator was going to be nerve-wracking.
Ian took off his jacket and laid it across the back of one chair, then unbuttoned his sleeves and slid them up. He took a seat and toed his shoes off then stretched his long legs out in front of him. Gena leaned down to kiss him briefly then moved toward me. “Could you help me unzip?”
“Yeah, sure.” I’d helped Holli with zippers hundreds of times, so I couldn’t figure out why my fingers fumbled as I unzipped Gena, or why I couldn’t take my eyes off the skin that appeared in the widening gap.
Well, I suppose the fact that she was about to have sex with my fiancé had something to do with it.
“Thanks,” she said, making eye contact with me over her shoulder. Her eyes were the prettiest shade of blue.
“Sophie, why don’t you come here?” Ian asked, patting his knee. “Sit in daddy’s lap.”
“Don’t be gross!” Gena scolded him. “She’s going to think you’re a sleaze.”
“I am a sleaze,” Ian reminded her. Somehow, I couldn’t believe it of him. No matter what crude, disgusting thing might pop out of his mouth, it seemed funny and affectionate instead of obscene. I never got the feeling that he would continue with those remarks if I told him they made me uncomfortable.
I went to him and let him pull me down. He handled me with the same confidence as Neil always had; I wondered if that was something all older guys just instinctively did, because they’d had so much practice. I ended up in his lap without any stumbling or rearranging of limbs. I placed one hand against his chest to keep myself steady, and he caught it to bring me in closer, so that my side rested against his chest and shoulder. His body was a little softer than Neil’s, but he was still in good shape. Rich guy fifty was a lot younger than regular guy fifty.
Men were, however, always boys, no matter their age. I was convinced of it, because when Neil walked in and tossed an unopened pack of Magnums onto the bed, he said, “I’ve only got the extra large, I hope they’re not too baggy, Ian.”
Ian responded with two fingers raised in a V that I was pretty sure wasn’t meant as a peace sign.
“He’ll be just fine.” Gena stepped from her dress. Her bra and panties were pale pink lace that nearly blended in with her skin. She reached behind her to unfasten the band.
“Let me help you with that,” Neil said, and my heart leapt into my throat. Obviously, I had known that to have sex with Gena, Neil was going to have to touch her at some point. But already? Right now?
“Relax,” Ian murmured, his hand squeezing my arm. “It’s a shock at first.”
Neil unhooked Gena’s bra and slid the straps down her arms, dipping his head to kiss her shoulder. He cupped her breasts, and my stomach jumped at the sight of those hands I loved overflowing with her soft, flawless skin.
And that was it. A single moment of
he shouldn’t be doing that!
Then, nothing but curiosity and arousal. Neil’s hands on Gena didn’t destroy my love for him. The careful glances he kept taking to gauge my reaction proved the same was true for him. And the heated gaze Gena fixed on her husband removed any last trace of threat. They wanted us physically, but they only had eyes for each other.
Gena’s breath caught as Neil’s thumbs rolled over her tight, pink nipples. Ian traced a pattern down my arm with his ring finger. “Shall we get you out of this? Because I would love to touch you.”
The nervousness in my stomach melted into something lower, something more urgent. I caught his hand and brought it to my lips. I kissed his fingertips then took one into my mouth, holding his gaze as I flicked my tongue against it. I’d surprised him, and pleasantly, judging from the look of amused bewilderment in his eyes.
“You have the most gorgeous hands,” I told him, rubbing both of mine over one of his. “I can’t wait to see what they can do.”
“You’re so bold, Sophie,” Neil said, and I turned my head. He was smiling, probably relieved that I hadn’t freaked out yet. “I didn’t know you had it in you.”
“Yes, you did.” I made a face at him, and then, to Gena, I explained, “Our first date? I was fingering myself on his couch when he got there.”
“That’s a fucking ice breaker, isn’t it?” Ian’s fingers closed over the zipper on the back of my dress. I nodded, and he pulled it, his hand slipping inside to unfasten my bra on the way down. I had to lift my arms so he could raise the dress over my head.
Gena’s arm hooked behind Neil’s head as his hand smoothed over her soft belly then swept over her wide, well-padded hips. He slipped his thumbs into her panties and gave them a push, revealing a mound covered with delicate curls, a slightly lighter shade of red than her hair color. He petted the little patch of hair with the backs of his fingers, and her chest jerked with shallow breaths.
Ian patted my backside, and I stood, removing the pins from my hair. The up-do had left it wavy, and it fell to cover my breasts with teasing curls. In my white tulle, lace-edged crinolines, I looked like a very dirty ballerina.
He reached for me, both of his big hands low on my waist, and his thumbs almost met at my belly button. He pulled me forward, and I shook my hair back and thrust my chest up.
“Beautiful.” His tone startled me; it was the first time I’d ever heard him sound serious. Sitting up on the edge of the chair, he brought his face level with my breasts and leaned forward to take one nipple into his mouth. My mouth fell open at the full realization of what was going on. I wasn’t just watching Neil sleep with Gena, Neil and I were sharing this experience of trying out a new partner with Gena and Ian. We were probably all going through the same set of emotions, doubts, and desires. Knowing that, I felt a lot bolder than Neil could have ever anticipated.
I moved forward, a leg on either side of Ian’s, giving him better access. I held the back of his head with my hands, my fingers sinking into his soft gray hair. He sucked my nipple lightly, swiping his tongue over it in long, slow strokes that gave me goose bumps. I looked over my shoulder to see Gena, wearing only her black pumps, unbuttoning the last of the buttons on Neil’s shirt and pushing it from his shoulders. He smiled lazily at her as he tossed it aside, and she dropped to her knees in front of him.
Ian raised his head, his eyes wide and fixed on Neil and Gena. I used the opportunity to stand and pull off my crinoline and panties.
Ian gaped at Neil’s erection. “I’m not trying to make things awkward, mate, but you’ve got to be fucking kidding me. That’s thing’s a monster. Can you take it all, Sophie?”
I sat in his lap, totally naked, but for some reason, I blushed at his frankness. “Sometimes. It depends on the position.”
“Well, I’m impressed,” Gena said, pumping her hand up and down his length.
Neil reached down to brush her hair back from her face gently. “We’ll go slow. If it doesn’t work out, I’m sure we’ll find another way to get each other off.”
“He has a very good imagination,” I told her with a giggle.
Ian petted the inside of my slightly spread thighs. “And what about you, Sophie? Do you have a very good imagination?”