by KT Morrison
His arm jerked up and his hand came out, turned palm up. She looked at his hand levitating between them.
Her eyes went up to his.
He nodded his chin to his hand, waved it to her, said, “Come here,” in a very soft and caring voice. “Give me your hand,” he said as she got close. She put her hand in his and he pulled them together and his arms went around her. Hers went around his waist and she lay her head on his chest. She felt marginally less foolish. She’d hugged Cole like this before. This wasn’t unusual. But the parameters of this situation removed all the context of their contact like this. Was this friends, sympathy, a brush off? ... Was it love? Commitment?
She wanted to say something profound but all she could produce was, “Sorry.”
He said, “Don’t be. Don’t.”
“I don’t know why I did that,” she said.
He breathed heavily, her head rising on his chest, hearing the air in his lungs. He said, “I Liked it.”
That made her feel better. “Did you?” she said, which sounded stupid when she said it.
“Hey,” he said. “Max told me...it’s okay.”
She nodded.
“Look at me,” he said, taking her chin. He turned her face up to his.
“We’re going to be okay, Maggie,” he said.
“I want us to be okay,” she said, which was what she feared the most. That they wouldn’t be friends anymore.
“We will. I’m fine with what you want.”
“With what I want?” She looked around Cole’s arm and saw Max watching from the bed, arms spread out behind him, legs wide.
“Yeah, if you want to.”
“Want to what?” she said, eyes going up to Cole now.
“Max told me,” he said.
“Yeah, but what are we saying?”
“You want to sleep with me,” he said, keeping it classy.
“Oh my God,” she said, thumping her head to his chest. “It sounds so stupid when you hear it.”
He hugged her tight.
“Yeah,” she said, “I want to.”
Cole kissed the top of her head and it gave her goose bumps. Her hair rose right up all along her arms. She didn’t know if she could do this now. It did feel too weird. Too prepared. Like they should all have got drunk and tumbled into bed, that’s how this should have happened. This strange negotiation had made her feel like some homely woman whose only saving grace was a dowry. Her dowry being their friendship.
She broke from him and stepped back, faced him, eyes on his.
He led her to the bed and they sat on it. Max got up and came to the side of his bed so he was facing them. Maggie sat nervously next to Cole while he eyed her all over the way guys do. She felt really uncomfortable now. Like she was performing again. Putting on a show for Max.
Max said, “We should do it when we go back to Vermont.”
Cole turned to Maggie and he rested his hand on her thigh.
Max watched Cole’s hand on Maggie’s thigh, fingers spread wide, taking up a lot of her leg, tips curled and pressed into her firm flesh. They looked into each other’s eyes, their smiles tentative, but something growing between them. Their chests lurched with breaths growing heavy.
He had a flashback to Jay on top of Maggie. Telling her he wasn’t going to wear a condom and Maggie saying to fuck her. Picturing in his head the same scene, this time Maggie running her claws through Cole’s long hair while he stroked the end of his cock across her slick sex and her saying, Just fuck me. Cole needed a condom.
He said, “Hey, I heard your dad...remember?” That was a lie.
“He won’t come in here,” Maggie said, without breaking eye contact with Cole.
“Are you sure?” Max said, looking over his shoulder at the bedroom door.
Maggie said to Cole, “How do you want to do this?”
“Let it happen. We both know what we’re doing.” His hand slipped higher up her thigh. Maggie inhaled and held her breath, her eyebrows raised high.
Max got mad at that face. He loved it but right now he hated it being distracted from him. Hated seeing that gaze in an other man’s eyes. Especially Cole’s eyes. He wanted time. Needed time.
Maggie’s thighs parted, an invitation to be touched. Cole slipped higher, the curled knuckle of his bent thumb pressing the stretched crotch of her tight sweatpants and putting a divot in them.
“Maggie, are you sure about this?” Max asked.
Her eyebrows fell. “What, Max? You’re not?”
“It’s just...we’re here...” he said, looking around the guest room—meaning her parents’ home. With her parents in the house.
“I want it here,” she said, eyes still on Cole’s but her smile was gone and her eyes were troubled.
Cole’s hand jumped from between her legs, skipped over her sex and lay flat on her tummy. Maggie watched his hand, leaned back with her arms behind her and watched it slip under her T-shirt and touch her bare flat stomach.
“Maggie,” Max interjected.
“No one’s coming down, Max.”
Cole turned now, his hand frozen under her shirt. “Are you okay or not?”
“I’m okay,” he said.
“You don’t seem like it.”
“I am. I want this. I think I do...it’s just the timing, everything we’re doing this weekend...planning our wedding...we’re in your house...I watched you...”
His eyes welled up. Pictured her in the light of the fire, her mouth wrapped around his best friend’s hard cock. Maggie opening her mouth and proving to him Cole had ejaculated in it. It was sexy. It was cruel. It was fucking awful. He hated that he liked it. Hated that she knew to do that. It was too much. Too much was happening and it was all coming so fast. She’d slapped him. That was the cruelest blow. He reminded her. He whispered, “You slapped me...”
“Max...” she said.
“You slapped him?”
Max nodded, his mouth crumpling, but no tears came, no crying.
“He was out of control,” she said.
“I was,” Max agreed and lowered his head, looked down at his feet.
Maggie’s hand moved, went over top of Cole’s under her shirt. She was communicating to him, her eyes trembling, her mouth twisted. “I think he ruined it,” she whispered. She craned her neck and kissed Cole’s cheek.
“Ah, fuck,” Cole sighed. He grabbed his cock through his pants, he was hard. He adjusted it and Maggie watched.
Max said, “You don’t have to stop.”
“Yeah, we do,” Maggie said. “Look at you.”
“What? I ruined it?”
Cole leaned forward and put his elbows on his knees. Maggie rubbed her hand across his back.
Max said, “We can do it tomorrow.”
Maggie nodded, her grim expression unchanged.
“I mean it,” Max said. “Let’s do it tomorrow night, okay? I want it...it’s just...so fast. You know?”
Cole said, “You’ll be okay with this tomorrow?” His expression was serious, his head cocked to the side and his brow set in a firm low and straight line.
“I will. I’m okay with it now. Please... Do you get it? I want to...” he gestured uselessly with his hands, looked up to the ceiling, at a loss to explain himself. “I just want to think about it first. I don’t want it to happen so fast.”
“I want it to be special too,” Maggie said.
“You do?” Cole said, turning his head to her.
“Yeah. Maybe he’s right. Maybe we should make a bigger deal of it.”
That made Cole smile and some of the tension left his shoulders. He eased his elbows off his knees, made his way to her slowly, eyes narrow and focused on hers. She smiled wide and started to giggle. He moved his lips to hers and she leaned back but she didn't escape. When her mouth opened to take his kiss a small breathy gasp escaped her. They kissed. Not passionate and overwhelming. It was exploratory. Like they did in front of the fire, but without the trepidation that had stunted them. Max twisted
inside. It was sweet. It hurt, but it felt good, too.
“It’s a big deal, Maggie,” Cole said in a low tone as his lips left hers.
“Sorry,” Max said again, feeling like he’d let them down, like they might be mad at him. Strength though was rising in him and he was glad for it. Now, in the moment, he realized he had come very close to breaking down in front of them.
Cole said, “Fuck, I don't think I can wait until tomorrow.”
“You don’t?” she said, taking it as a compliment, a lusty look in her eyes.
“Feel,” he said, and he took her hand and led it between his legs. Placed it over his hardness. Maggie explored its shape under the cotton. Her palm went up and down the wide curve in the front of his pants. She watched.
“Why... Why do you want to do this?” Maggie asked him, not looking in his eyes, still nodded low and watching her hand.
“What do you mean?”
“What I said.” She looked into his eyes now.
Cole was puzzled. He said, “I don't know what you mean...”
“Never mind,” she said.
His hand went over hers and stopped its movement, both their hands on his cresting bulge. “I get to have fun with you. I like that. I want that. It is weird...but it's not. We’re all friends. I want you to be happy, too. If you want some more experiences I want to be the one you do it with.”
“Why?”
He laughed. “What do you mean why?”
Her eyes bulged wide and she thrust her face to him, like she thought it was obvious what she meant but didn't want to say it.
Cole said, “This is the hardest job interview ever,” shaking his head, puzzled, still trying to understand what she meant.
“Sorry,” Maggie said. “I just want to be sure that you’re into this. I don't want you to think...bad things about me. Or do...me a...favor...”
Cole looked pained. “No, Maggie. I’m so into it. I feel like I’m getting the favor...”
“Do you see me...that way?”
His lips pursed and he regarded her seriously. He nodded. “I do.”
“Okay,” she sighed. “Tomorrow.”
“Tomorrow,” Max said. Cole still nodded.
They sat for a moment, none of them looking at each other.
Maggie said, “That's it?”
“I guess,” Max said.
She shook her head, leaned back on the bed with her hands behind her.
“What’s wrong?” Max said.
“Nothing,” she said. Then, “I...just, I...went down...on you. Both of you. Now I have to go to bed...so...”
“Horny?” Cole laughed.
She didn't think it was funny. She was serious.
Cole saw her face and said, “Oh...we could...”
Max said, “You want me to go back to your room with you? I'll take you,” he rose and held a hand out to her.
Cole put a hand out to pause him, his face buoyed by a great idea.
“You want this to be a big deal?” he said to Maggie.
She nodded, her eyes darting over his face and his body, sensing something from him. His hand gripped her thigh again, grabbing the sensitive inner part and holding it roughly. He curled himself against her, his face in the crook of her neck. In a low husky voice, he said, “Go to bed, Maggie. Think of all the dirty things you want me to do to you. Max and I are going to make you crazy tomorrow.” His hand gripped higher. Maggie thrust her hips out, wanting her pussy to be stroked. He worked around it. “Don’t touch yourself tonight.”
She nodded, her mouth hung open, her eyes looking to his now.
“Promise me.”
She nodded again, her face inching toward his like she wanted to kiss again.
“No, Maggie, tell me. Tell me what you're not going to do.”
“I’m not going to touch myself,” she whispered.
“Tell me. Say my name. Tell me you're going to be a good girl.”
“Cole,” she gasped, her hips beginning to moil towards his touch, “I promise I won't touch myself.”
“We want you aching, don't we, Max?” he said, without looking his way.
Max said, “Yes,” but his voice broke.
Cole’s hand went higher, up her belly and under her shirt. Turned, slipped under the wide waistband of her pants and moved low, but not between her legs.
“Oh fuck,” Maggie gasped.
Cole smiled, face to face with her, foreheads near touching. His hand came out from her pants and he retreated, leaving her whimpering.
“Oh shit,” Maggie gasped.
“I want you to come in your panties for us. Before we even touch you,” he said.
Her lusty eyes narrowed on him. Her thighs clapped together, squeezing her pelvic muscles. “Mm,” she moaned and bit both her lips into her mouth. Clapped her thighs gently, over and over.
Cole put his hands on her knees and brought them together. “A lady keeps her legs closed, Margaret,” he said.
Maggie gasped and her eyes went wide.
Cole smiled, tuning into her sexuality. “Now go to bed. Remember you promised me.”
She nodded. Moved to get off the bed and he put a hand out, said, “I might come in later and check your pussy. Make sure you've been a good girl.”
“Oh my God,” she laughed and closed her eyes, her head rocking on her neck like she was lightheaded. “Oh, fuck, Cole.”
“Go to bed,” he said, and he kissed her cheek.
When she stood, Max stopped her and he held her a minute. He took her hand and put it between his legs and showed her he was hard too.
“Good night, Max,” she said and she kissed his cheek.
She went to bed.
6
Trinity
Saturday, September 30th
Max didn’t have much to say to Cole before they went to bed. There was an uncomfortableness to their interaction. Not tension just a pervasive disquiet. Things not being right. Things being out of place. And a peculiar sexuality that was new. Their sex lives, always separated, were now intertwined. They had shared a girl. That girl was his fiancée. He saw his friend's erection. Saw his face when he came. Things were very different, but somehow still familiar enough he really felt like they would be okay. So they said little.
Cole had said, “I guess this is good.”
Max had said, “I think it is.”
Then they got ready for bed and said nothing else on the matter.
Now Max was awake and on his side, looking out over his sleeping friend and watching the waves on Narragansett Bay. Sky was a hazy post dawn gray. Cole lay on his back and he was erect. Morning wood, he figured. The duvet was low, bunched around his thighs, a charcoal cotton sheet up to his chest. A hump between his legs, that thick thing pointing up and laying on his belly. Made him mad. Cole having dreams about Maggie, dreaming of fucking her. Turning her on with his dirty talk. Tuning into her secret kinks in a minute. Things he knew to say and do and Max had known her for four years and never done that.
Max opened his mouth, wiggled his jaw to relieve the tension in it, the tightness that had pursed his lips and made his temples ache. Mad for what? Mad that Cole had a sex dream about Maggie? They’d spent the night virtually penciling in the day planner that he would fuck Maggie for real tonight and Max was worried about morning wood.
Cole slowly came awake. Eyes open and blinking. He stretched, scratched his balls under the cover, drew his knees up. Turned then to Max, their eyes meeting, two good friends laying face to face after what had to be the weirdest night of their lives.
“Hey, buddy,” Cole said.
“Hey,” he returned. Surprised at the pleasant tone he managed. He liked the pleasant tone. He wanted to be that kind of guy. He wanted this for Maggie, wanted it for himself, but he kept tripping up. He had to stop this or get out of its way. The more he tried to put his hands out to halt it the more likely it would roll right over him. He’d be better served by riding on top of it, looking ahead and steering where it woul
d go. “Crazy, huh?” he said.
Cole scratched his beard. “You wanna get in the shower first?”
“I guess we got a lot to do today.”
“It’s a big day, Max. You’re a lucky guy. Don't forget.”
Seeing Cole and Max this morning was going to be uncomfortable. She was up before seven o’clock after a fitful sleep. They’d left her hungry. Then Cole had turned that hunger into unexpected nourishment, and even though her sleep was listless and riled she couldn't stop thinking about what they might do tonight. In a way that was better than having done it. And there came an acceptance in Cole’s foreplay. An ownership. He wasn’t some meek boy who agreed to have sex with her at a weekend event at Tanglewood. He was a man. He was taking this over, doing what needed to be done. And, holy fuck, did he know what needed to be done. She’d rather toss and turn, assaulted by belligerent dirty thoughts, than get a solid eight hours sleep. She’d rather be enervated during her wedding planning than have had a quick one with Cole while Max watched from the bed next to them.
Had a shower when she got up, shampoo, soap, cleaned the funk she’d produced between her legs. Rinsed her double-barrel semen mouth with Listerine. And then, a nod to Carol, she twisted her hair in a tight bun, getting the platinum and blue mostly hidden. Dressed in cable knit tights and plaid wool skirt. Cashmere sweater under a wool jacket. Checked herself in the mirror. Becker approved. Prim neat and proper. Not vain. In style. This would not cause problems. Hoped to fuck that Cole remembered to bring good shoes. Topsiders were fine around Narragansett, but they were a little late in the season when they went to Newport. Carol would notice.
She poked her head into the hall and saw that it was clear. Walked down the hall, oxblood penny loafers clacking on hard surface. Slowed at the door to the boys’ room, hoping they wouldn't come out, and simultaneously hoping they did come out now so they could get the awkwardness over. She picked up the pace when she passed their door.
In the kitchen she found Carol going after Ken. She’d missed the crux of it, walking in on the tail end. Heard no words but knew from the look on her brother’s face that he’d just been dragged around, menaced, put in place and now he was going to go to his room like a good boy.