by Tabatha Kiss
He shifts to one side and kisses me. His hand travels down my neck, over my breasts and belly. I bite my tongue, trying not to giggle with his slow-crawling touch. He reaches my thighs and puts his hand between them. I open for him, curbing my laugh, and my chuckles break up into sweet sounds of anticipation.
He rests one finger along my slit and feels my wetness, staring at me with a sly eye for a long, agonizing second, before sliding inside. I gasp at his strong touch digging deep into me and clench tighter around his knuckles so I can feel every inch of him owning me.
“So wet…” he whispers in my ear.
I open my mouth to speak but I fall silent as he rests his other hand on my throat.
“Shhh,” he says. “Trust me.”
I relax with closed eyes, relishing in the mix of sensations. His finger inside of me. His hand around my neck. His kiss on my skin.
Thad tightens his grip on my neck, just barely squeezing, and a shiver fires down my spine. I moan, practically twisting with pleasure as he chuckles in my ear. His finger slides out slowly as he crushes our lips. He pulls me in, pressing his warm body against mine, lulling me even deeper under his embrace. His hand shifts down and I feel his finger, slick and wet, push into my asshole.
I stiffen.
“No, no…” he says. “Relax.”
He pushes in, right down to his first knuckle. My jaw drops and I look to him with wide-open eyes. I lay my hand on his around my neck, feeling his strong fingers locked on me. I’m trapped beneath him but I’ve never felt more excited. I take a deep breath, letting it flow from my head to my toes.
Thad kisses me again, a warm comfort that overwhelms the discomfort beneath me. It all blends in my core and the subtle moves of his finger sparks pleasure.
“Thad…”
“Do you want me to stop?” he asks.
I reach down to wrap my fingers around his cock again and he exhales with passion. “No,” I say, stroking softly.
We work each other, our lips barely parting for longer than a second. He takes his time, watching my reaction to every little thrust. He slows down when I wince. He stays steady when I moan. He grunts when I squeeze his shaft, his hips swaying as he fucks my hand.
“You feel amazing,” he whispers. “I want every part of your body.”
His hand shifts from my neck to rest behind my head, freeing my throat for his lips. He licks from my collarbone to my earlobe, letting out a hot, eager breath along my skin.
“I need to fuck you.”
I kiss his cheek and he turns back to take my lips, too. “Then,” I say, “just do it.”
Thad pulls his finger out and grips my thigh. He draws my leg up around his waist, aligning us together on our sides. I guide the tip of his erection between my folds and he thrusts forward to penetrate me. He fills me and I melt in his arms as pure pleasure takes over.
“Thad,” I moan, “put it back in.”
“Oh, Pink…” He grins. “I like you.”
He reaches around me again and lays his finger on my asshole. It slides in easier than before, offering a more intense feeling as he fucks me in both holes.
I cling to him. “Oh, god…”
He times his thrusts, moving cock and finger at the same speed. “Fuck, Phoebe…” he groans.
“Don’t stop,” I beg.
He kisses me hard, stealing the breath from my lungs. My entire body sways, dizzy and spinning as he breaks me apart.
“Thad…”
My tongue dissolves in my mouth. I whimper and shake, locked in ecstasy. He increases his pace, hitting me just right and I fall over the edge. I dig my nails into his arms but he takes the pain with a smile, happy to live in the moment with me.
Thad slows and flexes his entire body as I feel him come with me. He throbs inside and holds me even closer to him. I fall against him, so utterly numb that I don’t feel it as he slides out of me. He lays a kiss on the tip of my nose before releasing me and rolling off the bed.
“Leaving already?” I ask.
“Oh, hell no,” he says, slightly wobbling on his legs. “I just really need a drink after that.”
I chuckle. “There’s beer in the fridge.”
“Yes. Thank you.”
“Grab me one, too.”
He flashes a wink. “Yes, milady.”
I collapse against my pillow, radiant pleasure blending with nervous chills.
What the hell am I doing?
They’re best friends. Sooner or later, they’re going to find out about each other.
Fuck, this sucks.
But it’s oh-so-good, too.
* * *
I flick the light off before opening my bathroom door and stepping out into my room.
Thad still snoozes softly on my bed. I might be a little later to work than intended but I had to move really slowly and carefully to avoid waking him. I’m not sure I’m ready to talk about last night just yet. With him. With Max. Hell, with myself.
What am I even doing?
No. Not gonna start. Shoes. I’m going to put on my shoes. Yeah, that’s it. Just focus on one small task at once. It’s just a little walk to the door and then I slide them on. That’s easy enough.
I stub my fucking toe.
“Ow!” I hiss, instantly biting my lip afterward to suppress the pain and noise.
Thad turns over and I let out the breath I was holding. His eyes flutter open and he glances to his left to see if I’m still there first before scanning the room.
“Hey…” he says to me.
“Hi.”
He sits up and looks at my outfit. “Were you going to leave without saying goodbye?” he asks, smirking.
“Honestly…” I wince, “I don’t know. I didn’t get that far yet.”
“Silly Pinky.”
“Sorry.”
“It’s okay.” He rubs his eyes with one hand. “Need me to leave?”
“No, you can stay. Get some sleep. You… definitely earned it.”
He smiles. “Mind if I use your shower before I go?”
“Yeah! Go ahead.” I nod. “I don’t mind at all.”
“Thanks.”
“I’ll leave the key on the table for you.” I point to the kitchen table and suppress the pleasant memory still lingering just beneath the surface. “Can you lock up and drop it in my mailbox in the lobby when you leave? Box 29. You can’t miss it.”
He eases back down onto his elbows, still visibly wiped out. “Sure. No problem.”
“When is your next flight?” I ask.
“Uh…” He gathers his thoughts for a second. “Noon.”
“Where are you going?”
“Phoenix. Then, Dallas and… Chicago? Miami, at some point, I think.”
“Sounds like a long week.”
“That’s just today, actually.”
“Wow.” I pause. “When are you coming back?”
He grins. “When do you want me back?”
All the time.
I bite my tongue, blocking it from slipping out but my expression gives it away.
“Come here,” he says, waving me closer.
I hesitate but my feet carry me back to the bed. Thad takes my hand with a firm grip, pulling me down to sit and his lips embrace mine for one long and slow kiss.
“I’ll be back before you know it,” he whispers.
My heart skips. “Promise?”
“I pinky promise.”
We kiss again as he lays a firm hand on my cheek. Nerves tingle from my head to my toes, urging me to get back on the bed and stay with him. Call in sick. Spend the every possible moment with him while he’s here. Every possible moment not spent with…
Max.
I lean away. “I, uh...” I lick my tickling lips. “I should get to work. Don’t want to be even later than I already am.”
“Hope I don’t get you in too much trouble.”
“Eh, I’m the boss.”
Thad smiles. “Yeah, you are.” He lays one last peck on my cheek. “Have a g
ood day.”
“You, too.” I stand up and pause over him. “I’ll see you soon.”
He smiles. “Box 29?”
“Box 29,” I say with a nod.
“Bye, Pheebs.”
I inhale a deep breath, hoping it’ll keep my ankles from knocking me down but I sway anyway. “Bye, Thad.”
His eyes stay on me as I wander to the table. I free my apartment key from my keychain and set it down, glancing back over my shoulder one more time.
Thad flashes a quick wink at me before lying down and closing his tired eyes.
I want so badly to go to him but I’ll let him sleep. It’s not like I could relax right now anyway.
I step outside into the hall, feeling nauseated as I exhale every molecule of air from my lungs.
“Ah, fuck,” I whisper to myself.
What have I done?
Twenty
Phoebe
I’m an asshole.
There’s really no other way to say it. No other way to express how absolutely horrible I feel. I feel sick and guilty and… satisfied.
Blissfully fucking satisfied.
What the hell have I done?
Jackie pokes her head into my office and knocks twice on the door frame. “Hey, slut,” she says, walking in. “I’m taking lunch orders. What do you want?”
I kick my heel and spin my desk chair in her direction. “I’m an asshole,” I say.
She hangs her head, sighs, and plops down into the chair across from me. “Why?” she asks, crossing her legs and settling in for as long as this will take.
I sit forward. “Max made me dinner last night.”
“I know,” she murmurs.
“It was great.”
“Okay.”
“Then, we had sex on my kitchen table.”
Her brow peaks with interest. “Go on…”
“He left shortly after,” I continue. “Early meeting today.”
“Pretty standard dating practice so far, hun.”
“Then,” I pause, “Thad showed up.”
She blinks in suspense. “Did they run into each other?”
I shake my head. “No, but if he’d been like twenty minutes earlier, they would have.”
“Wow.” She exhales. “Close call.”
“Very close.”
“What happened with Thad?” she asks. I tilt my head at her and her lips curl. “Really?”
“Yeah.”
“Two guys in one night? Again?”
I cringe. “Yeah.”
“Good for you!”
“No, Jackie.” I deflate. “Not good for me. Nothing about this is good for me.”
She frowns. “Did they like… not do it right or something?”
“No, they did it right. They did it very, very right. That’s not the point.”
“Direct me to the point, please,” she says, drawing a quick arch with her fingers.
I look at her, hesitating under the crushing weight of it all. “I’m a bad person,” I finally say.
“You?” She scoffs. “No. You’re not a bad person. You’re a gluttonous person. Maybe a lustful person. Definitely greedy.” Her face contorts. “That’s three out of seven — but that ain’t bad.”
I fall back and stare up at the ceiling. “How did I let this happen? Who the hell am I?”
She laughs. “Okay, you are blowing this whole thing way out of proportion.”
“Am I?” I drop my chin. “Am I really?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“You’re casually dating two men, neither of which you’ve had the relationship talk with,” she explains. “I mean, I’d understand if there were feelings involved but you’re just having fun with these guys, right?”
I don’t answer.
She squints. “Right?”
I stay quiet, sinking even more into my chair.
“Okay. So, you have feelings for one of them,” she says. “That’s great. Break it off with the other one and go exclusive. Easy peasy. Done. Now, let’s get ice cream.”
Jackie stands up from her chair, instantly slowing down as I bite my lip in shame. She stares at me, eyes narrowing into slits as she rests her hands on her hips.
She clears her throat. “Phoebe…”
“Yeah?” I squeak.
“You didn’t fall for two men, did you?”
“… I might have.”
She groans, rolling her eyes. “Phoebe.”
“I didn’t mean to!” I say, throwing up my hands. “It just happened!”
“I told you not to do one thing. One thing.”
I collapse against my palms. “I know.”
“And you gone and done it.”
“I know.”
She sighs. “Part of me is proud. The other… not so much.”
I drop my hands. “What do I do?”
“This must be what parenthood is like.”
“How do I fix this?” I ask.
“Now I understand why my mother drinks.”
“Jackie,” I say, panic rising. “Focus, please. What do I do?”
“You choose,” she answers. “Obviously.”
“Well, which one do I choose?”
“I don’t know.” She smirks. “Whose got the bigger dick?”
I blink. “Seriously?”
“Okay — but stick a pin in that question because I do kinda wanna know.”
“No.”
“Fine.” She rolls her eyes and sits back down. “Max and Thad. Thad and Max,” she mutters, chewing on her lip. “All right. What do you like about Thad?”
I picture his face in bed this morning. Rough stubble over dimpled cheeks. “He’s so much fun,” I say. “He makes me laugh harder than I ever have. He’s creative and not nearly as dumb as he wants people to think he is. He looks at me and my stomach turns somersaults…”
“Uh-huh.” She nods. “And who does the little fat girl with braces want?”
“Max.” His name drops and my lips tingle with his kiss. “He’s sweet and charming. He touches me and all my dreams come true. The world makes sense.” My chest caves in. “But Thad… he’s the guy who takes you on a million adventures. Life will never be boring.”
Jackie leans in an inch. “And Max?”
“He’s the guy you bring home.” I swallow the lump down my throat. “What the hell is wrong with me?”
“You’re in love with two men,” she says with a shrug.
“Yeah. I think I am. I didn’t even know that was possible, but I am.”
“Do they both love you?” she asks.
“I don’t know. I hope so.” I sigh as it sinks in. “I’m an asshole.”
Jackie flexes her jaw. “This is so unfair. I don’t even have one secret boy toy. Why do you get two?”
I kick my ankle on the floor and turn away to stare out the window.
I can’t choose. I can’t stand in front of two perfect doorways and only walk through one of them. I’ll spend the rest of my life torn over whether or not I made the right decision.
But I can’t stand out in the hallway forever, either.
Twenty-One
Thad
I glance around Phoebe Pink’s loft apartment, grinning wide from ear-to-ear with a towel wrapped loosely about my waist.
You can tell a lot about a person based on what they keep within arm’s reach. In her case, this is two things: the television remote and books. Lots of books.
She takes good care of them. Neatly stacked. No dog-eared pages. Spines in solid condition. Everything else…
What an adorable, little slob.
Laundry on the bathroom floor. Dishes in the sink. Garbage stuffed down as far as it’ll go.
Not that I have much room to talk. I live out of a suitcase and rely on free hotel soaps to stay clean. But it’s nice to know she’s not the kind of girl that will condemn my untidiness in the future.
In the future. There are three words I haven’t thought about in a long time.
> For ten years, there’s only one thing I’ve wanted to do. I’m an impulsive bastard but when I know what I want, then that’s what I want, and I’m laser-focused from then on. Things change, sure, but I didn’t think my life in the cockpit would be on that list anytime soon.
I drop my wet towel in her hamper and unzip my suitcase in search of pants.
As I get dressed, I dig into my clothes to find the rolled up socks stashed between them. I let them unravel, carefully feeling for the shot glass safely snug inside.
New York City.
She’ll love it.
I set it down by her bed and reach into my pocket for my notepad.
I’m not what you would call a nervous guy. Butterflies don’t happen often. I spend hours every week staring out at some of the most beautiful views imaginable. It doesn’t even phase me much anymore.
So, I tend to stop and appreciate the moments of shock and awe, and when that happens…
I write that shit down.
I tear out a page, fold it up, and stick it inside the shot glass for Phoebe.
There’s still time for a bit of relaxation before I have to catch a ride to the airport. I pop open the kitchen cabinets in search of a drinking glass and snatch out the first one I can find. I’ll wash it out when I’m done with it, though I doubt she’ll mind either way. Probably won’t notice it was used at all…
I fill the glass with water from the sink’s faucet, glancing at the stack of dirty dishes inside. I caught a whiff of the food last night when I got here and I can’t think of one damn negative thing about a woman who loves some steak and potatoes.
I turn to walk away but stop mid-stride, slowly taking a closer look at the bright yellow smear on the top plate.
Mustard?
I swallow a gulp of my water while I stare at it.
“Hmm,” I murmur.
Twenty-Two
Phoebe
I’m going to choose.
I’m going to choose.
I’m going to choose… Max.
No, I’m going to choose Thad.
No…
Ugh.
I should just hide under my bed and never come out again. How did things get so fucked up so badly so quickly? All I did was go to my damn high school reunion and now I have two secret boyfriends. For now, anyway…