Trading Places

by Anita Cox

  I succumbed and accepted a second drink.

  “Now, enough about me,” Olivia started, “I say we take tomorrow off, then on Sunday I can come over and start helping you pack.” She gave me the Olivia Bryant million-dollar smile.

  I’m an asshole. She’s trying to be a good friend. I kicked myself relentlessly for a few minutes.

  “That sounds good. I haven’t even started getting boxes yet. I guess my head has really been consumed with this product launch.” I took a deep breath and sighed. “I’m sorry for being so cranky.”

  “You are a bit of a bitch today,” she said with a wink.

  I snickered. “I know. I’m sorry. The whole time you’ve been talking, I’ve been daydreaming about sitting in John’s hot tub. As sore as my neck and shoulders are, the hot water would feel like heaven.” I sipped at my martini, giving her an apologetic look.

  “Don’t sweat it. It’s not like I’ve never been bitchy before. Now, the boxes I can bring with me on Sunday. I’ve been grabbing some this week out of the recycle bin at the office. Your building has a newspaper recycling bin on the main floor and I noticed that by Sunday it’s nearly full. That means we’ll have plenty of newspaper to wrap delicate items in. So just chill out. I got this.”

  “What would I do without you?”

  “Well, you don’t have to live without me. All you have to do is be the best woman at my wedding.”

  My mouth fell open. “Your best woman?”

  “Oh yes, she gets a maid of honor, and I get a best woman. I’m wearing the tux, after all. Which reminds me, you have to wear a tux too.”

  Laughter escaped my lips. I worried briefly it would offend her. “Can I put John in a dress?”

  Olivia laughed. “If you can force that dude in a dress, you’re more of a badass than I imagined. Though, as head over heels as he is for you, you’d probably just have to ask and he’d be running out to find shoes to match the dress.”

  “Is it that obvious?” I rolled my eyes.

  “Duh.” Olivia shook her head. “That man would lay down on a puddle so you could walk on him without getting your feet wet.”

  Nodding, I knew she was right.

  We finished our drinks and Olivia released me from the bar. I gave the cabby a tip to get me home as quickly as possible.

  When I reached the door to my apartment, I stood with my keys in hand. There was no need to be here. Where I wanted to be was with John. I wasn’t going to make him come to me this time. I passed my door and headed for his.

  When I opened the door to his place, what I saw threw me.

  “Stacy?” She was sitting on the couch next to John.

  “What are you doing home so early?” John asked.

  Anger started to bubble deep within, warring only with a gut-deep pain I recognized from my years of being married. Betrayal. Why was my best friend in my boyfriend’s apartment? More than that, why was John surprised by my presence?

  “What’s going on here?” I slammed the door behind me.

  Stacy shot up to her feet. “Candy, I was just waiting for you to come home…”

  “Then why aren’t you in my apartment, the apartment you have the spare key to? Why are you in my boyfriend’s apartment, sitting next to him on the couch?” I crossed my arms over my chest.

  John stepped in the way of my view of Stacy. “What exactly do you think is going on here?” he asked. “You are the love of my life, we’re about to move in together and I’m getting better acquainted with your best friend.”

  All I could think was that Stacy had come back for another round of sex, thinking that since I was open minded, I didn’t mind sharing, whether or not I was privy to the sharing.

  “That’s what I’m trying to figure out. I just survived the week from hell and basically had to pry myself away from my assistant, who wanted to stay and party so that I could rush home to be with you. But it really feels like I just interrupted something.” This wasn’t going to be the cliché of best-friend-steals-boyfriend. I’d just finally fallen in love.

  “Are you fucking kidding me?” Stacy screeched. “After everything I’ve been through, that you’ve been through, you think I would…” She looked like her head might explode. Her face was blood red and she started to cry.

  Her tears extinguished the flames of anger consuming me.

  Stacy wiped the tears out of her eyes with her sleeve. “I came to your apartment. I was going to have coffee waiting for you, but you’re damned cupboards are bare. So I knocked on John’s door and he offered to make the coffee while we waited for you. It was you we were just discussing, you ungrateful bitch.”

  John’s mouth hung open. It was easy to see he was at a loss for words.

  Great. I had just hurt the two people who meant the most to me. Shame curled in my belly.

  I walked to Stacy and put my arms around her. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what I was thinking. I know you’d never hurt me that way.”

  After a brief frigid moment, she warmed up and hugged me back. The sobs came stronger and I realized how fragile my best friend was, with her life falling apart. What had gotten into me? I couldn’t remember the last time I had gotten jealous.

  “I, uh, will go get you that coffee.” John’s head hung slightly, as did his shoulders. I watched as he shuffled into the kitchen looking completely deflated.

  “Dammit.” I shook my head as I released Stacy. “I really don’t know what got into me.”

  She picked her purse up off the table, slinging it over her shoulder. “I should go.”

  “No, please don’t go. I actually wanted to talk to you about something important. Please, ignore my stupidity and sit.”

  She smiled through her tears and reclaimed her spot on the couch.

  “Here’s a tissue. I’m going to go try to smooth things over with John really quick. Don’t leave. I’ll be right back.” I handed her a box of tissue and quickly headed into the kitchen.

  John was stirring my coffee when I turned the corner.

  “John?” My heart thudded in my chest.

  “Hey,” he smiled sheepishly.

  “God, please accept my apology. I don’t know where the jealous wench came from that just invaded my body. I can’t recall feeling like that in the past. It’s been the week from hell and I just treated Olivia like shit, only to come home and do it to you too. I’m so sorry.” I put my palm on his shoulder.

  John had a tear in his eye when he looked at me. “Candy, I would never betray you like that. It just hurts to think that you would even consider it a possibility.”

  I forced my way between John and the counter, then wrapped my arms around his waist, placing my head in his chest. “I’m so sorry. I have no reason to be jealous. Please forgive me.”

  John’s big arms engulfed me and his chin rested on top of my head. “I love you. Candy, I won’t hurt you. I promise.”

  “I know…it’s just baggage, I guess.” I pulled away to look at him. “I love you too. It’s just really going to take some time for me to trust love again. You know?”

  He smiled. “Well, you were jealous. I guess that means you had something to be jealous over, which isn’t all that bad.”

  “Thank you…all I wanted to do was come home and climb in the hot tub and spend a quiet evening with you…Nothing is going according to plan today.” I buried my face into his chest, selfishly seeking his comfort before he pushed me off of him and turned me to face Stacy.

  “You said you had something to tell me?” Stacy stood in the hall adjacent to the living room. She had dried her tears and replaced lost makeup.

  I smiled at her. “Have a seat. I have something important to talk to you about.”

  Stacy shot a nervous look at John. I couldn’t help but feel another pang of jealousy, though I forced myself to shake it. I sat next to her.

  “I think I have a perfect fix for both of us.”

  She eyed me. “Fix?”

  “Well, you had mentioned that you didn’t kn
ow where you were going to live. John has asked me to move in with him. That means I need to find someone to rent my place. You are a perfect choice.”

  I waited for Stacy to say something. She just sat staring at me. “Stace?”

  She shook her head. “This is too weird,” she huffed.

  “Weird?” John asked.

  She stared at her hands for a minute before reclaiming eye contact with me. “I came over tonight to see if I could stay with you for a while. But when you flipped out, I was crushed because you thought I was…”

  “I am an idiot. I know I made a huge mistake and I’m sorry. Maybe I’m having PMS or something. But you know you can always stay with me.”

  “Yeah, but I didn’t want you to vacate the premises.” Stacy laughed. “I don’t want you to feel pushed out of your place.”

  “Oh, I won’t. As a matter of fact, we are staying at our new place this weekend, so you will have my apartment…your new place all to yourself.”

  “Damn, that’s why you were pissed. You have plans and I am holding you up!” She shook her head.

  “Stop apologizing for everything.” John slid in next to me. “Just relax. Man, you women get so worked up!”

  A much-needed laugh filled the room.

  I turned to face John. “Now I am in desperate need of a hot tub. Either here or the new place, I don’t care which.”

  “Then you had better go pack for a weekend, in. Because we are spending the weekend alone in our new home.” John kissed my cheek and squeezed my shoulder. “And I have a surprise for you tonight.” That devilish grin spread across his sexy face.

  “I’m on it!” I giggled and grabbed Stacy by the wrist, pulling her off the couch. “Come with me.”

  We ran to my apartment so fast I slammed the door behind me. “You do still have your spare key don’t you?”

  “Yep!” She held it in her hand.

  “Cool! Now what should I pack?” I hurried into the bedroom, pulling out a small suitcase.

  “Just make sure that your lingerie is white.” Stacy snickered. “He sort of went on for a minute about this white number you have and he got so excited talking about it I could see his rather large erection through those shorts.”

  An involuntary smile spread across my face. Reaching in the naughty drawer, I pulled out three white outfits to drive John wild, remembering how intense our last sexual encounter had been.

  Stuffing yoga pants and a tank in the bag, I sprinted to the bathroom to gather my personal items. “So tell me,” I shouted from the bathroom, “what’s going on with you?”

  “Well, after my best friend scared the hell out of me, she pulled me from a deep depression over being a homeless divorcee.”

  I didn’t know what to say in response. I didn’t want to dwell on my asshole episode.

  “So did you figure out how to get laid?” I teased her in an attempt to lighten the mood.

  “Yeah, I found a fuck buddy for now. He is in an open relationship with a bisexual girl who really knows how to treat a lady.”

  Was she deliberately trying to piss me off?

  “You’re a unicorn for the perfect couple. That should work well until you find someone. That could be a lot of fun.” I shot her a smile in the mirror. Whatever she was going through, she didn’t need me going crazy on her again.

  Once I had everything together, I headed for the door. “You can use the guest bedroom until I move out. Other than that, make yourself at home.”

  Closing the door behind me, I let the forced smile fade. What was with Stacy? Had she deliberately tried to ruin my mood? It wasn’t possible. Was it?

  I managed to shake the suspicious feelings by the time I reached John’s apartment. What was wrong with me?

  “Hello! Are you ready to go?” John kissed my forehead before taking my bag.

  “Don’t you have a bag?”

  He raised his eyebrow and smirked. “I haven’t had a multimillion dollar deal going down this week. Most of my stuff is already there. Besides, we won’t need a lot of clothes this weekend.”

  He grabbed my hand and led me to his truck. I was near giddy on the ride there. Once inside our new home, John mixed drinks while I stripped down and eased into the Jacuzzi tub in the master suite.

  The hot jets started to ease the tension in my neck and shoulders almost immediately. I closed my eyes and leaned my head against the edge, letting a sigh of relief escape.

  “Don’t make noises like that if it’s rest you want. My cock is already at half-mast knowing you’re naked.” John teased as he set my drink next to my head.

  I giggled and rolled my eyes. “That cock gets hard any time it catches a gentle breeze.”

  I watched as he stepped into the hot tub, stomach muscles rippling as he moved, stiffened cock bouncing with each step. Despite my need to relax, John’s naked form had me aroused.

  I sipped at the ice cold martini before settling back in the water.

  “Your tits look magnificent floating in the water like that.” As he spoke, John leaned toward me, teasing my erect nipple with his tongue. His strong hand slid up my thigh and his fingers brushed across the rise above my pelvic bone. He ran his fingers through the thin line of curls I kept.

  The anticipation caused me to hold my breath. I could feel a delicate throb of desire welling inside. John began teasing my swollen clit, but only just. I tried to increase the pressure by pushing against his hand but he retreated.

  “So impatient,” he whispered.

  Trying to take control, I wrapped my fingers around his erection, caressing the shaft. John obliged by moving his cock into my hand and moaning into my mouth.

  He quickly stood, then spun around, sitting on the ledge. “Put it in your mouth.” He pushed his erection down and I wrapped my lips around it. When I reached up with my hand, he grabbed me by the wrist. “No hands, just your pretty mouth on my cock.”

  I thought he must be joking until I saw the flame of desire in his eyes. I relented and withdrew my hand, using only my mouth and the leverage of my hands against the wall of the hot tub as I took in as much of his cock as my mouth could contain.

  He let out a moan of pleasure as the tip rubbed the back of my throat. With slightest of pressure, he placed his hand on the back of my head and urged me further down his cock until I couldn’t breathe. His balls rested firmly on my chin and he let out a moan in response.

  “Fuck,” he gasped.

  Quite rudely the doorbell interrupted us. I sat up, startled.

  “Ignore it,” I begged.

  “No, I’d better grab it.” He wrapped a towel around his waist and hurried to the door.

  Pouting, I sunk into the tub. Feeling like a cat in heat, I was primed to fuck until I could walk no longer. While I’d confessed my love for John, I hadn’t realize how strong the feeling had become. I wanted him all of the time. I’d grown jealous over my best friend and it wasn’t just a territorial feeling. It was fear of loss and you just don’t care about losing something, unless it really matters. He was perfect, perfect for me at least. He was deeply romantic, yet accepted all of my flaws, including my trepidation about a serious relationship. He stayed, even when I was conflicted.

  A moment later, John appeared. “Towel off and come out here.”

  “Now?”

  “Your surprise is here.” John winked, dropped his towel on the floor and walked out in the nude.

  “What the hell?” I toweled off as fast as I could and grabbed a robe that hung on the wall. Rounding the corner, I saw two cot-looking things and two scantily clad women standing with towels in their hands.

  John was already face down on one cot in the buff. The woman standing next to him was drop-dead gorgeous with long dark brown hair that hung in a braid past her waist. She wore a thin see-through top that displayed every detail of her nipples, which stood erect. Her bottom half was covered by the tiniest thong I had ever seen.

  The woman standing next to the empty cot was just as easy on the e
yes. A little more telling were the pasties that covered her nipples and the knit pink miniskirt.

  “Ready for your massage, Miss Kavana?” She smiled and held up a towel.

  “Right,” I walked closer.

  “Just drop your robe and I will cover you with the towel.” She looked away as she raised the towel.

  I slid the robe off my shoulders and let it fall to the floor. After taking my place on the cot, she covered my bottom and the two commenced in massaging John and I.

  It took only seconds for the woman to ease my tension as she started kneading my neck muscles.

  “So this was my surprise?”

  How I managed not to drool as I spoke, I had no idea.

  “When you failed to return Jeanette’s phone calls, James called me. I filled him in on your crazy week. He sent these two over. He said it’s who Jeanette uses during difficult trials. So I figured if it’s good enough for her it’s good enough for you!” He closed his eyes, squeezing them shut. “I meant that better than it sounded.”

  “I know,” I snickered.

  After the women had made their way down our entire backside, they asked us to roll over. My body was relaxed but still sensitive and swollen in some areas due to the arousal I’d felt in the Jacuzzi tub.

  My masseuse made her way down both arms and both legs. My eyes were lazily closed when I felt the towel raise, exposing my excited lady bits. At first, I assumed she must have brushed against the towel when she walked by, but I soon changed my mind when I felt delicate fingers caressing my opening. A thumb massaged gentle circles on my clit as a finger slid inside me.

  “This one is ready,” the voice said.

  I should really open my eyes.

  “Mmm hmm.” The sound came from next to me along with wet slurping sounds. I rolled my head to the side to see the bronzed beauty with John’s cock in her mouth.

  Small, delicate hands eased my legs open and the blonde teased my folds with her soft pink tongue. “She tastes good too.” Her mouth covered me and my head fell back on the cot.

  Her oral assault was brutal as she brought me to the brink, only to leave me wanting more. My hips bucked as my body fought to have more of that mouth on my over-stimulated pussy. It was only when she came up for air that I noticed the strap on. She grabbed my legs and pulled me down to the edge of the cot, impaling me with her cock.