Chapter 28

The next morning, Jack woke up before Denise. They hadn't talked any more about having a threesome, but Jack had picked up that Denise was most interested in asking Renee to be the third. He watched Denise sleep for a bit and quietly rolled out of the bed. Tiptoeing slowly, Jack made his way over to his discarded jeans and out the bedroom door into the living room. He pulled on his clothes and sat quietly on the lumpy couch in the small living room that separated Denise's bedroom from Renee's.

On the one hand, he surmised, Denise was offering him something that most males dream about: the excuse to have another woman in bed. On the other hand, he couldn't help but wonder if the whole thing was an excuse for Denise to get together with another woman because she wasn't happy with him. Jack sat on the couch trying to work out how he felt about the whole situation and after several minutes, he decided that he needed another perspective. Glancing at the clock on the wall, Jack decided that it wasn't too early to call Staci and Jill. Moments later, having completed his quiet phone call, Jack scribbled a quick note for Denise and sneaking back into her bedroom, he lay the note on the pillow next to her head, before slipping out of the apartment.

"Sure, we'll see you in a few," replied Staci, as she hung up the phone. Jill was standing in front of the large mirror brushing her hair out. Staci walked up behind her and reaching out she gave Jill a playful swat on her bare ass.

"Get dressed sweetie, we've got company coming."

Jill continued brushing her hair as she replied, "I heard. Its just Jack and it's not like he hasn't seen me naked before and recently at that."

"He wants to talk about Denise," explained Staci, "and I'm not sure he's going to do much talking with you running around naked like you're at work. Not that they'd let you work with that string hanging out of your crotch."

Jill stuck her tongue out at the blonde, but grabbed a white thong and pulled it on. Staci shook her head and sneered. Jill scowled playfully and yanked on the shirt and shorts that Staci also threw at her. Staci just pulled on a pair of shorts under her long tee shirt and exited the room. She went to the kitchen, started a new pot of coffee and had just poured herself a cup when she heard the knock at the door. She looked through the peephole and then let Jack in the door.

"Hey, what's up?"

"Hey, Staci, not much... I... er... just wanted to get a female's opinion on something and... well... I guess I thought... you... er... might be able to help me out," Jack stammered.

"Why don't you ask Denise?" inquired Staci, as she led Jack into the kitchen and poured him a cup of coffee, "she was female last I checked."

"That's just it, it's about Denise," Jack replied heavily.

"Gee really," quipped Staci, "I never would've guessed. Ok, sit down and let's talk. What's going on?"

"Well, we got to talking yesterday and she mentioned to me that Renee has a bit of a crush on her. As we talked, Denise then mentioned that she wanted to have a threesome with another woman involved on account of because she goes both ways. The bombshell was that she wants to have said threesome with Renee because of how Renee feels about Denise. I guess it kind of bothers me."

"So what exactly is it that bothers you?" asked Jill as she wandered into the kitchen, "that Denise is bi or that she wants to have a threesome? I thought most men would be over the moon that their girlfriend would be interested in having another woman join them in bed. Besides, it's not like you haven't done that before anyway."

"The fact that Denise goes both ways isn't what bothers me. I guess I just got to wondering why she brought it up now."

"Sounds like there's something more going on here, care to elaborate," remarked Staci.

Jack sighed. "Ok it's like this. Denise was on my case about a week or so ago because we haven't... well... she felt a bit neglected in bed over the last few weeks because I've been working and had a lot of schoolwork to do. SO I thought we'd worked it out and things had been getting better, but now she's bringing up this other idea and I guess... well... I wonder if she's not trying to replace me."

Jill snorted and answered first. "She'd be crazy to do that Jack. She's scared to death that you're going to dump her and that you didn't find her attractive anymore."

"Jill," Staci blurted, "you weren't supposed to tell him that."

"Whatever Staci," snapped the brunette, "Jack the point is that she's just worried about you. You are the first serious relationship she's had since the rape and she's probably still struggling a little with how to communicate with a person of the opposite sex. Just be patient with her and try to talk to her more. I really doubt that she wants to replace you."

"I tend to agree with Jill," interjected Staci with a glare at her roommate, "I think you really need to sit down with Denise and have a serious discussion about where you think your relationship is going and what you both want out of it. Denise may just be trying to show you the other side of her life, or she may just be trying to fulfill a fantasy of yours as she sees it or of her own. Talking to us won't change that. Now if you're just trying to get a hint into how her mind works, I will tell you that she was only what you would call bi-curious before she got raped and between then and the time she met you, she was strictly a lesbian, so you can imagine that she's got something's she needs to work out, but you need to be talking to her about this."

Jack sighed and slumped a bit. "Ok, you're right I will talk to her. Thanks guys, I appreciate the insight." Standing, Jack took his mug back to the kitchen sink and then slipped out the front door.

"Jill, I really don't think that Denise is going to appreciate that you told him the bit about being scared he was going to dump her. That was something she needed to discuss with Jack herself," Staci said calmly after Jack left.

"Shit, Staci, you know as well as I do that she wouldn't have ever brought it up and it would have bothered her and poisoned their relationship until he did dump her from the tension alone. God, you act like she needs to be so protected sometimes."

"When she tells you something in confidence, she does," retorted Staci hotly, "Now you've got Jack concerned that Denise is worried about losing him so he's either going to overreact and be too attentive, which will ruin things for them when he gets sick of having to be at her immediate beck and call or he's going to just let things slip away because he'll be too busy thinking about all the things he could do and how she's going to react to them."

"They're human fucking beings, Staci," snapped Jill as she stormed out of the kitchen, "they need to communicate with each other or they can't have a fucking relationship! Not everyone has it as good as you and I do!"

Staci's mouth flopped open, but no sound came out as Jill slammed the door to the bedroom. The blonde sat there for a long moment, not sure of what to make of her lover's sudden rage. With a shake of her head, Staci poured herself another cup of coffee and began rummaging through the cabinets for a bowl of cereal.

Jack paused as he reached the door of the apartment. He hoped that Denise's weakness for Krispy Kreme doughnuts and coffee in the morning would temporarily keep her from asking where he'd gone earlier. Taking a deep breath, he knocked on the door. A moment later he heard some shuffling and Renee opened the door to let him in.

"Jack, I thought you'd spent the night," she said sleepily.

"I did," replied Jack uncomfortably, "I just had this crazy thought that Denise likes coffee and doughnuts and I forgot that I don't have a key to this place."

Renee shook her head in disbelief. "Ok, she's up and in the shower, I think," she said as she retreated to her own bedroom.

Jack could hear the water running in the bathroom and he calmly walked over to Denise's bedroom and slipped inside the door. Clearing a place on her cluttered desk, he set down the bag with the warm pastries and gently popped the tops open on both cups of coffee to allow them to cool. Taking both styrofoam cups, he opened the bathroom door as Denise shut off the shower.

"Morning," he called quietly.

"Jack, just where the hell have you been," demanded Denise from behind the opaque shower curtain as she grabbed her towel from the back of the toilet.

"Out getting you some goodies," he replied casually.

"You damn well better have brought me something," snapped Denise as she opened the shower curtain and stepped out drying herself, "leaving me that bizarre note about how you had some mysterious things to do and would be back later." She took a deep breath and was about to continue her tirade when she noticed the logo on the coffee cup Jack was offering her.

"You didn't," she said flatly.

"Didn't what," asked Jack, feigning innocence.

Denise accepted the cup from him and took a deep whiff of the billowing steam from it. "You bastard. Bringing me Krispy Kremes and coffee, how am I supposed to stay mad at you now."

"Ummm... you're not," tried Jack with what he hoped was a winning smile.

"Not what?" countered the still glowering Denise.

"Not supposed to stay mad at me."

Denise kissed him quickly on the cheek as she slipped by him holding her towel with one hand and her coffee with the other. She put her cup down on her dresser and began pulling out clothes from the drawers. Jack watched silently as she dressed, enjoying the spectacle of her covering up. She stopped before putting on her blouse and cocked an eyebrow at him.

"Enjoying the show sonny," she drawled at him.

"Oh, very much so, madam," responded Jack with a cheeky grin.

"Men," huffed Denise as she began buttoning the blouse. She left the top four buttons undone and strutted over to her boyfriend before deliberately leaning in front of him to grab the bag of doughnuts. As she could have predicted, Jack's eyes remained focused on her chest. With a laugh she snatched the bag up and yanked it open. Her eyes grew playful as she backed away holding the bag to her chest.

"So," she said saucily, "what was it you intended to eat for breakfast?"

Jack gave her a canny look. "You," he replied.

"Oh really," retorted Denise with a sly look of her own as she reached into the bag, "and just how were you going to manage that?"

"Like this," exclaimed Jack as he lunged forward with his arms outstretched and mouth open, doing his best to look like an old time movie monster. With a laugh, Denise shoved the doughnut in her hand right into his open mouth as she ducked under his swinging arms. Jack took a bite out of the doughnut and retreated to the bed.

"See," he said triumphantly as he munched on the cream filled fried bread, "I always get what I want."

"But I thought you wanted me for breakfast," said Denise in a small voice.

"Ah... You assumed that the you I was referring to happened to be human," teased Jack.

"Hrmph!" snorted Denise as she fished a doughnut out for herself. "So, you realize that now I'm going to have to run four or five miles a day this week just to work off the calories in this thing," she scolded as she took a bite.

Jack shrugged, "and your point being???"

"You do terrible things for my diet," Denise fired back.

Jack shrugged again and took a deep swig of his coffee. "Well, I could offer to come over every night and give you a good workout, but then I think we'd both start struggling in school. So what's on the agenda for today?"

"Speaking of school, I've actually got to kick you out and do some homework," answered Denise as she sat down on the bed. "I've got a lot of things to do for my classes and I want to finish up before Thanksgiving. Are you going to be able to come down with me for that weekend? My mom is really looking forward to meeting you."

"I'm not sure if I'll be able to come. I have a lot of things due the week after that for classes and I... much as I'd love to spend four days in Tampa, I just don't know if I can. I also applied for this job, but I don't know if I'm getting hired. If I do, I'm going to have to stay here for the long weekend and work."