Chapter 29: Reed - A Gathering of Great Men

I was powerfully drawn to Allie, in a way I had not been to any of the other girls I had hooked up with lately. She was very attractive, but it was more than that. She felt like a kindred spirit to me. A fellow lover of indulgence and a dirty secret.

There was no real way I could resist getting to know her more. In the back of my mind I’d known that, even as I resisted the feeling in a flurry of coke and booze the previous night with Brandi. What really swayed me to let down my guard with Allie though, was Kyle, and by extension Lexi, vouching for her. Kyle was my oldest friend, who had steadfastly been there for me during the doldrums of my toxic marriage to Alayna. And Lexi had more than proven herself a skilled evaluator of women in the last week.

Still, I could have seen Allie the next day. At first I saw no reason to try to wash away my hangover and rush off to this suburban cocktail hour. Honestly, with the knowledge her husband was occupied that evening, I imagined Allie would be happy to meet for a nice dinner and sleepover.

Despite my protestations about decamping to suburbia, after Kyle’s reminder of our theory I was drawn to that strange neighborhood. I had only gotten a small taste of it yesterday, but these ‘Alphas’ seemed like a true oddity. If there were more wives as neglected by their husbands as Allie was, I wanted to meet them. And probably do a hell of a lot more than just shake hands.

Brandi had just finished her shower when I entered the bathroom. I admired her outstanding body and felt my cock twitch despite how many times we had fucked in the last 24 hours.

“I decided I’m game to go to the cocktail hour at Allie’s,” I told her.

“Glad you came to your senses. You should know any party Allie is hosting won’t be boring,” Brandi pointed out. I was, not for the first time, impressed by Brandi’s total lack of jealousy and commitment to finding the party.

I admitted her viewpoint was right, stripped off my clothes and got in the shower. The hot water helped reinvigorate me, along with the possibility of seeing Allie.

We set up the SUV’s third row of seating for the first time and the six of us piled in. I volunteered to drive. The Sigmas took the back row and were whispering conspiratorially, likely comparing notes on their recent activities. Lexi and Kyle took the middle row, leaving the passenger seat for Allie. I noticed them both smirking at me in the rearview mirror.

Great, now they were adding some form of weird matchmaking to their troublemaking ways. I supposed I shouldn’t complain. They were right that playing games with Allie had been a foolish attempt to subvert my natural instincts.

Lexi navigated us to Allie’s office building since apparently she had given Allie a ride to work that morning. I caught sight of Allie waiting on the sidewalk and pulled over so she could get onboard. She strode towards us, looking fantastic as ever in her work attire. Lexi rolled down the rear window and directed Allie to the passenger seat.

Allie greeted us with trademark enthusiasm and asked if we would mind stopping for some supplies for her party, which of course our group was happy to do. We drove about 15 minutes to a shopping plaza that had a high-end liquor store and an organic grocer side by side.

Since time was short, we agreed on a divide and conquer strategy. I was assigned to buying wine along with Lexi.

“Sooo Reed, whatcha been up to?” Lexi asked, mischief in her tone once we had grabbed a cart and separated from the others.

“Just exploring the city, getting to know the place,” I said.

“Hmmm, but without a local guide, seems inefficient,” Lexi said.

“Ugh, you too? I already talked to Ky, I’ll stop playing games with Allie. Why do you two care so much anyway?”

“Just feel bad for her. She’s lonely. She needs friends. And you pulling this weird routine is messing with her even more,” Lexi explained.

“I suppose in an odd way I haven’t exactly gotten to know her all that well. We had, shall we say, other priorities,” I admitted. I realized that, amidst my infatuation, Allie and I had not particularly had any sort of real intellectual conversation. Our connection was primarily built on mutual desire and recognition of kindred spirits.

“Look, fair. And don’t get me wrong, not trying to police who you sleep with. Lord knows that’d be hypocritical as fuck. But she’s worth getting to know beyond just partying and fucking.”

“I pledge to get her life story before I fuck her again,” I said sarcastically.

“Ass. You know, maybe what she really needs is someone who will actually listen to her. A softer touch who knows exactly how to make a woman happy.”

“Ah yes, your newly revealed penchant for sapphic seduction. Quite obvious in retrospect,” I said. Not that I had put much thought into it, but the revelation Lexi also enjoyed the company of the fairer sex was hardly a surprise to me.

“For a self-proclaimed ladies’ man you sure swung and missed on that one,” Lexi said. “I can see why Ky never thought to question it, but I always sort of assumed you’d eventually figure it out.”

“In the legal profession we’re trained to use the evidence we’re given. You were sleeping with a man regularly. Sorry for not doing a deep dive on your sexuality,” I pointed out.

Lexi scoffed. “Fair point,” she admitted. “But now you’re on notice, treat your women right or I’ll steal more of them.”

I did a double take. Lexi grinned. “Explain,” I requested.

“Well my bed was a little crowded last night, and Allie seemed lonely so I decided maybe she would like some cuddles. So I slept with her. Just actually slept despite my temptation. She is really hot, that ass. Dang.”

I blinked, amazed. It took me a moment to respond. “You have more restraint than I do around that ass, it would seem. Why was your bed so crowded though?”

“Jackie was the first of your castoffs to decide she wanted the touch of a woman more,” Lexi informed me.

“No shit?” I asked, surprised. I had been primarily focused on ignoring Allie and chasing highs with Brandi last night. Jackie had sort of slipped out of focus for me at some point during the hockey game. “Does this mean we’re like eskimo brother and sister?”

Lexi sighed. “Never change, Reed. We didn’t do much together anyways.”

“Silly nuances, oh look, have you heard about these higher ABV Zinfandels? Let’s get a few to try. I love shopping for wine without a spending limit,” I said.

Lexi rolled her eyes but began checking out high-end bottles right along with me.

Even our large SUV was full to the brim between the seven of us and all the supplies we had purchased. We arrived at Allie’s house with only about half an hour before guests were due to start arriving and the sun had just about set. The six of us were happy to help with setup though.

Allie took over directing things, back in sorority social chair mode. As I had noted yesterday, Allie’s home was already tidy. She issued instructions for each of us and bustled about rearranging things. Kyle and I were assigned to moving additional chairs into the living room so there was more seating. We were just about done when Kyle caught my attention.

“Dude come check this out,” he said and nodded towards a partially open doorway.

The room we entered was totally different compared to the rest of the house. The space was large, nearly as big as the living room, but with only a few small windows at head height so there was minimal natural light. The dominant feature was a wall-mounted buck head with enormous antlers above a massive big-screen TV. There were various mounts of other animal heads around the room, along with plenty of Texas A&M paraphernalia. The walls were wood-paneled. The floor in front of the futons facing the TV was covered by an enormous bearskin. Most of the remaining white linoleum floor was covered by a Texas A&M area rug. The furniture looked like it belonged in a college dorm rather than a nice suburban home.