Chapter 73

Tiffany wore a white sundress when she walked down the steps to the apartment on her birthday. Phil greeted her with a kiss on the cheek.

“You look very pretty,” he told her. She did, too. Her dark hair shined and the light garment set off the tan she had developed over the summer. He grey eyes sparkled. She had started the day with breakfast in bed – fixed by Molly and served by Katelyn. Phil had come back from practice and given her a gold rope necklace that now adorned her neck. Hailey had called to wish her a happy birthday and so had Phil’s parents.

She had resigned herself that her birthday would go not only uncelebrated but unremembered. It was no surprise to her. She hadn’t had a good birthday in 10 years. By lunch she knew she’d been wrong. The gift Phil gave her was from everyone – and the tears of gratitude that met the present were for everyone, too.

The topper had been a phone call from her father. He was out on bail and had petitioned the court to allow him to move closer to her. He was looking for work and he was also working on a deal that would spare him jail time if he testified against his sister, wife and daughters. He was torn because he knew that if he had been smarter, he could have stopped them. Tiffany encouraged him to do what needed to do – and opined that his wife, daughters and sister were probably in the process of working a deal that would lay it all it his feet.

Tiffany was deliriously happy by the time Phil opened the car door for her. Dinner was fun but she regretted the choice to wear white to a rib joint. Phil had found a theater 30 miles away that featured old movies so she got her first viewing of “To Sir, With Love” that night. She was still bubbly on the ride home.

“That was so much fun!” she said. “I loved that movie. We’ll have to go again.”

“I think we should go at least once or twice a month,” Phil agreed. “I’m not a big fan but I think I could be if all their pictures are like that one.”

“Seriously?” Tiffany asked.

“I’d like to,” Phil told her. “I really like spending time with you, Tiff. I always have. I want to get to know you better – and without everyone else around. When we’re alone you’re so sweet. You lose the caustic edge you put on for everyone else. I enjoy that part of you.”

He reached across and took her hand, which she clasped tightly.

“I’ve always done that to hide my insecurities,” Tiffany admitted. “I don’t have to act around you. You’ve seen me at my worst and, still, here we are. I’m not sure it’s a good idea, though.”

“Why not?” Phil asked.

“Well, uh, you won’t be mad, will you?” Tiffany asked.

“I don’t think so,” Phil replied. “I’ll try not to.”

“In April, when we, uh, spent the night together, it was really special,” she said, still holding his hand but now looking out the window. “I thought I could walk away and keep my distance. The problem is ... well, the problem is that I was wrong. I was about halfway in love with you. I can only say halfway because I loved Hailey, too. It’s why I’ve sort of avoided being alone with either of you. I know you don’t think that way about me. I’d never try to break you up but it was hard for me sometimes to be on the outside looking in. I thought, you know, it would go away but it didn’t. I don’t think having what amounts to a date with you once a month is going to help me figure out how I can get through this.”

“Oh,” Phil said. “I, uh...”

“You don’t have to say it,” Tiffany said, releasing his hand. “We’re friends; we’re buddies. I know that. The thing is, Phil, I’m not the only one who feels this way. I think Molly is in the same spot. The bigger problem is that I’m in love with Molly, too. She and I have done a lot together over the last few months. We’re, uh, we’re sort of dating, but I think but we both still lust after you and Hailey. Spending time alone with you this week – without Hailey – has sort of opened up the floodgates. It’ll be the same thing with her, I think. I know I should look for someone else but I’m not really interested in doing that and neither is she. The guys we went out with over the summer were OK for getting us off but we weren’t really interested in anything more than that. They weren’t you.”

“That wasn’t what I was going to say,” Phil said. He put his hand on top of Tiffany’s again. “I was going to tell you that Hailey and I are halfway in love with you, too. That’s one of the reasons that we had to have time to ourselves. I know that sounds stupid but it’s true. We had to step away from you to make sure what she and I have could survive the loss of the rest of you. I’m not sure what’s going to happen with us, Tiffany. It’s confusing to us because we’re committed to each other but we still want to share our love with the rest of you. It can’t work long-term. We both know that and I’m sure you do, too.”

“Why not?” Tiffany asked.

“Someone would always feel second-best,” Phil told her in a voice that was far calmer than what he felt. “Society would be offended; our families would probably throw a fit; I can give you a dozen reasons why it won’t last.”

“I can accept the second-best reasoning,” Tiffany said. “It’s always going to be you and Hailey. We see that. It’s always going to be me and Molly. I’m sure of that, too. As for society and our families, so what? Would your family care?”

“I don’t know,” Phil said. “I’ve admitted our previous dalliances to them but I’m not sure if they approve, disapprove or don’t care. I do know Hailey and I were both jealous as hell when you three got boyfriends over the summer. It’s when I had to really stop and reflect on my feelings toward you. Hailey never had a question. She loves you and she is in love with you. I think she has been since the first night she made love to you. It’s only been my reluctance that has kept us from exploring things. That’s why I want to spend time alone with you and Molly. I already spend a lot of time with Katie and we know where we stand. It would fun to have sex with her but it would be just sex. But I want to see if I can overcome my fear to see if we can move forward or if we just try to get over the attraction and move on.”

“So Hailey is going to do the same?” Tiffany inquired.

“That’s the plan but I’m not sure how it will work out,” Phil admitted. “We talked about it again last night. She’s torn. She is really bothered that she didn’t get to share your birthday with you. She wanted today to be the best day of your life – at least until tomorrow. I have no doubt that if she was here, we’d do our best to show you exactly how much we love you and how sexy we think you are.”

“But she’s not,” Tiffany said with a nod.

“No,” Phil admitted with great reluctance.

“Then our date ends on the doorstep,” Tiffany said firmly. “That’s the thing, Phil. It wouldn’t work with just you and me. It wouldn’t work any better if it’s just me and her. If we all four – or five – take a shot, it could work out just fine. We already live together and we’re going to live together for years. Why wouldn’t we live together after we graduate? I don’t know if Katelyn is as serious as Molly and I are but I can picture all four of us being together. I honestly can see all five of us together – living, working, raising children. Maybe we’ll get the chance to find out – but not tonight.”

“No, not tonight,” Phil agreed.

“Do you think we could, I don’t know, cuddle and make out a little?” Tiffany asked.

Hailey had told Phil he should take Tiffany to bed and give her another night to remember. It would be their special birthday present to the dark-haired cutie. He wasn’t prepared to do that.

“If we promise to set limits,” Phil said.

“We won’t make love,” Tiffany agreed instantly. “I want to wait for that until Molly and Hailey are with us – if we ever take that step at all, they have to be there. You give me a massive cum for my birthday and I wouldn’t protest. Molly made sure I had one this morning before I left her bed.”

She removed Phil’s hand from hers and placed it on her leg. He felt the warmth of her skin beneath his fingers as he stroked the inside of her thigh. Tiffany covered his hand with hers.

“Only one?” Phil asked.

“Huh?” Tiffany asked.

“Only one cum?” Phil explained. “That’s all you want?”

“Uh, I’ll take more if I can get them,” Tiffany amended. “Are you sure about this?”

“I think we can play around some,” Phil told her. “If you want, we can Skype Hailey if she’s home.”

“Not tonight,” Tiffany decided. “Tonight I want it to be just us. Is that OK?”

“It’s fine,” Phil said. “She’s going to call you before she goes to bed. She’ll want to know how your evening went. I texted her that your dad called.”

“I’ll send her a text to tell her I’m making out with her boyfriend and not to bother me,” Tiffany laughed. “Uh, I want Molly there though. I love her, Phil. She loves me. We share everything. I want you to know that.”

“If you want,” Phil said.

“Let’s do that,” Tiffany said. “God, I can’t believe we’re planning this out. OK, we’ll make our calls to Hailey and then you can come up. How’s that?”

“It’s your birthday,” Phil said, tickling her thigh.

“Just wait until your birthday,” she said in a threatening voice.

Phil punched in the code to the gate and pulled into the driveway. He got out and took Tiffany’s hand again as they walked to the porch.

“Thank you for a lovely evening, Miss Grayling,” Phil said. “I’d greatly like to see you again if you’re amenable.”

“I would like that, Mr. Warner,” Tiffany replied with a giggle.

“May I kiss you goodnight to conclude our date?” Phil wondered.

“Oh, please,” Tiffany answered. Their kiss started gently but in short order they abandoned all pretense. Tiffany hugged her body to Phil as they kissed, her tongue dancing inside of his mouth. Phil’s hands traced down Tiffany’s back to clutch her ass through her short dress.

With reluctance, they finally broke apart and caught their breath.

“Go call your girlfriend and then meet me in my bedroom,” she said with a saucy grin. “I’ll tell my girlfriend that you’re going to spend the night with us.”

She paused.

“You will spend the night with us, won’t you?” she asked hopefully.

“I’d be a fool not to,” Phil replied with a smile.

Phil stood nervously outside of Tiffany’s room and knocked lightly. She opened the door but wasn’t wearing the smile of expectation he thought she’d have. Instead she looked resigned and frustrated.

He just spoken to Hailey – and knew Hailey had spoken to Tiffany earlier – so he wasn’t sure of the problem. He instinctively wrapped Tiffany in an embrace to try to quell whatever bothered her. She clung to him tightly as he gently ran a finger down her soft hair but she pulled back when he tried to tilt her head upward to kiss her.

“I’ve changed my mind about tonight,” she said softly. His initial thought was that she was playing a joke on him. Only the earnestness in her voice and the seriousness in her eyes told him she wasn’t. He wondered if perhaps Molly was unhappy but he saw her sitting on the bed in only a tank top and shorts.

“OK,” he said, nodding to her. “Am I allowed to ask why?”

“I talked to Hailey,” Tiffany explained.

“Uh, yeah,” Phil answered. “I did, too.”

“Then you know what she said,” she continued. “She’s right. Just because you don’t stick your dick in my pussy won’t mean we’re not making love. We’ll be making love no matter if it’s with our hands or our mouths or our earlobes. Any limitations we put on things are just artificial. It won’t change what we’re doing. I’m just not sure it’s the right thing to do right now and it’s too important to risk a misstep. I hope you understand.”

“I do,” Phil nodded. He was happy to know that Tiffany viewed the next step to be as important as he did. Hailey sometimes tended to still lump sex in the category of “purely recreational activities.”

“I don’t want you to be mad,” Tiffany added.

“I’m not mad,” Phil replied, putting his arm around her shoulder. “I’m a little disappointed. I was looking forward to wherever tonight went.”

“You?” Tiffany asked, her eyes wide. “I got aroused from having you hold my hand. When you started to tickle my thigh I was ready to ask you to pull over so we could do it in the backseat.”

“Is there anything I can do to help you out?” Phil asked.

Tiffany sighed heavily.

“I suppose, technically, that was our first date,” she said, shaking her head. “Even I’m not slutty enough to put out on a first date – even one that was as much fun as that one. I wouldn’t be upset with some cuddling and some kissing – and maybe a little finger play. We have to keep our clothes on, though. It’s been tough for me not to straddle you this week when we’ve hung out at the pool – well, you hung out, I suppose.”