Chapter 48

By the time we got back to the house, it was after 1 o’clock. I headed downstairs to work and Zahra went to the living room to watch television. It was after 4 when I finally finished work. Every day survey people were sending me new data that I had to update predictive models with. It seemed like they were trying to find out how many ways to ask me the same questions.

Thinking dark thoughts I came upstairs to hear an angel screaming “WHY!!??!”

I entered the living room to find Melissa sitting on the floor in front of the couch, her head thrown back looking up at me. With puppy dog eyes she asked, “Why can’t I win?”

I looked at the television. I didn’t own a Nintendo console but apparently, one had been installed and a game I had never played but recognized, Mario Kart, was on the screen. Grace, Lavi, Coraline, and Jiang sat around. Coraline was holding a controller and grinning. Ji and Lavi also held controllers but Coraline’s self-satisfaction told the story.

“Five games,” Melissa said, “five games!”

Lavi stood, “I’m getting the wine to fucking celebrate.”

Melissa sat up to look at her. “Really? I’m getting my ass kicked and you’re going to celebrate?”

Lavi turned, curly hair flying one hand on her hip. “I haven’t beat you at a game since I was 15. I don’t say this often but I’m living vicariously!”

Mellissa groaned. “She’s using steroids!”

I leaned over and kissed her, “Don’t be a sore loser.” I stood up. “So, Zahra said there was a conclave. Anything going on?”

Ji, bounced up and down a little, “Well, we were talking and Zahra was giving us the low down on the meeting this morning and we were talking about the party tomorrow and then Grace was texting us and we said get over here and she was at a planning meeting for the high tea and Coraline was there and the party will be awesome but it’ll be a lot of people and it has been ages since we had something just us girls and”

Grace held up a hand, “Girl, take a breath!”

I realized I had gotten fairly used to Ji’s run-on monologues when she got excited. “So, pre-party?”

Melissa, “Better.”

Lavi walked in with two bottles and Zahra carrying glasses. “Slumber party! With booze!”

Melissa looked at me. “But, slumber parties are a girls-only thing. And obviously, that’s a bit of a problem.”

“So, I’m exiled.”

She was still laying back and looking up at me. “No! Just, you know, we need you to stay upstairs.”

“I can do that.”

“Are you sure?”

“Are you kidding? I’m going to sleep sideways just because I can.” Truthfully what I really wanted was to spend time with my beloveds but I tried to not let it show. They deserved to have fun with their friends.

Grace leaned back, “It’s so weird but you two are the first to live with someone else.”

Lavi sat on the couch. “You mean each other.”

“Nah,” Grace waved a hand, “that we all were waiting for. All of this, making a house and stuff, it changes things, it’s not like being kids anymore.”

Ji shrugged. “None of us are.”

“Yeah, I just ... I guess I just figured that when we left high school, or maybe college, that was when we had to be adults.”

Melissa stroked my hand as I held onto the back of the couch. Looking at me, “You sure you’re alright?”

“It’s a bedroom with a television, not Siberia, seriously not a big deal.”

Ji held up her phone, “And if you need anything just text us and we’ll bring it up.”

Lavi, “Ji means she will come.” She emphasized ‘come.’

They tried to not respond to it and three full heartbeats of silence followed but Melissa cracked. “Oh, that was bad Lavi!”

With that everyone relaxed. Ji excused herself since she was making pizzas for dinner. Lavi started selecting horror movies for the slumber party. The pizza wouldn’t be ready for a while so I heated up some carnitas and grilled some onions lightly to make little tacos with. I couldn’t cut meat yet but I could do a few light things. I ate on the couch as the whirlwind started.

Sleeping bags were being put down. Blankets and pillows appeared from nowhere. Coraline was on the phone with her parents letting her know she was doing an unplanned slumber party. I looked at Melissa, “So, am I going to regret missing a lingerie party?”

She stole one of my tacos. “It’s more sweat pants than garter belts... “ she trailed off and I looked where she was looking. Lavi was buying a movie called Bush Bash.

She was buying it from one of the big family-safe companies so it clearly wasn’t going to be an adult film but with that title, I had to ask. “Is that a horror movie or porn?”

Lavi didn’t even look at me. “I’m hoping for both. What are you watching tonight? Godzilla?”

“I have a new book, some Lovecraftian Sherlock Holmes pastiche or mashup, I’m not sure which. It looks fun.” I looked over at Coraline.

“Hey, before I get sequestered do you want to chat about your stories?”

She nodded eagerly and we went downstairs. It turned out that Coraline had not read any Rex Stout. I immediately put a copy of Fer De Lance in her hand. Over the next hour, I asked questions about her thoughts.

Eventually, she looked at me and seemed exasperated. “I thought you would tell me how to make it better.”

“I have to know what you’re trying to do first. Then I can’t tell you how to make it better but I can tell you where it isn’t working. And it’s ambitious. You have balls.”

She smiled at that. “I thought the detective agency might be cliché.”

“I think you came up with a good dynamic with the paralyzed old man and the go-getter young girl. You and Stout had similar thought processes. The psychic-power schtick is interesting. I’ll be honest, it feels a bit gimmicky right now. I think you need to do more world-building with it. And Nora is a bit of a Mary Sue or at least feels like it. I think you need to build her up by tearing her down.”

“I want a strong female protagonist.”

“And that’s cool but if she’s too strong we don’t find ourselves rooting for her, we don’t invest in her. Jim Butcher does a good job of that with the Dresden Files. Harry Dresden becomes a complete badass but the threats just keep getting bigger.”

“I’ll add it to my reading list.” Sure enough, she was actually writing it down.

“You can probably skip the last few books. The series has gone on longer than it probably should. Stormfront is the first one. But Butcher knows how to write by numbers so he’s a good one to both enjoy and look at how he did it. He doesn’t hide the formula behind tricks but the craftsmanship in his writing is solid.”

“I really appreciate this.”

“It is pure self-interest I assure you. When you’re famous and winning awards I get to brag that I knew you when you were just a genius.”

“Well, if there’s anything I can ever do, anything...”

“Anything?”

“Well, almost.” She turned a little pink.

“No, no, just a little nosy curiosity.”

“About the cheerleaders?”

“Yeah.”

“Honestly I don’t know. I’m ready to quit.”

“Why?”

“There is this weird dynamic in place. I’m in the team and I get told what to do but it’s like I’m told the absolute minimum possible. Xinyi is loving the attention of being almost the head cheerleader even though she’s a junior. She still talks to me but ... look she’s always been like 25% bitch and it wasn’t something I loved but she’s like 75% bitch now. Maybe eighty.”

“How about the Gentle Person’s Society?”

She smiled. “That I am enjoying but I’ve been with it since I was a Freshman.”

“But the others joining?”

“Melissa just fits in like she’s always been there. Lavi is making some waves among the chess players but “ she stopped to grin, “well one guy said to me that if he could learn to play with Lavi on display in front of him ignoring toes tapping table legs would be a breeze in the future.”

“Toes tapping legs?”

“Mind games chess players play with each other.”

“Oh. Is she still grumbling about the non-speed games?”

“A bit but she’s discovered that the quiet times are used to find ways to mess with your opponent. She’s been pretending to be nervous and fiddle with buttons on her shirt. One guy, Terry, I’m pretty sure discovered new aspects to his sexuality.”

I closed my eyes and resisted bursting out laughing. “Oh my god, I can see that.”

“Zahra has breathed some life into the teas. She said she was going to ask you for help with making tea cakes and patisseries.”

“Absolutely, I’d be glad to help.”

“So yeah, I always thought they’d be standoffish but really only Grace has been awkward and even she has been nice, just obviously not at ease. Look, can I ask you something ... not about writing?”

“Sure.”

“Should I quit cheering?”

“Do you enjoy it?”

“Not really and the practices are getting longer and longer and ... really scary at times. Like they’re doing these towers with girls really high in the air. I don’t like it.”

“Then quit.”

“It’s not that simple.”

“Maybe it is. You said Xinyan is 75% bitch these days. What about, uh, the redhead?”

“Emma?”

“Yeah.”

“She has been nice to me but sometimes Xinyi will talk to her and then make this gesture if I get close like a hand signal to change the topic. Maybe I’m just paranoid.”

“Maybe, maybe not. Would you join the dance team if it restarted?”

She shook her head. “No. I only cheered because of Emma and Xinyi. It’s not something I’m really into.”

“Well, you just used past tense, I think you’ve already decided for yourself. You just want me to say it’s okay.”

“Is it?”

“If I’m going to be your editor I’m going to say you should dump it as fast as possible and spend that time writing.”

She smiled. “Seriously?”

“Yes. Writers do two things - read and write.”

“I thought Hemingway included drinking and screwing.”

“Those were personal pastimes, not required.”

“So you don’t recommend those?”

“I didn’t say that either.”

“Thank you.”

“So, are you going to quit?”

“Maybe. If I had to decide right now, yeah but I think I want to talk to Emma again.”

“That’s probably a prudent thing.”

After that, we went upstairs and everyone gorged on pizza. Ji was getting really good and she blushed from embarrassment at the compliments. Afterward, Lavi came into the living room carrying bottles of peach and strawberry vodka.

“I don’t think those are mine,” I said.

“Nope, I picked them up this afternoon,” she said.

“What, you have a fake id or something?”

“Nah, but...” she put the bottles down and assumed a vacant expression while pushing her cleavage together, “Oh, mister! I forgot my license back at the office and the girls will be so disappointed if I don’t show up with vodka for jello shots! Oh, you will, you’re such a nice man. Maybe you can come to join us later! I know, can you believe they think I’m still a kid, teehee.” She actually tittered. Grace put mixers down.

Zahra and Coraline were howling with laughter. The others were rolling their eyes.

“You’re shameless Lavi,” said Grace.

“That is not even on my leaderboard for shamelessness.”

Melissa coughed, “Not to be a buzzkill but is anyone really, like really-really, going to have upset parents if we drink?”

Grace snorted in response and Melissa waved as if to say that was a given. I knew that June had liberal ideas about parenting. So long as Grace wasn’t driving anywhere she was fine.

Zahra, “Dad lets me have a beer at home now and then, I think it’ll be cool if I have a little.”

Ji, “I’m good. I have a mom who thinks learning alcohol tolerance is an important part of self-defense so guys can’t get you drunk.”

I looked over at her. “Your mom is special. I can’t say she is wrong but...”

Ji held up her hand. “Oh, I know, I know. These sluts...” she waved at everyone else “always thought I was exaggerating. Except you Coraline, obvs.”

“I am not a slut,” Grace said as she poured some strawberry vodka into a glass.

Lavi perked up. “I am! And so is she.” She pointed at Melissa.

“Selectively,” Melissa said primly.

“Again, obvs,” Ji responded.

Coraline looked at Ji. “Are you one?”

“Me? Sure. I think we need to kind of own the word, make it something affirming. Why shouldn’t I enjoy myself?”

I grinned. “Be careful, you’re sounding like your mom.”

Ji waved me off, said “Shush,” and then shot Coraline a look. “You?”

“Huh? Me what?”

“Are you a slut?”

“No, no, no.”

“You and your boyfriend...”

“Well yeah, and a boy before that but that’s it.”

Ji pressed. “Do you want to be one?” Coraline turned a shade shared by fire trucks and embarrassed teenage girls with pale skin.

Melissa stepped in. “You don’t have to answer. Ji, don’t channel Lavi. One is plenty.”

Coraline was composing herself. “No, it’s fine, I just ... I don’t know how to answer. I have thoughts, like who doesn’t.” Everyone nodded in understanding. “But actually doing stuff? I don’t know. My boyfriend wants me to be more adventurous. I guess I’m boring.”

Melissa, “You be you. You’re smart, not boring.”

Lavi, “What kinds of things does he want you to do?”

“Well, he asked about a threesome...”

“That’s like every guy ever,” Ji said. “I mean has anyone here not been in a threesome?” Zahra laughed and raised her hand along with Coraline. I think everyone was starting to feel the drinks. Ji however was fixated on someone else. “Really, Grace? You let someone at Owen?”

She shrugged. “I know this girl, she’s a major size queen. She begged and begged and begged and I knew he would like it so I set it up for his birthday. And Christmas last year. And President’s Day. And”

Lavi laughed, “We get it! Did you get weirded out?”

“Nah. She’s tried to hook up with him a couple of times since and he just replies and adds me into the chat and says he’s up for it but tells her to work out the details with me but then he adds if it doesn’t work out that it’s all fine. I think she’s gotten the message. So, Cor, he wants a threesome. Anyone in particular?”

She froze and her eyes darted around. Lavi jumped on the frozen rabbit, “Who? One of us?”

She cleared her throat. “Melissa.”

Melissa’s eyes went wide. Lavi chuckled, “Well, he has good taste.” She blew her wife a kiss.

“Uh,” Melissa started, “no offense but ... not going to happen. I mean, he seems super nice but he’s ... uh”

Lavi interrupted, “What my love doesn’t want to say is he is a bitch boy.”

Coraline smiled. “I know, that’s part of why I like him. And I think he’s hoping Melissa has some very high black boots or something.”

Melissa glanced at Lavi, “He’d have better luck with you on that.”

She looked thoughtful. “I’m a one-man slut but I could see a little bitch boy licking my boots.”

Ji threw a balled-up napkin at Lavi. “You are nasty.”

“I prefer ‘liberated’.” She grinned.

“All right ladies, I think it is time for my retreat. Be good-ish.” I stopped to kiss Melissa and Lavi and started towards Ji but she stood up and hugged me instead.

I went upstairs with a bottle of excellent whiskey and complete freedom to do as I liked. I put on a movie for about half an hour but got bored and decided to move to a chair and just sit and read. An hour passed and I heard filtering up from downstairs the sounds of the movie Clue being acted out, with a bit of what I suspected was lubrication supplied by vodka.

I looked at my whiskey glass. This was really good and some Camembert cheese might go really well with it. I happened to have picked some up recently. But that was in the kitchen. However, they told me I could ask for errands. I picked up my phone to message Lavi and Melissa. A few minutes later I heard footsteps and looked over anticipating seeing one of my wives. Instead, Coraline walked in wearing a blue and white checkered bikini carrying a plate, cheese, and cheese knife.

“We were trying on outfits for tomorrow. Do you like it?” She handed me the cheese and then turned around. “The bikini I mean.”

I grinned. “It fits you very well.” She was bright pink but very cute in her glasses and short hair. She giggled and left. I watched her leave. Her ass was rounder than Ji’s, smaller than Lavi’s, less muscular than Melissa’s but a nice little heart shape.

I texted the girls, “Teases.” The reply I got was an animated gif of the actor John C. Riley nodding his head with the text “affirmative” beneath it.

Almost another hour passed and I hit a point in the book where it turned out that Moriarty had stolen a copy of the Necronomicon and I had to make a decision about whether to keep reading or not. It was not a great book, but it was entertaining. Then my tablet warned me it was low on power. An investigation of the room found that somehow I had no USB-C charging cable anywhere, which probably meant the girls had taken my spare one downstairs in case they ran out of power. I had a spare in the office though. I texted again.

A few minutes later I heard footsteps and was a bit disappointed to see it was Grace but she was entirely wrapped in a cotton robe that ended at mid-thigh. “Here you go,” she said and handed me the cable and charging block.

“Lavi and Mellie busy?”

“A bit.” She grinned and walked out but just before she exited flipped the back of her robe up and flashed me her bare butt. Honestly, I wasn’t seeing much more than I did in a bikini but somehow it was still magical. I heard her giggle as she headed down the stairs. With a smile on my face, I plugged in the tablet and went back to reading. I also decided Owen did not need to know about that.

About an hour later I finished the book. I went ahead and electronically bought the next two. The author had successfully sucked me in. The book hadn’t been that good but I was a sucker for any halfway decent Holmesian fiction. Not right now, though, I decided. The whiskey was starting to hit me and I looked down to see that Lavi had discretely texted me a photo of her cleavage.

I texted her and Melissa. “I need a book from my office. The Gil Elvgren collection.”

Melissa texted back “Okay.” She knew the layout of the shelves well enough that I figured she would find the book pretty quickly and get my little joke. However, it was nearly ten minutes before I heard footsteps and instead of Melissa, my breath caught. It was Zahra and she was wearing a green nightie, silken with a lacy top. I could see the brown skin of her breasts but averted my eyes so as to not look for her nipples. I would be lying if I didn’t say that the forbidden aspect wasn’t sexy but she didn’t need that. She was delicious with legs that were long and toned and breasts that stood out firm. Her dark brown hair was down and framed her face.

“You needed this?” She held out the book. I nodded yes. “You like pinups?” Her words were not slurred but I could tell she was feeling loose from the drinking.

“I do.” She nodded and walked out, slowly. Her father definitely did not need to know about this.

After she got back downstairs I got a text from Melissa. “Need anything else?”

I replied, “Oh yes I do.”

“No hanky panky at the slumber party.” The reply was accompanied by an animated gif of a cat shaking its head back and forth.

“No slumber party up here.” I added a gif of a lawyer saying ‘Point of Order!’

I had been hoping that Lavi would want to tease me some more but time passed so I figured their attention had drifted. Half an hour later I heard multiple footsteps and in walked Lavi, Melissa and Ji. All three were wearing silk robes. In Melissa and Lavi’s cases, they were the ones I had bought for them back in July. All three dropped them to show they were naked.

“On the bed, lover,” Melissa said in a throaty purr.

“I thought there was no hanky panky at the sleepover.” I moved to the bed, stripping as I went. I’m not so dumb as not to co-operate.

“There was a debate,” Lavi said as she got on the bed on her knees and patted the space next to her.

“Grace’s position,” Melissa continued, “was that teasing was in the spirit of the sleepover”

“But,” Lavi finished, “nothing more.”

“Zahra, however,” Ji said, “Championed that you were not part of the sleepover and shouldn’t have to suffer just because we weren’t getting laid tonight.”

“And I agreed,” Melissa continued. “So, we came up with a compromise, you get laid but we don’t.”

“And how does that work?” I asked. I was now sitting with my back against the headboard.

Melissa pressed her breasts into my thigh as she leaned across me and replied, “Like this,” as she took my semi-stiff cock in her mouth. Lavi, still on her knees pulled my face into her cleavage and Ji got between my legs and began tonguing my sack and licking at the base of my cock sometimes touching Melissa’s lips as she came down.

I had a follow-up question but it didn’t seem important to ask anymore. Melissa slowly worked my cock, both sucking and running her tongue around me. Ji was active in her own right sucking on each testicle in turn and I felt her small arm reach underneath me. I helped her by lifting up and let her arm reach under me. Her fingertip teased my asshole while she kissed me.

Lavi meanwhile was nearly vibrating from enjoying me suckling her breasts. I felt Lavi’s legs, slick with her juices, against my arm but I ignored it, following the rules. Melissa was moaning, enjoying sucking me. Ji came up and kissed my thighs.

“I like the smell down there but I couldn’t breath.”

Melissa popped her head off me. She looked at Ji, “Poor baby.” I don’t know what happened as I couldn’t see, but Ji was still fingering just the edge of my asshole and when lips returned to wrap around the crown I could tell they were Ji’s while Melissa began kissing my nipple. Lavi was leaning into me, her mound pressed against my elbow. I couldn’t help, I pushed my elbow up and out so that it contacted her mons and she shuddered against me and let out a tiny screech.

I was wondering how long this slumber party rules thing was going to work but the contemplation was cut short by a tiny blonde girl screaming “I FUCKING KNEW IT!” from the doorway.

I shifted my head away from Lavi to see Grace, in her cotton robe, obviously angry. “I knew Lavi wouldn’t be able to keep it from becoming an orgy, that’s why I said she should stay downstairs.”

Lavi defended herself. “It was just a little one, come on.”

Grace had hands on her hips. “But we know what was going to happen next, don’t we?”

“I was going to get properly fucked the way I should have been at the beginning of the night!?” Lavi was now building up steam.

“ENOUGH!”

For a second I thought Melissa had screamed it and then I realized I had. Everyone was looking at me. I heard shuffling movements. Coraline was peering around Grace and I saw the back of Zahra’s head who was clearly averting her eyes but wanted to know what was going on.

“Fuck.” Everything was quiet but Coraline slowly entered the room, Grace had her eyes on the floor and Zahra was just outside.

Grace’s voice was almost a whisper but we all heard it. “I’m sorry.”

I sat up. Ji rolled out from between my legs, though it was awkward with her arm where it had been. Zahra pointed at me. “Uh, you’re...”