Chapter 5

"Yiiii!" Shannon jumped three feet in the air! Rachel erupted in a snorting giggle that escaped past both hands covering her mouth. "Wh-who is this?" Shannon demanded, then grimaced. "Honey Bun?"

"I like it." Rachel started beaming. "This is Scott. We met last night in the restaurant, and it was love at first sight -- well, lust, at least ... I'M in love, anyway..."

"Now, now," I chided, "If I wasn't serious about you, we wouldn't be here today!"

"I know." Rachel assumed a beatific expression and put her head on my shoulder and rubbed my chest.

Shannon's face flickered through a sequence of expressions, ending in disbelief layered over hope. "You're kidding, right?"

"Not at all..." I replied, serious.

"I know I've teased you before, Shan," Rachel insisted, "but this is it! This is the real thing! BOY! Is it the real thing!" She resumed beaming, clutching my left arm.

I was surprised to see thunderheads gather on Shannon's face. "You've REALLY got a boyfriend? Oh, God! What am I gonna do?" Her lips began quivering.

"I was kind of hoping we could all hang out together..." Rachel replied, her face a mask. "I didn't think it would upset you! I thought you'd be happy for me!"

"Oh, I am!" Shannon put her hand on Rachel's right forearm. "I'm THRILLED for you! I'm just miserable for me..."

"It's gonna be fine..." Rachel husked, but she was looking at me, her expression troubled. I knew what was up -- if this was a conventional relationship, there was one of me and one of Rachel and I didn't rate a second girl. Rachel couldn't break cover and she couldn't hold out any hope in the first place if I wasn't interested...

Me, I couldn't make up my mind. Shannon had that 'little bird with the broken wing' thing that kind of tore at me -- but who knew whether she was a bitch or not? I decided that maybe the thing to do was provide reassurance, so I rubbed Shannon's back. "It'll be all right..."

Shannon looked up at me with huge, haunted green eyes and asked, "Will it? Rachel is my only friend..." Here face worked and she began to sniffle...

... But those eyes had done the job! They'd sucked me right in, showing me a lonely soul that KNEW it was going to be alone all its life ... Unlike Rachel, who wasn't a deep thinker and didn't let things she couldn't control bother her, Shannon was too intelligent not to know that she was never going to get a break...

... Except, unbeknownst to her, things had altered radically in the preceding five seconds! I let my hand sweep around to her side and pulled her against me and said, "It's gonna be just fine!" Shannon didn't know what to do with the attention, but didn't go anywhere; I gathered that being cuddled against a guy was a luxury she couldn't pass up. Rachel gave me a look and I nodded confirmation -- Shannon was in if she wanted to be.

The waiter showed up -- a persnickety, swishy guy who I figured was gay, not that it mattered, except for the way we had to deal with him. While he gushed over some health-food wrap with sprouts, I settled back and let the girls interact, releasing Shannon and examining my menu. I had the AI flick through the drone outputs on a four-second schedule while I pretended to be interested in the specials. When Swishy moved off, I asked what was good and got two different opinions, neither one of which really suited my fancy. The two of them argued over everything like sisters, Shannon going, "You can't eat that! It's full of carbs!" to which Rachel replied blandly, "Eat it for me, then. You NEED carbs! I'll just get a bite..." We all settled on something and Swishy came back and we ordered -- at which point I decided to excuse myself so they could have more girl-talk. I went off to the Men's Room, but eavesdropped on them shamelessly using a drone...

"He's very nice," Shannon ventured.

"Wait until you've seen him in action!" Shannon giggled.

Shannon cocked her head. "What kind of action?"

"Just about anything!" Rachel replied. "Scott is the take-charge type -- he's ex-military and he doesn't let much stop him. You should have been with us at the restaurant!"

"I saw something on the news," Shannon replied, "What happened?"

Rachel related the whole thing -- but left out the fact that we were the targets. Then she related how we met... "I looked up and he was sitting there, leaning out of his booth looking at me! Naturally, I freaked -- I couldn't imagine why he was doing it! But he was all approval and had me do a little spin in place and I was like, 'Is he kidding?' Nobody EVER asked me to do that! But I did it and he waved me up and the next thing I knew he was asking my name while he rubbed my bare butt under my dress and he was HOT and gutsy and he told me I was cute -- and he meant it! I was in love right there! He ordered a salad bar, so I did, too, and he was waiting for me when I got there ... Momma and Daddy weren't thrilled, and both of them took a turn at trying to pry us apart, but I sat with him while we ate. Then we were together in the parking lot, and he made sure I got out of the way when the wild stuff started happening..."

"Wow!" Shannon was nonplussed. Hell, I was, too, hearing it...

"Anyway, then we had to go to the police station and make statements and do some other stuff, and we didn't get home until two o'clock. I sneaked him into bed and we slept late..."

Shannon cocked her head. "What did your mother say this morning?"

Rachel grinned from ear to ear. "A LOT of things -- especially after we'd been pretty noisy making love..."

"WHAT? You DID IT?" Shannon's eyes popped behind her eyeglasses.

"Oh, Boy! Did we! Omigawd! You have no idea! He's just ... perfect!" Rachel gushed.

"He was good then, obviously."

"Good doesn't come CLOSE! Momma was jealous, I think! Fortunately Daddy had gone to work -- he never knew Scott was there..." Rachel smiled, clearly remembering...

I was proud of her -- she got a lot of detail out there without mentioning some stuff that Shannon shouldn't hear yet, and she did it very smoothly.

"This is pretty serious, then," Shannon mused.

"Oh, yeah!" Rachel agreed.

"Well, I'm happy for you..."

"Don't get all whiney, Shan. I'll share him, okay?"

"Huh! How far can THAT go? Pretty soon, it'll be the two of you and I'll just be sitting there..."

"It doesn't have to be," Rachel pointed out. "Girls share guys all the time, nowadays."

"Yeah, well, in harems. What's his CAP score?"

Rachel shrugged. "I don't know. I don't even CARE! And it doesn't matter WHAT his score is -- we can STILL share him. He could have a two and we could share him -- but he doesn't."

Shannon cocked her head. "How do you know?"

"Think about it," Rachel replied. "Do you think he had to take THIS long to pee? He's giving us our time to talk! That's sweet -- and it's not something a stupid guy would do, you know?"

That was my cue, I figured. I quit farting around and headed back to the table. Shannon eyed me appraisingly as I approached and I was reminded that she wasn't stupid by any stretch. 'AI, display Shannon's CAP score layout.'

I nearly broke step! Shannon was a six point three with some amazing subscores, including loyalty, sexual potential (she was apparently a virgin, although she masturbated and might use toys), and intelligence. Her parenting potential was considered above average, but not as good as Rachel's -- which the AI displayed for comparison at a thought. I was distracted as I settled into my seat. "So, have you two caught up?"

"Mostly," Rachel replied, grinning triumphantly at Shannon, who was still measuring me -- and finding me too big, apparently.

"So, Scott -- Rachel seems to think you're bigger than life!" She leaned forward and added quietly, "What's your CAP score?"

I made a point of glancing around. "Nothing amazing."

"Uh huh." Shannon wasn't buying. "Do you have a harem?"

"No," I answered truthfully. One concubine does not a harem make.

"Rachel says she would share..."

"She does, does she?" I pretended that this was news. "Monogamy isn't as important as it once was, but a guy with several girls in tow is a moving target on a firing range these days. I mean, I'm a guy, so having two girls is a hot idea -- but..."

I'd played it well; Shannon was less certain of herself. But she wasn't done -- the next item came from left field. "Rache, that's a nice choker. Where did you get it?"

Rachel wasn't prepared. She fingered it and ventured, "Scott gave it to me."

"Uh ... huh..." I knew what she was thinking. There had been no time for shopping trips ... Turning to me, Shannon said flatly, "I wanna see it."

"What?"

"You KNOW what!"

"Here?"

Shannon settled back in her seat. "You need to stop playing with me."

Rachel opened her mouth, but I silenced her with a wave -- denials were a waste of time. "Or you'll what?"

Shannon grimaced and looked at her lap. "Nothing, I guess. But you're not kidding me. Maybe you're not a ten, but you're over the limit."

I sighed. "I didn't plan to rush things, but ... Rachel made you an offer. I approved it. The ball is in your court."

Shannon raised haunted eyes to mine. "You're not playing with me, are you? This is the real thing? The whole enchilada, if... ?"

"That's 'when, ' not 'if'. Yes. Rachel asked me, but you made the sale yourself." I sat back.

"What do I have to do?" Shannon sat picking her fingers. She chewed her nails -- they were pretty ragged.

"For now? Say yes. We aren't going to do stupid stuff in a restaurant and piss somebody off. But time starts now. It's full-up -- I get all privileges, immediately."

Shannon flicked her eyes to her girlfriend. "Rachel?"

Rachel shrugged. "I was hooked before we ever discussed this stuff. I didn't even ask. This is gravy, as far as I'm concerned -- I was gonna move in with him if he lived in a barn!"

Shannon gathered herself. "Yes," she said firmly.

"Okay."

<The contract is registered.> the AI announced.

"That's it?"

"Like I said, this is neither the time nor the place. Want a kiss or something?" I asked.

Shannon flicked a glance at her girlfriend. "Rachel?"

"If she can't put up with you kissing me, she made a mistake in recommending you, didn't she?" I noted.

Rachel grinned. "He's right, you know. Later, when the two of you are doing it, I'm gonna want to help or something -- but I think I can keep from being jealous."

I took Shannon by the point of the chin and pulled her face to me, pressing my lips to hers. She went "Mmmph!" and then relaxed and her lips opened. And then she seemed to bloom -- She leaned into my right side and clung and her mouth got all hot and wet and her tongue got frisky...

We went at it for a minute or so; somewhere in there, Rachel's right hand crept into my left, and I squeezed it, but she didn't get in the way of anything. At the end of it, Shannon broke it off and settled back in her seat, gazing at Rachel. "Ooooomigod..." Rachel grinned from ear to ear.

We were sitting there, grinning at one another when Shannon's phone went off. She pulled it out, looking vaguely irritated at the interruption, poked it a few times, read the screen. Then her eyes popped and her mouth hung open and she looked like she was going to start hyperventilating!

"Shan? What is it, Sweetie?" Rachel asked, concerned. Wide-eyed, Shannon passed the phone over.

Rachel read the message and handed the phone to me, giggling. The sender was 'confed' something or other and the message read, "Contract is recorded. Shannon Marie Fawkes is the bound concubine of Ensign Scott Harshman, Confederacy Navy, effective immediately."