by Elia Winters
Mitchell was completely silent as he came. He arched up, tucking his head, his eyes squeezing shut as his face contorted in a rictus of pleasure-pain. Just like that, she yielded as well, her own climax a surprise in its intensity and suddenness. She lost her balance, tumbling forward onto his chest and clinging there as she clenched around him. The vibrator was merciless, powerful and unmoving and directly lined up between her folds, and she kept clenching over and over again even as her body lost all strength.
When Mitchell relaxed, his muscles going limp below her, Hannah carefully untangled their bodies and slid off him, fumbling the vibrator off as she did so. Mitchell reached over to her nightstand for tissues. Hannah lay there, overwhelmed and sated and still breathless. Fuck, this was supposed to be a lighthearted experiment. But there was no way she was letting this be a onetime thing. She already wanted to do this again.
After going to the bathroom to clean up, Hannah returned to her bed, where Mitchell now sat in his boxers, leaning against her headboard and looking contemplative. Cuddling wasn’t normally her style, but that pull was too strong to resist. She joined him on the bed, scooting up next to him and resting her head on his shoulder.
Silence stretched on for a minute before she had to break it. “Well, it wasn’t casual.”
Mitchell started to chuckle. “I said it wouldn’t be casual.” He wrapped an arm around her back, stroking her skin. “Your bum feel okay?”
Hannah grinned. “Did you just call it my bum?”
“Well it is your bum, isn’t it?” His brow furrowed.
“It’s such a cute word. I don’t think I’ve called it my bum in years. Like, maybe middle school?”
“I like that word!”
“Don’t get defensive.” Laughing, Hannah set her head back on his shoulder again. “It’s adorable. You’re adorable.”
“I don’t know if ‘adorable’ is the kind of compliment somebody wants after sex.” Mitchell sounded grumpy, which was even cuter, but she wasn’t going to tell him that.
“My bum is okay, yes, thanks. You’re good at paddling. I’m gonna need some of that again sometime.”
“Yeah?”
She wrapped an arm across his waist and squeezed him. “If you’re up for that.”
He paused, and her stomach dropped. Had she gone too far? Was this a one-and-done thing? Normally she was the one who was ready to dismiss a guy after sex, but now she’d been interested in two, back to back. That wasn’t what she’d been expecting… but that didn’t matter, right? As long as they were both game, they could do this again, as many times as they wanted.
“I…would like that.” He squeezed her hand, smiling. Compared to the mind-blowing sex they’d just shared, that look shouldn’t feel as intimate as it did. She’d always wanted to be looked at like that. Something tightened in her throat, some emotion she hadn’t felt in a long time and didn’t really want to feel now, when she was still riding the euphoria of her orgasms.
“I really have to get going, though.” He grimaced. “Work is early. And never-ending.”
“Don’t I know it.”
She unwound herself from him and slid off the bed. No need to dwell on how nice it would be if he could stay. Those thoughts weren’t going to help anyone. This was fun, and they could do it again, and that was all she needed.
…
Ben wasn’t waiting up for Mitchell, even though he was up later than usual, dozing on and off while sprawled out on the sofa rather than going to bed. He was merely enjoying the weather: the late September heat had finally yielded to fall crispness, and he got the cross breezes better here in the living room than in his bedroom. That was the only reason he was lying here, half listening for Mitchell to come home. He wasn’t at all nosy. Curious, sure, but…not nosy. Not at all.
Mitchell’s key in the lock jolted Ben out of another light doze, and he sat up, blinking away his grogginess. Ben had seen Mitchell every day for years, and the guy definitely had a look when he’d just gotten laid—a look he was wearing tonight. Well, thank god. He sure needed it.
“You still up?” Mitchell tossed his keys into the key bowl and went straight to the fridge.
“Yeah, I was just brainstorming spring flavor profiles.” Ben gestured to the notebook still open on the coffee table, which he legitimately had been working on before dozing off.
Mitchell handed Ben a beer from the fridge and sat down in the armchair with his own. “Hannah wants to get together in a few days to talk specifics for the Fall Festival. Figure out a game for the booth.”
“Sure, sounds good. Did you spend a lot of time going over your plans together?”
Mitchell looked at him with a neutral expression. He had to know what Ben was asking, especially as Ben couldn’t stop from grinning. Finally, Mitchell sighed and relaxed in the chair. “No. We didn’t talk about plans at all.”
“Nice.” Ben exhaled.
“This isn’t weird for you?”
“What?”
“Us both having fucked the same woman, like two days apart.” Mitchell shifted, crossing one ankle over the other knee. “That doesn’t weird you out? I’ve never done that before.”
With everything Mitchell knew about Ben, almost twenty years of friendship, seven years of close partnership, Mitchell should know better. “Asking me something like that, it’s like you don’t even know me, dude.”
Mitchell shrugged. “I don’t know. We’ve never dated the same person.”
Well, that was an understatement. He hadn’t seen Mitchell date anyone at all in a long time, actually. First, they were both consumed with the pressure of opening the restaurant, but even when business settled into the hectic-but-manageable pace of their lives, Mitchell stopped giving excuses. He just didn’t date anymore, and Ben didn’t ask. This evening with Hannah was a nice, unexpected change.
As for him, though?
“I don’t care if we date the same person. Romance isn’t for me. You know that. I can’t imagine coming home to the same person every day, day after day. Not anymore.”
Mitchell tilted his head to the side. “Except for me?”
Ben opened his mouth, then paused, the beer raised halfway to his lips. Mitchell did have a point. He shrugged. “Yeah, I guess. Except for you.” Funny how Mitchell was the exception to so many things. After his marriage to Viv ended, he swore that he would never live with another partner, never settle down, never let those walls down with another person. Mitchell was Mitchell, though, friends since high school, drifting apart and then reconnecting just when he needed it, right when his whole life was falling apart. No matter how deep his feelings for Mitchell might be, he had to keep them firmly labeled as friendship. Friendship wouldn’t put everything at risk, not when they’d worked so hard for their business and each other. “You’re different, though.”
“I’m not like other girls.” Mitchell grinned, teasing.
“You are really easy.” Ben tapped the lip of the beer bottle against his cheek. Banter was much easier than getting deep into emotional shit. “I can get you into bed without even trying.”
Mitchell put a hand over his heart in mock affront. “Benjamin, are you calling me a whore?”
“The dirtiest slut I ever took to bed.” Ben grinned. “Does it bother you that we fucked the same woman?”
Mitchell pursed his lips, looking off into the distance, absentmindedly rubbing the side of his beer bottle with this thumb. “I’m pretty sure it’s hot.”
Ben had to laugh. “Oh? You’re pretty sure?”
“I’m pretty sure. I might have to watch you both to be totally positive.” Mitchell gave him a wicked grin.
Fuck, that was a sexy thought. Ben hadn’t really considered it, and Mitchell’s teasing caught him off guard. He had to focus intently on the muscles necessary to drink from his beer bottle and then swallow without choking. Mitchell had that laser stare locked onto him, the one that felt like being examined under a microscope, and just the thought of getting that star
e while he was fucking Hannah was enough to make his cock twitch and take interest.
But the bigger idea, that was also intriguing. Him, and Mitchell, and Hannah. Together. “You know, that could work.”
“What could work?”
“The three of us. All seeing each other.”
Mitchell rolled his eyes and looked up to the ceiling of their condo. “This is not Letters to Penthouse, Ben.”
“Jesus, nobody reads Penthouse, Mitchell. You still getting your porn by mail?” He shifted on the couch, sitting up straighter. “But really. We could be a group thing. Like a love triangle, but nobody’s heart gets broken.”
Mitchell grabbed his beer again. “Nobody does that.”
“Sure, people do that.” Now that he was thinking about it, this was a really good setup. “You and me, we’ve got a good thing going. We get along, we make good business partners, we’re great in bed. And we both like Hannah, right?” At Mitchell’s tentative nod, he continued. “And neither of us wants a romantic relationship. So, let’s just…bring her in.” Not to mention, if they both were sleeping with Hannah, maybe everything would feel less serious between him and Mitchell. Maybe he could distract himself from wanting something different than the stable, safe situation they currently had.
Mitchell pursed his lips, picking at the label on his beer with his thumb. “What makes you think I don’t want a romantic relationship?”
Was he serious? “You haven’t dated anybody in years. You haven’t been seeing anybody in years.”
Mitchell blinked at him, looking hurt for some reason that it took Ben a heartbeat to understand.
Oh. Mitchell hadn’t been seeing anybody in years…except for him.
That wasn’t the same thing, though, right? They weren’t boyfriends. They never talked about their feelings or confessed their love. That distinction was mutual, right? He could run through all their encounters in his mind if he wanted to, all the way back to when he’d first approached Mitchell before that restaurant inspection and they’d fucked his anxiety away. Sure, there had been some ambiguity with the nature of their relationship at first, but Ben had made his limits clear. And Mitchell, being Mitchell, had never pushed.
Of course Ben would have assumed Mitchell wanted the same things. If Mitchell didn’t agree, why didn’t he say something?
Ben cleared his throat. He wasn’t prepared to deal with feelings like this now. “I think we should both see her again. Maybe together.” He waggled his eyebrows up and down, but it felt forced. He was trying too hard to lighten the mood.
Mitchell smiled, though. “You’re just all erection all the time, aren’t you?”
Ben raised his beer. “Giving bisexuals everywhere a bad name. That’s me.”
Mitchell put his feet up on the coffee table. “You know, your sluttiness makes it really hard for people to trust us.”
A hot spike of anger rose in Ben, a swell of emotion like a pot of water boiling over.
“Hey.” His voice cracked, and he cleared his throat again. “I’ve never cheated on a partner. I’ve always been totally up front with everybody I’ve been with.” He’d gotten louder, and he tried to quiet his tone even while his heart raced. “I don’t lie, and I don’t cheat.”
Mitchell visibly softened. “Sorry. I’m sorry.” He spoke more quietly. “I forgot that was a thing with you and Viv.”
A thing? That was putting it mildly. He remembered Viv standing in the kitchen, her arms folded, looking up at him with hurt and indignation in her eyes. What do you mean, you’re bisexual? Now I have to worry about you fucking guys, too? Why didn’t you figure this out before? The implication was that she could have gotten out of it if she’d known beforehand. Standing there, looking into the eyes of a woman he’d sworn to spend his life with, knowing he was breaking her heart not because of anything he did, but because of who he was? That was an experience he wasn’t keen to repeat.
“You know she had trust issues,” he said, which was enough. He’d spilled it all out to Mitchell years ago, when Mitchell had first found him in the well of his postdivorce depression. He didn’t need to rehash it again. It had all been for the best, certainly. Viv had ended things over the fact that he was bisexual. He couldn’t be with someone who didn’t accept him for who he was, no matter what kind of history they shared.
“You’re not a cheater. None of us are.” Mitchell clinked his bottle with Ben’s like some kind of peace offering.
They drank in silence for a few minutes, with Mitchell making the contemplative faces he always made when he was chewing over a deep thought. For a man who was so reserved to so many people, every time he was with Ben, he didn’t hide his emotions. It was really nice, actually. And Ben could be himself with Mitchell, too. Mitchell didn’t ask for anything other than Ben was willing to give.
He felt the small press of guilt inside him. Mitchell didn’t ask for anything.
After a minute, Mitchell finally spit out his question, looking a little sheepish. “You really think there’s room for something between the three of us?”
Ben took a sip of his beer. “I don’t see why not.” He’d definitely heard of people having arrangements like this, even if he didn’t know any of them personally. “Let’s feel it out when we talk with her about the festival.” He glanced over at Mitchell. “You want to give me some of the details about your night with her? I could use something to jerk off to.”
Mitchell laughed, getting up off the couch. “You’re on your own there. I don’t kiss and tell.” He crossed past Ben, headed to his room.
Ben called after him, “So don’t tell about the kissing! Will you fuck and tell instead?”
Mitchell was still laughing as he shut the door to his room behind him.
Ben lay back on the couch, staring up at the popcorn ceiling in the silence of midnight. He had a lot to do this week. There were special seasonal advertisements to sign off on, batches of fall beer to check for quality, temporary workers to bring in to decant the latest brews. Instead of planning all that, though, his mind gravitated back to thoughts of Hannah…and Mitchell…and Hannah and Mitchell together. It was probably just horniness; threesome fantasies were practically required for sexual beings, and he was within reach of making that fantasy a reality.
But other aspects of the idea were appealing, too. Mitchell could use an excuse to do something other than manage the restaurant and work out. The guy had literally no social life aside from hanging out with Ben. Seeing Hannah would be good for him. And Ben was certainly intrigued by her, the way she flirted shamelessly and approached sex as enthusiastically as he did, the confidence and poise she exuded. She was fun, and she challenged him. He was always up for a challenge.
Ben closed his eyes. Sometimes, in moments like this, with the apartment silent except for the hum of the refrigerator, he felt completely alone. Mitchell was just a room away, but sometimes he felt alone with Mitchell, too. The problem with shutting down any intimacy other than friendship was that it grayed out the nuances of emotion, simplifying them down into one nebulous haze. He’d been flippant for so long. Even if he wanted to open up, he wasn’t sure how.
Fortunately, no one was asking anything else of him. All they were talking about was friendship and sex, and those were two arenas he could handle.
After getting reluctantly to his feet, Ben set his empty beer bottle in the recycling bucket and headed to bed.
Chapter Seven
Having company always made late-night shipment sorting go more smoothly, even if that company was Lori sitting at the desk typing endlessly while instrumental music echoed through the storage room. Hannah sliced open another box and sorted through the collection of lubes, bringing some up front to restock and setting the rest of them on the appropriate storage shelf. It was so damn frustrating to be moving product and still be in the red.
“Well, that’s about all the thesis work I can handle for the night.” Lori shoved her laptop away from her and spun on the desk chair, loo
king over to where Hannah was sorting through lubes. “How about you? Just about done?”
“Just one more box.” Hannah returned to her task. This final box was filled with books that she’d ordered, the newest releases that aligned with her brand. Lori followed her onto the sales floor, where she started rearranging the bookshelves to make room for her newest titles.
“Is this your holiday rush shipment?”
“Should be.” Hannah set a copy of another book about female orgasms in a prominent display place. “I’ve also got some online orders to fill.”
“How are you holding up, financially? Still above water?” Lori was always there to ask the direct questions.
Hannah winced. “Things are tight.” In truth, every month was putting her farther behind.
Lori made a thoughtful noise. “You talk to that financial adviser yet?”
“A few weeks ago.” Swallowing her pride had been the worst. “It doesn’t look great. Basically, I need some strong festival sales or holiday sales. Online is trending upward, and my marketing campaign is going well, although it’s costing me out the ass. If I can cover the debt from that marketing investment and then make it through the holidays, I should be in the clear.”
“Good.” Lori climbed up on the stool behind the counter. “I didn’t want to see you go under.” Lori was never one to mince words to make someone feel better, but she really was on Hannah’s side through all this. “Oh, and I’m glad you’re doing the festival. I know you weren’t sure before.”
Hannah nodded. “I’m sharing a booth with Ben and Mitchell.” She headed back into the storage room immediately, not lingering to possibly give something away by a look or a smile, even though Lori was totally going to get this out of her eventually. After only a moment, the door to the back room swung open and Lori came in. She leaned against the shelving unit next to the door and crossed her arms.
