by Ines Johnson
The girl’s eyebrows rose. I turned redder than the candy apple convertible she sat upon. I didn’t know what shocked me most? That this girl publicly announced that she wanted sex? That Christopher publicly announced that we’d been intimate this morning? Or that he called me his girlfriend.
Christopher pulled me into his side. He wrapped an arm around my shoulders and bussed my forehead. The girl shrugged and went to the next car and its driver.
“Stop playing footsie, Crow," Eagle shouted from across the way. “We got work to do.”
Eagle’s eyes landed on me before he ducked into the racecar. Leaning against the hood of Crow’s racecar, I saw Ellie and Hawk kissing like no one was watching. Next to Ellie and Hawk, I saw a black woman and an Asian man leaning into each other.
Christopher brought me over to them. “MK, you know Eagle, Ellie, and Hawk. This is my other brother, Owl, and his girlfriend, Shakira.”
Owl nodded, his dark eyes bright and welcoming.
Shakira looked me up and down. “I didn’t believe it when Ellie told me Crow brought a girl home. You’re nothing like I imagined.”
I wasn’t sure if I should be insulted? Shakira cocked her head to the side and continued to stare at me. She didn’t frown. It was an assessment. I tried not to take it personally that the two African-American family members didn’t take to me immediately.
“Don’t worry, she said the same thing about me a few months ago.” Ellie came around the car to join us.
“I told you then that Hawk would eat you up and spit you out,” said Shakira. “I was half right.”
The two women looked over at Hawk. Hawk winked at Shakira and blew Ellie a kiss. I looked at the two women and wondered if they shared their men. They stood together like they were friends, sisters from different mothers. The men laughed and joked like they were family. It was clear that not a single one of them shared parents.
“I know exactly what you’re thinking, sis,” said Shakira. “How are we cool if we’re sharing dicks? I felt the same way at first. I’ve been cheated on by every man I’ve ever been with.”
“So now you’re with a guy who does it in your face with your friend?” The words were out before I could take them back. Mercifully, neither girl looked upset.
“Not at first,” said Shakira. “Owl, and I broke up because I couldn’t handle it.”
“I don’t believe all men cheat,” said Ellie. “I have fidelity and freedom in my relationship with Hawk. There’s gender equality in poly relationships.”
Is that what this was? I’d heard about polyamory. Mainly from television shows on cable. It was a religious thing. Mormons in Utah. Muslims in the Middle East. Even some countries in Africa.
“You do know that the guys are all polyamourous?” Ellie asked.
“No, they’re not.” Shakira sighed as though she were talking to a child. “They’re all kinky freaks that like to fuck anything with a cunt.”
She said it with exasperation, but there was no bite to her tone. Well, not much.
“Calling them polyamorous,” Shakira continued, “implies they love and commit to all the women they fuck. Hawk loves Ellie and Owl loves me. I like fucking Hawk. Dude has a monster dick. And Eagle plays some wicked games.”
Shakira glanced over at Eagle who was behind the wheel of Crow’s car. Eagle caught her eye and licked his lips.
Owl looked between the two and chuckled. There was no jealousy in his gaze. He looked back at Shakira the same way my grandfather would gaze at my grandmother, like how Christopher looked at me the night he asked to date me.
I looked over to Christopher. He was bent under the hood beside Hawk. Another girl came over to them. Christopher smiled at her. She reached out and ran a hand down his bicep. He didn’t remove it.
He’d said he liked sexual things I might never be ready for. Polyamory, open relationships, kinky sex, these were indeed things I might never be ready for.
I looked away from Christopher and into Shakira’s watchful gaze. Her raised eyebrow said she knew this was too much for me and she was expecting me to bolt.
Ellie placed her hand on my shoulder. It was a friendly gesture. “You and Crow should talk about this,” Ellie said. “Set boundaries.”
I looked back at Christopher. He was shaking his head at the girl. She pouted and took off. He returned his attention to his engine.
“He said he wants to date me,” I said.
Ellie nodded encouragingly. “Crow’s a good guy. Funny, child-like, sometimes. Unfailingly honest all the time.”
That was good to know. But had I set any boundaries? Other than not breaking my hymen? We’d never clearly defined the boundary between his cock and other women. I hadn’t told him that I’d already set a picket fence around us in my mind. That fence was the boundary I wanted someday.
I looked at Ellie. “Is this a fling for you? With Hawk? Or is this the real deal?”
Her eyes softened. “It’s the real deal for me. It’s true love.”
I looked to Shakira. Her gaze was hard and sharp.
“That true love bullshit makes your pulse race and your heart pound,” she said. “Who wants that all the time? I’ll take trust. Trust is a warm blanket on a cold night, like a dog. It doesn’t let you down. Shit, listen to me.”
“But don’t you believe in soul mates?” I asked her. Didn’t all women? That there was one person in the world meant solely for you.
Ellie nodded enthusiastically.
Shakira shrugged. “I can see myself spending the rest of my life with Owl.”
“Hawk is my soul mate,” said Ellie. “But even though he’s my soul mate, I do enjoy having sex with other men. Not sex for sex’s sake. I need a connection with someone to have sex.”
Shakira nodded at Ellie’s words as though she agreed.
I didn’t know what to think of any of the words they were saying. These looked like two confident, well-adjusted, beautiful women. But they let their men be with other women. They themselves were with other men. I didn’t understand that.
“It’s called compersion,” said Ellie as though that was a real word.
Shakira rolled her eyes. “You got her totally in nerd mode now. Buckle in. This may take a while.”
Ellie ignored her. “Compersion is when a partner derives pleasure when the other receives sexual pleasure from another.”
I couldn’t imagine any pleasure in knowing that my boyfriend was having sex with another woman.
“Hawk has regular sex partners,” said Ellie.
“Like Mrs. Robinson.” Shakira said.
“That’s not her real name. That’s just what we call her. Mrs. Robinson likes it rough,” Ellie explained. “Neither Kira nor I like that kind of stuff. So, the guys play rough with her.”
“Don’t you get jealous?” I asked.
“I do,” said Shakira. “But that’s just my nature. Owl knows I don’t like being ignored. He gives me a lot of time and attention. And orgasms. It’s hard to be mad when you’re coming.”
“No,” Ellie said. “I don’t get jealous of Hawk having sex with other women. I get jealous of the time he spends working on his car or hanging out with the guys. That’s the type of quality time that I want with him.”
Behind us, the engines roared. I turned to see Christopher behind the wheel of his car. He caught my eye and blew me a kiss before heading off to the start line.
A girl in hot pink booty shorts walked up to us. “There are the Watchers Crew sluts.”
Shakira stepped in front of me. Her hands came to her hips in a defensive posture. “What’s the matter? Sad you’re not invited to the party?”
“Can I come to the party?” A guy came up to me. “I’d like to spread those sweet thighs.”
He reached out to touch me. Before his hand made contact, I heard bones crack.
Hawk appeared out of nowhere. He engulfed the man’s fingers in his huge paw. The man whimpered and then crumbled to the ground.
“Did you
have permission to touch that piece of tail?”
I jerked back. It was like being slapped on both sides of my face. On the left side, from the brutality of Hawk’s actions. On the right side, from the degrading words. I was not a piece of tail.
The man couldn’t answer Hawk. He sobbed as bones continued to crunch.
“In some societies,” continued Hawk, “you get your hand chopped off for touching what belongs to another man.”
“Sorry,” the man whimpered. “I’m sorry.”
“Not to me, dip shit.”
The man’s eyes rose to mine. “Sorry. I didn’t know.”
“Now, you do.” Hawk shoved the man away. “Don’t ever touch my brother’s property.”
The man scrambled off.
I opened my mouth to deny that I was anyone’s property. But the words were stifled by the truth. I wanted to belong to Christopher. I wanted to be his piece of tail. I didn’t want anyone else touching me. I didn’t want anyone else touching him. I wanted to break off the finger of that woman who had touched his bicep before.
Hawk turned to me. “You okay, Mary Katherine?” He placed his thumb on my face, tilting up my cheek to check for bruises.
I forgot to flinch. His huge hands were softer than I expected. The rage seeped out of his hazel eyes and was replaced with concern as he checked me over. It reminded me of when I’d scraped a knee as a child and one of my grandparents fussed over me.
When Hawk saw I was unharmed, he let go of my chin. “Anybody bother you, you let me know.”
He stared me down until I nodded. Then he turned and headed away.
Ellie came over and put an arm around me. “Sorry about that. Can’t say it hasn’t happened before.”
I sat in the bleachers with Ellie and Shakira. They chatted me up, asking questions about my life, appearing genuinely interested. Ellie was genuine with her interest. Shakira still had an air of distance as though she was uncertain if I’d stick around.
The racers lined up below. I assumed that a street race would take place on the streets, but this was on an actual racing freeway. Ellie explained that this race was sanctioned, and that only Christopher was racing in it because he was the best at the rules. The other guys preferred the no holds barred aspect of illegal street racing.
I felt a twinge of pride at Christopher for being the best. I also didn’t quite believe he was the straight-laced one of the bunch with the mischief always present in his eyes.
The engines revved. Just like Christopher had said, one guy revved high enough to have his tires smoke. A flag flew in the air. The lights changed from red to yellow to green. They were off.
The revving guy with the smoky tires spun out. A few cars jerked and sputtered before catching their gear. But Christopher’s car rocketed forward. He was steady with three other cars.
They kept pace for a bit after the first curve. But somewhere approaching the middle of the track, Christopher gunned it. His car took a flying leap ahead of them. There was no way another would catch him. I leapt to my feet along with the rest of the crowd as he rounded the final bend of the track and more flags flew.
Christopher sailed into the pit in a plume of gravel and smoke. The boys of his crew pulled him out of the car, hugging and clapping his back in congratulations. A few girls surrounded him too. He smiled at each in turn, laughing; offering high fives, receiving hugs that lingered.
All the while his eyes darted left and right until he found me. His grin grew ten times bigger when he spotted me standing at the edge of the crowd. He made his way towards me, weaving between more bodies that offered more congratulations.
I could have made it easier by coming to him. But something inside me thrilled at him having to bypass all those long legs, choosing to ignore all those perky breasts, for him to brush aside those small waistlines, and come to me.
When he got to me, he caught me in his arms, sweeping me off my feet as though I weighed nothing. When he put me down I was breathless.
“Did you see, princess?” His voice was childlike as though he were a little leaguer who’d scored his first run.
“Of course I saw. My heart raced the whole time.”
“I told you, it’s all in how you start off.” He pulled me back to him, molding my curves to his as easily as he’d taken his car around the track. He brought me in and kissed me like there was no one else for him in this crowd.
Chapter Sixteen
There were a lot of bodies crammed into the first floor of the Watchers’ house. All but six of them were strangers to me. Hawk barbecued out on the back patio with Owl. Eagle, Kira, and Christopher mingled with the house guests in the living room. I helped Ellie serve food to the guests from the kitchen.
She pulled lasagna from the oven, but she told me she hadn’t made it. Eagle had. I couldn’t remember my father ever being in the kitchen. I could barely remember the last time my sister’s husband sat at the dinner table with us. But the people who belonged to this house all pitched in.
Christopher kept a close eye on me. He found me every fifteen minutes or so. He’d sweep me away from the kitchen. He’d introduce me to someone new -always calling me his girlfriend. Always offering me a kiss before disappearing back into the crowd.
This could be my life. My husband, the racecar driver winning a race. Then coming home to celebrate with our friends and family. Only there wouldn’t be couples making out at the dinner table. Or grinding in the moonlight off the back patio. Or stripping in the living room.
All around the room, conversation turned to kissing, dancing became groping, and clothing became optional.
I went to refill a bowl of chips and stumbled at the sight of two girls doing a striptease for Eagle. Eagle crooked a finger at one of the girls. The one who wasn’t selected pouted but continued dancing seductively. To the other girl, the girl who had been selected, Eagle pointed at his crotch. The girl’s eyes lit up. She reached down and unzipped his pants. My mouth watered at the familiar crack of the zipper’s teeth.
“You enjoying yourself, Mary Katherine?”
I started as much at my full name on Eagle’s lips as hearing his deep voice address me while he was getting a blow job.
“Crow says you have very sensitive breasts.” He dug his fingers into the girl’s scalp and yanked. A moan of protest dripped off her glistening lips.
Eagle’s eyes took a long route down the V of my dress. I couldn’t look away from the girl’s tongue as she tried to get back at his cock. She completely ignored my timid gaze. The only audience she was interested in was Eagle.
“You should let me check that out sometimes.” He rotated his hips, pushing his cock deep down the girl’s throat. She squealed with delight. I saw her eyes close and her expression shift to total concentration before her hair fell into her face. She didn’t swipe it out of the way.
“She’s not into you.” Kira came up behind me.
“Everyone’s into me,” Eagle said. His eyes held me in place as he thrust into the girl’s eager mouth.
“Keep thinking that, asshole.”
Eagle grinned. “I’ll get into that asshole later.”
“If you’re lucky.” Kira shoved her middle finger in his face.
With the girl still attached to his cock, Eagle lunged forward with his teeth. But missed as Kira hopped back. He settled back into the chair, undulating his hips into the girl’s face.
It was the hunger in Kira’s eyes that brought me back to reality. Despite Kira’s tough talk, I knew she loved Owl. And Owl’s feelings for her couldn’t be any clearer. I reminded myself that no one in this household considered sharing cheating. Even though Kira flipped Eagle off there had been a spark -no, a firework- of desire in her eyes.
I looked away from their flirtation to find Christopher. He stood before a girl that was unbuttoning her shirt. He looked down at her breasts and grinned like a kid who’d seen a long lost toy. Then he reached out and touched her breasts. His head canted to the side as though conside
ring.
My stomach dropped.
His eyes looked up, searching the room until he found me. “Hey MK, you gotta come see this.” He waved me over to the bare-chested woman.
Eagle watched me through heavy-lidded eyes as the girl on her knees continued to suck him off.
“You sure you want to be here, MK?” said Kira. I turned back to her. Her guard was down. Her eyes searched mine. “You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do. You need to say exactly what you want. No one will think less of you if this isn’t your thing, sis. But you’ll regret it if you do something you don’t believe in or something you’re not ready for.”
She took the bag of chips out of my hands and went to refill the various bowls around the living room.
A hand came to my arm. “MK, come see,” said Christopher. “She has a rosary tattoo, like your necklace. It’s so cool.”
I looked up at Christopher. There was excitement in his eyes at this new thing he wanted to tell me about, to share with me. It was just that the new thing was a woman’s bare breasts.
Why couldn’t it be a new book or a piece of artwork? The girl came over, her breasts on display. The ink on her chest was a piece of art.
Christopher reached out and lifted her left boob. “It’s pretty, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, that’s lovely,” I stammered. “You know, I’m a little tired. I’m thinking about heading home.”
“Oh, no no no,” he protested like a child being told his family was leaving the amusement park early. “Come upstairs and lay down in my bed for a while. I’ll stay with you if you like?”
“But it’s your party. I can’t take you away from your guests.”
“You’re the only guest I want to be with.” He put his arm around my shoulder, pulling me into his side.
I often wrote the cliché about how the heroine fit perfectly into her hero. Her head into the nook of his chest. Her lips slanted against his. Her hand in his.
I never expected to fit in the cradle of someone’s body. Christopher was tall and slim. I was of average height and overweight. But somehow my size-twelve hips fit perfectly into his slim waist. Locked into place at our hips, his arm wrapped tightly around my shoulder, we wove our way through the living room.
