Chapter 19: Auld Lang Syne l

-- THURSDAY, DECEMBER 27, 2007 --

Moist.

It's still a strange, funny-sounding word. Warm, inviting, and wet. Not soaked or anything, but ... moist.

Tight.

Intimately close. Enveloping. Comfortably snug. Like a warm hug. Hehe ... that rhymes.

Weight.

Pressure. Force. Gravity. And then lightness. But still tight. And then the weight returned. More pressure. More force. Moist and tight. And then lightness once more. Rhythmic. Weight. Light. Weight. Light.

Moans.

Grunts. Whimpers. Weight. Light. Weight. Light. Up. Down. Tight. Snug. Moans. Moist. Moans.

"Nnnnghhh..."

"Mmmmm..."

"Ahhhhhh..."

"Ohhhhhh..."

Pressure. Release. Tight. Clenching. Pleasure. Moans. Force. Snug. Weight. Light. Up. Down. Pleasure. Pressure. Grinding. Groaning. Moaning. Moans.

Up. Down.

Up. Down.

In. Out.

Tight. So tight.

Moans.

Pleasure.

Whimpers.

Wet.

Up-down. Up-down.

Faster. Faster.

Clenching. Squeezing. Gripping. Humping.

Fucking. Fucking. Fucking. FUCKING.

"I'm cumming! I'm cumming!"

Gripping. Holding.

"OOOOHHHHWWWWAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!"

"OOOOHHHHWWWWAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!"

Moist. Clenching. Warmth. Weight. Moans. Pleasure. Pressure. PLEASURE!

My eyes snapped open, illumination blinding me even though there wasn't even a lamp on in my bedroom.

"OOOOHHHHWWWWAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!"

"OOOOHHHHWWWWAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!"

Completely naked and backlit by morning light against the window's white inner drapes, Eden's spectacular body glowed as if she were an angel descended from heaven. Her dark hair, long and shimmery, hung forward so that the tips brushed against my face ever so briefly before almost violently swinging upward away from me. My baby sister tossed her head, sending those curtains of hair flying up and over her head before cascading against her back. She howled her climactic release to the ceiling, loud enough to wake the house. She squeezed her own big breasts in her hands, thumbs and forefingers pinching the nipples as every muscle along her torso from the throat down was drawn taut. And there was no mistaking the spastic, erratic spasming of her milkmaid muscles doing their best to ... well... milk the sperm out of my imbedded cock and into her womb.

But I didn't erupt, not yet. Eden had come damn close to making me cum in my sleep, but not quite. Reaching her own orgasmic peak first, she'd stopped her up and down motions just in time, and I gripped her hips in my hands, just trying to hold on as she bucked and thrashed for what felt like a full minute until the ecstasy passed and she sagged to a stop.

"Nnnghhh..." a second voice moaned from next to us. Rolled up on her side, Emma stared at me, glassy-eyed, still wearing her sleep shirt but with it partially bunched up around her neck so she could fondle her own breasts with one hand while her other hand was in her crotch making her fingers disappear.

I'd woken up horny as hell and on the brink of ejaculation, but with Eden having reached her completion and Emma still obviously in need, I was quick to topple one twin off me and roll over atop the other.

Unfortunately, I toppled Eden off me a little too hard. The twins' bedroom only had a queen-size and the daybed, and the queen was a little tight for all three of us. Eden yelped as she bounced off the edge of the bed and onto the floor. But by then I had already split Emma's thighs apart, nudged my raging erection into her folds, and slammed my way inside.

I didn't last very long, but that was okay because Emma was primed as well. I bunched the rest of her shirt up around her neck so I could feast on first one and then the other breast. But I couldn't suck on her tits and fuck her hard at the same time, so I moved a little higher to nibble on her neck and finally sear my lips across hers. Pinning her hips down with my hands to keep her body in place, I fucked my baby sister hard and I fucked my baby sister fast. There was no skill, no particular technique. I simply hammered the hell out of her with my morning wood and drove us both up the proverbial wall until I slammed forward one final time and began blasting her inner walls with what felt like a gallon of fire-hose guided sperm.

"Aarrrrggghhh!!!" I grunted.

Emma's beautiful brown almond eyes flickered with inner lights as she felt my jizz splatter against her insides. She smiled beatifically for a moment before her mouth gaped open into a silent scream. But her back arched beneath me, thrusting her naked tits into my chest. Her welcoming pussy began to clamp down around my cock, her milkmaid muscles milking me for every last drop. And the silent scream was no longer silent as her own orgasmic cry belatedly tore out of her throat.

"OOOOHHHHWWWWAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!"

And then I collapsed, crushing my baby sister beneath my heavy dead weight. Groaning from orgasmic relief, my mind still spinning from the mental surprise of awakening to find Eden climaxing on my cock, I panted for breath and let my mind gradually slow down to let sentient awareness replace the mental whiteout of ejaculatory bliss.

When my conscious mind became fully aware, I found that Emma was nuzzling and kissing my neck while she held my heavy body down on hers with all four limbs. Her hands roamed along my back and shoulders, as if she were searching for my erogenous zones and trigger spots. And when she found one, she caused me to thrust involuntarily a little deeper into her.

My baby sister chuckled before murmuring softly into my ear, "I love you, big brother. I still can't believe you're inside me. I still can't believe this is finally happening."

"Believe it," I mumbled back. Cognizant of my weight, I tried to do a push-up, but Emma grabbed me around my waist and kept me on top of her.

"Hang on sec. I want to stare at it a bit."

"Stare at what?" I'd raised my chest, but she was looking down at my belly.

"Pull up a bit, but don't pull out."

I arched an eyebrow questioningly but did as she asked, withdrawing halfway but leaving the rest of my dick inside.

Emma grinned at the sight of our bodies joined together, gawking at the sight of my thick column of glistening cock meat still splitting her pussy wide open. She even covered her gaping mouth with one hand.

"I still can't believe this is real. I still can't believe this is happening." Emma glanced up at me, her doe-eyed expression bewitching. "I can't believe your sperm is squishing deep inside me."

I smiled. "Well it's really happening, but I can't stay in this position forever." I started to pull the rest of the way out, but she grabbed my waist again.

"I don't want you to go," Emma whimpered. "Can't we stay in the room all day and do this over and over and over?"

I chuckled. "Patience, sweetie, patience. I'll be back soon enough."

Eden, standing beside the bed, suddenly bent over the mattress beside us with her arms folded underneath her chin so that our heads were at the same level. "You knocked me off the bed," she complained.

I gave her a sheepish look. "Sorry 'bout that."

Eden shook her head. "I don't wanna hear 'I'm sorry'. I think you need to make it up to me. How about ... you pull out so I can slurp the creampie out of my sister's pussy? Then we'll give you a dual blowjob to get you hard, and then we all go outside and see how many rooms of this house we can have sex in?"

I blinked in surprise. "Outside?"

Eden rolled her eyes. "What? The only other people in the house are Dawn, DJ, and Brooke. You think any of THEM are gonna care if they see us fucking?"

"They might want to join in," Emma pointed out. "Which means less Ben-dick for you."

Eden made a face, the same face she got whenever she accidentally ate a black licorice jelly bean as a kid. "Fine, new plan: The three of us stay here, and we see how many surfaces of this bedroom we can have sex on. We've got two beds, the desk, the vanity, the dresser..."

Laughing, I shook my head and said, "I really CAN'T stay all day. I have to go pick up Adrienne and Sasha from the airport this afternoon."

Eden snorted. "Adrienne suddenly can't afford a limo pickup?"

I leveled Eden with a look.

"Whatever. That's this afternoon. We've got a LOT of time until then."

Having flown with Adrienne before, I knew better than to linger with the other commoners in the crowd next to baggage claim. Adrienne's VIP service meant that she'd have an escort from the arrival gate to collect her bags and exit the terminal through a more private door. On certain occasions, she could even exit through a private terminal, but those weren't her arrangements for today. So it was at the private door that I waited, away from prying eyes, my heart thumping in my chest from both excitement and anxiety for their imminent arrival.

How would they react when they finally saw me again? Would they be happy and smile? Would they feel awkward and reserved? Would they be horny and try to mount me right then and there? I really didn't know.

I hadn't seen either of them in more than a week, not since dropping them off at this same airport for their impromptu trip to Hawaii. Our parting had been cordial, and quite friendly, even. The moment never felt like "goodbye", but merely a "see you when you get back". And the amicable nature of it had given me a sense of hope that things between the three of us just might work out alright in the end.

Adrienne had been the only one really torn about the trip. Sasha had been nothing but excited to explore their budding romantic relationship, to bring feelings she'd long felt out into the open without the veneer of being co-girlfriends to me. I had been resigned, not really wanting to lose them, and all things being equal I'd rather they stick around for the Lake Tahoe trip and be home for Christmas. But I valued their happiness over my selfishness. Besides, I had been the one to initiate our "break-up", certain it was best for everyone, and I believed that their spontaneous vacation would give us all a little space and time to sort out our feelings for each other. It was ... easier ... this way. Only Adrienne both did and didn't want to go, but we'd all realized she needed the time and space away from me to fix her head.

Eight days had passed, and though the two of them were no strangers to jetting off without me to some exotic destination for one modeling shoot or another, this was the first time they'd done so without any business purposes, only pleasure. And I was curious as to how different their return would be.

One major difference was my presence at this private door. Adrienne certainly could afford limo service, and she'd made arrangements for one to bring her home today. But I'd called the limo company and cancelled her pickup, stressing the need to keep it a secret from her. The limo company was only too happy to accommodate such a request from the famous supermodel's fiancé who wanted to surprise her. Initially, I thought about wearing a suit, donning a cap, and hiding my face behind sunglasses to better surprise them. But in the end I figured my presence behind the door would be surprise enough, and a happy surprise at that.

At least, I hoped it would be a happy surprise. What if the girls walked through the door, expecting to have another thirty minutes or so to compose themselves before seeing me again? What if they were dismayed by my presence, and would have rather not seen me just yet? What if--?

Seriously, dude, grow a pair.

I know, I know.

I mean it ... You're here. They're coming. And nothing short of freaking out, driving away, and hastily attempting to get another limo driver here in the next two minutes is gonna change a damn thing. Sack up already.

I am, I am.

The die is cast. Let the chips fall where they may.

I get it already. How many more metaphors have you got?

A lot more where those came from.

I sighed, shook my head to clear it, and took a deep breath.

The door in front of me opened, and I stood up from the bench across the hall. The airline escort was the first one through, pushing a trolley that held the girls' luggage. And after him...

"Ben!" Adrienne screeched excitedly. She burst through the door, accidentally bumping her escort hard enough to knock the guy a little off balance.

I was only ten feet away, but she was picking up speed at a rapid clip. I had my arms open for a hug, but I realized how much momentum she'd built up and instinctively took a step back for balance, bracing for impact. She launched herself into the air, tackling me around my shoulders. I caught her and spun with the collision, straining with all my strength and balance to neither fall nor drop her onto the floor. Somehow, I managed to do it, and I set her down on her feet with us facing the opposite direction while she snaked her arms around my neck and yanked my face to hers for a nuclear kiss.

The moment was perfect. Relief coursed through both of us, eight days' worth of stress having melted off our shoulders in an instant. I was here to surprise her. She was thrilled to see me. My anxiety had been for nothing, because all that mattered were my Adrienne's lips pressed up against mine.

The first flash went off. Then a second. Then a third and fourth and fifth.

I flinched at the unexpected brightness and held a hand up between me and the unwanted illumination as the flashes went off again and again. Past my extended hand, I realized there were two paparazzi photographers there, getting their scoop for the day.

Maybe you shoulda dressed up as a limo driver. It seems likely they recognized you and followed you here.

Maybe the limo company tipped them off in the first place. You ever think of that?

Huh ... could be.

See, you're not always smarter than me.

You're the dumb shit arguing about who's smarter with your own voice in your head.

A moment later, Adrienne slid her fingers through mine and pulled down the hand I was using to shield us from the photographers. Flashing them a winning smile, she puckered up and gave me a full-on nuclear kiss again, this time putting on a show for our unexpected audience. But twenty seconds after that, she pulled back from our kiss and turned to face the paparazzi.

"Good enough? You got your pics? Now will you please let my fiancé drive us home in peace?"

"Sure thing, Adrienne," the first photographer replied with a grin. "Thanks for being cool about it."

"Thank you," she replied with another winning smile. The second photographer quickly snapped off a shot of that.

Rolling my eyes, I focused on my ex-fiancée and asked, "You miss me?"

"You have no idea. Feels like it's been ages since we last saw each other, even though it's only been eight days."

I nodded. "A lot has happened in the last eight days."

"You'll have to tell me all about it. Just ... not here." Adrienne glanced to her left and sure enough, the two photographers were still standing there with their eyes to their viewfinders, waiting for the right moment.

Shaking my head, I got the attention of the airline escort and gestured. "Hey man. I'm parked that way."

He nodded, already knowing the way, and started walking. Sasha shook her head with a smirk and gave me a warm hug from the side with one arm. She also leaned in and pecked my cheek, and from behind us I saw the strobe of another camera flash. But at least there wasn't another firestorm of flashes.

Sasha then walked ahead of us, following after the airline escort and her luggage. Adrienne slipped her arm around my waist while I draped my arm over her shoulders. I couldn't wait to get home.

A building bellhop removed the last suitcase from his cart and headed for the front door of our apartment. Adrienne handed him a tip and blew him an air kiss before he left.

Sasha and I each sat on one of the living room couches, and as Adrienne approached I looked up and asked, "How are you feeling?"

"Tired. Horny. Maybe even a little jet-lagged," she replied while dropping onto Sasha's couch beside her girlfriend and snuggling up alongside her.

Sasha snorted as she glanced back at Adrienne. "Jet lag? Hawaii is only two hours behind. It's not like we just flew in from Paris."

"Whatever. Even if you take out the jet lag, I'm still tired and horny."

"The tired I can't help you with," Sasha began, glancing over at me before returning her attention to Adrienne. "And the horny part ... we talked about this."

Adrienne gave me a glum look before sighing at Sasha. "I know, I know. It was MY idea, remember?"

"An idea I agreed with, although I'll admit, it's a lot harder to stick with now that we're in the same room with him again." Sasha glanced over at me again, this time with a bit of an aroused sizzle in her eyes. "Great, now you've got ME horny, too."

"You want to end the moratorium now?" Adrienne asked, almost hopefully.

"Is that what you really want?" Sasha's eyebrows rose.

Looking torn again, Adrienne gave me one more look before taking a deep breath and closing her eyes. Wrapping her arms around Sasha, she squeezed her girlfriend tightly and took several more deep breaths. And when she opened her eyes again, that golden glow of arousal that had been in her irises before now dimmed. "No, not yet. As much as I want to go over there and fuck his brains out, it's too soon for me to give in to temptation. We JUST got home, and I'm not going to fall apart the very first time we're within ten feet of his penis."

"You know it's not a really big deal to me, right?" Sasha murmured softly. "Fucking him won't make me think you love me any less."

"It'll make ME think I love you less. He's the piece of Swiss chocolate when I'm on a juice cleanse. Fuck, he's the In-N-Out double-double when I'm on a juice cleanse," Adrienne sighed. "I can do this. It's important to me. I LOVE you, Sasha."

The brunette practically melted. "I love you, too." The two of them came together for a sweet kiss, and for a moment I started thinking about how to make my exit from the room to give them some privacy.

"That said," Adrienne began, once they came up for some air. "I'd be okay with YOU going over there and getting some relief. Really, I'd love to watch."

"No, no." Sasha shook her head. "If you're not, I'm not. Besides, I'm not so cruel as to go out of my way to eat a double-double right in front of you, whimpering orgasmically with every bite."

Adrienne laughed. "Thank you for that."

"Don't -I- get a say in this?" I asked out of the blue.

The girls laughed, and Sasha shrugged. "Sorry, Ben. Not our intention to treat you like a piece of meat."

"Two pieces of meat," I corrected, "along with American cheese, fresh veggies, spread, and grilled onions. But that's not the point."

The girls laughed again. Adrienne sat up, saying, "I'm sorry. Are we getting you horny with no hope of relief?"

"Well you're making me kinda hungry," I replied with a chuckle, waving her off. "As for horny, don't worry about it. The twins wore me out plenty this morning already."

"Oh, that's RIGHT." Adrienne sat up excitedly. "How'd it go yesterday?"

"Great, great," I replied with a shrug. "But that's all you're gonna get out of me. You want details, you'll have to go through channels."

"Kim?" Sasha wondered.

"Dawn," Adrienne suggested.

"No, Brooke," Sasha concluded triumphantly, and Adrienne nodded her agreement.

I rolled my eyes. "Putting the sex stuff aside, how was your trip?"

Sasha practically swooned into the corner of the couch. "Absolutely amazing."

Adrienne snuggled up alongside her girlfriend. "Really, it was amazing," she agreed.

I smiled. "Tell me all about it."

While the daytime view of San Francisco Bay from our 35th-floor apartment was pretty spectacular, the nighttime view was even better. From our vantage point, we could see the 80 freeway far below, AT&T Park to the south, and the lit-up Bay Bridge to the north. But it didn't matter much as I wasn't really looking at the view anyway. My thoughts were inward, selfishly pointed straight at my own life. And my thoughts were also outward, toward the master bedroom and the two young women asleep within.

At least, I assumed they were asleep. Their orgasmic cries of ecstasy had died out several minutes ago, and I hadn't heard any muffled sounds come from that direction since. It seemed likely that their libidos had finally been satisfied, and I could picture in my mind's eye the two of them intertwining their naked bodies together as they drifted off to Dreamland.

My own libido had already been satisfied tonight. After putting BJ to bed, Kim had joined me in my bedroom to make our own orgasmic cries of ecstasy. Our lovemaking had been relatively sedate and calm. There were no barked commands or orders to get into any particular positions. No cries of 'Master' or 'slave'. My baby mama and I had made love, achieved the release of climax, and cuddled together in the aftermath.

Kim looked like she was waiting for me to fall asleep, resting her head on my chest while I stared at the ceiling. But when it became evident that I still had things on my mind, I'd told her I was getting up and that she could either wait for my return or go back to her own bed. At first, she insisted that she was here to talk to me and help me sort things out, guessing correctly that my restlessness was due to Adrienne and Sasha's return. But I told her I wanted to think alone for a bit, and ultimately I didn't even have to resort to commands in order for her to let me go.

No, I went and asked her a stupid question, and she got up and left the room on her own.

So I'd gotten up and gone outside. And I was still standing at the window when a voice came out of the darkness.

"Heyyy ... Surprised to see you up this late," Sasha said quietly as she walked behind me on her way to the kitchen.

I glanced back over my shoulder and asked, "Me? What are you doing up this late? From the sounds you two were making, I figured you'd both be passed out from exhaustion."

Sasha giggled lightly as she flicked on the kitchen light, opened a cabinet, and withdrew a tall empty glass. While filling it with water from the filtered faucet, she explained, "I'm still on 'island time', two hours behind; it doesn't feel that late to me. And besides, from college studying to stripping at Nocturne to all those nights with A.D., I'm used to keeping late hours."

I nodded and went back to staring out the window, figuring she'd drink her glass of water and then return to her girlfriend.

But instead, Sasha came around to me. Her glass was still half-full when she set it down on the coffee table, and with the kitchen light on, I saw her reflection in the window glass as she approached me from behind. I thought she might stand alongside me to take in the view, but she surprised me by slipping her arms around me from behind, wrapping them around my belly and setting her cheek down on my shoulder.

Glancing down, I patted her arms against my midsection and glanced back at her. She looked up at me with large, luminous brown eyes that seemed to glow in the darkness, and automatically I tilted my face toward hers.

She raised her chin and puckered up, meeting my lips and closing her eyes as she gave herself over to the kiss. Her arms tightened around my torso, hugging me firmly as her mouth opened to let my tongue in. She inhaled sharply as the passion built, finally releasing her arms to let me twist in her grasp. And once we were face-to-face, she hooked her arms beneath my armpits and grabbed onto my shoulders to tug my chest down against hers while deepening our kiss.

Libido satisfied or not, it was clear we were both horny for more. But just when the kiss started to get out of hand, I tore myself away.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Sasha stammered immediately, squinting her eyes shut, grimacing, and raising both hands out defensively.

I shook my head and looked back at her, but maintained my distance two feet away. "No, I'm sorry. I kissed you first. Old habits..."

"I invited you to." She blushed and muttered, "Old habits..."

I sighed. "You're not my girlfriend anymore. I shouldn't presume."

"And whose fault is that? I didn't ask you to break up with me, to break up with us."

I exhaled slowly and gave her a frank look. "All three of us have been over this. It's the way it has to be."

"So what, I can't kiss you anymore?"

I winced. "I'm not saying you can't. We're still friends, even friends with benefits, whenever you and Adrienne decide the time is right. I won't deny you, but we've talked about this."

"You and Adrienne did a lot of 'talking' about this. Me? Not so much."

I frowned. "What are you implying? That you didn't have a say in this?"

Closing her eyes and grimacing again, Sasha raised a defensive hand again. "I'm not trying to imply anything. Adrienne and I certainly talked with each other about this a lot. But you and me ... I..." Her voice trailed off as she sighed. "This whole thing just sucks, you know? We were happy together, weren't we? The three of us? From our last year of college until less than two weeks ago, weren't we all happy?"

I nodded. "We were."

"Then why did you have to go blow it all up?"

I sighed. "I wasn't trying to blow it all up."

"But you certainly DID."

I took a deep breath and turned away from her, staring back out the window. "My quote 'fiancée', the woman engaged to marry me, loves somebody else more than me. What was I supposed to do? Just go through the motions and let myself get strung along?"

"Adrienne would never just 'string you along'. She loves you more than anyone in the world. She actually DOES love you more than me, don't you know that? It's just that ... well..."

"She loves me like a brother, like her 'rock'. She always has, always will."

"You say that like it's a bad thing."

"She didn't want to love me as a 'wife'."

"Yes she DID. Adrienne wanted to MARRY you, and don't you dare try to say otherwise."

"Of course I say otherwise. I asked her if she was ready to pick a date, pick a venue, start designing invitations, and all that other stuff. I asked if she was ready to discuss baby names, source preschools, and become the mother of my children. And instead of saying 'yes', she up and ran away."

"You put pressure on her. Gave her an ultimatum. Haven't you figured out by now how Adrienne reacts to commitment pressure?"

I shrugged. "I asked the woman who was supposed to marry me if she was really ready to marry me, and she ran away. If she couldn't take the pressure, that was answer enough. She wasn't ready."

Sasha furrowed her eyebrows and shook her head. "No, she wasn't ready... yet. And she thought you'd simply wait for her. She never realized you'd break up with her for that."

"I didn't break up with her. I set her free."

"You broke her heart."

"I chose not to trap her into a commitment she couldn't handle. I gave her to you."

"And I'm thrilled you gave us the green light to be together. But that didn't HAVE to mean breaking up with us."

"What? You'd rather we stayed together as a threesome, only you and her as the primary couple and me as the third wheel?"

Sasha gave me a plaintive look. "Would that have really been so bad?"

I shook my head. "The heart always has a hard time going backwards. Whether it's from 'boyfriend' down to 'just friends', or 'fiancé' down to just 'boyfriend', it's hard."

"But not impossible. You've done it before. You could've done it again. For her. For ... For me."

There was genuine pain in Sasha's voice, and it made me turn back to her. There was moisture on her cheeks and she hugged herself while staring down at the city below. Only then did I remember that Sasha herself had gone backwards: from my only girlfriend, to sharing me with Adrienne, and finally to becoming the secondary girlfriend after Adrienne and I got engaged. She looked so sad that I stepped over to her, wrapping my ex-girlfriend up in a hug. "I'm sorry," I murmured quietly. "I never meant to hurt you."

Sasha shuddered in my grasp but made no move to escape. After a few moments, she burrowed against me even tighter. But she started crying more openly after I kissed the top of her head.

"I'm sorry," I repeated in the same quiet tone. "I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry I never loved you the way you wanted me to," she sobbed, her voice cracking. "I wanted to. You have no idea how much I wanted to. I just couldn't figure out how."

"It's okay. You don't have to apologize," I murmured while stroking her hair with one hand and stroking her spine with the other.

But she quivered and repeated, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I owe you so much. You brought me out of my shell in college. You helped me discover the real 'me'. You gave me friends and family I could depend on. Without you I'd have been all alone. And you deserved better from me than I ever gave you."

"What are you talking about? I never expected, and certainly never 'deserved' anything more than you were able to give."

"You deserved all of me, I owed you that much. And yet I couldn't. I didn't know how. I wanted to love you the way you deserved. I wanted to be the girlfriend you deserved. But I never could. I didn't know what was wrong with me."

"There's nothing wrong with you."

"I never loved you the way I..." She took a deep breath and sniffled. "The way I love ... her ... The way I love Adrienne."

I smiled and stroked her hair. "I know that. And there's nothing wrong with that."

"Am I a lesbian? Is that why I could never truly love you? Because you have a penis and not a pussy?"

I chuckled lightly. "I don't think it's about labels. I think it's more that you love who you really love, and you happen to love Adrienne. I've watched it happen, watched your feelings for her grow. Not because she has a pussy and I don't, but because she's HER and I'm not. It's ... Let me put it this way: you're me, Adrienne is you, and I'm ... I'm Andie. I'm the third wheel that gets left out. It's sad, but it's nobody's fault. It's just ... The heart feels the way the heart feels. And I don't blame you for your choice. Adrienne is incredible, and I'm ... I'm just me."

Sasha pulled her head back far enough to look up at me. "Don't try to sell yourself short now. You're pretty incredible yourself."

I sighed. "I don't feel particularly incredible. In fact, I rather feel like damaged goods. The truth is: nobody wants me."

"What are you talking about? Everybody wants you! Everybody loves you!"

"But nobody wants to keep me. First Brandi broke things off with me so she could find a real relationship, and if things keep moving this fast with Jared, she'll be married before the New Year. Then Dayna decided things were getting a little too real for her, and she puts me in my place by explaining that we'll never be more than fuck-buddies. Adrienne ran away from me and we broke our engagement. You just said you never loved me the way you love her. DJ's moved on from her childhood fantasies about being with me. And Dawn insists that we'll forever be 'best friends'."

Sasha blinked. "At least you know Kim and BJ will be with you forever."

I snorted, thinking back to my stupid question. "Yeah, well, literally less than thirty minutes ago, I started thinking these thoughts and asked her if she wanted to marry me. Now, I made it clear that I wasn't proposing, and made it clear that I wasn't trying to put any pressure on her. All I wanted was to know if marrying me was one of her long-term goals, or hopes, or even dreams. Hell, she already calls me 'shujin'."

Sasha frowned. "She turned you down?"

I sighed. "She said flat out, 'No. Never. And don't ever ask me again.' And then she walked out of the room."

Sasha's eyebrows popped. "Pretty unequivocal."

"You think?"

Sasha unhooked her hands from my shoulders and hugged herself against my chest instead. Squeezing me tight with her head turned off to the side, she murmured, "I do still love you. You know that, right?"

"There's 'a' love there, but not love-love. And to be honest, I think there's a lot of guilt, gratefulness, and a sense of obligation in there as well."

Sasha sighed. "You're probably right."

"I'd never want you to feel 'obligated' to be with me."

"Be that as it may, I'd still rather you were my boyfriend instead of ... well... whatever we are right now. I still wish you'd never broken up with us. If nothing else, all this sex with Adrienne has been really great, but I miss Big Ben and I wish I could mount you right here on the floor." She emphasized her words by rubbing her belly against my crotch.

"I'm sorry," I replied simply, leaving it at that.

"We missed you on the Hawaii trip."

"I missed you on the Lake Tahoe trip."

"That's not what Brooke said. Kenzie Campbell? Some wild and crazy nine-person orgy? Giving the Assfuckxiation to Nick's girlfriend had to be particularly gratifying."

I chuckled and rubbed Sasha's back. "Well actually--"

"Don't even try to claim you'd rather have been alone with just me and Adrienne instead of all that."

"Wasn't going to," I insisted. "I was going to say I'd rather you two had been there so we could've made it an eleven-person orgy."

Sasha sighed and snuggled against my chest again. But after a few more seconds of silence, she released her grip. So I released mine, and she took a step back away from me.

"Thank you for letting us take that trip. I'm being selfish about it, but I appreciate you letting me be alone with Adrienne the way you have. I still wish you were our boyfriend. I still wish we could have made this work as a threesome, but I understand how that would have been hard for you to do. I understand why you chose to step away instead. Fact is: if faced with the choice of having Adrienne to myself or sharing her with you but being a decided third wheel while she makes you her priority instead of me ... I'd choose having her to myself. It would have been a difficult decision, but you made it for me. You gave her to me, and I got to spend a weeklong romantic holiday with the person I love more than anyone else in the universe, this time with HER feeling exactly the same way. So thank you."

"You're welcome."

Sasha kissed me again, and I returned it for a moment before pulling back, assuming she was just giving me a kiss of thanks. But she held onto me, crushing her chest against mine as her kiss deepened and she probed my lips with her tongue.

So I opened up and let her in. I let her passion fill my senses and circled my arms even tighter around her body. I heard her keening moan of arousal deep in her throat, and the way she rubbed her belly against my bulge began stirring Li'l Ben back to life.

But just when the kiss started to get out of hand, she tore away. I let her go, let her step out of my arms and turn her back to me. There were no verbal apologies from either of us, and none were required. She just needed a moment to compose herself, and after she did so, Sasha turned to face me again.

"Someday ... someday soon ... Adrienne and I will be ready to bring that part of our sexuality back into our relationship. We'll be ready to bring back you."

I chuckled and arched an eyebrow. "Don't -I- get a say in this?"

Sasha laughed and stepped forward, patting my bulge. "No," she replied with a lopsided smirk. "No you don't."

"Okay that's fine. Just thought I'd ask," I replied flippantly.

With one last warm smile, Sasha turned away from me. Grabbing her water glass off the table, she chugged its remaining contents and then headed back into the kitchen. Setting the empty glass down beside the sink, she flipped off the kitchen light to plunge the room back into darkness. And then without looking back, she returned to the master bedroom and her sleeping girlfriend within.

Taking a deep breath, I let out a long exhalation as I turned back to the window. Big Ben was still thick in my pajama pants, stirred to life by Sasha's last pat.

She really left us alone? Great. Now what?

Settle down. You've gotten laid plenty of times today.

But I want one morrrre.

What, you want to masturbate?

Fuck that. We don't masturbate. Go downstairs and wake Dayna up. Command Kim to service you. Ooh, drive across the bay back to Berkeley. There's a whole HOUSE full of girls who'd love to--

Goodnight, now.

What? I'm the fucking voice in your head! You can't say 'goodnight' to me and expect me to just shut up. I'll keep you awake all night standing here staring out the window if I fucking have to. I'll--

Goodnight.

Taking a deep breath, I exhaled it slowly, deliberately, mentally counting from one to five. Taking another deep breath, I did it again, also counting to five. After the third exhalation, I let the mental number of '5' hang there in the air in front of me. And then I went silent, waiting, listening for a fresh complaint.

There wasn't any. I even counted to five again.

Smiling to myself, I turned and headed back to my bedroom. While it didn't feel like I'd had the greatest ever day, when I stopped to think about it, I realized I'd been awakened to find Eden riding me and rolled over to spurt into Emma. I'd spent the rest of the morning fucking the twins' brains out all over their bedroom, and after lunch I'd had a fantastic foursome with Dawn, DJ, and Brooke. I'd surprised Adrienne and Sasha at the airport by picking them up and found them quite happy to see me. Though the three of us wouldn't be resuming our sexual relationships just yet, Sasha promised that would happen someday soon. Tonight I'd even had time to be intimate with Kim, and although she'd put a final kibosh on any future marriage, at least we both knew where she stood on the matter. Finally, it felt like Sasha and I had found a bit of closure, and come to an understanding and acceptance of the way our relationship had ended. I, at least, felt better about my relationship with her now than I had before we'd talked.

So really, I'd had a pretty good day. And who knew what tomorrow would bring?

-- FRIDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2007 --

Moist.

It's still a strange, funny-sounding word. Warm, inviting, and wet. Not soaked or anything, but ... moist.

And Tight.

And Weight.

And Pressure.

Moans.

And Grunts.

And Whimpers.

And more moans.

"Nnnnghhh..."

"Mmmmm..."

"Ahhhhhh..."

"Ohhhhhh..."

Up. Down.

Up. Down.

In. Out.

Tight. So tight.

Up-down. Up-down.

Faster. Faster.

Clenching. Squeezing.

Fucking. Fucking.

Fucking. FUCKING.

"I'm cumming! I'm cumming!"

Gripping. Holding.

"OOOOHHHHWWWWAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!"

"Surprise!!!"

My eyes snapped open, illumination blinding me even though there wasn't even a lamp on in my bedroom.

"OOOOHHHHWWWWAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!"

This time it was Emma cumming on top of my cock, my first clue to her identity the way she'd gathered her long dark hair into a single French braid that hung down in front of her right shoulder. Eden sat up behind her, fondling her twin sister's perfect tits and reaching down to rub her little sister's budding clit.

"Wha--?" I muttered in surprise, eyelids half-shut and not ready to fully rise. "What are you--?"

"Surprise!!!" Eden repeated, giggling merrily. Emma's head was lolling around side to side as she gasped and panted in the aftermath of her orgasm. "We figured you snuck into our room and woke us up super-early, so now it's OUR turn!"

"Wha--? How did you even--?"

"Well you said we could come visit whenever we want," Eden interrupted with a giggle.

"What time is it?" I tried to crane my head over to the clock on the nightstand, but from the illumination lighting up my drapes it couldn't have been THAT early.

"It's twin-fucking time, that's what time it is!" she declared.

"Jeez, girls. I've got a date with Kenzie tonight."

"Whatever," Eden drawled. "That's tonight. We've got a LOT of time until then."

The twins plumb wore me out that morning, but they called off the assault before noon and joined me, Kim, and BJ for lunch. After the meal, they stuck around for half an hour to play with my kid before kissing me goodbye and heading home. I reminded them I might have company overnight so that they wouldn't pull the same stunt again tomorrow morning, and Eden promised they'd be good. I gave her a 'look' to let her know what I thought about her 'promises', so Emma promised instead.

The twins had been gone for ten minutes by the time Adrienne and Sasha finally emerged from the master bedroom. Their habit of sleeping in on non-work days had apparently been augmented by the two-hour time zone change, and Adrienne whined about missing the opportunity to grill the twins about their deflowering. Kim and I greeted them warmly, and I offered to make them lunch (breakfast? brunch?), but Sasha insisted she could handle it and physically rotated me around by my shoulders and sent me back out into the living room.

Adrienne was already playing with BJ. He really got spoiled having so many different "Aunties" showering a ton of attention on him most every day. Even though the twins had just left, he already had a replacement playmate. I took the opportunity to take Kim by the hand and draw her to my side on the couch. She set her head down against my shoulder and let me wrap my arm around her while we watched Auntie Adrienne play with our son. And by the time Sasha finished making the girls' brunch, it was time for him to go down for a nap.

I pulled Kim's face to mine and kissed her quickly before slipping off the couch. BJ was sitting upright a bit in a daze, blinking slowly and rubbing his eyes every now and again although he doggedly kept trying to play with his favorite trucks. I sat down next to him and gently but firmly took away his trucks, which made BJ immediately start bawling like it was the end of the world. But as soon as I picked him up in my arms, he set his head down on his daddy's shoulder, hugged me tightly, and stopped complaining.

Kim followed us into his bedroom, but she climbed into her own bed and watched me put BJ down and start reading him a story. BJ fell asleep to the sound of my voice around page 10, but I kept going until the book was finished just to make sure he stayed out for good.

Kim took advantage of BJ's naptime to catch a nap herself, and I kissed her forehead before slipping out of the room. By the time I returned to the living room, Adrienne and Sasha were wrapping up the end of their brunch. I sat down and chatted with them a bit, and the girls made me finish their leftovers. After that, Sasha excused herself to go back to her bedroom and check on her work. Even when on vacation, the emails didn't stop, and she had a lot of catching up to do.

I helped Adrienne bring the dishes to the sink, but we didn't try to clean them. She said she wanted to see photos of our Lake Tahoe trip, and I said I wanted to see photos of their Hawaii trip, so we traded laptop computers and started flipping through each other's digital pictures.

Adrienne's body was made for wearing bikinis on tropical beaches, and even though Sasha was no professional photographer, it was nearly impossible to make Adrienne NOT look good. Sasha was just as gorgeous in a bikini herself, and Adrienne had been around enough modeling shoots to have a good idea of how to compose a shot. The pics were still either taken on a compact point-and-shoot or one of the girls' iPhones, so the image quality wasn't the greatest. But their whole Hawaii album was filled with eye candy galore that started stiffening my prick, even after the workout the twins had put it through this morning.

Meanwhile, Adrienne was taking a little longer to go through my photos. I knew that I hadn't taken nearly as many pictures on my vacation as she had on hers, but she was lingering on each image instead of rapidly clicking through them. She sat beside me at the dining table, so I could see exactly which photos in particular she was lingering on. And I watched her face a bit, noticing how she smiled at most of the pictures, but looked sad at some of the family group shots that she hadn't been a part of.

She also lingered quite a bit on the Kenzie photos. I called her out on it, and she blushed while giving me a sheepish grin. "She's really hot. It's been a while since you had a hot redhead."

I nodded, replying, "Smokin' hot."

"And bisexual, too. You have a gift for picking 'em."

I grinned. "You would have enjoyed sharing her with me. In fact, you probably would have beaten me to her."

Adrienne grinned momentarily, but she dropped it almost immediately. Shaking her head, she muttered, "I dunno. I'm trying to not be like that anymore."

"Not be like what?"

She shrugged. "Not so predatory. So often, I'd see some hot girl I liked and go from zero-to-sixty just like that." She snapped her fingers for emphasis. "No stopping to get to know her. No wondering much about her personality. I see a pretty face, I see boobs, I see ass, and I just want her."

I chuckled and nodded. "I can relate."

"Please. You're Mr. I-feel-guilty-for-using-her. When was the last time you saw a hot girl and just went AFTER her without even thinking about it?"

I frowned. "Uhhh ... well..."

"That's what I thought. -I- could do that. No hesitation. No moral indecision." Adrienne sighed. "But not anymore. I'm in a relationship now."

I snorted. "What, you weren't in a relationship with me?"

"That's different. You're a guy, and you're you. I always knew you'd be fine with me chasing other girls, so long as I wasn't chasing other guys. You really have no idea how many models and production assistants I've banged in the last year, do you?"

I blinked twice. "No, I really don't."

"More than I can remember. I'd have brought more of them home if your dance card hadn't already been so full. Well, that and your Mr. I-feel-guilty-for-using-her attitude was kind of a downer."

I shook my head and rolled my eyes.

"Point is: I don't wanna do it anymore."

"Because Sasha's a girl? And you think she's gonna get jealous of you hunting down other girls?"

"Uhhh, not really. If anything, Sasha loved joining me in hunting down these other girls. Some of those trips we took together? To like Paris and Rio and those kinds of shoots? It was like an all-you-can-eat buffet for both of us."

"Then why are you two going monogamous? If she was happy to be all predatory with you, what changed? Did she ask you to curb your predatory nature?"

"What? No. Sasha argued that she didn't mind our open sex life. She enjoyed being my wingman." Adrienne laughed. "I'm a chick magnet, and if I made the gateway to my pussy through her pussy, she was so much the happier for it."

"Then why change?"

"I just..." Adrienne sighed. "After everything that's happened, I thought it was the best thing to do."

I frowned. "You say it's the 'best thing to do' but the expression on your face says, 'Mom just asked you to eat a pound of lima beans'."

"Don't knock lima beans. You think I maintain this figure eating pizza and French fries? I end up staring at a plate full of nothing but steamed veggies more often than I want to think about."

"You know what I mean. You say curbing your predatory nature is the best thing to do, but the distaste on your face makes it clear you don't want to change willingly. Add in that Sasha didn't really want to go monogamous either, and you've got me really confused about why you're doing this."

"Because I have to, alright?"

"But why?"

"Because I CAN'T lose Sasha the way I lost YOU!" Adrienne blurted while banging her fist down on the dining table.

Her outburst rocked my head back, and I furrowed my eyebrows while looking at her with concern. Adrienne grimaced and turned her head away for a moment, taking a deep breath to calm herself, and I took the opportunity to really think about what she'd said and try to figure out what was going through her mind.

"You think your predatory nature caused you to lose me?" I wondered aloud. "You think that sleeping with hot models and PAs on your photo shoots, fashion shows, and weekend parties somehow derailed our relationship? Because I gotta be honest, that really wasn't it at all. You're absolutely right: I never minded you chasing other girls."

"That's not the point."

"Then what IS the point?"

"I lost you because I didn't prioritize you. You said it yourself: we weren't spending any quality time together."

"Because -I- spread myself thin visiting Berkeley, dating Dayna, taking care of Brandi, and being a father to a 1-year-old."

"Because -I- kept flying all over the world for my photo shoots and fashion shows."

"I'd never want you to limit your career for my sake."

Adrienne shook her head. "The photo shoots, maybe. But going to all those nighttime parties didn't have much to do with my career. Taking that last romantic Napa holiday had nothing to do with my career. You had a busy schedule: true enough. But you were still home a helluva lot more than me, and I made little to no effort to make sure -I- was home when you were available. If our paths intersected, and the opportunity presented itself for us to have a good time, great. But if the timing wasn't convenient, I didn't try to rearrange my itinerary to accommodate you. I didn't prioritize you. And given a choice between hunting down some pretty young thing I'd just met at the club, or going home to be with you, I kept choosing the pretty young thing."

"I don't want you to blame yourself for the failure of our relationship. We BOTH had chances to make things better."

Adrienne sighed and shook her head again. "I appreciate you trying to absolve me of my guilt, but you're not gonna convince me I didn't do anything wrong. You can't make me NOT wonder if things would have turned out differently if I'd just come home to be with you instead of shacking up with pretty young things night after night."

"You were giving me time to spend with the others: Sasha, Dayna, Brandi, Kim."

"That's just an excuse for my own poor behavior. In the end, what's done is done; and for right now at least, I'm talking about my relationship with Sasha, not you. I can't lose her the way I lost you. I can't lose her the way I lost Caroline. I need to PRIORITIZE Sasha. I need to spend quality time with her. I need to SHOW her I'm committed to our relationship. And if that means swearing off one-night stands with random girls, then so be it. If it means proving to her that I can be monogamous for her ... and proving it to myself ... then that's what I need to do."

"I get it. Okay, I get it. But at the same time: Sasha loves you just the way you are. She accepts you just the way you are, predatory nature and all. You said yourself she enjoyed being your wingman. SHE probably misses the two of you seducing some pretty young thing as much as you do. Nobody asked you to change."

Adrienne gave me a sad look. "YOU asked me to change."

I frowned, and it took me an extra second to realize what she meant. "I asked you to marry me, not 'change'. If the only way you could marry me required changing yourself, then yeah, it's probably better we broke the engagement. But I'm not lying to you when I say I never minded your predatory nature. I never would have wanted you to stop chasing pretty young things just for me. -I- loved you just the way you were, and I still do."

Adrienne's eyes turned down at the edges, and she looked on the verge of tears. "If that's the case, then why the hell aren't we still together? Why'd you have to go and break my heart?"

For a moment, I thought of DJ. And after taking a deep breath, I gave Adrienne a serious look and explained, "Because I couldn't wuss out and just string you along, or even let myself just get strung along. We're meant to be siblings. We're meant to be each other's rock. I love you, Adrienne, but I don't think you'll ever be ready to be my wife, to be everything that title would require. I couldn't let you marry me out of obligation to me or my family for everything that we've done. I couldn't let you marry me just because you promised Mom you'd never leave me again. I relieved you of those obligations. I set you free."

The tears started rolling down Adrienne's cheeks, and she stood up from the table. In a raw voice, she rasped, "When the hell did I ever ask you to set me free?"

And then she turned and hustled down the hall.

-- SATURDAY, DECEMBER 29, 2007 --

I awoke with my usual morning hard-on. My eyes were still closed, but I felt Kenzie's presence against my chest, and I instinctively snuggled myself a little closer against the warmth of her naked back. We'd fallen asleep together immediately after fucking each other's brains out last night without bothering to clean up or put any clothes on, my sperm still soaking into her womb.

The morning air was cold against my right cheek, the pillow reassuringly warm against my left. The fingers of my left hand reflexively squeezed the large breast I was currently palming as my left arm snaked beneath her pillow to hold her from the opposite side. My right hand firmed up over her hip, gently holding her in place while I reflexively ground my naked erection into the cleft of her equally naked buttcheeks.

Someone tugged on my foot again, repeating the action that had first stirred me awake. My conscious brain was still booting up, but when the hand on my foot continued to tug on it, I raised my head off the pillow and stared down at the foot of the bed to see who the hell was tickling my toes.

My son stared back at me, kneeling upright atop the mattress with a goofy grin on his face after waking me up in a manner quite unlike my usual BJ alarm clock. It was such a shock to see him that I jerked upright violently enough to startle Kenzie, who woke up, noticed me staring at the foot of the bed, and likewise stared at the foot of the bed.

"Holy shit!" she cursed in surprise to see the toddler while yanking the bedsheets up to her chin to cover her nudity from view.

"BJ! What are you doing here?" I asked in a shrill voice.

Kim suddenly burst into my room from the bathroom, exclaiming in relief, "Oh, there you are!" She darted forward to the bed and scooped her son into her arms. "How did you get in here? How did you get up on the bed?!?"

Later on, Kim and I would reason that BJ had most likely toddled first into her room, then went through the open door into the Jack-N-Jill bathroom, and subsequently pushed open the door into my bedroom, which must not have been fully latched. He still couldn't reach the doorknob, after all. As for how he managed to get up onto the mattress, that one would remain a mystery. It's not like he made a step-stool out of boxes next to the bed or anything.

Ultimately, the "how" wasn't very important. BJ did manage to get onto the bed and wake me and Kenzie, and Kim apologized profusely while backing out of the room.

Adrienne stood in the bathroom, giving us a sheepish smile. The reason Kim had momentarily lost track of BJ was because she and Adrienne had been having a deep, intense conversation about me (of course), and both of them had come rushing down the hall and into Kim's bedroom looking for him while Sasha had gone looking up the other hallway. Now, Adrienne waved her hand a little awkwardly in goodbye from the bathroom, disappearing from sight when Kim closed the door.

Kenzie and I were once again alone, but she looked rather shell-shocked by the whole experience and still clutched the bedsheets over her chest. A morning encore didn't seem likely.

"Sorry about that," I muttered apologetically. "He's never done that before – climbed up onto the bed to wake me up. I didn't even realize he was tall enough to MAKE it up onto the bed."

Blinking fast, Kenzie processed that for an extra couple of seconds before glancing over at me. "So that was your son, BJ? Ben Junior?"

I shook my head. "Common misconception. His first name is Benjamin, which Kim named after me. But his middle name is Junsaku, after her father, and the nickname 'BJ' just stuck. We don't even have the same last name, so he can't be a 'Junior'."

Kenzie blinked a couple of times again and nodded, stating, "And that was Kim, his mother."

I nodded. "Right."

"And of course, that was Adrienne Dennis in the bathroom, your supermodel ex-fiancée Adrienne Dennis?"

I chuckled, saying, "You can just call her 'Adrienne'. No need to add the last name or the titles."

"I'm not sure I can call her anything." Kenzie bit her lip, winced, and gave me an apologetic look. "Maybe this wasn't such a good idea."

I frowned. "What?"

"This whole thing just got really real all of a sudden. I mean, we had a great little vacation up at Tahoe. You're an amazing lover, and I'll never forget the things you did... to ... me."

I grimaced. "I hear a 'but' coming."

"But..." she began, again giving me an apologetic look, "I'm not sure I can do this. Your life is complicated. I mean, I knew you were Adrienne De-- ... uh, 'Adrienne's' ex. And I already knew from magazines and stuff that you had a kid and a baby mama. But none of them were around at Tahoe, and none of them were around last night, but they're here now, and this was NOT the way I expected to first meet any of them."

"Totally understandable."

"Ben..." Kenzie screwed up her face. "I like you. Last night's date was awesome. I think you're a great guy, and any girl would be thrilled to have a chance to be with you."

I sighed, muttering, "I hear another 'but' coming."

Kenzie winced and repeated, "I just don't think I can do this. I like you, but this isn't love. I was hoping we could be casual, see each other every now and again, have a good time with each other and then go back to our regular lives. Simple, you know? But this is complicated. You've got obligations. You've got a son."

"I'm aware of that, but this doesn't have to be all that complicated. Casual is good for me. No pressure. We can keep it simple."

She stared at the closed bathroom door, looking perhaps nervous that it might open again and all the complications of my life would come pouring in. "I don't know..."

"Simple question: Do you want to see me again? Do you want to ... well ... Do you want me to fuck the shit out of you again sometime?"

Kenzie blushed and stared down at her lap for a moment. "Well ... when you put it that way ... Yeah, I do."

I shrugged. "Then let's keep it simple. I know you wanted to come check out my place and see the view and all last night, but we don't ever have to come back to this apartment if you don't want to. That is, if you don't mind us going back to your place instead."

She blushed again and muttered, "My room is kind of a mess."

I smiled. "I don't particularly care, but if it matters to you, I'll give you plenty of advance warning before I come over so you can tidy up."

Kenzie's cheeks were bright pink, but she managed a nervous smile. "Okay."

"Simple. We can keep things simple," I assured her. "Just dating ... See each other occasionally. No pressure. Just do what comes naturally and have some fun, alright?"

She nodded slowly, working that around in her head. "Okay."

I leaned over and quickly pecked her lips. I gave her my best charming smile, and she seemed to relax a little more. Nodding my head toward the hallway door, I suggested, "Why don't you get dressed and freshen up. I'll go make us a nice breakfast, alright?"

Relaxing the rest of the way, Kenzie nodded and gave me a genuine smile. "Alright. Sounds good."