Mutual Benefits Ch. 12 – First Time – by BashfulScribe..,

I was never going to have a threesome with Morgan and Taylor. That much had become clear. In fact, the more the three of us hung out and sexuality was inevitably introduced, the more sure I was that I wanted to distance myself from the entire topic. And yet… something inside of me couldn’t stop her. It couldn’t stop her when we were alone, and it couldn’t stop me when we were all hanging out together. That had to end.

It was clear it was only going to end on Taylor’s terms, which definitely complicated the process. Taylor, it seemed, felt one way about me one day, and another the next. Morgan brought stability. Taylor brought spontaneity. I brought…

…What the hell did I bring? To either of their lives. It was all well and good that Morgan gave me the whole ‘I like you because of who you are’ speech, but it didn’t really convince me. I wasn’t anything. I felt… blank. Boring, like a piece of paper with no writing on it or something. I definitely wanted to be someone for Morgan, she was beginning to inspire that in me, but it still felt like only a beginning.

It was around six in the morning when I woke up. The other two were probably passed out. I left to sleep on the couch around the time their alcohol started to wear off and Morgan urged me to go to bed and skip what Taylor got like when she came down from peak drunkenness, whatever that meant.

I couldn’t sleep, so I did what I do best when I can’t sleep, and put some pants on and paced back and forth, eventually deciding I needed water in my system.

I couldn’t help but smirk when I saw their fridge. They had one of those rich suburban family fridges with the water tap in it. I quickly found a glass and helped myself to their water, opting for the ‘cool’ tap, since the fridge was kind enough to ask. Unfortunately, I nearly choked on it when someone turned the corner.

“Good morning,” Morgan’s brother told me in a quiet voice as he walked into the kitchen. Like me, he wasn’t wearing a shirt, though he was clearly more secure about that fact than I was.

“Hello,” I said, I think the first word I said to the guy. He had blond hair, dirtier than Morgan’s, and some matching facial hair to go with it. Like his sister, he was fairly good-looking, and naturally intimidating. He sported a pair of trendy glasses, and clearly shared Morgan’s habit of going to the gym.

I didn’t know why, but I was incredibly nervous.

“So,” he began, getting some orange juice out of the fridge. “You’re Quinn.”

“Yes,” I replied uneasily, wanting to cut the tension with ‘you’re observant’ or something but not knowing how that would go over.

“My sister’s boyfriend.”

“Is that okay?” I asked. I felt my cheeks get hot after I asked.

He gave me a weird look that slowly broke into a smile. “Yeah. Yeah, it’s okay. Relax. It’s just the only thing I know about you so far.”

“Oh. Well, I go to school with Morgan. I know her because I tutored Taylor in math.”

“You know her from Taylor?” he asked, clearly with some kind of purpose.

I felt my cheeks get hot again. “Um, yes…” I mumbled.

“Hmm, interesting,” he remarked to himself. “Well, Quinn, my name is Doug. It’s nice to finally get to meet you.” He nodded diplomatically.

I nodded back. “Nice to meet you, Doug,” I told him. “Is this like a thing you do often? Like, do I need to know the rules to date your sister or something?”

I didn’t know if what I just asked was bold or anything, but Doug smirked like I just told him a joke. “Maybe if you were someone else. I don’t get bad vibrations from you. You kind of look… is it okay to say, ‘shy?'” Seeing me shrug and nod, he continued. “Then yeah, shy.”

“I’m not very popular,” I pointed out. Doug just stared at me. “Morgan is.”

“Ah, I see,” he commented lightly. He took an apple out of a bowl and took a bite of it. “You’re a lucky guy then, if I remember Hazelwood’s cliques as well as I do,” he said with a mouth full of apple.

“More like I don’t get why she picked me,” I said dejectedly.

“Ooh, pity party. Aren’t you a cheery one,” he jeered. “I won’t be able to tell you what Morgan’s type is if that’s something you’re looking for.”

“Why not?”

“Because Morgan barely ever tells mom and dad that she has a ‘boyfriend.’ She goes on dates, but she’ll only ever go on three dates with a guy, maximum, dump him, and feel weird ever calling him a boyfriend while doing it. So, clearly, whatever her type is, you mean something to her.”

“Okay,” I digested slowly. “That does make me feel a little better. But she did tell Taylor about guys doing stuff with her before. You know, not date things, but-”

Doug held up a hand. “Can I assume ‘not popular’ can also mean ‘socially awkward?’ Is that a fair thing to assume here?”

“Um, yes, it can.”

“Great, thought so. Gonna give you a freebie lesson here: Don’t tell a girl’s brother she’s done anything sexual, especially out of a relationship. It’s weird.”

“Oh, sorry,” I backed down immediately.

Doug raised his eyebrows at me. “Huh. Thought you were going to push back a little on that. You’re a hard guy to read.”

“Did we ever know each other in high school?” I asked. “Or even go at the same time or something?”

“Nope, first time I’m seeing you. I’m twenty-five.”

“Oh.” I let silence fill the air. “I’m sorry about saying that thing I said earlier.”

“I trust you’re more romantic and sensitive with her,” he told me dryly with a smile.

“I want to be. She thinks I am… sometimes.”

He shrugged. “Then you’re good.”

“I just feel like-” I stopped mid-sentence when Taylor stumbled into the kitchen. She practically spilled into it. Her hair was messed up, her eyes were, at most, a quarter open, and she had this look of perpetual pain on her face.

“Good morning, Taylor,” Doug practically sang with a smug face.

“Go fuck yourself,” Taylor answered. “Quinn, get me some water.”

I scrambled to get another glass. “Sounds like you went harder than cider,” Doug observed.

“Triple eight,” Taylor answered. “Quinn!”

“Yeah, that doesn’t mean anything to me,” Doug continued as I filled the glass and handed it to her.

She drank the whole thing before answering. “Vodka,” she spat out, handing me the glass. “Fill it up again.”

“Vodka? And you’re looking like this? Hope you didn’t throw up,” Doug said flatly.

Taylor shook her head, taking the glass I filled again. “I didn’t. Morgan did.”

“Wait, Morgan threw up?!” I asked with urgency.

“Keep it down!!” Taylor said quietly yet with urgency.

“Yeah, this — I’ll handle this, Taylor — our parents don’t know about this kind of thing,” Doug said to me in a patient voice.

“But, she’s my — I need to go see her, is she awake?” I replied, still worried for her.

Taylor’s arm stopped me. “Quinn, you’re sweet, but Morgan has specifically asked not to see you this morning.”

“She… what?” I felt my heart sink. What the heck did that mean?

“You’re going to give the guy a heart attack, Taylor, he’s clueless! Lead more gently!” Doug barked. “Yo, Quinn.” He whistled at me as one does to a dog to get my attention. I slowly turned to him. “She’s embarrassed and thinks she looks terrible. She doesn’t want her boyfriend to see her in such a state. It’s a code of honor thing. She doesn’t want you to see her at her worst, that’s all. It’s not about you. It’s an insecurity thing.”