BMB: Version 5-3

An adult stories – BMB: Version 5-3 by CILMArae,CILMArae Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction, and it was created solely by me as the author. Any similarities to characters, businesses, places, or things are all happenstance, though my appreciation to those who have inspired my works is immense.

Author’s Note: This entire series is based on the same characters, places, and general situations, but will be shared in the form of five different versions. I’m hoping you’ll appreciate the various approaches as they are posted. And be aware, some versions go into certain details more than others, so remaining calm and awaiting the next installment may be necessary, but I assure you, it’ll be worth it. Questions and comments are welcome. I hope everyone will be kind.

I’ve included a recap, and here’s a hint (for those who read these notes all the way through): This part begins with Trin’s continued POV.

Recap: Wednesday, December 7 6:34PM

Tommy: “Gracie has taken a turn for the worse. Dad is calling the vet. Thought you should know. You’re welcome to come say goodbye before she’s put down. Sorry for the text. Not doing so hot. – T”

I turned to look at the guys and shook my head. “I have to go,” I told them, and Dougie nodded.

“I’ll be right behind you,” Dougie answered.

I went over to Jeremy’s side and squeezed his hand. “I want to…”

“I know, but he needs you,” Jeremy responded without hesitation. I paused which made him squeeze my hand back. “Go, Trin.”

“Thanks, Jer,” I told him and kissed his forehead. “I’ll be back Monday, if not before then. Take care.” I turned away and then turned back suddenly. “And welcome home.”

BMB: Version 5-3

I headed for Tommy’s place and parked next to his truck. I ran to the backdoor of the main house and found Tommy standing in the kitchen alone.

“Oh, thank God,” he whispered and with two long strides, he approached me and pulled me into his arms. “I didn’t want you to miss saying goodbye.”

“I came as soon as I saw the text,” I told him and nodded against his head. “Dougie should be right behind me.”

“Head on in,” Tommy encouraged. “Dad’s been sitting with her.”

I walked into the living room, and when Tom looked up, he nodded. “The vet is on the way, so we still have a little time. Come on over, Trin. She’s going to want to see you before she…” he said and trailed off. I knew what he meant. It broke my heart to see the pain in his eyes.

I got down to sit by Gracie and petted her head. “Hey, Gracie-girl,” I said and smiled when she lifted her head to put it on my leg as she had the last time I’d been there. “Hi, sweetheart. I hear you’re just not feeling all that good, huh? Well, let me tell you something. It’s been an honor being your friend. You are the coolest non-human I have ever met, Gracie,” I told her quietly. “I’m so glad that you ran out to meet me that day. I will always be grateful to have known you. You’ve lived a long life, and you deserve to be out of the pain you’re in now. Soon, you’ll be running around with lots of other dogs and having the time of your afterlife.”

I changed my position to kneel and then bent down to kiss her head. “Thanks for being you, Gracie,” I whispered and petted her a few more times. “Thanks for being my friend.” I got up and walked back into the kitchen without looking at anyone. If I made eye contact with anyone who was crying, I would lose it. I went to stand by Tommy and stared at the floor.

Dougie ran in the door and headed for the living room. The vet made it shortly after Dougie said his goodbyes. I motioned for Tommy to follow the family into the living room to be there with them when she passed away. He squeezed my hand and left me in the kitchen. When it was all done, Tommy took my hand and led me to his place. I stopped at my car to grab my purse and to lock my car. When his door was closed, he kept his back to me.

“Tommy,” I whispered and stood against him with my hands on his arms and my face against his back. I didn’t know if he wanted to cry alone or have me stay. Before I could ask, he turned around and wrapped his arms around me. I closed my eyes and ran my fingers through his hair. “It’s OK. I’m here. I’m here for you,” I reiterated and held him tighter. He said no words. He just shook against my body.

I pulled from his embrace and motioned with my head for him to follow me. He put up a finger to tell me to hold on while he took off his shoes, turned out the light, and locked the door. He took my hand and led me to the bed but didn’t lay me down or undress me. He pulled out his phone and played a song. My arms were led by his hands to wrap around his neck, and then his came down to wrap tightly around me. Soon we were swaying and holding each other tightly as the music surrounded us.

After five songs, Tommy stood back and pulled off his shirt. He walked to the bathroom, and I used the opportunity to grab my purse. I was waiting outside the bathroom door when Tommy came out and pointed at it. “Go change,” he encouraged and nodded. “I had Georgie put some shorts in there for you to keep here until you decide to keep your own here. We’ve never planned a night here yet.” I nodded and went to the bathroom to change clothes. I pulled off my bra from under my shirt and then changed from my jeans to the comfy shorts Georgie had left for me.

Tommy was waiting outside the bathroom door and took my hand to lead me to bed. He was wearing shorts, and that shirtless look had me feeling pretty warm. It wasn’t long before we were lost in our passionate kisses and wrapped up with each other tightly. Man, he felt so good.

It didn’t surprise me that his hands roamed down to the hem of my shirt. I think I surprised us both when I reached down and tore it off. Soon his mouth was all over me. I held his head and moaned as he licked and sucked my nipples until I was nearly dizzy. Finally, once he’d placed his mark on both breasts, we settled in and fell asleep.

I woke up to find him sitting up on his side of the bed. I could tell he was upset. I put on my shirt and knelt behind him to wrap my arms around him. “Will you let me hold you?”

He turned his tear-filled eyes to look at me and then climbed onto the bed to lay his head in my lap. I ran my fingers through his hair and held him close to me when he suddenly wrapped his arms around me and cried into my shirt. I continued to hold him and ran my fingers through his hair.

“I know nothing I say will necessarily make you feel better, but I’m here for you,” I told him softly. “Plus, I think it’s sexy when a guy cries. Hiding it is bullshit. And I like when you wrap your arms around me. It makes me feel secure.”

“Ha, even when I’m crying?”

“Especially when you are,” I confirmed. “I’m secure in the fact that you’re not just after some ass. You feel comfortable being yourself with me and hold me to show it. I think I’ve created a dancing fiend, but I’ll take it.” I leaned down to whisper. “I happen to be rather hot for you.”

“I’m only dancing with you,” he clarified. He then took in a big breath and blew it out against my stomach. It tickled a little. I laughed quietly. He caught that laugh, so when he inhaled deeply again, he lifted my shirt and blew gently around my belly button. I giggled and moved under him. Finally, he took in one final breath and rather than blowing air, he put his mouth to my stomach and blew a raspberry.

“Tommy!” I yelled and laughed out loud. “You are such a boy,” I accused and laughed some more.

“Oh, here we go with the boy comments again,” he argued. “Do you remember what happened last time you teased me about that?”

I smiled and nodded happily. “Worked out well for me then. Why not now?”

“Oh, ho, ho!” he taunted and let me go.

“OK, Santa,” I teased and laughed again.

“You’re pushing it, Trinity,” he warned and slid back to lie in his spot, only he was facing the other way. Ah, so he was going to reverse the attack. Two could play that game. I turned and sighed loudly as I sat on the edge of the bed. I slowly took my shirt off again and tossed it over to his side of the bed. I sighed again and laid back to cover myself entirely with the blankets. I put one arm behind my head and rested the other in between us on the blankets so that it was truly dividing us. And then I waited.

I was staring up at the ceiling, but I could feel him moving. I smiled to myself and thought this little silent treatment might go on for a while, but it was fun. Neither was really mad, so I just had to wait it out. I was sure to win the competition, but it was the aftermath which I was looking forward to the most.

“Nope, I don’t like it,” Tommy said with a huff.

I had just closed my eyes, so his voice triggered them open again. “What?”

Tommy rolled over and ran into my arm. “May I enter your area?”

“No,” I told him plainly. He tilted his head to look up at me, so I looked down at him. “I have my period. Believe me. You do not want to enter that mess right now.” I smirked and moved my arm. Tommy moved closer and put his head on my breast. I put my arm back down and began running my fingernails along his back.

“Thank you for telling me,” he said quietly and kissed my cleavage. “But let’s not do that again. I think of the fact that we sleep together, the best part is the part that we seem most comfortable when we are touching. I want to hold you, Trin. I don’t like the space between us.”

“Fair enough,” I whispered and smiled as I brought my other arm down so I could turn my body to face him. I was holding him. I pulled my arm from his back and laid my head down on it while my other arm wrapped around him. And back to sleep we went.

I woke up with it barely being light out. I slipped out of Tommy’s hold and grabbed my shirt as I headed for the bathroom to use it and check on things. Nighttime was not my favorite time with a period. Very unpredictable.

I headed back out and slid back into my spot. Tommy moaned and tried to get comfortable. He then reached up and pulled on my shirt. I sniffed a laugh as he pulled on the hem of it to get it off me again, and once it was gone, he sighed and settled into place again.

I leaned down and kissed his head and whispered a few suggestive comments into his ear. To my surprise, Tommy groaned and got up to head for the bathroom. He seemed agitated. Oops! I felt a little guilty, but what I’d said wasn’t that bad. He took a little longer to come out of the bathroom than I had thought he would, but no judgment. When he came back to bed, he climbed on top of me (under the covers) and rubbed his (what appeared to be) now relieved member against my area.

“You’re something else, Trinity,” he growled and continued grinding against me. I was amazed at how reactive my area was responding to him doing that to me. Soon, I was moaning and before I knew what was happening, Tommy whispered in my ear. “Come for me, Trinity.” I was brought to a climax so intense and fierce that I cried out. I hadn’t seen Tommy’s reaction, but I think he liked it because his mouth was on mine as soon as I had calmed down. Well, as calm as I could be after that.

“That was so f’n hot, Trin,” Tommy whispered and moved down to give my breasts some love. I moaned, held his head as he licked and sucked at me, and then turned on my side to allow him to continue treating me to his oral delights. In the meantime, my area was on fire. I was really hot with desire and wasn’t sure what to do to deal with it. I’d never had an orgasm intense enough to make me want more. I didn’t think about how assertive I was being. I just gave in to the mood.

I pushed Tommy onto his back and hovered over him. His hands cupped my breasts as he guided them into his mouth one at a time. My legs were between his until I brought one to the other side of his leg so that my area was resting on his thigh. Gradually, again not with much thinking but a whole lot of just feeling and going with the mood, I began rocking my hips. Tommy pressed up with his leg and moaned.

“Yeah, Trin, ride it to another one,” he breathed and then put his tongue between my tits to lick from the base of my sternum straight up to my neck. “Feel it, baby. Make it happen.” His mouth was back on my nipple, and I was stunned at the shockwave which flooded my area. My panties would have been drenched had the flow of my desires not been blocked by a feminine product. When he bit gently, I shuddered and gasped at the pleasure.

He must have smiled against my skin because soon, he was biting me again and then switched nipples to do the same with that one. But it was when he reached down and cupped my ass and guided me to grind harder which sent me over the edge. The fact that he had my nipple between his teeth did not hurt things either. I bucked against him and gasped at the orgasm which journeyed throughout my body.

Tommy wrapped his arms around me and rolled me over to lie on my back so he could be back in control. I held his arms and kissed him back hard. Our hands roamed, our mouths tasted every aspect of the other’s mouth, and our bodies were entwined. I was still reeling from the two unintentional orgasms I’d just had (well, maybe the second one was more intentional on my end) which hadn’t required me to touch myself.

After another hot ten minutes, we both slowed down to pause and obtain our faculties back. He put his head on my breast (“They’re like pillows. I love it!”) and draped his arm over my stomach. Our breathing was ragged and fast. Finally, I patted his back. “I guess you showed me, huh?”

“Um, I didn’t actually think that could happen, especially the way you talked about never really having one, and you just, you know, had two. I’ll take credit for the first, but that second one was all you.”

“Correction,” I stated. “I’ve had them, but they have always been self-inflicted, and always with my own hand. That has never happened. Ever. I had no idea I could have them like that. And to be honest, we, you know, Mark and I, never did anything like that.”

“I have to ask,” he said hesitantly. “Did you like that?” I chuckled a little, and he felt my movement beneath him. “OK, besides the orgasms, Trin. I’m being serious. We’ve not, you know. And other than the day in the breakroom when we kissed during that four-hour sex talk,” he reminisced (and I felt him smile which made me smile), “we’ve not really meshed areas a whole lot. Safer, by the way. Much safer. What I did was really something that I chose to do just after I climbed on top of you. It didn’t bother you that I did that?”

“Mmm-mmm,” I told him. “It wasn’t fair, I suppose, that I teased you and caused you to go in there,” I explained and pointed at the bathroom. “I think you know, or well, we both know, we’re headed in the direction of sex, and lately, our intimacy has increased. If I’m telling you I’m on my period as fair warning for entering the area, then there’s a good chance I’m thinking about you entering that area in the near future.

“We are sleeping together. We are together for the most part. I’m having a great time, and I like you, kinda a lot. So… well, there’s that. When you climbed on top of me and did that, I was surprised at how much I responded to it. I mean, again, it’s never happened before, so I didn’t know that I would end up having one. If I don’t have them during sex, I guess I just kinda thought I wouldn’t if I was just rubbed on. But I did, and then I felt tingles there when you were messing around up here which I didn’t know was possible either. And I got lost in the moment when I decided to get on top. You grabbing my ass and helping me along though? Yeah, that guided me straight into number two. Goodness, that was incredible.”

“Trin?”

“Hmm?”

“Can we not talk about it anymore?” he asked and kissed my breast for good measure.

“Sure.”

“Can I tell you why?”

“No need,” I answered. “I have a plan for that in a few hours. I’m tired, Tom. I’m not blind… or stupid.”

“Fair enough,” he answered and tapped on my sternum to get me to look down at him as he lifted his own head. “Kiss me,” he requested and lifted his hand to place behind my head. I happily obliged. We were back to sleep a few minutes later. I know he was anyway. I laid there a while longer to enjoy having his body next to mine. I didn’t think about the fact that I was falling in love with him. I didn’t consider the fact that being this close to making love to him would only make me want him more. I was saving all those thoughts and realizations for the following month.

We woke up at around 9AM and once again, I didn’t think about anything other than the desire to make it up to him a bit. He used the bathroom first and then came out to head over to start coffee. I walked into the bathroom next and used it before I brushed my teeth and started the shower. I then opened the door and motioned with my finger for him to come and join me. It’s funny. The coffee which he’d said he wanted first and foremost after he’d used the bathroom was forgotten for whatever reason.

Kissing, washing, touching. The usual. Then I made it up to him for the fact that he’d missed out on some needed release. He left the shower pleased and smiling. And there’s a good chance Georgie caught onto the fact that we’d showered together because we were both drying our hair when she stopped by to bring me another pair of jeans.

“Thanks again for this,” I told her as I took them from her. “The only reason I’d be going home would be to change from one pair to another, and it just seems silly. I have a small bag of your stuff at my house, but I keep forgetting to bring it back because I never plan my visits here!”

“Well, you’re always welcome,” she told me and winked. “And I’ve got plenty of clothes. I’m just glad we wear the same size.” She widened her eyes and turned to me. “Oh! I could wear your clothes too! Can I come by sometime to see what you have?”

“Heck yeah,” I told her and laughed. “I never had a sister, and Jen and I are different sizes. Oh, that’ll be fun. Let’s plan a date.”

“How about before our next spa date?” she asked. “You’re coming, right?”

“Wouldn’t miss it,” I told her. It was already booked for the five of us girls (Rose, Georgie, Michelle, Pam, and me) to have a whole spa day on Friday, December 23rd, and I was already looking forward to it. It would be seven hours of treatments before the work Christmas party at the Parker house that evening.

“Girls, I hate to interrupt, but we have some stuff to do,” Tommy told us and crossed his arms.

“Uh-oh,” Georgie stated and crossed her arms back at him. “Is Tommy getting upset that I’m playing with his friend too?” I smirked and looked over at him.

“Oh, I’m thrilled that you two can share and giggle and talk together,” Tommy argued. “But right now, she’s my friend, and she’s here for me, and it’s not fair that you’re butting in!” he whined playfully which made us both laugh out loud. “Gosh, Georgie! Don’t make me tell Dad.”

“Oh, please!” both Georgie and I said dramatically at the same time.

“You know he’d take my side in a hot second!” Georgie claimed.

“And you know he’d also roll his eyes and tell you both to grow up,” I added. “And if this causes drama at home,” I began and pointed at him and then at me, “he’ll be ticked, but if we ever cause drama at work? God help us all.”

We all laughed and nodded. Georgie left after waving goodbye. Tommy and I finished getting ready and then seeing as we had nothing else to do until work, we made out. Heavily. It was awesome.

At work, I’d told all the guys at some point during that first week of December that if they were well-behaved, I’d make sure St. Nick made a stop at the shop to drop off some treasures. I went to their little mailboxes in the breakroom and delivered gifts to each guy’s spot, including an extra gift or two for those who had families. Most of the gifts were their favorite candy bars in the XL size, but I also got toys for their kids and gift cards for the wives. I hadn’t told Tom about it, so when he saw all the Christmas wrapping and bows, he just laughed, pointed at me, and shook his head.

For Tommy, I did something different. I placed a Christmas-wrapped tiny bottle of chocolate syrup with a note attached telling him that the other gifts of whipped cream and strawberries were in my fridge waiting at my place if he wanted to join me for dessert after work. While we were up in the breakroom eating lunch, Tommy kept flirting with me with his foot under the table and his hand on my thigh. I got up to throw away our garbage and when I turned around, I was picked up and tossed over Tommy’s shoulder.

“Ah! What?! What are you doing?” I screamed and laughed as he brought me into my office. He’d apparently already cleared off my desk because when I had left my office to head to lunch, it had my research plans spread out on it for next year’s outings. I then remembered Tommy came to lunch five minutes after I had called down to him. We took turns making lunch for ourselves each week, and since it was my turn, it hadn’t occurred to me to wonder where he’d gone.

He set me down on my desk and stood between my legs. “I see some more nighttime fun coming soon, Trinity,” he whispered. “But don’t tease me with the items if you don’t mean to use them.”

“Oh, I mean to use all of them,” I purred and reached up to bring his head closer. I put my lips on his ear. “And I know how to use them. See, in the long time that I haven’t been with anyone, I might have been busy researching and retaining a few things. I can’t wait to show you what I’ve discovered.”

Tommy groaned and pulled his ear from my lips. He put his lips next to mine and licked them slowly. “Count on it,” he promised and put his finger just under my chin before he kissed me with his dizzying power. I moaned and kissed him back. “Now, thanks for lunch. Gotta get back to work.” That was the day I almost called out that I loved him as he walked away from my office and back down the stairs. I got down off my desk and sat back in my chair to begin working on the calendar for the next year.

“When we get there,” I told Tommy as we headed for our cars after locking up, “park in the second garage. You can back up or just pull it in straight. I’ll open it when we get there.” Tommy nodded and followed me home. When he pulled into my driveway, I opened my garage, parked, and made my way over to the next door to wave him in. He chose to back it in, and as I’d suspected, it fit perfectly. I grabbed the controller and tossed it to him as he stood at his driver’s side door.

“Weather’s getting colder, and it could snow anytime,” I justified and shrugged. “I thought you might like to keep it dry and safe when you come over. Say, Wednesday nights from now on? Tonight’s a special occasion, of course.” I shrugged as if it were no big deal and walked over to stand in front of him. “Gotta celebrate the feast days,” I whispered and walked my fingers up his arm.

“When you didn’t have clothes this morning for work, it occurred to me that I should probably keep an extra set or two in my truck in case you want to have me over,” Tommy explained and reached behind his seat to grab a bag. “I didn’t plan to stay over tonight, but I wanted to be ready if you invited me.”

“Smart man,” I complimented and winked as I turned to walk away. “And your stuff is still here from Thanksgiving weekend. Before long, you’re going to have half your stuff here,” I teased. Part of me hoped so. Then I realized what I was thinking and stopped talking.

We walked inside and I headed for the kitchen after dropping off my purse, keys, and coat which Tommy took from me to hang with his in their usual spots. I kicked off my boots and took Tommy’s hand to follow me into my room. I tossed the covered bowl of already-cleaned strawberries and unopened whipped cream onto the bed. Tommy followed suit by tossing his chocolate syrup bottle there too, and as I had expected, we had the same thoughts.

He lifted me by my ass with both hands and had me up against my door which he’d shut when he walked in. His mouth was hot and all over my face and neck. He was rubbing me hard, and I was pressing right back against his cock. Tommy removed my shirt and began feasting on me. I moaned loudly and wrapped my arms around his head.

“Tom, yes, Tom, right there,” I breathed and moaned as I rubbed myself against him and arched my back to feel his tongue on my nipple.

“Trin, baby, ride me, sweetheart,” he told me in between licks. “I want to feel you come for me,” he breathed and took my nipple in his mouth.

“Oh, Tom-MEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!” I shrieked and rocked against him.

“Yes, Trin,” Tommy whispered and kissed me a few more times on my breast, up my chest where he switched to his tongue and licked up my neck to my lips. “God, I enjoy helping you do that.” When I could stand on my own two feet, Tommy let me down and kissed my lips softly. “Mmm,” he moaned and slid his hand down my arm to take my hand in his.

“Let me get a sheet to cover the bed,” I told him. “I plan to get a little messy,” I teased and winked at him as I walked toward my closet to take out a spare king size sheet to cover my comforter. On my way to the bed, Tommy took his shorts and headed for the bathroom.

“Be right back,” he promised and stopped in front of me so that I couldn’t move. He cupped my face and kissed me with one of those quick but so full of passion that dizziness follows afterwards kinds of kisses. Know the ones? Oh, they are to die for.

I dropped my jeans right there on the floor to change into my shorts. I was halfway done pulling my shorts up my legs when Tommy came walking out.

“Stop!” he exclaimed causing me to freeze.

“What?!”

“Let me see those!” he requested and pointed at my panties. Oh, dear me. Such a guy.

“What?”

“Are those your period underwear?”

“What do you know about that?” I asked skeptically.

“I have a sister,” Tommy justified. “And a couple of moms who talk freely. Anyway, are they?”

“I guess if because I have my period and I’m comfortable wearing them while I’m on it, that would make them as such, but I’m not heavy today, so I didn’t think about it. I saw them, picked them, thought about you, smiled, and then went on with my life.” I shrugged and bent over to pull my shorts the rest of the way up my body to sit on my hips like usual.

“Mmm, so hot,” Tommy whispered and kissed my shoulder as he headed for the bed. “Let me grab these to get them out of the way so we can cover the bed. I want to play with my St. Nick gifts.”

“I’m glad you like them,” I told him and smiled as I unfolded the bedsheet and covered all the important and clean parts of my bed. “Alright, me first,” I said decidedly and motioned. “Shall I be face up or face down.”

“What? Why are you first to receive?”

“They’re your gifts!” I justified. “They’re yours to play with.” I then motioned with my finger for him to come closer. “But Tommy, you’re gonna want to go last. Trust me.” I then pointed at my head. “I have a plan.”

“Oh, I like your plans after this morning’s shower, so alright then,” he responded and pointed at the bed. “Um, yeah, lie on your stomach. And take off the bra, Trin. No need to stain that white piece of sexiness. Man, though. That thing really makes them look hot.”

“Fair enough,” I told him and reached back to unfasten it. I pulled it off and tossed it to the other side of the room. I’d get it eventually.

Tommy sat on the bed, shirtless, of course, and then opened his chocolate syrup. I felt him shaking it up, taking off the safety seal, and then pouring it on my back. At first touch, it startled me, but then it got to be kinda sensual feeling. Knowing he was going to be licking it off me made me feel a little giddy. Next came the whipped cream. Finally, Tommy took a strawberry and dipped it in the design on my back. I heard him eating it and then moaning.

“Trin, these are excellent,” he shared and picked up another one to run along my back before bringing it around to feed me. It was really good. I was glad. Strawberries at their freshest were hit or miss when it came to tasting as good as these were. Score one more for me.

Soon, Tommy was feasting on the chocolate and whipped cream from my skin. Sometimes, it was his mouth slurping up the taste and kissing my skin when he was finished collecting the dessert. Sometimes, it was his tongue. That was my favorite, I realized. Something about the feel of his tongue aiming to taste all of me made me feel very excited.

Once it was cleaned up, Tommy bit my butt through my shorts. “Turn over. Here’s where the masterpiece will come into play,” he claimed and began shaking up the ingredients again. My tits became a work of art in and of themselves, and then he focused mostly on my neck and my stomach right down to the waistband of my shorts. Strawberries, one for each of us, and then mouth and tongue feasting came next. Once my breasts were completely and rather overly cleaned up, he moved to kneel on the floor and had me lying on my back but along the edge of the bed.

“I dare say,” I told him as he was just about finished with the front side of my canvas, “you have made St. Nick rather proud with your use of such gifts, Mr. Parker. If I were to be asked, I would give rave reviews.”

Tommy licked up the final bit of chocolate and looked up at my face. “Liked that, did you? It was mutually enjoyed, I assure you.”

“Come here, would you?” I requested and motioned for him to climb onto the bed, or rather, onto me. I scooted over so he could join me comfortably.

“Mmm, you’re sticky and messy. I love it,” Tommy teased and put his lips on mine. I wrapped my arms around him and kissed him heartily. When he pulled away, he smiled. “My turn.”

“Indeed,” I answered and pointed at the bed. “Assume the position, please. Definitely face down first.”

I applied the whipped cream first and then the chocolate to change things up. Besides, I liked the chocolate design on the white cream. While it seemed Tommy liked the chocolate more, I was looking forward to the other stuff. Either way, I went to work tasting, sucking up, and licking the dessert which decorated the hot guy I had on my bed. I especially loved tasting his spine with my tongue.

I had him roll over knowing this was going to lead up to the big plan I’d had for him. I put very little on him, unlike his serving of the ingredients on my front side. I was going to use more, but that was coming later. Hint, hint.

I tasted and licked the dessert from his chest and then knelt on the floor. “I might have one more gift since you’ve done so well with the ones you got, if you’re up for it.” Tommy sat up so that his weight was on his elbows and watched me. Soon, he was watching me with wide eyes. I pulled on his shorts to bring them and his boxers down to the floor in one motion. I took the whipped cream and sprayed it from his stomach downwards so that I would follow the trail until I got to the very tip of his shaft. Tommy looked up, smiled, and laid back again.

“Shit,” Tommy whispered when my tongue touched his skin. Before long, I was well into a lovely serving of oral sex. His moans and occasional whispered curse words made me pretty sure he was enjoying it. And when he tapped my hand, I finished strong. I got up when I knew he was quite satisfied and headed for the bathroom. I assumed, rightfully so, that he would join me when he was ready.

I ran the water to get it warm and stepped into the tub when it was ready. I had just finished cleaning off my breasts of his delightful cream when his hands slid around my waist and held my stomach. “Showering together twice in one day?” he noted and put his mouth to my ear to whisper the next part. “Two f’n hot cock treatments in one day? Never ever had that before.” He stepped back to turn me around and held me. “How the hell did I get so lucky?”

“Maybe we’re both the lucky ones,” I suggested and cupped his face to bring it to mine. Soon soap added to the mix, and we were washing and rubbing and kissing until the water ran cool. We had been very thorough with our washing duties for the other person.

As we dressed again for bed, I headed for my dresser wearing my towel. Tommy wrapped a towel around his waist and took my hand to keep me from getting to the dresser.

“What are you doing?” I asked and laughed.

“I want to dance with you,” he said quietly.

“Ah, now that I will be happy to do,” I told him and wrapped my arms around his neck. “I will always say yes to this.”

“I don’t have a wedding coming up anytime soon, but when the next invite comes, will you be my date?” he asked. I smiled.

“Yes, I’d be honored.” I closed my eyes. “Tommy?”

“Hmmm?” he responded.

“I think I want you to have a pass,” I told him and smiled as he tried to figure out what I’d meant by the look on my face. “A St. Nick pass,” I shared and tightened my hold on him. “Next time you want to spend the night, and I haven’t said anything about it, use it. I think I sleep better when we’re together.”

“I’ll treasure it,” he breathed and kissed my temple. “Very much how I treasure you, my girl,” he added and stopped moving now that the final song had ended. “Now, let’s go to bed. And thank you for the dance.”

I pulled new panties out of the drawer and headed for the bathroom to get dressed. I got into bed and smiled as Tommy brought me close to him for us to fall asleep. It was a lovely night, and our sleep was restful and deep.

I woke up to feel his fingers tracing lines up and down my bare back. I moaned and kissed his chest before looking up to see if he was watching me, but he wasn’t. He was just tracing lines.

“Good morning,” he greeted me and kissed my forehead. “I couldn’t sleep anymore. I think we only have about 15 minutes until the alarm goes off.”

“Hi,” I said through a yawn and looked up when I was done in hopes to get a real kiss this time. He smiled and kissed me and then moaned as I tilted my head to deepen it.

“Mmm, second to none, Trinity Powers,” he claimed and kissed me once more quickly. “Waking up to see and feel you pressed up against me? Best feeling first thing in the morning. Now, that’s not to say there aren’t other best feelings. Last night’s St. Nick gift? Holy crap. That was amazing, and that’s not even touching on the final gift before the shower. Do you realize we each had three moments of release yesterday?”

I knew it! There was no way he could rub on me like that without having done that. Again, no judgment. I kinda caused it. And I’d made up for it… twice.

“Yes, and that’s why I’m not surprised that I woke up not wanting, well, as much, to do stuff today. And I thoroughly enjoy waking up with you too. And it was wonderful, the chocolate and the whipped cream…” I said and trailed off. “Oh, the stuff! But wait. The sheet was off…”

“I took off the sheet before the shower and tossed it into your washer, and I brought the desserts back to the fridge too.”

“Aw! I didn’t even notice,” I told him sadly. “I’m sorry. Thank you so much for doing that.”

We got ready for work and, since we were early and I’d wanted to present my ideas, I stopped to pick up breakfast for the whole team and had Tommy go on ahead to work so it wasn’t so obvious that we’d been together. I kissed him heartily as we got to the front door, then at the garage, then at my car door. When he held onto me and tried to get me into my backseat, I burst out laughing. So did he. We kissed once more and then we both left and closed our garage doors with our own buttons.

“Hey, Tom,” I greeted my boss and held up bags of breakfast sandwiches and stuff. “I got breakfast for everyone. Busy day today, or could I meet with the group with some questions about next year’s events?”

“I was just telling Michelle that it was going to be a slow day,” Tom responded as he set down a report to look at me, “so breakfast and a team meeting sound like a plan. Call them up here. Let’s get started.”

“Hey!” I yelled down at the crew in my boss’s fashion. It was more of a bellow. “Breakfast in the breakroom. Meeting afterwards. Finish up what you’re doing. Coffee, juice, and sandwiches will be set up for each of you.” I walked into the breakroom and took out the twelve coffees, set out the juices, and then laid out the sandwiches. Everything was clearly labeled. I headed for my office to set down my purse and grabbed my notes about next year’s activities.

“Take what you need from petty cash, Trin,” Tom told me as he saw the food and drinks set out on the table. “Thanks for doing this. You’re in charge. I don’t have anything to report to them or anything. Then I think I’ll give them the rest of the day off if they want. You can take it also. We could use a day to relax or shop or do whatever you want.”

“Oh, I’ll take it,” I assured him. “I have Christmas shopping to do. Thanks.”

After about ten minutes, I got their attention and explained my plans for the next year and the ideas I had so far for some team activities. “I have a calendar year marked up with our upcoming trips and the usual times which wouldn’t be good to take off from here, but we work hard and deserve some fun times too. What I need from you are some ideas of what you’d like to do. Yes, I have some ideas, but, well, for instance, maybe there’s something you wish we could all do that I don’t know about or would be an option. That’s what we’re doing with this meeting.

“Now, no suggestion is stupid, but let’s be reasonable too. A trip to Scotland for three weeks, while a lovely idea, isn’t a team-building exercise, nor does Tom want to spend that amount of money or have the ability to give us all that amount of time off. At the same time, we can do more than just a movie night or a trip to a county fair. All are good ideas, but while there’s a reasonable limit, there’s not really a limit. Make sense?

“And one more thing. If a suggestion feels silly to make, write it down. I can present it as my own idea, and whoever made the suggestion won’t have to be named. I know for a fact not one of you would make fun of me for anything I set up. So, if you feel silly suggesting roller skating, write it down and let me know. I’ll make it happen. Or I’ll go with you. I think it’s a cool idea.”

“What about a ball game?” Tommy asked.

“What about it?” I responded.

“Could we go to one?”

“We could go to many,” I answered. “Football, baseball, basketball. Hockey is an option too. Tell me the team or teams you’d like to see, and I’ll look into it based on their seasons.”

“What about playing sports?” Adam asked. “What if we went to a park in the summer and played sports with teams? Maybe families could come too? It could be a whole day event with food and maybe swimming?”

“Now you’re talking, Adam,” I commended and nodded at him. “Oh, shoot! Dougie! Why didn’t you remind me to bring my gold star stickers?” Everybody laughed. “Well, Adam, I owe you one. Tommy, you too.”

“We know she’ll reward him in some way later on,” Dougie said quietly to his dad, though we all heard it. “I doubt a gold sticker will be involved.”

“Dougie, don’t be a hater,” I chastised. “It’s not my fault your girlfriend lives 850 miles away.”

“What?!” was said by about five of the eight guys who worked in the shop area.

“Whoa!” came from the other three.

“Dougie has a girlfriend?” Bill asked and sat back in his chair. “You dog!”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” I teased mockingly. “Did they not know?”

“Damn, that’s cold, Trin,” Dougie answered and shook his head.

“Now, then,” I announced and looked around. “What else do we have?”

Everyone, even Dougie, gave some ideas about what they’d like to do. I thanked them all for their time and promised I’d see what could be worked out. Tom got up and announced that while they could still work their normal hours if they wanted, anyone wanting to leave was welcome to do so. “And if anyone wants to know what Trin is getting them for Christmas, follow her. She’s going shopping.”

“Bye, everyone,” I announced and stood up. “If you do follow me, rest assured your gift will be even less than it was probably going to be!”

“Dang, Tommy!” Dougie yelled. “I’d keep my distance if I were you!”

“It’s a crying shame I got Dougie’s name for Secret Santa!” I yelled after him.

“What? I thought we weren’t telling!” Dougie yelled back when he stopped at my comment.

“Oh, huh,” I teased and itched my head with my finger. “I guess you won’t know until then, will ya?”

“You know he’s just teasing, right?” Tommy asked when we were alone in the breakroom. He put his hand on my butt. In fairness, no one else would have seen it. He was standing directly behind me.

“Heck, yeah,” I answered and laughed. “I don’t tell him he’s like my brother for nothing. I really see him as a brother. And, well, at least my brothers and I argue like that all the time. He knows. We find buttons. We push them. I’ve got six brothers, Tom. I know how to find them and how to use them. I’ve been holding onto that info about Jen for a long time now. When he pulled the ‘something other than a gold star’ comment in front of the group? Oh, it was ‘game on.'”

“Fair enough,” Tommy answered. “So, want some company for shopping? I was going to ask if you wanted to do that this weekend, but since we have a lot of the day, maybe we could take a trip to the mall and shop there. I bet if we asked nicely, we could maybe get tomorrow off too. I could use a night away from both our places for some new scenery.”

“Let’s save that for after Christmas,” I suggested and turned to give him a quick kiss once my papers were in order. I had to get back to my office to input some of the ideas onto spreadsheets. “I’ll be ready in an hour.”

“Ready for what?” Tom asked from his office. He wasn’t looking up, so I wasn’t even sure he knew he’d said it aloud.

“Are you asking me?” I asked and stood in his doorway.

“Yeah,” he answered. “I was surprised to hear that most of the guys plan to stay to work today. You and Tommy headed out?”

“Yes. We’re going shopping. He wants to take off tomorrow too, but I told him some of us have to work.” Or something like that.

“That’s Tommy,” Tom claimed and chuckled. “Give him an inch…”

“Oh, he’s a hard worker, and you know it,” I chastised.

“Go. Have fun. See you tomorrow morning. Oh, Trin? Thanks for coming over to say your goodbyes to Gracie. I know she loved you. I wish you’d have known her longer. She adored you even though it was for such a short time. When you know, you know, right?”

“I was honored to know her, Tom,” I responded and touched my heart. “Thanks for welcoming me into your family.”

“Well, when even the dogs love you, what say do I have?” Tom argued playfully, winked at me, and shooed me away with the file folder he was holding. “Some of us have work to do today. Go on. See you tomorrow.”

“I’m just saying,” Adam was telling Dougie when I got to the office, “why you gotta be keeping stuff like that from us? You’ve got a girlfriend, and it took Trin telling us for us to find out? Come on, dude! You’re one of the guys. We want to know what’s up!”

“Thanks a lot, Trin,” Dougie ranted and huffed. I laughed and sat down at my desk to put the information I’d collected in my database. I was also anxious to see if anyone added any other unspoken suggestions as I’d encouraged them to do. It was when I’d found “scavenger hunt” written on one of the papers that got me super excited. Another idea given was to possibly find something in a town near the bike shows we’d be attending so that while on work trips, we could do team stuff that way to add a little extra excitement. I loved that idea too.

Tommy and I went shopping, and I had a Christmas list which dwindled from the 20 items originally on it down to three by the time we were finished. We ate lunch and then went to see a movie together. He asked if he could take me on a drive to someplace special. I told him as long as I was at work the next day, he could have me until then.

“So, did you really mean we could go away after Christmas?” Tommy asked as he drove away from the mall. “Just the two of us? Maybe for a couple nights?”

“Sure,” I told him. “Your dad said it will be light hours. If we went Monday and Tuesday nights, maybe? The closer we get to New Year’s Eve, the more difficult it will be to find openings, I’m thinking.”

“Sounds about right,” Tommy answered and reached for my hand. We listened to Christmas music on the way there, and I asked about Tommy’s family traditions and told him some of the things I grew up with. He had found it hilarious that my brothers made me stand still on a chair while they decorated me like their own Christmas tree three years in a row, just like in a movie they’d seen.

We pulled into a large hotel and parked by the entrance. “What are we doing?”

“You’ll see,” he promised and walked me into the well-decorated lobby. “Come on.”

“Hi, I have an appointment with Dion,” Tommy told the receptionist. “My name’s Tom Parker.”

“Ah, Mr. Parker,” a man said from a room just behind the reception desk. “We spoke earlier. My name is Dion Rogers, and it is a pleasure to meet you. This must be the lovely Trinity. He was right,” Dion told me as he took my hand and kissed it gently. Yikes, he was quite the showman. “Your beauty cannot be put into words.” I blushed intensely.

“We were discussing a stay immediately after Christmas,” Tommy informed him. “We’re thinking Monday and Tuesday nights?”

“Yes, yes, I already checked our availability for that week, and we will have any room you’d like. Would you like that tour I offered? You can see the difference between all the rooms. We tend to keep at least one of each type open so that we can give private tours such as these for our most esteemed guests.”

“I’d love that,” I told Dion and squeezed Tommy’s hand in mine.

“Lovely,” Dion stated. “Let’s begin at the bottom and work our way up. Our most basic room is this one…” he began and as he ushered us into a room with two double beds and a few amenities. “We find that business travelers tend to prefer these rooms, understandably.”

The next few rooms were also basically the same with a touch of upgrade here and there. In all my life, I’d only ever stayed in rooms like the ones he’d showed us. The highest level I think I’d ever been in had a whirlpool right in the room. I never understood (nor had the money, really) why people would pay such a high price for a room which was simply meant to keep your travel stuff and give you a good night’s sleep. Then he took us up to the higher level, more expensive rooms.

“Now we begin to see the rooms where the guest is treated to much more than sleep,” Dion shared and opened the door in front of us. “This is the junior suite. It’s our lowest end suite, but a lovely room with extra amenities.” He brought us to the next room to view which he called a deluxe suite. “This has a separate room for sleeping and a lovely living area for socializing and relaxing. The bathroom is quite spacious and has both a standing shower stall and a hot tub. Often, this is the room used by couples for a traditional honeymoon suite. We have special packages which include romantic items to create the ambiance of such a celebration.” Huh. Good to know.

“The remaining rooms are executive suites and higher,” Dion explained. “Would this interest you for your stay?”

“I don’t think we’ll be going higher than this, but I have a feeling Trin would enjoy seeing all the rooms. Am I right?”

I figured laying it on thick only made Dion happier. Why not? “Dion, you’ve done such a lovely job explaining the differences between all the rooms. Do you mind spending a little more time showing all of them to us? I have an idea for a future stay here, and it may require larger spaces.”

“Very good, Ms. Powers,” Dion agreed and smiled. Tommy eyed me skeptically, but brought my hand up to kiss it, so I was guessing he trusted me. In the meantime, this tour was interesting and informative. We headed up to the executive suite which he explained was where many top business travelers tend to request for meetings and office needs as well as sleeping accommodations.

The terrace suite had me intrigued. The views out on the terrace were lovely and the furniture was comfortable. If staying someplace where there was much to see, this was going to be my choice if I had the means to do it for sure. I thought he was just about done when we got up to the penthouse suite. I felt like I was visiting the set of Pretty Woman. It was quite similar. It turned out, however, he had one more suite to show us.

“Finally, the last suite on our tour,” Dion informed us and motioned for us to enter once we’d gotten to the special floor. “The Presidential suite is exclusively for our most esteemed guests. You’ll see that it is top notch with all the amenities and then some, and often, there is an option to buy out the entire floor. There are ten rooms on the floor as well as the suite.”

“Oh, this is totally what I was thinking about when I saw the penthouse suite, only better!” I exclaimed and held Tommy’s arm as I jumped before heading into the elevator. I dug into my purse to grab one of my business cards to give to Dion. “Dion, may I ask? Would you email me the requirements, price details, and amenity options for the executive suites and higher, especially for the Presidential suite and entire floor? I’m the Event Coordinator and Marketing Executive with BMB, and I think we might have an event which would make both your hotel and those in our company very happy.”

“Oh, it would be my pleasure as it has been to give you this tour, Ms. Powers,” Dion told me and then turned to Tommy. “Mr. Parker, I want to thank you again for contacting us, and I do hope you will be booking a room for a few nights during Christmas week. It would be our honor to have you staying here as guests.” Tommy nodded.

“Let me talk to my girl, and I’ll be in touch,” Tommy told him. “Now, where did she go?” He looked around as he’d said it once we were on the main floor again. I rolled my eyes and tried to take my hand away. Tommy looked down at my hand and then up at my face. “Well, there you are! We were just talking about you!”

I looked at Dion and shook my head. “You’ve been wonderful. Not only will I not judge you for rolling your eyes at his attempt at humor, but I might even be more willing to toss you some more business for your honesty.” I winked at him and turned to look at Tommy. “Let’s go book our stay, Mr. Parker.”

“Yes, dear,” Tommy told me and kissed my temple as he wrapped his arm around my waist. We went to the reception area and stepped up to arrange our stay. Tommy surprised me and asked for three nights in a deluxe suite for the two dates we’d agreed upon plus one more. He gave his credit card for the reservation and took the paperwork. Soon, we were headed home. We got to the shop so I could get my car. I cupped his face and told him I’d see him in the morning. He kissed me deeply and held me to himself. I know he wanted to stay again, but we needed a break. I needed a break.

“See you then,” he repeated and kissed me again.

I went home and wrapped the gifts I had purchased and set them under the tree. The remaining three were already ready to be ordered online. I was holding off until I knew for sure those three items were either not available to find in a store or could be replaced with something else to give to their recipients. After the trip to the mall, I knew they were the right purchases, so I went to my computer and placed the orders.

I ate a small salad for dinner and called Jen. Boy, did she hear all about Dougie’s frustration with me about outing his relationship status. Jen and I laughed and laughed about the whole thing once I had filled her in as to why I had done such a thing. She agreed that my revenge was quite deserved.

We talked a little about the St. Nick gift and that led into a whole play-by-play of what Tommy and I had done from the beginning of our relationship to the plans for Christmas week at the hotel. Jen had known a little of the “this and that,” but she’d had no idea we’d done as much as we had. When she asked how I felt, I had to admit to her that I was feeling a little conflicted. What was supposed to be fun and entertaining, not to mention totally unexpected to begin with, was going deeper and more serious than I had planned.

“What are you going to do?”

“Well, it’s been fun, and I’m having a good time, so I’m going with it. Tommy has a track record of three-to-four-month relationships, so I’ll ride this one out and see what happens. I’m a grown-up, and so is he. Besides, you know I made that decision over a year ago…”

“Oh, here we go again,” Jen interrupted and sighed loudly. “Trinity, have you considered that he might be the one you’re supposed to be with? I realize that you’re being the better person in your head, but I have to be honest with you. You’re being unfair to him and to yourself.”

“Did you just call me by my full name?”

“That’s what you got out of what I just said?” Jen asked incredulously. “Tippy! You’re in denial!”

“Jen, I’m guessing you and Dougie have discussed this, and I’d like to ask you two to stop it, or at least don’t bring me into what you two think. I’m an adult and can make my own decisions. Tommy has never been married or had a family of his own and deserves that. In the meantime, I’m going to enjoy the time I have with him and show him a good time in the process. When the right one comes along, I’ll step aside. It’s not how I saw it happening, but it is what it is. I have to go. Miss you; love you.”

“Tippy, wait…” Jen shouted, but I hung up on her. I couldn’t talk anymore. I had begun crying and didn’t know why. Or, well, OK, I knew why. I didn’t want to admit it to myself. I decided 7:30PM was late enough for bedtime, so I locked up and turned out the lights and went to bed. I finally stopped crying at about 8PM and must have been asleep by 8:30PM. At least the missed call and a note from Tommy told me so. I had left my phone in the kitchen. When I didn’t answer, he had come over to check on me. He found me asleep, so he left me a note letting me know he’d stopped by. He’d hoped to have me over to play games with his family. A very last-minute idea. He assured me there would be others.

I pushed aside my sad feelings Saturday morning while I showered. I had decided that they had no place in my life for the time being, so as I washed my body, I imagined all the negative feelings running down the drain along with the soapy bubbles. It was all about visualization.

The upcoming calendar of plans kept me busy as I began choosing the activities we might do. When I opened my email, I was pleased to see all the information I needed for my presentation in case the Presidential Suite event could actually happen. Now that I had an in with Dion at the hotel, I imagined having access to such a suite and the whole floor could make for a great wedding idea, should that time ever come. I rolled my eyes. Wedding. Yeah, right. That didn’t keep me from imagining Tommy and me exchanging cake at a reception before I shook my head to snap myself out of the idea. I was my own worst enemy, I was sure of it.

“Cake?” Tommy asked when he got to the top of the stairs and walked into mine and Dougie’s office.

“What?” I asked harshly.

“Whoa, pretty lady,” Tommy replied hesitantly and put out his hands. “What’s up? I was just asking if you wanted to go get some cake from the breakroom.”

I turned to look at Dougie. My heart rate was off the charts as I swore Tommy could read my mind which had me freaking out a bit. “Occasionally, Dad gets a hankering for something sweet, and since Michelle won’t let him have too much sugar at home, he gets it for work to lead the rest of us into temptation,” Dougie explained. “Once a month or so.”

“Uh, no, I’m good,” I answered back to Tommy.

“Well, let me get out of your way,” Dougie suggested and left the office to head for the breakroom.

“What’s up, babe?” Tommy asked as he took Dougie’s seat. “You’re kinda jumpy. Are you not feeling well? Is that why you were in bed so early yesterday? I was worried. I hoped you didn’t mind me letting myself in to check on you.”

“No, it’s fine,” I told him and worked on breathing normally. “Go get your cake. I’m finishing up with the spreadsheets with all the options for next year. I wish he’d give me a budget. I’d hate to lowball our options. Worse case? I guess we can cut out one or two if I go overboard. This coming year will be a learning year, I guess.”

“You’re a smart girl,” Tommy assured me. “I’ll see you later.” He kissed me on top of my head and headed out.

On Sunday afternoon, Jen called me. I hesitantly took the call and sat on my couch. I had just turned on my Christmas tree lights and the fireplace. I had made myself promise to enjoy every part of my house, and on each Sunday since I’d moved in, I made sure to go over the wonderful features of my new place and put them into practice if they hadn’t been used since the prior weekend.

“Hi, Jen,” I greeted her quietly.

“Oh, Tippy!” Jen cried and sighed. “I’m so sorry we ended things like that Friday night! I’m just worried about you, but you’re right, honey. It’s your life, and you’re not cheating on anyone or being the other woman. You’re not sleeping around or joining a convent either. It’s not right of me to be upset or argue with you about your choices based on what could be.

“And you have a point, Tippy. If he doesn’t say ‘I love you’ ever to anyone, and if he hasn’t said it to you yet, who’s to say he will? Maybe this is all fun for him too. So,” she said with a loud sigh I was sure she hadn’t meant to be so dramatic, “I will keep my opinions to myself and listen to the details you choose to share with me without judgment. I’m so sorry.”

“Thanks, Jen, and I appreciate that you took the time to deduct the things I am not doing in order to realize that my decisions are mine to make,” I offered. “And I believe I owe it to you to admit that I cried for a half hour after our call and fell asleep only to miss Tommy’s call to invite me over to play cards. He came by to check on me when I didn’t answer. I think he definitely likes me.”

“There’s a hot chance that he does, Tippy,” Jen agreed. “Now, I need to tell you something that won’t necessarily take away from the mood but will give you a chance to judge me for a change.”

“Why would you want to share something like that with me? Why? Wait, what did you do?” I gasped. “Jen! Did you mess around on Dougie?”

“What? No! I haven’t slept with Dougie, for one,” she justified. “But, um, you know how I’m not a virgin, right?”

“Yeah, of course,” I told her. We told each other mostly everything.

“Well, it’s basically just been two guys, you know? Um, Dan Quinlan was my first which was a few times and over. The other one has been on and off for years. That’s kinda the part that I don’t really tend to share with anyone, really. Um, yeah, so the thing is, it doesn’t mean anything.”

“OK,” I said with interest.

“It’s just sex, you know? Like, we don’t even really kiss,” she explained. “It’s a scratch for an itch.”

“Please tell me you didn’t do that since meeting Dougie,” I begged.

“No, no,” Jen answered quickly. “Actually, the last time we did it was the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. As soon as I met Doug on FaceTime Wednesday afternoon and later that Wednesday night when we talked again, I knew it was over with the guy. I called and told him we had to stop. He was fine with it because we’d agreed years earlier that it was just meant to be for fun, and when it wasn’t fun anymore or would interfere with things, we’d stop then and there, no hard feelings. I called and told him about Dougie, and he told me he was happy for me, wished me well, and that was the end of it.”

“So, are you going to tell me who it was?”

“Yep, and I hope you’ll understand.” She paused for almost too long. “Um, it was Steve.”

“Steve?”

“Yeah,” she answered quietly.

“Steve who?”

“What?”

“Steve who, Jen?” I asked. We knew lots of Steves. Steve Jenkins, a guy from our science classes. Steve Kevas, a guy Mark and I worked with at the supermarket where we’d met. Funny story about him. Mark was actually asked to get my number for Steve so that Steve could ask me out. Mark shared that with me after we had gotten married. And Steve turned out to be a drug addict. I’d heard he’d sobered up and was doing well. I was happy for him. There was Steve, my brother. Steve Greenbriar, another police officer on the same force as Dan Quinlan.

I gasped. “Oh, man! Steve Greenbriar? You sure have a thing for cops, Jen.”

“Um, no,” Jen said quietly. “Not Steve Greenbriar.”

“Jen! Why the weirdness! Who?”

“Your brother, Tippy,” she said with a bit of frustration. “I’ve been regular sex buddies with your brother. And while it was enjoyable, I always kinda felt guilty about it because we never told you. And when Mark and the girls died, he was staying with you all that time, but sometimes, well, I’d come over, and we’d do it in his room. I’m sorry. I’m, I’m really sorry.”

I wasn’t sure what to say. Steve and Jen? Well, I couldn’t say that I didn’t see it because they were often laughing and talking easily enough. But sex? Hot butt naked sex that meant nothing? Was I mad at her for not having feelings for him? Was I mad at him for not having feelings for her? Was I mad at all? They were clearly being careful. They were responsible and would have done the right thing if something had happened, I supposed. Huh, to be honest, I was more curious how it was. Oh, ew. Maybe not. That is my brother.

“Huh, I never knew,” I said rather nonchalantly. “Putting aside who it was, can I just ask? Was it good?”

“Super hot, but not intimate,” she answered. “Does that make sense? But I don’t want you to think I was using him or that he was using me.”

“Um…”

“OK, that’s basically what it was, but we were safe, I promise. And it was entirely mutual,” she justified.

“Uh, alright,” I responded.

“Tippy? You, um, OK?”

“Yep,” I answered honestly. “I’m good. Babe, I’m really good. I think I’m going to call Tommy. This conversation has me feeling a little, um, friendlier than normal.”

“Oh, OK,” Jen answered. “I’ll, um, I’ll talk to you later.”

“Yep,” I promised. “Bye.”

Sunday, December 11 7:31PM

(me): “Hey, got plans? You wouldn’t want to come hang tonight, would you?”

Tommy: ‘No plans. Overnight?”

(me): “You decide.”

Tommy: “Be there in 15.”

I sat back on the floor with my back against the chair as I had with Tommy the first night my tree was up. I had diet soda in a wine glass and jazzy classic Christmas songs playing on the speaker. The main lights were off so that I could enjoy the Christmas ones as well as the fire crackling in the fireplace. I heard Tommy pull into the garage, and when he got to the door, he let himself in.

I didn’t look back or say anything. I sat and leaned forward when he got closer to me to hint that I wanted him to sit behind me. He sat down on the floor and wrapped his arms around me. I put my head back and rested it on his chest. Yep, I was definitely a fan of this. I was definitely a fan of him.

“Hi,” he whispered in my ear. “I’ve missed you.”

“Hi,” I whispered back. “Me too. You know, since yesterday.”

“Over 24 hours, Trin. That’s a long time when I’m used to sharing a bed with you. Sleeping alone isn’t my favorite. You know, when it was the only way I had preferred to sleep for the last 28 years.”

“Things change,” I acknowledged and shrugged. “Like this. I was never used to cuddling or dancing or enjoying Christmas decorations together.” I smiled. “Or having random orgasms or giving hand and oral pleasure or kissing for hours on end…” I continued and then trailed off.

“Some changes are very good,” he responded and used his finger to turn my face and brought his lips down onto mine. There it was. Mmm. And that was basically how we spent the rest of the evening. We headed to my bedroom after a few hours of admiring the tree and the fire, enjoying the dark room, and passionately making out.

We did our usual “get ready for bed” routine, and it was like we were used to doing that together. Alright, who was I kidding? We were quite familiar with the routine. Anyway, we went to bed and did our backrubs which we hadn’t done in a while. It felt magical. We went to sleep wrapped up with one another and might have forgotten to turn on the alarm for work the next day.

At 8AM, I woke up naturally and headed for the bathroom. When I came back, I happened to look at the clock. I about screamed. OK, I did scream.

“Tommy! We didn’t set an alarm! It’s 8AM!”

Tommy stirred, opened one eye, shook his head, and covered his face with a pillow. “Ugh, I don’t want to work today. Let’s call in.”

“Tommy!” I argued and picked up my phone.

“Hi, Tom,” I greeted my boss. “Um, we’re going to be late.”

“Trin!” Tom answered with an unnecessarily but overdramatically chipper tone. “How are you this morning? You sound like you’ve just woken up! Late night? Everything OK, I hope.”

“I didn’t set the alarm,” I admitted. “I’m sorry. We can be in by 9AM.”

“No worries,” Tom responded and laughed. “First time for everything. Don’t break any speed limits to get here. I can’t promise there won’t be looks though, Trin. Gotta own up to it. Just saying.”

“Fair enough,” I conceded and hung up the phone. No shower that morning. I hurried to do my bathroom stuff, got dressed, and threw a pillow which had fallen to the floor at Tommy before running out to the kitchen to grab stuff for breakfast and lunch. I gave up on breakfast. If we hurried, we could pick up coffee and food on the way there. Maybe we could order lunch too. Ugh.

Tommy came walking out ready for work and seemed as relaxed as a napping cat. I rolled my eyes and motioned for him to follow me. “We’ll have to stop for breakfast and order lunch. I don’t have time to put it together. I’ll pick up breakfast. You order lunch. Sound good?”

“Got it,” he told me as he shut and locked my front door. “See you there. Drive safely.” He walked me to my door, kissed me, and waited for me to leave before he got in his truck to follow me out. He’d still get to work before me.

I walked in and dropped off Tommy’s breakfast and coffee at his workbench before heading up to my office. I tried to not make any eye contact with anyone. Then I heard Tom yell. “Trinity! Get in here!” I rolled my eyes and set my stuff down quickly on my desk before I headed down the hall to Tom’s office. I walked in and shut the door. Tommy was sitting in one of the chairs.

“Sit down,” Tom instructed and pointed at the empty chair. I sat down but kept eye contact on him. I had called and let him know right away. I wasn’t going to be further bullied for being late. It was an accident and quite a rare occurrence. He needed to give me a break.

“It’s one thing to come in late,” he began in a much quieter tone, “but to grab breakfast and not get me anything is unforgivable! Come on, Trin! You were doing so good!” I opened my eyes wide, and my mouth followed suit.

“Are you kidding me?” I asked incredulously.

“Absolutely,” he said and laughed quietly. “But I can’t have you two showing up late without giving the guys a good yell about it. So just sit here for a few minutes, storm out of here, and when you order lunch because I’m sure you couldn’t put anything together in your frenzied state,” he noted as he lifted his coffee cup to his mouth, drank, then continued, “count me in. What are we getting?”

“I’ll come get your order,” Tommy told him and sighed.

“Before you leave, tell me something,” Tom inquired. “What happened? You guys have been so good about it.”

“I didn’t set my alarm,” I admitted. “Honest mistake.”

“So, if Tommy hadn’t stayed over, you still might have woken up late?” Tom asked.

“I have no idea,” I answered honestly. “I do apologize, but it was, like I told you, an honest mistake. Now, I’m going to walk out of here and show remorse for the sake of the guys, but that’s the end of it. And Tommy and I have not had sex. I know you’re itching to know what we’re doing. Not that,” I reiterated. I turned to Tommy. “Sorry, but I want to make sure he knows that it’s not the reason we were late or why we’re together so much.” I reached out to touch Tommy’s hand. “We just really enjoy each other’s company.”

“Oh, you two, get a room,” Tom badgered and made a gagging sound.

“I literally just told you…” I argued.

“Oh, quiet, girl,” Tom insisted and shook his head. “Get back to work.”

“Yes, sir,” Tommy and I both told him and fake saluted. Tom rolled his eyes. When Tommy opened the door, he began yelling.

“Yes, it won’t happen again!” Tommy wailed. “I said I was sorry!”

I decided to keep my mouth shut and walked to my office after Tommy led the way down the hall and headed downstairs.

“Nobody believes you two got into trouble, you know,” Dougie told me when I had sat down. “We heard him taking your call this morning. He was dramatically loud for all of us to hear. He even pointed at the phone to show us that you were calling.”

“Of course, he did,” I said sarcastically. “Well, on that note, I’ll be going back to work now.”

“Trin?”

“Yes, Dougie,” I answered in defeat.

“Good morning,” he said cheerfully.

“Hi there,” I said back. “How was your weekend?”

“Boring,” he responded. “Life sucks without a girlfriend who lives here. Once you sleep with someone, and I mean sleep, it’s lonely without them here. Who knew two nights could have that much of an effect?”

“Aw, I totally get it, Dougie,” I told him sympathetically. “And not just because of Tommy.”

“Oh, my God, Trin,” Dougie said quickly. “That was so insensitive of me.”

“What? Oh, no, Dougie,” I answered and shook my head. “I wasn’t even thinking about Mark. I mean, that was difficult, but more recently, nights without a special warm body next to you are difficult when you get used to them, especially someone you are quite fond of. I know you’re looking forward to Christmas.”

“More than you know,” he confessed. “But get this,” he added. “Dad and Michelle are going to the family cabin Christmas week. I’ll basically have the house to myself because Georgie will most likely be at her best friend’s house.”

“Well, that’s fantastic,” I told him and smiled. “Having the house to yourself is awesome.” I turned and smiled. “You have a fireplace in the room with the Christmas tree, right?” Dougie nodded with a questionable look. “When she gets here, spend some time with the lights off, the Christmas tree lights on, and the fireplace going. It does wonders for the mood.”

“You have a fireplace, and your tree is… oh,” Dougie mentioned and then realized why I was saying it. “Good to know. Hey, uh, I kinda don’t want to know, but I do. Is the sex good?”

“Don’t know,” I answered and turned in my swivel chair to face him. “Still haven’t. And you know what? I think that’s making it even better.”

“Still think you’re sticking with that decision you made?” Dougie asked and tilted his head with a sad face.

“Until we reach month four or five or he tries to drop the ‘L-word,’ I’m not going to worry about it,” I said almost believably. I put up my hand when he opened his mouth again. “Agree to disagree, please.”

“OK, but be careful, Trin,” Dougie suggested before I could stop him. “I’m not only worried about his heart. I’m worried about yours too.”

“Yes, Dougie, and I appreciate that.” We ended it at that and went back to work.

Tommy ordered lunch and we sat in Tom’s office enjoying our food together and laughing about that morning’s ordeal. I asked about his trip with Michelle, and he and Tommy tag teamed in telling me about the family cabin. I smiled to myself when Tom insisted Tommy consider bringing me up there sometime to see it. That’s when Tommy decided to share that we were staying at the hotel for three nights after Christmas.

That evening, I went to visit Jeremy. We talked and laughed. I updated him on the TipTop show which had him pumped and asking for more.

“So, Christmas week in a hotel, huh?” Jeremy asked. “Will that be the time then?”

“I think he’s thinking that, but I have a different plan.”

“When?

“I was thinking Christmas Eve after all festivities are done,” I confessed. “We haven’t talked about it. I just want to keep it to myself for now. Pact, Jer. I want to make it special, memorable.”

“Any time with you is going to be that, Trin,” Jeremy answered quietly. “But he’ll appreciate the effort. Is that his Christmas present?”

“No, of course not,” I replied and sat back. “It’s going to happen eventually, but that’s not how I see it. ‘Here, let me place a bow on my naked body,'” I mocked. “‘Ta-da!'” I shook my head. “No, a Christmas gift shows the recipient how much they mean to you and means to make the person happy. I don’t see making love to Tommy as a Christmas thing. I see it as a life thing.”

“Life?”

“The only reason I’m thinking Christmas Eve is because of the time we’ve been together and the circumstances. I feel like we’ve been building to this from the beginning of November to now. If it had been May or June, I’d probably have wanted to make it the Fourth of July.”

“That’s a load of considerations for someone you’re just having fun with,” Jeremy pointed out and watched my face.

“It has been fun,” I verified. “And I plan to continue to have fun. Like I told Jen and Dougie, until months 4 or 5 roll around or if he suddenly shocks me with the ‘L-word,’ I’m not going to worry about things. I’m enjoying the memories we’re making. I’m utilizing the time I have with this great guy so that when that special one finally comes around, maybe he can show her the good time I showed him, and they can have that together along with all the firsts.”

“I don’t know how you do it,” Jeremy shared.

“How I do what?”

“Say things like that without showing the emotion you must feel in your heart, in your head, and in the pit of your stomach,” Jeremy clarified. “But you’ve made your intentions known, and he’s happy, so I won’t say anything more about it. I couldn’t do it. I just want you to be careful, Trin. And I’m not even talking about him. I’m talking about you. I fear that you’re going to get in too deep and then freeze, freak out, and end things abruptly which will cause a whole lot of hurting hearts around here.”

Mic drop. For not saying anything else, he sure said a few more things that cut to the core. Shit. “Thanks, you know, for not saying those things,” I said sarcastically. “Well, on that note, I’m going to go. Maybe on Wednesday, we can talk about something else? You know, like how I eat my food wrong or drive too aggressively or don’t clean my house enough. See you later, Jer.”

“Trin,” Jeremy whispered, but I didn’t turn back. I didn’t want to hear his apologies or anything else which would make me feel bad. I walked out. It hadn’t occurred to me that I was sitting with a dying man and that it could have been my last visit. I’m happy to say it wasn’t, but one thinks those things when one leaves a house angrily and comes to her senses while driving home.

Then I worried that he whispered because he was taking his last breath because that’s what one does when one overthinks. This one needed a bath. And I relaxed almost as soon as I realized that I had passed his sister in the hallway, and she’d been carrying something to bring to Jeremy, so he would have been fine. Ugh. Maybe a bath bomb and some diet soda in a wine glass again would help.

Wednesday, I went to work and did my usual stuff. Dougie leaned back when I was being quiet and asked me if I was going to visit Jeremy that afternoon as usual. I told him that it was my plan. He didn’t respond so I assumed he was just asking since it was only the third week of my visits. Then I got in my head again and began working up the good, old anxiety.

“Wait, why? Does he not want me to come visit? Did he tell you about our last visit? Is he mad? Maybe I shouldn’t go. Oh, crap.”

“Trin?”

“Who knew a decision I’d made months before I even came here would affect so many people! This is crazy. Maybe I should just never talk about it again.”

“Trin?”

“‘What’s going to happen with Tommy?’ they’ll ask. ‘I don’t know. I guess we’ll see,’ will be my response from now on. Very nonchalant. Very noncommittal.”

“Trin?”

I inhaled deeply and let out my breath slowly. I was so worked up. “Excuse me,” I whispered and walked out of the office, grabbing my coat just in time to realize I’d made the decision to walk outside. I quickly made my way out the door and ran to the side of the building where there was a picnic table. I sat down and put my head in my hands. I didn’t smoke but could suddenly feel what a relief it would be to do something which would calm my nerves. I blew out air and watched the white cloud exit my mouth. Cold had that effect too, only not with any drugs involved.

“Um, you don’t smoke,” Dougie told me as he must have watched me blow out the cloud. “Please don’t start now. Where is it?”

“It was air, Dougie,” I told him and blew out a hefty amount of air again. “I was thinking about taking it up though. Yet another life choice for people to criticize, I guess, huh?”

“Please tell me you’re joking,” Dougie said and sighed as he got up onto the table and sat next to me. Now, he had the whole table, but he’d insisted on sitting directly next to me, requiring me to scoot over. I huffed and moved over so he could sit with me.

“You know I wouldn’t do that,” I told him as I sat back with my weight on my arms as I let the sun shine down onto my face while I stared up with my eyes closed. I let out another large breath of air and shook my head a little.

“Can I say a few things without you interrupting?”

“Sure,” I answered defeatedly. I didn’t have it in me to argue with anyone else about my thoughts anymore.

“I asked if you were going to visit Jeremy because he mentioned your discussion on Monday and told me he was worried you wouldn’t want to visit him anymore. He was really upset, but not at you. He’s upset with himself. He knows he overstepped and feels awful about it.”

I stayed quiet. I wasn’t sure if he had more to add. I knew Dougie’s opinions on the matter were much like those of Jeremy, so if he wanted to have his say, now was the time. But he didn’t. He just sat there and stayed quiet with me. I don’t know how long we were out there, but someone must have noticed we were gone. We heard a guy calling for us from the front of the building.

“The troops were sent to find us, I guess,” I noted and nudged Dougie.

“They’re always watching,” he teased and groaned as he sat up and got down off the table. He extended his hand to me to help me down and wrapped his arm around me “Go visit him after work.”

“I will,” I responded and nodded. “Thanks, Dougie.”

“Thanks for the break, Trin,” he told me as he rounded the corner.

“There you are,” Joe told us and pointed at me. “Tommy was about ready to send out a search party.”

“Last I knew, we were allowed a smoke break,” I claimed and winked at Dougie before heading back into the building.

“She smokes?” I heard Joe ask Dougie. Dougie laughed.

“That girl is full of surprises,” Dougie responded. I made a quick trip to Tommy’s workstation as I took off my coat.

“Hey,” Tommy greeted me and wrapped his arm around me. “Where’d you go?”

“Out to the picnic table to get some air,” I answered and put my arm around his waist. “Oh, about that. You might hear a rumor that I smoke. It’s not true, unless smoking is blowing out the air in my own lungs to create a cloud of white in front of my face. Besides, you would have smelled it on me.”

“I don’t judge, but I’m not a fan.”

“I figured. Anyway, I’m headed back upstairs. Just wanted to make sure you knew where I was since I heard you thought about sending a search party.”

“What? No, I didn’t,” Tommy answered with a confused look. “Who said that?” I turned and stood in front of him.

I rolled my eyes. “I’m guessing Joe was trying to get a rise out of me. You must have only noticed the coat when I walked in. I guess teasing the couple on site comes with the territory. I’ll see you later.” I turned to walk away.

“Tell Jeremy I said ‘hello.'”

“You know I will,” I called back to him as I got to the stairs.

“Knock, knock,” I said quietly as I made my way into Jeremy’s room. “I hear you’re looking for visitors this evening. I didn’t bring the flashy clubwear, but I did bring…” I said and took a single piece of pie we both loved (based on a prior getting-to-know-you conversation), “a peace offering,” I finished and pointed at the label on top of it. I had grabbed a blank quote sticker and written the words “piece offering” before sticking it onto the pie.

I set my coat and purse on the extra chair and stood before the bed.

“Get over here,” Jeremy instructed and had me sit down on the bed with him. He pulled me into a hug and held me tightly. “I’m so sorry,” he whispered and sighed.

“Me too,” I responded and cried because I always cry. I sat back, laughed, wiped away my tears and held up two forks. “Now, let’s decimate this thing.”

“I’m glad you came back,” Jeremy told me as he took a bite.

“I’m glad you wanted me to,” I answered and took my own bite. When I finished chewing, I smiled at him. “It’d be a shame if we ended a good friendship before we really stirred up some drama, right? I think we have a few more things to talk about. Besides, I really don’t feel like being bored all seven evenings each week. Mondays and Wednesdays are quickly becoming two of my favorites.”

“I’ll take the credit for one and a half of them,” Jeremy claimed, “but Tommy gets Thursday as top mark, and the rest of Wednesday, I’m sure.”

“Well, yep,” I agreed. “Sorry, Jer.”

“Why are you sorry?” Jeremy asked and made a silly sound mocking me. “If it wasn’t for those two days and the rest of the unexpected times you two have together, I’d be bored with your everyday mundane life crap to share. Nah, I prefer the ‘Tommy did this,’ and ‘I did that,’ exciting stuff. You two are hot stuff. It’s fun to hear about.”

“Alright, well, since nothing happened since Monday morning though, I don’t have more in that department to share,” I confessed. “How about we talk about something entirely different?”

For the rest of the two hours which I spent with him, we laughed and shared and talked freely and with much more friendly tones than the Monday before. I left just before 7PM and texted Tommy that I was leaving Jeremy’s house and would be home by 7:30PM. I wanted to stop at the store first.

I picked up a few things I had needed to restock and then also grabbed a small box of popsicles. I was pulling into the garage when I noticed Tommy’s truck was already backed into his spot. I grabbed my stuff and walked into my house to find Tommy setting dinner on the table.

“You didn’t eat, did you?”

“No,” I answered as I looked in amazement at the spread. It wasn’t a lot, but it was dinner for two, and all foods which I loved.

“Good. I thought we could have dinner together and then sit by the fire and repeat Sunday night.”

“I was thinking about repeating last Thursday night, but sure. Sunday night works too.”

“Wait, what?” Tommy asked and stopped moving. “Desserts?”

“Hey, hey,” I said calmly and quietly. “We could combine them and make it special for tonight, right? Dessert will be something different than before. And I would love to enjoy the fire with you.”

“Promise?”

“Definitely,” I told him and put the few items I’d gotten in their spots before placing the shopping bag back into my purse to return to my car. “Now, what brought this on?”

“I was hungry and decided to head straight over after the gym. Well, I stopped to get a few things. I knew you had some of what we needed. So, I parked, let myself in, and went to work. It was perfect too,” he told me as he pulled out my chair for me to sit down. “You texted saying you’d be home at 7:30PM, and that was about when I had thought I’d have everything ready.”

I used my finger to motion for him to come closer and wrapped my arms around his neck. “This is amazing,” I said lovingly. “Compliments to the chef. And what a nice surprise,” I added.

“You ain’t seen nothing yet,” he promised and leaned down to kiss me. I held him tightly causing him to turn his head and kiss me deeply. “Mmm,” he moaned and kissed me again with little kisses when we’d finished the passionate one. “Come on,” he said as he backed away. “Let’s eat. I’m hungry.”

We ate and shared about our day and his workout and my visit with Jeremy. We did the dishes together and cleaned up the kitchen before settling ourselves on the couch in the living room.

“Hey, I have a question,” Tommy said to me as we sat and cuddled together. “Were you drinking wine the other night? I thought you said you don’t drink.”

“No, I hardly ever do. And I don’t like wine.” I thought about his question. What? Oh! Diet soda in the wine glass. “Oh!” I exclaimed. “I sometimes drink diet soda in the wine glasses I bought for a wedding shower I threw for a friend years ago. Her girlfriends brought wine, and I didn’t want to be that silly newlywed who didn’t have wine glasses for the wine they’d brought to have at it since I’d indicated that I didn’t know the first thing about drinking.”

“Ah, I see.”

“So, sometimes, like Sunday night, I’ll pour the diet soda in the glass to make myself feel like I’m doing something classy. I was sitting in front of the tree with jazz music playing and a fire burning. It just seemed appropriate. I did the same thing Monday night when I came home to take a nice, hot bath. Candles, bath bomb, music, diet soda in my wine glass.”

“Aw! Why wasn’t I invited?”

“Because I know what it would have led to. Besides, I like my tub, but I’m not sure it’s meant for two.”

“The one in the deluxe suite is,” he shared and kissed my neck. I moved my head to invite him to continue sharing his kisses with me. Before long, we were lying on the couch making out and hungrily grabbing for shirts to come off.

“Back rubs tonight?” he asked as we slowed down and got comfortable in the horizontal embrace in which we’d found ourselves.

“Sure, but I want to share dessert first, if that’s OK.”

“What did you get for dessert this time?”

“Are you ready to find out?” I asked and kissed his cheek before getting up to turn off the fireplace, turn off the Christmas tree lights, and lock the front door. I went to the fridge and grabbed a double red popsicle and a bowl. We entered the bedroom, and I watched in amazement as he walked over to my closet to get the sheet to cover my bed. I was almost certain we weren’t living together, but he could have fooled anyone who had been watching him. He just fits here.

“Look at you being all knowledgeable about where things are,” I teased.

“Knowledgeable, excited,” he said and shrugged with a smirk. “You know. Now, do I have time to change into my shorts?”

“As much time as it takes me to get into mine,” I offered and walked toward my dresser.

“Sexy panties again?”

“Won’t matter,” I hinted. “Not tonight.”

“I still like to look at them,” he argued. “Ugh, fine,” he resigned. “How come you get to decide?”

“I’m not about to make a baby tonight, Tommy,” I justified. “The app decided. Or Mother Nature. Whatever.”

I knew I was going to be sharing the app with him. I already had my username, password, and the app name written down on a card that I was giving him at the work Christmas party coming up next Friday. It was one of his Christmas gifts. I would give it to him on the 23rd, and then on the 24th when he came over after festivities, we’d presumably make love for the first time in front of the fireplace on a bed I was making up earlier that day since I had no plans. That was assuming everything worked out.

“Don’t get me wrong, Trinity,” Tommy begged as he came out of the bathroom and turned out the light. “I have been enjoying everything we’ve been doing. I can’t wait to see what you have in store for dessert. But I’ve wanted you, like all of you, since we met.”

“Mutual,” I confessed, “but the other fun stuff is worth it, right? Like, tonight. I stopped and got some popsicles,” I told him as I opened the wrapper. “Did you want to go first, or would you like me to lead the way?”

“You go first and show me what you had in mind with it,” Tommy answered and groaned as he slid his hands up my sides and onto my bra straps. “Another hot one,” he noted. “Don’t get too close with that on. I don’t want you to ruin it.” He put his tongue on my cleavage and licked straight up to my neck and chin and then switched to put his mouth on mine. When we stopped kissing, I reached for the popsicle.

“I hope red is OK,” I teased and licked from the bottom of the icy treat straight up to the top.

“You’re something else,” Tommy accused and sat forward to pull me to him. I bit the top part (a half inch?) off the popsicle and set it back in the bowl. I figured if it melted, I or he could use the juice for later.

“Don’t you know that by now?” I teased and knelt in between his knees since he was on the edge of the bed. I leaned forward and held the cold piece between my teeth as I kissed, sucked, and ran the ice around his nipple.

“Mmm, Trin,” he moaned and held my head. “Remember, anything you do to me is fair game for your turn.” I chewed up the cherry treat quicky and resumed licking him until I decided to play around with him. I bit his nipple which made him gasp. I know he could feel my smile against his skin. I reached over and took another bite and went back to work.

“Hey, why don’t you point to where you want me to put it and lick it off?” I requested. I watched him point to his shorts and then raised his eyebrows a few times. I burst out laughing. Then I began coughing on the cherry icy treat in my mouth. I was still laughing but coughing too. Tommy freaked out, dropped to the floor, and patted my back softly to make sure I wasn’t actually choking on it.

“Babe! Oh my gosh! Don’t do that!” he said with concern and covered his heart with his hand. “Oh, Trin. Freaking A! You scared me to death!”

When I finally finished coughing, I reached over to get my bottle of water from my table. I took a short swig, covered it, and placed it back in its spot. “Sorry, sorry,” I responded and wrapped my arms around him. “That you’re so concerned about me is so sweet though. Come here,” I told him and put my hands around him and behind his head. “So sweet,” I whispered and squeezed him.

He pulled back from me and cupped my cheeks. “I don’t know what I’d do if I lost you, Trinity,” he replied seriously. “Ever, babe. I swear my heart’s still beating all fast.”

I put his hand on my heart. “Still beating, sweetheart,” I told him and slid my other hand up behind his head. “I’m not going anywhere.”

“Promise?”

“Promise to keep up with these exciting nights with you?” I asked and guffawed. I leaned in and put my lips near his. “Heck yeah,” I whispered and played with his lips. Tommy pulled from me only to be able to stand up. He hurried to help me up off the floor and laid me back onto the sheet.

“How much more exciting can they get?” he asked and put his mouth against my ear. “I wonder,” he whispered and moved suddenly to bring me to a sitting position so we could face each other. “I want to taste you, Trin,” Tommy whispered against my ear. “I want to bring you to a fantastic orgasm. Me though. Not through clothes. Not with anything else. Let me taste you. I want to be the reason you have more of them, Trin.”

“Tom,” I breathed and pushed my ear to his mouth.

“Yes?” he asked. I nodded against his mouth. “Lie back, baby,” he requested and watched me get into position. Tommy moved to undress me slowly. First my bra came off, and then his mouth was on my breasts. He put his teeth around my nipple and tightened his bite enough to cause me to jump.

“Paybacks,” he teased and sucked in the nipple to relieve it from the pain of the bite. Holy crap, that was amazing. He did the same to the other nipple. First, he bit, and then he sucked it into his mouth. I was moaning at that point.

Tommy put his hands on my shorts and slid them down my legs slowly, almost torturously slowly. He kissed my hips, my waist, the tops of my legs, my knees, my shins, and the tops of my feet. When he moved back up to my panties, I was dizzy. I could feel the room starting to spin, and my breathing had sped up.

He put his hands on my waist and moved his mouth down to kiss along the seam of my panties. There was lace along the front design, and his mouth was on it. His fingers slid under the bands and began pulling down the fabric from my hips. Soon, I was naked under him. Tommy admired my special area before slipping his hands under my ass and bringing his mouth down to my mound.

His mouth was hot, and his tongue was fire. He had me reaching for the massive peaks of orgasmic bliss almost as soon as he began tasting me. I reached heights of glorious pleasure as I journeyed through the stages working my way toward my first orgasm from oral efforts. Soon, I was cresting on the edge of reason. I could sense it. I could feel it. I could almost, almost reach it. Then I knew it was there, and I was moments away from the real thing.

“Tom! Oh my God, Tom! Yes, yes, YES!” I screamed and bunched up the sheet in my hand and shook as I groaned through my orgasm. That glorious, ramped up, fantastic first orgasm through oral stimulation.

Tommy didn’t just stop. He slowed down and then kissed all around it. And then he went back in for more. A second attack if you will. At first, I was afraid I wasn’t going to be able to handle it. I thought I’d be too sensitive. But it was like he could read me. He went gently at first. He savored and tasted and relished all of me. Soon, I was mind blown when I could feel another orgasm surfacing. I couldn’t believe it. I had never, ever felt this kind of satisfaction before.

And then it hit me. An orgasm more intense and more beautiful than I’d ever felt in my life. I cried out and rode it for as long as it lasted. I was breathless. I was panting. I was gloriously spent. And while he wasn’t done kissing me, he appeared to be done with that area. I was nearly thankful for that. I didn’t think I could take another experience like it again.

Tommy kissed every part of my body within reach and then moved up slowly to take in my breasts again before heading back up to my neck, ears, and throat. Soon, he was hesitantly nearing my mouth. I understood the hesitation, but I needed to kiss him more than I was worried about tasting myself on his lips. I turned my head and reached up to bring his face to mine. I could taste something, but what I really wanted, I got. Tommy. His mouth, his lips, his tongue. I lifted my knees to hold him in place on top of me and rested my feet flat on the bed.

“Mmm,” I moaned and kissed him heartily. “So good, Tom,” I sighed. “So, so good. No, excellent. No, wait. Glorious. Holy crap, that was amazing.”

“For someone who hasn’t had them in that way, you sure seem to know how to respond to what I am doing,” Tommy acknowledged and smiled. “I’m so glad you liked that. And it was mutual. God, Trin. You are fantastic.”

“All I did was lie there,” I responded and laughed.

“Mmm-mmm,” he argued. “Receiving is more pleasurable, sure, but it takes skill in communicating during it too. You moved just enough to show me what you liked and wanted. Didn’t you notice that? And when you do that to me, you respond to me too.” Tommy sniffed a laugh and shrugged. “You’re just a natural.”

“With you, maybe,” I answered and sighed.

“Maybe we just work really well together,” Tommy countered. We sat up, and I looked over at the bowl.

“Oops. Cherry soup?” I asked. I carefully took the wrapper out of it and dropped it into the garbage. “Remind me to empty that before garbage day. Thankfully there’s a bag in it. Anyway, lie back, please.”

“Trinity, what are you doing?” he asked as he laid back and continued watching me. I picked up the bowl and brought it over to him. I then changed my mind.

“No, wait. Turn over, please.”

“Trinity,” he said warningly. “If any of the juice gets on the sheet, it’ll seep down onto your blankets.”

“I’ll be careful,” I promised and poured a small amount of the juice down his spine. I set the bowl down on the table quickly and leaned down to lick the juice starting at his lower back and collecting it all the way up to his upper back. I poured more. I licked up more. When there was only a tiny bit more, I asked him to roll over. I poured it down his chest and onto his stomach so that it pooled in his belly button. I licked down from his chest to his stomach, sucked up the pool and then knelt on the bed in front of him.

“Come with me,” I invited him and stood up off the bed and took his hand.

“Shower?”

“Shower,” I answered and helped him out of his shorts and boxers once the water had been turned on. “And maybe a little more,” I added and winked as I stepped into the tub. Tommy quickly followed.

“I’m just saying,” Tommy told me as we got dried off after a very pleasurable shower, “I don’t know why you thought you weren’t good at that. You said you felt like you weren’t very good at it and wished you could have received oral pleasure more. You’re phenomenal, first of all, and I’ll be happy to give it to you as often as you’d like.”

“OK, I guess I just didn’t see it as well-received before,” I clarified. “I guess because it didn’t seem to be wanted, I felt like I wasn’t good at it. But maybe because he didn’t want to reciprocate, he felt it wasn’t fair. I don’t know.”

“Well, I plan to communicate with you, Trinity,” Tommy resolved. “I want you to be able to talk to me. I want to talk to you. I want you to know how much I enjoy being with you in every way, and I want to know how you feel with me.”

“Right now?” I asked. Tommy nodded. “I like that I am comfortable being naked in front of you. And I feel tired, but not as much from a long day but from…”

“Being pleasured with two freakishly awesome orgasms?”

“That’s the one,” I agreed.

“Naked to bed?”

“Nope,” I answered and put my panties on. I smiled at him and cupped his cheek. “But just to clarify, it’s me I don’t trust, handsome man. Not you. I completely trust you.”

“You think I’m handsome?” Tommy smiled like he’d just discovered a secret.

“Oh, give me a break. I think I blush every time I look at you at work when the other guys are watching. I think I give away how I feel when someone simply says your name. It’s like when Boomer hears someone say ‘outside.’ I raise my head and my attention focuses entirely on the person talking about you.”

“Oh, thank God,” Tommy responded and brought me closer to him when he got settled in the bed. “I thought I was the only one of us who acted like that. Dad sees it more than anyone, or at least says more about it than anyone else does. He said your name to Michelle in the kitchen one day, and I came running from the living room thinking you’d stopped by.”

“How’d that go over?”

“They both laughed at me,” he admitted. “Thankfully, you texted me shortly after that and invited me over.” He brought me closer and held me to him to whisper in my ear. “And when I got here, you were sitting in front of the Christmas tree waiting for me to get here. That was the night we gave each other backrubs and then forgot to set the alarm. That, I think, is why Dad thought it was so funny that we showed up late the next morning.”