Aurelia, the Others, and Me Ch. 04

Short summary since it's been a while: Tom and Aurelia used to be best friends, and even dated in high school, sharing most of their first experiences until she dumped him. After a few years studying abroad, Tom is back in town, rekindling his friendship with Aurelia who now lives with her boyfriend, Finn.

Aurelia and I never spoke of that night again. I woke up alone on Marco's couch, the pillow still warm and her scent faint on the fabric. I figured that was it. That I'd never see her again.

But a few hours later, she showed up at my new place, hair tidy, blouse buttoned, glasses on. Back to her neat, picture-perfect girlfriend impression. She had the check for the deposit. And when the landlady insisted, she even agreed to sign the lease with me, leaving me confused but grateful.

Aurelia then spent the rest of the weekend helping me decorate, bossing me around, and bemoaning my lack of taste.

For the next few weeks, we went right back to where we were before our MDMA-fueled, lusty craze. We would spend most of our free time together, but come the evening, she'd bid me goodnight and dutifully return to her boyfriend, Finn.

We were getting better at being 'just friends.' But this did not stop the images from replaying in my mind. Aurelia's tangled red hair spilled over that stranger's thighs. Her hungry eyes when she knelt between my legs. The yelps she let out when my lips first touched her swollen pussy.

I tried not to spiral. Kept busy. Spent time with Marco and the old crew.

Bela's date ghosted her after she took my advice to sleep with him. She cut me off for a while, which stung more than I cared to admit.

Halfheartedly, I swiped through apps and went on a couple of dull dates.

I even ended up in bed once with a marketing student who insisted on keeping the lights off. That was the last one, for a while anyway.

One evening, Nat and I ended up getting dragged into a gym session with Aurelia. I was unable to come up with a convincing excuse, and Nat's fiancé was out of town.

"Fuck that," Nat grumbled, jumping off the treadmill. "This is so fucking stupid."

I chuckled, still amazed by how Nathalie Tran, usually so composed and serious, turned into a cranky teenager from even the lightest workout. It was a small miracle she managed to keep so trim despite that lack of predilection.

"Weights?" I offered. "Might be more fun?"

She puffed her cheeks, making her face look even rounder, and I followed behind her. Aurelia had disappeared for a water run, leaving us in the deserted gym. The reddish lights of the city's setting sun filtered from the wide windows, playing over the idle machines and giving the whole scene an eerie vibe.

Nat loaded some cable contraption and plopped down on the cushioned seat. I took the one across from her. We were not gym people.

"How's the job going?" she asked after a few clumsy chest flies.

"Shitty, as usual," I said, unable to try and spin my soul-sucking corporate consulting gig.

"You know, I get along with one of the back-office leads at my firm. I bet she could find something for you."

Nat dropped that so casually.

"Really?" I tried not to appear too desperate. "That'd be a huge step up."

"Come on," she smirked, happy to throw me off balance so easily. "Ivy League educated and a background in tech? She'd cream her pants."

We shared a stupid laugh. My startup's implosion had become common knowledge by now. Primarily thanks to Nat, who never failed to mention it when we ran into new people.

"Besides," she continued. "I know you're strapped for cash. You can be low-balled, and I'd get a juicy finder's fee."

"You should stop working out, Nat," I said in mock offense. "Makes you sound mean."

"I'll send her your info," she countered with a shit-eating grin.

Another set of unconvincing reps.

"You and Aurelia are spending a lot of time together, right?" Nat's tone had cooled, back to her cautious self. The question felt rehearsed.

"I guess..."

"She can't stop talking about you."

I swallowed hard.

"Yeah, well, she has a boyfriend."

Right as I said that, a light giggle ran through the empty gym. Aurelia emerged from a side corridor next to a tall gym bro, tank top, perfect hair, oversized muscles, and all. She just had a way of summoning these types wherever we went.

Her plastic bottle was still empty.

She doubled over his forearm from a joke we couldn't hear.

"And Finn's always at the top of her mind," Nat said, sounding snide.

I barely managed to follow our conversation for the next few minutes. My eyes kept darting to Aurelia and the handsome stranger as they worked out and flirted outrageously just a few machines away from us.

"She kept her ex-husband's last name," I dropped unprompted, leading Nat to shoot me a baffled look.

"Who? Aurelia?"

I gave her a short nod.

"Uh, didn't know that. Aurelia Sinclair does sound better than Aurelia Lombardi. Less mafiosa... How do you even know that?"

I couldn't quite tell her that my lease had the offending name scribbled alongside mine. This, at least, we'd managed to keep secret.

"Saw her ID when we went clubbing a while back," I answered, managing to land on my feet for once.

Nat shrugged.

"Alright then, that's enough of this for me," she squeezed my elbow and walked out, her nose wrinkling when I mentioned the locker rooms' showers.

I kept playing around with weights, doing my best to look like I was working out. However, my attention stayed locked on Aurelia, brazenly flirting with the receptive stranger.

Eventually, he popped in his headphones and jogged off toward a treadmill. Aurelia turned, caught my gaze, and her whole face lit up as she made her way over.

"Working hard, handsome?" she teased, giving my stomach a light poke.

The gut was mostly gone now, probably thanks to all the running she dragged me on rather than the rare gym outing. Still, the gesture made me squirm.

"Harder than you," I said, nodding toward her admirer.

She smacked my arm, grinning, almost coy. "Shut up and sit down. I'll help you stretch."

That came out of nowhere. I raised an eyebrow. "Seriously?"

She didn't answer. Just stood there, waiting for me to obey.

"Fine," I grumbled, dropping to the ground, hunched in defeat.

"There we go," she purred, already guiding my limbs. "Fold that leg, extend the other."

She then knelt behind me, warm hands settling on my shoulders.

"You free tonight?" she asked, pressing her weight into my back. "Done with that PowerPoint thing?"

You could hear my spine squeak as she pushed my torso lower.

"Don't want to think about work. Tell me something about the daycare. At least your clients respect you."

I felt Aurelia's breath on the back of my neck as she snorted.

"Well, four different toddlers asked me if I was sick today," she said, thumbs digging into my shoulder blades, holding me in place for a few instants. "Turns out I forgot to do my makeup. On the bright side, one adorable little girl fell asleep on my lap while I read the frog book they're all obsessed with. Alright, deep breath and come up."

"Cute," I groaned, my core burning as I struggled to lift my chest again.

I twisted around, expecting her next command. But her eyes were not on me. I followed them to find the mystery gym bro taking off his tank top, beads of sweat running down his toned back.

Aurelia finally snapped out of it when our gaze met.

"What?" Her voice was too fast and defensive. I wish I didn't know that well in moments like these. Nobody but me would catch the slight blush.

I just shrugged, pushing down the momentary tightness in my chest. Her face regained its signature confidence.

"Switch legs, weirdo," she said, giving my back a firm rub.

"You had your shoot with that new photographer, right?" I picked the conversation back up, desperate to clear my own awkwardness.

"Yeah, that was awesome," Aurelia always brightened right up when she got to talk about her artistic projects. "Can't wait to show you some of the stuff we're doing."

"You know I'm clueless about that stuff," I said. Better than outright calling myself a philistine, but the reality wasn't far off.

"And you know that I still care about your opinion," she countered in a pointed voice. I was taken aback when she landed a small peck on the top of my scalp, making her lips smack audibly. "Always have."

We finished the stretch in silence. It happened sometimes. Our familiarity coming back faster than our new, uneasy relationship really allowed.

Aurelia helped me back to my feet, then looked at me, waiting for me to talk.

"Showers, then back to my place for food and a movie?" I offered.

She nodded, then bolted off to fetch her things.

I headed into the men's locker room, peeled off my shirt, and had just started unzipping my pants when the door creaked open behind me.

In strolled Aurelia's new friend, ruining my hope for a quiet moment.

"Dude," he said, stopping at a locker beside mine, voice booming. "That redhead is fucking hot. You know her, right?"

I froze mid-zip as his stuff rumbled in his locker. His top was still off.

"Uh, Aurelia, yes," I mumbled.

"Aurelia," he spelled out her name as if he could taste the letters. "You ever tap that?"

We lost our virginities together.

"Nah," I tried to sound casual as we both dropped our pants. I felt like I was being pranked. "We're just friends."

"Well, you're a better man than I am. No way I could keep things above board with her." He glanced over. "Leo, by the way."

"Tom," I replied, shaking his offered hand without thinking, doing my best not to glance down. I still hadn't figured out where to look in locker rooms without feeling like a creep.

He didn't have that problem. His gaze dropped directly to my crotch, lingering for several long seconds. But his smile didn't hold mockery. It was something else.

I couldn't help but notice the twitch in his cock.

Which dwarfed mine.

Of course it did.

"I think your phone's ringing," he said over his shoulder, heading toward the showers.

His words yanked me straight back to earth. I turned to my phone, buzzing on the bench.

Aurelia's name was on the screen.

"Hello?" I answered, a little thrown. We'd just talked.

"I'm all alone in the women's shower room," she said, like that explained anything.

"Okay..."

"Well, believe it or not, our little stretch sesh really got me in the mood. But I have no one here to soap me up," her voice was somewhere between whining and teasing. "I sent you a picture."

It took me a beat to pull the phone away, swipe to her messages, and open it.

The photo was dim, grainy. Aurelia in a tiled stall, her wet skin glowing in the bad lighting. One leg raised just enough to hide her crotch, one arm cradling her chest. Still, nothing about her smile looked modest.

"You still there?" she asked, back in my ear.

"Are you serious right now?" I did my best to sound stern, despite feeling my cock standing in the stale air of the locker room.

"Come on," she cooed. "We don't have to do anything we've not already done. I just want someone to fool around with. I won't tell if you don't."

I was about to shut her down. I swear I was. But she just hung up, leaving me naked and slack-jawed.

My phone buzzed, two short pulses. A new picture appeared in the chat. She wasn't hiding anything this time.

Thoughts crashed through my head. I'd dreamed about this ever since she dumped me back in high school. Yet, if I joined her, I'd betray all the work done to move past her.

But then I remembered the way she looked at Leo during our stretch. The hunger, the flicker of something she didn't show me.

And just like that, the fog cleared. I knew exactly what I had to do.

***

"Took you long enough," Aurelia chuckled from behind the shower stall door when I knocked.

It creaked as she opened it just a little, her head peeking through the gap, the rest of her hidden inside.

Her grin disappeared when her eyes fell on Leo standing there beside me. It had not taken long to convince him to put his shorts back on and sneak with me into the deserted women's locker room.

It felt great to be the one throwing her off balance for once, to be the one in control. Confused, she sought my eyes, scanning my face silently.

I knew instantly I'd be addicted for the rest of my life to the way her gorgeous face shifted from surprise to barely contained arousal.

A part of me hoped she'd retreat. Laugh. Call my bluff.

Instead, Aurelia opened the door all the way, stepping into view, water streaming down every inch of her naked body.

"Two boys to help me?" She purred. "How lucky."

Leo understood the assignment faster than I did.

His shorts hit the floor, and he crossed the distance in a heartbeat, his arm slipping around her waist. Aurelia let out a delighted squeal as he pulled her close under the spray.

She rose onto her toes and put a peck on his cheek, whispering something in his ear. He looked over at me while Aurelia rushed to my side, giving me a chaste kiss.

"I don't give you enough credit," she murmured.

There was no way for me to answer. That simple interaction between the two of them had already turned my brain into a lusty mush. Aurelia caught it, smiling and tenderly running her wet hand through my hair.

She bit her lip, then knelt in front of me to undo my shorts. She raised my feet one by one to get them off my legs, just as she would to help a toddler.

Aurelia pulled me inside the stall, giggling as Leo closed the door behind us.

The cramped space was burning, distorted by the volutes. Her body sandwiched between ours slid easily over our wet skin, teasing our hard cocks.

Leo sensed her intent without needing to talk. He held out his hand for the shower gel, and Aurelia poured a generous dollop into his palm.

He started soaping her back, while she reached for my chest, dragging her fingers through the suds, pausing every now and then to steal a kiss from my lips.

I couldn't move. Could barely think. Leo's body enveloped hers so easily, so perfectly, that it was hard to remember I was still part of this.

He dipped his head, resting it on her shoulder, and met my eyes.

"Is he okay?" Leo asked, like he meant it.

Aurelia's breasts brushed over my chest as she twisted around to face him, my cock settling nestled by her ass. She went in for what I could only imagine was an open-mouth kiss, given the sound.

"He prefers to watch," she said, breathless.

Leo smiled at me from over her head. He stopped pretending to wash Aurelia. His hands gripped her ass, pulled her tight to his chest, leaving me ignored and untouched.

Until a hand closed around my cock.

For a second, I thought it was mine, some unconscious motion. But when I looked down, it was Leo. His fingers wrapped tightly around me, already pumping with confidence.

Horrified, I watched as he brought me to orgasm in just a few tugs.

I groaned and spilled on his fingers, my belly, and Aurelia's back. Her head whipped back. She turned at the last second, catching the end of my cock throbbing inside his fist and looking tiny compared to his oversized grip.

Somehow, I became the center of her world again. She took her time to clean the cum off of me.

"Give us five minutes," she said to Leo with a big smile before grabbing my hand. "I'll be right back."

She dragged me out of the stall, picked up my shorts, and I followed her back to the men's locker room. We were both still naked. Still buzzing. Neither of us spared a thought for the risk of some poor gym employee walking in on us.

Aurelia sat me on the bench. I was dazed, hollow, while she stood in front of me, dripping on the tiled floor.

"You okay?" She asked, echoing Leo.

I simply nodded.

"Good," she continued. "I was wondering if I could take him back to your place?"

"I..."

That was all I could get out. Aurelia crouched. Her hand cupped my chin. Her thumb traced my lips.

"I'm fucking him tonight," she said gently. The certitude in her voice was thrilling. "But I'd rather not go to his place. Or mine. Finn wouldn't like that."

That name alone managed to throw me off balance more than another man jerking me off did.

"I could tell him to get a hotel. He would. I know he would. But your place is easier, right?"

Aurelia wasn't really asking.

"Sure," I squeaked. Even if she didn't live with me, her name was on the lease. She had the spare key.

She kissed my nose. "Thank you," her voice was not apologetic. Like she knew what I was getting out of this. "Give us a bit of time, just the two of us, before you come home. Okay?"

Aurelia didn't wait for my answer. She got up and left, leaving me to watch her naked back as she walked away.

I dried off. Got dressed.

The receptionist waved me out with an innocent smile, unaware of the depravity happening just a few doors behind her.

I wandered the city for a while.

A whole range of emotions battled in my head, weighing me down. Every step felt like a struggle.

Why had Aurelia kicked me out? I thought I had everything under control. But my willpower withered the moment Leo laid a hand on her.

The shame I felt from knowing I wasn't even mad about not being the one fucking her was barely registering. I only felt cheated.

Cheated out of watching her. But more importantly, cheated out of just having together. It was like high school all over again when she iced me out in favor of her new, cooler, artsy friends.

That feeling of inadequacy, that fear of missing out, of being left behind. For a few moments, I had forgotten they'd been a central part of our relationship too.

I ended up on the river, following the sound of music. An old barge was docked, a few string lights hung around its deck, a bar set up on one end.

People were dancing or huddled around tables, talking and laughing with one another. I sipped on a beer and watched them, wondering why I'd let myself slip back into Aurelia's orbit.

Around my third pint, the bored bartender tried to spark up a conversation. But I blew him off and stumbled out of there. I had my fill of people-watching and wallowing. I wanted to sleep and hoped Aurelia and Leo would be gone.

There wasn't any light under the seam of the door when I unlocked it.

But as soon as I entered, I realized the night was far from over. I could hear rhythmic creaking coming down from the mezzanine, interrupted by Aurelia's occasional soft moans.

Just like that, I remembered why I'd let her pull me into all this. Why I'd dragged myself there, really.

In the dark, I collapsed on the couch, my focus entirely directed toward the two people making each other come apart in my bed.

I resisted the urge to touch myself, enjoying the arousal coursing through me, giving me a better high than anything else.

But too soon, the frequency of the thrusting increased. Aurelia's pitch got higher until her soft voice was drowned out by masculine grunts.

The apartment fell silent, and all I could hear was the blood pulsing in my ears. Then, a shared laugh, followed by intimate whispers, the sound of kissing, fabric dragged over skin.

The easy intimacy I could imagine them sharing was even more devastating than the passionate sex. Jealousy flared within me, pinning me to the couch.

I tried to shield my eyes when the lights flipped on, barely catching Leo at the top of the stairs.

He was fully dressed, ready to go, and flashed me a playful wink.

"He's here," he called back toward the bed, then turned to me with a grin and a lowered voice. "You guys are awesome. Crazy, but awesome."

Aurelia's footsteps pounded overhead. She appeared, leaning naked over the mezzanine's railing.

Her pale skin was flushed, a soft sheen clinging to her curves in the light, her red hair messy.

"Where were you?" She snapped. I reeled. Was this anger or worry?

I was too distracted, watching her rush down the stairs, to figure it out. As soon as she reached the floor, she bolted to join me on the couch, wrapping me in a sweaty, musky hug.

"You were drinking?" She insisted, looking straight into my eyes.

The tone of her voice alerted Leo, who crouched in front of me.

"You okay, buddy?" His hand found my thigh, giving it a gentle nudge.

"I'll text you," Aurelia barked at him.

Leo took the cue. He stood, gave me a faintly apologetic look, and let himself out.

The door clicked shut.

"Why didn't you come up?" Aurelia asked again, softer now. Still intense.

"I thought... You said you wanted some time alone with him?" I sounded like a kid being scolded by his mom.

Aurelia stared at me, shaking her head, fear leaving her body.

"Yeah, like twenty minutes to make sure he wouldn't freak out. I thought you were mad at me or something!"

She laughed, short and exasperated. "Although I should've known he'd be fine with you after that shower... He was disappointed when you left. I think he has a crush on you."

I leaned in and kissed her. Her lips were salty. Her skin still sticky. She tasted like someone else. Yet she came alive for me. Welcomed me. Pulled me into her naked body, moaning softly into my mouth.

There was a renewed edge in her eyes when we broke it off.

"How long have you been down there?" She asked in a husky voice.

"Long enough."

"You came?"

"Not since the shower," I didn't need to say more.

Aurelia pulled me up, and we climbed the stairs together, the sway of her hips drawing me like a moth to a flame.

I was left speechless by the sight of the mezzanine.

The bed, my bed, was a mess. Covers were pulled to one side, pillows strewn everywhere, a wet spot in the middle of the mattress. Aurelia's clothes lay discarded on the ground around it.

She had already tugged my pants and boxers down, then went to work on my T-shirt.

To my surprise, she slipped it on instead of letting it fall to the floor. The quiet possessiveness of the gesture softened the sting of seeing her body covered again, the hem brushing down to mid-thigh.

"Lie down, baby," she whispered, softly pressing her palm to the middle of my chest.

I let myself tumble, landing in the middle of the damp and warm bed. I found myself surrounded by the smell of another man, only made stronger when Aurelia wrapped herself over the side of my naked body.

She wrapped her right arm around my chest, pulling herself as close as possible while her left hand grasped my cock. This made her slow tugs feel clumsy, but helped me last longer.

I closed my eyes, surrendering. The contrast between the tender handjob and the wild, helpless moans I'd heard earlier was really working for me.

"How'd you think of bringing him to the showers?" Aurelia asked, speaking softly, right against my ear.

"I saw you look at him earlier. Didn't take a genius to figure out why you were so turned on," I confessed.

"And you knew I'd never say no to him. That I'm that easy," she said in a derisive tone.

I groaned. Her words were better than her left hand.

"I just wanted you to have fun..."

Aurelia licked my earlobe. "I know. I'm messing with you. I'm a depraved slut, and you're a perverted voyeur. We're quite the pair."

I looked at her face, a few centimeters away from mine.

"Was he good?" I asked, out of breath.

Her face was only a few centimeters away from mine, and I got to watch the full range of conflicted emotions playing over it.

"He was fine," she said, sounding somewhat annoyed, her stroking slowing down.

"He's your type, though, right?"

"He's everyone's type, relax," she chuckled. "I know what you want me to say, but you're going to have to ask."

I swallowed. This entire situation was turning me on so much, but I knew it'd turn into shame as soon as I pushed too far.

"He has a big cock," I almost whispered, causing her to snort, then lean in some more for a tender kiss.

She untangled herself from me, crawling down my body to slide my length between her lips. After a few bobbing motions, she pulled back up.

"You fit so much better in my mouth than Leo," she murmured. Smiling up at me she angled my cock toward my stomach as it started to throb uncontrollably.

I came with a series of weak spurts, my release pooling in my navel.

Aurelia milked the last few drops out of me before bending down to lick me clean without even a trace of hesitation.

When the last of my cum was lapped away, she tucked herself right back against me and pulled the cover over us. It felt strangely comforting to be naked while she had the T-shirt on.

"It never occurred to you that maybe I told you the truth?" She asked, her nose buried in the crook of my neck. "That helping you stretch out turned me on? That I wanted to fool around with you?"

I had a thousand answers ready. But I kept silent and pulled her tighter against me.

Our breathing merged into a single rhythm as we drifted off to sleep in comfortable silence.