Innocent Milf Ch. 22

Chapter 22

The week of Cary's Mexican vacation passed in a blur as I prepared my surprise for her. After watching Clan of the Cave Bear that first night, I had gone to the library and checked out the book, followed quickly by its sequel. It had been a pretty heart-wrenching and, as Samantha and Sami had mentioned, intense book. By the end of the second book, I got the idea that the cavewoman Ayla and the Cro-Magnon man Jondalar were going to be running off into the weeds to screw every few pages of following entries.

That suited me just fine for my plans--in between reading feverishly while at work and at home, I had stopped off at the leather supply store where I got a lot of my supplies for Mountain Man re-enactment and picked up some rawhide and fur. I'd also been doing some research at the library, renting more prehistoric movies, and whittling. My parents noticed my diligence and joked that whatever this project was, I would have gotten into Stanford if I had been half as industrious about school.

Jack and I went down to the outdoor shooting range across town to try out my new Kentucky rifle replica. The guy who owned it was actually one of the two big soldier-looking dudes from the paintball arena. He recognized me and Jack, and asked all sorts of questions about my antique-looking gun. Once we demonstrated to his satisfaction that we knew how to handle it and weren't going to blow ourselves or anybody else up, he was content to sit back and watch.

As we left, excited and elated, he nodded to me. "Hey, where's your lady friend? Tell her to drop by some time, huh?"

I shrugged noncommittally. Jack gave him an appraising glance.

"Not her type," Jack declared as he climbed into his Jeep.

"What?"

"That dude. He's not her type." Jack shrugged. "It seemed like he was kind of trying to hit on her a few weeks ago at paintball, right? But there's no way." He looked over at me. "Right? I mean, he seems fine, but sort of buttoned-up. I bet Cary would only go with somebody more interesting."

"Like who?" I asked.

Jack's brow furrowed. "I dunno. Like us, I guess. But older. Somebody who'd help with her kids." My heart was racing. He was so close to the mark, I couldn't believe it. I had underestimated my friend's insight. Jack tapped the steering wheel rhythmically in time with the music on the radio. "So, do you think Jenna was right? Is Cary seeing somebody?"

I could feel my fingers getting numb with adrenaline. "Uh... maybe." I'd been thinking about this off and on for a little while, and I still didn't have anything clever to say. "Actually, yeah." I didn't want to keep Jack in the dark anymore.

Jack nodded. "I knew it. Jenna was right. I knew Cary seemed happier than normal." He gave me a penetrating look. "Who is it? One of the guys from the Mountain Man group? And why do you know, but I don't?"

This wasn't how I'd planned it. I scrambled for something to say. "It sort of happened out of the blue," I said. "Right near graduation. There was a lot going on, and then Cary went on vacation." I could feel myself sweating. "I've just been hanging out with Cary more since you and Jenna starting going out. So I talk to her more about her personal life."

"Yeah, that's what her bastard ex said," Jack muttered. "I wasn't gonna tell you, but he called my house last night. He must have looked up my name in the phone book. We're the only Hartnetts in town."

I could feel myself getting angry. "Fucking prick," I snarled. "He ambushed me outside a few days ago when I was leaving Cary's apartment. I almost broke his hand because he grabbed my shoulder from behind. He thinks we ruined his marriage."

"Yeah, he said you two were planning something, and he was 'worried about her.'" Jack laughed. "I knew he was full of shit. So I said, 'What, worried that she'll find somebody better than you? We all knew you sucked from the first time we saw you.' He started accusing me of stuff after that, so I just told him to go fuck himself." An unaccustomed frown formed on his face. "I told my parents to keep a lookout for him after you mentioned that he showed up at your party. What a creep."

"That's putting it mildly," I said. "He's a stalker and an abuser. If he got hit by a bus, I'd ask the driver to back over him to make sure the job was done."

"Hey, I agree. He sucks. No need to get all worked up at me." Shoulders slightly hunched as he negotiated a curve, Jack glanced in my direction. "So did she ask you to keep her new boyfriend a secret because of her dick ex-husband? We could drive him nuts if we both knew about it." His grin reappeared. "Every time he called to bother us, we'd just drop one more hint without telling him anything. He'd probably shit himself knowing that she was getting it on with somebody else."

"Uh... sort of." I felt like I was sweating buckets.

"Why are you being so weird about this?" he asked. After a moment, he slapped the wheel. "You guys think I'll be upset! It's one of the knife instructors, isn't it? Instructor Joe? No, he's too old. But somebody like that. You think I'll be weird about it because it's somebody we already know, and it could change things."

Jesus Christ, he was too close by far. Sascha had him figured all wrong--and so did I, for that matter. I'd been so wrapped up in my own life for the past few months, I hadn't noticed that my other best friend was getting shrewder. Or maybe he always had been. Time to rip off the band-aid.

I sighed. "You probably will be," I said. "You're really close. And I don't know if I have the right to tell you without Cary being here."

"I'll act surprised when she gets back," Jack promised, with a grin. "Come on, man."

I fought the childish urge to say something like 'Promise not to get mad.' Instead, I said, "I wish we were old enough to go get a drink."

Jack's dark eyebrows shot up. "Fuck. That bad, huh?" He did a double-take. "Jesus, dude. You look like you're about to tell me my mom died."

"Fine." I took a deep breath as a familiar feeling took over. It was the same urge that had me climbing through restaurant windows, running off into the woods with a witch-girl I'd just met, or telling my best friend that I thought she and I should be lovers. "Fine," I said again. "It's--it's me."

There was a long silence. No outburst, no dramatic swerve of the Jeep off the road, no sudden jam on the brakes. Just Beck's reedy voice on the radio rambling about wax falling on a termite. Almost afraid to breathe, I looked over at Jack. His expression was fixed and pensive. The weight of it hit me--he had been my best friend since elementary school, through thick and thin. We'd navigated the trials of school and adolescence, shared triumphs and tragedies, and helped each other mature along the way. The idea of a life without Jack as my friend seemed... grayer.

"Jesus." His voice was level--I wondered if that was how I sounded when trying to control my adrenaline-tremor voice. "I was sort of afraid of that. But to hear you say it--"

"Wait, what?" I could barely talk. "What do you mean, you were 'afraid of that?'"

Jack didn't look at me as he talked. "Are you kidding? You think I didn't have thoughts about her when we first met?" He flicked a glance my way. "She's fine as hell, dude. Especially since she left her ex. Of course it occurred to me. But she's--"

"She's what?" I was too overwhelmed to be angry. "Too old? Why does that matter?"

"Why wouldn't it?" Jack shook his head as we pulled into my driveway. "Classic Matt. Jump first, think second. You and she are exactly the same. Ever since her birthday, I knew something was up. And her asshole husband knew, too. How long--"

"I told you: graduation. And Eric doesn't know shit. He's just a suspicious asshole." My chest was tight, but not as suffocating as I had feared. "When I chased him off, we both realized how we felt about each other."

Jack put the car in park and ran his hands through his hair, still not looking at me. "Jesus Christ. Jesus fucking Christ." He sighed. "Not as long as I was afraid, at least. But you kept it secret from me for two weeks?"

I didn't know what to say, but opened my mouth anyway.

"No, not right now. You--have you two--did you already..." he was stammering now. "No, you know what? I'd rather not know." He looked at me, finally. He wasn't quite frowning, but he didn't look happy. "Who else knows?"

"I told Liss and Sascha." I swallowed. "Uh... I think Jenna guessed. And Cary and I went to Ty's party together, so he knows."

"Jenna knows? Was I the last one to be told?" Jack's voice rose, and guilt rose up in the back of my throat.

"I... look. I was afraid." I heaved a sigh. "We were both afraid. Wouldn't you be? The three of us Musketeers have a good thing going. We were afraid to ruin it." I frowned. "No, that's not right. I'm not saying it right."

Jack snapped a bitter laugh. "Sounds like you're saying it exactly right. And you weren't so afraid to ruin it that my two best friends didn't decide to screw each other. Wanted to have your cake and fuck it too."

Now I was getting angry, and fought to keep the hurt from my voice. "Hey, we feel the way we feel. It's... it makes us both happier. You should understand how that is. You and Jenna have something special--so do Cary and I."

He gave me an appraising look, reconsidering. "You've both been stupid-happy since graduation. I guess now it makes sense." His jaw worked. "But you left me until last. You should have told me first, man. I don't know how to deal with this right now."

I opened the door and grabbed my rifle. "Look," I said. "It's been tearing us both up inside. Cary worried about this within the first five minutes. Right from the beginning we kept saying we needed to find a way to tell you. We just... couldn't think of a good way. I'm sorry."

Jack looked me square in the eye. "I need to clear my head. Do you work later?"

I shook my head. "Not until tomorrow morning. Cary gets back the day after tomorrow."

"I know when she gets back." Jack put his Jeep in reverse. "I'll talk to you later."

His Jeep grew smaller and smaller as he drove away in the bright late spring sunlight. I stood for a while in the driveway, wondering if I had just ruined everything.

* * * * *

I told Liss and Sascha that Jack knew. By this point, I was more than halfway towards just going the rest of the way and telling my parents about Cary and me as well. My better sense prevailed, but I spent a worried evening fitfully playing Sonic the Hedgehog 3 and pricking my fingers with the leather needle and sneezing rabbit fur out of my nose as I worked on Cary's surprise.

Jack didn't call that evening, and when I called his house, his brother told me he was over at Jenna's. Liss came downstairs and we talked a bit--meaning that Liss spent equal time both berating me for not having expected this reaction, and trying to offer some sympathetic support. The next day passed in an anxious haze while I tortured myself with thoughts about what the summer and everything that followed would be like without my best friend since elementary school. At least I had Cary to look forward to.

I was busy punching holes in some rawhide with an awl when the phone rang. I answered, and Cary's voice greeted me. My spirits rose and I could feel my face lifting in a grin for the first time in the past two days. We had agreed before that on the phone we'd keep things platonic just in case my parents picked up another phone in the house mid-conversation.

"I told Jack," I started without preamble. "I'm sorry--he surprised me with it, and it was either lie straight to his face or just come clean."

Cary's voice wavered on the other end of the line. "How--how did he take it?"

"He didn't exactly storm off, but he hasn't called or answered my calls since." It made me upset just to say it--but less so now that I suddenly felt like I was sharing the burden with the only other person who could really understand. "He said we'd talk later, so I don't think he means to cut things off entirely."

"Can you come over?" Cary asked. "I'm pretty worn out, but I really want to see you. More than ever with this news."

It took almost no time for me to get in my car and zip over to her apartment. At this point, I didn't care if Eric was sitting across the street with a video camera and spy equipment--I just wanted to see my Cary and get things straight. I restrained myself from running up the two flights of stairs to her apartment.

We were in each other's arms before the door closed. Cary put her head against my chest and I buried my face in her hair. For what seemed like a full minute, we stood silently, just breathing and taking comfort in our closeness to one another. Finally, Cary stepped back and looked me up and down. "Have you been sleeping enough?" she asked.

I almost burst out laughing. "Glad to see your priorities are straight. How was your vacation?"

A smile lit her face. "Absolutely magical. I had a wonderful time with the kids, but next time I go somewhere like that, you're coming with me. I'll tell you all about it. But first, let's go get dinner. I want food at non-tourist prices, and I don't want to have to cook it. I dropped the kids off at h--at Eric's house an hour ago."

We went to a little local place that we had been before with Jack and Jenna for one of our bowling-arcade-billiards days. As I munched on cheese sticks and stretched out a leg so that our ankles rested against each other, Cary sighed. "God, I missed this."

"Me too," I answered earnestly. Then I grinned. "Unless you mean the honey mustard chicken strips."

Cary laughed. "You know I don't." She hooked a strand of her auburn hair behind her ear. I noticed that she was definitely letting it grow longer--rather than the shoulder-length that she had kept it since I met her, it was already starting to visibly dip almost to her collarbones.

I told her everything as well as I could remember it. Cary's face crumpled when I got to the part about Jack accusing me of telling everybody else except him. "Oh, Jack." She shook her head. "His feelings must be so hurt. I feel like an utter heel."

"I feel like shit," I grumbled. "We should have just told him up front, and damn the consequences. At least he wouldn't have felt like we didn't trust him."

Cary reached out and took my hand. A shadow fell over us, and I almost knocked the table over scrambling to my feet as Jack and Jenna approached. "Jack! How did you--"

Jack shook his head. "I wasn't looking for you. We just came here because I remembered that I liked the cheese sticks. Looks like you had the same idea." He looked back and forth between me and Cary. Her eyes were huge and anxious. Finally, he let out a breath and squeezed Jenna's hand. "Crap, am I really that bad? You two look like you've been caught skipping assembly and have to go to the principal's office."

I moved over to Cary's side of the table and sat down next to her, and waved Jack and Jenna to the other side. "Uh, we can order more cheese sticks."

Jack reached out a hand and grabbed the three remaining cheese sticks and jammed them into his mouth while keeping intense eye contact with me. He chewed silently, one arm resting on the table. We remained motionless, eyes locked as we held our respective girlfriends' hands for a beat. We broke almost simultaneously, smirking and dissolving into chuckles.

Jack and Jenna sat down across from us as I felt something that had been coiled as tight as a spring in my chest loosen for the first time in days. Whatever came after this, I knew that it would be all right. Jack shook his head. "You were right. I wish we were old enough to drink. Just so you know, I'm still mad at you."

I pulled Cary so that she was leaning against me. "You didn't have to take it out on those cheese sticks," I complained.

"Yeah, what did they ever do to you?" Cary chimed in as she nestled her shoulder into my chest.

Jack looked back and forth between us seriously before grimacing and turning to Jenna. "Dammit, you were right. They do look like they belong together."

Jenna smiled--and I could tell that she had been tense as well. "I'm usually right. You know that."

We spent most of the rest of the evening contritely giving them the full history--the real history--of our relationship as it had developed. I let Cary do most of the talking. This time she didn't hold anything back: Eric's setup at her birthday party and my rescue of her, her fake affair story and pictures, Cameron's unrequited kiss after paintball and my confession, and my showdown with Eric at my graduation party.

Jenna's eyes were shining by the time Cary signaled for a refill on drinks. "Wow. You guys... you've been through so much already." She squeezed Jack's muscular arm through his Metallica T-shirt. "I wondered for a while but didn't really get suspicious until laser tag."

I scratched the back of my head. "It's been a common theme that we Three were sort of the last to figure this out," I said ruefully. "And I really am sorry."

Jack blew out a semi-frustrated breath, his dark hair puffing up as he did so. "I get it. You just jumped in, and by the time you figured out you were in the water, you started thinking about whether you should change into swim trunks." I laughed at his metaphor. "And I get going to Ty's party. Hell, if I'd had an invitation to something like that when Jenna and I first started going out, I would have taken her there for a first date, too."

"It's where I won the Mexico vacation," Cary said. She patted my arm and leaned against me. "Matt gave up his chance to win a car for me--and he was really close to getting it."

"Really?" Jack raised an eyebrow. "What kind of car?"

"An Aston Martin V8--the James Bond car from the most recent movie," I answered. "It was a prize for one of the games."

"Cripes, I keep forgetting how rich his dad actually is," Jack replied. "What did you do to give it up?"

Cary and I both blushed, and Jenna sat up a little straighter in her chair, fixing her gaze on us more intently. After a moment, I muttered, "Just a party game. But I would have had to do something that I thought would hurt Cary's feelings to stay in the running."

Jack's dark eyebrows drew together as he thought. "What, like Truth or Dare?" he asked.

I nodded, impressed again. Although for somebody who hadn't been at the party, it seemed like a more obvious guess. "Anyway... what are we going to do for Rendezvous?"

Jenna rolled her eyes. "I'm going to go touch up my lip liner. Cary?"

Cary nodded and stood, giving me a longing glance as she left that made my groin itch. Jack shook his head in wonder as they walked away. "How did I not see it before? She adores you." He thumped the table once, in mock annoyance. "Doesn't seem fair. You got to go into the woods with Sascha and our hot-mom friend decided you were a good rebound guy?"

It stung to hear Jack use that phrase the way Liss had, but I brushed it off. "You and Jenna are really happy, right?"

Jack crossed his arms. "Sure. But we both also know that this probably won't survive freshman year. We've talked about it."

"Really?" My heart sank. "But... I don't know..."

"Did you think it would be forever?" Jack asked. He tilted his head and started to chuckle. "I guess it goes with your personality. Big dreams and everything. My buddy, the hopeless romantic. Anyway, Rendezvous. I guess Aramis won't have to bring her dumb nylon tent."

I blinked. That hadn't occurred to me, somehow. But now that Jack mentioned it, it seemed like the most natural thing in the world that Cary would just be sharing my buff canvas tent with me at the campout--which dovetailed nicely with my plans for her surprise. "I guess not," I answered. "But what about you. Are we... are we cool? Is Rendezvous going to be alright?"

"Man, I don't know." Jack leaned back. "Jenna has really been helping me to see how this isn't a stab in the back. I was pretty pissed the last time we talked. It might be a little weird for a while. Maybe a long while. But I guess I'm glad you're both happy." He leaned forward. "But if this gets serious--stays serious--then you two owe me big for introducing you."

I laughed uncertainly. "That had already crossed my mind." I held out a hand. He took it and we shook as the girls returned.

"Cary and I are going dress shopping soon," Jenna announced. Jack and I gave each other a nearly identical shrug, and she sighed. "Boys," she muttered to Cary, with an eye roll in our direction.

Cary smiled hesitantly between the two of us. "I know this is strange and unexpected," she said to Jack as she sat down beside me. "And I guess it must feel pretty tense. I'm sorry about that. I hope you understand now how we got here. And..." she looked over at me, glowing. She took my arm. "And we really do love each other."

Jack snorted. "You fucking better." Jenna gave him a light swat, which he absorbed with a faint grin. "Because if you two are going to squash into Matt's little tent together at Rendezvous, I'm going to have to run interference for the guys who thought they'd have a shot at you now that you're getting divorced. This is going to make some of the dudes at knife practice pretty disappointed."

Cary flushed, and I raised an eyebrow. "I can run interference on my own," I said.

Jack shook his head. "Teamwork," he answered. "What are friends for? All for one..."

"One for all," Jenna, Cary, and I answered, grinning.

* * * * *

Cary was so travel-weary and jet-lagged that I drove her home and put her to bed. It felt oddly intimate to help her into her flimsy nightshirt to go to sleep--I'd seen her naked several times, and we'd had sex nearly every time we hung out since the night of the party. But guiding her stumbling steps into the apartment and slowly pulling her clothes off made me feel more like we were a real couple than anything else we had done together.

I was halfway towards the door when she sleepily mumbled, "Where you going?"

It took no convincing at all for me to strip down to my skivvies and lie down next to her--the first time I'd be spending the night in her bed. We bumped into each other a few times in the night and overheated, tangled in the sheets. I wasn't used to having to share a bed with somebody else. Halfway through the night, I woke up staring at the unfamiliar ceiling, and realized that Cary had wriggled most of the way out of her loose sleep shirt and snuggled against my back.

When I woke up, Cary was wrapped around me and completely topless. Her sleep shirt had been tossed across the room and was hanging over the top of her little TV on top of the dresser. I slowly disentangled myself and stood to go to the bathroom--another surreal experience. Having washed my hands, I emerged into the gray morning light and tiptoed back to bed. Cary was making an adorable pouting face as she tossed back and forth, searching for the departed warmth. As I stretched back out beside her, she coiled around me again and made a sleepy, happy sound.

The red LED clock beside the bed only read 6 o'clock, but I was wide awake--I had gone to bed much earlier than usual. So after a blissful several minutes lying with Cary wrapped around me, I started caressing her. Asleep and unguarded, she was even more lovely to me. I loved feeling the firmness of her arms and legs beneath her smooth skin, the soft concavity below her ribs leading to her belly-button, the graceful arch of her neck.

It wasn't long before my touch started to have an effect on Cary, and her eyes slowly slid open. The bleary warmth of her smile made me feel like the world's luckiest man, and she nuzzled against me. "Morning, handsome," she murmured. "You can just keep doing that all morning, if you want."

I didn't need extra encouragement. It wasn't long before I had worked my hand down between her legs and started stroking. "You got your shirt off in a hurry," I observed.

Cary sighed under my touch and smiled. "I do that when I feel safe. I have ever since I was--ooh--since I was a little kid. I only started finding my shirt bunched up in the corner again recently--after I moved out." She gasped as my fingers probed deeper. "Mmmn. So I guess that means you make me feel safe."

We spent nearly another hour in bed pleasuring each other before Cary announced that she needed the bathroom. I lay looking at her ceiling and thinking about our time together. Did I expect this to be over at the end of summer like Jack and Jenna had apparently agreed to? I had told Cary that I wanted this to go for as long as we could make it go--did that mean permanent? It felt nice to think that--nice but nebulous.

We showered together quickly and made breakfast while Cary told me about her vacation, her face lighting up with excitement as she did so. "I got so much inspiration for painting there!" Apparently her kids had been so excited about the vacation that they made a fuss about having to come home: all the way back until they were on the plane. It made me feel oddly happy that Patrick and Annie had gotten something nice out of the sexy Truth-or-Dare at Ty's party as well.

I flipped through some more of Cary's books as she wandered by her answering machine, frowning at the blinking light. "Shoot. I didn't see this last night. Too tired. I wonder who would be calling me?"

As soon as she played back the first message, Eric's voice crackled from the speaker. "Mexico?! You took our kids to Mexico without my permission? How dare--"

"Next," Cary sighed, her tone utterly unconcerned, as she pushed the "skip" button.

The next voice was one I recognized as well--Cary's friend Samantha. "Hey, lady! I bet you're jet-lagged and asleep right now. We should meet for lunch tomorrow. Bring your boy-toy if you can. You might not remember, but you owe me."

Cary smirked quizzically. "What on Earth is she talking about?"

I snorted. "Boy-toy?"

"Don't take it seriously," Cary giggled. "I told you, my friends are all pretty supportive, but they still don't entirely get that this isn't just a quick fling for sex." She pressed herself up against me. "Although that part is pretty fantastic, too."

"No argument," I grinned, pulling her against me.

Cary wriggled free enough to pick up her phone and call Samantha. I amused myself by tangling her in the cord while she talked and putting my tongue in her ear, making her gasp. They agreed on a time and place for lunch before Cary hung up and poked me in the ribs. "You just keep it up, Mister."

I smirked. "All set then? I should change before we go. I'll need to swing back by my house. What do you want to do until then?"

We settled on just hanging around her apartment trading back and forth the joystick to her Atari and playing Laser Gates for a while as we talked about things. I had heard people say that sleeping with a friend of the opposite sex ruined the friendship--certainly it was a staple of a few sitcoms and comedies. But I wasn't finding that the case so far--Cary was still really easy to talk to, and I loved hearing her thoughts about everything.

"Jack seemed to take it pretty well," Cary said after a lull in our chat.

I nodded. "Yeah. More or less. Hey, he said that he and Jenna are probably going to break up before college. Or at least before the end of freshman year."

"Really?" Cary sounded as disappointed as I had been. "I guess that's not a huge surprise, but I sort of hoped that they'd stay happily together for a bit longer. I guess long-distance relationships are hard." She glanced over at me. "Worried?"

"No. Not really. I feel like you and I will be solid. And Tempe isn't so far away that we can't visit each other." I stretched and stood, stiff from sitting cross-legged for too long. "To be honest, I'm more worried about being a 'boy-toy.'"

"What do you mean?" Cary's voice was edged with worry.

"I don't know... just, I don't have a whole lot to offer right now. Crappy job, crappy car, going to college for a degree that's not likely to get me a high-paying job." It had been bothering me for a bit, and saying it out loud didn't make it any less troubling. "Sex is great, and I can't see it ever getting old. But I want to be more than that for you. And if we stay together, how am I going to help with your kids? What would that even mean? A step-dad? I don't know anything about raising kids."

Cary put the joystick down and looked at me seriously, gray eyes glistening. "I think it's wonderful that you're worried about all this. But somebody pretty clever told me recently that he thought we'd be solid, and happy for as long as we wanted. We can take this one step at a time." She cupped my cheek with her hand. "If you think I love you because of your job or money, you're dreaming. I don't care about any of that. I didn't get into art because I wanted to be rich and famous--I got into art because I see beauty in the world, and I wanted to express it. You have a good soul, Matt. And that's what I love. I have enough money to take care of my kids until they're old enough to be on their own. And after that, I'd gladly live in a one-room apartment with you wherever you go and bicycle where we need to until I'm too old and gray to stay upright."

I wanted to kiss her and squeeze her and tear her clothes off, it made me so happy. I settled for pulling her into my lap and holding her close. "I don't think I could possibly want anything more," I said into her hair. "You're amazing and wonderful. And I'll be there for you any way I can, no matter what." I looked at my watch. "Want to go in the same car, or do you want to meet me there?"

"I'll meet you there," Cary answered. "I'm going to freshen up." She kissed me lightly on the lips. "See you soon."

My parents were both at work when I got back, so I was spared the embarrassment of showing up in the same clothes I had been wearing the night before. I tried to think about what Samantha would be impressed by--I wanted to make a good impression. Of course I had already met her, but this was going to be on new terms.

I finally decided on some tan Dockers and a white short-sleeved button-up shirt. Casual, but not dressed-down. I wished I had enough time and money to take my car through a car wash, but ultimately decided it would be a waste of time. "Lipstick on a pig," as Grandma Baker used to say. I could make myself look presentable, but there was no need to pretend I was anything other than what I was.

We met at a little café that I had never been to. Cary and Samantha sat at a little table outside under a canopy sipping tea and laughing. Both of them were wearing sundresses--yellow for Samantha and green for Cary. I was glad to have chosen light but slightly dressier clothing. Samantha saw me first and waved me over discreetly as Cary talked. Her voice carried a little as I approached.

"Really, not at all?" Samantha was asking with an arched eyebrow as I got closer.

Cary shook her head, a stripe of sunlight glinting brilliantly in her auburn hair, turning it fiery. "A couple, but having a pair of little munchkins constantly in attendance was a pretty effective deterrent." She turned and saw me, and her smile was brighter than the sun in her hair. She hopped to her feet and gave me a hug as if we hadn't just been together less than an hour ago. I kissed her lightly on her forehead and held her hand as she guided me to a chair between her and Samantha.

"Thanks for inviting me," I said to Samantha, not knowing how else to open.

"Of course." Samantha smiled, holding out a hand for me to shake--I assumed. I sure wasn't going to kiss it. Cary looked uncertain as Samantha's grin grew wider--almost predatory. "I don't know if Cary told you, but she promised me a threesome with the two of you."