Theo and Bishop Ch. 01

Xeni needed a distraction in the form of a place in public to do something OTHER than scroll Instagram. She had selected the dive bar down the street which had generous pours and decent enough lighting to read a smutty novel. It wasn't entirely working as she kept rereading page 34, but she was trying.

Then, her phone buzzed. She glanced at the lock screen to see:

Hey. What's up. My : eggplant emoji: is hard.

Xeni sighed. Sure random online dude, we did do some suggestive texting yesterday, but fucking hell, a girl likes to be seduced before we talk about eggplants. Like, give a shit about my life before introducing your dick to the situation at 5:23pm on a fucking Tuesday evening.

She was grumpy because a bit over an hour prior, she had been scrolling through Instagram and saw her ex Theo and for some inexplicable reason her *other* ex, Bishop together on social media looking like the world's best friends. Apparently the two of them somehow knew each other (what?) and they were hanging out together and taking friend pics and posting them to the gram.

As if that weren't bad enough, it was tagged in the city. IN THE CITY. even though *neither* of them had sent a text or a note or an email to HER when they swore they'd do so as soon as they came back. What. The. Fuck? Where the hell did the two of them meet anyway? And why the fuck weren't either of them texting her?

It rattled Xeni more than she wanted to admit. Both relationships had been casual but she thought they had ended by circumstance and that they'd jump at the chance to be with her again. If she were to admit the truth, both of these men gave her the best fucking sex of her life. Why didn't they think the same thing? Why wouldn't they jump at the chance to reconnect with her when they came back into town? What the hell?

Theo was a big bear of a man with a broad hairy chest and a thick bristled beard. He was slow, deliberate, kind and thoughtful. They met in April at Janice and Mark's wedding where they were seated at the same table for dinner. He tugged at her hand when the first slow dance came. He plucked a lilac from the bush that lined the outdoor dance floor, inhaled it deeply and handed it to her so she could smell it too. She had tucked it in the cleavage of her dress and they had crushed it between them as they slow danced. By the end of the evening, they were fucking in his hotel room with the smell of lilac drenching them.

She STILL thought of his sturdy, thick cock sliding in and out of her when she smelled lilacs or lilac scented soap or saw things that were lilac colored. They had fucked like they were licking the last bit of frosting from the bowl -- slowly, deliberately and savoring every single bit. They were inseparable for three weeks until he went to the middle of the woods to teach children how to kayak for the summer. He didn't know if he was coming back and cell reception is not the best in the middle of the woods, plus he was never very good at texting. So they left it there with promises that they'd keep in touch. But they hadn't. It had been a short affair, and oh so sweet.

Xeni had tried to forget about Theo with... a fling with the wild hurricane that was Bishop. She met him at a party that Lauren threw out on her farm. Bishop was a conceptual artist who ran marathons, had a smokin' hot bod and liked to flirt, make waves and generally stir shit up. Xeni never saw him as a contender for a real relationship because he was such a full force catastrophe, but damn he was good in bed and smelled good, like a musky, salty lavender.

She couldn't help it if she lusted for guys who smelled like flowers.

Xeni and Bishop had epic marathons of sex for five weeks before he left for an artist's residency in mid June. He liked to tease her with his cock, sliding it up and down her slit until she begged him to slide inside her. Then he'd fuck her hard and they would combust into a sweaty, hot, incendiary mess of limbs, sweat and sex.

All of this was why, six minutes after seeing their gorgeous faces on Instagram looking like an advertisement for hot men who know how to use their cocks, Xeni grabbed a book, her purse and got the fuck out of her apartment where there were just too many places that held memories. The bed where Theo had pushed into her with tender, slow thrusts. The couch where Bishop bent her over the arm and tortured her with his eager mouth and long fingers.

Men always seem to fucking leave.

It was the picture that was fucking with her. They both had bright smiles and flushed faces. It almost seemed like they had just had sex and had gone out for a post coital walk taking a shot against the city skyline. And fuck, she wanted both of them. They were so different, Theo with his calm, careful, sensuality, and Bishop with his fire and sexy banter.

She wondered idly, what would it be like to see the two of them together?

Well, THAT wasn't likely to happen was it? Clearly she wasn't on either of their minds. Fucking bastards.

Her desire didn't give a shit and whispered "Why not daydream?"

She could imagine Bishop flirting with her, finding ways to run his hands along her arm, her hip, her thigh. He was so good at finding ways to touch her. Theo would be watching with interest. He'd be the one who would come in for the first kiss. Moving slow, like molasses, building anticipation and making her reach for him. His lips would start as a light brush but he'd deepen the kiss and it would be searing. She could almost feel the way their hands would touch her on either side of her body, two hot bodies sandwiching her with their hard cocks at attention...

Crap, what was she doing? Back to this book dammit. Read. Distract yourself since you can't doom scroll woman. Page 34. No 33, ok fine, we can go back a few pages and try to...

She heard a voice down the bar and it made her pulse jump.

Surely not.

Just because she scrolled past a pic of Bishop and Theo on a fucking Instagram post doesn't mean that one of them is going to turn up at the bar she randomly flew into to recover from their post. That's not how the world works.

Unable to avoid her curiosity, she glanced down the bar and there was Bishop, flashing an easy smile for the bartender, his sunny blonde hair tousled as he pulled off his cap. Xeni's heart beat faster and she froze in place.

As if in slow motion, he looked right at her, their eyes locked and a corner of his mouth turned up incredulous. The bartender put down his drink. Bishop picked it up and walked straight towards her.

Fuck fuck fuck fuck.

Xeni fanned at her own internal enthusiasm, tamping down excitement while her heart beat harder and harder. Calm the FUCK down, she instructed herself. He hasn't texted. This is someone you lost touch with, it was a fling, it probably meant nothing to him.

"Xeni. Jesus, I'm so glad to see you here. It's been way too long." He put his drink down and opened his arms.

"Bishop, you're here." She said.

He looked genuinely glad to see her. She found herself reaching up for him in a hug that made her heart race. He smelled like that same fucking combination of seawater and lavender, and she tucked her face into his shoulder to inhale a scent that she loved. She hadn't changed the sheets for a week after their last time fucking. She bit back a moan at being enveloped by his scent. She wanted to stay in his orbit as long as she could, enjoying the feel of his arms around her waist and her body pressed against his. She forced herself to let go of him.

"Hey you. So uh... What are... What are you doing here?" trying to find some semblance of normality given that her whole body seemed to be yanked towards him.

"Oh, ah. I'm meeting someone for a drink." He said with an apologetic look.

"Oh." Xeni's voice fell and she felt the inevitability of the loss. He had date. Or a hookup. Her face betrayed all of her emotions. Bishop laughed, not unkindly and grabbed the seat next to her at the bar with a flirty smile and a caress of her arm. "It really *is* good to see you Xeni and I'm very glad to run into you. How are you?"

Xeni looked back up at him, her face flushed at being caught out in her emotions. "I'm... I'm good. I'm alright." She couldn't help that she felt so unbalanced "It's been a while - How are you, how was the residency?"

"I got some new paintings done but it was in the middle of fucking nowhere and I'm just so glad to be back in the city. I was planning to send you a note Xeni... It's just that..."

The door came open and the two of them turned in unison and saw Theo. Tall and broad, he had a sense of presence about him, filling the doorway like a quiet lumberjack. He looked around the room.

Xeni ducked her head as panic and arousal flooded her senses. Jesus Christ, they're BOTH fucking here? She was JUST daydreaming about the two of them and here they were. While her traitorous body was deeply pleased that she had magically manifested them into this bar, this was about to get really fucking awkward.

From under her ducked head, she saw Bishop wave his hand and Theo came towards them. The two of them hugged and Xeni hid, she just couldn't look at his face. This was too fucking mortifying. Her heart raced.

Bishop said "Hey Theo, I just ran into my friend Xeni here at the bar."

She looked up just at the same moment that Theo said "Xeni" and as their eyes met, she felt an extra beat of time.

"Hi Theo" Xeni said softly and as she reached out, he pulled her into the wall of his chest hugging her tightly. Their hug was tight and familiar, he smelled like warm pine needles and sawdust. She felt both his strength and as though she were deeply valued and loved. Her whole body - that same body that had just minutes ago wanted to inhale Bishop - now wanted to sink into Theo.

Bishop looked at the two of them as they disengaged. "I guess you two know each other." He said with a smile and an expectant pause, as if to say "Would, someone please explain?" but with a look, almost like the cat ate the canary.

"We uhh... we dated." Xeni stammered. Then she up at looked Theo and said "Uhh and I also... we also... I dated Bishop too. I've dated both of you. Sooo... this is umm... awkward."

Both of the guys eyebrows flew up and Bishop started laughing.

He was laughing a little inappropriately, if Xeni were honest about it. It wasn't THAT funny and frankly she was going to need to pack up her stuff and leave. What was at first a lust-filled daydream was quickly turning into a nightmare. It was just ridiculously embarrassing to walk into a bar and to just happen to see BOTH of her exes who also happen to know each other. She should just go back to texting with eggplant emoji men instead of lusting for men who smell like flowers.

She was mortified really. This was just too fucking much. The world did not need to be so fucking cruel.

The problem was that her body was hooked by the smell and feel of them both. Her mind was confused and she couldn't convince herself to move. Instead, she stayed stuck to her bar stool, anchored to the familiarity of them both. The reality was so much better than any fantasy. She was like a fucking drug addict for their pheromones.

Theo ordered a drink and moved to the other side of Bishop. Xeni could feel the two of them sharing a glance and her brain pushed harder topick up her leaden body and go somewhere else. Anywhere else. Somewhere that she could ruminate on her magical ability to make both of her hot exes materialize in the most humiliating way possible.

No. She was not going to slut shame herself. She had had flings with both of them and it was THEIR fault that neither of them had texted her when they got back in to town. She was not responsible for this. She had done nothing wrong. They didn't want her, they had never texted back. The sex clearly hadn't been as memorable for them as it had been for her. It was ok, she had... options. Like eggplant emoji guy.

He wasn't a GOOD option, but he was AN option. Sort of.

She tucked her book into her bag and felt tears threatening. She should just leave now - before it got worse. Bishop's hand reached out to her hip and she instinctively leaned into him. Goddamn it, this man knew how to touch her. He said in her ear, "Let's go get a booth Xeni, and we can have a drink together. Join us?"

"Uhh, it's ok. I was just leaving." She stammered, off balance by his voice in her ear.

"Your drink is full Xeni." Bishop smirked, "You should stay and finish it with us." The man was so goddamed observant. Bishop orchestrated their shift to a small round booth in the corner, guiding her in between the two of them. The table was small enough that her knees were brushing both of them.

"I just, I didn't think... I really... I wasn't expecting to see either of you." She stammered, willing herself to shut the fuck up. "I really just came out for a drink on my own." She was babbling now. She needed to deflect the awkwardness and move everything towards their friendship, it would be safer territory. Let's celebrate the bromance.

"Uhh, so how did you two meet?" Surely they wanted to talk about something other than the fact that they both had fucked her.

Xeni was surprised when the two men conversed in glances across the table, looking almost guilty and then Bishop shrugged and Theo said,"Oh, go ahead."

"Wait, what?" Xeni realized that something else was going on here.

Bishop turned to her and said, "Xeni, Bishop and I are dating. We met online and we're -- well -- I'll speak for myself, but I'm really enjoying our time together and we're kind of a thing."

It was Xeni's turn to drop her jaw. "So that's why there was that picture of the two of you on Instagram looking like the just-been-fucked J. Crew catalog of my dreams?" She blurted out. Bishop laughed and Theo coughed.

Wait did she just say that out loud?

"You follow my Instagram?" Bishop leaned back and sipped his beer. "What am I saying, of course you do. You just don't post anything."

Theo said quietly, "That was Bishop's attempt to tell people we are dating." He reached out to squeeze Bishop's hand across the table.

Xeni reeled and her voice started spewing words. "Wow. Ok. Wow. Well that's. I mean. I'm so glad! So glad. Really. That's... So great! Wow. I mean, it kind of messed with me to see two of the sexiest men I've ever known on Instagram together. I didn't catch that you were... that either of you dated men. Well, maybe you Bishop, but Theo I really didn't know. But I'm so glad. That's so great. Just so great!"

She was forcing the enthusiasm and her voice was getting higher and she was chattering, but what else could she do? She gulped at her drink, she needed to get out of here. She could feel the tears threatening to emerge AGAIN. She wanted to be supportive, because of course she wanted them to date whomever they wanted. It was just great, really great that they're both bisexual? Gay? Whatever they were. That's just great. So great.

Xeni internally cursed Bishop for wedging her in between the two of them at this booth so she couldn't just grab her bag and leave. He had probably done it on purpose.

"The two sexiest men eh?" Bishop quirked, while reaching over to touch her cheek and thumb away the tear down her cheek. "Maybe it would interest you to know that just the other day I told the hunky Theo here, that while I'm really interested in a relationship with him, I had someone I still needed to talk to before I could commit to a relationship." He paused.

"That was you Xeni. I've needed to talk to you. I'm sorry I didn't text. I never stopped thinking of you. I meant to look you up right when I got back, but I met Theo first. It got serious a lot faster than I had expected. I'm really sorry."

Xeni was stunned into silence, trying to mop up the other tear that had escaped with a napkin.

Theo's voice was husky, "Yeah, Xeni was who I needed to talk to too. She's... she's my lilac girl." He delivered those words to Bishop, then turned to Xeni "I spent so much time thinking about you in the woods and I was planning to call you as soon as I got back. Then I went out with Bishop here and got distracted. You were on my mind all summer. I missed you Xeni. I should have called, texted, something. I'm sorry."

Xeni's emotions were in a swirl and she gulped at her drink again, realizing it was almost finished. Bishop's smile widened, looking like a flirty trickster god.

"Oh goodness, *she's* the lilac girl? Oh my. Well now, what a glorius thing to learn - that both Mr. Hot Lumberjack here and I BOTH needed to have a conversation with Xeni. Let's make that conversation happen and see where we go."

He winked and stood up. "I'm going to go get another drink for Xeni here - a Jack and Coke if I remember right? And you two are going to talk." To Theo he said "Make sure she doesn't run, I want to talk to her too."

Xeni turned to Theo. Lilac girl? He remembered? She sighed into the calm stability she had always felt with him. "I... this..." She sighed. "Man this is so awkward."

Then because Theo was Theo, Xeni unfolded and told him everything. They agreed it had been a fuck buddy thing when they first started. But she had been surprised by how much she enjoyed him and how much she missed him when he was gone. She had been pissed when she saw the picture. She was hurt he hadn't texted.

He listened and then he responded. Surely she knew that she was gorgeous, that she had haunted his dreams while he was in the woods, that he remembered her always as his lilac girl. That the smell of lilacs were ever connected to seeing her orgasm while her hips moved on top of him. He had wanted to see her again. He hadn't expected the whirlwind that was Bishop to interfere. They both laughingly agreed that yes, Bishop could be described as exactly that: a whirlwind, a tornado, a chaotic mess.

Bishop came back with another drink for Xeni and said "Ok my turn." The man had no compunction about interrupting anything. "So Theo here just told you he's had a hardon for you since he met you. Me too. I couldn't stop thinking of you while painting this summer Xeni. I'm sorry I didn't text. I should have. You're right to be mad at me." He paused and then said "The three of us - we're going to need to deal with the fact that Theo and I both are caught up in each other, and we're also caught up in you, Xeni."

They all three sat at the table for a moment. Xeni was still reeling. BOTH of them had thought of her? She squirmed, her daydream was coming back - she wanted both of them and they were both here, wanting her. And they were dating each other. This just got wildly complicated.

"So where does this leave us?" She blurted out? She felt a combination of desire, fear and frustration. "Should I just leave you two to have a relationship together?"

"To be honest darlin'..." Bishop drawled with a slight twang, "I'm very curious to see what would happen if the three of us had some private time." He leaned over the table, as if conspiring. "I seem to remember that your apartment is nearby -- Xeni, I think you should invite us both over."

"Uhh." She stammered. "Really?" Xeni could see the smirk on Bishop's tanned face, but she turned and looked at Theo's face instead. Bishop was the instigator, but Theo was the solid calming presence. He looked hopeful, and bright.

"Do you want to come over to my place Theo?" she asked.

His gruff voice echoed "Hell yes I do."

They downed the rest of their drinks. Xeni made to pay her bar tab but Bishop grabbed her waist and said "I already took care of it. Let's go."