Note: this is a follow up story to the Mix and Match series. If you'd like more background about the characters mentioned here, go check out those stories first then come bac. We'll wait
We were both lying on the bed, naked, coming down off the high of fresh sex. Outside, there was a party, but in this bedroom, it was just us. Olivia and me, and at least for a moment, we could act like she wasn't engaged to be married, and her fiance, Justin, was one of my friends. It was just quiet smiling and content sighing as I ran my hand through her rich, red hair.
"I'm glad we got to do this," Olivia had said finally. "Before, you know ..."
She looked up at me as I perked my eyebrow at her. "You mean," I asked, "Justin's giving up messing around after the wedding?"
"Well, probably not completely, but it's going to be different. We talked about it and I think we're both arranging one last night for ourselves. Not the bachelor and bachelorette party. Another night for each of us," and at this she looked at me in the eye, "... to be with whoever we want."
She had said that to me in the midst of a crazy party where, for one precious night, aided by the presence of Ecstasy and Viagra, it seemed that we all had suspended our boundaries and inhibitions. It was Malcolm's birthday and there were drugs and a gathering of friends who were all attractive and had the spent the last few years pairing and re-pairing off in an incestuous series of dating within our own social circle. Malcolm's fiance, Teresa, was my ex-girlfriend, and while Teresa and I had both long since moved on from that relationship, there was still an energy between us leftover from our time together, coming to fore when I ran into her at that party, naked and high and we wound up fucking on a dinner table. One of the hosts, Justin, was an infamous, shameless flirt, and his own fiance, Olivia, had long tolerated his ways because she knew that he always came back to her. Yet, in that one magical evening Olivia and I had also hooked up, and while naked in the glow of our drug-addled coitus, she had looked at me and said that she was planning one night, to be with whoever she wanted.
I had harbored a crush on Olivia for the longest time. She had always possessed a certain graceful elegance, and a quick but silent intelligence behind her bright green eyes. We both got along in that way that two introverts can hang out in the corner of a crowded party, comfortable in the quiet presence of each other. But, the timing was never convenient for either of us. In the brief period when she was single, I was with Teresa, and by the time we broke up, she had found Justin. Still, there was always the way that we made eye contact when we saw each other, and the way our gaze lingered in that contact.
So, when the Ecstasy took hold, and our bodies charged into an unreal sense of arousal and sensuality, it wasn't a surprise that we had both sought each other out first. But, then there was a lot coupling going on in that night. We had all managed to fuck or be fucked by every one we liked at that party. When the sun rose the next day, we put on our clothes and, in that gesture, reinstalled the boundaries and inhibitions that we had let slip for that evening. Back to normal. Back to Olivia being engaged and me being her and Justin's friend.
Yet, that suggestion, whispered in the dim light of their bedroom still haunted my memory. The next few times that I saw them, it was like as if nothing had happened, but there was always a certain subtext in our body language that was different. Then two months later, two weeks away from their actual wedding date, I got an email from Olivia.
"Hi, are you doing anything this Friday? Justin's heading out of town and I was thinking of dinner."
It seemed so innocuous, but then that's Olivia.
I sent an internet chat to Jessica. Jess was one of my oldest friends and had gone to school with me and Teresa. She and I had also hooked up at that party, and that had turned into ... something. We were taking things slowly, cautious in that we were friends and not wanting to screw that up. But also, perhaps, we had seen each other at that party cavorting with a bunch of other people, and while we both eventually went home with each other, there was this acknowledgement that we both had unresolved attractions that we wanted to take care of. We had made plans to see a movie on Friday, but things had been vague.
C: "Hey, J, I think the other shoe dropped."
J: "With 'liv?"
C; "yeah. she wants to get 'dinner' this Friday."
J: ":))))). Go for it and tell me about it afterwards. I can find other ways to stay busy."
I sometimes wonder how I lucked into this. I wrote back to Olivia.
"Dinner sounds good, and this Friday opened up. Want to try that fancy, new Vietnamese place that everyone's been talking about?"
"Sure thing. 6pm?"
"It's a date."
"Oh, yes, it is."
Interesting.
The rest of the week passed in a bit of a haze, and I tried not to let my mind be preoccupied with the possibilities. Jessica had kept up our routine of sending each other innocuous little messages every other day -- funny cat pictures or photoshop images that we found on the net -- but she didn't bring up the date, until the day itself.
J: "So, are you looking forward to your big night?"
C: "Haven't thought of it. I got a few things at work to take care of first."
J: "Really? Somehow I don't think your mind's on work. I think you're writing up a bucket list of all sorts of vile and unspeakable acts that you're going to perpetrate on your little lifelong crush."
C: "Has anyone told you that you're a dirty little girl? I mean besides me?"
J: "Oh, I can probably give you a few familiar names ;p but don't change the subject. Seriously, you've already slept together once. Do you think this is just going to be a one time thing?"
C: "She seemed to say it is. And, besides, that party was different and crazy, and sometimes I don't know if we really believed that it happened."
J: "Well, I think you believe that you and I 'happened'."
C: "Oh, so this is what this is really about then? Jealous?"
J: "No, just teasing, and also pointing out that a one time hookup only stays true if it actually only happens just one time. As you and I are probably finding out, it's a slippery little slope."
C: "This is the kinkiest friendly advice that I think I've ever gotten."
J: "Hey, remember, we're friends -with- benefits. Not fucking with bonus friendship. I just don't want either of you guys to get hurt, y'know? And I know you. I know how your crushes go, and I know that you probably don't have the highest opinion of Justin."
She was right about that. In my opinion, Olivia could do a lot better. I could see why she was attracted to him and his party boy glamour, but I also knew that she did not love his flirty ways, only tolerated it as part of accepting the whole package of who he was. While I used to imagine that she would eventually get fed up and leave, I stopped that after finding out that they were engaged. So I just resigned myself to accepting her decision even if I didn't really agree with it. So I wrote back.
C: "Yeah, you are right, but as I said, it's just a one time thing to scratch an itch. I think we'll both be fine, and when I'm done, I'll let you know what hasn't gotten scratched off the bucket list and maybe you and I can see if we could work on that?"
J: "Ooh, sloppy seconds -and- being left with the rejects off your perversion list. You really know how to talk the panties off a girl, mister. ;p Just count yourself lucky that I like you and I like that you put out."
The rest of the day passed in a haze, and I drove home and spent a little too much time trying to decide what I should wear. Could I really be this casual about an encounter if I had already changed through four different outfits? Eventually I settled on a nice button down shirt and slacks. Boring but not too casual or formal. Safe. Maybe that's what Olivia always saw in me.
I arrived at the restaurant first, and was sipping an iced coffee when she arrived. Olivia appeared in a cap sleeved dress that hugged her slim figure and showed off a bit of cleavage. The cleavage caught my eye since Olivia normally isn't that busty. A Pilates and yoga devotee, Olivia' body type was more lean and toned, with firm, perky breasts and a narrow, supple waist that flared out into a nice pair of hourglass hips. Her long hair was pulled back and bundled up into a small knot secured with a pair of chopsticks and her eyes sparkled as she saw me. God, she was gorgeous.
I rose to greet her and pull out her chair, a gesture that caused her to perk her eyebrow and nod as she leaned in close and pecked me on the cheek, whispering, "there's a clerk that I know from the local courthouse seated in the corner. For now, we're just friends."
Olivia was a public defender and built a career for herself arguing the cases for society's rejects. She always knew that one of her assets was good relationships with people and having a fine attention to detail. So, I just smiled and whispered back.
"Agreed. Friends for now ... and for later?"
"Well, we'll see."
At this she winked, and let herself be seated before smiling and saying, "That was gentlemanly of you."
"Well, it seems important to make a good first impression."
"Oh, I think we're a little past that."
There was that sparkle in her eye again, and a barely suppressed giggle that she quickly hid as she studiously perused her menu. After we ordered and settled back in to each other's company, we kept the talk small and light. How work was going, what we saw recently on TV, Olivia and Justin's wedding plans. It was, for all others listening, nothing more than two friends catching up. We had split the duck mint salad, and as Olivia lifted a forkful of shredded meat off the plate, she looked at me and asked, "so, how are you and Jessica doing?"
"oh, we're taking it slow. Trying to be non-commital and keep our expectations measured. Friends with benefits really."
"And, how is it that benefit package? I assume that it comes with an exquisite dental plan."
I almost spat out my water as Olivia started laughing at herself. Then mopping my face with a napkin, I recovered and leaned in close and said, "You could say that. Oral hygeine is an important part of the package."
"oh, is it? And I assume that your level of benefits aren't contingent on some sort of fulltime exclusivity agreement?"
"Yes, I think you can say that we have a very healthy freelance arrangement. We can call each other for services that need to be rendered, but it isn't a full time thing."
"Ah, that's good to know."
"Why? Do you think you might need to call upon my ... services?"
At this, Olivia drained her wine glass, made eye contact with our waiter and made it quite clear that she needed another, then she looked at me and said, "I might. I think you recall what I talked about during that party? About Justin and I agreeing to have one night for ourselves?"
