Author's Note: Getting into the meat of Book Three now. It's going to be a wild ride with a very specific vision for how this ends. There are going to be trials for John, Kat, and Jess. Can they survive it, or will it all just blow up in their faces?
* * *
The danger didn't manifest itself quickly or obviously. By the time it did, it was almost too late to recover from, and it threatened to destroy the happy equilibrium I had found in life. The danger grew slowly, like a cancer. But after I got home from Vegas, I remained oblivious. I didn't miss a beat falling right back into our hedonistic pattern.
When I touched down in Houston that Saturday night, the girls met me at the airport. They had taken the night off, ostensibly to welcome me home, but I knew the reality was that their bodies needed time to recover after the football team party they had hosted the night before. Nevertheless, it was the warmest greeting I could have possibly imagined. Their hugs and kisses made me immediately feel guilty for having left at all. I had missed my true loves. Jess volunteered to drive, so I piled into the back seat with Kat.
"So, girls, how was the party?" I asked excitedly.
"I think Kat was surprised by how hard these pro football players party," Jess said. I could see her eyes in the rearview mirror latch onto mine. She smiled.
"Too much partying for you, Kitty Kat?" I said with mock surprise.
"I mean, I've just never seen so much blow disappear that fast!" she said.
"You were part of the reason for that!" Jess said.
"Pot, meet kettle," Kat said playfully.
"Wait, you like cocaine?" I said incredulously to Jess and burst out laughing. "But, seriously, I want details!"
"We'll give you all the details," Kat said. "There were ten guys and six girls. That should put your imagination to work."
"Those are pretty good odds for you," I said. "I bet you both got laid."
I was feeling playful, floating on the natural high of returning home and having missed these two women so terribly. It hadn't dawned on me how much I missed them until I returned. Vegas would have been so much more fun if they had been with me.
"I'll sum the night up for you in two words," Jess said.
"Double penetration," Kat interrupted and finished Jess's sentence for her.
"Hey!" Jess said. The girls giggled.
"You two are stoned!" I said, the realization hitting me.
"Here," Kat said, passing me a gummy. "Eat this. You'll be super mellow by the time we get home."
"That sounds like a really fun night," I said.
"Wait until you see the videos," Kat said. She leaned in close to me, put her hands over mine, and flashed a deeply mischievous grin.
"Videos?" I said.
"Videos," Jess repeated.
"What a coincidence," I said. "That was going to be my surprise for you. I have a few videos that sum up my weekend pretty well, too!"
"I can't believe those hoes left a payday to go hang out with fuck boys," Jess said.
"I can't believe I suggested that you call Nicole," Kat said. "She gives me bad vibes."
"She's divorced, if you can believe that," I confessed.
"Shocking!" Kat exclaimed. "You mean that eighty-year-old cuck got tired of watching her fuck everyone?"
There was genuine spite in her voice.