Adventures with Charlotte

Charlotte and I didn't discuss what happened that day. In fact, we carried on for the next week or so as if it had never happened at all. I wasn't sure what to make of that at first, but after a few days I decided to just roll with it.

I did feel awkward the next time I saw Danielle, though. Some part of me felt I should come clean about it, but an even bigger part of me decided not to. I felt similarly the next time Ethan came over, but I suppressed the urge then, too. Charlotte cast me a knowing look, which I interpreted as a reminder to keep my mouth shut.

However, things took a turn shortly after.

I was coming home with Danielle after a night out, and we were both feeling a little frisky. I wondered if Charlotte was going to try to collect on our wager. Honestly, I was all for it. I didn't think I could convince Danielle, though. My mind was racing to try to figure out how to pull it off as we entered the apartment.

It was mostly dark, with only a small light on in the living room. As we made our way to the bedroom, we didn't immediately notice Charlotte on the couch. She was sitting with her knees tucked up to her chest and wrapped in a blanket. She was completely silent as we passed by her, and we stopped in our tracks when we saw her there. It was another moment before I realized she had been crying.

"Hey," I said. "What's the matter?"

"Nothing," Charlotte sniffled.

"No, really," Danielle said. "Are you okay?"

"I'll be fine, I guess." Charlotte buried her face in the blanket.

"What's going on?" I pressed. Charlotte looked up at us again.

"Ethan," she began, stifled a sob then continued, "dumped me."

"Oh my god," I said.

"When?" Danielle asked.

"Tonight," Charlotte sobbed. "He left about an hour ago."

"Shit," I said. "I'm sorry."

Danielle moved to the couch and pulled Charlotte into a hug. Meanwhile, I couldn't help but wonder if Ethan's departure had anything to do with our shower escapade. Did he know?

"What happened?" I asked. "I thought you two were good."

"I don't want to talk about it," Charlotte said. She leaned into Danielle's hug for a moment, then pushed herself back up and got to her feet. "Thanks. I think I'm just going to go to bed. You guys looked like you were about to do stuff. Don't let me stop you."

"It's okay," I said. "We can stay up with you if you want."

"It's fine," Charlotte insisted. "Thanks, though."

She wrapped the blanket tighter around herself and shuffled toward her bedroom. As she passed, she pulled me into a half hug, and whispered in my ear.

"Don't worry about the bet. I'm not going to make you pay up." Then she continued to her room and shut the door. I stared after her for a moment, then turned back to Danielle.

"Damn," I said. "That really sucks."

"Yeah," she agreed. "What bet?"

I didn't think she had heard that.

"It's nothing," I said, and quickly thought about the basketball game I had watched two nights before. "We made a little bet about who would win the game the other night. I lost. I owe her ten bucks." Danielle nodded, seeming to accept that. Still, I felt a slight shift in her energy and she seemed uncomfortable now.

"Were they really serious?" she asked. She hadn't actually met Ethan, so she never saw them together.

"I didn't think so," I said. "She's had a lot of guys over since she's lived here, but I've never seen her this upset over one before. It's weird."

Danielle sighed.

"I think I'm just gonna go."

"Why?"

"She's your friend, and I think she needs that right now. You go and talk to her. Call me later?"

"Um...yeah," I said, confused. "I'll do that."

"Okay." She kissed me, gave one last unreadable look, then left. I took a deep breath, then knocked on Charlotte's door. When she didn't answer, I took the initiative and let myself in.

"Hey," I said, sliding into the room. Charlotte sat on the edge of her bed, the blanket still draped over her shoulders like a cloak. She looked up at me with a tear-streaked face and choked back a sob.

"Hi."

I took a seat next to her. I couldn't decide whether or not I should put my arm around her, and ultimately decided not to.

"Did Danielle leave?" she asked.

"Yeah."

"Was she mad?"

"I don't think so." She didn't seem like she was, but it was hard to tell.

"I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"For ruining your night."

"You didn't," I assured her. "You really didn't."

She didn't say anything, but just nodded her head.

"What happened with Ethan?"

"It's so...," she began, stifled another sob, then tried again, "just so stupid."

"Tell me," I said. "I'll be the judge of that."

Charlotte let her head fall back and stared at the ceiling for a minute or two. I imagine she was trying to think of how to explain the situation.

"My parents," she said, choosing to start from the

very

beginning, "always treated sex like this dirty, perverted thing. They never talked about it, except to say it shouldn't be talked about. So, I didn't learn much about it when I was a teenager.

"In college they couldn't stop me anymore, so I finally got to be openly curious about it. I was always curious, but I was too afraid to ask questions or look anything up. Now, I couldn't get enough of it. They couldn't stop me anymore, so I learned a hell of a lot really quickly. Some of it put ideas in my head, and I really wanted to try it.

"I thought guys were usually the ones who got adventurous and wanted to try new things. Anything as long as it involved sex, right? Apparently...I was wrong. Every guy I've ever been with was just so...so..."

"Vanilla?"

"

Boring!

They never wanted to do anything! Just suck and fuck. It was hard enough finding a guy who was willing to go down on

me

! I did end up dating this one guy for over a year. I really thought I was in love with him. Thought I could trust him. But when I started to suggest we should experiment he got...it just freaked him out. He said I was weird and it made him uncomfortable, and that was the end of that.

"When he dumped me, it shook my confidence. I never brought up doing different stuff again. I didn't want to chase another guy away. The little shows we put on for each other is the most exciting and kinky it's been for me in four years. I really liked it."

"Me, too."

"And after the thing in the shower, I started to get my confidence back. So, I thought I'd try something with Ethan, and he...wasn't a fan."

"What did you do?"

She hesitated.

"I...," she paused for a moment to compose herself. I couldn't tell if she was fighting back tears or just embarrassed. "I was giving him a blowjob on the couch and...I stuck a finger in his ass."

I laughed. I couldn't help it. She turned away sheepishly as she said it, but her head snapped around to glare at me.

"That's messed up!"

"I'm sorry," I said. I pulled myself back together. "I just really didn't know what to expect. I'm not trying to be mean, I'm sorry. So, what then? He just ran out on you?"

"Pretty much," she admitted. "I mean, there were a few choice words about it first, but then yeah...he just got up and stormed out. God, I feel like such a fucking idiot."

"You're not an idiot," I said. "Look, if that's all it took to scare him off then he's a wimp. Plain and simple. I mean, I haven't done a lot of experimenting myself, but from what I know, what you did is nothing. And even if he's not into it, flying off the handle like that is just ridiculous. What, he couldn't just talk to you about it? So he's a wimp

and

an asshole.

"I'm really sorry that happened to you. You shouldn't have to feel ashamed about being curious. There's nothing wrong with that."

"I know," she said. "Somewhere deep down, I know. It just hurts to have it thrown in my face like that."

I reached out and put my arm around her, and she leaned in and laid her head on my shoulder.

"A lot of guys would actually kill for a woman like you," I told her. "I'm actually surprised you haven't met any of them."

"Well, you said you don't experiment much, either."

"I said I haven't gotten to," I corrected her. "I didn't say I don't want to."

"Do you experiment with Danielle?"

"Not really," I said. "Except for that night with the vibrator we don't usually get creative."

"That's sad," she said. We were quiet for a moment, then she asked, "Do you think she'd be interested?"

"In what?"

"Experimenting."

"I don't know if she'd be into you," I joked, "but I could suggest a threesome."

"That's not what I meant," Charlotte said. "Not a horrible notion, but not what I had in mind. I mean, do you think you could get creative with her?"

"I could certainly try," I said. "Why?"

"Well, if I can't, then maybe I can live vicariously through you. You could do fun things with her and tell me about it."

I thought about that for a second. It did sound like fun. And I definitely wouldn't object to spicing things up with Danielle, just for its own sake.

"Okay," I said. "I'll give it a shot and see what she's down for."

"Thanks."

"Does that help?"

"A little." She snuggled in tighter and shut her eyes. "This helps, too."

I didn't say anything else. I just wrapped her in a full hug. We shifted so we were both lying on the bed, with her cuddled up beside me with her head on my chest.

"You really don't think I'm weird?" she asked.

"For being curious? Hardly."

"Thanks, Pete."

She sighed and snuggled up closer. We just laid there until we eventually drifted off to sleep.

When Danielle asked me what happened between Charlotte and Ethan, I didn't tell her the entire truth. I didn't mention what Charlotte did, or what she told me about her curious nature. I just said that Charlotte wanted to take the relationship to a level that Ethan wasn't ready for.

"I've heard that story a lot," she said. "Commitment issues?"

"Seems like it," I said. "He was really mean about it, too, apparently."

Danielle was really nice to Charlotte the next time she came over, and actually offered to take her out for a girls day. Charlotte happily agreed, and they took a Saturday to hang out just the two of them.

"She's actually pretty cool," Charlotte reported the next morning. "I feel kinda bad that I didn't get to know her sooner."

"Well, I do like her for a reason," I agreed.

"I tried to lay a little groundwork for you," she said. "I tried to probe her a bit. See what she might be into."

"Oh?" I said, raising an eyebrow. "What did you find out?"

Charlotte had turned their conversation to what Ethan was like in bed. Apparently, Danielle had listened intently, commiserating woman-to-woman. In a show of solidarity, she had been quick to pass judgment on Ethan in that department, and Charlotte used that to get on the topic of sexual experimentation.

She described Ethan's lovemaking as boring, with no imagination. This led to Danielle actually offering me some praise. Not in too much detail, but she admitted that I was very much the opposite of that. Charlotte then went ahead and told her the story of the blowjob mishap (without mentioning that she had told me first).

"She agrees with you," Charlotte told me. "I don't know if that's an alley she would be willing to walk down, but she agrees that Ethan needed to lighten up."

Danielle, for her part, didn't spill on her own kinks, but seemed genuinely interested in some of what Charlotte was saying. Charlotte and I both felt pretty confident that I would be able to talk her into a few things.

I tried, with very little success, to bring up the subject with Danielle. I didn't just blurt out the question, but dropped hints about things we might try to see if she seemed agreeable. The conversation never quite took hold, though. I couldn't tell if she was intentionally avoiding it, or if she just wasn't taking the bait. Either way, I had a rough time deciding what new bedroom activities to introduce.

"Any ideas?" I asked Charlotte.

"Dozens!" she said, enthusiastically. "You should probably start small, though. If you go too hard too soon, you'll definitely scare her off."

"My birthday is coming up," I mentioned. "Maybe I can use that to my advantage."

"You mean convince her to do something wild as a birthday present?" Charlotte asked.

"Yeah," I said. "What do you think?"

"It's definitely worth a shot," she said, thoughtfully. "I've played that card before, and it typically works."

For the next couple of days, I started dropping hints to Danielle about things I might want to try. Given my success with the vibrator, I mentioned other toys. She didn't seem interested, but she wasn't disinterested, either. She did, however, seem to like the idea of handcuffs.

Charlotte really liked that idea, too.

"I could loan you a set if you want," she suggested.

"I think I better get a new one for this," I said. "Make it look like I made an effort."

"Suit yourself," she said with a shrug. "Take my advice, though: Get something padded. Just straight metal cuffs hurt after a while, and not in a good way."

She directed me to a little sex shop on the other side of town. I was actually surprised by the place. I had no idea it was even there before, and I expected some seedy dump with sticky floors and some creepy dude behind the counter. It was actually clean and well-lit, with nice displays and a young woman at the register.

I think she could tell I was a little out of my element, because she came right over and offered to help. She was a bouncy, attractive blonde with a very friendly demeanor. She asked me what I was looking for and I told her. She led me to a shelf full of different kinds of restraints, far beyond just regular handcuffs. She recommended a set of nylon cuffs with a long strap meant to go under the bed.

"They're more comfortable than handcuffs," she told me. "And the strap is much sturdier. I really like them, personally."

"Oh," I said, nervously. "Okay. I guess I'll take these then."

The blonde led me back to the register to ring me up.

"Would you like to open a membership?" she asked.

"You have things like that?"

"We do," she said, happily. "If you sign up, you get twenty percent off today's purchase, and you can earn points toward discounts in the future."

"Sure," I said. "Why not?"

"Great," she said. "I'll just need your name, address, and email."

I gave them to her and she punched them into her computer. Then she paused a moment and raised an eyebrow.

"Do you know Charlotte?" she asked.

"Why?"

"Because I put your address in and it says there's already an account for it."

"Yeah," I said. "She's my roommate. I take it she's a big spender here, huh?"

"You could say that," the blonde said with a smirk, as if privately laughing at a joke I wasn't in on. She finished setting up my membership and handed me a card. Then she rang me up. As I was heading for the door she said, "And tell Charlotte that Mandy says 'hi'!"

Charlotte went the extra mile and talked to Danielle on her own, suggesting that they plan something together for my birthday. Nothing over the top, just taking me out to dinner. Danielle decided that was a good idea. They also coordinated on gifts for me. Charlotte told me in private she didn't want to accidentally outdo Danielle on that.

"If the night goes according to plan," I told her, "then I don't think you could."

"Oh, I definitely could in that department," Charlotte teased. "No doubt about that. But

she's

your girlfriend, not me. That's

her

job."

Dinner was actually really nice. A new fondue restaurant had opened in our town recently, and the girls got us a reservation. The food was great, and the company was excellent. I really enjoyed the evening, and Charlotte and Danielle seemed to have a great time.

They both looked stunning, too! Danielle wore a short black dress, with dark stockings and matching pumps. Charlotte wore a one piece sweater/skirt, dark green with brown stockings and thigh-high gray, heeled boots. I dressed up a bit for the occasion, as well. I actually do have some dress clothes, even though I don't wear them for work. So, any occasion to actually wear a tie was a good one.

For gifts, Danielle got me tickets to a basketball game. Box seats, even! Charlotte made sure not to be more impressive, but no less thoughtful. A sports fan is relatively easy to shop for, after all, so the team jersey she got me was pretty cool.

Charlotte wasn't finished, though. The dinner was a full, four-course meal. So, she had plenty of time to get some alcohol into Danielle.

"I remember the first time I heard you two," she explained, when Danielle went to the bathroom. "She only got like that because she was a little drunk."

"So, you're liquoring up my girlfriend so I can take advantage of her?"

"No!" Charlotte sounded scandalized. "Just loosening her up a little. I'm just trying to play wingman here."

"This is a little on the side of horrible," I told her.

"You're not trying very hard to stop me."

"Fine," I said. "One more drink, then that's enough."

Danielle did, in fact, have one more cocktail when she got back. As we stood up from the table, she was indeed loosened up, but fully able to walk on her own and she wasn't slurring her words or anything.

As we walked back to the car, Charlotte winked at me behind Danielle's back.

Back at the apartment, Charlotte quickly excused herself to bed. She bid us good night, and disappeared.

"You okay, hun?" I asked Danielle.

"Great," she said, with a huge smile. "Come here, birthday boy."

She pulled me into a kiss, and it immediately got passionately heated. Her tongue danced in my mouth, and I pulled her tighter. My hands moved up her sides and into her hair. She grabbed my belt and used it to hold onto me.

"I think we should move to the bedroom," I said, coming up for air.

"You read my mind," she said. I took her hand and started back toward my bedroom. She kicked off her shoes and followed. The door was barely shut before she attacked me again, grabbing my face and pulling me into another kiss.

I let my hands wander over her, savoring the feel of her in that tight, black dress. She was more eager than I was, scrabbling to undo my tie and unbutton my shirt. Charlotte was right about what alcohol would do to her.

"I want you so bad," she said, as she fumbled with my belt. I started to argue, wanting her to slow down just a little, but her hand down my pants changed my mind. I was already rock hard, and she started stroking me while she finished undoing my pants. As they came free, she sank to her knees while easing them down my legs.

"Do you want me to suck you?" she asked.

"I do," I said.

"You want a blowjob for the birthday boy?"

"Fuck yes."

She chuckled, and then her mouth was around my cock. She started slow at first, but quickly picked up her pace. I ran my fingers through her hair, gently but firmly grabbing a fistful. I guided her along, managing her speed as she greedily sucked me off.

"Does that feel good?" she asked, taking a moment to catch her breath before taking me in her mouth again.

"Hell yes," I breathed, letting my head fall back and closing my eyes. Danielle was definitely skilled in this department. She moved one hand to stroke my shaft while she sucked, adding to my pleasure. I started to feel my knees going weak, and pulled back a little to slow her pace.

"Getting close already?" she teased.

"Not quite," I said, and pulled her to her feet and into another kiss. My hands wandered up her back to the top of her dress, where I found the zipper and pulled it down. She moaned into my mouth as I eased the straps of her dress over her shoulders, and let it slowly slide down her body. I ran my hands over her bare back, back up into her hair, then down again and over the curves of her ass. I pulled her closer into me, then let her dress fall all the way to the floor.