When Ashley first came back from the rifle range and told me she had been hit on by another woman, we giggled about it. I teased her about her desirability – how could anyone look at her and not fall for her immediately, I never understood – and she just blushed and brushed it off as usual. It wasn't surprising at all that an ex-military gun aficionado bull dyke would be attracted to my girlfriend, a lithe little pixie with a physique toned by regular yoga, who handled assault rifles like a pro. What was not to lust after, seriously?
But then, over the next few weeks, things seemed to get a little more serious. Ashley hid nothing from me, and her face would cloud over a little as she faithfully told me about Donna's continuing attempts to woo her, despite her making it clear that she was already spoken for. She couldn't rebuff Donna just like that, because Donna was keeping it friendly and warm, and neither of us was the possessive and territorial type, exactly. I couldn't exactly get angry at this woman and tell her to "keep off my turf", after all. Ashley had a right to make her own friends and decide what company to keep or not keep.
Still, I admitted to her as we were cuddling one night before bed that it did bother me, just a little. "How close have you gotten to her, dear? Would you say there's a real connection, you know, like, on a person-to-person level?"
Ashley shifted as she pondered the question. I loved how just about everything she said was thought out and carefully considered. "I'd say there is definitely potential for a long-term friendship there. She's told me some things about her past, which I've told you about: her military service, why she moved here, and the rest. I think I've told you pretty much everything she's shared with me. She has been very open, and she is good to talk to, especially about rifles. Which should be unsurprising." She quirked a smile.
Well, I reflected, Donna may have been in a non-combat vocation, but she would certainly be able to connect with Ashley on that level, their shared love of military-calibre firearms. Me, I just about knew an AR-15 from an AK-47, but beyond that, I couldn't begin to tell you anything. Ask me anything about the gym and working out, though, and I could probably answer it.
I sensed there was more. "Yes, love, what is it?"
She sighed, and I knew she was partly sighing happily because I could almost read her mind sometimes. "She did ask me about you, and I told her a few things. The most important thing was that I love you, obviously. But that didn't seem to faze her. Today, she..." Ashley flushed. "She tried to hold my hand."
I tensed, but I waited for her to tell it her own way.
"It wasn't anything really overt. We were just having drinks, after my shooting practice was done, and I was just sipping my fruit juice and she was having a beer, and it was going really well. I mean the conversation. And then at one point when we were laughing she just reached across and put her hand on mine. And I... kind of froze up a little bit. I didn't want to be too brusque, so I didn't jerk my hand away or anything. I just moved it away after a while during a lull in the conversation. I am not sure I managed to convey that I was uncomfortable with it."
I gnawed my lower lip. Then I grinned. "Hey... I know what to do about her. Hee hee hee."
Ashley grinned as well. She knew what my "hee hee hee" meant whenever I did it. It meant someone was about to get a bout of major discomfiture. I was going to poke Donna, and poke hard.
"Ok, love... get your phone, and snap a picture of us, right here, in bed."
She giggled. "Naked, like this?"
"Well, ok, blanket pulled up to our chests. And the next time I come up as a subject of conversation, just show her the picture. And tell me just how far down her face falls."
"I suppose I will try my best to introduce you as a topic of conversation as soon as possible then," she said, with a wink.
"Darn tootin' right you will." It wasn't outright possessiveness – I trusted Ashley implicitly to find an opportunity to show Donna the photo as innocuously as possible. She was good at innocuous. But it would send a clear unspoken signal, from me to her: this is my woman, and I have the means to defend my claim.
For good measure, I kept my left arm around her shoulders, and flexed my right arm as Ashley snapped the photo. We made sure the lighting set off the lines of definition in my arm muscles.
"That'll show her!" I thought. "And put an end to this nonsense."
I was so wrong.
The next weekend, I had a longer workout than usual and chatted a bit more with some of the other guys and girls afterwards, so when I got home Ashley was waiting for me. She was seated with a big pot of Earl Grey, and it was already half-empty. When I came in the door, she immediately put her cup down and came to hug me, looking slightly distraught.
"Uh oh."
"Uh oh is right!" Ashley sighed. "How much do you want to hear, my love?
"As always, only what you want to tell. But... I do want a clear picture. Tell me whatever you can."
Ashley sighed again. With her arms around my neck, she told me, "Katie, I don't think it worked. I found an excuse to show her the picture. And I made some comment about your muscles, and how sexy I found them. I think I messed up, because I thought I saw that her face was beginning to fall when she first saw the picture, but when I mentioned how attractive I found your physique, she seemed to brighten up somehow. She laughed and said, 'Honey, I think I got your Asian girlfriend beat in that department,' and then she raised her arm and flexed it. She was wearing a camou tank top, so she could show quite a bit. Then she said a few more things about how she was sure she could take you on, and said that we – meaning she and I – should get together sometime, and she'd show me what a real strong woman felt like. That's more or less what she said. Love... are you alright?"
My face must have been as black as my mood, because Ashley promptly pulled me in for a deep, passionate kiss. We cupped each other's heads and kissed each other hard for a while, moaning into each other's mouths, feeling the pleasant vibrations down in our throats. Then I looked at her and said, "You know what? You know I never back away from a challenge."
"Yes, love."
"This right here is a challenge."
"Yes, it is, my love."
"You can tell her, she can just come over and meet me, and we'll... clear the air."
"Ok, love."
"Ash?"
"Yes?"
"Are you attracted to her?"
Ashley looked like a kitten caught doing something wrong. But, as always, her honesty prevailed. "A bit. Just... on the physical level. You know I belong to you, heart and soul. And body."
"Yes, love, I do know that. But you do feel attracted to her, and not just physically, am I right?"
She bit her lip and lowered her eyes. I knew my Ashley far too well. She would never have just passively sat there and let advances be made upon her without at least a firm but polite unequivocal rebuff, if something inside her hadn't stirred at something inside Donna.
"She's... not a mean person. She's been through a few things. As have we all. But she... genuinely has feelings for me. I can see it in her eyes."
"And I can respect that, and understand that, but if she wants to 'muscle' in on our relationship... on my turf... then I've got to deal with her on those terms."
