The interior of the restaurant was dimly lit, the sleek and modern furniture matched the rest of the decor. I sat around a rectangular table with Cara's family listening to her mom tell us a story about something that happened at her job recently.
I reached for my glass of wine, my eyes briefly shifting to Evan who sat across from me. I'd been looking forward to tonight ever since Cara told me earlier in the week that we'd be having dinner with her family to celebrate her mom's birthday, the subtle hum of anticipation steadily growing in the days leading up this evening.
I took a long, slow sip, discreetly watching him from under my eyelashes. His head was turned toward his mom, listening to her story with a smile on his face. My gaze rested on the small, black ring along the left side of his bottom lip. When I spotted it for the first time earlier, I realized how long it'd actually been since I'd seen Evan. Although I knew it takes a while to heal, his lip piercing didn't look all that fresh.
I swallowed the wine and continued holding the glass in my hand. Evan laughed as his mom finished her story and glanced over at me. I smiled at him and he smiled back.
"How's your summer been so far," I asked him. "I feel like I haven't seen you in forever."
"I know," he said, a hint of disappointment in his voice. "Honestly, I've just been so busy. I'm taking a summer class on top of working part time."
"Yeah, your mom mentioned you got a job at some art place?"
"Yeah, it's a do it yourself art studio. Sort of like Painting with a Twist but not so corporate."
I nodded my head and heard Cara snort beside me.
"I'm surprised they let you work there with that thing on your lip," she mocked.
Evan's eyes narrowed slightly as he leveled a cool gaze at her. "It's better than the herpes blister we're used to seeing on your lip."
Cara's mouth dropped open and I choked on a sip of wine before descending into a coughing fit, grateful that it covered the laughter bubbling up in my chest.
"You asshole--"
"That's enough," Cara's dad interjected forcefully. "It's your mother's birthday and we're in public."
The silence that immediately followed was awkward, neither Cara or Evan looking at each other. I caught his eye and mouthed, "I like it."
Evan smiled softly and mouthed a thank you back. I hadn't lied, the lip piercing did look good. It matched his style and, to be completely honest, made him look kinda cute. We held silent eye contact for a few more seconds before his mom spoke up and he reluctantly looked away as she addressed him.
"Oh Evan, the bill for your gym membership came today. If you're gonna cancel, do it soon so that you don't have to pay for another month."
"You're quitting the gym?" I asked.
He shrugged, "I'm thinking about it. Haven't decided yet."
"How come?"
"For the last year I've been going with my friend David. He moved away after graduating last month and I haven't found anyone else to be my gym partner."
"You don't work out yourself?"
He shook his head. "Not really, I have a hard time completing my workout if someone isn't with me."
"Well, I could be your workout partner if you want," I offered.
Cara stiffened beside me, but said nothing.
Evan's eyebrows raised, "Seriously?"
"Yeah, man. I have no one to go with on the days your sister works late at the hospital. Usually I end up going alone but you're more than welcome to join."
"Alright," Evan slowly nodded his head, the beginnings of a smile blooming across his face. "I think I will."
"Awesome, I'll text you tomorrow about a good time to go."
I smiled back at him and felt a small flutter of excitement in my chest now that I have an excuse to see Evan on a regular basis.
-----
Cara was quiet on the ride back to my apartment. I could sense that she was upset, and I was pretty sure it had something to do with Evan, although I wasn't exactly sure what. She hadn't spoken to him the rest of dinner, but that wasn't all that unusual after they had an argument or said something particularly mean to one another.
I parked the car outside my building and finally addressed the issue on the way in.
"So, are you going to tell me what you're so upset about or do I have to guess?"
Cara was silent as we climbed the steps to the second floor and I sighed in frustration.
"Cara, come on. Do we really have to do this right now? Can you please just tell me what's bothering you? Was it what Evan said at dinner?"
She gave me the side eye at the mention of Evan's herpes remark.
"No," she said eventually, "although he is a little shit for saying something like that."
"Then what?" I gave her an imploring look and she sighed before turning to face me, both of us standing outside the door to my apartment.
Cara crossed her arms and avoided eye contact by looking up at the ceiling.
"I don't like that you're going to the gym without me."
"Why?" I asked, genuinely baffled. "It's not like I'm taking him instead of you, it's just on the days when you can't go."
"Yeah, but working out together is our thing. You know, as a couple."
I stared at her incredulously, my mouth slightly ajar.
"So, what, I can't do something with anyone else that we do together?"
"I don't know, I just..." she looked at me and shrugged in an unsure way.
I closed my eyes and kneaded my forehead, already feeling the onset of a dull headache. I wish I could say I was surprised by what she was saying, but honestly, I really wasn't. Truth be told, I was to blame for this behavior of hers.
Evan's summer class and part time job weren't the only reasons that I hadn't seen him a whole lot recently. In the month since he and I had hooked up, I spent all of my free time with Cara, partly out of guilt for sleeping with her brother and partly to try and ease the tension that he developed in our relationship recently.
I figured that if I acquiesced to her demands for my attention by spending more time together, it would placate her behavior. However, it seems to have backfired and emboldened her instead, my appeasement becoming justification to continue acting the way she was.
But even still, this was a whole new level of possessiveness that I had yet to experience, and once again, I asked myself if this is all really worth it?
I opened my eyes and looked at her for several seconds, "Cara--"
"You know what, just forget it," she said, sounding tired and frustrated. "I don't feel like talking about it right now."
I watched her with trepidation, various emotions warring inside my chest. This was it right here, the opportunity to be honest, to have a difficult conversation that could ultimately help fix our issues by addressing them directly or have it end with us splitting apart in a fiery blowout.
We stared at each other, indecision keeping me silent until I finally uttered, "Ok."
She nodded and we both turned toward the door as I unlocked it. I felt deflated. Once again, I'd chosen to ignore our issues and avoid dealing with the potential consequences of confronting them, like a coward.
It was quiet while we undressed. Neither of us said another word before falling asleep, just crawled under the covers and shut the light off before lying separately in bed together.
The next morning, we were silent after waking up. As the drowsiness slowly faded away, Cara shifted over and buried her face in my neck, placing soft kisses along the skin. I pulled her body on top of mine, and it wasn't long before she was astride my cock.
I watched her ass jostle softly as she gently rode me, unable to stop myself from comparing it to Evan's and thinking, not for the first time, how much better his was. I closed my eyes and thought of that night in the basement a little over a month ago, feeling my cock stiffen slightly inside of Cara.
After hooking up with Evan, I thought my sexual interest in him would dissipate, figuring that by giving into my urge to fuck him, I'd get it all out of my system and could go back to being his friend without constantly thinking about him and that ass.
For about a week or so, that's how it seemed to be going. However, I found my lust for Evan slowly returning, slight at first. The memories of him riding my cock would occasionally surface while I jerked off. But the more time passed, the stronger my lust grew, and more frequently I began to fantasize about sex with Evan, even when I was fucking Cara.
It was just like after I spanked him in the kitchen that one night. My lust for Evan felt all consuming, except now there was an edge to it, because I'd already had a taste of him and knew how good it was. So my libido rumbled like a dragon when stirred, hungry for some more of that sweet, pale ass.
The image of it descending along my rigid shaft filled my mind, and I let out a satisfied sigh. My cock surged when I remembered how it felt to fuck him with abandon and hear his cries of pleasure from the pounding I was giving him.
I felt my balls draw up, the tightening of my groin almost unbearable, and then I was cumming, shooting my morning load deep inside of Cara while secretly wishing it was her brother instead.
-----
"Alright, aaaand done," I said, helping Evan set the bar back on the rack.
He exhaled in relief and collapsed onto the bench, limbs splayed out and breathing heavily. My lips quirked up in a smile, amused by his over exaggerated reaction.
"Aww, come on, it wasn't that bad," I gripped the bar and leaned over it, grinning down at him.
He glared up at me, exhaustion etched across his face.
"I'd hit you if I could lift my arms right now," he deadpanned.
I laughed and he opted to flip me the bird instead before shutting his eyes and laying there quietly while taking deep breaths. I smiled softly to myself as I watched him trying to recover. He was drenched in sweat from our workout, the white tank top he wore clung wetly to him and was soaked through enough for me to make out his little pink nipples and smooth, porcelain midsection through the thin material.
I felt my dick twitch inside my mesh shorts and let go of the bar to take a step back. I had jerked off earlier to avoid this exact situation. Although I focused intently on our sets while we were in the midst of working out, I didn't want to chance popping a stiff one before or afterward when I wasn't as preoccupied and my mind, as well as my eyes, might wander.
Still though, I knew it was a possibility given the resurgence of my interest in him, and in the last couple days, I had been wondering how much that had played into my offer to be his workout partner. Don't get me wrong, I genuinely wanted and enjoyed hanging out with Evan, but I'd be lying if I said that my decision wasn't driven, at least in part, by my attraction to him. I just wasn't quite sure by how much.
Evan finally hauled himself up off the bench to stand in front of me, still looking a touch out of breath.
"God, next time I can't forget to bring a hair tie. At one point I seriously considered chopping it all off."
I chuckled. The ends of his blonde curls were damp and heavy, his bangs stuck to his forehead. He reached up and dragged his long fingers through the tangled mess of his hair, brushing it back and out of his face. As he did, I noticed tiny beads of perspiration dotted along his pale neck, and for a brief second, I imagined dragging my tongue across the skin there to taste it.
A light shiver ran down my spine and I tried to shake it off as I responded to him.
"So that means you're not quitting on me then?"
"Not if you don't kill me first with your insane routine!"
"I was just trying to push you a little."
