I'm not trying to be quiet or anything as I unlock the door and let myself in. Why would I? Chris and I had been seeing each other a while before he even gave me a key, and we'd talked this morning - I'd planned to come over after work.
The only surprise is that I'd expected to be straggling in past midnight tonight. But everything somehow fell exactly into place all day at work and my team finished by a quarter to eight.
A late night, sure, but nothing like what we'd expected.
I pull off my shoes and close the door. Chris, who's heard me, calls out, "Oh, hey, you're here early."
I walk in. When I get to the living room, I see that Chris's best friend Dave is over, and Dave is holding the television remote.
But the TV's off. So they're just sitting there, as though they'd been staring at the blank screen.
"Um," I say.
Dave glances at Chris, opens his mouth as though to speak, then closes his mouth again without saying anything.
"We were, uh, just ... " Chris starts to say.
I laugh. "What, like, watching porn? Didn't want me to catch you?"
"Well, we ... " Chris starts to say, but I look at Dave and he's blushing. I laugh harder.
"Oh, man, I'm totally right."
"We just started!" Dave says.
I give him a quizzical look. Why would I care how
long
they'd watched?
"It's okay," I say. "You don't have to, like, hide it. It's okay to watch porn."
Chris shrugs, smiling at me sheepishly, so I walk over and kiss him. First on the forehead, then on the lips. "You look like you thought I'd be mad or something. I'm just surprised you turned it off." And I glance at Dave. "You don't have to be so embarrassed. I just finished work early. I guess you noticed."
"Yeah, um, Chris said he'd just be chilling alone basically all night."
"That's what we thought. But here I am."
"Well, we don't have to ... I mean, I can go ... or, like, you wanna see what's on Netflix, or ..." Despite my exhortation, Dave's clearly feeling flustered about his role in our little fiasco.
"Naw, guys, look, it's cool. You can watch whatever you were gonna watch, and I can go, like, read, maybe, or maybe make myself a snack, or maybe watch some with you."
"You watch ...?"
I shake my head. "Oh, Dave, yes. Women watch porn too. Maybe not the same things you like, but ..."
"Well, this one's ... um, it has a kind of stupid title, but its premise ... it's supposed to be set up like reality TV, where they're making it look like it's not all scripted, but, like, a bachelorette party ..."
"Oh, and then the music kicks in, everybody's all hot and bothered, the ladies start getting naked ..."
"No, no, it's ..." Dave laughs nervously. "There's strippers, but they're all guys, the women keep their clothes on, just drink and laugh or whatever. Well, mostly."
"Mostly."
"There
is
one woman who gets naked and has, like, full-on sex, at the end. I mean, it's clearly set up. But, still. They're, the directors were trying to make it look like a regular party."
"What'd you say it was called?"
"Um, it's kind of ..."
" 'Dick for the masses,' " Chris says, making air quotes.
I snort. "That's more than
kind of
stupid."
"Yeah, so we don't have to ..."
"Nah, if it's good enough that you two were going to watch it together, why wouldn't I want to see? Just, let me put on pajamas or something. I've been wearing this all day."
"You want us to ... do you want us to go back, like, to the beginning?"
"Oh, did I miss a lot of major plot points?"
Chris laughs this time. "No. No plot."
Dave protests, "Well, but, there's ..."
"Okay, okay. Dave told me I should see it, he thought I'd like it because one lady, the one who ... at the end ... well, he said it was pretty sexy, like, watching her. Since she knows what she's going to do, in advance. So ... well, you'll see. We'll skip back for you."
"Suit yourself," I say, heading back to the bedroom. I keep some pajamas and a few changes of clothes at Chris's place. Our relationship has settled into that comfortable zone where you trust that the other person is actually invested, that you're looking out for each other and both interested in keeping things going for the long-ish haul. So there's a toothbrush for me ... tampons ... spare clothes ... the whole shebang.
#
In Chris's bedroom, I close the door and look around. A guitar near the bed, a laptop computer on Chris's desk, a pair of gym shorts dangling from his laundry hamper. And his dresser. My stuff is in the bottom drawer. See, that's love: he cleared out a whole drawer for me! I have exercise clothes, work clothes, a vibrator. Two different pajama options. Well, only one, really - I don't want to sit and watch a porno in my work clothes, but, even though Dave's cute and all, I probably shouldn't change into my super-clingy, sheer pajamas. Chris and I bought them together at a little fetish and erotica shop that we visited last Valentine's day. My play clothes, if you will.
So, really, that leaves just my gray pajama bottoms, or else a pair of gym shorts. Nah, not my shorts. They're bright blue or fluorescent pink and both too skimpy for sitting around.
Gray it is!
I step out of my skirt, peel down my hose, and pull my pajama bottoms out of the dresser. Standing to put them on, I catch a glimpse of myself in Chris's mirror - and, yes, for a moment, I preen. I lift my chest, arching my back a little to make my shirt hang high, and smile at myself. I don't know if you do this, but I have a pair of "power undies." Not especially racy, just a pair of underwear that helps me feel confident all day, even if I don't think anybody's going to see them. Mine, these ones, are a cheeky cut, really flattering, I think, creamy white with black polka dots and some lacy trim. And a decorative little bow in the front.
I look
good
.
Until, of course, I pull on the gray pajama bottoms. Well. I still look okay. And these pants aren't
so
bad. Their fabric is thin enough that they hint at my curves.
For my top, I pick one of Chris's t-shirts. I like to wear them sometimes. You know, to have that faint scent of him around me. I unbutton my blouse and shuck it to the floor. I'll pile them in a moment - I don't like accidentally mixing my clothes with Chris's laundry, because he still just washes everything on hot and chucks it all into the dryer. Then wonders why his sweaters get wrecked. Gee, Chris, do you think ...?
I'm about to pull Chris's shirt over my head - light green, with the outline of a rhinoceros on it - when I catch another look at myself in the mirror. And I can't help but smile again. You know, even in sweatpants ...
I decide to unhook my bra and slip it off my shoulders.
Then
I put on the shirt. Because Dave deserves a little hospitality. As do I.
#