This is the start of a new series which will likely be defined as a slow burn.
It contains themes of cuckoldry, cheating, and the like, if you have a problem with that then I recommend skipping this series in its entirety. See ya around!
*
"Shit, I forgot the eggs in the car!" Grace Harris said, just as she had stepped through the door into their fairly new apartment hallway.
"I need my goddamn eggs, woman!" Nolan Buckle roared, playing up the stereotype of a trad-husband with the added rage of someone who had his meal 2 seconds late. Grace simply giggled, seeing right through him, spinning on her heels, waving her long neon blonde hair around in the process. And granting Nolan a nice ol' view of his girlfriend's amazing butt clad in skin-tight blue jeans.
Grace Harris and Nolan Bickle had been dating for a few years, but they finally found a decent apartment in the same town where they had both gone to college, Courtington, Indiana. Nolan had originally hoped that they'd move to a proper city, but as they had been browsing for suitable apartments in Nolan's cramped dorm room, it dawned on them how expensive that would be, especially as Grace worked as a gardener and Nolan was factory-new in his sales job.
The price ranges in the bigger cities Nolan that had hoped for, were sadly way out of their current price range. Plus, Nolan suspected it was mostly him who was gungho on moving away, as Grace sort of liked the small-town feel of Courtington. The opportunity of a big city was alluring for Nolan and his ambition, but if Grace liked it here, having just gotten herself a steady and exciting job as a gardener, he'd endure for a while.
So, instead of moving to the big city, Grace and Nolan found a decently sized, decently priced apartment in a small complex just outside town. Fourth floor with no one above, and just one neighbor to their left. There were two bedrooms, one could act as a home office for Nolan if needed, one and a half baths, a decent living room, and a nice balcony with prime-time sun conditions.
When they found the apartment online, one of the main features that drew them in was the amount of sunlight they would get, especially as Grace was very much an outdoorsy person. According to the rental agency, they would have sun from it rose till it set, which was a huge win for Grace, and inadvertently Nolan's, as she loved to soak those sun rays. And there was this matted wall between the balconies which meant that she could do so in more or less her own privacy too. They only had one neighbor also, and the opposite part of the complex was at the entrance side of the building anyway, meaning their balcony faced a treeline instead, so that wouldn't really be a problem either.
So this apartment became their home. They moved in over the new year, wanting to start the year fresh in their brand-new home. Their home. The significance of that was somewhat daunting, but exhilarating for the young couple. She was 23 and he was 27, yet they had already secured their first rental, and were moving in together. A natural progression in their relationship, but yet so, so significant. To say they spent their first few weeks fucking like rabbits wouldn't be an understatement, as they were both quite frisky and outgoing. Both of them were still young and virile, so they enjoyed one another thoroughly.
Grace Harris and Nolan Buckle met each other while Nolan was just beginning his master's degree and Grace was starting her Major in Horticulture and Landscape Design a few years before moving in together. Grace was always the outgoing type (something Nolan had found somewhat contagious), and not particularly shy. Well, yes shy, but not shy away from a challenge, nor her interests, nor was she afraid of talking to someone strange.
This was among her many fine qualities that Nolan admired. She also had many other qualities, such as a killer body. Being outdoors a lot, and living an active lifestyle, had given Grace an amazing ass, being perma juicy, yet somehow fit and shapely, extansuated by her slim waist. She didn't have the biggest set of boobs, but Nolan would never find himself complaining.
Her steel-blue eyes were also to die for, and how she had a smile just hovering on her lips at any given moment. Even when Nolan was being silly, Grace was graceful enough to laugh along. Nolan Buckle could easily have gotten lost in those eyes of hers, and her smile truly lit up his day.
Nolan himself was tall, with brown hair and brown eyes, with a strong face that had earned him a lot of attention in high school. That, and that he was the quarterback at a rather small school, which meant he was the king of the jungle.
"Could you grab the mail on the way too?" Nolan called after her. No response, so he went out into the open corridor. Nolan could see from here that she was already by her big truck, out of earshot. Or, she wasn't, but he didn't want to make a fool out of himself by yelling out into the common parking lot.
Nolan then noticed someone in his peripheral vision. The neighbor, their left neighbor, was on his way down the corridor from where the elevators were. Nolan had never seen his neighbor in person before, just a couple of times from down in the parking lot, but now they had finally made contact.
He was a bit shorter than Nolan, perhaps around Grace's own height, but had a large beer gut and a kind of rugged, coarse face, though looked to have that blue-collar strength to him. Dark beady unkind eyes, dark, unruly hair, and a 6-day stubble spread like pepper across his pale cheeks.
Nolan couldn't quite put his finger on it, but something about the guy seemed off to him. As if he had an air of malice around him. Perhaps it was his stained sweatpants or the dirty white tank top he wore. Nolan tried to shrug it off, as he thought that this guy couldn't be that bad. It was just because he didn't know him yet.
The two men nodded at each other in passing, then the neighbor slipped into his apartment with his newspaper under his arm while Nolan went down to fetch the mail himself.
"Anything interesting?" Grace asked, having run up the stairs.
"Of course not. There's a package from Mom, though. A present left behind," Nolan said.
"I can't believe that woman nags about us getting married. Like, are we in a rush to spend thousands of dollars on filing some paperwork?" Grace chuckled. "But she's a sweetheart though. Those socks she gave me will no doubt be a lifesaver in the winter."
*
As they settled into their new home, Grace and Nolan found a nice groove. As they had gotten comfortable with their surroundings, the two of them began exploring their new town more and more, going out and having dinner or drinks or whatever else caught their fancy. They even went dancing one night.
Their first few weeks in their new home had been filled with sex. But, as they settled in more and more, their intimate time dwindled. Nolan was worried that they'd drift apart because of it, but he figured that it was normal in a relationship. He had read up online, and people who had moved in together often reported that their sex life had been affected.
But after a while, Nolan found that it didn't bother him so much. They were still close, still cuddled on the sofa while watching TV. Even if they weren't having sex, they still made each other happy. And Nolan would do anything for Grace.
However, it seemed like Grace noticed too, taking matters into her own hands.
"Hey Nolan, could you help me out with something?" Grace called from the bathroom.
Nolan paused the video game he was playing, got off the sofa, and walked across the living room to the bathroom. Grace was standing with her back turned towards the door, wearing nothing but a bathrobe.
"Yeah? What's up?" Nolan asked, eyes scanning Grace's body. He loved how the bathrobe accentuated her shape, showing just enough to make him want more. Her hair was up in a ponytail, giving him a good look at her neck, which always drove him wild.
Then, she dropped the bathrobe.
