It isn't like being with a boy. Boys are easy. I know how to flirt with them. I have 30 + years of experience. I'm pretty sure I flirted with my next door neighbor—one year my senior—while we were still in diapers.
Then he went off to kindergarten while I stayed home, we both made new friends, and we hardly spoke again. My point? I like boys. Always have.
But, given enough alcohol and a cute girl... is the term bi-curious? That's not quite accurate. I've had a few experiences. My curiosity is satisfied. I like girls. Flirting with them just doesn't come naturally to me (if you will).
That first time with someone of the same sex is like your first ride on a towering roller coaster, the butterflies dancing in your belly as you wait in line, trying to look normal and wondering if everyone else in line feels the same way you do.
No. Better analogy: it's like trying to sit across the dinner table from your crush, acting like everything's normal, acting like you don't want to grab him, right there, kiss those full, luscious lips, then force his head down so he can kiss every square inch of your body.
See what I said about it coming naturally with boys? When I talk about a crush, I speak in the male pronoun. But this story isn't about him, it's about his wife.
Which is just not as easy to talk about. And while it wasn't my first time, it was early enough in the game that I was still pretty nervous.
Even so, it took only three rum and cokes before I started getting all touchy-feely on her. The four of us sat in the hotel bar, trying to maintain just a small modicum of professionalism, but the sexual tension was as thick as the adrenaline just before the start of a race, cyclists strapped in, poised at the starting line waiting for the signal.
Flirting expressions crossed the table. Cassie and her husband, Mark, exchanged glances and smiles. I'm pretty sure her hand was on his thigh, as mine was on my husband's, rubbing, teasing, dancing just around that spot I know he wanted me to caress.
Mark smiled at me. We stared, lost in each others' eyes for a moment, until he broke the connection with a quick wink. I don't know if anyone else at the table caught it, but my stomach flip-flopped at the unspoken promises that wink implied.
Finally, drink three, a toast to friendship, century races and carbon fiber forks. Cassie and my husband, Scott, were the pro cyclists, while I worked for Bicycle magazine and Cassie's husband did marketing for Specialized bikes.
In the Hilton lounge filled with cyclists and members of the industry, it was all we could do to remain discrete. I wanted to jump across the table and wrap my fingers around Cassie's short, thick blonde, kiss her hard on the lips and work my way down.
I caught my husband's eye and could tell by his smirk that he was thinking the same thing. He masked it well, talking about the race and his second place finish—behind Cassie—this afternoon.
A career in sports makes for a strange lifestyle... whether you're an athlete or part of the industry, you're essentially making a living out of games--overgrown children being paid for what we've always loved.
Since I first got into cycling at age 15, I've loved the feeling of the road beneath me, miles disappearing as my legs burned with the exertion. The saddle between my legs, the friction, constant forward movement, power generated not by an engine but by my own strength.
I met Scott in a local bicycle shop where we found each other drooling over the same charcoal gray and platinum Cannondale.
Since then, we've traveled the country, making a living at something many people consider exercise, ecologically-friendly transportation or simple child's play.
"First and second place," Mark said. "Not too bad!"
"We know how to pick the winners," I told Mark, then winked at my husband.
"I think Cassie deserves a victory kiss," Scott said.
I bowed my head, blushing. "From me or you?"
Mark turned his head sideways to give his wife an affectionate kiss on the cheek, and then said, "Why don't you two take turns?"
"What am I, a piece of meat to be passed around the table?" Cassie asked, smiling to let us know she was teasing.
"No, we'll play pass the meat later," I said with a laugh, squeezing my husband's thigh. I was anxious to share his cock with Cassie, to watch as she wrapped her soft red lips around him. And even more anxious to get a piece of her guy.
Cassie and I had discussed the "rules" in the hotel room after the race. Getting ready for dinner, we shared one long mirror in the bathroom. She wore a sky blue bra from Victoria's Secret and low-rise jeans, while I had a pink bra—ironically, the same style—and a short denim skirt that hugged my thighs.
I caught Cassie eyeing me a few times, and I suspect she noticed me doing the same to her. Only half-dressed, we straightened our hair, then applied blush, mascara and painted our eyelids in shades of smoky gray. Finally, we pulled frilly, sleeveless tops in pastel colors over our bras to present ourselves to our men.
We'd been waiting for this weekend for a long time, ever since the four of us had discovered we liked to play. Mark had caught me checking out a "booth bunny" in the hotel bar after hours during Sporting Goods Manufacturers' Association trade show and commented, "She wants you, too."
"What?" I looked at him blankly. I vaguely recognized the tall guy in front of me. His black polo shirt, Specialized embroidered in the right corner, told me I should know him better—the company was one of the magazine's bigger advertisers. He'd pitched a few stories to me in the past and seemed a lot sharper than many marketing professionals, fun to talk to and very savvy, but I couldn't remember his name.
"She was checking you out. And you were checking her out." An impish grin looked very out of place on his extremely masculine and goateed face and I had to laugh.
"And I can't blame either of you," he said.
"Fair enough," I said. "I'm Lexie, by the way." I put out my hand formally. He took it gently, and, instead of the requisite handshake, kissed it. I laughed again, this time more of a giggle, my defenses down. After that night, I knew I wouldn't turn down any story he ever pitched me.
Then I met Cassie, and we became fast friends. Cassie and Scott had raced on the same team before, shared the same sponsors, and got along well. Unfortunately, since we lived half a continent apart—they in LA, us in NY--it took a lot of planning and infinite patience to take our friendship to the next level.
Now, with half the weekend already gone, time was running short. That's why Cassie and I determined we wouldn't waste time with petty rules or specifications. We decided early on—without letting our husbands in on the plan—that anything and everything was fair game tonight. Full swap, kissing, same room, different room, two-on-one, three-on-one, video, oral, anal... only our imaginations would limit our adventures for the night. If only we could get started.
Now, as that time approached, my heart pounded loudly in my chest. I was at the pique of the race, dangerously close to hitting the wall, where your legs feel like lead and you can't move another inch, thighs burning, breath heavy, a mountain in front of me. That mountain was simply gathering the nerve to make that first move.
I looked around the crowded but dark restaurant. What if there was someone we knew here? Half the cycling industry was here—of course there was someone we knew! At the top of their careers and competitors in last year's Tour de France, Cassie and Scott were minor celebrities. Mark and I were only known within the industry.
What if someone did see? my drunk brain argued with itself. Who cares? A little scandal never hurt anyone, especially when Cassie's husband could spin any story in a positive light and I had enough media connections to work damage control.
Besides, if people were really that concerned about our personal lives... well, maybe they needed to spend more time training and less time reading the tabloids or cycling blogs.
Under the table, my foot had shed its clog and was working its way up Cassie's ankle. She smiled and leaned over--
Right into Mark's wine glass. "Oh, fuck!" She shoved her chair away from the table to get up. I watched the curve of her hip inside her dark blue denim jeans, the way the bleached 'whiskers" pointed in a seductive way.
Scott, thinking fast, grabbed the glass; there hadn't been much wine left in it, so only a few drops had escaped onto the stark white table cloth. Around the table, three of us heaved a collective sigh. I got up, too.
"Look," I said to Scott. "Switch seats. This is awkward."
"This is a comedy of errors," Mark said.
"It's like fucking ... Lysistrata."
"Come here, Aphrodite," I said, smiling as I reached for Cassie's shoulder.
"Would that make you Sappho?" she teased.
I was afraid the mood had been broken by the spilled wine. My heart was pounding harder than it should have been, and my panties were moister than I can ever remember.
Yes, I definitely liked girls. Why was it so damn hard to flirt with them?