Having departed their fine hotel in Gainesville, the Albertsons and Fosters are back on the road, Steve now pointing their big SUV in the general direction of home. The "fourple" has been away for eight days at this point, having driven to the tip of Florida to enjoy the last wisps of summer so Emily and Cyan could show off their all-over tans to appreciative beach audiences. Em and her husband Jackson are shortly to start new jobs, so their fleeting weeks of involuntary leisure are coming to a close.
True to the swinger lifestyles that brought them together in the first place, every night of their vacation so far has been has been in the company of new playtime friends. The highlight of their trip was a three-night stay at Rooftop Resort, a swinger hotel in the Miami area. It was there they met and played with the executive manager of the hotel, forming loving bonds with her and her roommate. Given everything that transpired and the depths of the relationships established, the foursome may well become a six-some at some point in the not-distant future.
But we're getting ahead of ourselves here.
"We sure were burning the candle at both ends last night, weren't we?" Cyan poses to the group. "Steve, you going to be okay with the drive?"
Emily chuckles, "We sure were. Is that a record for us?
Three
orgies in a day?"
Steve smirks, "Just two orgies, Em. Your picking up Rob at the pool for your fun was a simple pickup. Yeah, he may have done both of you, but that was pretty casual and in the moment. Cy? Yes, I'll be fine. We got to sleep-in late enough. Jackson can drive if I run out of steam. Besides..."
"Besides
what
, dear?" Cyan pushes back.
"We'll be mostly on minor two-lane highways. I'd like some backseat time with Em. Haven't had a chance to do that since Tennessee. We'll swap at lunch, Jax."
"Fine with me. Cyan?"
"
You
have to ask?" She pulls off her top and shorts and reaches to do the same to Jackson.
Glancing in the rearview, Steve rolls his eyes, "Like I said in the shower night before last, Cy, you two are
always
ready to fuck each other. Doesn't take much."
"Stevie?" Em giggles.
Steve glances to the co-pilot seat and chuckles, "Not
you
, too!"
Emily had surreptitiously stripped-off, as well. She's reaching for his zipper and belt.
"Jeans, lover? That's no fun."
"I'm running out of clothes, sweetie. All my shorts need washing."
"Project for tonight?"
"I guess. Just need two days' worth to get home. And, no, not a good idea. I do need to pay attention to driving."
"Aw. Sucking you on the road is fun!"
"Too much traffic. This isn't the desert."
"Steve?" Cyan calls from the backseat. "You hear anything from Anna today?"
"Yep. All's cool at home. She said she invited Jillian and a couple of their friends over for hot tub time and an overnighter at the house. She passed their thanks to us. She mentioned the puppies were sort of starving for attention, so they appreciated the company."
"Oh? That's unusual. She normally doesn't have friends over."
"Gay Pride rally in Springfield. I think the friends were from Chicago."
"Ah. Makes sense. Speaking of 'friends' at the house, we gotta talk about Penny and Alyssa."
"What's there to talk about?"
"I have a sneaking suspicion a visit might be setting the stage for something a little more enduring."
"How's that?"
"I'll answer that, Steven," Emily pipes in. "There was enough in our pillow talk with her to give me the impression she's ready to move on from Rooftop and even Miami. Her love for us is genuine, no doubt, but I think that might be influenced by a realization that there is something better out there. Us, for instance."
"Okay, I'll take that one step further. One of her unspoken motivations for not forming relationships with locals was not getting tied down
there
, yes?"
"Uh huh."
"Alright. That's Penny. What about Alyssa?"
"Duh. Aside from Pen and Lyss being
a couple
, she's in love with Jackson, and you forget that she sort of fell for you when we met her at Rick's. You didn't see that?"
"Just took it as friendly affections in the moment. Do you
really
think they're going to be happy living in the Snow Belt? That's going to be a real shock to their systems."
"If this plays-out as we suspect, we're going to have to hammer on that pretty hard."
"Like I said this morning, we'll cross that bridge when we get to it. I do have a thought about it, though."
"What's that?"
"The cottage. Jax and I should be done with the renovations by mid-November. Right, Jax?"
"Yeah, that's about right."
"Let's not be in a big hurry to sell it. Keep it in reserve in case Pen and Lyss do as we think might happen, okay? Even if it's long-term temporary."
"Not a bad idea, Steven," Cyan confirms. "Putting them up there would be good. Three couples in our house would be too much. Anything else we need to do?"
"Not really. Cottage was already in our game plan. I certainly don't want to commit to anything specifically to accommodate
them
. It's all hunch and conjecture at this point."
"Good enough. Jax? Fuck me."
Everybody laughs. Emily reaches over again, this time to rest her hand on Steve's leg. He takes the cue to hold hands with her.
"Sweetie?" Steve prompts.
"Yes?"
"Put your top on at least. You can be seen through the windshield."
"Okay."
"And guys?" Steve calls to the backseat, too.
"
What? We're busy!
" Cyan complains.
"Seriously. When we get close to the state line everybody will need to be dressed. Cops in these Deep South states tend to be full of themselves. We need to be decent in the instance somebody has a hair up their butt about out-of-staters and pulls us over. I
told you
about our problems with two-lane roads in Mississippi. I would not be surprised if we ran into something similar in Alabama."
"Oh. We'll behave. You, too, Em!" which elicits a giggle from the front seat.
=====
"Okay, guys. Here we are," as Steve pulls the SUV into the hotel portico for check-in. He assumed driving duty from Jackson after the last gas stop.
"This isn't a Hilton," Cyan stating the obvious. "But it does look an awful lot like someplace we've stayed before."
"Well, it is in the Hilton chain, so I can use points. And the hotel you're thinking about is in St. Charles. You know, that trains convention we used to go to. Same franchise, same concept."
"Oh, okay. Big atrium, right?"
"Right. Where the screaming children love to hear their voices echo."
"Shit. I hate that. Why'd you pick this one?"
"Wasn't happy about it, but the hotels here in Birmingham seem to be weird. I had a helluva time finding something on their smartphone websites, and those I did find had other stuff we don't like. Gawd. At one place that promoted their "lively bar" on the home page, it fuckin' closed at
eight!
Really? This one was at least halfway familiar, and had some things that appealed to us."
"I'll take your word for it."
"Oh. Two
