They were laying in bed watching TV, Alex's head in her lap, fingers stroking absent-mindedly through the smooth black hair. Del's phone buzzed and she picked it up in her free hand.
"I want you naked with your hand between your legs," Chris wrote. "Not necessarily on the bed. Surprise me."
She smirked at his message.
"I have a friend over," she slid her thumb over the screen, forming the words in a smooth, gliding motion.
The indicator that Chris was typing appeared and disappeared several times. Was Chris unsure of what to say? Was he actually doubting himself, erasing and retyping what he had written?
"It's after midnight. Is it a sleepover sort of friend?" He finally sent the message and Del laughed out loud reading it. Alex looked up at her. Del shook her head, her thumb already moving in reply to Chris.
"Yes, my friend's sleeping over."
"I guess I won't interrupt."
Delilah was laughing again. This was a slightly weird side of Chris that she hadn't encountered before. Was he feeling insecure that she was with another guy? Honestly, she hadn't been with another guy in months, but they didn't really discuss it. They've spent exactly zero time talking about their relationship.
"Is it that boy of yours?" Alex looked up at her again, meeting her eye.
"He's a man and he's not mine. Not exclusively mine, anyway."
"Oh, so he's like community property? Anyone can have him?" Alex teased.
"What, are you interested? Suddenly got a hankering for some cock?" Del dished it right back out at her friend. Alex smiled up at her.
"I'm interested in you," Alex reached up, tucking a strand of loose hair back behind Delilah's ear. Her hand brushed gently along her cheek on the way back down. "And if 'the man' is now a package deal, I can handle that." Del bit the corner of her lip, scanning Alex's face.
"I'm not sure you'd be into... the sort of arrangement that Chris and I have, sweetie. It's not like those couple of times that we've done this before." Del ran her fingers through Alex's hair again.
"What kind of arrangement is that?" Her friend smirked at her. Del looked away, sighing. She hadn't really had to explain this to anyone yet. It has been her dirty little secret for months now, and if she were honest, it felt a little bit embarrassing to admit it to her friend.
"Ok, don't judge me for this, but... it's this whole dominant-submissive thing," Alex's smile spread, "and I'm not the one in charge." She watched Alex's eyebrows dart up in surprise. "He's in control, I don't really get a say. He... actually prefers that I just not talk at all." Her friend's expression changed to concern, the smile gone. "But I like it!" Del reassured. "I really like it. It's simple, he's really clear about what he wants and it's nice for someone else to take charge for a change. God, it's liberating, in a way, not having to think about it, not having to decide on the next move or work on seducing the guy." Alex laughed.
"Like you really need to work at seducing a guy!" She exclaimed.
"You have no idea, dear! I feel like I've been working on seducing this particular guy my whole life!"
Del hadn't really talked about Chris before with Alex. They were from different worlds that didn't intersect much. Chris was someone out of her childhood, from their little suburb-like neighborhood on Staten Island, the kid down the block, her brother's best friend. She and Alex met in college, in Massachusetts, where they indulged in all the freedoms of being away from home, from their families, free to experiment. They moved back home after college, Del to Staten Island and Alex to Providence, but they had a certain kind of relationship, the sort that picked up at the exact intensity that it had left off the last time they were together. There was no awkwardness between them, even when they went months without seeing each other. And there was that intimate factor in it, the way they touched, the way they shared a bed. As much as Delilah's relationship with Alex resembled the one she had with Chris, it was also vastly different. They were almost complimentary, as opposed to redundant. Her interactions with Alex were much more sensual, tender, caring. In Del's mind, Chris was a fuck buddy while Alex was a special friend.
Alex was entirely aware, however, that Del preferred men. She enjoyed the closeness and intimacy with Alex, but at the core of it was their friendship and neither of them imagined that they'd end up together as life partners. Alex still lived in Rhode Island and they only saw each other once every few months. In their time apart, they happily dated other people; Del - exclusively men, Alex - a mixture of both, leaning heavier towards women.
Del finished filling Alex in on her history with Chris and what had happened at her brother's wedding. Alex listened with great attention, her eyes widening at certain parts. Del explained that things were casual with him, no expectations of exclusivity, no conversations about feelings, no actual dates. That work party that Delilah had taken Chris to back in December was just about the only time they ventured out together. It wasn't a bad experience, far from it, but it was yet to be repeated.
