Four Fun (Four)

She frowns and looks thoughtful for a moment before leaning in and lowering her voice. “I don’t understand how you can sleep with men without getting attached. I mean, it makes sense when it’s just a one-night thing, but if you’re living with them, and if you like them enough to sleep with them, don’t you ever find yourself wanting something more?”

More trouble, more irritation, more heartache? I don’t say any of that to Jade, since she’s all loved-up with Justin, but that’s what comes to mind when I think about a relationship with a man.

“It’s just sex,” I tell her, and knowing it will embarrass her, I add, “really, really good sex.”

41

I hope you’ve learned a lesson

We’re both quiet for a few minutes as we eat. My fried shrimp is good as usual, though not as tasty as the shrimp and grits Khalil made for dinner the other night, which was out of this world.

“I’ll ask around about jobs,” I tell Jade, breaking the silence.

“Thanks. I appreciate it. Someone told me about an opening at the bakery. I’m going to check there.”

“Maddy Lewis’s place? That would be amazing, though I’d gain fifty pounds if I worked there.”

“Right?” She’s smiling, though I notice now that her grin isn’t as wide as it normally would be, and something tells me it’s not just about the job, because I don’t think she’s going to have trouble finding a new one.

“Is everything else okay?” I ask.

She bites her bottom lip, her eyes cast down at her food. “Justin and I haven’t been getting along super great.”

I’m sorry to hear this, even though it’s not a huge surprise. “What’s wrong?”

“We’ve just been arguing a lot. Nothing big. It’s all little things, but it’s starting to add up.”

“What are the issues?”

She sighs, playing with one of her fries rather than eating it. “Oh, just things like cleaning. We have different ideas about tidiness. He can’t stand anything out on the counters and gets upset if I leave so much as a cup in the sink.”

Jade is very neat, much neater than me, but Justin is on another level.

“I suppose it always takes some adjustment when you first start living with someone,” she says.

“Maybe you’re right.” Of course, I’m not in a romantic relationship with the men I’m living with, so the situation is different, but we haven’t had any cohabitation issues. If anything I do is getting on their nerves, they keep it to themselves, and everything they do is just fine with me. More than fine.

“I think once we work these little things out and he sees how well things are going, he’ll finally be ready to propose,” she says.

I bite my tongue, and not for the first time. I feel like a shitty friend keeping quiet while warning sirens go off in my head, but sometimes people need to come to conclusions on their own. Much earlier in their relationship, I voiced concerns about Justin being too rigid and uptight, but Jade shrugged it off. Ever since then, I keep my thoughts to myself. If she’s not asking for my opinion, I don’t offer it. If she ever does ask, I’ll be honest.

“I can’t wait to be married,” she says.

Sometimes I’m surprised Jade and I are still good friends, when our outlook on men and relationships couldn’t be farther apart.

Jade and I receive our security deposit as well as last month’s rent back from the old apartment. We cash the check and split the money between us, and I go home feeling happy to finally have a good amount of money available for a deposit on a new apartment, but also hoping that it takes at least a week or two to find one. Two weeks should be plenty of time to have so much sex with the men that I’ll be ready to move on, right?

Tonight, it’s my turn in Marcos’s room again, and I desperately want to find out what happens when I misbehave. To test the waters, when he tells me to get on my knees, I refuse.

“On your knees, Becca. This is your final warning.” He has pants on but no shirt, and I’m completely naked, after some downstairs play with all four men earlier, as is our nightly routine.

“No.” I shake my head, keeping my eyes on his, my body buzzing with anticipation.

Marcos sits on the edge of the bed and swiftly pulls me onto his lap, my stomach on his thighs, my bare bottom sticking up in the air. I squirm around to give the effect of resisting him, even though there’s nowhere I’d rather be.

“I’m going to have to punish you now, for not following the rules.”

Wetness pools in my pussy. Maybe Shane has the right idea about breaking rules.

Marcos rubs the palm of his hand over my ass cheeks, then pulls away. The next thing I know, a hard slap stings my skin, and I scream, the sound muffled in my arm. He didn’t hold back. Maybe I thought it would all be playful, but he’s not kidding around.