I wriggle away from his grip in case I get stuck again like a bug in a spider’s web. “Shower”, I say confidently, “without the extras this time.”
Logan groans. “With one condition”, he says.
“Shoot.”
“We do the same after lunch, but instead of coming out here, we go out there into the forest.”
I look at Jack. “That kind of turns me on too”, he says.
“Alright”, I agree, the idea in line with one of my fantasies, “but if we get caught, you two can do the explaining.”
We shower quickly, somehow resist the temptation to fuck again and are back in our crumpled clothes and ready to leave in what feels like record time. In total we’ve been absent for just over forty five minutes, and when we return to the party we do so one by one.
Logan is the first to leave, Jack joins him after a minute has elapsed and I’m the last one to go, my hair barely dry from the shower, my heart still beating rapidly and my face red from orgasm.
Walking as confidently as I can and trying my best not to think about how amazing my entire body feels right now, I smile graciously at guests as I pass them and work my way out towards the garden.
Nothing to see here I think, Definitely not just had sex with my stepbrothers. It’s all fine, everything is fine.
I take two bottles of beer just to calm my nerves, do a slow circuit of the garden and finally spot them standing casually at the wooden trellis walkway that opens out to the secret garden, talking to Mom and Brandon.
They are the last two people in the world I want to see right now, but seeing as I’m going to have to confront them at some point, it might as well be immediately after Logan, Jack and I have all fucked, because what better time is there, right? I watch them for a moment from afar, like I did this morning from the window in the bedroom and then begin to move over when Mom spots me and waves.
If this is fate fucking me over with it’s coincidences again I wouldn’t be at all surprised. Two hundred guests and at least a hundred staff and as soon as we’ve come back from our x-rated miniature breakaway, Mom and Brandon have to zone in on Jack and Logan like dogs to a pair of giant bones.
“There she is”, Mom says, taking my arm and pulling me in for a hug.
“Hi, Mom”, I say. “Congratulations, Brandon.”
“The boys said you haven’t been feeling well”, Mom says.
My eyes go to them quickly for confirmation. “I went for a lie down”, I say. “But I’m feeling much better now. I think it must have been the champagne before the ceremony.”
“Did you hear the rumor?” Logan asks.
“No”, I say, shaking my head slowly, worried what the hell he’s about to say.
“Apparently this place is haunted”, Logan adds. I look to Mom and Brandon who both shake their head as though the thing is a joke. “People have heard weird moaning noises coming from one of the bedrooms.”
Jack laughs, while all the blood runs out of my face.
“Don’t listen to him Penny, he’s only trying to wind you up”, Brandon says. “And I know for a fact he doesn’t believe in ghosts.”
Logan giggles. “Maybe it was just the wind”, he says.
“Or the champagne”, Jack adds, lifting his glass into the air.
“Or something someone just made up”, Mom adds, before she looks at me conspiratorially. “One of the kids heard something upstairs”, she says. “You know, that sounded like a ghost.”
“Oh”, I say. And then “Ooooh”, as I understand what she’s trying to say.
Mom nods. “We haven’t seen Judy for a while, and she was all over Don during the ceremony.”
“Mom!” I say.
“Come on, it’s a wedding, everyone’s entitled to get a little randy after all. I know where I’d be if we didn’t have to be down here”, Mom adds and Jack’s eyes go as wide as dinner plates.
Not only does Mom think her colleague is fucking someone in one of the rooms upstairs, she thinks that now she’s married again it’s okay for me to hear her say that she wants to do the same thing. I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again, moms are meant to be moms and nothing else. Not even world famous explorers.
“A toast”, Brandon says, just as happy as I am to move the subject on. “To love, wherever it might be found.”
“And to ghosts”, Logan quickly adds, his and Jack’s perfect eyes all over me as we crash our glasses together enthusiastically.
Absent but not missed, heard but not caught, happier than I’ve ever been in my life and despite everything else, including the spiky prong of fate’s sharp sword keeping me on my toes, I feel more confident than ever about where my life is going. I may not be able to touch Jack and Logan in public the way that I want to yet - and the way that we do behind closed doors - but I’m confident that little by little that’s going to change.
Right now I’ve got them, and even though we have to keep that a secret it’s more than enough.
Logan and Jack have not only made the most intimate of all of my fantasies come true, they’ve made me understand the importance of believing in myself as well.
If there’s one message I can take away from this entire experience, it’s to never stop believing in your own dreams, no matter how unlikely it seems that they’ll come true because sometimes, when you’re at your lowest point and the future seems bleak and depressing and nothing else is going your way, against all odds and completely out of the blue, you might just get that tingly sensation of unbelievable surprise.
My dream not only came true, it came true in four dimensional, hyperreal double helpings of technicolor perfection that makes the hairs on the back of my head stand up, my cheeks flush red and my pussy tingle with the kind of buzz that signals an oncoming orgasmic storm, which means that no matter how naughty, how specific, or how outrageous, I know yours can too.
And I’m just Penny Breen, that ordinary girl who dared to dream, two identical gods on her arm like a pair of erotic trophies.
When Mom and Brandon have disappeared off again, I take Jack and Logan in my arms and walk with them towards the edge of the landscaped gardens, where wild grass borders the woodland beyond. I’m not escaping immediately again to disappear off and fuck them, although I’d definitely like to do that to, I’m just walking away from the heat of this crowd so I can enjoy a quick moment with them alone.
“The ghost?” I ask as we walk.
Jack shrugs. “Kids running around the hallways have bigger ears than African elephants and just as much imagination as you.”
“Thank God your mom has other ideas about who it must have been”, Logan adds.
We walk a little further in silence, the stillness of the day swimming around us.
“You’re not taking us where I think you’re taking us”, Logan says, looking at the forest beyond.
I giggle. “We’re just walking”, I say, and then when silence has fallen on us again, and I can’t hold it in any longer, “I think I’m falling in love.” I know weddings are emotional events, but it’s not just that. Being with Jack and Logan feels so perfect and so right, it’s like we were always meant to arrive here.
We stop, the forest beyond the wild grasses in front of us, the hum of the wedding party behind, as though the two things represent different aspects of a single life.
I can see Mom and Brandon laughing away, kids running around, and Alice flirting away busily with one of the waiting staff, and I’ve never felt happier.
“I love you, Penny”, Jack says, squeezing my hand tightly. “Whatever you want for our future, this wedding, those kids, the wildness of that forest behind us, I’ll try as best as I can to give it to you.”
My heart leaps and I feel like I’m going to cry again. Jack leans in and kisses me quickly on the cheek, and I hug him into me strongly.