Page 42 of Just Past Two

She typed for a long while, long enough that Sam got up to get a beer out of the fridge while watching the screen. Finally, a block of text came up all at once.

We have an open relationship because we don’t feel we can meet all of each other’s needs and shouldn’t have to. I do sex education workshops and learned about polyamory, and it made sense to me. I talked it over with Stephan. He had some reservations at first about being with anyone else, but we worked through it. Our relationship has been open for five years now. I think it’s made our partnership better.

Mitchell seemed to indicate the same thing when Sam talked to him. Maybe there was something to this idea of not limiting a relationship to two people. If he and Abby both wanted to have her sleep with someone else, shouldn’t that be okay? Maybe it was more normal than he’d thought.

Is it hot for you? He typed. When he’s with other people?

Not really, LOL, she responded. But I don’t mind one way or the other.

What was in this for her, then, bringing this up in the first place? But then she typed again.

But I’m like you. I like to watch. If it’s happening with me there, I really, really enjoy it.

Sam’s dick twitched, beginning to harden. What if they were both watching? He and Jo, watching Stephan and Abby together? The stuff of fantasies, right there. He couldn’t get too far ahead of himself, though. They hadn’t actually broached the specifics. Jo seemed near it, talking around it, like she was going to offer this as a possibility.

Another idea occurred to him, though, suddenly and all at once. Did you tell Stephan? If she had, if she’d brought this up with him, how would Sam ever face the guy again?

No. I wanted to talk to you first. Find out if this was a fantasy or something more. She then added, So which is it?

He could play this off as a fantasy and end this conversation now. From the way his heart was racing, that was probably the smartest idea. But instead, he was already typing. It’s not just a fantasy.

She responded fast. Good. I think we should set them up to be alone together.

Well, that was…immediate. While he paused, she kept typing, the fragments coming one at a time but immediate.

If she really wants to be with Stephan

and you like the idea

and Stephan likes the idea

Then she should go through with it.

It read like a poem on the page.

I don’t know if she’d go along with it, he typed. And you don’t even know if Stephan is interested.

LOL, Jo replied. I know Stephan. He would be interested.

Was this all too fast? Sam wanted this for Abby, and he wanted this for himself. He wanted her to get everything she wanted, and he loved the thought of somebody else discovering how amazing she was. She was incredible in bed. Having her go out and sleep with someone else was a whole different level from what they’d done.

Abby was hot as hell, and knowing she was off sleeping with another guy was even hotter. Not just sleeping with another guy, but doing it because he told her it was all right, because he was getting off on the idea of her pleasured by someone else. Yeah, that was pretty damn sexy.

Okay, he typed. So what do we need to do?

…

Jo and Stephan were all smiles as they greeted Abby and Sam in the entrance of the Redfish Grill. “I’m so glad you could make it,” Jo said, hugging each of them in turn. Sam had been pretty mum about the whole purpose for their going out to dinner, saying it was just to make some more couples friends together, and any of Abby’s suspicions were immediately offset by guilt about those suspicions. They had very few “couples” friends. Sam really liked Stephan, and Jo always seemed nice on the few occasions Abby had to spend any time with her. Going out to dinner was a nice way to get to know people.

Of course, Abby also liked Stephan, and in a different way than Sam. The reminders of that fact rushed back into her body as he leaned in to hug her, holding her close against him for a moment. Sure, that was a normal greeting for friends, but damn, her whole body lit up like a Christmas tree from the inside.

“Thanks. It’s nice to get together,” she said into his chest. She could manage to be articulate today, even wrapped in his arms. With no alcohol in her system and time since last weekend to compose herself, she wasn’t a horny wreck. Stephan was gorgeous, sure, but her lusts needed to be contained to unmarried, available people. Even if this one felt firm and warm against her, and smelled amazing.

Sam’s body pressed against her as they slid into a booth. Stephan sat across from her, and Jo across from Sam. As they decided on food and drinks, conversation stayed light, mostly discussing the weather and what was happening at work for each of them. Eventually, though, after they’d ordered and passed through the less meaningful topics, Stephan rested his chin on one hand and looked across the table at Abby.

“So, Abby.” Stephan fixed her with those dark eyes. “What do you do besides work? What are your passions?”

This was a normal way to ask people about what they were into, albeit with some provocative language, so she shouldn’t read anything into it. “Pottery,” she said, playing with the napkin on her lap. “It’s my main art outlet now. I do mugs, plates, vases, that sort of thing.”