Bidding War (36 page)

"You are an angel that way."

And then she was dressed and back in the living room, putting on her shoes. She collected her game. "Don't forget your rope."

"Keep it," she said. "You never know when you might need it."

I smiled.

Then I stepped into her arms. We didn't kiss, but just held each other. "Thank you for being so kind," I told her.

"Thank you for being so amazing," she said in reply. "I'm glad Moira suggested it this way. One date wouldn't have been enough."

"No, it wouldn't. I would have been a lot more uptight, assuming you were going to seduce me."

"But I did seduce you."

"Only after I had gotten used to the idea."

And then she kissed me, softly and sweetly.

"Bye," she said.

"No. Not bye."

She smiled and hugged me once more then tried to pull away.

"Find another word!" I ordered.

"I'll call you."

"Better." I squeezed her, and then she was gone.

* * *

I went from deliriously happy to on the edge of tears in seconds, staring at the closed door. She sounded like she didn't expect to see me again. Was that it? Was that all she wanted from me?

Maybe it was. She went through a lot of women, from what I could tell. Maybe I was just another notch on her rope.

I found my phone and texted Sam. "If you can, please come over." Then I headed to the kitchen and began a proper cleanup. I got a reply a few minutes later. "Out with Suzanne. We can both come, or I can call later."

"Please come, if it's not a bother," I sent back.

"On our way," came the reply nearly immediately. "Twenty minutes."

I thought about popping into the shower but thought if I started crying in there, I wouldn't be done by the time they got here. I went to the bedroom, hid the worst of the evidence, especially the rope, and pulled on jeans and a tee shirt. Then I went back to the kitchen. I was almost done cleaning by the time Sam and Suzanne arrived.

They rang and entered like they normally do.

"Kitchen," I yelled. The both came through together. I set the dish towel down and turned to face them.

"Hey," said Sam. She and Suzanne were holding hands, but Suzanne didn't say anything.

I smiled wanly. "I'm sorry I'm a pain in the ass."

Sam let go of Suzanne's hand and cross the room to me, pulling me into a hug. She squeezed tightly.

Both of them had been in my home so much, they knew they were supposed to help themselves. Suzanne pulled out mugs and poured coffee, adding cream from the refrigerator, then spied the bread and pulled that out. She carried everything to the living room with Sam and I following, Sam's arm around my shoulder. She set me down on the couch, and then I had one sitting on either side of me.

"Gwendolyn just left," I said.

Sam began squealing her ass off and hugging me.

"How was it?" she asked once she had calmed down.

"Amazing."

"So why the long face?"

"On the way out the door, she said 'bye'."

Sam's face fell. "Oh honey." And she was hugging me again. I started crying quietly.

"Stop this," Suzanne ordered. "You are jumping to conclusions. Stop it, right now."

"Leave her alone," Sam said.

"No. She's jumping to conclusions. So are you. We need the whole story."

Sam was silent while I cried quietly.

"Honey," Sam said. "She's right. We need the whole story."

"I'm not telling you about the sex," I said.

"You will, eventually, but I bet you know more you're not telling us."

I pulled away. "I have my last date with Moira tonight."

"Oh hell," Suzanne said. "You are totally jumping to conclusions. She was just making sure you knew it was okay. If. You know."

"If Moira seduces me?"

"Yes. There's more though?"

I nodded to her. "She said before she really started, you know."

"Driving you insane with desire?"

"Oh no, I was already insane with desire," I said grinning. "I wasn't, however, quite naked yet." I paused. "She told me that whatever happens, she wants a real friendship. She said I have a lot to figure out."

"You are such a doofus," Suzanne said. "Dry your tears." She ripped off a hunk of the bread and stuffed it into her mouth. "Oh my god, the rosemary bread!" She closed her eyes and chewed with relish.

I turned to Sam. "She's right," Sam told me. "Dry your tears. She didn't just tell you it was a one-night-stand. She told you exactly what she said. You have a date with Moira tonight, and no one knows how that is going to go."

"All right." I paused. "You can't tell Bonnie a single word."

She smiled. "Oh that isn't going to be easy."

I explained the wager.

"Wait. Phone sex?"

I immediately began blushing, then told her about Moira's call afterwards. The two of them were in tears listening to the story.

"All right, we came to your rescue," Suzanne said. "At great inconvenience to us." To belie her words, she popped more bread into her mouth, then talked around it. "And it wasn't for your bread." Then she acted as if she were having an orgasm while eating it.

"Knock it off," I told her, giggling.

"You owe us. Three questions."

"Oh hell."

"She's right," Sam said. "Three questions."

"Fine."

"No lying," Suzanna said. "Did you eat her out?"

"I don't even know what that means, so probably not."

They both laughed, then Suzanne said, "Did you shove your tongue into her vagina?"

I immediately began blushing and nodded.

"Say, 'Yes, Suzanne, I ate out Gwendolyn'."

"I am not saying that!" I said, blushing even harder.

"Say it. Say it. SAY IT!"

"Fine! Yes, Suzanne, I ate out Gwendolyn."

The two began cackling. Then it was Sam's turned. "Did you like doing it?"

"Oh god."

"Now you say, 'Yes, Sam, I enjoyed eating out Gwendolyn'."

"You two are so crude!"

"Say it."

I sighed. "Yes, Sam, I enjoyed eating out Gwendolyn."

"She's gay," said Suzanne matter-of-factly. "Pay up."

"I never agreed to that wager," Sam said.

"You never said no. Pay up."

"Damnit." She got down on her knees in front of Suzanne and kissed both of her feet. "You were right. My best friend is gay, and I didn't know it."

"You two are terrible," I said. I reached over and pulled the loaf of bread out of Suzanne's hand and tore a hunk off. Sam got off the floor, sat back down, and stole the loaf from me, tearing off a chunk for herself.

"Last question," said Suzanne. She paused, exchanging some sort of silent communications with Sam. "Did it especially excite you when she tied you up?"

"Oh hell! How did you know she tied me up?"

Suzanne began giggling. "I didn't. Thank you for answering two questions at once."

"Yes, Suzanne, it excited me quite a lot when she tied me up."

"She's a sub," Suzanna said. "Pay up."

"Damn it, Pamela," Sam said.

"It's not my fault," I told her. "You're the one making wagers."

Sam leaned back against the sofa. I had no idea what she was going to do to pay this time. Suzanna got up and crossed over to Sam's side, crawling over her lap to straddle her lover. Then she opened two buttons of Sam's blouse before fastening her mouth to Sam's shoulder, just barely hidden by the blouse if fully buttoned.

"Get a room," I told them.

I heard sucking sounds.

"That's enough!" Sam said, after a minute. Suzanna just held on tighter for another minute before she pulled away.

She admired her handiwork. "What do you think, Pamela? Looking forward to receiving a few of these yourself?"

I glanced at the love bite.

"I can't believe you just did that in front of me."

"I'm not the one who got tied up last night," Suzanne said to me. "Kinky girl."

I began blushing again.

"Don't tease her," Sam said. "She's had her first lesbian lover. She has a lot to absorb."

"Sounds like she absorbed an awful lot last night," Suzanna replied.

I buried my face in my hands. They both giggled at me.

Then Suzanna climbed off Sam's lap and sat down on the other side of her. "All better?" She asked.

"Yes," I told her. "Thank you."

"You are welcome." She glanced at her watch. "I will expect another frantic call in another fourteen to twenty-four hours."

"Oh god. I'm sorry I'm a pain in the ass."

She waved it away. "You've helped us, and we owe you for what you did for us anyway." She paused. "But friends don't keep score. We're here for you, and you're here for us."

I looked at her. "That means a lot to me."

She smiled. "I wasn't sure about you when Sam and I started dating. I thought you would get between us. You haven't. Just the opposite. I'd like to think we're good friends, Pamela."

"I like to think so, too."

"All right," Suzanne said. "Crisis averted?"

"Yes."

"Then we'll take that," she said, grabbing the loaf of bread. "And be on our way."

I laughed. "Enjoy."

I saw them out the door, receiving hugs from each. "Make sure you do everything we might do tonight," Sam said.

I began blushing again.

I arrived
at Moira's at four. Her house was fabulous! The kitchen was to die for. She ended the tour, and I stopped and stared when I entered.

"You like?" she asked quietly.

"Yes."

"I thought you might. Think you can cook here?"

"I'll find a way to force myself."

I had dressed in a spring dress. It was more casual than the LBD I'd worn for Gwendolyn. And I had brought my own apron. I looked nice, but less intense than the night before. Still, I had gotten an amazing kiss at the front door and felt very welcome in Moira's home.

We shared the kitchen well. Moira was doing most of the cooking and directed me as to what she wanted. We both went out of our way to pass near the other frequently, and her touches as she went past me grew increasingly bold. When she came up behind me and laid her hand on my ass, instead of chasing her away, I wriggled for her.

She smiled at me.

I found myself comparing the two women. Gwendolyn was so intense and hard to resist. I couldn't stop thinking about the way she tied me up. But we had almost nothing in common. Moira was so much easier to be around, and we fit amazingly well. I thought a relationship with her would be far less tumultuous.

Of course, neither of them had invited me into a relationship yet. I may find I don't have an option on either of them.

I had long stopped worrying about labels like gay or straight. I liked both of them, I liked them a lot, and they both treated me far better than I had ever been treated before.

I wondered how Moira felt. I wondered what Gwendolyn was doing.

Finally everything was done that needed doing. It would all come out of the oven shortly, and it was time to eat. Moira turned to me. "Care to dance?"

"Really?"

Her iPad was sitting on the counter. She did something with it, and tango music came over speakers I hadn't even seen.

"Ohh," I said, immediately melting into her arms. She pulled me closely, and we began dancing slowly around the kitchen, circling the center island.

We fit so well. After what Gwendolyn and I had done for the last two days, this was in some ways anti-climactic, but it was nice, so nice. I didn't think I'd ever have this with Gwendolyn.

I wouldn't have the cooking, either. I would be the cook for both of us.

"What are you thinking about?" Moira asked me. "You seem distracted."

"I'm trying to figure out what I am doing," I told her.

"Dancing with me. That's all that matters right now."

"Mmm," I said, realizing she was right. And that was when our dance clicked in, and it was wonderful.

We danced two songs before it was time to stir the sauce, but we stood at the stove together, arms wrapped around each other, each checking on things.

Over dinner, she told me funny realtor stories until I was laughing so hard, I had tears running down my cheeks. "Stop it!" I said. "I'm ruining my makeup."

Instead, she started in on another story.

She finally relented, then reached over and dapped my face for me. "There," she said. "Now you just look like I beat you."

"I do not!"