Page 29 of Lucy and Her Wicked Three

"No problem." I shut down the game and get up to break down the console. I consider leaving it here. Maybe she wouldn't notice if I slowly started moving some of my shit in. That's wild right? Too much? Too soon?

She's already seen me put it away, though. Next time I come, I'll bring it back and leave it here. And maybe bring a few other things. Collapsing back on the couch beside her, I turn to face her straight on.

"So. We should talk about it."

Her nose scrunches, and she shrugs. "Talk about what?"

I debate teasing her, or beating around the bush to give her more time to live in her bubble. But we were really worried about her last night. Sure, she seems fine now. But she wasn't, then.

"Last night."

She gives me a tight smile but pulls away, hands fidgeting in her lap, fingers curling into fists, then back out again. I grab one of her hands and hold it gently, but firmly.

"Lu…" I think I've earned a right to a nickname considering how hard I made her come last night.

"I'm okay, I swear."

"Why didn't you answer Mateo when he called?"

"You're the one who said he has no chill."

"You know what I mean. He's your boyfriend, yeah? You've been together a while. You've been going through some shit… he's really worried about you. Why didn't you answer?"

I can tell she wants to run away from the conversation, but she doesn't. She pulls her hand away from mine, wrapping her arms around herself, and replies, "I don't know. Honestly, I don't. I was fine last night, too."

"Lucy—"

"I'm not lying. It was… amazing? Life-altering? It wasn't what I was expecting when I walked into that club, that's for sure. And I have so many fucking questions. Like, how long have y'all been doing this? What else are you into? What else amIinto? What the hell is a sex club? How did you find it?" She shakes her head and bites her lip. "I have a lot of questions, so I should have answered the phone when Mateo called. But I just couldn't… face it."

"Face him?"

"No.It. All the answers. All the questions. And I'm… I don't know. I'm having a hard time. Personally, I mean. I feel like I don't know which way is up. With my work and with this… navigating you guys," she waves at me. "I don't know what to make of it."

I nod, then turn and lean back into the couch, clasping my hands behind my head, looking up toward the ceiling. Talking to her is like releasing a pressure valve. The more she says, the more questions she asks, the shriller her voice gets. She's still tense beside me, sitting stiff as a board.

"Let's see… How did we find the club? Some friends from college own it. We were among their beta testers. They wanted a place where people could explore their sexuality in a safe space. No pressure, no expectations."

"And it's legal?"

"Of course," I smirk. "Maybe it's frowned upon socially and they have a lot of hoops they need to jump through, but yes, it's perfectly legal."

She chews on that while I recall her other questions. "How long have we been doing this?" I look over and she nods, wanting the answer. "Since college. Maybe earlier, actually. There was a girl in high school we all had a crush on, that's probably when it started. Matty kissed her first," I laugh. "When I got pissed at him, he just shrugged and said, if she lets you, I don't mind if you kiss her, too."

"It was that simple?"

"It was that simple. I mean, we didn't start exploring it deeper until we got older. The club was the perfect place for it, knowing everyone who attended was also open to the unconventional."

"Have you ever dated someone solo?"

"Yeah, I have. Not seriously though. None of us have, except—" I point at her and she blushes. "And you see how well that turned out."

"I don't know… we were doing well. At first anyway. I don't know what changed."

"Nothing changed. You know where he is right now?"

"At work?"

I nod. "And it's where he'll be tomorrow and the day after and the day after that. He doesn't take days off. He's incapable of slowing down. It's annoying sometimes, but I've learned to deal with it. We can wrangle him if we make big plans, but it's rare."

---