Alistaire is settling in nicely, don't you think? Time for a diversion and digression. Alistaire thinks it is going to be a shitshow, and chances are, he's right.
Whether you are a new reader or old, always remember that I abhor a realistic story. I just aim for one that is plausibly ridiculous. Thanks for taking the ride with me, and don't forget to tell me what you think!
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THE ONE AT THE BEACH
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"Shit, shit, shit," said Mary, walking into the living room from the kitchen where she had been hiding. Exactly like Maddie, she wore only a denim skirt, and the way her boobs swayed and swung as she frustratedly stomped in was arresting. Four naked twin tits in the same room with me was almost enough to wake my cock back up in my pants.
Almost. The two of them had done a number on me.
"You had to shout," Maddie glared at Mary, still holding her bra and shirt in her hand.
I felt like I could delay those boobs being covered up for a few minutes at least, even if I was genuinely in no condition to do much about them. "Easy there, Maddie," I said in a relaxed voice, draping my arm around her shoulder, and guiding her over to sit back on the couch with me for a moment. Maddie let herself flop down beside me, still irritated.
"Just so you know," I said honestly. "You guys had me tonight. I was looking for every sign I could, and I had decided the bandage was only to make me worry, not to fool me. Then I just barely heard your voice in the other room, Mary."
"You enjoyed it and you know it."
"You bet your sweet, delicious ass I did," I laughed to Mary. "And I am eager to again, whether I'm actually being punked or just made nervous. The memories will be even better once I figure out which of you did what with me! But," I added in a more serious voice, "I really hope you guys won't do this all the time. Most of the time, when I'm hanging out with one or the other of you, I'd really like to just concentrate on simply hanging out with you, without your sister haunting our time together." My arm around Maddie's shoulder let my fingers dangle down to her breast, and I tugged her nipple idly as I spoke. My eyes were just drinking in the standing, topless Mary.
"Your actions and your words are at odds, Al," said Mary, but I heard some thanks in her voice as well.
"I did not in any way ask for the haunting to stop," I laughed quickly. "I just don't want it to be constant."
"Thank you," Maddie said, disengaging herself from the couch and my clutches with a kiss on the cheek. "We will take it under advisement," she added in a voice more serious than her words.
"Speaking of hanging out together, just the two of us," Mary said, hooking her bra closed, "how about you and I maybe go to the beach together one day next week? I still have that bathing suit..." she added, as if I need incentive.
The Beach. Next week.
Yeah, that was suddenly fraught. Not only had I not told my parents yet that the beach thing with Poppy and Sloane was on for next week, but I had not told my friends back here, either. Any of them.
My parents needed to be told tonight. I'd be getting my usual shit for having been out late with a girl, so I might as well deflect that with the shit I'd get for the beach thing being real.
Fortunately, I had told my new boss already.
"Yeah, um, I won't be around next week," I said with a form of genuine regret. "Week after?"
"Sure," said Mary. Her head popped through the neck of her shirt. "Parents taking you on a family getaway?"
"Um, no. I actually... one of my friends from school is going to have an AirBnB on the beach, actually. I'm spending the week there with them."
"Right on the beach? Cool!" Mary exclaimed. "His parents must be loaded. Are you guys going to nerd out playing games inside all week, or will you get some sun on your lean, mean, fucking machine of a body?"
"My friend is named Poppy," I said. "And she is more of a jock than a nerd. It will more likely be sandcastles and swimming."
Two pairs of eyes stared at me, then tilted to the left, still on me, in unison. Even their body language synchronized...
"Then I assume that you will be spending at least some time indoors," Mary said, not quite tartly, but not quite in a right-on sort of manner either.
"We are certainly planning on quite a bit of time indoors, for old time's sake," I said firmly. Or at least firmly outwardly.
"This really is the way you work, isn't it?" Maddie asked, shaking her head bemusedly.
"It seems to work out the best for everybody involved," I said, not sounding defensive, but I might have looked it.
Mary was texting on her phone and distractedly asked, "When do you leave?"
"Sunday around lunchtime," I said. "Why?"
"Good," Mary said brightly. "I'm texting with Carrie right now. She is
fascinated
by this development."
Shiiiit.
"We have time for all four of us to have lunch Saturday, then," Mary went on.
"Oooh. That sounds good," Maddie added.
Shiiiit.
*
"Hey, Mom, Dad! I'm home," I called out from the garage door as I entered the house. "Lost track of time. I'm heading up to bed now, 'cause I have work in the morning."
Yeah, like that was going to work.
"Alistaire?" my mom called from the living room sweetly.
Shit.
"Yeah?" I asked casually, popping my head into the room from the hall.
"Who was the lucky girl tonight?" my father asked casually, remote in his hand and the TV on pause.
"Maddie," I said firmly, wanting no discussion of Mary to leak into things. Then I realized that I had allowed the idea that she was a lucky girl into the record from the way both their eyebrows were so high they were damaging the ceiling. "I mean, we ran into each other while I was dropping off more papers at the rec center today, and arranged to meet up for ice cream this evening," I said as smoothly as I could. "Hey, Mom, I think the paper is doing really well. We are having to refill the racks a lot more than they said I would when they hired me."
"Uh huh," my mother drawled, undistracted. "I am curious about what
your
method is for handling this situation. Do you have a calendar or rotation? I think it is important to make sure no one feels slighted, you know."
Shiiiiiiiiiit. I was not comparing collegial notes with my fucking mother about juggling a roster of lovers. But likewise, I also was not going to explain to her that no one was