Large brown eyes flickered back and forth across a computer, a pencil eraser absentmindedly pressed hard into a soft cheek, creating a soft, blue undulation with the glow from the screen. Lily had been at work for hours, hunched over her computer. She and Josh had been struggling financially, so she decided to go back to school to get her Bachelor's of Nursing, an upgrade from working as a CNA. Long days at a care facility were followed by long nights of studying and taking online courses. But her studies gave her something to do while Josh worked irregular hours at the restaurant.
Lily felt her focus failing her. She decided to take a break and go grab a Jarritos soda from the fridge. It was still hot in the house despite the fact that the sun had set several hours ago. To save a little money, Lily had decided to spare the A/C and dress down in a loose tank top and pajama shorts. She was hoping that the addition of the soda might improve her focus and make this sacrifice more bearable. She pried off the top, took a big sip, sighed, and slumped down on the counter top. Her stomach grumbled. She had forgotten to eat dinner. She was hoping Josh would bring home some of the family dinner—the meal shared by the restaurant staff—for her. With another sigh, this time of resignation, she looked over the counter of the kitchen at the coffee table where the persistent light from her computer cut through the darkness of the living room. She walked back over to the still warm seat on the couch and got back to work.
'Krebs cycle...what are the steps?' Her exhausted brain was swirling. 'Ketoglutarate...hehe, glutes.' She mindlessly nestled the cold bottle between her breasts and rolled it back and forth, gently moving them from side to side, her nipples softly dragging along the fabric of her tank top. As her eyes once again glommed onto the circular organic process on the screen, her head bent down, and she lazily allowed the rim of the bottle to brush her lips as it swayed between her soft tits.
There she sat, trying to make sense of chemical processes, when a click broke her focus, stopping the rocking of the bottle. The front door opened to large, dark frame filling the door way. "We have got to get the front light fixed. You scared me," Lily said as Josh walked in, looking tired.
"I'm not going to worry about it. I mean, who's going to break into our place anyway?" Josh asked. He was carrying a white plastic bag in his hand which meant he had the food Lily had been hoping for.
"You never know," Lily quipped, "Someone might think that duct taped chair is art. Someone's coming for that crappy pleather Lazy Boy with the duct tape racing stripe. We can't let anyone know we have it. That's how we're gonna retire." Josh laughed as he stripped off his shirt. He always bathed as soon as he got home or Lily complained that he made the bed smell like the dinner table, and that was the wrong kind of hunger for a bedroom. As Josh walked down the hall, undressing, Lily refocused on her computer. Her studying was punctuated by the sound of his clothes hitting the laundry basket, the shower turning on, and then the water being muffled in its fall as it ran down around his body. Moments later, the smell of his body wash mingled with the citric smell Jarritos still under her nose. She breathed deep, shivered down the length of her back, and brought her thoughts back to the blue rectangle in the darkness.
Josh hadn't been long in the shower. He toweled off, grabbed a pair of fresh boxers and a shirt, and went into the kitchen. The absolute last thing he wanted to do after a night of working in a restaurant was to be back in the kitchen, but the food he'd brought home was cold. He wanted to heat it up for Lily since he knew she often forgot to eat during stretches of studying. He reached for his favorite pan and hit it with a little oil, warming it up, and then adding the delicious remnants of the night to the heat. In the bag was also a container of sauce. Balthazar, one of the Mexican staff, had a running joke with Josh, mocking him, about how White spices were pussy flavors. Only a real man could handle serious Mexican peppers. So, Balthazar would sneak a container of sauce into Josh's take-home bag, joking the next day that he'd added it to remind Lily that there are real men in the world, guffawing the whole time. It was regular joke, and all in good fun. With a chuckle, Josh slipped the lid off, and the invisible cloud of capsaicin assaulted his eyes. 'That dick,' Josh thought, chuckling as he dipped his fingers in offending sauce. He popped his finger tips into his mouth, and promptly stifled a cough. "You okay?" came Lily's distracted question from the living room. Josh quietly sucked in his breath and composed himself.
"Yup, yup," he managed to get out without sounding too pained. 'That's gotta be some straight fucking pureed Scotch Bonnets,' thought Josh. Pulling himself together, he rinsed his hand quickly and got back to warming Lily's food.
"Mmm, something smells good," she grumbled happily. He looked at her there, her soft form glowing with the halo given off by the computer in front of her. The soft, half moon-shaped shadow cast along her breast was riveting. The smell of the food was breaking Lily's focus, and she started to rock her head from shoulder to shoulder, snaking her spine as she stretched. Josh turned off the burner, spilled the food onto a plate, and leaned over her, placing it on the coffee table. As he did, he slipped his left hand inside her tank top, grabbed her breast, and gently raked his fingers along its curvature and nipple as he stood up. She made quick eye contact and smiled.
"Hey, that was a little more than I asked for, but thanks. This smells amazi...ow. What the heck is that? Something burns." She grabbed at her breast to look at where he had scratched her. Josh realized what was going on.
"Oh man, I'm sorry! Bal put the stupid sauce in with the food, and I must have not washed my fingers well enough. Fuck! Are you okay?"
Lily laughed, "Are you guys still playing that stupid game? Tell him I say hi tomorrow." She pulled down her tank top collar, revealing the reddening breast.
"Let's get you into the shower," Josh sighed, feeling sheepish about this stupidly failed foreplay.
Lily laughed again, "No, I'm fine. It's not bad. Actually, I kind of like it."
Josh stopped. "Really?"
"Yeah," Lily replied. "I used to put waaay too much of that stupid lip plumping lip gloss on my nipples when I was a teenager because it felt good. This feels kind of like that." She gently fondled her breast, feeling the acidity prickle along her skin.
