I needed somewhere to live. It was time for me to move on, ever since me and Eleanor split up, and I wanted to see that back of that miserable place we had anyway -- especially after I found out she'd fucked her personal trainer in it.
So I asked around at work and found a friend-of-a-friend called Pippa. She seemed nice and sane enough, and showed me round on a weekday evening. β¨Her and some girl called Kate, apparently.
A flatshare with two girls? Count me in. Girls are way tidier. β¨It turned out to be one of those Georgian terrace palaces with a decent amount of space, floorboards and mouldings on every ceiling, in some anonymous street in Balham. It had a nice feel, lots of light, and I wasn't keen to get back to sharing with guys who had parties and who I didn't connect with.
The room was nice, not cheap, but I was earning. And there was something else, the other flatmate; Kate, who seemed friendly and funny. The place was tidy and clean and full of plants. They had proper furniture too, not the usual thrice-built Ikea stuff.
Still, I wasn't moving into their house because I really wanted to either fuck one of them, and Pippa was fully boyfriended-up anyway. Of course, I mused that might be an added bonus somewhere down the line, but I needed somewhere to live and it hit all the right notes. They seemed okay with having me there, after Pippa's workmate gave me a good reference, and I moved in a week later.
I settled in pretty well. We were working and out in the evenings a lot anyway, and mostly bumped into each other at weekends. The girls were easy to get along with, both of them were Shires types and worked in marketing for some anonymous City places. Very much single, I quickly started thinking about Kate -- a lot. Five foot three, petite, with long red hair and a way of looking at you and picking at her nails at the same time. Kate was also single, although she seemed to go on a lot of dates, and quickly dropped casually into a conversation that she would not get into a relationship with anybody she shared a house with. The way she said it seemed like it wasn't aimed at anyone in particular, but yeah: why would she say it if it wasn't aimed at me?
She was right of course. It was asking for trouble. Don't shit in your own backyard, and all that. Me and her got on very well though, and occasionally I thought I caught her flirting with me, the little flick back of the hair, the glance. But every now and then she would subtly reiterate that she wasn't going down that road, and that she had a strict rule that housemates should be platonic -- even if a minute later she seemed to really enjoy telling me about some boy that she was chasing or how someone at work was eyeing her up.
She was smarter than she gave away, and she had the most incredible arse; pert and tight and fitting into things just right. I didn't know her workplace, but I knew 100% that pretty much everybody would be enjoying that bum going around the office.
It felt alright, actually, hovering between being just-flatmates, or in the friend zone, or whatever -- and occasionally a little bit of flirting. I like that not everything has to be clear-cut.
Still, I wasn't feeling like I should be in a relationship with her. I had been single for all of three months and was basically wedded to my right hand. Kate had, of course, started figuring more in my horny thoughts, like most things right in front of you.
June rolled around, and I'd been there about six weekends when Kate asked me to help her with some photography. Taking pictures of her, to be exact. "Hey Jack, I've heard you're pretty good with a camera, aren't you?" Turns out she needed some new photos for Tinder, as the ones she had just weren't getting her anywhere, as she detailed to me, along with some very specific details of a dick pic she'd been sent.
One evening I had got the DSLR out and taken a headshot of her against the kitchen wall, which looked good (and got her a little more attention, she said), but a few days later she said she wanted something a little bit more involved.
We scheduled for Saturday, when Pippa would be out with the boyfriend and we could have the house to ourselves. I couldn't wait. A bunch of real photos of Kate for the wank bank, and a big favour owed back too. Where would this lead? I knew where I wanted it to go. Luckily Saturday morning saw some bright sunshine and the house was filled with light. Things would look good. I made some coffee, got the camera ready and waited for Kate to emerge from her room.
Eventually she appeared, just a little made up, in an expensive tropical print sundress that showed off her legs with strap sandals. She'd had her hair done yesterday, and her red locks were tied to one side. She looked fantastic, like she was ready for a fancy beach. She smiled at me and said "How do I look? This is look number one, by the way. We've got a few to get through."
"Is this the vacation look? You look amazing." I said. It was true. She was stunning, and the dress flattered, without looking like she was trying too hard. Some people have just got it.
She stood by the upstairs hall window, I checked the light and was about to start doing some test shots, when I think she must have caught me taking one too many looks. β¨β¨"So, um, Jack. I just want to stress here, that... we're cool, right? You're just taking my picture? I don't want things to get weird."
"No that's okay", I said. "I mean, you really do look stunning. That's all."
"Thanks", she said. "That's the idea", she added. "But just... You can keep your hands to yourself, can you?"
This seemed a little unnecessary. I might be a terrible perv, but I'm not one of those assholes who touched women without permission. Of course, I didn't tell her that a couple of nights ago I'd imagined both my hands firmly on her arse with her on top, looking at her cum face. β¨β¨"Of course". I said. It was true. An awkward pause. "We... You sure we are okay here?"
"Yeah. I just didn't want you to think that taking photos was any kind of... invitation, you know?
"Why would it be?"
"Well, no it isn't. But we do need to make these ones kind of... exciting? And they may get a little more, ah, graphic than we did with the headshots."
I felt my dick move just a little in my pants. "OK, no, er problem."
"Good." Another awkward pause, and then we both burst out laughing. She gave me the half-smile. The ice was broken. β¨β¨After a couple more questions, she explained in full. Turns out she'd been reading some kind of Tinder 'manual'. I'd been out of the online dating game far too long; apparently what you needed to do now to pull in the right kind of men is to have a full suite of professional-grade photographs, in several different outfits, with a carefully calibrated gradual 'reveal' on each one, showing just a little more skin and a little more of you each time. That would get any man you would be chatting to salivating, and naturally, hard as a rock thinking about the next pic you might deign to drop his way a few messages later.
It sounded like a great idea, but of course, I was biased, because I absolutely knew that I would be getting stiff thinking about the next pic if she was sending them to me. "So I may need you to tell me what you think would, ah, work best." she said, with another little smile.
"I promise to keep my hands to myself." I said. "But I'm just... thinking, ah, this might put our friendship into a slightly different zone?" I was feeling confident now. (And aroused, needless to say.)
"That's OK. I know what happens to boys when you show them things they haven't seen before." she said. "I am going to owe you a big favour for this. I can set you up with any of my girlfriends you like, in return.
That wouldn't work. I didn't like the look of any of her friends. "But we're going to be cool and mature about this, right? No touching. Not an invitation." she said.
"Got it." That's very clear.