Chapter 4: The Way It Goes
"That's just the way it goes," Joselyn told me with a laugh. We were sitting at a patio table at a coffee shop near the spa where she worked. After that crazy night at Lincoln's, she had taken me home the next morning. We had both been awake before the guys, and it turned out they'd taken her car from wherever they'd been earlier that night. I remember noticing a thong on the floorboard and thinking it was very unlikely she'd been the one driving. Probably otherwise occupied.
That morning, she had been like, "Come on, Lincoln will appreciate not having to get up to drive you." I was amazed she could even walk after what they'd done to her the night before, but I felt like she was right and agreed. She promised to text me in the upcoming week to get together, and now here we were. It was around three because she'd scheduled her lunch late so we could meet after I was done with school.
"I guess it's just a lot to process," I was telling her. "Is it ok if I ask how everything started?"
"Sureβit's no great story really though. James and Delvin work together, you knew that? (I did.) Right, so there's a bunch of offices like that around here including theirs, and the employees hang out after work a lot. Mostly at the nicer bars, you know? Finance types, lawyers, whatever. James basically picked me up one night. Nothing super romantic." She laughed. "It wasn't my first timeβI like what I like, and he picked up on what that was right away. I went home with him. It wasn't long before he was sharing me with Lincoln and Delvin, and like two other friends of his. You're not upset about that right? About Lincoln?
"Oh god no," I told her, and I meant it. "He's hot, and you're, like, really hot, so of course. And he told me that night, kind of taunted me with it. While I was watching you guys."
She laughed. "Typical. You know they probably wanted you to see that right? I bet they planned that shit."
"Really?" I thought about that for a second. That was...something I would have to unpack eventually. Right then I had other questions though. "So I guess what I also was really wondering about was, umm...like how," I was stammering like an idiot because I didn't know how to broach this.
"Oh my god you can say it," she laughed. "You want to know about them slapping me around? The really rough shit? What that situation is all about?"
"Yes," I said, relieved she seemed so open to talking about it. "I mean I could tell you were into it, but it was just, like, intense, and sudden?"
"I guess you maybe didn't expect it," she observed, laughing again. "Look, like I said, this isn't the first time I've been in this type of relationship. The first time was actually, well, right where you are right now. Senior year."
"Actually?"
"Yeah. Pretty similar. I met this really hot black guy a few years older than me. Not like James or Lincoln or Delvin though. Let's just say quite a bit rougher around the edges?" She grinned. "Anyway, it wasn't like I was exactly pure and innocent before point, as I'm sure you heard." She had had a bit of a rep when we were in school together, but I felt like it'd be rude to confirm it. She went on anyway, "Pretty soon it was, well, pretty similar to the situation I'm in now, just the apartment wasn't as nice."
"And that's just kind of your thing now?" I had to admit I was super intrigued.
"That's my thing. One of them." She smirked. "Let me ask you this thoughβhow did you feel when you were watching that? It's definitely not like you ran away in horror or something."
"I...well if I am going to be honest watching you guys made the sex with Lincoln even hotter." I thought about what that might mean for a second. To kind of like seeing that was one thing. To be expected to participate in it was a lot different though. "Is that what Lincoln's expecting me to do eventually?"
Jocelyn seemed to think about that for a few beats. "Look, it's like this. It's kind of an expectation, yeah. That's fair to say I guess." She paused again. "I have a pretty good idea how you guys' relationship probably goes. He's super dominant, probably has you doing all kinds of things and expects you to do them just because he tells you right?"
It sounded bad when she put it like that, but she wasn't wrong. "Yeah basically."
"Don't give me that face." She smiled at me again. "There's nothing wrong with it. It's hot as fuck and you like it. I know you do, especially with how much time he spends with you. I'm a little jealous to be honest," she stated with another laugh.
I was nonplussed by that. I couldn't imagine her ever feeling jealous of me for any reason. She didn't seem to be expecting a reaction though, because she just kind of plowed on.
"Anyway, I think it's like this: guys like Lincoln, situations like this, I feel like it's kind of inevitable. He's got this pretty white girl wrapped around his finger, and it's not a romance thing. He knows you both know that. He's going to want to share you with his friends, and they expect him to. It's a power thing I feel like. That's just how it goes.."
"Like he owns me." It was more of a statement than a question.
"Yes like he owns you. And stop trying to pretend you don't love that shit. You're not fooling me. And you're for sure not fooling him. Embrace it!"
I suddenly found my coffee cup very interesting to stare at. She was absolutely right. So what did that mean?