So, it turns out that the morning after is awkward as hell. Who knew?
I woke up confused but thankfully not hungover, the need to pee getting me out of the bed before I realised just whose bed it was. I did my business, groaned at the mirror and then set about finding my clothes.
I had my undies on and was tugging up my jeans when Tom found me, a pair of sweats hanging low from his waist. He cleared his throat. "Uh, morning, Ellie."
"Tom!" I spun away from him, arms covering my boobs instinctively. "Can't you walk louder? You startled me."
He laughed softly. "We're in my flat, Ellie. Did you want your bra?" My eyes had been scanning the room for that very thing, and it's only as he held it past my shoulder that I remembered taking it off in his bedroom before we'd fucked. Damn, hot last night seemed to be embarrassing this morning. I grabbed it quickly and slipped it on. At least then, boobs in their place, I felt like I could talk to him again.
"So..."
"Yeah..." I looked over at him. He moved his arms, unsure whether to fold them or let them hang. They tried to go into his pockets, only to find that the trousers lacked them. "This is awkward, huh?"
I couldn't help but grin. Tom was a genuinely nice guy and I found that, awkward as this morning was, I did not regret shagging him. Still, lack of regret is not something to build a relationship on and it was time to bite that bullet. "Yeah, I'll say. Look, Tom-" he cut off my hesitant start by raising his palm to me, I guess he recognised the tone.
"Last night was fun but it was just the one time?" I nodded to his raised eyebrow. "Oh, thank god for that. I'd been lying in bed for two hours wondering how to say that to you. I mean, you're great Ellie, and last night was good. Really good, but I don't think of you that way."
I put my hand over my heart, feigning injury. "Ouch, what every girl wants to hear. Thanks."
He snorted in amusement. "You were about to say the same words to me, right?" I shrugged, unable to deny it. "Yeah, thought so. You and I just don't think of each other that way I guess. Too much time as friends."
"And there's Jessie too," I threw out the guess, Tom and his ex had been off and on a dizzying number of times after all. He simply shrugged.
"There's Jessie too," he agreed. I couldn't help myself, I'd been curious for years and, well, I figure eating a guy's cum lets you be nosy.
"What is it you see in her? I mean, you two argue and break up all the time, surely you could find a woman that's less effort to be with? Oh! There's the bugger" Tom smiled patiently at me as I snatched up my top and tugged it on, settling it into place.
"She has passion, Ellie. It's tough ride to hold on to and, aye, the troughs are pretty low but the highs... All of it makes me love her, makes me miss her. Does that make sense? With Jessie, she's all in on anything she tries. That's exciting and I love being near that."
"Huh, that actually makes sense." He smiled, was there a sadness to it?
"Thanks. Everyone that's asked me that always seems surprised that I've got an answer. I love Jessie but I'm not blind to her faults. I've thought about them, and I've accepted that they are just a part of who she is, even when it hurts." I'm not the most feminine of women but boy did my heart go out to him at the end there. I felt the urge to walk over and hug him, tempered by recent events. I don't know if he spotted my hesitation or not but he gave me a way out when he offered "We should check your hand out, then I'll make us some breakfast."
***
My hand, if you were wondering, had scabbed over just fine and we were soon settling into a fried breakfast of sausages, bacon, eggs and mushrooms. We cooked, we ate, we cleaned up, we avoided talking about absolutely anything to do with last night.
It worked fine until the final bit of washing up was dry and stored away, then we fell into an awkward silence. I glanced at my phone, which had been blissfully muted all morning, to see eight texts waiting for me: seven from Izzy, one from Malc.
"Time to be serious?" I glanced up to find Tom looking at me with sympathy. I shrugged and looked back at the phone, scrolling through the messages. Izzy, ever the most passionate of us, swore at my punch, swore at me for punching, apologised for getting caught (seriously, not for doing it, for being caught) and asked me to come home. Malc just apologised and told me he was going to work as normal.
My brother has a knack for empathy at times. He knew I was hurting (which didn't need much empathy, to be fair) and knew that I was avoiding dealing with the pair of them. It's a trouble when you're a triplet, there's always someone to break the tie and I did not want to be outnumbered for this. Not that I knew what I was going to say, any time I had thought of it this morning I just felt the bottom fall out of my stomach and a hollow, aching pain fill me.
"What do you need, Ellie? I got the morning free. We can hang here, I can go with you to meet them, I can kick you out if you need that push?" That was tempting. I could see how Izzy tried to explain what I saw to someone else. 'Gee, it seemed fun to pose as my prissy sister while my brother butt-fucked me.'
"Tempting, but no," I sighed reluctantly. "It's a triplet thing, I have to do this alone."
***
Izzy, for once in her sodding life, listened to me and was out when I got in, leaving me free to shower away last nights sex,shave my legs and tame my bush. No, I had no designs on sleeping with Tom again but it was frankly embarrassing to be caught as a wild woman of the highlands and I felt better for taking care of myself.
