“I think I’m good so far. Overwhelming, yeah,” he thought about Annabelle. “It’s all good. Just a lot of new.”
“Of course.”
“My love!” called Jeff, as a dark haired woman with deep red lips glided up to the bar. “Let me introduce Ryan!” Jeff pointed toward him. “I’m helping entertain his wife Jennifer. This is Julianne.”
Julianne leaned forward and pressed a light kiss on Ryan’s cheek. “Having a good time, Ryan?”
He gave in to temptation and looked Julianne up and down. He was this woman’s type? “Never better,” he said.
Jennifer also looked entranced as Julianne turned to her. “Your wife is gorgeous. You, Jennifer, are gorgeous.”
“Thank you,” said Jennifer.
Julianne leaned forward to give her a kiss on the cheek, but neither of them turned their head. “May I?” she whispered when she got very close. Jennifer answered by kissing her lips.
“Wonderful,” said Julianne when it ended.
“Yes, it was,” whispered Jennifer.
Amanda reappeared, leaning into the bar next to Glen.
“Hey, darlin’” said Marty.
“I need to borrow Jeff for a while.” She leaned in and whispered in his ear.
He grinned and said, “Absolutely.” He stood, “Mind if Julianne comes?”
“Mind?” asked Amanda, a devilish grin on her face. “I practically insist.”
“So very glad to have met you,” said Jeff. “We must talk before the night is out!”
“Yeah,” laughed Glen. “Talk.”
“Great to meet you, too!” said Jennifer. “And yes. Must.”
Julianne ran her fingers through Ryan’s hair. “I trust you’ll be… around?”
He nodded.
“Oh, Glen,” said Amanda. “Magdalena was asking about you. Said if I saw you, to tell you to check your phone.”
Glen thanked her and pulled his phone out as the trio disappeared upstairs. Ryan watched Julianne go, hoping he’d get to see her again. Turning back to the bar and Jennifer, he caught a glimpse of Glen’s phone and an image of three people in what appeared to be an oral sex triangle.
“That’s enough to summon me,” said Glen, when he noticed Ryan looking. He stood.
Marty had moved down the bar to talk with the introspective couple at the end. Ryan sat next to Jennifer as Glen vanished upstairs.
He smiled at his wife, she smiled back. “Doing okay?”
She nodded, a blissful smile on her face. After a moment she poked Ryan. He narrowed his eyes at her. What? She jerked her head toward him and made her eyes big. She was definitely trying to insinuate something.
“What?” he asked.
“They’re talking about us,” she said.
He glanced over, and saw the couple at the other end of the bar smile at them and talk to each other. Ryan didn’t look away, and after a moment he saw them look back up and smile again.
34
The hot tub sat, surprisingly empty, on the south patio next to the house. Four walls of screens and a roof formed a partial enclosure that hid it from the outside world. Not that hiding was necessary, since all that could see the tub were some of the closer trees wrapped with twinkle lights. Jennifer looked out at the forest with a smile, then turned back to Ryan.
“Sometimes it seems rather,” he searched for the word, “obvious?”
The other man nodded, taking in every word Ryan said. “Like sharks.”
They seemed nice, the couple from the other end of the bar. Vince, the husband, had made an adorably nervous and winking show of, “Can I buy you a drink?” The fact that Marty had already left gave him only a moment’s pause before pulling himself up to look over the bar. “I’m happy to announce I’ve found Bailey’s Irish Cream.”
Ryan had laughed and pulled himself over. “In addition to the Highland that I would not come near without Marty pouring, we seem to have a honey bourbon, Jameson, and… well, I’ll be damned, Cinnabon vodka.”
“Seriously?” asked Kendra, Vince’s partner.
The foursome had pondered that for a moment, then poured shots all around. The vodka did in fact taste vaguely like a cinnamon roll. After another round of shots, they quickly got down to the nitty-gritty conversation.
“How long have you been doing this?” asked Jennifer.
“Less than a year,” said Kendra, “Does it show?”
Jennifer laughed. “Well, you’ve got at least a few months on us.”
Vince had looked impressed. “Then is this your first time—”
“At one of these? Yeah.”
The couples nodded at each other for a while. When the silence drew long, Jennifer had suggested, “I’ve been curious about going to see the hot tub.”
“We didn’t bring any swimsu—” Kendra stopped herself. “Sorry, forgot where I was.”
They’d been pleased to find the hot tub empty. The party inside had seemed sparse, but more moaning had been coming through closed doors. Jennifer assumed the bacchanal was in full bloom.
Each of them put fingers and hands in the water, commenting about how warm it felt. Jennifer smiled at the couple, taking a moment to drink them in. Kendra cut a curvy figure, her dark hair short and in a ponytail. Vince was a bit lanky, his hairline receding, but turning a pleasing salt and pepper as it did.
She found herself wondering, yearning to see, what they had under their clothes. Presumably that was why they were at the party, after all, to get naked with other people. She knew that the delay, the awkwardness, was a matter of each of them waiting, hoping for someone else to drop the first article of clothing. Spring was coming, sure, but the temperature tonight had still dipped into the twenties. The blue shimmering water looked inviting as the steam climbed skyward.
This could be her time. To lead. To show everybody what she had, both physically and emotionally. To lead by example.
“Well, I’m getting in.” Jennifer reached down, grabbed the lower hem of her dress and pulled it over her head. She noted Ryan’s surprise, and surprised looks, coupled with appreciation, on Vince and Kendra’s faces. She shivered as a gust of wind blew across her vulva, exposed to the outdoors for the first time sans pubic hair. She felt the goosebumps rise on her arms. Off came the bra and shoes, and she slid into the water.
So very warm. Heavenly.
Jennifer turned toward the three still standing outside the tub, looking at her. She folded her arms on the side, rested her chin on her arm, and asked, “Well, who’s next?”
Ryan hopped awkwardly, untying his shoes.
A questioning moment between Vince and Kendra, and Jennifer was unsure if her gambit had worked. But then Vince pulled a chair over from the patio set and removed his shirt.
“You don’t mind me watching, do you?” asked Jennifer.
“Oh,” Vince laughed. “Not at all.”
She beamed as she noticed them making a bit of a seductive show of taking off their clothes. Kendra’s large breasts and curved belly cut a striking Rubenesque figure that Jennifer quite appreciated. She lamented the pain of her own waxing experience as noted the woman’s full bush. But her smile deepened with a glimpse of Vince’s long and uncircumcised flaccid penis. She actually heard herself think Yum! Yum to the both of them. She felt momentarily embarrassed by that, the objectification of these bodies. But then she thought back to the basement, to how wonderful that had felt. After all, what was a bit of objectification between friends?
“Yum,” she allowed out loud.
Both Vince and Kendra smiled as they climbed into the tub. Sharing the appreciation for the bodies, now looking forward to getting to know the minds. Ryan climbed in last, and Jennifer was pleased to see their eyes watching him as well.