The moment I come home from work on Thursday, Ethan is there, watching hockey. He’s sitting on the couch and turns his head when I enter. He smiles at me. I shut the door and make my way downstairs without returning the gesture.

I can’t say I’ve been super friendly since Ethan fucked me senseless on the kitchen island. When I got out of the shower that morning and heard Nicole’s muffled voice upstairs, I felt different. I needed to cut ties with all the possible drama. I wasn’t insanely close to Nicole, but I liked her. I can’t do this to her. We're talking about tearing their marriage apart, here. I mean, what’s done is done, but I can choose to stop future incidences. Not that I ever plan on telling her what happened. And I hope Ethan doesn’t either, until I no longer live here. So ultimately I'm afraid to be friends with Ethan at all. I know how easy it is to lose control when he does stupid shit like touch me, and say my name... and fuck my brains out. So I just wasn’t risking it.

I go to my room and change out of my pencil skirt and blouse into tight jeans and a tight white t-shirt. My phone rings and it’s Aaliyah.

“What up, A?”

“Hey sexy, come to my house tonight,” Aaliyah demands. Always so bossy. I love her.

"What time?" I ask.

“Whenever. Taniyah’s coming over too, she'll be here at like five. We’re gonna make some food, and she’s bringing wine.”

“Right on. I like Taniyah,” I say in a somewhat surprised tone.

“I know, right? I may even like her more than Chandler.” I laugh at her comment and can’t help but agree. Taniyah’s permanent good mood is always contagious.

“K, I need to go to the store, then I’ll be over.”

“Hurry bitch, I miss you.”

“Love you,” I reply and hang up.

I stock up on fruits, veggies, protein and water in an effort to maintain my training schedule and everything that goes with it. It's definitely paying off though. I feel fucking fantastic.

I take the back way home so I can enjoy the ride. There’s usually less people, so I always end up speeding. Though not out of impatience. I just like driving, especially my car. Cruising my 240 is always like a little vacation.

I enter the living room again and Ethan is still sitting on the couch.

“Hey,” he says as I walk past.

“Hi,” I respond and head to the kitchen. As I’m putting stuff away in the fridge, Ethan comes in, cuts open my case of water and starts handing me bottles. I force a smile and take them, sliding them in. I really try to keep my eyes averted, but it's hard. He’s wearing dark jeans and a black t-shirt, hair disheveled, eyes dark. He looks fucking good. It isn't fair.

“How are you?” He asks, sounding disinterested.

“I'm good. Where’s Nicole?” I ask, genuinely curious.

"With Brittany and some friends. I might go to Robert’s and help him with his Honda," he says, and our hands touch on the last pass. My eyes flicker to his tanned, toned forearms and my stomach tightens. I need to leave.

“Cool. I'm going to Aaliyah’s, so I’ll see you later.” I shut the fridge and grab my bag, fluidly turning for the living room to leave.

***

A few hours, a few steaks and a few drinks later, Aaliyah, Taniyah and I are hanging out in Aaliyah’s living room. Well, Aaliyah isn’t really hanging out. She fell asleep as we're watching a movie, much to our amusement. Apparently she hadn’t slept the night before. I blamed Dylan to which she proudly confirmed during dinner. That, of course, got us on the subject of sex, to which I felt guiltily uncomfortable. Of course I couldn’t tell them about Ethan, but I did give details on Kyle. Aaliyah often gives too many details, but it opened up Taniyah enough to tell us of some of her previous trists. She hasn’t fucked anyone since moving out here, but she’d had some flings with a girl she met in college before she left. The drunk kind of bold experiences to which we’ve all done.

I’ve been with a few girls, and consider myself bisexual. But only with certain girls will I walk down the same sex road. They’ve got to be beautiful.

So Taniyah and I are making conversation while Aaliyah sleeps on the long sofa and an action flick plays in the background.

“Do you smoke?” I ask. No better way to break the ice than just come out with it. Besides, I brought a joint in my wallet I’d forgotten about due to the wine, and now felt like a good time to pull it out.

“Smoke what?” Taniyah asks, smiling widely, showing a row of neat white teeth. She knows what I’m talking about. I smile back.

“I brought a joint. You wanna go to the backyard?”

“Lets do it,” she says, and we both get up, taking our wine with us. I snag my bag and head for the sliding glass door. We step out into the crisp air, heading for the table outside. I slide into a chair and pull out the joint and a lighter. Bringing the rolled piece to my mouth, I light the opposite end until it burns. Taking a large hit, I set my bag on the table next to our wine and pass her the J.

It’s getting dark and the weather is taking a turn, clouds rolling in. I take another sip of my wine. I love getting crossfaded. Taniyah hands me the joint and I glance at her legs. She’s wearing a short pleated blue skirt with a thin sweater over a blouse. She’s pretty. Pretty enough for me, which is funny considering we were talking about girl on girl earlier.

We chat for a while about work tomorrow, and about our friends and how she likes it here so far.

“I like it better here than the east coast I think. I mean, pros and cons you know, but overall it's not bad. It’s easy to make friends over there. I bet you would like Erica," she says.

“The one you fucked in college?” I ask hitting the joint and handing it back. She laughs.

“Yeah that one. She's beautiful, long blonde hair, big blue eyes, curves like you’d never seen. And so fucking sweet.”

“Do you mind if I ask what happened?”

“Well, we started out experimenting, and it sort of...grew into something else. Right before we graduated though, she met this guy and just..fell in love. I don’t blame her, the guy was great. I couldn’t even hate him for falling for her. He was always so fucking nice. And treated her right. So, I moved here when Chandler offered. Needed a change.” She shrugs and passes back the roach. I think I understand that part quite well with the recent events in my own life.

“Sorry to hear that it didn’t work out," I say, trying to offer comfort.

"It did for one of us," Taniyah whispers, and I remain quiet, sensing her animosity. She looks up and gives a half smile, waving her hand. "It's in the past. I'm not looking that way anymore." The conviction in her voice is almost convincing. This is the first time I've seen her in any other mood than happy.

“Well, I’m glad you’re here. It’s hard finding cool women to hang with. I mean, all girls will be girls. But I have a limit for bullshit. I think that’s why Aaliyah and I have been friends for so long. She’s been my closest friend for the last... almost six years. We’ve never done each other wrong.” I feel proud calling her my best friend.

“Well thank you, and it's good you two have each other," she says and it's quiet for a moment. "So I’m guessing you guys never...?” Taniyah lets her sentence train off suggestively. I smile.

“We’ve kissed once before, a few years ago. We were drunk. But that was it. Just friends,” I say and hit the last of the joint, putting it out and setting down the roach.

“She was lucky, you’re really pretty," she says and takes a swig of her wine. Is she hitting on me? I almost laugh out loud. I was buzzing before we smoked, so I’m feeling pretty fucking great right now, and I’m guessing she is too... Hmmm.

“Are you saying you want to kiss me?” I ask in a light tone. She looks me in the eye, smiling.

“Maybe. You have to know how gorgeous you are, Chanel.” I’m still wearing my t-shirt, jeans and sneakers, but am apparently appealing enough.

"Speak for yourself, you’re quite beautiful.” Our chairs are fairly close, already angled toward each other when Taniyah leans forward.

“What about me do you like?” She slightly raises one eyebrow, looking at me intently. Oh shit. I can play along. I sit forward leaning on my arm rest, my face now a foot from hers.

“You have beautiful skin,” I run my index finger along the top of her hand. “And your legs look incredible in that skirt.” I tilt my head and look down to her smooth, long legs. “And I’d love to kiss those lips,” I whisper.

Her hand finds the side of my face and she leans in again, seeming determined. I meet her the rest of the way and her soft lips gently press against mine. We move slowly, testing out each other. She tastes like cherries..and wine.

She lets out a low hum, and I grab the back of her neck pulling her closer. It's on. Our tongues are dancing, massaging against each other. She bites my bottom lip and I moan. Holding her face to mine, my other hand grabs her waist and pulls her onto me. She’s sitting sideways on my lap and starts kissing me harder. Her hands are in my hair, on my waist, on my chest.

I’m sitting straight up, my mouth against hers, one hand on her back, the other on her hip. She’s smiling when the tip of her tongue flicks mine. I move my hand down to the top of her thigh and rest it there. I start to massage her leg and slowly move upward under her skirt. She doesn’t stop kissing me, so I don’t stop my advance.

Finally, my fingertips find what they’re looking for and I graze her panties. They’re wet. Oh fuck. And my stomach does a backflip. She pulls her mouth away and gasps. I nudge her head to the side and kiss her neck, pressing my fingers harder. She moans and I bite her earlobe. I massage her, moving my fingers faster, and she’s pulling at me. She kisses me again and without breaking away or skipping a beat, she swings one leg back and over so she’s straddling me. Damn, she’s quick, but I make no objections.

My hand doesn’t leave her wet panties and my hand on her back pulls her closer. My head in her hands, she’s slipping her tongue over mine, circling it, sucking on it. My own insides are on fire as I squeeze my legs together for friction. I make no hesitations and move her thong to the side, slipping a finger inside her. She moans into my mouth and humps my hand. I slide another finger in her slippery cunt and curl them up and toward myself in a come here motion. Her hips buck and she pants, grabbing a couple fistfuls of my hair.

She jerks my head back with her hold and bites my neck. I push my fingers further inside her, my palm against her clit and she moans...loudly. I make no effort to see if we’re being spied on though. Aaliyah has a backyard, the walls surrounding it are a little low, but I can’t look away from Taniyah riding my hand in my lap right now.

I force a third finger into her cunt and she writhes and releases my hair. She’s clawing at my back and I bite her shoulder, pushing my hand back and forth harder.

“You’re so fucking wet,” I whisper breathing hard, and she nods aggressively. My hand pumping against her, licking and biting her shoulder, she’s squirming on my lap. I need to taste her. I can’t wait any longer. I find my strength, and without removing my fingers from inside her, I grab her ass with my left hand and stand up. Thank God I work out. Her legs wrap around me and I turn us around and lower her into the chair.

When her ass finds the seat, I kneel in front of her, kissing her, fucking her with my hand. Her ass is at the end of the chair, her legs open as far as they can go, humping my hand. I grab her breast and massage it and she hums.

I don’t ask for permission, her slick channel is welcome enough, and I push her chest so she leans back, breaking our kiss. I push her skirt up and for the first time I look down at where I’m pleasuring her. She’s fucking beautiful. Taniyah’s skirt is up far enough I can see her hips, her smooth thighs, her shaved pussy. And I wait no longer. My mouth finds her flesh and she squeals. I keep my fingers inside her, push as far as they can go, then curl them upward again while I lick her. She’s squirming beneath my mouth and a thought occurs to me. I decide to try one of my favorite new tricks and latch my mouth onto her clit..and suck hard. She gasps louder than I’ve ever heard and her hips buck.

“Oh fuck!” She loudly whispers and grabs my head in both her hands. I tickle her g-spot and keep sucking.

“Don’t stop, Chanel, oh God don’t stop.” Like I’d dream of stopping right now. I keep at her, occasionally moving my fingers out and sliding them back in, licking up and down. On my last lick I reach the top of her slit and flick my tongue against her clit, then latch back onto her.

“Fuck! I’m gonna cum,” she moans and my body tingles. I want to taste her. I suck hard and find her g-spot again, pushing as hard as I can. I feel her body tight as a drum aching for it’s climax and give her another flick. She screams and humps my hand, exploding.

Her muscles are tightening over and over around my fingers. I push one last time and remove them, replacing it with my tongue. She tastes sweet, the faint hint of metal, but delicious. Taniyah’s still panting, but limp, when I finally remove my mouth. I’m grinning when she opens her eyes and she smiles.

“Holy shit, Chanel," she says, finding energy to sit up and adjust her skirt. I sit back in the chair next to hers and relax, still smiling.

“You’re welcome,” I say and she laughs.

“I can’t believe we just did that," she mumbles, smoothing out her hair.

“Me neither,” I say in disbelief. I haven’t been with a girl in a long time. I didn’t even know she was attracted to me. “But it was hot,” I add, looking over to her. She smiles but it doesn’t touch her eyes, which is a little odd for her.

“Yeah it was." And she sounds genuine despite her expression. “Thank you,” she says and leans over to kiss me again. It’s short but sweet, and in this moment it occurs to me she’s probably thinking of Erica. I feel sympathetic. The way she described them wasn’t overly exclusive when Erica fell in love with someone else. Although, if I were her and my feelings were stronger than I let on, I wouldn’t want to talk about it either. I don’t push for anything else and stay put when she leans away.

We sit outside for a few minutes longer before she asks about the time. I pull my phone from my bag and tell her, “It’s almost nine.”

“Fuck, I should go. I have to work early," she says and stands up, taking her wine glass.

“I probably should, too,” I say and stand with her. Though when she walks past me, I grab her waist and stop her. For a moment I don’t speak, but she waits patiently.

“You gonna be okay?” I ask, and a flicker of surprise passes her eyes. She collects her expression and gives me one of her winning smiles.

“Yes. Thank you.”

“I’m here if you ever wanna... talk about shit,” I say, trying not to sound mushy. She looks me over and kisses me again. Her cherry lips caressing mine.

She pulls away and whispers in my ear, “I don’t regret it. You’re unbelievably sexy, Chanel.” I smile and we walk inside. After gathering our things, we pick up around the kitchen and turn off the TV and some lights before I put a blanket on Aaliyah.

“Should we wake her up?” Taniyah asks.

“No, I have a key to lock her door. I’ll text her so she knows we left ok.” Taniyah nods and we head out the front door.