CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE
“Oh,” Gabe said as he came back to find the three women he was going on a date with tonight standing in the living room. “This is why you were saying ‘you’re welcome’.”
“Mmm-hmm,” Krystal agreed, crossing her arms.
All three of them wore simple yet elegant black dresses.
Krystal’s was short and had thin straps that seemed to struggle to hold up her considerable cleavage.
Emily’s had a plunging v-neck that left her tattoo sleeves free and visible all the way up to the shoulder and draped down past her knees.
Ellen…
“Ugh, Gabe,” she groaned as she pulled her pale blonde hair into a ponytail, “your low standards for my personal appearance have apparently absolutely ruined my ability to time how long it takes to actually get ready for a nice night out. I barely got any makeup on and...okay, did you get stoned while we were up there?”
She finished securing her ponytail with a hairtie and continued looking at him.
She was wearing high heels.
Gabe normally wasn’t one to fuss over high heels, mostly because he knew a lot of women hated them and he’d rather his date be comfortable, but he had wanted to see what Ellen would look like in them because it turned her six five stature into six seven and she somehow seemed not just taller but much taller.
“Told you,” Krystal said with a smirk. “Also, Liz.”
Ellen looked over at Liz, who had the exact same expression as Gabe: wide eyes, mouth open in a huge, happy, almost delirious smile.
“Wow,” Ellen said. “You like the heels this much?”
“Oh my dear sweet lord, yes,” Gabe whispered. “You look...amazing.” He walked up to her and then looked up at her. She smiled down at him.
“Well, much as I enjoy this, we need to go or we’re going to be late,” she said, and she took his hand and began leading him out of the house.
…
“Oh, um, Emily, Krystal, you both look amazing, too,” Gabe said.
All three women immediately began laughing as he drove them through the city. Darkness was already upon them and he found himself longing for the following month. March was more reasonable in terms of day length. And weather.
He sorely missed spring showers.
“Dear God, Gabe. Ellen almost gave you a concussion...or did Liz? Actually, should we be worried by this delayed a response?” Krystal asked.
“No, I’m good. My ears aren’t ringing and I’m not sick to my stomach or anything,” he replied.
“Yeah, he wasn’t having any trouble walking and isn’t showing any light sensitivity,” Ellen said. “I just look that amazing.”
“That is quite a shiner,” Emily murmured. “But that’s hilarious that you only just now, fifteen minutes later, thought to say it. And even though it sounds like you’re covering your ass, I know you mean it, so thank you. I fucking never wear dresses.”
“Same,” Krystal said.
“This is a bit much,” he replied. “You three are just...so fucking hot right now.”
“Imagine if we’d had an hour to get ready,” Ellen said. “And don’t give me that crap about how you don’t care about makeup. I’ve seen how you react to Chloe.”
“Yeah, but that’s goth makeup. But I have a neutral stance on it. I appreciate it if it’s there, I don’t miss it if it’s not.”
“How do so many guys miss this as a concept?” Emily asked.
“Like the guys who are all ‘you gotta wear makeup, babe, or I just can’t get turned on, it isn’t my fault’, are whatever.
That’s low-hanging fruit to get frustrated about.
But then the guys who go in the other direction, and try to say ‘oh you don’t ever need to wear makeup!
In fact, you shouldn’t ever wear makeup because it’s misogynist!
’, like that’s too far in the other direction! ”
“A lot of people, I think, lack the ability to grasp nuance,” Ellen replied. “That much has become obvious to me. I really don’t know how to explain it any simpler than: you state your preference, and then just let your girlfriend choose what she wants to do. Like, it’s so easy.”
“I think that’s why there’s so much trouble,” Gabe said.
“Because it’s easy?”
“Yeah. If it’s easy, then we must be missing something, because it’s never that easy. And I know women don’t have a monopoly on playing mind games, but they do play a lot of them.”
“We’re just better at it,” Krystal said.
“Honestly, yeah. I’ll give you that.”
“Thank fucking shit I don’t have to worry about any of that shit anymore,” Ellen muttered. “Anyway, I’m glad you like the heels.”
“I really, really do. And the dress, too. Oh, we’re here,” he said, spying the turn he needed to take.
“So curious what dinner theater is like,” Krystal said.
“Okay,” Ellen said, turning around in her seat and abruptly growing serious, “real talk right now: do not get tipsy, do not be loud, and do not embarrass us. Both of you. I mean it.”
“I’ll be good!” Emily snapped.
“Why doesn’t Gabe get yelled at?” Krystal asked.
Ellen snorted. “Because Gabe is not like us and never was. He knows better. We had to learn the hard way not to be loud, trashy bitches and sometimes you two forget.”
“Oh, like you don’t!” Emily shot back.
Ellen laughed and settled back in her seat. “I’ve learned. Doesn’t mean I don’t get the urge anymore, but I have learned. And I want this night to be nice for all of us.”
“Fair,” Emily said after a few seconds.
“Yeah, I guess so,” Krystal replied.
“Were you looking forward to throwing a bottle or something?” Gabe asked.
“The fucking mouth on you,” she hissed. “I am so putting that mouth to use tonight.”
“I am so glad Gabe discovered he is the absolute perfect yin to brats’ yang,” Ellen said. “It’s fun and arousing to watch you to bitch at each other.”
“She’s the one bitching,” Gabe replied as he parked.
Ellen laughed as Krystal seethed in the backseat.
“All right, let’s do this.”
…
The dinner theater turned out to be about what Gabe had been hoping for.
Good food and a pretty decent act. They’d watched a play book-ended by two standup comedians who were all right. Admittedly, it was hard to pay attention. Ellen, Krystal, and Emily kept drawing his focus.
Especially Ellen.
Krystal and Emily definitely looked good in their dresses but there was something almost...regal about Ellen.
She could have been a princess in a fantasy world.
A badass princess.
It was also interesting to note how many people were noticing them.
Ellen, specifically, but all of them as well.
It struck him that this was one of those situations where people were looking at them, at him really, and assuming that he was going home with these three women to fuck them.
And in so many cases, it likely wasn’t true.
Only this time it was.
He really was on a date with all three of them.
It was a surreal experience and thought.
It did not help his arousal that Krystal kept messing with him. Touching him, poking his foot with hers under the table, making absurdly suggestive gestures when she was eating, sucking on anything even remotely phallic while making eye contact with him.
Nor did it help with Emily picked up on it and started doing the same thing.
And then Ellen picked up on it and he thought she might come to his aid, to stop them from ‘being trashy’ as she had called it.
But no! She’d joined in!
It was a silent torment and he knew exactly why they were doing it. They wanted him all the more riled up and ready to fuck when they got home. And honestly he was cool with that. Except that being horny and unable to do absolutely anything about it for three hours was definitely torment.
Finally, at last, they headed home.
Ellen wouldn’t let him drive because he was so clearly unable to focus on anything.
“How hard is it for you to not just jump back here right now and start fucking one of us knowing you could?” Krystal asked.
“He could not,” Ellen said firmly.
“Okay, strike that last part.”
“Extremely hard,” he replied, and Krystal and Emily laughed.
“That’s not the only thing that’s extremely hard,” Ellen murmured.
“You are killing me.”
“Well...maybe you need just a little pushing back down, love of my life,” she replied.
“What’s that mean?”
“It means that confidence is both a work in progress and a razor’s edge. And I love your newfound confidence, but I want to make sure it doesn’t start wobbling over into arrogance, and that means, sometimes, doing something like this.”
Gabe stared at her for a long moment. “I love you,” he said finally, and looked out the window.
“Oh, he’s mad,” Krystal said.
“I’m not mad, I’m...frustrated.”
“Your torment is nearly at an end, dearest,” Ellen promised.
He realized they were almost home. A moment later, they were pulling into the driveway.
Dear lord, finally.
He was out of his seatbelt and opening the door almost before she’d actually parked.
“Someone is so very eager to get broken,” Emily said, laughing.
“Extremely,” he agreed.
“Don’t worry, little Gabe, you’ll be deeply satisfied by the end of this,” Krystal said.
“We all will,” Ellen agreed firmly.
They got out of the car and headed up to the front door, where it was opened before any one of them could grasp the knob. It was Sadie who stood there, smiling and wearing a simple robe.
“Oh. Sadie. Wow. Hi,” Gabe said, a wrench not just thrown into his internal gears but swung into his head.
Seeing this beautiful, wonderful cougar at ease and almost certainly completely naked beneath that robe with her warm, inviting smile grabbed his lust and cranked it hard to starboard.
“Hello, Gabe,” she said, and her voice could melt permafrost.
“Uh-uh,” Ellen said firmly, shooing Sadie back. “He is our boy tonight.”
“Oh, I know,” she replied. “I just...miss him. And I do apologize,” she said, making room as they came in. “I probably should have picked a better time than this to actually physically reunite with you. But I was still...recovering, before now, and I really didn’t want to miss today.”
“It’s fine,” Gabe said. “We will absolutely make up for it later.”
“Later,” Sadie agreed with a sultry smile.
“Later,” Ellen said firmly, taking off her coat and kicking off her shoes. “Is everything ready?”
“Yes, now get your asses up here!” Chloe called down.
“You aren’t the only one who’s impatient,” Krystal said.
Gabe hurriedly shed his coat and shoes, then hustled up the stairs behind Ellen and with Krystal, Sadie, and Emily in tow. As they reached the top, Ellen abruptly stopped and turned around. She looked down at him with a lustful gleam in her eye.
He began to ask what she was doing when she suddenly scooped him up in her arms. She then turned back around and proceeded to carry him into the bedroom.