Chapter Ten — Alex
“What?” I ask, looking from the men to Callum and back.
“I would introduce you to Lars and Anders, but I think you’re already acquainted. Am I right, Alex?”
“What’s going on here?” I ask.
I look at the men. They’re both smiling.
“Well, seeing as you were all too willing to use these fine young men to make me jealous, I figured it was only right that you apologized to them.”
“What?” I ask. “Apologize to them for what?”
“For using them,” Callum says.
I’m so confused.
Callum walks up to me and wraps his hands around my waist. “You see, Alex,” he says, “I have nothing against you seeing other men. I mean, you’re a free woman, you can do what you want.
What I do have something against is you using nice, young, vulnerable men in your attempt to emotionally manipulate me.
Not only is it foolish, it’s inconsiderate because you’re involving other people without their consent. ”
“Wouldn’t you agree, gentlemen?” He looks at the men and they shrug.
“Sure,” they mumble.
I roll my eyes. This is ridiculous.
Callum looks at me. “Is it? Tell me, did you really like these men?”
I look from the men to Callum. How am I supposed to answer that?
“Well,” Callum says, “We’re waiting for an answer.”
“Um, no,” I squeak.
The men’s faces drop.
“Exactly,” Callum says, “And that’s not very nice, is it? Wouldn’t you two agree?”
This time the men nod emphatically.
“So, in this spirit of honesty and justice, I figured you could apologize to these men in person.”
“So that’s my punishment?” I say slowly. “Apologizing to them?”
I look at the men. “I’m sorry,” I say, and then look back at Callum.
Callum laughs. “I don’t think that’s gonna be good enough. Do you think that’s good enough, gentlemen?”
The men shake their heads.
“What do you want?” I ask.
“I think it’s only fitting if you give these men what you were pretending to want them for.”
I scrunch my eyebrows. I don’t get where he’s going with this.
“You pretended to be sexually interested in these men to make me jealous. So, I think it’s only fitting that, in order to properly apologize to these men, you give them...” Callum pauses and looks at me.
“You want me to have sex with them?” I ask.
“Not quite. I mean, it’s up to the men to decide, and me, and you of course as well. But really, only they can tell us what they think is a fair reparation for their distress.”
I guffaw. “Reparations for their distress? Are you serious? You’re being so dramatic. I flirted with these men a little. Whatever. Who cares? That doesn’t mean I owe them sex. This is ridiculous.”
Callum raises his eyebrows. “You don’t owe them anything. At the very least, though, you do owe me an apology, not to mention you have a punishment due.”
“Owe you an apology for what?”
“For trying to manipulate me.”
“But that was because…” I say, before stopping myself. Is now the time to go into the fact that Trent and I did this on purpose? I could, but that would take a long time to explain. And it might make Callum even more angry. Maybe I’ll save that for later.
I mean, the thing is, I don’t have to do anything right now if I don’t want to.
We all know that. And the fact is, although I did use these men, it’s not fair to say I wasn’t attracted to them at all.
I was. They’re good-looking. I just prefer Callum.
I stand by what I said, though. I don’t owe them anything.
Which Callum agreed with me about. So really, this isn’t about that.
And whatever this twisted little punishment-apology game is, as ridiculous as it may be, I have to admit there’s a part of me that’s kind of into it. It’s dark and sadistic, just like Callum and I.
“What do you want me to do?” I ask, looking at Callum.
“Well, Lars, Anders, what do you two think would be fitting?” Callum looks at me. “These are requests, by the way. If they ask for anything outrageous, it’ll be a no.”
Callum looks at the men. “So be reasonable,” he says to them.
The one on the left, Anders, I think, pipes up first. “Blowjob,” he says.
Callum looks at me. “Fair?” he asks.
I nod, blushing.
“Naked,” Anders adds.
Callum looks at me again. I appreciate the small show of deference, the illusion of control here, although ultimately I still know it’s all in my control. In a way, though, it also makes it more humiliating, knowing that I’m signing off on all of this.
How does Callum come up with these twisted ideas?
I nod again, and Anders grins.
“Lars?” Callum says, turning to the other man.
“I want to eat her out,” he says.
“That’s okay with me, but no coming,” Callum says. “Alex? Thoughts?”
I shrug my shoulders. “Okay.”
“And how about at the same time?” Callum rubs his hands together.
The men look at each other and nod simultaneously. “Perfect,” Callum says.
“Where should we go?” I ask.
The men respond in unison: “Sauna.”