Page 34
The Best Outcome
A s she’d implied, a week could feel far longer than it should. After an amazing Sunday spent with the women he loved, Liam’s final week of midterms awaited him. He only had three exams to worry about, and he hadn’t gotten so consumed in everything else as to forget to study. Between that, further chess and massage-related self-education, and plenty of time spent texting four beautiful women, he was plenty busy.
Yet, by Wednesday, after finishing his second-to-last midterm, the final one set for early afternoon on Friday, he found his patience whittled away to a fine point. Unfortunately, his mind used that point to stab him repetitively. How much time had gone by? Fifteen minutes?! That was it?! It was still Wednesday! Damnit!
It was like unfurling a new rug yet finding it was infinite, never running out of fabric. It just kept opening and opening, spilling more and more across the floor. A tongue that could keep unrolling itself for all eternity.
It made him a little testy, which Grant pointed out when Liam snapped at him over a simple matter—had a pair of his shorts ended up mixed with Liam’s in the dryer? Yes, the answer was, and sorry, his reply to his roommate was.
“It’s fine; midterms are stressful. We’re almost through it.”
“Yeah,” Liam said, forcing himself to nod. He wasn’t worried about his test results, even if it would have been sensible for him to worry a little. Those results needed to be good. If he was going to prove attractive enough to get Bellmore’s interest, he needed to do well—more than well. He had a few advantages in his pocket, including Victoria’s promise to speak on his behalf, but he didn’t come from a family of upper-echelon elites. He came from a family of… lower-echelon elites? Or was Avril in the upper echelon, and people like Anna and Trent were in the lower echelon?
Wherever his social standing fell, he knew he couldn’t heap a sudden mountain of financial burdens on his parents. Either he got enough of a scholarship to Bellmore to generally keep things about the same as they were in Perrymont, or he knew he couldn’t ask his parents to support the transfer.
Thursday lumbered into existence like a sloth yawning in the canopy. With absolutely nothing imperative for him to accomplish today, Liam found this day the hardest to survive. Fortunately, he, Grant, and some others decided to go out and enjoy themselves. Grant was heading home later today, as he’d finished his final midterm just a couple of hours ago.
Unfortunately, that left Liam alone in his dorm in the evening. Suffering, waiting, suffering, waiting—that was the gist of it. None of the shows he liked, even the ones with new episodes, seemed appealing. He didn’t want to do or play anything, not even chess. He had the aid of the four women a hundred miles away but not the precise aid he wished for.
“Oh, you’re such a needy baby,” Avril laughed while they FaceTimed one another. “You’ll already be back with us this time tomorrow night. You can’t survive six more hours tonight without seeing my tits?”
“If you’re going to taunt me over it, I can call someone else,” Liam retorted dryly.
“Keep it together a little longer,” the woman wearing a deep blue sports bra said. “I’ll—”
Her attention snapped toward her left. Dismally, Liam knew why that must be.
“Hey, Anna, welcome back,” Avril said, fluttering her fingers toward the beautiful woman he couldn’t see. “Earlier than I thought. You and your mom decide not to have dessert?”
“No,” Liam heard from off-screen, though Avril soon tilted her phone’s camera so that he could see Anna as she entered the living room. “She had to go early. We’re going to have lunch on Saturday, and—” Anna started, noticing him on Avril’s screen. “Oh, hi, Liam.”
Her smile caused him to smile, even if it meant an end to what he’d been hoping for from Avril. Especially when Avril called Anna over, making space for her on the couch. In short order, he had two gorgeous sets of eyes to stare into, two beautiful mouths to see in motion, and two unfathomably attractive women to spend his evening with. Nevertheless, one part of him whined incessantly.
“Liam’s depressed,” Avril said to Anna. “He’s all alone in his dorm and can’t stand it one more minute.”
Before he could defend himself, he watched as Anna’s expression came together sympathetically. It almost made him feel bad for having complained, even though he hadn’t complained like Avril was saying, and it hadn’t been to Anna that he’d done it.
“Grant’s gone?” she asked.
“Yeah, he left earlier today. Avril’s just making it sound worse than it is. I’m… listless. A little bored.”
“A little lonely, too,” Avril chimed in.
He didn’t deny it, which caused Anna to give him the same reaction as before.
“I hope we can help a little,” Anna said.
That, of course, was the beginning of her—of him, too—falling into Avril’s trap. She really could just come up with them on the spot. Until a minute ago, she’d been thinking that it’d just be the two of them, Anna off enjoying her mother’s company for a while longer. Yet, quick as a blink, she’d already adapted. A master improvisational schemer. That was what she was. She should stick that on a business card and hand it to villains everywhere.
“ We can absolutely help out our poor, poor Liam,” Avril said, nodding sagely. “He just needs some company, that’s all. From two beautiful, generous women. That’s all it takes. Liam doesn’t ask for much. He definitely hasn’t developed a taste for the finer things—and getting lots of it.”
“Thanks,” Liam said flatly.
“But how best to do that?” Avril posed the question, then tapped her lower lip. “I doubt he wants to hear us prattle on about our day for the next hour or two. Me neither, honestly.” She imitated a yawn, hand covering her mouth.
Anna’s eyebrows furrowed as she glanced at her best friend. From his side, Liam was a little busy being impressed by how good Avril was at keeping them both in the shot. They’d pushed their shoulders up against each other, but he was used to FaceTime calls with his parents, in which he’d see two-thirds of one of them, then maybe a fourth of the other—and which one of them was which would alternate regularly. Avril didn’t seem to have that issue.
“I can tell you have something in mind,” Anna said warily.
“Duh, I’m always good at creating a good time.” Avril glanced toward him, and he saw her scheme coming alight like a floodlight powering on, dimmer at first, then brighter, then brighter. However, her primary attention ultimately rested on the woman in the room with her. “Before you came in, I was about to get out of this sports bra. He was practically pleading for me to do it, even.”
“Avril!” Anna whispered frantically, almost as if she were hoping he wouldn’t hear what her roommate had so blatantly announced. Unfortunately for her, he’d heard it all as clearly as if they’d been having this conversation on either side of him. These weren’t the Skype calls of the early 2010s. There weren’t any hiccups in the audio or the video, which was how Liam saw Anna’s fervent blush.
“Don’t be so prudish,” Avril continued. “Guy is alone, guy is horny, hot girl is on the other end of the call. You have to know how it goes. Surely, you aren’t always dressed when you two are FaceTiming.”
Liam knew Anna was doomed. She wasn’t a great liar, not when she was this worked up. And if Avril knew how to do anything, she knew how to lather up her best friend.
“I—what, no—it’s—”
“Anna, sweet Anna, your face is as red as the stop signs we both know you’ve never even once thought about running.” Avril patted the back of her roommate’s hand. “Now, details! Spill. Give them here.”
“I’m not talking about that stuff!” Anna huffed, blanching because she knew she was making it that much more obvious.
Anna had let him see her topless over the phone a few times, and each time had been wonderful. Once, even, she’d let him guide her through playing with her breasts—all the way to the finish. The camerawork had gotten a bit spotty at the end, but the audio had made for an unforgettable memory.
“Okay, fine, don’t talk about it. No words, but actions. You take off your top, I’ll take off mine, and we can fulfill one of Liam’s most secret but desired fantasies.”
A good boyfriend would have stepped in, much as he had before, and helped Anna out. It was hard to do, fending off Avril when she had momentum. Which she usually had. He ought to have announced that Avril needed to knock it off, that he wasn’t hoping—even if it meant lying—for what Avril was recommending, and that would be that.
But would Anna go for it? He kind of wanted to find out. Just this once, he let himself stay as a spectator. He’d make it up to Anna, apologize, especially if things turned sour or sullen.
Avril didn’t let up, even as Anna’s frantic defense faltered. Especially as it faltered, in fact. She mentioned how they’d seen the other topless so many times, which made Liam slightly jealous. She mentioned how it didn’t have to be a regular thing, just this one time. She also mentioned how they’d showered together once or twice, back when one of their showers hadn’t worked right. He kind of wished Avril had explained why, even with just one working shower, they needed to shower together. In his mind, he imagined Avril as oversleeping, needing a shower, and begging for Anna to let her hop in. He definitely couldn’t see it going the other way.
“Why do you do this to me?” Anna sighed.
“I’m doing it for you,” Avril said. “For both of us, actually. It’s only fair for me to make it obvious that I’m benefiting. In a few days, we’ll be hanging out in one of the most romantic places on Earth. Do we really need to keep pretending around one another? It’s been three months. Every time one of us wants a kiss, are we going to have to distract the other one with some dumb ‘look toward the sky, it’s Superman’ ploy? Then we sneak in the fastest locking of lips in the west? Or… the east, I guess. Go far enough west, and it becomes the east.” Holding out her hands, Avril shrugged. “Doesn’t sound all that fun to me, not anymore. Three months was enough, thanks.”
Anna didn’t reply, which they all knew meant she didn’t have a strong rebuttal.
“Just try it out, see if it feels alright,” Avril finished. “You know Liam will love it. We could make him so, so happy, fix all his complaining. It’s not like we’re going to start making out for him. He’s not that deserving of a good time.”
Anna buried her face in her hands and stayed like that for several seconds. Avril took that time to glance at him and blow a soft kiss. He felt a little bad for not using that moment to finally relieve Anna of the pressures that Avril had just put upon her.
“Just this once, ” Anna muttered into her hands.
Holy shit, Liam thought.
“Holy shit,” Avril said, sounding amused and surprised. “Hey, there we go, Anna! I knew you had it in you. I’m so impressed.”
“Please, don’t be,” Anna said, finally removing her face from her hands. She was as scarlet as he could remember seeing her.
“Sooo, should I go first?”
“At the same time, and don’t say anything as I undress,” Anna growled.
Holding her hands up in surrender, Avril nodded. Then Anna began to go forward with a suggestion that Liam could never have seen her going along with even just a few weeks before. He knew he’d be a hypocrite if he pretended to be anything but excited. Unstoppably excited.
Having just come in, Anna had a bit more to take off. Staying good to her nod, Avril waited until Anna had removed her cardigan and, after a moment, did the same to the cropped tee she’d been wearing under it. Setting both down outside of Liam’s view, Annabelle Royce, in nothing more than a bra, waited for Avril to give the go-ahead.
Liam’s decency finally surged past the linked arms of his lust and craving, as it probably should have done minutes ago. Before he let things reach the point of no return, he rediscovered his voice.
“Everything’s okay for you, Anna?” he asked. “If you don’t want to keep going, neither of us will get mad at you.”
Instead of scowling or sighing at him, Avril waited for her best friend to answer him. They both gave her as much time as she needed.
“I’m alright,” she said, turning her soft, beautiful eyes toward him. “This’ll make you really happy?”
“As long as it isn’t making you unhappy.”
One more deep breath, the kind that preluded a plunge off a cliff into the waters far below, followed. Anna nodded. She started reaching around behind her back. Keeping perfect pace, Avril brought her hands to the underside of her sports bra.
A hook was undone, and a pair of shoulders budged forward. Just inches to the right, a pair of hands lifted spandex. By a second or two, he got to see Avril’s breasts first. However, Anna had entirely escaped her bra before Avril managed to get hers over her head and then toss it out of frame.
Just like that, Liam fulfilled a fantasy that he’d thought about several times but never once had imagined to be capable of occurring. As usual, Avril had been right on target. She had the mayor’s key when it came to coming in and peeking at his taboo fantasies.
“Now’s the wrong time to be stunned speechless, Liam,” Avril said, smiling from ear to ear. “Compliments, let’s have them.”
He fumbled for something appropriate to say, but what was appropriate about this situation? He wasn’t usually as coarse in his compliments to Anna as he was to her roommate, so he tried his best to straddle a fine line. It was hard to be eloquent when he was as awed and aroused as these two women had just made him.
“You both look amazing,” he said. He cut off the “um” that he wanted to lead off with next, forcing himself to treat what was happening as standard and pedestrian, not like it had his head spinning. “I can’t believe how lucky I am. It’s… gone from a bleh kind of night to one of the best.”
“That was quick,” Avril teased. “We’ve barely done anything yet.”
Anna, however, appeared slightly relieved to hear his words. He wouldn’t call her comfortable, not while her shoulders were so tense, but she seemed to relax slightly. Hopefully, if the plan wasn’t now to immediately redress herself, Liam could keep chipping away at that tension.
“Admire away,” Avril said. “Not every day you get this lucky. Like you just said.”
Anna blushed but didn’t do anything to cover herself up. So, trying to be quick, just so the silence didn’t linger, he made the comparisons necessary for any man in his position to do.
They were both pretty fair-skinned, and he knew full well how soft and smooth they both were. Avril had a slightly more curvaceous hourglass figure, wider hips, and a shapelier butt. Anna wasn’t notably far behind, which he also knew via plenty of touch, but that wasn’t what they both knew he was focusing on.
Anna had the larger bust. He’d suspected it for a while, aware that Anna possibly only came in second place to Victoria, but this was the confirmation he needed. Anna’s breasts were bigger. Again, he was working with pretty slim margins, but he finally knew the order. Victoria, Anna, Avril, Tess.
As if she’d decided to use that key of hers again, Avril the Infiltrator smirked. “What are you thinking about, Liam? Your eyes have been moving back and forth for a little bit.”
He blushed, which transmitted itself across a hundred miles and caused Anna to blush. They all knew what he’d been thinking.
“Anna’s a little bustier than me,” Avril said, swaying a little, which caused her breasts to jiggle. By bumping into Anna’s shoulder, she caused a lesser response from the larger pair of breasts on his screen. “It’s true, I won’t deny it. She complains if she wears my bras.”
“Avril, that was when we were in high school,” Anna huffed.
“Another benefit of being stupid rich,” Avril said, ignoring her best friend. “We can actually get properly fitting bras. You have no idea what a struggle it is. Custom-made is the only answer to our struggle. Store shopping is such a fucking pain.”
Liam saw Anna open her mouth, but she ultimately ended up closing it and nodding. At least in that, they seemed to agree.
“Unlike you, who can just throw on whatever boxers or briefs you find in a package, then call it a day,” Avril added.
“It’s not that easy,” he retorted. “They still need to fit and feel good.”
“Not even close to the same level of challenge,” Avril said with an air of finality.
Even though he rolled his eyes, Liam didn’t dispute things further. Next to Avril, Anna’s face was beginning to return to its natural hue. The fact that Avril hadn’t kept escalating things after their clothes came off had undoubtedly helped. And they were having a pretty normal conversation, at least by Avril’s standards. That all seemed to help Anna relax. A little bit.
It was also possible that his physical absence in the room helped too. If he’d been there, he wasn’t sure if she’d have let Avril coax her into this situation. But with him on the phone, she could leave or ask to end the call if she changed her mind or grew uncomfortable. That was all a little easier than asking him to leave or her hurrying to her bedroom while he was still sitting on her couch.
Whatever it was, he was happy that she didn’t seem too bothered by her choice. This was undoubtedly another type of leap forward in their relationship, in all their relationships. That was undeniable, and Liam was sure tonight wouldn’t be forgotten. As Avril had said, they’d all be heading to one of the world’s most romantic destinations in just a few more days.
“Bet you wish you were here even more now,” Avril teased, tilting her screen to provide a little more focus on her and Anna’s breasts.
Thankfully, Liam had already expected such a comment, so his reply was preloaded.
“I always wish I was there with you.” He paused, then added, “Anna.”
“Alright,” Avril said, flipping him off by laying her middle finger over one of her nipples. “Don’t be thankful to the one of us who made this gift happen.”
“I’m thankful for that,” Liam said. “I just know by now that giving you too much credit is dangerous. It makes you…”
“Insufferable?” Anna offered, which earned her a scowl from the topless woman beside her.
“Difficult to deal with,” Liam said, going with a more diplomatic answer. But still grinning at Anna’s remark.
“Just once, it’d be nice if you two could be considerate enough to heap some praise onto my shoulders,” Avril complained. “I work hard, you know? You two are sometimes difficult to work with, too, just in a different way.”
“In a way in which we’re not constantly oiled up and ready to follow you down the slip ‘n slide?” Liam asked.
“Exactly,” Avril said, ignoring the touch of sarcasm in his question. “It’s hard for me to come down to your level. Just feels like regression. Yours especially, Anna dear.”
“And it’s challenging for me to always rise to a place where you’ll be satisfied with my… forwardness,” Anna said. The roommates, best friends for years, brought their gazes together. “I tried being quicker about things, but I found it didn’t work for me. It quickly becomes more stressful than exciting.”
Avril held her best friend’s eyes, letting her speak uninterrupted. Listening. Actively listening.
“I’m happy with the pace that Liam and I have set, the progress we’ve been making. Even once we’re in Fiji, I hope you won’t try to pressure me too much. I know it’s going to be a romantic trip. I know that’s its purpose. I don’t plan to just sit on my hands while there. Our… relationships with him are different, at different places, and I hope you can understand and accept that.”
“Alright,” Avril said, dipping her head in understanding. “I just don’t want you to leave Fiji thinking that the trip wasn’t as special as it could have been.”
“I’ll be doing my part to help ensure that won’t be the case,” Liam reminded Avril, reentering the conversation. “I’ve been thinking about Fiji a lot, so I have some stuff planned on my end.” He briefly swallowed, aware that this was officially his first time admitting he was dating them both. “For you both.”
Avril grinned, and Anna smiled. That was the best outcome that Liam could have imagined. His tension, the tension he hadn’t even realized he was carrying, so focused on how Anna was feeling, melted away. They’d finally broached the topic, not just glanced at it.
And at least right now, it seemed that everything was alright. Understood, accepted.
The best outcome.