"And we're here," Trent murmured, looking up at the pink neon sign.

"Yes," Mae whispered with an intense happiness. "Come on!"

"Someone's excited," Trent said as he killed the engine and they all got out.

"You aren't? I mean, it's a sex shop," Molly replied.

"Yeah, it's kind of exciting," he said.

It had been a busy day. After bowling was mini-golf, after mini-golf was a new horror movie in a theater, after that they'd gone for a walk in a park. Mostly they had been telling Molly all about themselves and most of their adventures together.

And now they had one more stop to make before going back to the hotel.

"Hey, gotta check your IDs before I let you wander around," the woman behind the counter said as they stepped into the store.

"Whoa, really?" Mae asked.

"Yeah," she replied, approaching them. "Legally speaking, you gotta be eighteen to be in here."

"Neat!"

The woman laughed as she started checking their ID cards. "Glad you think so...okay, you all check out. Have fun, let me know if you need anything."

Mae and Molly walked off deeper into the shop. Trent and Bea hung around a little deeper in, stopping by a display full of porn DVDs.

"So...anything you want?" Bea murmured, looking around.

"Uh. Hmm." He thought about it. "Maybe some more lube?"

"You can't think of anything else?" she asked. "We're in a sex shop. There's nothing?"

"Honestly no. Your vagina is pretty fucking top tier," he replied.

"Trent," she whispered, looking around, embarrassed, though they were the only ones in the shop besides the proprietor.

She looked like she'd been there awhile.

"Oh don't worry about me," she said, as if reading his mind. "I've heard it all. Honestly, what he's saying is pretty sweet...as far as sentences involving the word 'vagina' go."

Bea just laughed awkwardly.

"Well…" Trent said as he looked around and his eyes caught on something. "I guess there is one thing that would make me pretty happy."

"What?" she asked.

They walked over to the clothing section of the store and he picked up a box that contained a pair of tight fishnet stockings and a black thong.

"Huh," she murmured, looking it over. "This would fit me...surprisingly tame, given you're in a relationship with three horny women."

"I mean what more could I ask for?" he replied with a shrug.

She pursed her lips. "I specifically remember one day swearing to myself that I would never buy or wear a thong. They're so...trashy."

"What's wrong with trashy?" he replied.

She laughed. "I guess that's a fair point. But yeah, I'll totally buy and wear this for you. You wanna fuck me in nothing but fishnet stockings? I'm surprised we haven't done that yet, considering that I own a few and wear them kinda regularly."

"Nothing but fishnet stockings…" he murmured, reaching out and grabbing something else off a shelf, "and this choker collar."

"It's got a ring attached to it," she said, studying it. "Is this for, like, a leash? I'm not letting you walk me around like a fucking dog. I do have a line."

"Would you really say no if I genuinely wanted you to?" he asked, suddenly curious. He couldn't tell if she was serious.

She looked at him closely. "If you really wanted me to...do you really want me to?"

"For the record, no."

She sighed. "I wouldn't," she replied after another moment. "I'd put my foot down."

"Understood."

"So why the ring then? Or was this just the one that caught your eye in the moment?"

"I'd like to have something to tug on when you're being a smartmouth little bitch," he replied.

Her eyes widened a little and she blushed fiercely. "I see," she murmured after a moment.

"You gonna pay for those?" he asked.

"Yes. Because I love you and I want to do something nice for you," she replied.

He smiled and settled his hands on her hips, then rested his forehead against her own. "You do something nice for me every single day, Beatrice Santello. And I love you for that."

"Stop!" she whispered harshly, blushing worse than ever.

"What? Declaring my love for you?"

"Yes, you weirdo! We're in a sex shop."

"You'd rather I declare my lust for your banging body?" he asked, stepping back a little.

She sighed and crossed her arms, cocking her hips as she stared firmly at him.

"Man, I just can't win," he said.

"Shut up and let's go see what Mae and Molly are up to," Bea replied, grabbing his wrist and pulling him deeper into the shop.

Trent allowed himself to be pulled along, seeing a number of sex toys and sex paraphernalia, most of which surprisingly didn't hold much interest for him. He wondered if that made him boring, or well-adjusted, or lucky, or something else completely. They found Mae and Molly near the back, inspecting dildos and strap-ons.

"Are you sure?" Molly asked.

"Totally! Just look at it this way: I'd be buying it for myself. I've been meaning to anyway, I wanna use it on Ann, and have her use it on me."

"All right, that's fair. I guess we can break it in," she murmured, grinning and nudging Mae.

"Uh...uh, yeah," Mae murmured, looking over at her with that shock and awe look she sometimes got. He could understand how she felt. Having a woman this attractive talking about having awesome sex with you was something else.

"Oh, hey, we need these," Bea said, reaching into a box and pulling out several plastic slips.

"What are they?" Trent asked.

"Oh, female condoms," Molly said. "Yeah, those are good. I haven't had to use any but I hear a lot of good stuff about them."

"They're supposed to be safer, harder to break, and also harder to sneakily remove...not that I think you'd ever do that. But if you're hooking up with a new girl, it might put her mind at ease more," Bea said. "And they're hard to find."

"Really? I guess that tracks, I didn't even know there were female condoms," Trent replied. "Why would they be hard to find though?"

"Because various industries, corporations, and politicians have a vested interest in being shitty to women in general, and God fucking forbid we have better options," Bea replied.

"Amen," Molly said.

"Yep," Mae muttered.

"No surprise there, sadly," Trent replied. "So, we got everything?"

"Yep," Mae said. "Found some lube, too. So, uh, can we go back to the hotel now?"

"Someone's horny," Molly murmured.

"Hell yes I am! I've got a bombshell to bed," Mae replied.

Molly giggled. "That's my favorite nickname now. Bombshell. So cool."

"And tough," Mae said as they walked to the counter.

"But not as tough as Borowski. And I was right, you are pretty tough," Molly replied.

Mae let out an awkward giggle, tried to say something, then just giggled again.

"Wow, Mae," Bea said. "You just fall apart for her."

"She's...you know...shut up," Mae replied.

"Amazing retort," Trent said.

"You shut up, too!"

Trent laughed. Bea paid for her stuff and Mae paid for hers. He realized it was the first time in a long time that he'd gone somewhere with them and not paid for something himself. He was glad that it didn't feel weird. He remembered thinking about how it seemed like, increasingly, there was a narrative in the world that women dated guys so they'd buy them things. And that this narrative wasn't just coming from men who felt taken advantage of, but from women who were openly admitting doing this.

He knew he'd be potentially open to such a relationship, but also knew he'd want a relationship like what he had now: two-way and intense love, but he tended to buy things because he tended to have more money and it didn't create any kind of power imbalance. He never tried to hold it over them, and they never felt like he was trying to control them. But he had wondered if he'd feel strange about it, if he ever did get into such a relationship.

But no, it just felt nice. He could help them and they mostly accepted that.

They bagged their things and headed out.

"You sure it won't be weird?" Bea asked as they got undressed.

"No way! It'll be awesome," Molly replied.

"Oh yeah, I was gonna ask, did you really sit in my boyfriend's lap naked last night?" Mae asked, struggling to get her own shirt up over her head.

"Yeah. Well, not naked, I had on panties and he had on boxers, but yeah," Molly replied. "He told you about that?"

"He mentioned it to me," Bea said, "and I mentioned it to Mae while we were out today. But don't worry, he kept your counsel. Didn't really say anything beyond that."

"Oh...thanks. I just, you know, couldn't sleep, was a little sad."

"Did he help?" Mae asked, then grunted and tossed aside her shirt.

"Yeah, actually, he did. He's real nice," Molly replied.

Mae laughed. "Yeah. He is. He's carried me to bed, undressed me, and tucked me, like, literally dozens of times because I fall asleep elsewhere in the house so much."

"That's seriously adorable," Molly murmured. She finished stripping and then looked at Mae, who was getting the strap-on she'd bought out of the box.

"Who goes first?" Mae asked.

"Who do you want to go first?" Molly replied.

"I want you to fuck me with it," she answered, holding it out.

"Then fuck you I shall," Molly replied, taking it and beginning the process of pulling it into place.

"And I will get into my own attire," Bea murmured, stepping into her thong and pulling it up into place. She sighed as she wiggled her hips. "Weird," she muttered.

"You don't have to wear it if you don't want to," Trent said.

"I can wear it at least one time," Bea replied, now getting her fishnet stockings on. She quickly pulled them into place and then stood before him, putting her hands on her hips. She'd put the choker collar on in the car on the way back. "How do I look?"

"Seriously hot," Trent replied.

"Yeah...I definitely sympathize with Trent," Molly said, staring at her.

"How's that?" Trent asked.

"I really wish Bea was bisexual so I could have sex with her," Molly replied.

Trent laughed. "Oh, yeah. That."

"Hot damn Bea," Mae said. "Ooh, I need a pic of this." She grabbed her phone, then hesitated. "Is that cool?"

"Yeah, it's cool. I imagine Ann will want to see and I know Trent will want this memory immortalized," Bea replied.

"Sick," Mae said, and snapped the photo.

"Okay," Trent said, pushing Bea over onto the bed.

"Excuse you," she growled.

"Shut up." He pulled his boxers off and got onto her.

"You get on there, too," Molly said. "It's time for a fucking, girl."

"How do you want me?" Mae murmured.

"On your back. Spread your legs," Molly replied.

"Yes, ma'am."

Trent and Molly began making out with their respective partners, touching them, running their hands over their bodies. Bea kissed him back with a fiery passion, pushing her tongue into his mouth. She moaned and shuddered hard when he moved the thong aside and began rubbing her clit. She grasped his erection and began massaging it. He heard Mae moan loudly and glanced over, (and noticed Bea did too), and saw Molly on top of her now, penetrating her with the strap-on.

The utter surreality of the situation persisted as he brought Bea to orgasm, then pushed her fishnet-adorned legs open, pulled aside the thong she wore, and penetrated her. Her eyes went wide and she gasped, then moaned as he pushed his way into her sweet, wet perfection. And then he was joining Molly in fucking.

Both Mae and Bea were moaning loudly, writhing in bliss as they were fucked by their respective partners. Trent lost himself in that bliss, going and going, fucking Bea hard and finding it difficult to focus on any of the three naked women for too long. He kept going, throwing himself into Bea, feeling how absolutely into it she was. She ended up wrapping her legs around him for awhile, and then suddenly patting his chest.

"I want on top," she panted.

"Ooh! Me too!" Mae said.

Both he and Molly accommodated, and he ended up on his back beside her. As Bea began riding him, and Mae started bouncing on Molly, he glanced over at her, and found her doing the same: looking back at him. She smiled suddenly and reached over, then took his hand and laced their fingers together.

"They're holding hands!" Mae cried, panting, then moaned.

"You two are cute, but I'm about to make him cum," Bea said. She reached down and grasped his shoulders, then started riding him hard and fast. He groaned loudly, the pleasure magnifying, and true to her word, she had him busting inside of thirty seconds. He groaned loudly, expecting Molly to let go of him, but she didn't. If anything, she gripped his hand more tightly. Pleasure blasted through him as he came inside of Bea, filling her up, emptying himself into her.

And then he was finished, and she lay against him, smiling down at him.

"You're really handsome," she murmured.

"You're a goddess," he replied dreamily.

She laughed and kissed him. "You sound tired."

"I'm exhausted," he replied.

"Ah shit...almost there…" Mae groaned.

Bea got off of him and stood up. "Gotta go wash this mess out of me."

Trent settled in and watched as Mae orgasmed. Molly laughed softly as she had to help hold her up, as her climax was nearly debilitating in how intense it was. When she was finished, she got off and flopped onto her back, panting.

"Whew. Man. Okay...your turn," she said, holding out her hand. "Gimme. I'll fuck you good."

"Happily," Molly replied, taking off the strap-on.

Trent decided he could wait a bit before taking a shower and kept watching.

"Hey, so, like...I got a favor," Molly said as he and her ascended the stairs of her apartment building.

"I figured, given you were oddly specific in wanting just me to come to your apartment," Trent replied.

"Sorry, I just...I don't want either of them seeing it, or meeting my roommates. I'm not hiding anything...not really. Maybe a little. I'm just embarrassed. But there's actually another reason I wanted you along."

"What's that?"

"I like to fuck with my roommates. Act like we hooked up and go along with what I say, will you?" she asked.

"Uh…" A lot of questions ran through his mind, the most obvious one being 'aren't you a lesbian?', but given what she'd said, that actually made a lot of sense. It would sure as hell throw them off their game if they thought the same thing, and she walked in with a guy on her arm. As to why she'd want to? Who knew? "Okay."

"Thanks," she said.

It had to be a comfort knowing she could hug on him and act like they'd fucked without any actual risk of him getting pissed or trying to pressure her into anything.

They reached the third floor and Trent looked around, beginning to see why she had a problem with showing people where she lived. The neighborhood itself wasn't in great condition, and neither was the building.

As they got in front of her door and she began fishing in her purse for her keys, she reached out suddenly and grasped his wrist. "Don't be shy. Like, for real," she said, and put his hand on her hip, so that his arm was around her.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"Positive. I'm serious. Like we had sex last night, okay? And it was awesome...unless you don't want to," she replied.

He couldn't quite get a read on her. She seemed confident, and certainly like she was telling the truth, but she also looked a little awkward. Just a little, not a lot. He ultimately thought that maybe she was caught somewhere weird with him, because she'd been vulnerable to him and he'd responded positively to it and hadn't try to shame her or somehow take advantage of her, so she wanted more of that, but she also maybe felt a little paranoid, like it might still be coming.

But mostly she just seemed like she wanted more of that 'I can be vulnerable around you' feeling.

"Okay," he replied, grasping her hip and pulling her a little closer. "But if I'm making you uncomfortable or get, like, too fresh or something, just say 'I want tacos', okay?"

She snorted. "Fresh? But okay, yeah. Like a safe word...thanks."

"You're welcome."

She pulled her keys out and unlocked her door, then walked in. He took a lot around, trying to figure out precisely how he should be acting, though in reality he supposed he didn't have to dig that deep. In a manner of speaking, they kind of had fucked last night, in that they both saw each other naked while having sex, and been as emotionally nude as they had been literally nude.

Maybe he was looking a little deeper into that than he should have, but there had to be a certain level of unspoken intimacy there if a chick was holding your hand, fingers laced, and looking into your eyes as you orgasmed, even if she wasn't the one making you orgasm.

There were a pair of ferrets sitting on a couch together, a guy and a girl, watching what seemed to be a reality TV show. They both looked about Trent's age and like a couple. The living room was definitely a mess. The low table they were resting their feet on was littered with empty soda and beer cans, plates, fast food containers, and had a huge ashtray full of dead cigarettes adorning its center. There was more trash scattered around on the floor, which was a stained carpet.

"Molly, where the fuck did you go?!" the woman demanded. "Who the fuck is this?!"

"I went to a party and met a boy," Molly replied, rolling her eyes. "We got a hotel room to get stoned and fuck in."

"What?! You don't-you never hook up with guys!"

"I didn't say never, Jamie," Molly replied. "Anyway, I'm going with him to his place for a week."

"What?! A week!?"

"Stop worrying. You know I know how to defend myself," Molly replied.

"I call bullshit," a new voice said.

Trent glanced over and saw a curvy husky in glasses wearing a bathrobe come out. "You're a lesbian, Molly. We both know that. What is this about?"

"It's about me being horny and tired of this apartment, Grace," Molly said.

"You're seriously going to just crash with some fucking rando you met at a party? Where does he even live?"

"In Possum Springs."

"Possum-what the fuck, that's like three hours from here! That's like the fucking boonies!" Jamie complained.

"Uh-huh," Grace said. "What's your name, lover boy?"

"Trent," he replied.

"I think she's lying to us and I think you're helping her lie to us. I have no idea why or what you're getting out of it, since she's only into girls."

"I told you I'm mostly into girls, Grace. You want me to prove it?" Molly asked, and before she could respond, turned and kissed him on the mouth. He thought he did a good job of keeping the surprise off of his face, and he leaned into it, kissing her back and groping her fantastically huge tits, then hugging her against him, slipping a hand down the back of her pants and grasping her bare ass.

He kept expecting her to react poorly or break the kiss and ask for tacos, but while her body language definitely wasn't as receptive to this as any of the other women he'd kissed, she didn't seem exactly unhappy about it.

She pulled back. "Satisfied?" Molly asked.

Grace was staring at them, her surprise obvious, and finally she just said "Whatever" and walked back into her room.

"This still seems like a bad idea...uh, no offense," Jamie muttered awkwardly.

"Jamie, you know I've got mace and a knife, and I know how to hit. But if it makes you feel any better, I'll also be with his girlfriends," she said.

"Girlfriends? As in plural?" Jamie replied.

"Yeah, they're out in a jeep down there if you want to see them. Anyway, I have to get my shit. Wait here, sugar daddy," she said with a smirk, then walked off.

"Yep," he replied, patting her ass as she walked away.

Jamie got up and looked out the nearest window. "Wait, holy shit, that goth girl?"

"Yeah! She's wicked!" Molly called back from deeper in the apartment. "Now stop worrying!"

Trent looked at, he assumed, Jamie's boyfriend, who was still on the couch, now playing with his phone. His glazed expression said that he was either stoned or used to this sort of interplay. Probably both, judging by how bloodshot his eyes were and how much he could smell weed in the apartment. Jamie turned to look at him, crossing her arms.

"Is she serious?" she asked finally, her voice low. "You hooked up? You're taking her all the way to fucking Possum Springs?"

"Yeah," he replied, again surprised by how easy it was to lie. Maybe it helped that it mostly wasn't a lie. "Don't worry, we're cool. Me and my girlfriends aren't going to hurt her or anything. We're just gonna chill for a week, then we'll get her back here."

Jamie stared at him for a long moment, then sat back down on the couch. "This seems weird," she said finally.

"She said she likes to live a party life," he replied. "Is it really that weird?"

Jamie sighed heavily. "I guess not. Everyone's always after her…"

"I know it's hard for you, but stop worrying, Jamie," Molly said as she returned, a backpack on her back now. "I'm on vacation. I need a goddamned vacation. I'll text you, okay? And call if you want."

"Call me," she said finally. "And...be careful."

"I will, I promise. Come on," Molly said, taking his hand and leading him out of the apartment again. "Touch my shit and die!" she called back into it before shutting the door.

"So…" Trent said as they started walking back downstairs.

"Jamie's actually pretty sweet, but she's annoying as fuck and has terrible taste in boyfriends, and worries over everything," Molly said. "Grace is a fucking bitch and we fight a lot. She's angry that I won't date her and jealous of my looks. And that's not me assuming, she flat out told me one night when she was shitfaced. I'm also still mad at her because she puked all over my bed once, when she was in my room and wasn't supposed to be, doing fucking what, I don't know. Probably looking for my weed or whatever...does that answer your question?" she asked.

"No, actually. I was going to ask: what job do you have that you can just walk away from it for a week?"

"Ah...that. Yes. Well, you see, the thing is, I was fired last week. I've got one more paycheck coming my way, but it's all going towards bills. I need to get a new job but I also need not to fucking die from misery and I want to actually enjoy some time off," Molly replied. "Sorry if that kiss was, like, torment or something. Since you know we aren't gonna go all the way."

"No, it was pretty cool," he replied. "I was just...surprised."

She laughed. "Me too."

"You weren't expecting to do it?" he replied.

"No, I was, I just didn't think it'd be so...not bad."

He laughed. "Well thanks."

"Hey, it's a compliment considering I've never kissed a boy before and I spent basically my whole life feeling pretty sure it would suck to do so."

"Okay, fair enough, I'll take the compliment."

They reached the bottom of the stairs and Molly hesitated, putting a hand on his chest. "Hey, so...um...thank you," she said.

"For?"

"Being cool about all that...and all this. You're pretty sweet. Giving me that safeword and actually like caring about me and my, I don't know, comfort? I really appreciate it," she replied.

"It can't be that big of a surprise," he said.

She frowned, and for the first time, he could see true, genuine unhappiness in her expression. "Guys get really upset when I turn them down. Like really mad. Or sad. Or frustrated. And I'd say ninety percent of the guys who talk to me are trying to hook up with me. I wasn't joking about the mace or the knife, and I looked up self defense stuff online. I've had to use it and the mace a few times. It sucks."

"Jeez...I'm sorry," he replied.

"It's...the world we live in. And I'm not saying that every interaction I've ever had with men has been shitty. It hasn't. But too many of them have, and too many more were just obvious attempts to get a date with me. And it sort of tainted, well, a lot of my interactions with guys. And that sucks. Honestly, our time together has been my first positive interaction with a guy who wasn't gay or asexual, or the interaction wasn't extremely surface level, in...years. Maybe longer. Really, the more I've come to recognize 'this guy is trying to fuck me' behavior, the more I look back on stuff and realize that was, like, so many of my interactions. So yeah, thanks for that."

"You're welcome. Now, how about we go drive three hours and I can show you my probably underwhelming house?" he replied.

She laughed. "You saw my apartment. And you have a fucking house dude, like, I'm sure it'll be fine."