She stayed outside on the patio until she heard people moving around inside the house and then went in to get herself that coffee. Finding a peanut butter chocolate chip granola bar that would be enough until they had lunch later, she sat down on the sofa right when Nia walked into the great room dressed to the nines and ready to tell them about what they would be doing that day.
“Good morning, or, I suppose, afternoon since it’s now three past,” Nia spoke, looking at her dainty gold watch. “I hope you all had a wonderful night and rested up this morning. No one came down for breakfast, so I assume that’s the case. Today, I’m going to go easy on everyone. After all, alcohol was consumed, and there were some items used that are now in the bin, waiting to be cleaned, so perhaps an easy first full day is the way to go. I’m going to group you together, but remember, during the day, there’s no sex. This is a group activity, but I say that just as a reminder. One group will take a walk aroundthe neighborhood. I won’t provide the dreaded cards during the day today, but you’ll be seeing them again tonight.” Nia winked. “The other group will have time in the pool and hot tub or in the house, if they wish. Then, we will switch. The only rule is that you must all remain together. Unless you’re going to the bathroom or grabbing something from the kitchen quickly, you must remain with your group. Drinks will begin at six. Each activity will take an hour and a half, with an hour and a half for lunch in between. If you do your math, you will be back in this room around four-thirty. We’ll convene briefly, and by five, you’ll be in your rooms to get ready for drinks and dinner. You can take a nap, shower, grab a snack, or do whatever you want. You may also check your phones, of course. Drinks and dinner after that, and then you’re paired up for the rest of the night. Any questions?”
No one raised their hands or said anything, which surprised Jennifer because she’d expected someone to ask why they all had to remain together just to sit around the house or go for a walk, but she hadn’t asked, either, not caring enough what they did today anyway. Nia also had a reputation with these events, so she probably knew what she was doing.
“Very well,” Nia said. “Group one today will be Becky, Jennifer, Gage, and Debra. The other group will be Carrie, Helena, Kristina, and Sharon. Oh, and I forgot to mention one other rule. You are not allowed to talk about anything on this list.” She moved out of the way and revealed a flip chart on an easel that Jennifer hadn’t paid attention to before. “It keeps things interesting, doesn’t it?”
There, written in scripted handwriting, were the words ‘sex, love, relationships, or anything related to those topics.’
“We can’t talk about the main reason we’re all here?” Kristina asked.
“Not today,” Nia replied with a smile. “Talk about nature. Talk about life. Hell, talk about religion and politics, but don’t talk about anything related to sex, love, relationships, or any topic like that. If someone in the group drifts over to that ballpark, someone else should stop them. Remember, you’re all trusting me here, right?”
“Yes,” Kristina replied.
Jennifer noticed Helena looking over at Becky before lowering her gaze. She saw Gage with her arms crossed, looking pretty pissed off, and she wondered why that was the case but couldn’t ask now. When Nia finally dismissed them, Jennifer stood awkwardly next to the other three members of her group, whom Nia had just instructed to take the walk.
For the first ten minutes, they didn’t talk much at all. They all walked with hands in their pockets or arms crossed as they took in the other very large homes, tall trees, and listened to the sounds of birds and the breeze. Debra tried to start a conversation about that, but it died down around five minutes later, and it continued on like that, with one of them trying to make small talk, the others trying to keep it up, and the topic dying like all the rest until they turned around to go to their house for the week. To Jennifer, it seemed like a waste of time, like busy work a substitute teacher would give their students, but Nia was good at this, so there had to be a reason why she had told them to go for a walk together.
For lunch, Nia’s rules were that they still couldn’t talk about those topics, but they also had to go around the table, and each person had to take at least five minutes talking about their best friends. Some people took ten minutes. Some took two or three, and Nia asked them to share a bit more. The next activity was somehow even more awkward. They all sat around in the great room, and since they’d exhausted their small talk topics, they decided to play a board game that they found in a cupboard.That part was a lot of fun, but Jennifer kept glancing over at Becky, who appeared to be throwing daggers at her with her eyes. She’d noticed it earlier, too, but she hadn’t wanted to give anything away about her night with Helena. After all, Becky didn’t know for sure that Helena had revealed to her that they knew each other. Becky also didn’t know for sure that they’d had sex, and Jennifer started to feel bad about that fact by the time they were all back, sitting on the sofas and chairs, waiting to be paired up for the night. It was clear to her that there was something there on Becky’s side, too, and Nia had given her and Helena zero time to talk to each other so far, whether that be purposeful or accidental.
“I hope everyone had a pleasant afternoon,” Nia said once they were settled. “I’m going to give you your pairings now so that we don’t have to hold anything up later at dinner, but as a reminder, you’re to spend thirty minutes with the cards first. They’re a little different, depending on who you’re with, so pay attention to the questions. You will also not be sitting next to that person at dinner, and you shouldn’t speak to them during drinks unless you stay away from the topics we blacklisted earlier. That includes sex, love, relationships, and anything adjacent. So, let’s look at my list.” Nia glanced down at her phone. “Tonight, we’ve got Debra with Carrie, Gage with Jennifer, Kristina with Sharon, and Helena with Becky. You can all return to your rooms now for a break. If you wish to skip drinks, you may, but please be here at seven for dinner.”
Jennifer didn’t even want drinks if she was being honest. She could use a little more sleep, though, so when everyone started going in whatever direction they chose, she took a second to check out Gage, who looked young, attractive, but a little pent-up for her liking, if she had to define what she was picking up about her, and she decided to nap until dinnertime. Then, shechanged and made it back out to the dining room, finding next to no one there.
“Am I early?” she asked Nia.
Nia smiled, shook her head, and said, “Nope. The first full day is always the most awkward.”
“Not the first night?”
“No. Most women who come here work up the courage to get on the plane, and that night, they’re still riding that courage and the adrenaline high, but the following day, their brains have kicked into full gear, telling them to be shy, awkward, stick to themselves, and they’re questioning why they came here at all. It’s normal. Everyone should be coming out now, though. Ah, here they come.”
Jennifer turned, and sure enough, Nia was right: Carrie and Debra were walking down the hall, with Sharon close behind them. Dinner was about to begin.
CHAPTER 20
Gage
Gage had been stealing glances at Jennifer throughout dinner, liking that they’d known who they would be paired up with before they started eating tonight because that meant she didn’t have to look around the table and could focus on one woman. And that woman was pretty, too. Older than Gage usually went for, but she didn’t care about age much. Jennifer was wearing a pair of dark skinny jeans, black boots, and a blue sweater with a deep V that gave Gage a pretty good idea about what might be beneath it, and she was hoping that she would get to take that shirt off her later tonight.
During the meal, she found herself squeezing her thighs together over and over again, unable to stop the growing need. No one could see her doing it, but there was something about doing it with everyone there that had her even more turned on than usual, and her clit had already been on fire since she’d arrived. Her orgasm with Sasha before showing up here had been nice, but last night with Sharon had been better. Even though it had been mostly about Sharon, Gage had also had a few good orgasms herself. Tonight, though, she was looking forward to spending time with Jennifer, and because the ache between her legs wasn’t going away, she slowly lowered her arm and hoped no one noticed when she started stroking herselfslowly over her crotch to try to relieve at least a little of the building pressure.
Gage had known that there would be daily events, but she’d assumed they would have to do with sex and relationships since that was why they had all shelled out the cash for this trip. She hadn’t been happy that the whole day had been wasted because they hadn’t been allowed to talk about any of those things, or that sex wasn’t allowed during any of the days they were here.
A full day of useless activities later, she was hard up and eager to explore Jennifer’s body. She knew she couldn’t get off like this, but she’d made the mistake of applying that amazing lube to her clit before she had left her room. It was supposed to take at least ten minutes to kick in and not make her more turned on, just make things feel better when she was touched, but because she was already on fire, the light strokes she was giving herself were driving her crazy, and she needed to stop soon, or shewouldcome at the dinner table.
“Well, thank you all for a lovely meal,” Nia said finally. “Your cards are on the table, and once again, please remember to go through the cards for at least thirty minutes before you do anything else. It’s all part of the process.”
Nia stood then and walked casually into the kitchen like she hadn’t just dismissed a table full of women to go have sex with each other.
Gage stopped touching herself under the table, stood up, probably a little too quickly, and followed her date for the evening to the coffee table, where Jennifer picked up their cards.
“Want to stop by the room?” she asked.
Jennifer followed her eyes, and Gage knew she had to look eager. Her foot was tapping on the floor, and her hands were shoved deep into the pockets of her jeans as she awaited the answer, hoping that it would be yes. She didn’t care how it mighthave looked to Jennifer. She’d come here for a reason and had paid a lot of money for it, too.
“Maybe later. We can come back out here, if we want, right?”
