Page 114 of Taking Turns

“I’m ready,” I say, then regret it. “But yeah, I think she is. I’ll know more tonight.”

“You don’t sound very excited,” Quin says, eyeing me. More suspicion. “You have something to say about it?”

“No.” I don’t. “And I am excited. It’s been a long fucking time since we had someone together like that.”

“I’m really looking forward to it,” Quin says. “I can’t fucking wait. What night should we aim for?”

“Monday?” I say. “Why not start the week out right?”

“So my night.” Quin ponders this. “I’ll think of something special and let you know.” He stands up, downs the rest of his beer, grabs one last French fry from his almost empty plate, and says, “I gotta wrap some shit up at work. See ya later.”

I wave him off and stare down at the bar. Lucinda is here again, and when I look around, I don’t see her husband.

“Hey,” Bric says, coming up the steps into the bar and walking over to my table. “How’d it go last night? With the father?” He takes a seat across from me.

“Shit,” I say, before taking a long sip of my drink. “That man is a complete asshole.”

Bric laughs. “I figured that. But no trouble?”

“No,” I say, thinking about how amicable Chella was last night. She didn’t stand up to him. Not even a little bit. And I can’t figure out if she’s just not interested and possibly happy he’s leaving her behind to start a new life, or… she’s so sad she’s locking it up inside. I just don’t know her well enough to figure that out. “He came to tell her he was getting remarried and she’s not going to be a part of his new life.”

“What the fuck?” Bric says. “Who does something like that?”

“That guy,” I say, sipping my Scotch. “Anyway, I’m gonna get her a Christmas present. What’d you get her?”

“I’m not telling you,” Bric says, smiling. He knows I suck at this shit. I’m not a relationship kind of guy. And yeah, I got Rochelle presents all the time. But I never put any thought into them. I just spent money on her. She wasn’t like Chella at all. Nice things were new for her when she met us. Chella is steeped in nice things. Nice things aren’t the same thing as love and friendship, I know that better than anyone. And I’d like her to feel my gift is a sign of our love and friendship.

Do I love her? It’s a dangerous question considering what’s about to happen next week.

“But I will say, it’s nothing Earth-shattering. Just a present.”

I nod as we look at each other. “You should maybe put some more thought into it. I think she deserves that much.”

“You like her,” Bric says. “I get it. I’m not gonna interfere, Smith. If she makes you happy, I’m happy to step aside. I don’t know if Quin will, he’s having fun with her as far as I can tell. You might’ve misjudged him when you assigned him as Number Two.”

“Yeah, maybe. But he’s still in love with Rochelle, don’t you think?”

Bric shrugs. “He hasn’t talked about her all week to me. You?”

“Same,” I reluctantly admit.

“Does Chella want to continue this arrangement?” Bric asks.

“I think so.” And I do think that. If she didn’t want to experience all four of us together, she’d have seen everything I did last night for what it was. A declaration. But she missed it. She missed all of it. Maybe it was just the shock of her father’s message? Or maybe she doesn’t feel the same way about me? Doesn’t matter in the end because she just missed it.

“Well,” Bric says, “if you want my opinion, I think she’s got a problem, Smith.”

“What kind of problem?”

“Maybe problem is the wrong word,” he amends. “Maybe she’s just very curious. Or very horny. Or maybe she’s just into the gang-bang thing. I don’t know her well enough to figure that out yet. But she’s into it. You feel it, right? She likes this stuff. I mean, she went along on Wednesday night. We double-teamed her and she was ready for more last night. If her father hadn’t shown up, we’d have done it again.”

He’s right. She wants this. She’s known it was the objective since we started. And she’s still here, playing the game with us. Allowing herself to be a pawn on the chessboard.

“She needs it, Smith. For whatever reason, she needs it. So give it to her, let her think about it. And then if you still like her enough to back out of this arrangement, do it. I won’t stand in your way.”

I let out a breath of air. “I know that, Bric. I wasn’t thinking you would.”

“I’m just being clear with you. We’ve been friends for a long time and I’ve never seen you so… interested in one of the girls. Take her if you want her. But do it after she gets what she needs. Or she might regret it for the rest of her life. And you don’t want to start something new with regrets.”