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Mark’s faith in me sends a shiver down my spine. I hope he’s right. I want to travel and experience new things. That’s part of why I showed up here. I need to step out of my comfort zone. Being with John and Mark is about as far from my comfort zone as I can get.
“Thank you,” I say. That’s all there is to add. I set my fork down on my plate and lean back in my chair. I’m comfortably full from the pasta and garlic bread. If they eat like this regularly, I might need to join them for dinner all of the time. The dining halls at NYU aren’t bad, but they’re not great, either. I much prefer eating at my parents’ kitchen. I won’t tell my mom this, but Mark’s cooking is slightly better.
“Did you enjoy dinner?” Mark asks as if he can read my thoughts.
“I did, very much. Thank you for cooking. And for having me over. This has been fun.”
John smiles. “We’re not done yet. Why don’t we head to the living room?”
“Okay. Can I help you clean up first?”
Mark shakes his head. “You’re our guest!”
“Please, I want to. At least let me bring my plate to the kitchen.”
Realizing they aren’t going to win this battle, Mark and John grab their own plates and the pasta and bread bowls. I follow the two of them into the kitchen. We’ve all cleaned our plates, so we set them into the dishwasher.
“See! Easy enough to let me help.”
“You’re right. But now, you are our guest.”
John reaches into a cupboard for a bottle of wine and three glasses. He leads the way to the living room he showed me earlier. I didn’t get a chance to really look around on our brief tour. The room has two large couches in an L shape. There’s a large TV mounted on the wall. Below it is a beautiful brick fireplace.
“Wow!” I exclaim. “I didn’t know there were fireplaces in apartments!”
John laughs. “I had to get special permission to have it. It was built custom for this apartment.”
“It’s beautiful.”
“Even more so when I fire it up. Pun intended.”
I laugh. John loves to crack Dad jokes like that in class. Most of the other students groan, but I find it endearing. I bet he’ll make a great father someday.
John lights the fire while Mark and I settle onto the largest couch. I sit in the middle with Mark to my left. When he’s finished with the fire, John takes the seat to my right.
We’re silent for a few minutes, enjoying the slow warmth of the burning fire. It feels like Christmas, even though that’s still a couple of months away.
“Do you decorate the fireplace for the holidays?” I ask.
“I don’t usually. Maybe I will this year. You can help me, if you’d like.”
“I’d like that very much. It would be such a waste not to have stockings and boughs on a fireplace in December!”
“Honestly, I don’t spend much time in this apartment. I’m mostly here to eat and sleep.”
“Where do you write?” I ask.
“At a coffee shop in Brooklyn. Yes, I realize that’s cliché. You should see the other clientele. They’re exactly what you’d expect at a coffee shop in Brooklyn. It’s a great atmosphere.”
“That sounds nice. But if I had an apartment like this, I don’t think I’d ever leave.”
John grins. “Well, speaking of, you could spend a lot more time here if you want.”
My stomach flutters. “I could?”
“Yes. We want to talk to you a bit more about the offer we made last week.”
“I think that would be a good idea.”
Mark moves to the arm of the couch on John’s side so they can both look at me. I adjust myself so that I’m facing the two of them. It almost feels like I’m being chastised, but the looks on their faces are far from angry. If anything, I see lust reflected in their eyes as they look at me. I hope that’s what they’re feeling because it’s what I’m feeling. My panties have been damp since I walked into the apartment.
The place itself is gorgeous, but what really got to me was seeing Mark in the kitchen fixing dinner. It was such a hot, domestic scene that I got immediately turned on. If I weren’t so nervous, I would’ve jumped them right then.
John takes Mark’s hand in his. “As we told you last week, we’re bisexual. We enjoy both men and women.”
I nod. I’ve known what ‘bisexual’ means for years, thanks to health class, but I still did some Googling over the weekend to learn more. I feel quite prepared for this conversation.
“That means that Mark and I enjoy each other’s bodies, as well as those of other women. For the past year and a half, we’ve been in a monogamous relationship. We’re looking to switch things up. We want a woman to join us.”
