As he slammed the passenger seat door of the taxi shut, Mark hunched his shoulders as the wind howled and the rain swirled around him. With luck, there was only a few metres of ground to cover before his group of friends reached the entrance to the bar.
It was a nod to their determination to have a few drinks after work on a Friday evening that they even ventured out into such horrible weather. Mark hadn’t sprinted since he was a high school student, but he made his way through the puddles at an impressive pace. He caught up with his group just as they made their way through the entrance, each of them relieved to be free of the elements.
The group was six-strong, with Mark and his girlfriend, Jess, joined by four of her closest friends she’d kept since childhood.
He’d long since grown comfortable in their company and each of the girls had forged lasting friendships with him. So much so that their collective social life had settled into a familiar groove. Each Friday night, they’d frequent their favourite pub in the city and stay there until last orders.
But this evening had already forced a change to their well-established routine. The group’s favourite bar was undergoing renovations so they had to decide on an alternative. After trying a few other venues, the capacity had already been reached in each of them. Each time, the group returned to their seven-seater taxi and drove off to continue their search. It was after the third different pub couldn’t accommodate them that the taxi driver suggested a small rock bar on the outskirts of the City Centre. The group didn’t take much convincing as their search had become frustrating and instructed the driver to take them there.
Jess was the first to make her way into the bar and took in the sights around her. There was a real bustling atmosphere with the queue for the bar at least three rows deep. All of the tables and booths were occupied, but there was a significant amount of space for the group to stand at the furthest end of the bar. Jess realised that the area afforded them close proximity to the bar, so seized the opportunity to lead her troops across to it. Their usual haunt was much better lit, this bar was dark and more than a little grubby. The walls were adorned with old posters promoting live music and events from over a year ago, with the paint on the wall having started to flake.
The majority of the customers were sporting jeans and t-shirts, to Jess they seemed to be mainly students. Plenty were tattooed, pierced and quite boisterous. Turning her head to scan the room, there was plenty of raucous laughter from the different tables and booths which dominated the sound of guitar and drums that was playing through the speakers. But it was fine, she figured, they’d be back at their regular venue as soon as it reopened in a few weeks.
Mark used both hands to brush the heaviest raindrops from the chest and sleeves of his coat, reaching to the strap of his shoulder bag and lifting it above his head and sitting it on the floor pressed against the wall. He stood 6’1″ tall and was in reasonably good shape. His short brown hair sported a longer fringe which he swept back, offering a clear view of his piercing blue eyes. He rarely worked out as he preferred to focus his energies on his office job, but he remained slim. It was Mark’s face that garnered the most attention, with a cheeky smile that women had always complimented. Indeed, it was that smile coupled with a cheesy pick-up line that secured his first date with Jess four years prior. Their relationship had reached the point where his friends and family were starting to anticipate news of a potential engagement.
Their discomfort didn’t last for long as they slipped their coats off and gathered their bags in a little pile on the floor with Mark’s. Jess and their friend, Anella, snuck into a small gap in the queue for the bar and managed to get served their first round of drinks. Before long, they had settled and started catching up with events of the last week since they last met together.
An hour had passed before Mark noticed the time on his phone when queuing at the bar, it was just after 7:00 pm. He quite liked the change in venue even if it was a bit louder than he was accustomed to. It was then that he noticed that there was a theme to how the bar staff were dressed. There were four of them tending the bar, two guys and two girls. The guys were wearing a black t-shirt with the bar’s name and logo on the chest, while the girls wore matching black hoodies with a far smaller logo on the upper left sleeve. Both of the guys were busy serving customers but he couldn’t get a good look at the girls as they had their backs to the bar as they restocked trays of glasses.
Jess had kept her eye on Mark at the bar as she grew impatient waiting on her next drink. From the corner of her eye, she was relieved to spot Mark getting served and resumed her conversation with her friends. It was at that point that a stranger went to lift his bag from close to the group’s pile, before Jess spoke up.
“Oh, be careful, that’s my boyfriend’s bag. Sorry…”, she chirped. Trying to thread the needle between being helpful and overbearing.
Immediately, her friends Anella and Lucy started to giggle and roll their eyes. Lucy even dug an elbow into Pauline’s side and repeated what Jess said in a mocking manner. After a few seconds, the stranger had retrieved his own bag from the floor and wandered off, allowing Anella to speak freely.
“Jesus, Jess. Can you even go one night without telling random people about your boyfriend?” Anella’s tone was playful and it wasn’t the first time that she’d poked fun at Jess’ seeming overenthusiasm to bring up her relationship with Mark.
As her friends gleefully piled-in on top of Anella’s joke, Jess felt a familiar tinge of embarrassment in her chest as she realised that she’d been caught out once more. “Come on, I just didn’t want him walking away with the wrong bag, I can hardly see in the dark of this place.” Jess took a sip of her vodka and lemonade and sat her drink on a thin wooden shelf that ran along the length of the wall.
Pauline smiled, sensing the opportunity to stir the pot. “Yeah, yeah. We know. You just love telling any random stranger all about your perfect man, don’t you?” Before glancing towards Anella and Emily and hoping that they’d jump in too.
Jess allowed a smile to form across her face before setting the group straight. “Shut up, Pauline. I don’t do it anywhere near as often as you guys say.”
While the group were all close, it was Anella who Jess would consider to be her best friend. She was the one she’d known the longest and they had so much in common. Both short, slim, petite 25-year-old blondes. They worked at the same accounting firm and studied at university together having went to the same high school. Jess and Anella were good girls, high achievers who rarely ever got into trouble and retained a laser focus on their careers. Each was pretty, but they weren’t ringers for one another. Anella was the more confident of the two and, prior to Jess meeting Mark, enjoyed the more active love life. But if there was a habit of Jess’ that got on Anella’s nerves, it was her eagerness to drop hints as to how perfect her life was.
But Jess was everything to Mark. When he met her, he was blown away by the way she smiled with her shoulder length blonde hair and stunning green eyes. The first time they had sex, Mark couldn’t get enough of the way she rode him with her lithe, supple body. She didn’t have a thick, heart-shaped ass, but it was small and tight. Any frustration that he harboured concerning her small breasts were always appeased by how attractive her nipples were. Hard pink buds that never required much touch before they’d stand to attention. Her thighs were perhaps his favourite of Jess’ assets. For a slim girl, they were thick and juicy. He loved nothing more than spending an evening softly kissing and biting them as Jess would plead with him to stop teasing her.
Anella stirred her vodka and coke with her short straw, took a small sip from the glass and retorted. “It was only last weekend that you told the guy who served us our food that you were in a relationship, when he only asked if you were waiting on someone!”
That revelation drew howls of laughter from the four girls stood huddled around Jess as Mark made his way back to the group. He made two short journeys from the bar and handed each of the girls their drinks in turn, before returning to his spot by Jess’ side.
“What did I miss, you guys are having a ball over here.” Mark enquired, curiously. The fact that the others were laughing while Jess sported an awkward grin tipped him off that she was being teased.
Lucy spoke above the laughter. “Just reminding Jess that she doesn’t need to tell every Tom, Dick & Harry that she’s practically wifed-up to her amaaaaazing boyfriend.”
Jess playfully stuck her right foot out and softly kicked Lucy’s foot. “You know that’s not true; I was just trying to help the guy find his bag when he couldn’t see his hand in front of his face.”
It was at this point that Emily leaned into Anella’s right ear and started whispering, at length, eventually soliciting an excited gasp from her lips. Anella’s eyes widened and couldn’t swallow the sip of her drink fast enough before speaking up.
“That’s such a great idea. Emily was just saying that we should celebrate our first Friday night away from our usual bar with a new resolution…a chance to get rid of some of our worst habits.” Anella took a further sip and scanned the faces of the rest of the group.
Meanwhile, the two girls working the bar had finished stacking the glasses and returned to serving customers. By chance, Jess was stood amongst her group facing the bar and instantly noticed the brunette who came over to serve the customers queued only a few feet away.
The girl looked so out of place in such a grimy little bar like this. Jess reckoned that she must only have been about 5’2″, with gorgeous straight black hair that ran all the way down to the small of her back. Every feature on her face was flawless. Stunning brown eyes accentuated by her dark, smoky eyeshadow. Enviable lips with a perfect jawline and immaculate eyebrows. She looked like she was in her early twenties, maybe she was a student, working here part-time at the weekends?
What made Jess take a sharp intake of breath was her body. The girl’s black hoodie was hardly zipped, allowing a healthy view of her unbelievable cleavage. As she bent forward slightly, the black lace of her bra was clearly visible to the customers in the queue at the bar. It was a bold, confident display that there was nothing under that hoodie but her underwear. Her breasts hardly jiggled at all as she moved, which for their apparent size, prompted Jess to wonder if her incredible bust was natural. As Anella was talking, Jess had only zoned out for a few seconds taking this girl in as she moved to serve another customer.
Anella continued. “In-fact, Emily and I have a proposal to make. We don’t think you’re capable of lasting the rest of the night without telling another stranger about your relationship.”
Jess shook the cobwebs and focused back on Anella’s jibes. “Don’t exaggerate, Anella. Of course, I could last the next few hours without putting my foot in my mouth again. Please, that’s hardly a challenge.” She smiled with the sense that she’d shot down their angle and sucked the momentum from it.
Mark’s eyes were drawn to Emily who had a cheekier smile on her face than usual as she prepared to assert herself.
Emily sat her drink on the shelf to the side and took a half step forward. “Well let’s forget about a new resolution, let’s make this a challenge that you don’t think is so easy.”
Turning to Anella with a glint in her eye, Emily turned back to face Jess. “How about a friendly bet?”
Jess shook her head almost as soon as the words had left her friend’s mouth, but Pauline pressed a finger to her own lips and gestured to Jess to remain silent.
“Yes! A bet, that’s exactly what you need. No better way to kick that silly habit, Jess, if you know there’s a forfeit waiting for you if you fuck it up.” Pauline was overjoyed at the idea as the girls took turns reinforcing the idea amongst themselves.
Anella took the opportunity to seal the deal. “We need to come up with the perfect way to frame this. Seeing as you’re only too happy to volunteer the information to random strangers…how about we turn the issue on its head?
This wasn’t the first time Mark had heard the girls give Jess some grief about how she brought him up in conversation. He didn’t mind, if anything he thought it was endearing that his girlfriend was still so demonstrably enthused about him after four years of being together. On that basis, he was always content to let the girls have their fun. Especially as Jess was normally so accurate when slapping the criticism down.
Emily whispered into Anella’s ear once again, laughing mischievously as she did. Anella clutched Emily’s arm with glee. “That’s it, oh my God, Emily. That’s it, you’ve nailed it.
The sound of Anella’s voice carried the short distance to the brunette behind the bar, who was taking a moment to dry a glass with a small dish cloth. She’d only worked as a barmaid for a few months, but she’d perfected the ability to eavesdrop without making it obvious.
After a deliberate glance around the rest of the group, seeking their fullest attention, Anella blurted out the details. “I bet…for the rest of the night…that every time you introduce Mark to a stranger…” Anella let the moment stretch out as if to add strength to the proposal. “You have to introduce him as just a friend…”
Mark let out a groan as if to imply that the terms of the bet were a dud. “Are you serious, Anella? Emily? That’s the best you’ve got? The way you were acting it was as if you’d come up with something much, much better than that.”
Something about the proposal caught Jess off guard and she felt her lips starting to get dry. She thought about what Anella had said and told herself two things. That the bet was going to be easy and harmless…and that it was fucking stupid. But something about it was eating at her and she felt it in her chest. After listening to Mark’s dismissal, she decided to bring this to a head.
“Well, I’m not gonna lie, that sounds like a piece of cake. Which is a nice way of saying that it’ll be easy as fuck.” Jess took a longer sip this time. “But I’m curious, what’s in it for me? What do I get when I make this look simple?”
Pauline almost fell over herself to be heard. Focusing on her own idea for Jess’ forfeit first. “You told us about that bonus you received last month, if you can’t get through the rest of the night without a slip up…you should pay for all our drinks next Friday night.”
Jess knew that the forfeit meant that she’d be out of pocket to the tune of at least £200, and likely to be more. There was no way she had any interest in risking her bonus, but the terms of the bet were so innocuous. So easy. Where was the room for her to make a mistake?
Seeing the quizzical look on Jess’ face, Pauline continued. “And if you think it’s so easy, and you introduce Mark as Anella stipulated…as just a friend…then the four of us will pay for both you and Mark’s drinks for the next month.”
Lucy, Anella and Emily looked at one another and nodded agreeably. The bet did seem a little on the light side, if anything they could have some fun at Jess’ expense tonight and buy them their drinks in the future to make up for it.
Once Jess had taken a moment to size up the terms, she had an addition of her own to make. “Ok…but if I win, neither of you can bring this up ever again. No more teasing about this, and you know I don’t do it as often as you’ve suggested.”
Anella stuck her tongue out and sighed, suggesting that she knew that little adjustment was coming. Smiling once more, she made sure everyone in the group was paying attention before slowly offering her hand to Jess. “That seems fine…then you’re prepared to shake on it?”
It wasn’t often that Jess placed herself into socially awkward situations, at least on purpose. But the beating in her chest had gotten a little stronger and peaked when Anella offered her hand. It was going to be so straightforward, wasn’t it? She looked Anella in the eye and bit the bullet, meeting her hand with her own and shaking it, with Mark and the three girls bearing witness.
“I am, you’ve got yourself a bet.”
Pauline and Lucy offered an excited little clap and started whispering to each other, before hurriedly turning to queue for more drinks at the bar. Jess felt some pride after she shook Anella’s hand and told herself that she and Mark would be drinking for free for the next month.
Mark allowed himself a chuckle and addressed Emily and Anella. “You two are so childish, I swear to God.” He shifted his hip and offered a supporting nudge to Jess, before turning to her. “These morons will be buying our drinks and they’re clapping like seals.”
As the music played and the different groups all tried to be heard over the sound, the atmosphere in the bar remained good as the night went by. The conversation started to shift as Emily filled the rest of the group in on the latest guy she’d been seeing and how tired she was of him after only a few weeks. Jess was telling Anella about a new flat that she wanted her and Mark to move into and all she was waiting on was a promotion that she felt she was overdue.
Only a half-hour had passed since Jess shook Anella’s hand when Jess and Mark joined Pauline at the jukebox. Indie rock wasn’t ideal for either of them and the playlists were almost exclusively guitar bands. Mark was critiquing the lack of dance tracks when Pauline took a step back and inadvertently bumped into a girl standing behind her. Pauline was quick to apologise and the girl laughed it off. After seeing her smile, Pauline felt relieved but then remembered the bet and decided to test the waters.
“I’m so sorry, honestly. I’m amazed I don’t fall over my own feet more often. I’m Pauline and this is one of my best friends, Jess.” Pauline turned to face Jess and couldn’t conceal her grin. The girl nodded to them both as an acknowledgement, but turned to face Mark and sensed the awkwardness of why she didn’t introduce him too.
“Yeah, I’m Michelle, it’s nice to meet you.” Now staring at Mark. “And…you are?”
The sharp grab at Jess’ wrist was from Pauline, who was doing her best to remind her of the bet while not bursting into laughter. Jess looked at the girl, the stranger, and took a sharp intake of breath.
“…this is Mark…and we’re…just friends…”
Michelle raised an eyebrow at the mention of being just friends and sensed it was a little off. A little unnecessary. It was extra. She felt herself offering an exaggerated nod.
“Cool, well…I didn’t mean anything by it. I’m going to get another drink; it was nice to meet you guys.” Taking the opportunity to slip away, Pauline waited until Michelle had left before allowing an exaggerated gasp.
“I can’t believe you actually did it! See…how hard was that? You were right…this is going to be easy.”
It didn’t take long for the pang of apprehension to return to Jess’ chest. She didn’t find that easy at all. Michelle was a few years younger, seemingly, but she was cute. Attractive. Did she really just tell a cute girl that Mark was just her friend? She realised just how fucking stupid and pointless this bet was going to be.
After returning to the group, Pauline filled the other girls in and they were whipped into a relative frenzy. Lucy, Anella and Emily each took turns asking Pauline for the details on just how awkward it was for Jess, while Mark and Jess mocked them.
The mutual taunting was interrupted when one of the guys working the bar came to their area to collect their empty glasses. Anella was speaking to him as he did so, and after they exchanged a sentence or two, Anella seized the opportunity to get involved.
“Thanks very much for clearing those away, I’m Anella. And these are my friends Emily, Pauline, Lucy…and Jess…” Leaving Jess to last, Anella then shifted her gaze to Mark and left him out. Again, the barman was prompted to look in Mark’s direction and picked up on the lack of introduction.
“Yeah, I’ve never seen you girls in here before. Nice to meet you, I’m Chris.” While looking at Mark, he felt compelled to ask. “And you, mate? Are you with them?”
Each of the girls immediately turned to face Jess, eyes bulging, desperate to see if she’ll keep her word. Jess took a nervous sip of her drink and sized the guy up. Chris was good looking, rough around the edges but undeniably good looking. Once again, she tried to quash her internal objections and pushed through with her obligation.
She spoke on Mark’s behalf. “This is Mark, and…we’re just friends.” She felt a little catch in her throat as she attempted to say the word friends which was audible. So, she had the embarrassment of the girls knowing that this was getting to her to contend with too.
Chris, like Michelle earlier, wasn’t expecting the clarification from Jess and sensed the awkwardness. But Jess was a pretty girl, and he contemplated if that was her way of telling him she was interested. Facing Jess, he replied.
“Ok…cool. Well, I’ll just be over there at the bar if you need anything. Nice to meet you girls…and you, mate.” Then Chris took the opportunity to fill his tray with empty glasses and returned to serve more customers.
Anella and Lucy grabbed each other once Chris left and recited the entire exchange to one another. It was Emily who was the first to address the apparent consequences.
“Holy fuck, that guy thought you were sending him a signal. That was fucking hilarious! But, my God…how awkward was that?” Jess glared at Emily, knowing every word she said was true. That random barman did get a signal, all because of this ridiculous bet. Jess lifted a hand to flick a strand of blonde hair out of her eyes. Whatever fun the girls were having with this was starting to grate on her. She was getting annoyed. Pissed off.
The next few hours whizzed by, but Jess was forced to interact with more strangers. She had to introduce Mark to a young couple at the bar, then to another couple of guys when she returned from the bathroom. As the night was winding to a close, Jess fulfilled the terms of the bet each and every time she was challenged. The last few occasions saw her almost bark the introduction through gritted teeth, but she did so audibly and was clear.
As the clock moved past 12:00pm, last orders were only a half-hour away. They never went clubbing after a Friday night in the pub, at least not together. Mark & Jess always preferred getting home and having the rest of the weekend to themselves, While Emily and Lucy were the two who’d sometimes break away and enjoy a night out dancing in a club. The bar had started to empty as the larger groups had moved on to whatever was next for them. The table closest to the bar had opened up and the six of them had seized it as their own, appreciating the chance to sit.
They decided that one final round of drinks would be the end of their evening, and it was Mark’s turn to go to the bar. There was no queue at this stage and anyone venturing to the bar was being served immediately. The girls had largely forgotten about the bet as Jess had met the terms at every turn, and they wound the evening down laughing about some of the girls’ ex-boyfriends.
Just as Mark was reaching the bar, he reached into the front pocket of his black trousers and got his wallet ready. As he did so, he looked up and was greeted by a sight he wasn’t at all prepared for. The brunette, that only hours earlier had momentarily transfixed Jess, was standing right in front of him. Her head tilted slightly to the side as she leaned forward across the bar, her deep brown eyes locked on his as her cleavage was almost presented for him to appraise.
“Hey…what can I get you?” Letting the words slip softly from her lips.
Her voice was mesmeric. Mark was momentarily frozen in place; all he was capable of was the sharp intake of breath which gave away exactly what he thought of what stood before him. The bar was a dive, but this girl was flawless. The smell of her perfume simultaneously pulled him deeper into her gaze, while snapping him back to his senses. She held his gaze, making him painfully aware that he didn’t want his eyes to wander. The zipper of the hoodie which she sported, which Jess had observed earlier, had been lowered slightly as the night wore on. Mark felt his lips part as he pulled himself together.
Just as he did, his eyes betrayed him and glanced down at her chest. His eyes lingered for only a second, maybe two, before he summoned the strength to pull them back towards hers. Mark held his breath as he tried to gauge her reaction to his momentary lapse.
Her expression never changed, instead she tilted her head slowly to the other side. “You need a little help there? I’m Lana…”
He tried to flick his tongue across his lips to moisten them but it was bone dry. He resorted to taking a noticeable gulp, again, offering her another compliment without saying a word.
“I’m Mark, thanks…sorry, I don’t know what that was just now. I didn’t mean to…”
A slight smile formed across her lips. “That little glance?” She exhaled audibly while arching her back and leaning slightly further across the bar. The sound of the metallic zipper of her hoodie scraping across the varnished wood of the counter was soft, but noticeable. Whilst holding his gaze, she looked down at her own chest, enticing him to follow her there. Looking up after a few extended moments, she was pleased to see his stare was locked once again onto her considerable assets. Lana had only recently celebrated her 21st birthday, but her breasts were only a year old. Enhanced to a smouldering 30DD, the way they sat firmly, proudly, on her small frame was enough to make anyone melt. The best investment she ever made, they opened plenty of doors for her when she pursued her numerous side-hustles in modelling. When Mark managed to look her back in the eye, he knew he was caught red-handed once again.
“Don’t worry about it, they help with the tips…” She spoke barely above a whisper, the words drawling from the back of her throat. With that, Lana stood a little taller, lifting her chest from the counter but he was still afforded a full view of every inch of skin she was showing. “They help really, really good…with the tips…”
Mark had only glanced twice, but something inside him compelled him to attempt to burn every single detail to his memory. He’d never met any girl that was even remotely like her. It was almost unfair to him that she was working in such a dive when there wasn’t a magazine cover on the planet which she couldn’t grace. The fact that she had just made a remark about her own breasts had him flummoxed, he had no idea how to respond to it.
Slowly, Lana lifted both hands from the bar and folded her arms below her chest. The impact on her cleavage was a sight to see. As Jess had observed earlier, her chest barely jiggled as she lifted her breasts higher and pressed closer together. Her tanned skin was so smooth with little flashes of the black lace of her bra becoming more visible.
“So, have you any idea how many guys come in here…and just stare at these tits…” Maintaining her posture with her arms folded under her chest. “…and how many girls?”
Looking her in the eye, Mark had no idea what was happening. Was she flirting with him? She couldn’t be. There was no way. Before he could respond, his defence reflex kicked in and he offered a smile. A precursor to laughing it off.
All the while, she’d been making her mind up about him. He was well dressed, nice shirt and trousers. Clearly, he’d come straight from the office but he stood out amongst the regular clientele she served every weekend. She’d only been working there for a few months at the weekends, but she’d seen enough young guys in dirty jeans and obscure metal band t-shirts to last a lifetime. And she really liked his smile and those blue eyes of his.
But the explicit nature of her question almost floored Mark. His mind flooded with images of various emo girls, clad in their fishnets and plaid skirts, entranced by Lana’s breasts. He felt like he’d almost have to slap himself to bring him back to reality. This had to be a dream, or he was drunk…likely both.
He summoned the best response he could. “Well, I can only hope that those girls tip better than the guys…”
She swivelled her head, arms still folded tight under her chest, before a wicked smile formed across her face. Normally, when she was playing with guys like this, their minds crumbled into gloop and they became, essentially, mute. She hadn’t expected there to be a mind at work with this one, not after she was so direct.
Lana let her gaze slowly, deliberately, look him up and down before looking him in the eye. “Wouldn’t you like to know?” Taking a moment to sweep a hand through her smooth dark hair.
Mark couldn’t quite believe the hint that she’d left hanging out there. As soon as she’d said it, the stirring in his groin gave way to a swelling that was thankfull disguised by the bar. But she had to be joking, probably just teasing him to pass the time before her shift ended. She simply had to be.
As he shuffled just enough in his stance, Lana knew that she had him in the palm of her hand. Leaning forward slightly, whispering to him across the bar. “What if I told you…that just last weekend…I took one of those girls out back…” Her whisper had slowed, every word emphatic and dripping with intent. “What if I told you…that she pressed me against a dirty chain-link fence…and she tipped me…and tipped me…until my knees buckled…”
He felt himself slip his wallet back into his front pocket as the image of what she’d described almost swept him away. “And here I was just going to order a round of drinks. Now you’re making me feel that my…tip…has got a lot to live up to. I was just going to ask you to keep the change.”
Lana giggled at his attempt to diffuse the situation as she took a breath. “The guys watching the CCTV got such a treat that night…at least, that’s what they told me.” Her whispered boasts were relentless, Mark couldn’t get enough. “Do you think that they would have enjoyed that?”
Mark’s head had started to nod softly before the words made themselves available. “Oh, you are…you’re fucking with me, Lana. I’ve got to give you credit, honestly. If these little suggestions, these hints, are how you make your tips…then you’re the best I’ve ever seen.” By pushing back against her seemingly well-practiced recital, he felt a little more confident and flashed his smile to show he wasn’t being confrontational.
Gently pushing a freshly cleaned glass a few inches to the side, Lana was undeterred. “Is that right, Mark? I’m fucking with you?”. Her playful smile never even flickered nor lost an ounce of its effect on him. “You don’t think that every guy that’s standing where you are right now…you don’t think they want to tip me?”
As the time had passed, Mark knew she was just toying with him and he felt emboldened to play along. There was no risk, they weren’t going to be coming back here once their regular pub reopened. But he didn’t to insult this girl. Even though he was in a relationship with a girl in the same room, this had the makings of a great story he could tell his friends about. Her question, once again, had to be rhetorical. She was a smokeshow. Every guy’s type. Every single one.
Her eyes locked on his, she pressed on. “And the girls? After staring at these tits all night…you don’t think they want to fuck me?”
Mark pressed both of his palms against the surface of the bar and steadied himself, mind racing with images of the different girls he’d seen in the bar that night. Before long, those girls were replaced in his mind with the sight of Anella, Lucy, Pauline and Emily. All completely straight, but powerless to resist as Lana swooped in and pressed her lips against theirs.
But those images quickly melted away. Then it was Jess…outside in the dark behind the bar…Lana’s hands pressing Jess back strongly against the same chain-link fence Lana just described. Lana’s hands dropped to Jess’ firm ass over the top of her tight work skirt, before lifting both legs and allowing Jess to wrap them around Lana’s enviably slim waist. Back pressed tight against the fence as the chain-link only offered a slight amount of give.
As Jess turned her head slightly, Lana followed it with her own and her lips pressed hungrily against Jess’. There was nothing soft about the exchange, the kiss was long, hard and frenzied. Lana dropped one hand back to Jess’ firm butt and every grope drew gasps from Mark’s wholesome partner. The moment Lana’s tongue pressed past Jess’ lips, her free hand rose to the zipper on her hoodie and yanked it open.
Mark pulled himself back to reality but a few drops of sweat had formed on his forehead. His dick was throbbing and he pressed it against the bar in a desperate need to hide his current state of arousal.
Lana was more than content with the effect she’d had on him. The longer he went without responding, she knew he was struggling to deal with the barrage of innuendo she’d tossed at him. “Well…spit it out…”
Her whispered response made him realise that he’d left her hanging. In as clear a voice as he could muster, he rose to the bait. “Like I said earlier, you are the…yes. You are…sensational.” The compliment made him feel a pang of guilt, but it wasn’t unsolicited. He accepted that she’d practically assaulted his senses with her seductive routine and, essentially, sucked the compliment out of him.
Anella and Jess were both immersed in conversation when Anella’s attention was caught by the bar area. Jess was sat facing Anella with her back to the bar, oblivious to Mark, when Anella realised Mark hadn’t brought their final drinks.
“Uhm, Jess. Mark’s been at the bar for nearly ten minutes now.”
As Jess turned to survey the scene, immediately, her eyes settled back on the brunette. Hours had passed since she’d first noticed her but she remained, almost impossibly, gorgeous. However, the somewhat cold and distant demeanour she demonstrated throughout her shift had been replaced as she leant teasingly across the bar, smiling at Mark, with that chest of hers on full display.
Jess wasn’t the jealous type as she and Mark didn’t have separate social lives. Not really. As a result, there weren’t any situations where she or Mark were meeting other people. Plus, she told herself that she was never the paranoid, insecure type who’d freak out every time she saw Mark talking to another girl. But this girl was so attractive it was virtually implausible.
Then it hit her. Watching them, unable to hear what they were saying, the sight of the brunette presenting her cleavage to the love of her life led to an unmistakable heat between her legs. For a microsecond, Jess panicked and reasoned that she’d been drinking and had to have short-circuited. But the colour soon drained from her face as the realisation clarified itself within her mind.
Jess knew her pussy was dripping wet.
She rose to her feet on autopilot, leaning down to Anella. “Hey, come over to the bar with me. Let’s see what’s holding up our drinks.”
Anella nodded and as the two walked the short distance to the bar, Lucy, Pauline and Emily shuffled across behind them. All three were still mired in their own conversation, only paying scant attention to Jess and Anella. Jess reached the bar to Mark’s right hand side, while Anella stood to his left. As the pair flanked Mark, Lana maintained her posture leaning across the bar while allowing herself to flick her gaze across both girls.
Still confused at her own body’s reaction to the sight of them together, Jess intruded upon them. “Hey, just wondering what happened to our drinks?” As she went to slip an arm around Mark’s, Anella glanced at the barmaid and, while just the wrong side of tipsy, sensed the opportunity to mess with Jess one final time that night.
Anella immediately spoke above the others and greeted the brunette. “Hi, I’m Anella and this is my friend Jess.” Her arm had only halfway risen to wrap around Mark’s, but hearing Anella bring up that stupid bet again made her retreat and stand up straight.
Lana had heard the girls make their bet earlier and couldn’t resist forming her lips into a teasing, seductive pout. An eyebrow raised; she knew this was her opportunity. Having already introduced herself to Mark minutes ago, she smiled when nodding to each of the girls before casting her eyes back to Mark.
“Nice to meet you girls, I’m Lana. I was just talking to Mark; we must have lost track of time.” Sharply, suddenly, Lana turned her head to meet Jess and looked her right in the eye. Her gaze was intense, almost looking right through Jess as if she were an obstacle, not a customer.
Addressing only Jess, she stirred the pot. “Tell me, how do you know Mark?” As the question left her lips, even Lana felt a flutter in her chest. She loved playing games, but this moment was delicious.
The question itself felt to Jess like a searing hot bullet fired directly at her. The little colour left in her cheeks drained as if someone had pulled a plug and let it drain away. Her hands felt light and she placed them on her hips and dug the fingers in deep, knuckles completely white. It was unmistakable. Her pussy was so wet. Jess took a long look around her, Anella was smiling triumphantly. Delighted that she’d put Jess on the spot once again, while Lucy, Pauline and Emily were huddled near, each on cloud nine that she was being put to the test again.
Slowly, Jess turned back to face Lana and sensed she’d let the question remain unanswered for too long to remain comfortable. With her heart beating out of her chest, still highly confused about her reaction to seeing them together, she parsed her lips and dug deep to find the words.
“We’re…we’re just…friends…”
Barely a few seconds had ticked by before Emily and Lucy turned their backs to disguise their cackling. Jess couldn’t take her eyes off Lana, desperate for some kind of acknowledgement that could free her from the dread of this moment. Anella took a short breath before raising a hand to her mouth to stifle her own giggle, while Mark stood in the centre of the group having spent the duration of the girls’ conversation trying to scrub his earlier indecent thoughts from his mind.
Lana sucked a deep breath inward before pressing ahead. Just hearing the words from Jess was like music to her ears. She was loving every second of this. “Just friends, huh?” She stood up straighter, but again folder her arms under her chest. “Mark, you didn’t tell me that you were out with five pretty girls…but you’re not seeing any of them?”
It was now the group’s turn to receive a blast of Lana’s seductive, confident…wicked tone straight to the senses. Each of the girls were almost floored by just how confident this barmaid was. They’d barely exchanged two words with her and she was already completely unfazed by their presence.
Mark’s erection had started to soften so he leaned slightly away from the bar, but acknowledged that Jess had stuck to the terms of the bet. Would it be weird if he spoke up and clarified this? Yes, it definitely would, plus he didn’t want to come across as rude. Was that it? Yes, it had to be.
“I…yeah…Jess and I. We’re…just friends. Good friends…good friends.” The embarrassment at barely constructing the sentence made him feel like a moron, but it was the best he could muster.
Suddenly, Lana reached into her back right jeans pocket and retrieved her phone. Swiping to open the screen lock, she looked back up and scanned the six faces across from her, before lingering on Jess’ gaze. “I was just saying to Mark that it’s just so refreshing to have someone so well dressed, someone so pretty, come in at the weekend.” She almost smirked as she kept her glare focused on Jess’s colourless face. “So many scruffy boys come in here and it’s just so…frustrating…”
The girls each looked at one another, no one had the first idea how to react. Jess just told her they were just friends, but was this girl really hitting on Mark in front of them? The giggling and chuckling at the bet gave way to short deep breaths and awkward silence. Only one person held court and she was standing across the bar from them.
Sensing her moment, Lana struck. “So, you’ll have no problem giving me your number?” Her fingertip tracing the screen of her smartphone aimlessly before looking to Mark. “We can’t have you surrounded by so many pretty girls…but no one to take care of you…”
Anella almost dropped her glass on the floor, she felt it slip an inch out of her grasp and reflexively clutched it in her fist. Emily’s lips were wide, eyes bulging. Pauline and Lucy looked at each other and held their breath. The energy of surprise and bewilderment was palpable and almost ran Jess over like a truck.
Standing right next to Mark, Jess felt like a completely different person. Did she just ask for her boyfriend’s number…while she’s standing right there? She felt herself rock back on her heels when it hit her again. Her clit pulsing, desperate for attention. Her pussy drenched. There was no short-circuit. No mistake. Something inside her, it saw what was happening and craved it. Jess pleaded with herself; it simply couldn’t be true.
Mark turned to face Jess, completely shocked. Only he had previously been exposed to Lana’s particular charm and he’d reasoned that she was just stirring the pot. Searchingly, he stared into Jess’ eyes for some kind of signal of how to proceed. Surely, she’d speak up and put this to bed, even if it meant apologising to Lana for being dishonest.
As he did, Jess met his gaze and was trapped in her own mind. The stupid fucking bet. That’s why she, willingly, told this girl they were just friends. What logical grounds could she, as just a friend, stop Mark from giving her his number? What could she say without coming across as a vindictive liar? She knew the answer, there was nothing.
The terms of the bet couldn’t matter less to Jess, the thought of paying for drinks never entered her reckoning. It came down to the bet having went too far. She told this stranger, this flawless, voluptuous stranger, that her boyfriend was fair game. Unable to speak, she felt her head slowly start to nod giving Mark the answer he needed.
When her nod registered, Mark turned back to Lana and immediately started to rationalise what was happening. It was only a phone number. They can be deleted. Blocked. That this was all the result of a silly bet that distorted far beyond what was intended. And it was happening in front of their friends.
Nervously, Mark responded. “Yeah…I mean, of course. Let me read it to you.” He shook his head a little to comprehend what was actually happening.
Lana stood there, phone in hand, had a different idea. “No, no. Just pass me your phone and I’ll enter the number myself.”
Slowly extending his hand, with the phone clutched tightly, Mark passed his phone to Lana with his number on the screen for her to access. Lana swiped it, letting her fingertips scrape softly against his palm and let a teasing noise escape her throat as she punched Mark’s number into her own phone. As she saved it, Lana took another glance towards Jess and felt her nipples start to stiffen.
It was only hours ago that Lana eavesdropped on the bet and everything was going perfectly. But something was off, unexpected. Lana had spent the last few minutes deliberately looking into Jess’ eyes, eager to see how the scenario was affecting her. As she stood there with both her own and Mark’s phones in hand, she watched Jess intently. Pale cheeks with the odd rush of colour, lips parted, breathless. Almost panting. Lana was loving the fact that Jess never stepped-in at any point to correct the record. It was then that Lana’s eyes lowered and flicked her gaze at her groin, as Jess’ thighs were clenching together so tightly. Immediately, it dawned upon her.
Lana knew, she just knew…Jess was into this.
Handing Mark’s phone back, she teased. “Excellent, then I’ll be in touch.” Lana took a step back and turned to walk away behind the bar to resume her duties. As she did, she glanced over her shoulder and looked toward Jess. “Your friends are so beautiful, Mark…I’m amazed you haven’t been tempted…”
As Lana slipped through a door to leave the bar area, each of the group stood there in stunned silence. Jess closed her eyes and felt the familiar twitching that signalled her tears were coming. She bit down on the tip of her tongue and fought the tears with everything she had. Her friends had just watched her get humiliated in such a deeply personal manner, the last thing she wanted was to cry.
Lucy was the first to break the silence. “You know, that last drink…I think it’s best we save it for next week.”
Anella and Pauline couldn’t agree fast enough and clutched at their coats and bags. Soon, each of the four girls gave Jess a short, uncomfortable hug and a kiss on the cheek as they made their excuses and left. Soon, the bar was almost empty as the bell rang for last orders. Mark and Jess stood there, facing one another, with no idea what to say. Both had demons from tonight to battle, but Jess’ were completely new and unfamiliar…and considerably different than his.
What was it about that girl? Jess wasn’t a lesbian, but she could appreciate the female form. She had her own celebrity style icons and had no qualms about discussing which famous faces, and bodies, she found to be beautiful. But she knew she wasn’t gay, so what the hell was it about this encounter that got her so wet…so fucking fast? Now wasn’t the time, or the place, to have that discussion with Mark and she wanted to get the hell out of there. Like zombies, both grabbed their bags and coats and headed out of the bar towards the taxi queue.
The two made their way home in near silence, with the only sound in the taxi coming from the driver’s radio. Soon, just after 1:00 am, they returned to their ground floor flat and got ready for bed. When Jess was able to, she entered the bathroom and locked the door. Her back slumped back against the door and she sunk until she was sat on the floor. Alone, she combed through her memories of the night. Jess cursed the fact that it had to happen in front of her friends, how was she going to explain this away?
She couldn’t focus. The embarrassment of her friends’ reactions just dragged her back to the bar to relive it, but the memories wouldn’t settle. She gritted her teeth and tried to remember accurately, but her mind raced out of control.
Soon she saw herself standing on the dark side of a dancefloor in a club she didn’t recognise. Pauline, Anella, Lucy and Emily all watched on as Jess was stood facing Mark and Lana just feet away. Mark was dancing slowly, his hands on Lana’s hips as she pressed her back tight against his chest and her tight cheeks into his groin. All Lana wore was a tiny white vest from which she’d fashioned into a tight knot under her perfect breasts, showing off her toned, flat stomach. The vest was paired with a short denim skirt that barely covered the bottom of her ass. Her legs, completely bared, glistened with sweat in the heat of the club. There was no bra, but her breasts were standing so proudly on her chest they were practically holding the vest up. As she perspired, the sweat gathered and dampened the thin white fabric, allowing a healthy view of her hard, bullet nipples, desperate to be freed.
Sat on her bathroom floor, in an unfamiliar position, Jess practically growled as she yanked her work skirt down past her knees and kicked it off. Her white thong panties met a similar fate, the crotch containing evidence of her intense arousal from the bar. With her legs spread, her bare ass cheeks sat on the cold bathroom floor as Jess barely traced the length of her dripping wet slit before the fantasy rolled onwards.
Her mind painted an all-too vivid picture. Lana’s right arm snaked upwards around Mark’s neck as she started to dance down him, then slowly back up. In her mind, Jess glanced around the dancefloor and saw Anella and Pauline looking at her, which caused her to plunge a solitary finger deep inside herself. Jess pressed her head back against her bathroom door and couldn’t catch her breath, while her forehead and back were covered in sweat.
She imagined glancing back to Lana, who this time was staring right at her. Wickedly, as the beat in the club got faster, Lana slipped her hands onto Mark’s and lifted them up onto her tits. Her eyes still locked on Jess’; Lana bit her bottom lip as Mark groped them both so forcefully. As he did, Jess almost erupted there on the bathroom floor, her finger now pumping frantically in her own pussy.
Back in her mind, Jess couldn’t move as Lana ground her ass into Mark’s rock-hard dick through his jeans. His hands still groping her firm breasts over her vest, Lana kept staring into Jess’ eyes and winked seductively. Then, her right arm that had slipped around Mark’s neck pulled his head down closer to meet hers. She broke the gaze with Jess, turned to Mark and slipped her tongue straight past his parted lips.
When Mark’s tongue slowly lashed against hers, Jess let out a muffled scream as she had the hardest orgasm she’d ever had up to that point. The back of her head hit against the bathroom door as she raised her ass and hips up off the cold tiles of the bathroom floor. Her finger pumped in and out of her dripping pussy as hard as she could, as the waves of ecstasy engulfed her. Desperate not to be heard, she held her breath to stifle her moans and soon crashed back down onto the floor. Her face was covered in sweat and the back of her shirt was coated in it.
It was inexplicable to her. Sitting there, struggling to breathe, she tried to understand. Was there something wrong with her? She had kinks, everyone did. She just wasn’t an overtly sexual person. Mark was more than enough for her and she was happy, so how the fuck did this concept get lodged in her brain? Was it the girl? She knew that she was incredible to look at, but there was something else about her. An aura, her attitude. That confidence, almost malevolence. Was it that? Jess wasn’t close to gaining an understanding of the situation when she eventually rose and got cleaned up.
Returning to bed, Mark had already gotten there and was fast asleep. Jess pulled back the duvet and lay down. Her exploits in the bathroom had left her completely drained and, despite her mind being overloaded, she fell asleep almost instantly.
Both Jess and Mark were early risers at the weekend, but this Saturday morning saw both rise just after 10:00 am. Significantly later than normal. Jess was first to wake and was confronted with the immediate dread of what had occurred the night before. Seeing Mark still asleep, she noted the relatively late hour and crawled out of bed, pacing towards the kitchen to make some coffee.
When Jess closed the door behind her, it stirred Mark awake and he stretched his arms out while yawning. He, too, was burdened by the events of the night before and made a first attempt to comprehend it free of alcohol. It struck him that it was really just a misunderstanding. Besides, no one had a gun to his head to make him do anything else. He even allowed himself a chuckle and shake of his head as he realised, he could just blame Anella and the girls for putting them in that situation to begin with. Smiling as he reached for his phone, he planned to check the sports news in bed and get up within the next ten minutes.
After rubbing his eyes, he swiped and saw that there was a message from an unknown number. It was received just after 3:00 am as he slept. Mark took a short breath and paused, there was no way that she actually got in touch with him. When they spoke last night, alone, he convinced himself she was just fishing for tips. For attention. There was no credible reason, to him at least, why Lana would’ve had any reason to make contact once they left the bar. His right thumb hovered over the screen while he tried to predict who, and what, had been sent. Carefully, Mark pressed on the messages icon and went into the menu.
He didn’t have a massive contact list in his phone, but the unknown sender was the most recent message and rested at the top of the list. He glanced to the side where the small message preview sat and that’s when he knew for sure. It was Lana. Hurriedly, he pressed his thumb on the message and accessed its contents. A short message, but there was a media clip attached. Looking at the clip, there was no preview and it was only six seconds in length.
—–
Hey you…it’s Lana,
I can’t tell you how much fun it was to meet you tonight.
Now that I’m home from work, I realised that I wasn’t playing fair with you earlier. You were sat with those beautiful friends of yours all night, I had no idea!
I think…the least I can do…is help you with all that pent-up tension…
Like I said earlier, so many guys come into the bar and are desperate to find out…exactly what’s under this hoodie…
Seeing as you were so fun to play with, I think…you deserve a little treat. Just to get us started…
I know you’ll enjoy the clip that’s attached…try not to wear it out. xx
—–
Mark sat up straight in the bed and couldn’t help the rush of excitement that washed over him. The message was detailed, pretty long and he felt her personality screaming out from the phone in his hand. There was something about it that seemed authentic. Immediately, his thoughts turned to the attached clip. No one sent him media via a text so he wasn’t even sure if he could open it on his phone. Would he need to upload it to his laptop to watch it? Those worries were eased as his thumb double-tapped the thumbnail and held his breath as the phone’s media player loaded the clip.
Unmistakably, it was Lana. Standing in a well-lit room, Mark could make out various pieces of furniture in the background. A full-length mirror over her left shoulder and what seemed like the bottom of her bed over her right. She was still dressed in her work clothes, with the fingertips of her right hand lightly clutching the zipper of her hoodie. Sporting a sultry, concentrated look on her face, Lana slowly started pulling the zipper and the hoodie opened. She closed her eyes and arched her back as the hoodie fell from her shoulders and dropped to the floor.
There she stood, biting her bottom lip as she was clad in the tight black lace of her push-up bra. Her cleavage was hypnotising as she wiggled her hips and gently shook her chest. Lana lifted her hands and ran them across both breasts, over her bra, and gave both a firm squeeze. Dropping her hands to give him a clearer view of her chest, she stared into the camera and offered an exaggerated, almost theatrical, moan.
Before he knew it, the clip ended and restarted in a loop. Mark was incredulous as she was soon letting the hoodie slip from her shoulders again and she was back in that tight black bra. As his cock hardened, he drew his knees up to his chest as he watched. The second time he heard Lana moan, he knew he wouldn’t be able to resist. Frantically, he pulled the duvet down and kicked it to the side with such vigour that it landed on the bedroom floor. He slept in just his boxers, but he clutched the phone in his left hand, holding it within view, as his right hand plunged beneath his waistband and clutched his hard dick within his grasp.
After everything the night before, his initial touch was already teasing a droplet or two of precum and Mark was in desperate need of release. After the first few loops, Mark was completely lost in the act. He strained to try and see a hint of her nipples through the black lace, but was soon drawn back to the mounds of her cleavage and her scorching bite of her bottom lip. He hadn’t even lasted a full minute before he watched Lana’s hands grope her own tits for one time too many and his orgasm rocked him to the core. Twitching over and over, Mark shot thick ropes of his cum all over his right hand. All over the sheets and onto the hardwood of the bedroom floor. Tossing his head back to meet the pillow, he dropped the phone and sucked in as much of the stale bedroom air that he could.
When he caught his breath and composed himself, he closed his eyes and tried to make sense of what was happening. What would Jess think if she knew he was in here jerking off to Lana after only meeting her the night before? He had to get a grip, but he couldn’t shake the realisation, the undeniable truth, that he was intoxicated by Lana.
After slipping into the shower, Mark tried to scrub his guilt away before returning to the living room where Jess was sat on the couch. They’d barely said a word to one another since the bar, but Mark wanted to kill the tension.
“Listen, Jess. I know how awkward things got last night.” Mark started pacing the middle of the living room as he addressed her. “But it’s over. The girls got their kicks and it’s over.”
Jess sat forward, rubbing the side of her head as she searched for the words. Since waking, she’d been trying to make sense of how she completely lost control of herself on the bathroom floor. There was no way she could bring herself to tell Mark, she wasn’t even sure how she’d go about it. Her head was a mess and she wasn’t sure what she wanted.
Jess looked to Mark and tried to put it all behind her. Behind them. “I know, I know. Look, we’d all been drinking and that stupid bet just went way too far. The girls couldn’t let it go and just kept putting me in those awkward situations all night. If Anella was here, I could strangle her.”
Mark enjoyed a slight sigh of relief. He knew he’d done nothing wrong, but that wouldn’t have stopped Jess from holding him responsible if her mood demanded it. “As for the girl…Lana…she’s out of our hair and we didn’t make a scene. We didn’t embarrass her, we just…played along.”
His words went some way to reassure her, but he had no idea just what kind of sexual dilemma Jess was wrestling with. And in truth, that’s what Jess was struggling to get past. She knew Mark hadn’t done anything wrong and they could cut Lana off with minimal effort. But she couldn’t comprehend what was going on in her own mind. Was it an isolated incident or a sign of something deeper?
Jess stood up and stretched, her pink pyjama bottoms and plain black t-shirt clung to her figure as she did so. “Babe, if you’re wondering…the only reason I nodded to you…to give her your number…was because I didn’t want her to think we were psychopaths who were pretending to be friends for no reason…”
Mark exhaled and was delighted to hear it. He felt the same. “Yeah, yeah…exactly! Can you imagine how stupid we would have looked…if you said we were together after saying we were just friends? I mean, my God! What if we ever wanted to go back to that bar…they’d all think we were crazy.”
The two looked at one another and were heartened that they were on the same page. And together, they’d put the incident in their rear-view mirror. Jess snuck forward and gave Mark a playful hug and let it linger. Just as she pulled away, Mark wanted to set the record straight about something else.
He put his hands on her shoulders for a second before letting them drop to his sides. “Ok, now there’s something else you need to know. Lana…she sent me a message…”
Jess’ eyes almost bulged out of her head, stepping back from him as her arms defensively folded atop her waist. Instantly she heard a faint ringing in her ear as a strong recollection of her fantasy from the bathroom floor resurfaced. “She actually messaged you? What do you mean? When? What?” Stammering, she took a second to compose herself. “What did she say? Did you answer her?”
Mark stepped in urgently to try and soothe her. “Don’t freak out, please. It’s nothing. She…she doesn’t know about us, so…it’s not her fault. She was just, I don’t know…she was just flirting?” Sensing that there was no way to explain it, he thought honesty was the best policy. “Look, let me show it to you…and of course I haven’t responded!”
She had no idea if she was ready for this, but Jess knew that she’d need to see the message or the curiosity would consume her. “Flirting? Didn’t you hear her last night? She doesn’t give a fuck, Mark. She’s…I can’t explain it…she’s just so…”
Mark felt the same way, and tried to finish her sentence for her. “Direct. She’s just so direct.”
Arms still folded atop her waist; Jess felt herself lowering her voice. “Uhm, yeah! She’s not exactly backwards about coming forward. You think someone like her…you think she’s used to rejection?” Blowing the air from her lungs, Jess appreciated his honesty about the message. “Ok, thank you for telling me about the message. You know I would never demand to see your phone…but, yeah. I think it’s best…if we look at the message together.”
After a quick second to retrieve his phone from their bedroom cabinet, Mark returned and they both sat on the couch shoulder-to-shoulder. Jess had no idea what to expect as Mark hadn’t exactly been articulate. Mark swiped open the menu, accessed the message and there it was. And Jess was rocked.
She read the full body of the message, over and over, and felt her brain melting. It was dripping with heat. If she was flirting, then Jess couldn’t imagine anyone being able to resist. This girl was offering her boyfriend a treat and that he shouldn’t “wear it out”? The two little kisses at the end were the most innocuous part of the message, but they just reminded Jess of her fantasy…watching the way Lana slipped her tongue into Mark’s mouth on that smoky dancefloor…
Throat dry, she knew she had to see the clip. “I…I don’t know why she’s being so forward. Is this, is this what girls are like these days? No…no, it’s her. This must just be her thing. Fuck!” She tossed a couch cushion onto the floor before asking herself if she was ready for this. “Babe, play the video. Please.”
Mark had settled into a mindset where he couldn’t get in trouble if he complied with every one of Jess’ requests. He responded, decisively, by double tapping the thumbnail and Jess was reintroduced to Lana. Intimately.
Sat tightly next to Mark on the couch, the moment the clip started was as if Mark had vanished from the room. Lana’s face was so beautiful, with the absence of alcohol and seeing her with better light, she was incredible. Her full lips and deep brown eyes were captivating. Those same brown eyes that winked at her so seductively in her fantasy. As the clip played, her zipper was tugged and the hoodie slipped from her shoulders. Even Jess couldn’t help but admire her body. Her black lace bra was at least a size too small, purposefully, and looked like it had to be peeled off. Her cleavage teased by her own hands as she grasped her perfect tits and moaned like a wanton slut.
Immediately, Jess started to get wet. She cursed the fact that she’d thrown the cushion to the floor as she wanted it positioned squarely on her lap as the video started to loop. Every part of it was simple, but scalding hot. Jess realised that Lana didn’t free her bare breasts, which she viewed as a positive. After all, if she was turned on watching it, what was Mark thinking?
The loop snapped back to the start and Jess stared into her brown eyes. All Jess could think of was them pressed together on that dancefloor as Lana winked towards her. Taunting her. Knowingly. Picturing their heads turn to meet and their lips getting closer, Jess had to stop looking at this.
Jumping to her feet suddenly and bending down to retrieve the cushion, Jess looked down at Mark and tried to think out loud. “I’ve seen enough…ok. She’s a flirt. She’s a fucking tease. But…it’s not like she got her tits out…and as you said, babe…you didn’t reply?”
Mark was incredibly eager to clarify the situation. “No way would I respond, I can show you my activity log…”
Jess recoiled at the suggestion, determined to not become a bitter, jealous, paranoid shell of herself. If she started checking his call logs, what kind of slippery slope would she be on? “No way, babe. I’m not going to violate our trust in one another. I trust you and I believe you. A hundred percent. And I’m so thankful you were honest with me about…that fucking video.”
Jess leant her head back slightly. Yet again, the very sight of Lana was enough to trigger the kinkiest, most fucked-up fantasy she’d ever had. And she knew, if she succumbed to it, as she did on her bathroom floor, she could make herself cum like never before. What was wrong with her? She was in love with a great guy who did nothing but treasure her. Yet only hours ago, she plunged her finger into her soaking wet pussy and exploded at the very idea of Lana kissing Mark…the way she kissed him…so confidently…her tongue dancing across his…her firm breasts trapped tightly within his grasp…
She had to snap out of it. Still tormented by fragments of her fantasy, and the desperate need to get herself off, she tried to bring this matter to a close. Glancing to Mark, she explained. “My only concern is that we’re messing her around. Lana. After all, she did nothing wrong…and neither did you. This was my fuck-up with that stupid bet.”
Mark looked at her quizzically, her stance on Lana had taken him by surprise. By this point, after watching her strip to her underwear, he’d have sworn blind that Jess would have declared her a blood enemy.
Jess looked down, arms folded and continued. “I feel bad that she’s reached out…under the impression that…you’re available.” She heard herself saying the words and took convincing that they were coming from her. But her instincts had taken over. Whatever this kink was, she was in awe of its impact upon her. It could bring her to the boil almost instantly, to say nothing of the power and force of last night’s orgasm.
Lana’s video had reached into her head and dug her kinky fantasy out with dirty hands, dumping it at the front and centre of her mind. And it wasn’t going anywhere. Jess continued. “Look, babe, no one likes it when girls get messed around by guys. I think…what’s best…is if you respond to her…”
Staring at her in disbelief, Mark couldn’t believe the suggestion she’d made. “Respond to her? Jess…she sent one message. If I don’t respond…if I just fucking ghost her…where’s the harm?
She knew he was right, but whatever itch she needed to scratch wasn’t going to get the attention she needed if Lana was allowed to fade into obscurity. No, whatever she went through last night…Jess knew she had to feel it again. In the privacy of her own thoughts, she started to accept the truth…she’d never been more turned on in her life.
The specifics eluded Jess…she couldn’t pinpoint precisely what it was about the scenario that was lighting her on fire. And that’s why she knew she needed to explore it. Jess desperately rationalised it by assuming once she worked out what it was, she’d get over it. But she’d never let it go further than a few messages. Was she hoping if Mark responded that she’d send another video? The thought almost made her lose her footing.
Jess expanded. “Hear me out, babe. Look, we both know it. Getting ghosted sucks…it fucking sucks. You don’t get any closure, any reason…you just get let down. I think…if you respond to her…over the next few days…maybe she’ll decide for herself that she wants to move on? Maybe…you can let her down gently…but we can’t…you can’t…just ghost her. I don’t think that’s right.”
Mark had only just had a furious orgasm to Lana’s video within the last hour, and here was his girlfriend, the woman he loved, asking him to keep in touch with her. A seemingly ruthless seductress with a flawless body and a relentless tease. While he knew that he’d never let it go further, if he was being given permission to flirt with Lana, he didn’t want to have to be asked twice.
He responded. “I mean…I understand what you’re saying. And I think…I think it’s really considerate of you to not want her feelings to get hurt. And…I know that the bet you girls made is the reason for it…so…ok. I’ll respond and see if she loses interest.”
Looking at each other, Jess swallowed noticeably as she opened the door to their relationship. A door that she was swinging open to the hottest girl she’d ever met, with an attitude and confidence that made Jess breathless. And all because she can’t stop fantasising about her seducing her boyfriend.
Jess dug her heels into the living room floor and told herself she was in control.
The rest of the weekend flew by in a blur. They hadn’t made plans together and stayed in on both Saturday and Sunday nights. It didn’t take long for them to get past the awkward conversation and spent both evenings cuddled on the couch watching movies. Jess dealt with the messages from Anella and the other girls by downplaying the situation and blaming the bet for the awkwardness. After watching a movie with Mark on Sunday night, Jess was relieved that the girls had dropped the issue and she looked forward to setting the record straight when they met the next Friday night.
Just after 10:00 pm on that Sunday night, Mark was in their bedroom ironing some shirts for the work week ahead. As he liked to do, he listened to some music on his Spotify playlist as he ironed each individual shirt with care. He didn’t want to disturb Jess in the living room, so he had the music playing through his Bluetooth headphones connected to his phone. Just as he had slipped a coat hanger into a shirt and hung it in his wardrobe, he heard a text beep coming through his headphones.
He never received texts at this time on a Sunday night, so he was surprised as he walked over to the phone. Swiping it open, it was the same unknown number. Lana’s number.
Despite Jess’ instructions, he never brought himself to formally save Lana’s number in his contact list. Part of him didn’t like the idea, but then again, parts of him didn’t feel comfortable masturbating to Lana’s video. And that happened, as long as it lasted. Mark thumbed into the messages tab and accessed the message.
——
Hey…
I’ve spent all weekend wondering just how much you enjoyed my message?
Perhaps you haven’t responded because you’re still busy enjoying it?
That bra was so tight…what a shame the video had to end before it hit the floor…
But you can’t keep a girl in suspense like this.
Tell me…
Just how bad…just how hard you wanna tip me…xx
——
Standing next to his bed, Mark slowly sat on the edge of the bed and read the message again and again. All the while scarcely believing his eyes. After an instinctive look over his shoulder, the bedroom door was closed. He knew from the moment he met Lana at the bar, he would have killed to see those naked breasts and here she was…teasing him with that very idea. After catching his breath, he sat back and took stock of the situation. The thought of him tearing that bra off was chipping away at his resolve.
After reading her sign-off, it was clear she wanted him to respond. This time was different though, Jess had been clear with her thoughts, however inexplicable they were to him. Jess wanted him to respond. He had permission to respond.
Mark had no idea what to say, all he knew that every part of his essence was screaming to say something. Quickly, he let his fingers dance across the keys and composed a short reply. He found that once he got started, it was easier to slip back into an old routine. Before meeting Jess, he’d dated often and his text game was still there. He was just rusty. His first draft was a rather benign reply. After surveying it, Mark groaned and instantly deleted it. The fact that he was so concerned about being at the top of his game induced a significant pang of guilt.
Eventually, he decided that the moment was too powerful to do anything but be honest. He was attracted to her, so much of him wanted her. Hardly anyone gets the opportunity to even talk to a woman like Lana, let alone enjoy some flirtatious texts with one. Mark told himself to flirt, but not to get carried away. After letting his fingers tap at a frantic pace, he barely evaluated it before hitting the send button.
Mark told her that he couldn’t stop himself from enjoying the message and that he couldn’t get it out of his mind. He pointed out that he knew, he just knew, she was playing with him, but he was sure he could withstand her teasing. As for the tips, he asked just how well the girl from the bar had tipped her against the fence.
Once the message was sent it became part of the world. It was reality. Irretrievable. Even he was surprised at how little desire he had to stop it from happening. Jess giving him the green light had done wonders for removing most of his nagging doubts.
Lying back on his bed, every bit of energy was devoted to anticipating her reply. But his text went unanswered. As soon as the clock ticked past 11:00 pm, he got ready for bed and snuggled up next to Jess. As they engaged in light conversation before falling asleep, he decided now wasn’t the time to break the news of he and Lana’s conversation.
Several days passed and both Mark and Jess slipped back into their familiar routines at work. Each night they’d have a nice home cooked dinner and catch up with how the other’s day had gone. Mark never brought up Lana, or her recent message, while Jess was sat with him always desperate to ask.
Jess wasn’t sure what to expect when she asked Mark to keep in touch with Lana. Were they immediately going to start bombarding each other with messages? Would Mark spend all night on his phone talking to her? Flirting with her? Any time the thought creeped into her head; Jess felt a the same heat between her legs. Each weeknight, around an hour before she went to bed, thoughts like those drove Jess to the bathroom where she’d bring herself to an explosive climax in as discreet a manner as possible. As a cover, Jess started taking a shower at the same time every night to avoid getting caught. Every night, Jess told herself she was fighting her kink as her fantasy started playing out a little longer every time, until she had the entire scene burned in her memory.
Before long, it was the following Friday. One week after the night which was turning Jess’ life upside-down. Jess thought it was strange that she hadn’t heard anything about drinks with the group all week, so she checked in with Anella. They exchanged texts where Anella revealed that the other girls were going on dates that night, and that they suggested the group drinks be put back to the following week. But Anella said she was free the next night, on Saturday, and invited Jess over for a few glasses of wine. Jess agreed and looked forward to it. She hadn’t seen Anella in person since the previous weekend and was eager to make sure there were no uncomfortable questions about letting Mark give Lana his number.
That Friday night was an outlier for Mark and Jess, they spent it together in their flat. Mark had popped out for a nice Chinese takeaway for them both and Jess got comfortable in an oversized shirt and pyjama shorts. Jess had gone since Saturday without hearing a peep about Lana and was aching for something to happen. In her mind, because Mark hadn’t mentioned her that meant she hadn’t been in touch. Seeing as almost a full week had went past, she started considering the reality that Lana had moved on. She really didn’t know how to react to the thought. Despite Jess struggling to understand what was going on in her own head, the one thing she was certain of was that Lana wouldn’t be starving for attention. Jess felt it in her soul…Lana could have anyone. Overwhelmingly, Jess was frustrated.
It was just after midnight when Jess said she was going for a quick shower before bed. Mark acknowledged her as she’d been doing so all week, albeit not quite this late. He was in the middle of watching some highlights of that night’s Friday Night Football broadcast when he felt his phone vibrate in his hand. Puzzled, he swiped it open and there was a message from a different unknown number. Raising an eyebrow he felt a strong twinge of disappointment, realising just how much he wanted it to be Lana.
After tabbing into his messages tab, he thumbed the new message and was even more confused at how short it was. It simply said “Get headphones”.
Mark’s eyes flicked to the bottom of the screen and there was another video clip attached. There was a preview thumbnail, but it was far too blurry to get an idea of what it contained. His thoughts turned to Lana, was she somehow behind this? Was this some kind of burner phone she was using? As he didn’t know for sure, he rose to his feet and felt himself tiptoe into his bedroom and unplugged his Bluetooth headphones from their charger. After holding down the power button for a few seconds to turn them on, he slipped them over his ears and connected them to his phone. Mark heard the jets of water running from the bathroom where Jess was still showering, so he quietly closed the bedroom door and sat on the edge of the bed. He hadn’t turned the bedroom light on, so the only light in the room came from the backlight of his smartphone. After a deep breath, his thumb double tapped the thumbnail to open it.
The footage was shaky, but the sight of what the camera was filming made his heart jump into his throat. There she was, Lana, in what appeared to be a busy nightclub. She was being filmed dancing with another girl but they were over to the side of the dancefloor. This time, she wasn’t wearing her work clothes and Mark’s jaw almost hit the floor.
Her long, smooth, straight dark hair was lifted up into a ponytail and she was wearing a pair of glasses with thick black frames, almost as if she was wearing them as an accessory. Lana’s unbelievable figure was wrapped in a tight, black, long-sleeved sweater dress that made it as far as her upper thighs and no further. The neckline of the dress was in stark contrast to her work hoodie, as the dress had a crew neck with an additional foldable collar reaching a few inches up Lana’s neck. Her arms were covered by the long sleeves and the dress clung to every single curve. More than a glimpse of her legs was visible beneath the hem of the dress, showcasing her thighs, but a pair of black suede boots reached up just over Lana’s knees to complete her outfit.
Despite not showing an inch of skin through her tight dress, Lana was dressed for sin. Her tits were straining against the thin dress, which was tight enough to clearly show a matching black bra holding them tightly in place. Mark couldn’t take his eyes off the way the dress was pushed out so far by her chest, but ran so tightly against her flat stomach and slender waist. She looked like she had been poured into the dress.
Mark couldn’t absorb the details quickly enough. As the first few seconds of the clip played, the shaking of the camera steadied considerably as whoever held the phone walked closer to the two. Lana never looked at the camera as she faced the other girl and kept her movements slow and deliberate.
He didn’t recognise who she was dancing with, but she was stunning. Another brunette, she was a similar height to Lana and was suggestively looking into her eyes. Her hair was also long and straight, but it hung freely down her back. Lana’s friend wore a black top which had a plunging neckline and the two thin shoulder straps displayed plenty of skin. The top looked like lingerie at first, but it was black satin and extended down past her belly button. The girl’s chest was impressive in its own right, but had a more genuine, vigorous bounce and jiggle as she danced with Lana. In her right hand was a drink with a pink straw, which was almost empty, with her outfit rounded off by a pair of tight blue jeans.
Suddenly Mark realised that he couldn’t hear anything. But that concern faded as the girls danced. They were smiling at one another as they got closer, eventually letting their tits press hard against one another’s. Lana kept dancing slow, maintaining eye contact as her tight sweater dress gave an incredible sideways view of her curves to the camera. Suddenly the other girl started talking to Lana and started to laugh. They were exchanging words as they danced, pressed scandalously close.
After a few seconds of this, the brunette girl started to laugh quite hard but Mark couldn’t hear a thing. Suddenly, the girl turned to the camera while still laughing and mouthed something. Lana, hearing what she said, burst out laughing too and they stopped dancing. Lana playfully shoved the girl in the shoulder, as if to show chastise her for what she said. Mark sat there in the near dark of his bedroom studying the clip wondering what was wrong with the audio before what followed killed his interest in that problem.
He watched as Lana placed hands on both of the girl’s shoulders and assertively repositioned her before pushing her back into a nearby wall. Whoever held the camera quickly took a few steps, causing the footage to shake, before standing to the side and focusing back on the two. With her hands now softly pinning the girl’s shoulders to the wall, Lana brought her body closer until her breasts were once again pressed hard into the brunette’s. Slowly, Lana leaned in until the tip of her nose was touching the brunette’s and then let her hands slip down from her shoulders.
Mark’s dick had swollen as he sat there in the dark, desperate to see where this was leading. Was this going to be another clip that cut off too soon? Lana’s right hand dropped to the girl’s chest and she brushed a fingertip absently across her exposed cleavage before her lips swooped in and pressed against the girl’s. As their lips met, Lana took a long, slow squeeze of the girl’s breast as the kiss almost melted the camera. Both their lips parted and their tongues met, Lana’s chest still pressed into the girl’s so tightly that her own breast was pressing against the back of her hand as she groped her friend with unbridled want. As they kissed, Lana lifted her right leg and the girl reached down and clutched Lana’s exposed thigh just above her knee-high suede boot.
The clip had run for just over half a minute when Lana softly broke the kiss, with both she and her friend starting to laugh once more. Stepping back, Lana turned to face the camera and mouthed something which Mark couldn’t hear. And with that, the clip ended and looped back to the start. Mark found himself watching the two girls dancing with one another again, but this time knew where the clip was headed. Every move Lana made in that tight dress, and those boots, was smouldering. He gasped as the clip moved to Lana pinning her friend to the wall and waited for the kiss.
With Jess in the shower, Mark couldn’t help himself. His dick was straining against his jeans, so he snapped the top button open and pulled them down around his ankles with his phone clutched tightly in his left hand. As he watched Lana press her amazing breasts into the girl’s chest and swoop in for the kiss, he knew he couldn’t last very long. With a loud grunt, the full length of his cock was being stretched and pulled as his eyes were locked on his phone. The way Lana kissed her was spellbinding, slipping her tongue past the girl’s lips in a way that left no doubt that she’d done this before. Once Lana’s hand tightened around her friend’s breast, Mark pumped as hard as he could and shot his load into the darkness of his bedroom. Sat on the edge of his bed with his jeans around his ankles, Mark’s cum had been shot all over the floor reaching as far as the bedroom door.
Minutes passed and Mark heard the shower still running, so he seized the opportunity to clean his mess. As he did, the short accompanying text re-entered his mind. What were they saying in the clip? Who was holding the camera? Were they out doing this tonight in a club somewhere? Once he was satisfied that his mess had been adequately cleaned, he removed his shirt and jeans and sat there in his boxers as he normally did before bed. He slipped his headphones off and double-checked they were switched on and weren’t broken. Then, after checking the volume settings on his phone he couldn’t work out the problem. Then he noticed a small muted volume icon in the corner of the phone’s media player, which he only had to use when Lana previously text him, which he quickly pressed and the volume flooded into his ears.
Triumphantly, Mark restarted the clip and listened for what was being said. The RnB music in the club was loud, but it wasn’t impossible to hear them speak. Soon enough, he reached the part where the girls were talking as they danced.
Lana’s friend, Sophie, asked her “Should I tell him?” then started to laugh. Lana never responded and kept dancing with her eyes locked onto Sophie’s. A few seconds later, Sophie turned to the camera and yelled out “She knows!” Then burst into a loud fit of laughter.
Mark was only too happy to watch through the rest of the clip despite having emptied his balls just minutes earlier. He sat through the kiss in awe before watching Lana pull away then turn to the camera herself. This time, Mark heard every word.
Lana looked teasingly into the camera through her thick black frames. “I told you…the girls I like…they tip me really, really good.”
Before stopping the clip, it had started on yet another loop. With the mystery of the missing audio solved, Mark digested what they’d said. What did her friend mean by that? Should she tell him? And she knows?
The girl had to be talking about Lana, but what, exactly, did she know? Mark racked his brains and thought about that night at the bar. He met Lana for the first time about ten minutes before Jess and their friends did. Nonetheless, they didn’t talk about anything specific. Lana was teasing him hard before Jess came over, but they hardly got into a conversation about their lives. He couldn’t understand it. But what about Jess? Together, they risked looking like fools when Jess played along with the bet. But nothing was said, or done, that could have given away that Mark and Jess were together. And Lana was hitting on him from the moment they met. She was confident, direct…assertive…but would she really be hitting on him if she knew he was with Jess?
No, she had to be referring to something else…but what?
The thought had barely had time to form in his mind when his phone rumbled once more as it sat atop the duvet. Snatching it up into his right hand, Mark swiped it open and it was from the original unknown number, Lana’s. He didn’t pause for a moment as he opened the message to feast his eyes upon it.
——
Don’t let me disturb you while you’re…enjoying…that message.
Your friends in the bar were so beautiful…
As for my friends?
As you saw…I just can’t keep my hands…or my lips…off them…
It’s time for us to play…xx
——
For the second week in a row, Mark overslept on Saturday morning and felt physically drained, but mentally he was hyperactive. He and Jess hadn’t touched each other all week but he’d spent so much sexual energy thinking about Lana. The orgasms he’d been having were intense and explosive, so he felt like he needed the extra rest. Jess had already risen and was out running errands when Mark eventually crawled out of bed well past 12:00 pm.
Mark was pondering what to do about Lana’s text. It was only a few days earlier that he told himself, sincerely, that he’d allowed himself to flirt but anything further was an obvious non-starter. He hadn’t answered her message before he went to sleep as he was completely out of his depth.
Later that afternoon, Jess had proposed that they have an early dinner as she wanted to arrive at Anella’s for drinks around 6:00 pm. Mark had planned to devote no more than an hour of his evening towards a work presentation he was due to make the following week for a high priority client. Knowing Anella would likely be out most of the night, he knew it was the perfect window to get the work done. As they sat at their small kitchen table, Jess had let her curiosity build all week and was struggling to retain her discipline. Sensing that she’d be spending the night away from Mark, she didn’t want to wait any longer. Jess simply had to know.
Placing her fork to the side of her plate, having only eaten a few forkfuls of rice, she looked up to face Mark and rolled the dice. “So, you haven’t mentioned anything about her…about Lana…all week.”
Hearing her name from Jess’ mouth made Mark hold his breath. Taking care to swallow his food, he placed a hand on the edge of the table and addressed her. “Yeah…I mean, what you said last weekend…about not cutting her off.” Dropping his fork down and placing both hands under his chin with elbows on the table. “I…I did what you asked…”
The words slipped into Jess’ head and felt like they’d set off a nuclear explosion. She didn’t know what thread to pull on first. That he just suggested that he’d responded to her? That he hadn’t told her until now? Until she asked him about it? These were rational, logical questions to ask, but Jess hadn’t been able to focus on the rational or the logical since she first saw Lana leaning across the bar towards Mark.
Jess had been starved of any thread to pull upon all week regarding the Lana situation, but now Mark had delivered a fistful of them all at once. Her lips parsed to speak up, but then the twisted thoughts that had plagued her all week came flooding back, like a river that burst its banks. Sat at her kitchen table, she felt like that river was threatening to sweep her away.
Mark sensed the pause and felt like he needed to clarify the situation. “We haven’t talked much…it’s been…I wanted it to be like how we handled it last Saturday. You know…she sent that video….and I told you straight away.”
Sat across their small kitchen table, Jess listened to every word with equal parts dread and desperation. She wanted to interject and ask the right questions, but she was busy trying to get the images of them together out of her mind.
Mark looked down briefly before continuing. “Look, I know you told me to keep in touch with her…But it’s not always easy to just come and show you…what she’s said…” He then looked up and tried to hold her gaze. “Or what’s she’s sent…”
Immediately, the words took Jess tightly within their grasp. What she’s sent? Not just words? The possibilities were limitless to Jess, she’d already sent a video of herself in her underwear. Coupled with that attitude of hers, and that confidence, Jess knew Lana was capable of anything. Still dressed in her black jeans from running errands earlier in the day, they did an admirable job of disguising her, now dripping wet, crotch.
Jess hadn’t planned to respond but heard herself doing so. “What…what she’s sent?”
From where Mark sat, Jess had a look on her face that he’d rarely seen before. Standing quickly, he reached into his pocket and dug out his phone. “Please, don’t worry about it. It’s nothing, Jess. You know…you know what she’s like…” After accessing the second video, he double tapped the thumbnail and opened it. Quickly pausing at the start, he turned to Jess. “She sent this…last night…when I was asleep and you were showering. I’d have responded…like you said…but I just don’t know what to say…”
Jess went to stand, but Mark slid his phone across the small surface of the table to her. She positioned it on the table in front of her and looked up at him. “This…she sent this?”
He shrugged his shoulders slightly to feign ignorance at how much he knew about the situation, and the state that it had worked him into the night before. “Just watch it…and you’ll see why I have no fucking idea what to say to her.”
She felt like she was standing on the edge of a cliff, staring down at endless waves crashing against a cluster of jagged rocks. Just over a week ago, her life with Mark was perfect. Their relationship had barely been tested in four long years. Her confidence had been unshakable in their ability to overcome any obstacle that presented itself. But these last eight days felt like she was being slowly dragged through a trapdoor in her own subconscious. Yet there she sat, ready to take in another of Lana’s performances.
Looking down, Jess had already pressed the play button before she could ask herself if she was ready. Soon, the beat of the music that was so familiar to Mark played freely in their small kitchen. As the girls danced, Jess couldn’t help but stare at Lana’s figure in awe. Mark stood looking down with no clear view of the phone, but could hear the audio clearly. Jess was offering no obvious reaction as the clip played, if anything she seemed to be studying it intently.
Then, Jess heard the same words that Mark had the night before. “She knows!” It shocked Jess and she snapped out of her daze, but kept her eyes squarely on the video as it continued to play. What was she talking about? What did she know? Was she talking about them? Jess had barely been able to consider the meaning before Lana had pressed the brunette girl against the wall and commenced the kiss.
Mark watched on, eager for some kind of signal that Jess wasn’t mad at him. After all, while he hadn’t been entirely honest, he was being truthful when he said he hadn’t responded. To this message, at least. But he had no idea of the scene that had barged into Jess’ mind and taken her captive.
As Jess watched the girls kiss, with Lana’s hand roaming intently across her chest, she allowed the image of her brunette friend to fade away. Within a split second, Jess had tuned out of the video and was focused on the scene which her mind had painted for itself.
Stood in her place, back pinned against the wall, was the love of her life. As the music pumped, Lana’s chest was digging into Mark’s so tightly. Instead of grabbing her friend’s breast, Lana’s right hand had snuck around and taken a long, firm squeeze of his ass as she let her tongue slip teasingly into his mouth.
Jess cursed the fact that she wasn’t alone as she craved to rip her jeans off, by any means possible, and satisfy her aching need. Her fantasy kept playing even as she closed her eyes, with Mark reaching down and clamping both hands onto Lana’s tight ass through her implausibly tight dress. He lifted her up just enough and stepped forward, giving Lana enough room to snake both legs around his waist, her thighs tensed and begging for his touch. The kiss almost broke Jess as she felt the incredible urge to completely surrender to the fantasy. Mark took a hand from Lana’s firm cheeks to slip behind her head and wrench her ponytail back, yanking Lana’s head free from the kiss, as he slipped the tip of his tongue against the base of her neck. Slowly, maddeningly, Jess’ boyfriend let his tongue slip upwards, tracing the length of Lana’s neck before continuing onward and slipping back past her lips.
Jess closed her thighs together as tightly as she could while sat at the kitchen table, desperately praying that the effect the video was having on her wouldn’t make itself known. But her mind wasn’t finished with her yet. She pictured Mark release his tight grip on Lana’s ponytail as their kiss broke and Lana turned to face Jess. Her thick black glasses made her look like a world class centrefold with an office job, but Jess was almost paralysed by the deep brown eyes which lay beneath. With her legs wrapped around Mark’s waist, his hand’s gripping her thighs to stabilise her, Jess pictured Lana staring at her as she slipped the glasses off. After an agonising moment, Lana smiled wickedly and winked as Jess before Mark’s tight grip of her tensed thighs caused Lana to toss her head back, thrust her chest forwards and offer a loud moan.
Jess paid almost no attention to the actual video itself as it ended with Lana speaking to the camera before looping back to the start. Her thighs were clenched together so tightly and felt if she even touched herself with a fingertip, it would be enough to make her distract her neighbours as she came. Without thinking, Jess slapped both hands on the table. “That fucking bitch!”
Mark wasn’t sure what emotions Jess was expressing, but hearing her curse with such conviction meant that she had to be angry. He took a step towards her. “I know, yeah. You’re right. You’re right, Jess. You’re right…” He placed a hand on her shoulder. “That’s what she sent…I think, it’s her thing. Maybe she’s an attention seeker…or a fucking exhibitionist…”
Jess jolted and finished his sentence. “She’s a tease. She’s a fucking cock-tease, babe.” She lifted both hands from the table and ran them through her hair, knowing that she needed to get ready to visit Anella shortly. “And to send you that? I swear to God…she wants you.”
Having heard enough, having witnessed how tormented Jess seemed, Mark started to feel the same pangs of guilt he’d felt throughout the week. “Well let’s do what we should have done last week…let’s just cut her off cold. Cut the tie right now. I can just…I can just block her number and we can just…forget about her…”
The disappointment swelled in Mark’s chest as he proposed the idea. Never had he ever been as turned on by anyone, even Jess when they started dating. Having been given permission to respond to Lana, he was desperate to keep their texts exchanging as long as he could. But he was a grown man. One with responsibilities and a long-term relationship. He had to put that first.
She listened to Mark’s suggestion and knew that it made sense, but she’d only went a week without hearing about Lana and it was driving her crazy. Just seeing her in that video amplified her torrent of kinky fantasies that she’d been almost enslaved by. With a soft growl in her throat, Jess didn’t want to get into a debate with Mark. Cutting Lana off was the last thing she wanted.
“Babe, no…no we can’t. We agreed…” Jess let her fingers tap against Mark’s phone as she spoke. “Look, babe, I promise you, any girl that sends a video like that to a guy…acting like a fucking slut in the club…she’s trying to seduce you.” She pushed the phone back across the table to Mark. “But…it’s just a video…I think you should let her have her fun…let her get bored…and, eventually…she’ll find someone else. To cut her off would still be so mean.”
Mark was dumbstruck, he couldn’t believe that after watching that clip Jess was still so insistent. He understood that she was compassionate and didn’t want Lana to get hurt, but that clip was scorching hot. “Jess, I hear what you’re saying, I honestly do. But to encourage her to keep sending those kind of clips…It’s not easy for me to keep running to you and showing you what she’s sent.”
In her current state, the last thing Jess wanted was a discussion. All she wanted was for Mark to agree to keep the train on the tracks. And she really didn’t like the idea of having to wait another full week for another hit. Gritting her teeth, Jess went straight into appeasement mode.