Best Friend's Journey Pt. 03

"Take it as a compliment," I shrugged.

"Well, yeah... But it's derogatory."

"Did he say anything negative?"

"Just the way he was talking about her!" Carl said, sitting on his bed with a thump.

"As the robot said, they're just jealous," I sat down opposite him, on my own bed. "Jess is like... She's like a fucking model, mate. Have you seen another girl on campus who comes close to her? Of course, they're jealous. I'd do whatever I could to keep her to myself."

Carl sighed and collapsed backwards, staring up at the ceiling.

"What if I can't though?" He said eventually.

"Can't?"

"Can't keep her to myself? We already had one weird orgy thing. What other people our age have done that sort of thing? What else am I going to have to do?"

"Isn't the whole reason we did that because that's what the 'college experience', as Zach would say, is all about? So... y'know, by that logic, it's normal."

"It's not though, is it?"

Carl sat up, pulling his legs onto the bed and hugging them, "Seriously, how many people do you know personally, other than in our little group, who have done that sort of thing?"

I thought about it in silence for a good minute or so, before responding.

"I think Abby has, outside of us... Zach says he's had two girls at once, but I don't believe a word he says. Weren't there rumours about Jada and the football team?"

"Mate, what you're saying is that the only definite people that you know who have done stuff like that, is us. Rumours and so on don't count," he sighed. "I already did something like that once to keep her happy..."

"Yeah, but it wasn't exactly one sided?" I snapped at him. "You basically fucked two girls at once, and she only fucked one guy. If anything, you got the better deal?"

Carl let out an exasperated sigh and looked away, "That's not the point."

"Oh, I'm sorry that I might have to sometimes fuck another girl to keep my girlfriend happy. Woe is me."

"Yeah, but what if I don't want that?"

"If you don't want that, and that's what it takes, then you break up," I said simply. "But you fucking loved it, you twat."

The silence stretched on without Carl responding, so I went to use the bathroom and clean my teeth. When I returned, he was laying on his bed, still staring at the ceiling.

"What am I not getting?" I asked him.

"She needs more than me, like Zach said," he grimaced, but otherwise continued staring at the ceiling.

"What do you mean?" I said, sitting on the edge of his bed.

"I mean that you're exactly right, and so is Zach. She needs more than I can give her. She needs new experiences with..." He trailed off but continued before I could interrupt. "Last time, she got to fuck me and a girl, but I think she needs another man."

My stomach did a somersault, and I felt goosebumps run up my back.

"Can you not just try another thing like last time?" I asked, trying to keep my expression neutral.

"I've asked her. We've had sex while Abby's been there and I've said that we should bring her in, but that's just caused fights."

"Okay, well maybe don't do it like that. Maybe actually organise something like last time?"

"I'm sure she just thinks I want to fuck Abby or something. It's just causing fights."

"So, what makes you so sure she wants something else, if your suggestions about that sort of thing are causing problems?"

"She's as much as stated it," Carl looked over at me. "We've brought toys into the bedroom, and roleplayed... She always... It's always obviously better when we're doing things like that, pretending there's another man."

"Mate..." I looked at him, still trying to keep my emotions from my face. "Can't you just keep doing that then?"

He turned away from me again and took a deep breath, "It always ends up in frustration and then an argument if we don't do that, and now... I just don't want to always do that. I want to be good enough for her."

"It's just sex," I said, laying down beside him and looking at the ceiling. "If you're fine outside of it, maybe you just need to try something different... I mean, it worked last time?"

"You mean I should let her cheat on me?" He asked, voice rough with emotion. "That maybe once she cheats on me then we can go back to our usual happy relationship? It's just fucking someone else."

I listened to his heavy breathing before I responded, "No. Well... Something like last time again. A foursome with another couple, maybe? It's not cheating then."

"I can't keep doing this."

"What if you don't need to? What if the occasional bit of swinging helps? Nobody's cheating, and it's equal that way?"

He seemed to ignore me. I replayed the conversation in my head, cringing at the things I had said.

"I just mean, mate," I said, taking a deep breath. "If it's between losing her and trying something new that you might enjoy and not losing her, why would you just let her go?"

He didn't respond again, so I hugged him before standing up, "Is she worth it?"

"Thanks, Sam," Carl said quietly as I walked over to my bed.

***

A couple of weeks passed, and I realised that it was incredibly stupid of me to try and fit a term's worth of coursework into a fortnight that was already full of exams. For the first time since I had started university, I threw myself into my work, not even going drinking or partying.

When I handed in my final piece of work, I felt a tranquillity settle over me that I'd never before felt; the weight of my own carelessness evaporating away. Re-joining the ranks of civilisation and socialising once again, I got the feeling that many, if not all of the other students were in a similar state; relief positively emanating from them.

The icing on the cake was the message I got from Abby: "Sry bout the way I left things wit u. Evrything ducked nd I was stressed tf out. Let's all celebrate round mine on weeknd? Just us lot. I'll make it up yo u."

Maybe things weren't so bad between us after all. Although, I hadn't heard anything about Carl and Jess' relationship since giving Carl that terrible advice just weeks before. In fact, I don't think I'd even spoken to Jess since that weekend.

Friday rolled around and I got a call from Carl as I was getting ready to go to Jess and Abby's.

"Alright, mate," he began, not giving me time to reply. "Change of plans. Abby's sick - nothing to worry about, apparently, but we can't go around theirs tonight as she needs the dark and quiet. I'm still in town, so won't be back for an hour or so, but Jess is on her way over now."

"What's wrong with Abby?" I replied. "I haven't heard from her."

"Don't worry about her. Jess just told me that we're not allowed in their flat for the weekend, but Abby will call us if she needs something."

"Okay... Should I go and check on her?"

"No, mate, listen: Jess is there now, but she's coming to ours. She's staying for the weekend, if that's okay?"

"Yeah, of course," I hoped he couldn't hear my grin. "What do you want me to do?"

"She's on her way over, but I'm not back for an hour or so. Just make sure Zach doesn't fucking pounce on her or anything."

I laughed, "Yeah, of course. You still bringing back booze?"

"Yeah," I heard him take a breath. "We can still celebrate a bit at our place and catch up with Abby another time."

"Alright, see you in a bit then."

"Cheers mate, bye."

I frantically began chucking clothes into the laundry basket and throwing old cans into the bin and otherwise tidying my mancave up until there was a quiet knock at the door. The room was almost presentable by the time I answered it.

"Hey," Jess said, looking up at me.

Her platinum hair was untied in what I was sure was the first time since I'd met her, adorned with a simple black ribbon. It cascaded over her shoulders to where her golden skin showed from under the sleeves of her summer dress. The dress itself was black, where it wasn't covered with the pattern of brightly coloured flowers and hung from her shoulders to her upper thighs, just about covering her bum. The dress emphasized two things; a small yellow belt around her waist clearly showed her hourglass figure, and the neckline was a large U-shape that started up by her shoulders and ended in a large amount of visible cleavage.

"Hi, Jess," I managed to squeeze out without my eyes popping out of my head.

She smiled at me crookedly, "So... Can I come in?"

I felt my face flush as I nodded and stood aside. As she stepped past me, I breathed in something that made me think of the flowery meadows of back home. I looked up and down the hallway before closing the door, making sure the predators weren't out in force.

She was sitting on Carl's bed, a bag I hadn't noticed her carrying beside her. She smiled up at me as I walked into the room proper.

"Carl just called me," I blurted out, flustered for some reason. "Is Abby alright?"

"Yes, she'll be fine," Jess said, a look of concern on her face. "She gets these migraines sometimes. I'm not sure if it's the heat or the stress, but she'll be okay."

"Can I do anything for her?"

Jess chuckled, "Yes, you can let her rest."

I sat on the edge of my bed, and the silence stretched over us.

"So..." Jess began.

"Oh, right. Yeah..." I stood up quickly. "Can I get you anything? Carl's still in town, so he could be a while."

I opened the cooler, looking for a drink to offer Jess, after suddenly remembering societal norms.

"Last time I was here with you..." Came her voice, cutting through the clinking of bottles.

I stood up suddenly, my hand closing on whatever bottle was nearest it at the time.

"Er, yeah..." I turned, to see her smiling wickedly and I felt a tug in my boxers as blood flowed into my penis.

"Is that for me?" She asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"I wish-" I said before engaging my brain and looking at the drink in my hand. "Should we go to the shared area?"

She giggled, raising a hand to her mouth and closing her clear blue eyes, "Yeah, it's a bit stuffy in here. Look, I'm sweating already."

I looked at her chest, where she was gesturing, but all I could see was her cleavage. She giggled again and stood up.

"Lead on," she said breathily.

I led her out, through the corridor and into the common area.

"I didn't know you had this here," she said, almost seeming awed. "I legitimately thought you were living on booze from looking at your fridge, but you have a whole kitchen and stuff here."

"Has Carl never mentioned this? You've never been here?" I asked in surprise.

"I've been to your place like, a handful of times, and it's mainly been in your room."

I passed her a plastic cup from the cupboard and filled it a quarter of the way with the bottle of vodka I'd brought from my room. She eyed it, almost suspiciously, and was about to speak when a loud voice cut in.

"Hey! Hey, what's this?" Boomed from the corridor. "Sam lost for words? Never thought I'd see the day."

I turned to see Zach lounging in the entranceway from where Jess and I just came, his muscular body on show in baggy grey shorts and a simple white vest.

"I didn't know we had company tonight," he smiled, the expression giving him a shark-like quality.

"Hey Zach," Jess beamed over at him. "You have any lemonade for my drink?"

He furrowed his brow, "You mean sprite? Yeah, help yourself."

He gestured at the fridge, and I nodded an acknowledgement and greeting to him as I opened it and began topping up our drinks.

"Hey, we sharing?" He said, and I turned to see him towering over Jess, but looking at me.

"It's only fair, mate," I replied, sighing, and reaching up to get him a cup out too.

I remembered Carl's request about Zach and Jess as I watched him fill his cup. Carl wouldn't mind a quick chat like this, surely? We were only getting a drink and hanging out where it was cooler.

"Are you on your way out, or in?" I asked Zach as we walked to the 'lounge' area of the communal space.

"A bit of both," he replied. "Just been hitting the gym. Was just getting myself some refreshment before I went out to celebrate, when I saw you having your own celebration without me. What's the occasion anyway?"

Jess sat on the sofa in the middle of the room and Zach quickly sat down on the middle seat, right beside her. I sat in an armchair opposite.

Jess laughed, "What else but end of exams?"

"And you dressed like this for that?" He grinned widely.

"Like what? This is just a summer dress," she smiled at him, but her smile was tight.

"Damn, where you going? I'm thinking I'll tag along if the girls are dressed like that."

"Mate, we're just having a quick drink while we wait for Carl. What did you say you were celebrating?" I cut in.

"Me? As the girl said: 'what else'," he replied, barely looking up from Jess to me.

"You're welcome to drink with us for now, but we have plans already for later, so don't put off anything for us," Jess cheerfully replied up at him, the tightness in her smile faded.

"Oh, it's not putting anything off," he grinned back. "It's a pleasure to be here were such fine people as yourselves."

He took a big gulp of his drink before looking over at me, "When'd you say Carl was back?"

"He's on his way," I answered, leaving it vague.

"Just you three?" He asked, looking at both of us.

"We had plans for more, but they changed suddenly," Jess replied. "And anyway, any more than three in their room is a tight fit."

"Yeah, mine's big enough to fit, let's say... three, but we'd be awful intimate," he smirked.

"Yeah, you and Sam are big guys," Jess continued, her face angelic. "I don't think there would be room for Carl if you were both inside."

I cleared my throat, "Yeah, these rooms aren't exactly built for more than a single person and a guest."

"Why don't we see?" Zach said suddenly, polishing off his drink. "We've got time before your boyfriend gets back. These things aren't all built the same; you could come see if mine's bigger."

Jess laughed, but I responded before she could, feeling strangely protective of her.

"I don't think you'd be assigned a bigger room than us, when ours is for two people sharing," I said.

Zach just shrugged at me and smiled down at Jess again, "We could still see if we could fit both of us 'big guys' in one room, right Jess?"

She laughed, her face reddening somewhat. Before she could respond, her phone started buzzing and she smiled apologetically at us as she stood up.

"I should answer," she said, gesturing to it and walking back through the kitchen area.

"You're just showing off, man," Zach said after she had disappeared from sight. "You have her to yourself tonight. I'm gonna tell Carl when I see him next."

"What?" I felt my face screw up in incomprehension. "You were the one just trying to ram your dick through her with the subtlety of a fucking truck. Carl is on his way back and we've got plans."

"Nah. See, I don't believe you. Carl ain't man enough for her so she's come to you for that forbidden fruit."

"No, you will literally see him if you just wait around."

"Whatever, man. I got shit to do," Zach said, standing abruptly and turning to leave.

I stood too, confused by the sudden shift in attitude from him.

A few moments later, I heard him say something in the kitchen, followed by Jess's voice, so I moved closer, catching only the end of their exchange.

"- he can watch," the big guy said as I entered the room. "Hit me up some time."

"Thanks," Jess replied, her smile bright and innocent.

Zach half shrugged and walked down the corridor towards his room.

"Everything alright?" I asked uncertainly.

"Yeah, Carl just checking I got here fine," she said gently.

"And Zach?"

She tilted her head and shrugged her shoulders in exasperation, "I don't really know. He went from battering me around the head with his 'slick' innuendos to talking in riddles about bulls with style or something."

"Yeah, that was a bit weird," I replied. "He's not usually that... blunt when he's trying to pick up women at the gym."

"Mmm, he does message me flirtatiously quite a lot, but it's always more playful than that," her face took on a distant expression. "It was kind of hot though."

I choked on my drink, spluttering for several seconds before I could respond, "What?"

Her cheeks had taken on a pink hue that probably matched my own after that coughing fit.

"In between two big strong men like that..." She trailed off, blushing even more furiously. "Like, being so close to you both in a confined space. Knowing he could take what he wanted if he really wanted to..."

"What the fuck, Jess," I responded, although my own dick twitched at the idea.

"It's just fantasy!" She laughed, flapping her hands as if to dismiss something. "He was just playing around anyway."

"Okay, but I'm not telling Carl about this. I don't want him to worry."

She was leaning on the kitchen table, twirling some of her hair with one hand, her phone in the other hand, resting on the table in front of her. Her chest was as flushed as her face - maybe it was just as hot out here is back in our room.

"Shall we go back to the room before anyone else on the floor trips over their popped-out eyeballs after seeing you?" I asked.

"You're doing okay, after the initial stumble anyway," she laughed. "Let's stay out here for a bit longer."

We stayed in the kitchen for a while. At one point, Zach came out of his room and looked down the hallway at us, pointing to his eyes and then at us a couple of times, the universal gesture of 'I see you', before walking in the opposite direction.

We finished the bottle of lemonade and were returning to the room just as Carl walked around the corridor's corner. I nodded in greeting and held the door open for him, after Jess entered the room.

As he walked into the room, he gave me a funny look and said, "I met Zach along the road and had the weirdest conversation."

"Yeah," I grimaced. "We saw him when he was on his way out... He seemed a bit drunk."

"Mate, at least I know he's looking out for me," he smiled. "He told me you had Jess to yourself up here. Thought he should warn me."

"He say anything else to you?" I asked.

Carl's complexion seemed to pale further as he swallowed and then shook his head, "Not really. Asked if my phone records in 4k and then laughed about it for a while."

***

As usual, we began drinking in earnest in our room now that we were all together. It was a bit more subdued without Abby, but Jess made a lot of effort to keep me from feeling like a third wheel.

About an hour into the session, I got a message from Abby saying, "Sry I couldn't be there. Need to sleep. Have a great night ;) xx"

I responded, but the message wasn't received by the time I stopped checking it; the single tick not resolving into two.

"That bottle wasn't full when we started, was it?" Carl inquired, putting the empty vodka bottle onto the counter above the cooler.

"Nah, it was sloshing around when Sam got it out earlier," Jess replied.

"Yeah, don't worry," I slurred exaggeratively. "We've not got too much blood in our alcohol yet."

"Hah," Carl replied, deadpan. "I just bought a new bottle from town and it's the only vodka we have left, so..."

"S'alright," I continued slurring. "I'll leave you some."

We were sitting arrayed in a triangle on the floor between the two beds, Carl opposite me and Jess between us, to my left. The floor between us was littered with cards, shot glasses, bottles of colourful alcohol and ither detritus of the night so far. Each of us held a plastic cup full of vodka and whatever mixer we could find in the cooler.

"I think we should slow down," Jess said, her voice losing the playful edge from before.

Carl looked at her and visibly swallowed, "Yeah, okay."

"What, just drink more water!" I objected.