It Takes Two

Author's Note: This story is slow moving and deals with cheating & cuckquean themes!

***

Various cups, cans and bottles remained littered around the living room. It was the sign of a good night, but more realistically, it was a sign that someone was going to have a tedious morning cleaning the apartment. That someone would in fact be me, Ken, the sole occupant of the apartment located in a fairly quiet, secluded part of town. I was a year older today, ostensibly, and as you get older you take on new responsibilities which apparently entailed cleaning up after your own party.

It had been a fun night filled with drinking and party games, the usual fare for these sort of events. The only knock against it was the sour attitude my girlfriend Willow had all night long. Willow was for the most part a quiet girl, usually with her nose in a book or vegetating on the couch watching some old 90s TV show. I never had issues with her. No, it wasn't that at all. She seemed to have issues with literally everyone else in the world though.

Willow was often mistaken for a very sweet, charming girl and she certainly looked the part; standing at about 5'6 with very thick, long brown hair which framed an innocent face. She usually didn't wear much of an expression, but she was usually very vocal to me about how she felt. I had a theory, that if she wasn't slender and have a nice ass and perky B cup tits that less people would think of her as charming. It was just a theory since I didn't want to accept that this was in all likelihood the obvious truth.

Various people were still at my place, helping me clean up before taking their leave for the night. Willow was not one of them. No, she had some bookstore conference to attend this weekend, flying out tomorrow morning upstate to spend the weekend among other book nerds. She lived on the other side of town and this precluded her from aiding me in throwing out the trash- claiming she couldn't both help and make her morning flight as a result. Of course, I lamented to myself, if it wasn't the conference it would be something else; she had a headache, she had injured her ankle, or some other excuse.

As I paused to open up the large black trash bag I was stuffing all the refuse into, letting one of my friends discard some cups before he too departed, I noticed one last guest still lingering around my place. It was Mallory, the main source of Willow's resentment tonight.

You see, Willow and Mallory are what you could consider "frenemies". Despite hating each other, they still pretended to be friends. Nearly everyone knew there was a source of friction between them, and openly acknowledged as much. Everyone of course, except Willow and Mallory themselves. I wasn't exactly sure what the source of the tension was exactly, all I knew was that Willow would have gotten mad I didn't invite Mallory since it'd make HER look bad, but that she also would if I did because I had. As a result, I had to send a very awkward invitation via text message to Mallory, attempting to sound as enthused as I could. There was no way to win here. For my part, I didn't interact much with Mallory, but she seemed fine. She seemed to find me funny based on her quiet laughs at every one of my remarks tonight, but Willow had told me this was merely to spite her.

Mallory was cute- objectively speaking of course. Standing at about 5'3, she was shorter than Willow. They were night and day, almost literally in that Mallory sported shorter platinum blonde hair in contrast to Willow's longer mane. She kept it simple as well, keeping it simply down with a large side swept bang in the front; her asymmetrical hair didn't even touch her shoulders, but it had a lot of volume to it, bustling out a bit. Despite standing a few inches shorter, Mallory had larger breasts- easily C cups. When you're that short, it's bound to stick out but for the most part, I hadn't seen her wear anything that revealed a hint of cleavage before. Not that I was paying that much attention of course. Or that I had browsed her pictures on social media. I was a guy, it was all natural, I told myself.

Mallory also had striking features- a well defined but soft jawline, high cheekbones, everything. If she had been inches taller she'd be a natural model. At the very least she could have steady employment as an Eva Green impersonator if she dyed her hair, in my eyes anyway. The girl also had very expressive eyes, which were currently focused on me. I felt a bit on the spot, especially no one else in sight. Mallory was a bit of a Stepford-smiler, often looking well-dressed, presentable and saying very little. Everything about her seemed calculating, and prepared. I hadn't approached her for any extended period of time though,to be fair.

"Uh, hey Mal." I offered with a lazy smile.

"Hmm. Mal." she said repeating back the on the spot nickname I coined. "I like that."

Very little in her voice sounded genuine about that statement. The ominous rainwater outside did very little to ease the tension in the room. Maybe she was going to kill me.

"I'm turning in once I'm done cleaning up," I began. "So, uh."

"Quiet birthday party." she stated, grabbing a cup off the bookshelf next to her and placing it in my bag seemingly ignoring my statement. "Unless you've got Willow bound and gagged back there." she said turning her head towards my bedroom.

"I mean, gagged maybe..." I said half jokingly. Immediately I regretted this, not because it wasn't true, but because giving Mallory any ammunition would result in my life being hell for the foreseeable future. I then pursed my lips tight and said no more.

Mallory of course laughed, by which I mean she emitted one of those sexy girl haughty chortles devoid of any real joy. She turned back towards me and for a split second, I saw a glint of...something in her eye. It was as though her face eased up and relaxed for a passing moment before she adopted her Stepford smile once more. Willow had described Mallory as a bit of a seductress at best and a hussy at worst, meaning I would be wise to keep my distance in case whatever was currently happening ever happened.

"Hey," she said in a softer voice before miming her hand zipping her mouth shut. "I won't tell her you said what we all thought tonight."

I felt slightly at ease, but part of me knew she was trying to get me to spill some more beans.

"She had a long day," I offered. I couldn't take back my earlier comment but I could try and lessen the impact. "She was on edge for that um, conference thing she has this weekend." I looked over at her ruefully, offering a tired smile. Mallory wore a short sleeve black and white dress with a white Peter Pan collar, which itself was a fairly innocent, conservative number but on her body it looked anything but that. I have to admit though, I absolutely loved it- I have a bit of a penchant for old fashion I guess.

"Aw, hope me showing up didn't ruin your birthday." she said with an exaggerated pout. Mallory was certainly trying, but she came off all too strong here. I wonder if she realized this wasn't as sultry or playful as she probably thought it was.

"Nah, it's fine. I didn't mind you being here Mal," I said. "I don't really see all the hullabaloo with you and her or whatever. I mean you seem you know, alright."

"Alright?" she asked a bit quizzically, smirking a bit.

"I mean, you don't seem bad I guess. You seem pretty sweet to me anyway."

"Oh, I can be plenty bad too." she said walking up to me. Her sudden approach made me drop the trash bag and take a step back.

"Uh, not badly dressed though!" I stupidly offered. "That's a gorgeous dress. I love Peter Pan collars."

My words seemed to strike a chord with her, and she stopped in her tracks and looked down at her outfit. She took a long glance over it and looked back up at me, wearing a goofy but demure smile. There was a genuine appreciation in it, for once.

"Thanks!" she said in a squeaky voice. "But trust me it looks better off of me on the ground." she said in an overly sultry voice. Mal took a few steps closer to me and wrapped her arms around me in a tight hug, pulling me in and refusing to let go. In theory, I rejected this hug, but it was just that, a hug. It didn't help that Mal gave me a very tight, affectionate hug where I could feel every inch of her body pressing up against mine, but it was still just a hug.

Not for long though, as Mallory looked up at me with the most over the top "fuck me" eyes I've seen. It wouldn't have been hard to throw her off of me, I stood about 5'9 and while a bit on the trim side, she was pretty small. She might have been drunk though, I thought, and throwing a drunk girl against the wall or my couch was probably not the best of ideas.

"Mallory, stop!" I told her. Evidently the pen is not mightier than the sword as my words had no effect on her.

"Just one kiss," she said quietly and closing in. She got her wish, reaching up around my neck and pulling me down so it was easier for her to kiss me. I tried to pull away, but she resisted. She was a good kisser, that was my initial, shameful thought. Her lips were all enveloping, overwhelming me but still maintaining a soft, delicate touch. It felt so fucking amazing, almost otherworldly to feel her face pressed up against mine and I didn't even realize her mouth opened, allowing my tongue to slide into hers.

Mallory immediately accepted my tongue, making a small moaning noise that began as a low hum but quickly grew into a loud moan once our tongues intertwined. I could feel one of her hands grab the back of my shirt, clutching the fabric tight at the expense of scratching my back a bit. Curiously, I didn't feel the other hand. Maybe she had a knife in it and this was the end.

I was kissing Mallory! Fuck! Coming back to my senses, I pulled away from her.

"Oh fuck!" I uttered. Mallory looked dazed for a second before clearing her throat and taking a step back from me.

"Aw, but we were having so much fun!" she said before giggling to herself. My face grew pale by the second, and I wasn't sure if it was colder outside in the rain or in my veins. "Don't worry," she said pouting again. "I won't TELL Willow."

I wondered why she placed so much emphasis on the tell part. Probably not good. She then turned away from me and towards the door, shaking her pert ass at me a bit and walking towards the door.

"WAIT!" I called out, getting her to turn around again. Stupidly, my first thought wasn't to try and get her silence or apologize, but out of concern. "It's raining pretty bad out," I said walking over to my closet and grabbing one of my jackets. "Here you'll get wet."

Why the fuck did I say that? Better yet? Why the FUCK did I offer her a jacket? She was obviously going to blackmail me! Mallory for her part looked confused, but walked over and looked over the cozy, quilted jacket. I held it out, allowing her to slide her arms in the sleeves, like a true gentleman now of all times.

"Oh this is cozy!" she said with some glee, hugging herself. The material was the soft shell type, that made the swoosh sound when it rubbed together, a fact Mallory noticed right away. "It's all swishy!" she said excitedly, rubbing the arms of the jacket against the body. This was the single most surreal moment of the night, as she smiled at me with a goofy grin before clearing her throat again. "But um, thanks."

Mallory walked towards the door, with me in tow.

"I'm sure we'll look back at this and laugh. I mean, I know I will. Happy Birthday, Kenny! Bye!" she said laughing and walking out the door.

I clenched the door frame and grimaced. I was an absolute idiot.

***

The dress had cost me nearly $70, a markup if I've ever seen one in my life. Vintage Clothing Central? I thought to myself. More like comedy central, those prices were absolute jokes. Still, it was dry clean only, and Ken was more than willing to let me wear his jacket in the rain.

What an odd thing to do, I thought to myself as I reached the bottom of the stairs. I pulled out my phone and looked at the various pictures I had taken of him kissing me. The first looked too accidental, as if I had pulled him onto me and he wasn't expecting it. I mean, that is literally how it had gone down, but they looked too fake. It wasn't until I scrolled to the next few that they looked genuine. I stopped, looking at one of my head tilted back, hand clutching his back. If I wasn't trying to get back at his slut of a girlfriend, I probably would have found it romantic. I mean, it was a cute picture on its own anyway.

I couldn't send them now, obviously. Willow was probably asleep or was on her plane- wouldn't see it until tomorrow morning. Best bet would be to send it tomorrow afternoon when she was tired and would have to stew on it all night.

Rain continued to fall down, hard. I reached for the hood and pulled it over my head, peering out from the entryway of the apartment complex. The sky was cloudy, an ugly mess, and it didn't look like rain would let up. The cold air made my legs shiver, but lucky for me, the jacket Ken let me borrow was a damn god send.

Ugh, Ken.

I turned my head back inside, looking at the staircase leading up. I didn't give a single shit about hurting Willow, but seeing him offer me the jacket- including slipping it on of all things- was so genuine! Truth be told, I didn't know much about him; he was fucking Willow and had jackets to spare. I had wondered what Willow saw in him on more than one occasion. Willow never seemed the type to date or to enjoy male company, especially back in college when all she did was drink too much wine and get sloppy or hole herself up in her dorm room and read. Even when I visited her school, she hardly wanted to go out, just get sloppy drunk and talk shit about girls in her dorm building. Just thinking about how catty she was made my blood boil, enough to push the doubt from my mind. It wasn't even my plan anyway. 'Sorry Ken', I whispered to myself as I walked into the night.

My car was parked at the far edge of the parking lot, away from everyone else and a consequence of arriving late. With each further step I cursed myself for not even bothering to look for more parking closer and appreciated the jacket more and more. Ugh, again, thinking about Ken. He was a scrub, a nobody- knock it off Mal.

That was cute though, how he had called me Mal. Poor guy shouldn't have gotten involved with Willow and maybe he wouldn't be soon! He should thank me. No that was awful. Stop thinking, I thought to myself.

I hopped into my car, tossing my purse aside in the passenger seat after fishing the keys out. Much to my dismay though, my car wouldn't start. Stupid thing. I tried again, but the engine not only wouldn't turn over, it didn't even sound like it had any life to it. Fuck. Okay, probably not the most ideal situation. Maybe wait a few seconds and try again, I thought.

I waited approximately all of about 10 entire seconds before trying again. This time, the engine sounded even more tired, letting out a slow, dying whir before stopping altogether. I unbuckled my seat belt and stepped outside, closing the door behind me and walking to the front of my car. It took me less than 5 seconds to remember that the hood opened only from the inside, and it took me even less time to realize I had locked my keys inside the car along with my phone and purse.

Well, shit.

Naturally, I tried to open the door a handful of times, finding no success each time until finally I slammed both fists on the window. Again, this yielded no results. What was there to do? I couldn't get back in. No phone. And a cursory glance around the parking lot was enough to let me know the party goers were all gone by now. The rain didn't let up one bit, and if anything, I could hear the clap of thunder off in the distance. I was going to freeze my legs off at this rate, so I swallowed my pride and turned back towards Ken's place.

Each step made me feel childish, and reminded me of how awful this entire plan was. I hadn't even told my roommate I was planning on heading out tonight, she wouldn't even know where to find me. It was her stupid idea why didn't she come with me? God this was so fucking stupid, I thought to myself as I splashed my feet into the wet blacktop. What would I say to Ken? Sorry I kissed you even though you're dating my sorta friend, can you call me a cab? I suppose I could have hitchhiked. I had lived a decent enough life and wouldn't mind being dumped in a ditch, sans organs naturally. Each step up the stairs felt like I was lugging a backpack full of lead, and my sopping wet feet dragged on the carpet. I arrived at Ken's door and sighed heavily. What was I to say? The truth would be okay, that my car died. Nothing wrong with that at all. Just had to sound confident and sexy like I had before. My hand knocked on the door as I cleared my throat and stood up straight.

"Oh. Hey." he said apprehensively. Ken clutched the door frame with one hand, the door in the other.

"My car died." I said in a warbling tone that must have sounded like I died a little inside. It was less sexy and more helpless than anything. I must have looked a sight, drenched and bundled up in his jacket while shivering. Ken looked up up and down and gave me a once over. It felt less like he was checking me out and more like he was reading my intentions. I fully anticipated him to slam the door in my face at this point, but it never came, just more silence. Finally, he sighed and motioned for me to come up.

"Come on, let's get you in." he told me as if he was taking in a stray cat. It was a bit of added humiliation, but I'd rather be humiliated and warm inside than back out in the rain. I hardly took more than two steps inside when he twirled his finger around, motioning for me to face away. I did so and felt his hands reach for the shoulders of the jacket, pulling it off of me and allowing me to step out of it.

"Such a gentleman." I cooed, hoping to ease the tension. He took the coat and slung it over a chair near the window. He didn't respond, instead walking right by me down the hall. I wasn't sure what to do, so I took a step in his direction.

"Stay." he said gently but firmly. My wet shoe squished against the hardwood and I froze in place. I didn't want to track water around his apartment, but also didn't want to let the silence continue.

"Yeah so uh, I tried turning on my car but like, the engine wouldn't you know..." I said as he disappeared into a room. I wasn't sure if he was even paying attention. How rude. "Like, turning over or trying or..." I said again to no one. I stood in place, looking down the hall while cold water ran down my legs. Finally, he popped back out with a towel, ostensibly returning from the bathroom.

"Yeah so like I was saying," I started up again, putting in some energy to try and sound pleasant. "The car-"

"Right the engine wouldn't turn over yeah." he said. He had been paying attention after all. "Why not call a tow truck, or a cab or something?"

"Yeah well, see that's the thing," I began as he handed me the towel.

"Take off your shoes." he interrupted.

"Huh?"

"I said take off your shoes and come in." he added, walking into the living room. He was right, my feet were freezing and standing around wasn't making things better. I plopped down on a nearby stool and unsure where to put them, set them carefully down by the door.

"But yeah, I left my phone and purse in the car." I looked up and saw him sit down on the couch. He had changed out of the pair of pants he had on earlier and instead wore a pair of sweatpants. "And...my keys." I offered weakly.

Ken ran his hand through his hair, looking off into the distance. His lips pursed and face tightened, deep in thought.

"It's 2AM," he started, his look still focused on one corner of the room. "Can't call a locksmith. Can't call a tow truck either." He clearly sounded as though those 'can'ts' were more 'didn't want to's'.