Langley Circle Beginning Ch. 18

"Wait," Nicky said, pulling back. "We can't do anything if you're with Greg; that's a hard no for me."

"Oh." Sally's expression turned serious.

"I agree," Bella said. "No cheating, not even if Greg is a two-timing idiot."

"Well then, I'll have to think hard about actually following through on my plan to give him the elbow." Sally studied the other two thoughtfully. "You two are serious, right? You're not winding me up?"

"Did that kiss feel serious?" Bella asked. "Tell me it didn't stiffen your nips and tingle your lips, and we'll call it quits."

Sally blushed, hiding her pretty face behind her hair, stifling a giggle. "Bel, you're so naughty." After a moment, she composed herself and peered shyly at Bella. "Yes, it did those things to me, and more besides; I'd be lying if I said it didn't leave me excited and curious."

"OK, I'll find a way to bring up the idea with Josh," Nicky said. "Even if only hypothetically for the moment, naming no names; the rest is up to you. I'm not trying to split you and Greg up, but like Bel said earlier, if you do, we'll be here for you no matter what."

Sally toyed with her hair, chewing her lip. "I have a lot to think about." She stood up. "I've also got to drop in at the office before registration, so I'll see you both later."

"Wait, what was the second thing?" Bella peered up at her, shielding her eyes from the morning sun.

Sally blushed and leaned back down to them. "Does Josh have a big dick?"

Nicky grinned. "Well it's not small, I'm not sure I'd say big, but he does have a few hidden surprises."

Sally grinned and without another word, turned to leave.

Bella swatted her on the backside as she went. "Keep it tight for me babe!"

Sally squealed and barked an excited laugh, as she hurried away.

"What have we just done?" Nicky asked.

"I'm not sure. Do you think Josh will go for it?"

Nicky shrugged, "I expect he will be adorably insecure about it at first, but I reckon we can probably persuade him. What about you, are you really into Sal?"

"Uh huh." Bella nodded. "Secretly I have wanted to tap that for a while now." She stood and pulled Nicky to her feet. "Come on, we better make our way in."

Nicky fell into step beside her friend, shaking her head. "Jesus, this is getting complicated."

=== === ===

"Hi honey," Beth said as Dean entered the kitchen. "How was your day?"

Dean kissed her on the cheek before slumping into a chair. "Crap. I'm bloody knackered."

Beth stopped chopping carrots and poured two glasses of red wine. She passed one to him and trailed a hand onto his shoulder. "You're tighter than a drum. Tough day?" she asked.

He smiled weakly and took a long draw from the glass, sighing in relief before nodding at her. "Just tired I think."

Beth giggled. "I guess that's partly my fault huh?"

"Yes it is."

"Complaining?" She arched an eyebrow and turned back to preparing dinner.

"Now, I didn't say that," he said and Beth was relieved to hear a small chuckle.

"Good," she said, dumping the carrots in the casserole dish and sliding it into the oven; she moved to sit at the table. "Because, I don't apologise one little bit for keeping you up last night, and I don't think Megan does either."

He grinned at her. "How was your day?"

"Well," she said hardly able to contain her excitement. "Firstly, I want to thank you again for trusting Megan and me to play together responsibly; I promise I will tell you everything we did."

Dean smiled, but she thought she detected a hint of nervousness creeping into his expression. "Last night helped a lot," he said.

Beth leant over, placing her head on his shoulder. "Baby, you're amazing. I'm so happy; this is all like a dream for me."

He curled an arm around her. "Good, your happiness is very important to me. I look forward to hearing all the details later; did you actually make it out of the bedroom?"

"Yes of course, we managed to get into the shower, the study, the front room and we had a very pleasant lunch here in the kitchen." She looked at him pointedly. "On the table."

Dean's brow furrowed, before his eyebrows shot up and a grin split his face in two. "Oh my, you two are sex mad," He said with a low whistle.

"I must confess that I do seem to be constantly horny lately. This whole thing with Megan has got me all in a tizzy, and I find myself fantasising about the both of you for much of the day."

Dean narrowed his eyes at her.

Beth chuckled. "Don't worry darling; fact is, your place in my bed is even more secure than ever before. Megan makes me hornier than I don't know what, but she also makes me crave you with a level of intensity approaching obsession."

Dean grinned smugly. "Well, I have that effect on women-- Wait, what do you mean more secure?"

Beth laughed, and soon Dean's serious expression melted into one of relaxed contentment. "I do have to admit to being somewhat exhausted though too," she said.

"Ha! So I'm not the only one. I imagine Megan was on her last legs as well by the end of the day."

"On the contrary; she was fizzing with energy. I practically had to kick her out, and she only agreed to leave once I had promised to talk to you about having another 'sleep over' soon, preferably this weekend."

"Jesus, that woman has the stamina of a plough horse. This weekend huh? At least that gives us a couple of days two recuperate."

Beth giggled and took a sip of her wine, as Nicky appeared in the doorway, pausing briefly with an odd expression on her face.

"Hi honey, how was your day?" Dean asked.

"Fine." the response was curt and dismissive.

Beth frowned, eyeing Nicky with suspicion. "Bad day at school?"

"Nah, it was good," Nicky said and smiled warmly at Beth. "I got an A for my last maths test."

"That's excellent honey," Dean said, and Beth was puzzled to see Nicky's face dissolve into a scowl.

Nicky didn't even acknowledge Dean's response at all, but turned back to Beth. "How was your evening last night? Did you have a good time with your 'friend'?"

Beth frowned. That was odd, Nicky had placed a heavy emphasis on the word friend, and flashed an icy look at Dean as she said it. "Yes we had a great time thanks."

"We certainly did," Dean said. "We're having wine, fancy a glass?"

Nicky held up a can of soft drink and glared at Dean, before turning back to Beth, her face crumpling into an expression of sympathy. "What's for dinner mum?"

Beth blinked in surprise. "Er, lamb casserole." Nicky's behaviour was extremely strange, switching back and forth between nice and nasty on the flip of a coin.

"Great, call me when it's ready," Nicky said, and swept out of the kitchen.

"Well I never," Beth said, turning to look at Dean in confusion.

"Was it me, or did Nicky seem a bit off?" he asked.

"Yeah, very strange. The weird thing is that she seemed to be nice to me, but icy with you. Did something happen between the two of you?"

"Buggered if I can think of anything. I don't think I have even spoken to her since yesterday morning."

Beth made to stand. "I think I'll go and see what's up."

"No," Dean said placing a hand on her arm. "Let's see how she is over dinner; maybe it's nothing."

Beth studied him for a moment then shrugged. "Yeah you could be right." She rose from the table, kissed him on the cheek and turned to check on the dinner, squealing in surprise as a hand squeezed her firmly on the bottom.

=== === ===

Josh frowned at the open textbook in front of him. Quadratic equations were not his most fun thing to do in his spare time, but it was homework and due tomorrow. It wasn't that he found them particularly difficult, far from it; maths had never really been challenging for him, just tedious.

"Hey Josh." Trudy appeared in the open doorway of his bedroom, hesitating on the threshold for a moment before stepping in.

"Hi." He still wasn't comfortable calling her Trudi, and so where at all possible, had elected to omit any form of moniker at all.

"How's it going?" She asked.

Josh faltered as the smell of Jasmin reached his nostrils; it was the scent she always wore, and he found it comforting and sensual. He looked up at her. "It's going ok, just maths, shouldn't take much longer now."

Trudy smiled, moving closer, her bare feet shooshing softly across the carpet; she absently scanned over some of the pictures on the wall. "You were always so good at maths. Your father thought you were coasting though; he always said it would catch up with you sometime, but it doesn't appear to have so far."

Josh stayed silent, watching as she let her hand glide absently over the books on his shelf, her arm floating with grace, the loose sleeve of her top wafting gently as she moved. Trudy tended to favour loose flowing clothes when relaxing at home; it always put Josh in mind of a character from Arabian Nights. Light silks or satins with wide rounded necklines, flowing sleeves and legs that ended mid-calf; they could be mistaken for pyjamas, but would probably be considered acceptable daywear in certain countries. Josh assumed it was very comfortable for her, but he found it could be distracting; her generous chest was unrestrained and very mobile at times.

He did his best not to stare, as she studied something on top of the shelf; his heart suddenly lurched as he realised what it was.

"Wow, this is pretty. Your latest drawing?"

Josh jumped up and snatched the art pad from her hands, instantly feeling embarrassed and rude. "Sorry, I haven't really finished it yet. It's not that good to be honest."

Trudy stared at him for a moment, before averting her eyes. "Is it me?" Her voice was soft and uncertain.

"No no," he said and instantly regretted the half-lie. "Not exactly anyway." The sketch was not technically her, it was the ranger Faylan, bathing at Greywind falls; or at least that's what it would eventually be. He had found his pencil forming the features that were familiar to him, and it had soon taken on more similarities to Trudy than he had initially realised. It appeared that quite a number of his pictures contained women with more than a passing resemblance to her, a fact that Bella had recently made him aware of. "I have to admit that I did draw inspiration from you. Sorry, I'll erase it of course. I've been struggling with it anyway."

Trudy looked appalled. "Don't do that Josh. It's fine; really, please don't erase it. Your drawings are always so beautiful; I'm flattered to think that one of them would in any way be based on me."

He studied her face, unsure if she was telling the truth or just being nice; however, her nervous smile did look genuine. He nodded, fingering the edges of the art pad in embarrassment.

"What problems were you having with it?" Trudy asked, hesitating briefly before holding out a hand. "Do you mind?"

Josh reluctantly passed her the pad. His face heated with shame and embarrassment as she flipped it open and gazed at the incomplete drawing.

"I can't get her form right," he said. "The way she is sitting, folded over at the water's edge. I keep mucking up the body contours. I was considering changing the pose to see if that worked."

Trudy remained silent as she continued to cast her eyes over the sketch. Eventually she looked up at him and smiled. "I'm sure whatever you decide, it will turn out great." She handed back the pad. "Right, I'm off for a shower; good luck with the maths."

"Thanks," Josh said, as she swept out of the room in a Jasmin enriched cloud of flowing silk. Why was she just so damn beautiful; it was infuriating.

The last few days had in many ways, been some of the most relaxing times they had spent in each other's company, no doubt a direct result of their recent frank discussion about being open and honest. At times however, he had been utterly distracted by her. It wasn't as if she was actually flaunting her body around him, far from it. Yet He had witnessed more flashes of shoulders, knees and even midriff, not to mention a considerable amount of cleavage over the last couple of days than he ever had before.

It was extremely pleasant, but Josh was also aware that he probably shouldn't be feeling this way about Trudy. It was ridiculous how many times recently he had started a thought about her being his mum, only then to counter that she was actually only his step-mum. He kept telling himself that he just probably shouldn't. Not least of all because of Nicky, and there was Bella too. His energetic and frequent exploits with those two surely negated any argument for fancying his step-mum based on him being sexually frustrated. Nicky and Bella practically admitting they fancied Trudy too didn't help the situation. It was fine for them though; they didn't have to be around her as much as he did.

He had spent a good chunk of time concealing his accidental erections from Trudy lately. Despite their agreement not to hide their bodies, whatever state they were in, it being simply natural, it didn't mean he needed Trudy to see the boners he got when she did practically anything around the house. The fact that she was sticking to the principle of the deal wasn't making it any easier either; On more than one occasion Josh had been faced with the sight of her hard nipples poking through the material of her top, while she carried on as if everything was completely normal.

A sound in the hall caught his attention, and he glanced up just as Trudy passed by on her way to the bathroom, wearing nothing but a towel. Even the most generous bath towels would have a hard job of covering her curves, and these ones were just standard size. Josh felt a twitch between his legs at the amount of flesh briefly on display, and he immediately felt guilty. He spun his chair back round and tried to focus on the maths. That was the best thing; if he could bore himself enough, then surely he would forget about the luscious woman that would soon be naked and wet only a few metres away from him.

His phone buzzed; it was a message in the new group chat with Nicky and Bella, set up to ensure good communication and avoid cock-ups like the one earlier this week; he shuddered at the memory. However, So far the messages had mainly been Nicky and Bella gossiping about their friends. Josh didn't mind though; he rarely had to participate in those conversations other than to add a shocked or laughing emoji.

Bella: Your secret admirer was being weird again today Josh.

Josh groaned. He knew all too well to whom Bella was referring. What had Antoinette been saying now?

Josh: Oh?

Bella: Yep, gave Nicky an apple and felt her up.

Nicky: She did not feel me up, she touched my leg.

Josh: WTF?

Nicky: Nothing I can't handle babe. It is actually quite cute, I feel sorry for her.

Josh: For being obsessed with me?

Bella: ROFL

Nicky: Hush you. Don't make me come over there.

Bella: Ooh yes please, come over here, preferably on my face!

Josh: lol

Nicky: *blushing*

Nicky: anyway, how's you babe?

Josh: OK, just finishing off maths.

Bella: How is sexy Trudy?

Nicky: Do you think of anything other than sex?

Bella: Occasionally, and I dare you to say you don't like it!

Nicky: Fair point.

Josh: Trudy is fine.

Nicky: fine?

Josh: yeah, distracting though.

Nicky: I can understand that.

Josh: I wish she would cover up.

Bella: No you don't.

Nicky: Bella!

Nicky: Look Josh, I know the deal, Trudy knows I know the deal. If she wants to show, you can look. No spying or perving on her though, and no touching.

Bella: Yeah not without us anyway.

Nicky: I trust you Josh, and besides, Trudy knows the boundaries.

Bella: She better do.

Josh: Love you.

Bella: which one of us?

Josh: well, in different ways, both of you.

Bella: Good answer!

Nicky: love you too babe, can't wait till the weekend.

Bella: If I don't wear you out first.

Josh: Hey, save some for me.

Nicky: kiss kiss!

Bella: Kiss, slurp, suck, swallow!

Josh grinned. He really was one lucky son of a bitch.

He looked over at the maths and sighed; He was done for the night, he'd finish it off tomorrow. Tossing the book onto his desk, he pulled his sketchpad towards him; flipping it open, he studied the half-drawn picture. His cheeks pinked; of course it was her, how could it be anyone else. Even in its unfinished state, it was clear that the curvy woman was meant to be her. The facial features and brown hair alone were evidence enough. He knew it was her, she knew it was her.

"Making any progress?"

Her voice startled him, and he fumbled the pad, dropping it to the floor. He bent to pick it up and noticed bare feet standing in his doorway. As his gaze travelled upwards, the heat in his cheeks intensified. There was nothing covering those legs, right up until just above the knee, and then it was only a thin silk gown.

"Umm what, er no, I was er, just trying to work out how to handle..." He faltered as he finally sat back up and took in the full view of Trudy standing in his doorway; she wore only the gown, and wasn't paying him much attention as she vigorously towelled her damp hair, her chest wobbling hypnotically. "Your breasts. Er I mean her breasts, er chest."

Trudy chuckled; she stopped drying her hair and studied him for a long moment. "Can I help at all?"

Josh frowned. "I'm not sure. It's the torso that I am struggling with, because of the way she is seated I can't quite work out how it changes things. Do you have any suggestions?"

Trudy smiled warmly. "Oh, I don't have the first clue about drawing. That wasn't what I meant. I was more thinking if you needed someone to sit in the same position. Would that help?"

Why hadn't he thought of that. "Actually yeah, that would be really helpful. Maybe tomorrow you can sit for me, just while I get the rough outline down."

"Well, what about now? Let me see." She gestured towards the pad, and he handed it over. "OK, how about I sit on the edge of the bed here, and then it looks like I just keep legs together, bend forward, hair comes over the right shoulder; OK got it. I can do that." She paused and looked uncertainly at him. "That is, if you think it will help?"

"Yeah totally," Josh said, searching the desk for his pencils.

"Great." Trudy began untying the silk belt of her gown.

Josh's stomach lurched into his mouth. "Wait, what--"

"I assume you want me naked, like in the picture; it's her body curves you are struggling with yeah?"

"Well yeah, but you can't. I mean I'm sure I can do it with you clothed; there's no--"

"Nonsense," Trudy said, waving a hand dismissively. "It's no biggie; I did some life modelling when I was a student, doesn't bother me." She reached for her belt again but hesitated. "Unless it bothers you? Sorry, I didn't think; I don't want to embarrass you."

Josh couldn't quite believe what he was hearing. Trudy, in his room, naked, for him, while he stared at her. He laid the pad on is lap to conceal the bulge that was already growing. He desperately wanted to see her naked, but this was very dangerous territory. Nicky had said he could look, if Trudy was doing the showing, but had she envisaged Full nudity.

I'm sure we can be sensible about this, yes? You just focus on your drawing and we'll be fine. Josh still couldn't make his mouth work enough to voice an answer one way or the other. "Oh come on Josh, don't be silly. Look, the pose isn't that revealing anyway; all the exciting bits are likely to be squashed, covered or just entirely hidden."

She did have a point. He idly wondered if he had started a sketch of his ranger lying on the grass, legs spread wide with everything on display, whether she'd still be offering to model for him. The heat rose to his cheeks as he nodded and mumbled his ascent.

"OK," Trudy said and turned to face the bed, undoing the belt and shrugging off the gown in one smooth motion.