Rumors Ch. 05

I answered, "I didn't even think of it. Most of my past lovers haven't wanted me to touch them there. Is that something that turns you on?"

Mom said, "Actually, no. It just seems to be something guys do as a prelude to asking for anal sex. I've agreed to that a few times, but never enjoyed it much, even when it didn't hurt."

I said, "I've been told 'no way' by three different girls, who say they've tried it and don't like it. You're number four."

Marissa chimed in with, "Five," while lying along my right side. "Toby Windham and never again."

Climbing along my torso to lay on my chest, Annie said, "Count me as six, even though I've never tried it. I just don't want to." Her legs wound up on either side of my cock, which was finally rising. I could barely see its head, poking up past her butt.

I continued, "It seems to me that if it's good for the guy but hurts the girl, why do it? Just to get her to give in? I don't need to be that dominant or selfish. Sure, if a woman enjoys it, she should be able to pursue it. But, if she doesn't, why coerce her? I'd rather commit to never doing it, than try to convince any of you to let me try for selfish reasons."

"That's part of why we love you, Ty," Marissa said. "We know you won't try to hurt us. You're a protector and you know it."

Mom said, "I don't know about anyone else, but I need sleep. All in favor of turning out the lights and pulling the covers up?" Four ayes had it and soon eight eyes were shut.

~~~~~

Sunday was more sex, interspersed with the occasional meal. We used the hot tub in the afternoon and again at night, finding the chlorine smell was fading. We still showered afterwards, though. Temperatures were still in the 50s, so I kept tending the fireplace to keep the inside temperature comfortable for nudity and sex.

Monday morning, I swung by the rental management company to meet with Jack Randall in his office. After putting down the deposit for our Christmas rental and talking about some of the repairs that I thought the property needed, he asked me, "So, you've got one year left of school, right? What are your plans after graduation?"

I answered, "Nothing solid at the moment. I actually got a suggestion recently from my girlfriend's dad that I use the trust to buy into or launch a business, that I could then manage. I expected it to be several more years before I could access the capital in the trust, but the trust experts at the bank say it's acceptable, so long as the business is sufficiently profitable to the trust and only paying me a reasonable salary that isn't draining the capital. Otherwise, it has to be counted as a distribution from the trust."

Jack said, "That might be good for both of us. I'm looking to retire in a few years and I'd like to leave the business in good hands, while retaining some ownership in it. If I find another owner, either they would have to buy the 20% share from your trust, or I would have to lower my share to 30% so that the new owner has a controlling share over 50%. But if your trust increases its share to 50 instead, you could name yourself as manager."

I asked, "And if I'm not sure I want to work in this industry?"

Jack said, "You could come on-board as a manager next year, to see if it's something you're interested in and buy in after you're convinced. If not, I ask that your trust sells me back the 20% once I find another interested party. How does a $120,000 starting salary and a title of Chief Operating Officer sound? Of course, if you take control the company, you can set your own salary and be CEO and you'll be asking me to stay on to teach you the ropes. Not as good tax-wise as paying out the same amount in dividends, but that's the tax code for you."

I said, "That's an intriguing idea, Jack. I'll have to think about it. One problem I can see is having a place to live. I can't live in the trust's house, for several more years."

He said, "It's not the only house around the lake, Tyler. Buy or rent something smaller. Now that you got me thinking about it, there's actually a property we manage that's on the market right now. It's away from the lake but has four detached one-bedroom townhouses on it and it's popular with skiers since it's closer to the slopes. Usually manages 80% occupancy over the course of the year, with a peak rent of $400 per night, per unit, so there are periods when it actually earns more than your trust's house. But it's only priced to sell at $500,000. I'm the real estate agent for it, too. That's my other business. You might think about getting licensed, yourself. Anyway, if your trust were to buy that property and continue renting out three of the units to vacationers, would the trust allow you to live in the fourth at apartment-level rates, instead of the vacation rate? Once you do gain full control of the big house, you could return that unit to the rental market."

"Are the units occupied this week, or could we get a tour?" I asked. "I'm actually thinking this might be better as an investment opportunity for my sister and me, outside of the trust, that would give us a better return than the investments our money is in now. That way, I wouldn't be under the trust's requirements to maximize revenue and could live there rent-free or we'd be able to better control what weeks we can come here on vacation if I don't move here. I'll have to see what she thinks, but I'm intrigued."

He checked on his computer. "One unit is being vacated this morning and will stay vacant until Thursday. Another is being vacated on Wednesday until Friday. The other two are occupied this week and next. Just so you know, the current owner froze further rentals once it went on the market, so there are no bookings past May of next year. Do you want to look at the first one this afternoon, or wait until Wednesday to look at both? They're basically identical inside."

"Let's schedule a tour of the first unit for today, say 3 o'clock? If I like what I see, maybe tour the second one on Wednesday or Thursday. Or I might make a decision without it."

Jack said, "Sure. Let me give you the address, and I'll meet you there at 3."

~~~~~

I went back to the house and updated Mom, Annie and Marissa, over lunch. Moving to the couches afterwards, Mom asked, "Are you actually thinking of moving here? Leaving San Rafael?"

I said, "Mom, you were the one who said you'd love to move here, if we could find jobs to support ourselves. I've got a line on not just a job here, but the ability to take control over Mr. Randall's very profitable business. As for the townhouses, I think having an option to leave San Rafael in a hurry for a place we already own is a good thing, no matter whether I take the job here, decide to only take it for a year or two or not at all. This house can't serve as that escape hatch, as it were. Annie and I have enough investable capital to buy these townhouses, without selling the houses in San Rafael or taking out a mortgage. We would get a greater return than our current investments, even only renting out three of them. I'm looking to expand our options, is all. This eases taking a job here, but it is a separate decision."

Mom asked, "These are one bedroom townhouses? How could all four of us share one, without raising new suspicions here?"

I answered, "I expect we'll find a sofabed or two in the living rooms, since skiers often max out the occupancy, so we can cover ourselves if we're all here only a weekend or a week at a time. But if we were definitely moving here permanently, we'd sell both of the houses in San Rafael and combine the proceeds to buy something bigger here. The townhouses would only be a temporary option, unless I'm the only one living here. I'm thinking that if I'm not in San Rafael, no incest would be happening in San Rafael. It might be a solution, for me to move here and only have the three of you come up here occasionally."

Marissa said, "I'm not sure my parents are ready to hear I'm moving in with you before getting married. I'm hoping we can finish this summer in San Rafael, spend the school year in Boulder, then maybe they'll be okay with it next summer. That's if my Dad isn't guessing right and you'll be asking for his blessing this winter."

"What?" Annie blurted, giggling. "You dad said that?"

Marissa chuckled. "When we had dinner after graduation, he was grilling Ty a little, and I told him he should just ask 'What are your intentions for my daughter?' Papa answered that by saying he'd already guessed Ty's short term intentions, since I was spending the night with him, and guessed that his mid-range intention would be to have that conversation around Christmas time or New Years."

"Well, if I asked him right now, he might say 'no,'" I said.

"You... want to marry me?" Marissa asked, her eyes wide.

"I've been thinking about it," I admitted. "It's not time to ask, yet. Certainly, it's not time to ask your dad. But I doubt you'll have to wait until Christmas for me to have that talk with him. I actually have a picture in my head of inviting your parents up here in August, to marry you here, before we head to Boulder." I pointed towards the back yard.

Marissa grabbed the front of my shirt. Slowly, she asked, "You've made the decision but you're waiting for the right time to ask?"

I nodded.

She growled, "Tyler Campbell, if you don't ask me this very minute, I will. We can get my Dad's blessing and announce the engagement later. After I pick out my ring."

I dropped to one knee, took her hand and asked, "Will you do me the great honor of becoming my wife, Marissa?"

She answered, "Yes!" and pulled me up to kiss me. "There, that wasn't so hard, after all."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Annie take a knee in front of Mom. I turned to watch. Annie asked, "Will you marry me, Shelby? Make it a double wedding?"

Mom looked stunned. She blinked several times, before answering, "Yes, my love. I will marry you." Mom laughed briefly, before saying, "Twenty years of looking for someone to love as much as I loved your Dad and it turns out to be his daughter." She pulled Annie up for a kiss. When they parted, she said, "I think the weddings should be separate, though."

Annie said, "If we're going to be a secret group marriage, I want us to have the same anniversary, Mom. We can hold separate services, but they need to be on the same day."

Mom shook her head and said, "No, they don't. Today is the beginning of that unofficial marriage, honey. That is, if Tyler and Marissa are agreed to consider us their wives?"

Marissa nodded to me, before I said, "We're in, Mom."

Mom said, "We'll privately celebrate today as our secret anniversary from now on. However, we're trying to keep the public from seeing our relationships as linked. Right?"

"Yeah," Annie answered.

Mom said, "Well, announcing our engagements together or getting married together links them, unnecessarily. If Tyler and Marissa get married when we're here in August, you and I can announce our engagement after that and get married in San Rafael over your Christmas break. Besides, we'll be living in three different places after August, anyway. You'll be in a dorm in Sonoma, Tyler and Marissa will both be in Boulder, sharing his apartment. I think Tyler is right that having him move away from San Rafael is worth considering, to shut down the incest rumors further, but you and I shouldn't follow him immediately, maybe not even until you turn 25 and we can all move into this house, finally. Until we are ready to move here, Tyler should not move into something bigger than a one bedroom, if you and I are only going to be visiting him, occasionally, whether or not Marissa is living with him in the summer. They would have no real reason for a second bedroom."

"Should I move here this summer, then?" I asked.

Mom said, "I don't think that sends the right message, either, compared to signaling that you're planning to move here after graduation. Besides, these townhouses probably wouldn't be available to move into this year, which limits their use as an escape hatch right now. They're still being actively rented, right, even while the property is up for sale?"

I replied, "No, rentals were paused, when it went up for sale last month. But eleven months of reservations is just as much of an obstacle."

Mom nodded. "I expect you'll have to honor those. You could maybe find a standalone condo or small house that's not being rented so you could move into it immediately, but why let that sit vacant while you finish your final year in college, just to spend the summer here? No, I think it's better to come back to San Rafael, even if it means we keep our hands off each other again, establish your relationship with Marissa some more so you can announce your engagement in a few more weeks, marry her in August, then go off to school together."

Marissa asked, "What am I going to do for the last three years I'll still be in school if Tyler's working here?"

Annie countered, "What were you going to do if he was working in San Rafael, instead? You'd fly out of Denver as often as you could to see him. Now you'd fly into Reno's airport instead. It ought to be a shorter flight, at least."

I answered, "I think they're both around two and a half hours because they run larger planes from Denver to San Francisco than they run to Reno. During freshman year, I came here for spring break with some college friends to ski, and the planes were Airbus A320s, both ways. 150 seats or so."

"You remember that?" Marissa asked.

"I don't remember the plane for every flight I take, but this was the only time I've flown in that model. I know the airlines do fly even smaller ones on shorter routes, but this was the smallest jet I've been on so far. Anyway, flight time is not even half the story. Boulder is 40 miles from Denver's airport and Reno's is 60 miles from South Lake Tahoe. Shoot to arrive at the airport 90 minutes before a flight, and you're looking at 6 hours per flight day. That's assuming good weather in both locations. Figure you set aside two to three times the drive time in snowy conditions."

Marissa said, "Ugh. I won't be doing that every weekend. What's the alternative, though? Never see my husband or secret wives for months at a time? Wow, I have wives now."

Annie said, "You do, honey, and they love you to pieces. As for alternatives, you could change schools. The University of Nevada has a campus in Reno. That's still an hour's drive. Or you could switch to distance learning and finish your degree while living with Ty. Or come join me at Sonoma State."

I said, "Or both of you could switch to Sacramento State to split the distance between San Rafael and here. Look, we're getting ahead of ourselves, a little. We haven't even seen these townhouses and I haven't committed to work for Jack's company yet. Let's delay deciding how we're going to react to my decisions until after I've made them, with your inputs, of course."

"Sorry, Tyler," Marissa said.

I said, "You don't have anything to apologize for, Riss. You were being concerned about yourself and about all of us being together, and those are both good things. Let's go tour these townhouses, form an opinion about them, then come back here and talk about options some more.

~~~~~