AMA: The Boyfriend Ch 416-418

This brings this stretch of AMA releases to 50k/75k. A couple more of these to go, and I'm making good progress! Hope you enjoy.

Chapter 416

“We have a problem,” Ash said quietly. He’d caught my attention as I’d been crossing over from the restaurant back area and through the main concourse to where I’d be meeting with Ada, and his look had been as firm as if he’d grabbed my arm and tugged me aside.

I’d followed him through the staff door into the little admin area directly behind the front desk, where his office was. Considering I’d only been in there twice before, and that was to help carry some stuff for him in a pinch, and we always had our conversation with lowered voices out on the floor where he could keep an eye on things, I was immediately concerned.

“What sort of problem?” I asked.

He sighed, shaking his head as he ran his fingers through her perfectly quaffed hair, disheveling it. “Angeloff’s… friend,” he said.

“Oh,” I grunted. “That.”

“You know?”

“Well, I’ve seen a couple of things,” I said. “What’s she done now?”

“She walked through the main concourse in nothing but a bikini, a completely sheer beach shrug, and a strap-on with a big black dildo bobbing away in front of her,” he said, his voice thick with his exasperation. “What the fuck am I supposed to do with that? And in the middle of the day!”

I couldn’t help it, I laughed and coughed, covering my mouth with one hand. “OK,” I managed. “That’s definitely a new one.”

“What have you seen her doing?” he asked.

“Topless suntanning out by the pool, and she’s dragged at least two members of staff up to their suite for some… yeah,” I said.

“Of staff, or my staff?”

“One was your staff,” I said after a moment. “Travis, earlier today.”

“How much earlier?” Ash groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose.

“Fifteen minutes ago?” I guessed. “A little less, probably.”

Ash closed his eyes and let out a long breath. “OK, he was off shift at least,” he said. Then he opened his eyes again. “What are we going to do about this… guest?” The last bit sounded an awful lot like it was supposed to be ‘slut,’ but even in private Ash couldn’t bring himself to disparage a VIP guest.

I also noted that it was ‘we,’ not asking advice for ‘I.’ But then, I’d looped him into my two crazy situations, so it was only fair.

“I’m meeting with Ada, the blonde assistant, in a few minutes and was planning to bring up the thing with the staff already,” I offered. “I’ll mention the, uh, dildo incident as well. I don’t know what else we can do in terms of enforcement without escalating, though. I think, technically, she wasn’t breaking any laws or rules if she was in a bikini. All she’d need to say is that she’s headed to the pool.

“That is what she said,” Ash growled. “I pointed out that displaying a sex toy in public wasn’t exactly considered ‘decency,’ and she just laughed and said she had it covered, then kept on walking. It was very obvious, Robbie.”

“OK,” I said. “I believe you. Look, I went up to their suite yesterday afternoon to talk about their party, and she was having loud sex with the door to her bedroom just standing open, and then came out completely in the nude when she was done. I don’t know if that woman has boundaries. Let me talk to Ada first, see if that might help anything. If it doesn’t…”

“If it doesn’t, I have to push it up the chain,” Ash said.

We both knew that no one wanted that. Not our bosses, not their bosses. Not with the straight line connection to Rashid Al Maktoum and the risks associated with questioning his personal guests.

“I’ll be right there beside you if we need to do that,” I promised him. “Seriously, Ash. I will. Dayana will jump in too. A united front will help.”

“Fine, OK,” Ash sighed, his shoulders finally loosening as he let the stress he’d been holding go. “I just- Who does that? I mean, I’ve seen some crazy shit in the middle of the night - it’s Vegas, it comes with the territory. But in the middle of the day, not even tipsy?”

“I don’t know, man,” I shook my head, patting him on the arm. “I really don’t know.”

I left him fixing his hair, slipping out the side exit instead of weaving around the front desk area, and took a moment in the quiet nook where that door was to let out a frustrated breath of my own. Needing to go above and beyond for a VIP was one thing, but this was something else completely. Vera and Nikolina were a bit much, even for Las Vegas standards.

The Gallery for the Vaso was technically on the second floor, though it felt more like ‘Floor 1.5’ because most of the first floor had extra-high ceilings that spanned both the main concourse and the majority of the casino. A grand staircase off of the concourse led up to a big balcony we called ‘the Atrium’, and it overlooked the concourse, ‘restaurant alley’ where the slightly-less posh places to eat and the two main bars were, the lobby area outside of the theatres, and out the big glass windows at the pool area. We were technically able to use the Atrium for events, though we rarely did unless it was for a conference. A left turn off the stairs would bring me towards the ballrooms and my usual domain, but a right turn led to the Gallery.

Tracy had the entrance done up in a gorgeous display to match the extravagant mosaic floor the Owners had installed during construction, the entire wall looking like the rich and verdant entryway into some ancient sheikh’s oasis retreat. The space wasn’t really considered one of the hotel’s top amenities when it came to popular destinations for tourists, and Tracy frequently complained that many of the guests didn’t appreciate what was at their fingertips. But then, that wasn’t necessarily the point of the Gallery. It wasn’t really for the public; it was for the Owners. On the front end it was a cultural feather in their cap; the wealthy Persian and Arabic families who were on the Board could show off their personal art collections at a whim, flashing their wealth and the fact that for once in history they owned pieces of British, European and American history rather than the other way around. And on the back end, it was a ripe spot for the accountants to dig into tax write-offs, cultural grants, and likely some shady transferring of assets between the owners.

My fellow Event Coordinator didn’t care about much more than the art, though, and celebrating it appropriately.

And thankfully, she wasn’t around when I stuck my head inside the glass doors of the Gallery, because she would definitely try to listen in on my conversation with Ada. Three security guards were on hand even though Tracy wasn’t, and I nodded at Janey, the closest one, a burly Samoan woman who looked a little like a bulldog. She smirked and nodded back, flashing me a four and a two with her fingers. There were six people in the gallery at the moment, a quad and a pair. I nodded my thanks to her and stepped back out and to the side of the door, pulling out my phone to look busy but only cursorily checking to see if I had any new messages. The group chat with the girls was quiet for the moment, and the emails in my inbox were CCs and not directly to me, so I took my moment of quiet as a gift and just breathed.

I’d fucking kissed Dayana!

The sound of high heels on the mosaic tiles had me looking up, and I almost groaned, seeing Ada.

She was fucking stunning, striding towards me and flashing a smile as I looked up and we locked eyes. It was like I was in a fucking movie that had just cut to slow-mo as some awful soundtrack was playing to let the viewer know that Hottie McHotface had just entered the scene. Ada was wearing a black dress that clung to her like it was slinky silk, but as she got close I could see it was more like a terry cloth beach cover-up, except it was a stylish little black dress. The bottom hem was asymmetrical, one side cut high up on her hip and the other dipping down almost to her knee, while the top hugged her chest in halter top with a bright yellow string bikini top poking out around the edges. Her cleavage looked fantastic, her legs looked amazing as she sauntered toward me in yellow strappy heels that matched her bikini top, and she had her hair down and styled like she was heading to a fancy ball and not just going about her day.

“Robbie,” she said, reaching out a hand to me as she closed the distance between us, and I naturally accepted her hand like she wanted to shake - but she didn’t, she just squeezed my fingers with hers and kept stepping closer, holding my hand casually. “I’m excited to hear what you have planned, and to get a tour of the Gallery from you.”

“Ah, right,” I said, kicking myself a little. “I’m not actually equipped to give you a guided tour, Ada. One of my coworkers, Tracy, does such an excellent job with the gallery that I rarely need to get involved. I’m happy to do a walkthrough while we talk though, or I can organise a private tour for you.”

“Oh, I think a walkthrough would be fine,” Ada said, letting go of my hand and looping her arm through mine familiarly. “So tell me what you’ve come up with.”

We headed in and started to slowly stroll around the perimeter of the gallery, pausing occasionally so Ada could read the little plaques for the title of a piece and the artist. The woman’s accent as we talked about the party preparations was like a heat-seeking missile aimed at my dick, and I realised quickly that she was definitely intentionally keeping in physical contact with me, whether it was her arm looped with mine, or touching it as she stooped over to read a plaque. And that didn’t even account for the cleavage she was showing off, or the nipple bumps in her dress that were only noticeable from up close.

And that smile, leading with her eyes.

Ada was fucking trouble.

I ran her through the developments, which really weren’t that heavy other than confirming that I’d locked in some dangling items from our meeting with Vera the night before. The big news was that I’d signed on Jay-Shawn Entertainment Services to come up with a guest list, and that they would be handling the music as well. 

“You’re sure they’ll be able to furnish the correct… aesthetic and class of guests that Vera is hoping for?” Ada asked me as we stood in front of a big, abstract painting that was four feet wide, six feet tall and looked an awful lot like a couple of sedans fighting to mount each other like rabbits.

“Well, there’s no guarantees with something like this,” I said. “But she came highly recommended by some of my contacts at another hotel.”

“She?” Ada asked.

“I met with Jay, one half of a duo,” I explained.

“Mmm,” Ada smiled. “And will I have the chance to meet Jay?”

“She’ll be available shortly before the party,” I said. “And both her and her partner Shawn will be at the party helping coordinate some of the background guests.” 

“Lovely,” Ada grinned at me, and for some reason, I got a sense of a predatory gleam in her eye. Just a flash of it, but it was there and gone.

“There was something else that came up that I need to talk to you about, though,” I said, keeping my voice low as we made our way to the next piece. This one was more of a 3d… something hanging off the wall. It might have been a mask, if I tilted my head the right way?

“You’re interested in taking me up on our offer?” Ada asked, smirking a little and winking at me.

“No, thank you,” I said, managing not to blush furiously. The fact that she even framed it as ‘our offer’ was enough to make me avoid temptation - her ass wasn’t something Vera should have been offering at all if I thought straight about it for more than two seconds. “It was actually about Nikolina.”

“Oh, if you’re interested in her, that-”

“I’m not interested in Nikolina, Ada,” I said, patting her hand where she was holding my bicep as we both studied the mask-thing. “But she’s been causing some… issues around the hotel. Nudity in public spaces, openly strutting around wearing a strap-on, seducing the staff away from their duties.”

“Ah, yes,” Ada said. “Nikolina has a tendency to do all three of those things.”

The way she said it sounded like it should have been followed up with some form of ‘I’ll talk to her to get her to cool it,’ but she didn’t continue.

“Well,” I said after a long moment. “While I appreciate that she enjoys her… freedom to express herself, we really need Nikolina to understand that this isn’t a private residence. When she does these things, she’s causing problems for the staff, upsetting other guests, and increasing the likelihood of someone calling the police if it continues. I was hoping you could have a word with her, remind her that there may be different expectations and cultural norms from what she was used to elsewhere.”

Ada’s smile didn’t change as she listened to me, but I felt like she was laughing in her head at me and my verbal dancing. “I can try,” she said after a moment. “But she does better with more… specific directions. You know - band over the back of that couch, suck harder, put your legs behind your head. That sort of thing.”

“Right,” I said, managing not to cough. “Well, we need her to refrain from openly displaying sex toys outside of the suite, and she needs to remain properly clothed - nipples, vagina and anus covered up. And I know the various staff supervisors would appreciate it if she would keep her sexual exploits pointed towards other guests. I’m sure the guests would as well.”

“Naughty boy,” Ada laughed, squeezing my arm. Then she gestured at the mask-thing. “Does this look like a vagina to you?”

“I- Not really,” I said.

“Ignore the flyaway bits there and there. Just this shape in the centre, and the little bump up her is the clit,” Ada said.

The frustrating thing was that, when she pointed it out, I could see it.

“Huh,” I said. “Maybe it is.”

“I’ll talk to Nikolina and see what she’s willing to go along with,” Ada said. “Was that all?”

“That was all,” I nodded as we moved around to the final piece along the outer walls of the gallery. It was another painting, this one a modern landscape of the Vasoseh at sunset, the lights of Vegas behind it. It had been painted by an artist-in-residence during the first month the hotel had been open.

“Am I losing you then?” she sighed, making it sound like my needing to end the meeting was a dreadful prospect.

“I’m on the move, Ada. I’m sorry I can’t linger too long,” I said.

“And you’re sure I can’t tempt you with a little… fun?” Ada offered, that smirk sneaking into her smile again. Then she leaned closer, whispering. “I’m wearing a buttplug. After Vera’s description of the size of your blessings, I thought it would be prudent.”

I swallowed. Hard. “I’m still engaged, but I very much appreciate the thought and the offer,” I said, trying to remain diplomatic.

“Well, maybe I’ll have to use a toy to get my relief then,” she teased before letting go of my arm, and pushing herself closer to me, her against my arm as she went up on her toes to give me another one of those ‘cheek’ kisses that caught a lot more of my lips than my cheek. “Thank you for the updates. I think I’ll do another round of the Gallery before I head back up to have that talk with Nikolina - I believe she has a guest up there with her right now making use of that particularly egregious accessory she shouldn’t be walking around with.”

I shook my head slightly, keeping my customer service smile on, then managed to say, “Enjoy the gallery, Ada. And have a good weekend.”

“You too,” Ada said with another one of those warm, suggestive smiles.

I left her, and Janey the security guard gave me a big, raised eyebrow look as I was heading towards the door. It said a lot, but mostly ‘What the fuck was all THAT?’ My look back was something like, ‘Believe me, you don’t want to know.’

She glanced behind me at Ada, and her next look was more of an, ‘I dunno, maybe I do.’

It was tough to blame her for that, because I knew I kind of wanted to explore the depths of the mysterious and flirtatious Ada. Literally and metaphorically.

Chapter 417

“Is anyone sitting here?” I asked the lady sitting across from the spot I’d found.

The airport was moderately busy, which I was a little surprised by since it was a Friday afternoon in Las Vegas - I’d mostly thought that would mean there would be a lot more incoming flights than outgoing. I was wrong, apparently, and the terminal where my flight was scheduled to board from was slowly filling up a plane to Austin at the moment.

I’d gotten out of the Vaso straight after my meeting with Ada, swinging back upstairs to my office to grab my things and then taking the long way around the Admin floor to the slow service elevators and riding them down, then walking around the building to the staff parking lot. I hadn’t wanted to risk running into… well, pretty much anyone. I had the flexibility to fuck off that afternoon and the only person who could really call me on it was Doug, but I was done with my first week back at work. I didn’t want to hear any more issues about Vera and her group; I didn’t want to know what problems Tan was getting into with the weddings that were supposed to be ramping up that evening. I didn’t want to know what was happening out at the pool, on the casino floor, or any rumours flying around about my coworkers.

A week away had made me thankful for my job in some ways, and returning had shortened my patience in others.

I liked my job, but I had places to be and women to see.

It would have been faster for me to have brought my travel bag with me to work, but I hadn’t wanted to explain to anyone why I had it if I brought it inside, and I didn’t want to leave it in my truck as it boiled in the afternoon heat. Stopping at home had also given me the chance to take a short, cool shower to wash off the feeling of work and get changed. My Uber showed up on time, and dropped me off in perfect time.

I had my small carry-on of clothes, my side bag with accessories, and my neck pillow hanging over my shoulder. I was a lean, mean, efficient travelling machine.

The look the woman gave me as she eyed me up and down was accusatory, judgmental, and mildly disgusted. “Yes, it is,” she snapped after a moment.

“Oh,” I said, looking around as our section of the terminal was slowly emptying towards the gate. I’d really only asked to be polite; there wasn’t anything to say that someone had claimed or was holding the seats across from her in the tight little aisles. “Alright.”

She huffed slightly and looked back down at her book, the arm she had thrown over the three bags piled onto the seat next to her tightening like she thought I was about to grab one and run off.

I shook my head, bypassing her and excusing myself through the line of boarding passengers, finding a pair of seats at the end of the next row over. I got my bags unlimbered and settled down into the saggy, abused airport seat and looked around for a minute before pulling out my phone and checking all my messages.

CC’d emails, a couple of messages from Tan asking if I could help with something. I quickly reminded him that I wasn’t available, and to use the resources he had prepared ahead of time and listen to the staff - realistically, all the kid needed to do was manage the clients and whatever curveballs came up if he’d done his job properly up until now. I still had to resist sending Dayana a text to let her know he was looking for help - if it was bad enough, she’d already be dealing with it. If it wasn’t, I’d be stepping on toes or adding something to her plate that didn’t need to be there. 

I also had to resist sending her a text telling her how I kept thinking about our kiss. Kisses? Was that one extended kiss situation, or multiple kisses?

The group chat with the girls had been quiet, but I did jump into my ‘Secret Society’ chat to pass on my thanks for the info about Jay-Shawn Entertainment, and to let one of the Concierge’s over at Caesar’s know that the restaurant they were asking about was a little hole-in-the-wall taco spot up on the north end of thee city. Well off the strip and any touristy spot. If they had guests who wanted to go there for some reason, they wouldn’t need a reservation. I wasn’t even sure if the dive took reservations - they had decent food, but I was pretty sure they’d leaned heavily into delivery and a food truck instead of their ‘home base’ being a fancy location.

That emptied my ‘Check Up On Stuff’ list and brought me to my mental list of things I wanted to do when I had a moment. The first of those things was to text Ami and see if she was free for a call.

I sent off that text and sighed, looking up and around. The plane to Austin was still boarding, the line down to maybe a dozen people now, and the terminal Gate was emptying out down to a handful of us waiting for the Seattle flight.

The seat across from the intense lady was totally open.

I rolled my eyes and sighed, shaking my head at her. She was still clutching her bags like they were full of gold bullion and someone was trying to Ocean’s 11 her.

My phone started ringing in my lap, which made me jump a little because I’d been expecting a text, and I caught the lady snapping her vision over to me and glaring as I thumbed the screen to answer.

“Hey, Cutie,” I answered. “How are you?”

“Oh, y’know,” Ami answered, her smile obvious as her Midwest accent made me grin right back. It was so easy to focus on the fact that she was this tall, gorgeous woman of Chinese descent that I almost forgot how lilting and thick her accent could be from growing up in Minnesota. “Running around helping my parents with errands, meeting up with my cousin for lunch and hearing all about how he’s so tired studying for his Bar exam, and now I’m driving back to my parents because they need me for something else.”

“So a totally relaxing, no-stress day where you might as well have been out by the pool?” I chuckled.

“With my top off, reading a good book,” she replied with a chuckle. “Only thing that could have made it better was if you were reading next to me.”

“Mmm,” I groaned, closing my eyes and thinking about those times - too few - that we’d just sat and relaxed on the trip reading. Ami being topless during them had been a major bonus, but just the quiet, still relaxation had been a balm for the soul and a break from the chaos that the trip had been. “Maybe we should start a two-person book club,” I suggested. “We might not be able to read together right now, but at least we could be reading the same thing.”

“That would be amazing, Robbie,” she said. “Do you have something on your To Be Read pile?”

“Probably, but I’ve lost track,” I sighed. “How about you pick something from yours?”

“I’ll take a look through the stack near my bed,” she said, that smile coming through in her voice again, even on speaker. I could tell she was driving by a bit of the background noise leaking through. “And I’ll try not to make it too romancey.”

“You know I like a little romance,” I laughed, ignoring the glare from the lady across the way from me.

“I guess I do,” Ami giggled softly, remembering the same naughty game with Leia that I was. “Do you want to invite anyone else to join us?”

“I’m sure plenty of the girls would want to jump in, and half of them would even read the book,” I said. “But… let’s keep it special just between us, at least for a couple?”

“OK,” she said, a little more shyly. God, she made me want to wrap her up in my arms - Ami’s frustration with her dating options and prospects had seemed so out of whack when she’d first expressed her loneliness to me and Cassidy. How she’d wanted to find a guy like me. Now that I’d gotten to know her more, I understood that a bit more too - Ami was all kinds of complicated nuance. Absolutely graceful and stunning, with ‘big anime titties,’ but a quiet nerd. Sophisticated, educated and cultured, but casual. Athletic, but not competitive at all. And most of all, if she were looking on dating Apps, opposed to casual hookup culture. The only reason we’d done what we’d done was because of the situation during the trip, and the influence of the App easing her walls.

“So, you probably didn’t ask to talk because you wanted to start a book club,” she continued after a moment. “And I’m pretty sure you’re supposed to be on the way to or at the airport now, aren’t you?”

“I’m already at my gate,” I said. I’d sent a quick message to the group chat that I was through TSA, but if Ami was driving, she probably wasn’t checking that. “But you’re right - I didn’t just want to come up with an amazing thing we can do together, or just hear your voice because it makes me smile so damn much.”

“My ego has been thoroughly stroked, Tiger,” Ami chuckled.

“Good,” I laughed. “What I really wanted to talk to you about is how you’re feeling after the stuff that came out about me and Dayana. I know you were joining in with the others with the memes and stuff, but…”

“But I’m a prude who didn’t sleep with you when I had you right in front of me,” she filled in.

“No,” I coughed. “No. God, no, Ami. That’s not what I was thinking at all.”

“I know,” she sighed. “It’s… a little bit what I’ve been thinking. Not that I regret taking things slow - or, well, slower than all the other girls. We didn’t really go slow. Everything we did on the trip, the speed you let me go at, just made me… it helped me know you meant what you were saying, Robbie.”

“I’m glad,” I murmured softly.

“I’ve just been in my head a little bit sometimes this week,” she continued. “Knowing that Cattie was with you and Cassidy, and hearing about your dates and stuff. And now you’re going to go see Wanda, and Becca - and no, I don’t feel jealous or something of that whole situation. I wouldn’t want to trade places with Wanda at all. What she’s dealing with is awful. I just don’t know when I’m going to get to see you again, and I love texting and talking with you on the phone, but it’s different.”

“I know,” I sighed. “Long distance is going to be hard, no matter how much we try to make time for each other. Is the Dayana thing making it harder?”

“A little,” Ami said, and I could practically see her shrugging. “Not that I’m worried about it or anything. Cassidy told us about her already, and so did Cattie when she met her.”

“Was I the only person who didn’t think we had a thing?” I sighed.

Ami snorted cutely. “Probably.”

“I feel like a big dope.”

“You are a big dope,” she laughed. “A big, handsome, lovable, loyal big dope. And the fact that everything Cassidy and Cattie said about Dayana respecting that before now says that- I mean, academically it says that she should fit into this weird polygynous relationship pretty well.”

“You mean polygamous?” I asked.

“I’ve done some research,” Ami said. “Polygamy is broadly multiple people married to one spouse. Polygyny is the whole Harem joke where us women are all dating you, our man, but not each other. Y-N-Y instead of A-M-Y. Technically, it’s defined as marriage to multiple women, but I mean, it’s gotta encompass the courting phase too, right? Though the fact that some of the girls interact together sexually with you kinda blurs the lines and might make it more Polyamory than Polygyny, but that’s usually more of a web of relationships situation as far as I can tell.”

“Can I find this on Wikipedia?” I asked. “I feel like I need to read this to understand it.”

She snickered softly. “Probably. I read a couple of articles about it. Polygyny isn’t exactly legal, by the way. At least the official marriage part of it - mostly because of taxes, I think, and the fact that it was so closely associated with weird religious stuff that the government didn’t like. Polygamous Relationship activists are trying to do stuff to get that changed, but from what I saw, we’re talking about… interesting kinds of people.”

“Noted,” I said, shaking my head and smirking a little to myself. “But, definitions and labels aside, you said academically. What about realistically, for you?”

“Realistically, for me, I still feel like I don’t have the right to dictate anything,” Ami said.

“Ami-”

“I know,” she stopped me. “I know. You, and Cassidy, care about my opinion. That’s just how I feel, maybe because I can’t make plans like the others. I can’t look four, six or twelve months in the future, planning to end my lease and move to be with you guys. I trust that us, our connection, is… real. And that you’re willing to work on it with me. It’s just a little pinch, Robbie. Another reminder that you’re living a life that I can’t really be in, and I don’t know when I will be able to for longer than a visit.”

I sighed heavily. “I’m sorry,” I said, not sure what else I could offer her. Her situation with her parents was complicated. “I love you.”

“I know, Tiger,” she said quietly. “I’ll be OK. And I love you too. Even if it’s way too fast for us to be saying that.”

I cracked a small grin. “It really is,” I conceded. “And yet…”

“And yet,” she agreed. “How long until your flight?”

“About forty minutes,” I said.

“You’re not raw-dogging it, are you?” she asked.

“No,” I chuckled. “I’ve got enough stuff to keep me occupied. I’m not a sociopath.”

“Good,” she said. “I’m about to pull up to my parents' place and they’ll ask so many questions if I’m sitting out in my car on the phone. Have a good flight, and give Wanda a big hug for me.”

“I will,” I promised her. “Love you, Cutie.”

“Love you too, Tiger,” she said warmly, and we hung up.

I sighed again as I lowered the phone, shaking my head as I looked down at it. I was having some serious frustrations with this whole situation, no matter how much of a blessing it also felt like. Balancing all the plates and keeping up to date on the girls’ feelings was something I felt like maybe I was doing OK with, but they still just deserved better. More. Ami deserved someone who could move to her if she couldn’t move to them.

But I’d also had it verbally beaten into me by her and others that the girls knew what they were choosing to get into with our relationship.

It wasn’t fun to hear that the Dayana situation was even a little bit of hurt, but also… could I really avoid hurting her, at least a little, with our situation?

Sucking in another big breath, I let it out slowly as I shook my head, then thumbed my phone open again and went to my messages. I’d received a picture earlier from someone and hadn’t-

“Ahem.”

I looked up, and the angry woman was leaning towards me over the armrest of her seat. The line to board the Austin plane was gone and it looked like the gate attendants were wrapping up their procedures before swapping over for the next flight. There were maybe ten of us scattered around already, waiting for the Seattle flight.

“Yes?” I asked the lady.

“You should be ashamed of yourself,” she said, her face a little red as she grimaced at me.

“Pardon?” I asked, my brow furrowing as I fought the immediate urge to be defensive.

“I heard everything you were saying, and you should be ashamed of yourself, you hedonist,” she practically spat at me. “Polygamy is a sin. Marriage is between one man and one woman.”

I blew out a long breath, letting my immediate urge to snap back at this lady flow out of me. Once I was done, I shook my head and stood up. “Have a nice day,” I said, giving her my best customer service smile before walking away.

“You’re going to hell if you don’t-”

I waved politely, giving her another smile, and she cut off with a disgruntled huff.

The gate attendant looked busy at the desk as I approached, so I stood to the side and made it clear I was there but not in immediate need. He flashed me a quick look and smile, went back to what he was doing, and a minute later he looked up more pointedly. “Good afternoon, sir. What can I help you with?”

“Hi,” I said, stepping forward and giving him a more genuine grin than I had the lady. “How are you doing?”

“I’m just peachy, sir,” he said. “How are you?”

“Well, mostly good,” I said. “But I’m wondering if you can help me out with something. I was sitting and waiting for the Seattle flight over there, and that woman overheard some of my phone conversation and decided to say some fairly… bigoted statements towards us. This might not be possible, but I’m hoping you might be able to help make sure I’m not going to be sitting in her row or something.”

“Bigoted?” he asked, raising an eyebrow. A sharply manicured eyebrow.

“We’re going to hell because of our polyamorous relationship,” I said. “It’s a sin, we should be ashamed. That kind of thing.”

“Mm,” he hummed, pursing his lips as his customer service smile turned towards the woman, and he squinted his eyes a little. “I know the type, sir. Let me just check the flight manifest records here and see what we’re looking at.”

I guessed right. He might not have had a Gay Pride flag pin on or anything, but the single earring, the carefully manicured eyebrows, even the fingernails and the way he held himself, had pinged my Gaydar as I’d been walking away from the lady.

“It looks like the flight is only about half full today,” the Gate attendant said after a moment. “And… you know what? Let’s just make sure we aren’t having any uncomfortable passengers, shall we? May I see your ticket?” I pulled it up on my phone, he scanned the QR code, and then went to work for a moment. “Look at that,” he said a moment later. “I’ve made sure you’re in a row of your own just in case. And I got you some extra leg room, since you’re a tall drink of water. It should come through your App there in a moment.”

“Thanks so much,” I said. “I appreciate it a lot. A three-hour flight with her randomly next to me might have been the hell she was cursing me to.”

He snorted softly, giving me a genuine smirky smile, and nodded.

“Actually,” I said, making a snap decision and opening up my side bag, finding one of my business cards. “You’re probably local, so it would be more of a stay-cation, but feel free to give me a shout. I’m sure I can return the favour with a complimentary night away from home.”

His eyebrows both rose as he took it and looked at the card, then he tapped it on his fingers and grinned. “Nice move, not breaking out the card until after I’d done it,” he said, his customer service tone slipping to more natural.

“Hey, I’m not trying to buy favours,” I said. “But I’m happy to decide I owe one.”

“Polyamorous, you said?” he asked. “You don’t happen to be Bi, are you?”

“Straight, sorry,” I said.

“Too bad,” he shrugged with a grin.

“You couldn’t handle me,” I laughed and winked. “I’m out of town for the weekend, so don’t go trying to cash that in until at least Monday.”

“Good to know. Thanks,” he smirked, nodding to me as I stepped back to let him get on with his work.

When I got the notification from my airline app that my ticket had changed, I was pleasantly surprised that I hadn’t just been moved and upgraded for leg room - I was in first class. I glanced back up at the guy, but he wasn’t around, and a couple of blondes were working the desk. I blew out a breath and grinned to myself. Things were looking up.

Chapter 418

I’d flown plenty of times before. Cass and I had even been upgraded into First Class once when a fan of hers happened to recognise her and was a Stewardess on the flight.

That flight from Vegas to Seattle was still the most insane three hours on an airplane that I had ever experienced.

Janet glared at me, the male steward, and the female Air Marshal, as I was the second person to deboard the plane, taking my carry-on from the overhead bin, my side bag and my neck pillow with me.

Paula, one of the female stewardesses, gave me an apologetic smile - she’d been an absolutely lovely woman through the whole flight, but I could tell she was a bit of a people pleaser. “We’re so sorry for all of that, darlin’,” she said, her Southern accent sweet and sincere.

“I’ll live. Thanks so much for everything,” I said. She tutted and smiled, nodding me off the plane.

Four Airport Cops were waiting out in the gangway ramp for the first class passengers to deboard and get out of the way.

I got out into the airport terminal, the slight air pressure change waking me up a little, and I moved out of the way of the folks following behind me before I fished my phone out of my pocket and turned it off airplane mode. I waited those three heartbeats as it connected, and then notifications started popping up. More than a dozen in the group chat with the girls. A flurry of emails. A text from Becca said that she and Wanda were waiting near baggage claim. Three texts from Dayana.

‘Just landed, coming out soon. Do you guys want anything from shops in here?’ I texted Becca back. I knew Cass loved a certain brand of potato chip that was produced in Europe somewhere, and we could only ever find it in airports - she said it was extra crunchy and had a different sort of flavour than usual, but I couldn't taste the difference.

That text only took a moment, and I hopped to the ones from Dayana because, when my flight time hadn’t been getting disrupted, my mind had been getting drawn back to earlier.

‘You’re not allowed to leave the hotel anymore. This is a shitshow.’

OK, so that didn’t bode well.

‘Call me when you land.’

That really didn’t bode well.

‘Never mind. I fixed it. Jonas owes me HUGE. Doug might fire Tan. Fire department says we’re all clear.’

“What?” I asked out loud, then looked around, realising I’d done it. No one was looking at me.

The fire department got called? What the fuck happened?

I was tempted to call Dayana anyway, just to find out what the hell was going on in my ballrooms, but I got a reply from Becca that they just wanted me, not snacks or souvenirs.

The last thing I did before moving again was once again remember that text that I hadn’t checked yet, having been distracted multiple times. I opened it before I could forget again, having now forgotten that it was a picture.

A picture of a very, very nice female ass with one hand grabbing a cheek and peeling it open to show off a slightly bent over butthole and vagina.

It’s funny, the things that you remember about a person. I couldn’t remember her last name or the name of the shop where I’d met her. Hell, I couldn’t even remember the name of her ex-boyfriend, and that guy had almost tried to murder me and JC. But I definitely, immediately, knew that was Madison’s ass. And asshole.

I blanked my phone screen immediately in a panic, once again looking around at the crowd of people walking past in both directions. I was in the middle of a fucking airport and just opened a gratuitously naughty picture on my phone.

But no one else was pulling a Janet. Either no one noticed, no one cared, or they saw it and moved on fast enough that I didn’t see their reaction.

I blew out a breath and made my way to one wall, getting my back to it, before bringing my phone close to my chest and opening the text again. She’d sent it that morning, and now it was evening, and I hadn’t responded. Even I knew that was kind of a dick move when it came to being sent a nude.

‘God damn, Madison,’ I typed. ‘I almost opened this three times today and kept getting distracted, then I opened it in the middle of an airport. Almost stopped my heart. God, you’re fucking gorgeous. And thank you. But give me a little warning first! :P’

I sent that off, happy with the number of compliments I’d managed, and pocketed my phone before finding the signs leading towards the baggage claim.

- - - - -

I braced for Wanda to hit me like a cannonball, but at the last moment before she collided with me, she pulled up and eased into my arms instead, softly collapsing against my chest as she lightly grabbed the front of my shirt and pressed her face against me to hide her tears.

We’d spotted each other from three luggage conveyor belts away, and she’d immediately made a beeline for me while picking up speed. I’d gotten more of a sense of what she was wearing than actually seeing her. A thin black hoodie that clung to her torso, black athletic shorts that ended high on her thighs, and white thigh-high socks with a pair of black stripes at the top like athletic socks. And a ball cap that had just caught its bill on my shoulder and popped off her head, falling to the floor behind her as I hugged her tightly.

“Oh my God, Wanda,” I murmured into her ear as I held her there in the semi-crowded baggage claim area. “It’s so good to see you.”

“Robbie,” she sobbed softly, her hands sliding around from my front to my back, hugging me back hard. She sniffed, gave me another big squeeze, and then sniffed again before pulling back and wiping at her eyes. “God, I’m such a mess.”

“A beautiful mess,” I assured her, taking her hands and holding them still. “Can I…?”

She reached up for me, nodding, and I pulled her to me again by her waist, and I kissed her.

And it was easy. Not like kissing Dayana. This was practised already. Comfortable. My hands drifted lower towards her ass, wanting to grab onto those perfect cheeks the way we both liked, but remembering we were in public. We still spoke with our lips, though, telling each other how much we’d missed this. Missed being together, missed faces and smells and presence.

“God, I love you,” she gasped as she pulled away from the kiss, and then blushed.

“I love you too, blondie,” I said, reaching up to take her hands in mine again and cradling them against my chest. Then I frowned slightly, looking around us. “Where’s Becca?”

“Waiting by the car,” Wanda said. “We decided it wasn’t fair for both of us to want a big hello like this with you and have to share it.”

Becca’s idea, I was sure, and a smart one. I’d had to say goodbye to Cass and Cattie at the same time, and I felt like it hadn’t been enough with either of them. How we were going to make that work in the future, I couldn’t guess, but it was a good idea.

She pulled her hands from me, giving me a little smirk. “Let me just grab my hat,” she said, then turned and bent to retrieve it from the floor. Bending at the waist. Showing off how her tight little shorts hugged her perfect, plump butt. Then she stood back up, turned around, and put the baseball cap back on backwards before reaching up and pulling me down into another kiss.

This time one of my hands couldn’t help itself and it slid down to grab one butt cheek possessively while the other scooped on her upper back. The squeeze pulled a whimper out of Wanda’s lips, and our kiss went on long enough that it was probably inappropriate.

When we finally separated again, I grabbed her hand and wove my fingers with hers. “I’d ask how you are, but it’s gotta be complicated,” I said. “So, no matter what, you’re in charge of when you need to let your emotions out. No judgments over when or where.”

She frowned happily, acknowledging that I was right about things being complicated, and squeezed my hand. “You’re too good to me,” she said softly.

“I haven’t even had a chance to be good to you yet, Wanda,” I chuckled. “Now come on, let’s go. If we wait any longer, I’ll have to kiss you again and I think people were starting to stare.”

“Let ‘em,” Wanda said, standing on her tiptoes to give me a little peck on the lips, and then we both laughed. Then she gave me a quizzical look. “Don’t you need to get your luggage still?”

I pursed my lips this time and narrowed my eyes. “I’ve got my stuff right here?” I said, motioning to my carry-on bag.

“What about the rest of your stuff?”

“I’m only here for the weekend.”

“You got all your stuff for the weekend in that?” Wanda asked.

“Jesus Christ,” I sighed. “I know you models don’t know the meaning of travelling light - Cassidy certainly doesn’t - but are you telling me Brodi used to need more than this for a weekend away or something?”

“He’d have a full suitcase, every time,” Wanda said, looking dubiously at my small carry-on.

“OK, well, I guess you get to find out what a regular dude packs,” I said. “Now, are we kissing again until we end up making out as we roll around on this dirty floor, or are we heading out to the car? Because I’ve got a story to tell.”

“Let’s go,” Wanda said, rolling her eyes teasingly at me. “But Becca and I don’t need the full story about Dayana.”

“This isn’t about her,” I said.

“The crazy Russian lady?” Wanda asked.

“Nope,” I shook my head.

“Then…?” Wanda asked.

“I only want to tell it once to you guys, so wait until we’re with Becca,” I chuckled as we headed out the automatic doors. The wet warmth of Seattle in summer washed over me as we stepped outside, a distinct difference from the dry heat of Vegas, and even the desert around Lake Powell the week before.

“What if,” Wanda said, then leaned closer to me as we waited to be able to cross the first set of lanes where people were getting picked up. She dropped her voice to a whisper. “What if I promise to be yours forever and ever?”

I leaned in and kissed her softly. I would have moved her blonde hair behind her ear, or grabbed her ass, if our fingers weren’t still intertwined and I wasn’t pulling my carry-on bag on wheels. “I think I might already have that locked in, Wanda,” I whispered back. “Whenever you’re ready.”

“Almost,” she told me with a smile. “I’m almost ready.”

- - - - -

I didn’t think Becca was going to hit me like a truck at all. She was waiting by her car, leaning against the hood and looking out the second-floor open side of the parking garage they’d been waiting in. There was a whole lot of green out there, even among the greys of industry, but the only thing I really registered was the afternoon light as Wanda and I came out of the stairwell and I saw her a good twenty cars away. She turned at the sound of the door and broke into a smile that could have melted my heart and beat back frostbite if I needed it to.

She came to me slowly, almost sauntering, as Wanda and I approached at the same easy speed. Wanda let go of my hand so I had it free for Becca, and at a distance of two parked cars, I let go of my rolling carry-on and let it drop with a clatter.

Becca stepped into my arms easily, reaching up and grabbing my face with both hands to pull me down into a kiss that sent shivers through me.

She was dressed in low-slung grey sweatpants, a tight crop top that showed off a good six inches of her stomach, and a loose, unzipped and faded hoodie that might have dated back to the 70s, the thing looked so worn. Her silver-dyed hair was down and loose under a backwards ball cap, and she was wearing flip-flops, but she’d taken the time to apply a deep red lipstick. All the better to give me a target to aim for, and I got it in one as her lips met mine.

I groaned, my hands circling her waist, feeling her bare skin there under the hoodie. She groaned back, softly scratching my cheeks with her nails as she pressed her chest to my abdomen, her jaw working as we basically made love with our mouths.

How had I even gone a week without either of these women, after having them the week before?

We broke apart, both smiling easily. Becca looked up into my eyes, and we just… looked. We knew. We shared that moment in silence. Contented, because I was there. Because she was these.

I leaned down this time to start the kiss again, and when my hands circled around and shimmied under the waistband of her baggy sweatpants she growled hungrily as I palmed her bar ass cheeks, nothing but a thong stopping me from going further. For all that the parking garage was full of cars, we were alone except for Wanda, so I wasn’t afraid of being more forward than I had been with Wanda.

Becca tilted her lips away from mine with a gasp, and clenched her glutes against my hands as I massaged her butt, before patting my chest with both of hands. “Hey there, sailor,” she said. “Fancy meeting you here.”

“I’m just saying,” Wanda said from next to us as she picked up the handle for my carry-on and set it upright. “I’m willing to be the lookout if you two want to bang it out over the hood of your car. Or any of these cars.”

Becca shot Wanda a playful scowl, then turned it on me. “I’m not a piece of meat, Tiger,” she said.

“I dunno,” I pretended to hum and haw. “Tender when squeezed, deliciously juicy?”

“Turns pink when pounded raw,” Wanda added.

Becca scoffed at her friend, rolling her eyes, and reached back to pull my hands out of her pants by my wrists. Then she surprised me by bringing them around and planting my hands on her tits, which were apparently braless under the crop top because I could feel her stiff nipples through it. “There,” she said. “Full tour.”

“A full tour will require a lot more time, energy and resources, Sugar,” I said as I massaged her breasts for a moment, finding both nipples with thumbs and forefingers and giving them both a little squeeze before letting them go and catching her hands with mine. “Something I’d be happy to foot the bill for, if you’d like to be the tour guide.”

“I’m just saying, I got my ass grabbed over the pants, and you didn’t go for my boobs at all,” Wanda said.

“We were in public with people around, and you’re in a complicated… everything right now,” I pointed out as I pulled Becca close and wrapped her up in a hug that she returned tightly.

“Sounds like an excuse to me,” Wanda said with a teasing smirk, though the look in her eyes said she was mostly joking. If I’d just started manhandling her at the airport, with her possessive/be owned kink, she might have enjoyed it in a thriller sort of way, but it wouldn’t have been a good thrill.

“God, how did we spend an entire week apart?” Becca murmured into my chest as we continued to hold each other. That made me chuckle, and she pulled back to look up into my eyes again without actually letting go of me. “What’s so funny?”

“Becca, Sugar,” I said, pulling the backwards ball cap off her head and running my fingers through her hair just because I could. “I thought the exact same thing not thirty seconds ago.”

“Great minds,” Becca said, not finishing the quote.

“Great indeed,” I concurred. Then I reached out with one arm to Wanda, who gladly stepped in to make it a three-way group hug. “Fuck, I love you both so much.”

“OK,” Becca said after a long, tight hug, pulling away and breaking us up. “So we’re gonna head back to my place for the night, but we’re stopping on the way to grab food. What do you feel like eating?”

“I’m good with whatever,” I said, and turned to ask Wanda what she would want, but I got caught by her giving me a pointed glare and wagging a finger at me.

“Becca’s already gone out of her way to make sure I’ve been getting my comfort food, Tiger,” she said. “What do you want to eat?”

“Um,” I said, my mind suddenly going blank as I promptly lost any idea of what kind of food would be good at that moment. Then I snorted softly at the first thing that came to mind.

“What?” Becca asked. “What is it?”

“Are there any good burger places in Seattle?” I asked.

“Several,” Wanda said. “But why is that funny?”

“I’ll… tell you in the car,” I sighed, thinking of kissing the taste of burger. I hadn’t given anyone the details of that kiss, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to. Especially not the girls whom Dayana didn’t actually know yet, but definitely would sooner or later. That just wasn’t fair.

“Speaking of talking in the car,” Wanda said, grabbing my hand again along with my carry-on handle, leaving my other one free for Becca to do the same. “He said he has some wild story or something to tell us.”

“Please, Robbie, do not tell me you got sexually assaulted again by the crazy Russian lady,” Becca sighed.

“No, no,” I said. “Nothing like that. It wasn’t the Russian lady, and it wasn’t sexual.”

Both girls stopped dead in their tracks.

“You got assaulted?” Wanda asked.

“Barely,” I said.

“Well, what does that mean?” Becca asked.

That was when my stomach growled. They hadn’t served a meal on the flight, the cheap bastards.

“How about we get in the car, and then I can start the story?” I suggested. The stomach growl had cracked them both into smiles again, and Becca snorted and headed for the driver’s side as Wanda and I went to the passenger side.

“You’re up front, Tiger,” Wanda said.

“No, he should get in the back with you,” Becca directed before ducking into the car.

“No,” I said, tugging Wanda further up the car and opening the passenger door for her. “You two are both riding up front. I’ll take the back. Otherwise, it’s either not fair, or I’m too tempted to fool around in the back seat.”

Wanda rolled her eyes, but with the sort of pleased grin that said she enjoyed the fact that I might not have been able to keep my hands off of her. “Fine,” she said. “But only because we want to hear the story.”

I gave her a kiss on the forehead, holding the door open for her still, and she got in and let me close the door for her before I opened the back, dropped in both my bags and slid in.

“Well?” Becca asked.

“Start driving, Sugar,” I said. “Whatever’s on the way to your place. And let me tell you about a lady named Janet…”