That Didn't Come Out Right

On Sunday morning, I delayed going downstairs for as long as I could.  I was still embarrassed about Ken walking in on us the night before.  Brody actually slept in with me for once and he had to talk me out of bed.  I finally dragged myself out of bed, pulled some clothes on, brushed my teeth, brushed my hair, and generally procrastinated until Brody knocked on the bathroom door and said, "You might as well get it over with."

I was maybe being a little dramatic with my mortification, but your fiance's brother/your roommate for a month just should never see you having an orgasm.  I was already a little uptight about even talking about my sex life, and now it had been witnessed.  It was pretty much my worst nightmare.

Brody was waiting for me when I finally emerged from the bathroom.  We walked downstairs together and into the kitchen.  Ken was washing some dishes; his from breakfast, I assumed.  He looked up when we walked in, and my face immediately got hot.  "Oh, um, good morning," he said, looking just as embarrassed as I felt.

"Morning," I mumbled, making a beeline for the fridge.

"Good morning," Brody said, much more cheerfully.  "Going somewhere?"  I was so intent on avoiding Ken's eyes that I hadn't even noticed that he was fully dressed, shoes and all.

"Yeah, I'm heading into work for a little bit to make sure everything's ready to go for tomorrow.  I'll probably be back in a couple hours."

Ken ended up being gone for most of the day.  Brody got some work done that morning, and then we spent the afternoon together.  We went for a long walk around our neighborhood, grilled some pork chops for dinner together and ate them on the deck, and then curled up on the couch with a movie.  Ken came home while we were watching the movie and decided to hang out with us.  I was still uncomfortable at first, but my embarrassment faded by the time the movie was over.

On Monday, I texted Lauren to see if we were on for that evening.  She said yes, and I was surprised but glad.  Maybe she'd finally fill me in on what was going on.  We decided to just hang out at her house, and I picked up some wine on my way.

"How's your roommate situation?" she asked, once we were sitting on the couch with wine and food.

I recounted Saturday night's embarrassing moment, much to her delight.  I thought she was going to choke, she was laughing so hard.  "That's amazing," she gasped, when she finally caught her breath enough to speak.

"I beg to differ," I said dryly.

"Someday you'll laugh about it," she said, nodding confidently.

"Speaking of Saturday," I replied, changing the subject, "Alex came out with us."

"Oh, well that's good," she replied, suddenly incredibly interested in her dinner.

I narrowed my eyes.  "Lauren?  What's--"

"Nothing!" she snapped, not even letting me finish.

"That's insulting," I said.  "How long have we been friends?  What's going on?"

She glared at me.  "That's exactly what he fucking said," she grumbled.  "Except he was nicer about it."

"You would have said the same thing to me," I pointed out.

She considered this, then nodded, conceding.  "We got in a fight.  About this guy that I work with."

"Because...?"

Lauren sighed and took out her phone.  She tapped the screen a couple times, scrolled, then handed it to me.  The text in the middle of the screen said, "Get rid of that boyfriend yet?"

I raised an eyebrow curiously as I handed the phone back.  "So Alex saw that and didn't appreciate it?" I asked.

"He asked a few questions, and he got a little jealous.  I got mad that he was acting all jealous and untrusting and I left."  I watched her carefully, because I wasn't convinced I was getting the whole story.  "Fuck, stop looking at me like that," she said.  I didn't say anything, and she sighed again, sinking back into the couch.  "I'm bored, Liv," she said finally.

"What do you mean?  With Alex?" I asked.

She shrugged.  "I don't know.  Yes?  I guess so."

"What's the deal with the guy from work, then?" I asked, trying to figure out how the pieces fit together.  "I know you wouldn't cheat on Alex."

"At least someone trusts me," she grumbled.  When I didn't say anything, she said, "Flirting with him is fun. But then I feel guilty doing it, so I'm grateful for Alex and I'm happy to see him, and it feels risky so it makes things more exciting."

"That sounds dangerous," I said carefully.

"Clearly," she snapped.  Then she grimaced a little.  "I'm sorry.  I don't know what to do," she admitted.  "I don't want to lose Alex, but I don't want to be bored."

"What have you said to him about it?"

She snorted.  "Nothing.  What am I supposed to do, say, 'hey Alex, I'm bored with our relationship, can you try to be a little more exciting'?"

I laughed.  "No, of course not.  But I think if you did it carefully, you could do it.  Maybe if you asked him to do something that would make things less boring?  Or if you started doing things to make it more exciting?"

"I don't even know what I want from him, though," she said miserably.  "I mean, I'm worried that it's not anything he can do differently.  What if I'm just broken and won't ever be happy with just one person?"  I started to answer but she promptly cut me off.  "That was a rhetorical question.  I don't want to talk about this anymore."

I had been expecting that (in fact, I was surprised that she'd made it as long as she had in this conversation) so I let her change the subject without protest.  The new subject that she chose was my wedding, and she pulled out her phone to show me a picture of a potential bridesmaid dress she had found.  "We have two options.  Short or long?" she asked.

I shrugged.  "Doesn't matter," I replied.  "Whichever one you and Lynn like better."

"That's the problem," Lauren said.  "One is short and one is long, and we love both of them.  Lynn likes one slightly more, and I like the other slightly more.  So we're at a stalemate, and the best way to decide is for you to decide between long or short dresses."

I frowned.  "That's so much pressure," I joked.  I considered for a minute, then said,  "Well, since it's fall and it will be in the evening, I guess long makes more sense."

Lauren smiled triumphantly.  "I win," she crowed.  She held her phone out to me, showing me this dress.

"Oh, I love that dress," I said excitedly.  "Does it come in white?  I want to wear it!"

"You have a dress," Lauren pointed out.  "So does that mean we have the go-ahead to order this one?"

"Definitely, if you both like it," I agreed.  "Can I see the other one?  Just out of curiosity."

"No way," she replied.  "What if you like that one better?  It will remain a secret.  Unless you ask Lynn, I guess.  I'm sure she'd be happy to show you."

Brody texted while we were talking about wedding stuff, and he said he'd be stuck at work until fairly late.  I ended up staying at Lauren's until after 9, in no hurry to go home and hang out with Ken.  Not for any particular reason except that I still hardly knew him and I always felt incredibly awkward and uncomfortable one-on-one with people I don't know well.

I was hoping Brody would be home by the time I got there, but I pulled my car into an empty garage.  It was dark and quiet on the main floor of our house, and I locked the door behind me and turned on a couple lights.  I headed to the kitchen for some water, then heard, "Brody?" from the general vicinity of the stairs to the lower level.

"No, it's me," I called back.  "Brody's still at work."

"Oh hi, Olivia," Ken said, wandering into the kitchen.  "Brody works some weird hours sometimes, huh?"

"Yeah," I agreed.  "He has good weeks and bad weeks.  The bad weeks usually mean he's there pretty late and sometimes on the weekend too."  I paused, then asked, "Did you need something?"  I meant for it to be helpful, because he had been looking for Brody and I wondered if he had a question or wanted something, but it ended up sounding kind of dismissive.

"No," he said quickly.  "I was just going to ask Brody a question.  Good night, Olivia."

"Wait," I said as he turned.  "That didn't come out right.  I meant it wondering if you needed something I could help with, since Brody isn't here.  Sorry."

"No," he repeated, but he gave me a small smile.  "It's no big deal, I knew what you meant.  Thank you, though."  Then he turned back towards the stairs and disappeared.

"Nice work, slick," I muttered to myself, busying myself with washing the couple of dishes that were in the sink.  I felt bad, because I really had meant it as a friendly offer.  I told you I was awkward around people I don't know well.  I finished up the dishes, gave the counter a quick wipe, then double checked that the doors were locked and headed upstairs.

While I was brushing my teeth, I heard the garage door open.  The garage is under our bathroom, so we can hear the door in the bathroom, but usually not in the bedroom, luckily.  By the time Brody made it up to our room, I was in bed with my Kindle.  "Hi," I greeted him, as he flopped onto the bed, still wearing his shoes, shirt, and loosened tie.

"Hi," he mumbled, his face pressed against the blanket.  He used his toes to pry his shoes off, letting them drop to the floor.  Then he scooted over until his head was on my leg.  I pushed my fingers into his hair and began massaging his scalp.  He shifted to get more comfortable then closed his eyes, sighing happily.

"Bad day?" I asked.

"Just long," he replied, his voice still muffled.  He yawned, then rolled over and sat up.  "I need to shower before I just fall asleep in my clothes."

"Did you eat anything?" I asked.  "Otherwise I can go find you something while you shower."

"I ate," he said, leaning over and kissing me.  "But thank you.  I bought dinner for everyone that stayed late with  me."  He stood and yanked his tie off, tossing it in the direction of his closet.  He wandered into the bathroom and I heard the shower turn on.  Then he came back and leaned against the door frame while he unbuttoned his shirt.  "How was your day?"

"Fine," I said, shrugging.  "Nothing exciting.  Oh, Ken was looking for you."

"I know," Brody responded, tossing his shirt into the hamper.  "He found me."

"Good.  I think I maybe hurt his feelings.  I didn't mean to."

He gave me a weird look, and I quickly explained what happened.  He shrugged and shook his head.  "He didn't say anything or seem upset," he assured me.  "If he is, I'm sure he'll get over it.  I wouldn't worry about it too much."

"Did you forget who you're talking to?" I asked, laughing.  "I worry about everything."

"That's true," Brody agreed.  "Well, I'm not worried."  He went and got in the shower and I turned my attention back to my Kindle.

When he came out of the bathroom, he got in bed right away and we turned off the lights and settled easily into our familiar, tangled-together pre-sleeping position.  "I want to go camping," he said, once we were settled.

"Okay, then let's go camping," I agreed.  "I can't believe I haven't done that since I've moved out here."

"I wonder if anyone else would want to go," he mused.

"Maybe, we could certainly ask," I replied.  "Labor Day weekend?"

"Yeah, maybe we can try to find a group site somewhere and anyone that wants to come can," he suggested.

We talked about it for a few more minutes, until Brody's yawns won out over his excitement.  We shifted into more comfortable sleeping positions and we were both out within minutes.