Copyright © 2020 Kaizer Wolf

Innocent Devil's Harem | Chapter 12-2: Learning More about My Girlfriend’s Preferences

“You’re confident Serenity doesn’t know your secret, right?”

I looked at her in shock.

“No, I’m pretty sure she doesn’t.” My brow then furrowed, thinking back to earlier that morning when my hair almost turned white. My housemate had seemed legitimately shocked that it looked a little gray for a second, so I felt confident she had no idea. “But why do you ask?” I wondered.

Gabriella focused on the road. “Well, maybe she invited him over specifically because she’s trying to protect you.”

I was shocked again. “How so?” I said in disbelief. “Because all I did was raise suspicion.”

She shook her head. “I mean, if she thought you might be the one involved, but doesn’t know your actual secret, then maybe she figured it would remove suspicion. To show you are a normal guy, or maybe she was just focused on seeing if there would be suspicion in the first place. In which case, she might have uprooted you both and run away if needed.”

I shook my head, feeling like that was just too ridiculous to be true.

“Probably not though,” Gabriella reconsidered. “Now that I’m thinking about her reactions at dinner when Nick was telling his story about you, she reacted more like she didn’t know. So then, it’s probably just because she doesn’t want them to catch the guy who saved me, prompting her to be extra curious about how it was progressing.”

I nodded, agreeing that might be the case, and knowing that made the most sense at the moment. Especially if she didn’t invite him over as a date, or have coffee with him for a date either.

“Although…” Gabriella continued hesitantly.

“Although what?”

She frowned. “It’s just, there was one point when that guy was initially telling us about the first case, about when you were younger, I saw the look Serenity gave you. The moment he said ‘eight or nine years old,’ and added that the Impaler was probably your age, it was like she suddenly knew he was talking about you.”

Shit.

I didn’t respond, having no idea what to say. Or if her assumption was even true.

She continued. “Would there be any reason why she would know?” my new fiancé prompted.

I sighed heavily. “I…” I took a deep breath. “I was really depressed afterward. For months. Everyone knew something was wrong with me. My parents. Her parents. And of course she knew too.” I paused. “I didn’t tell them anything, but maybe…”

“Did they take you to see a therapist or anything?” Gabriella asked gently, sounding more like she was just curious.

I shook my head. “No. I mean, why would they? Yeah, I was acting strange, but I didn’t say anything odd. And even if I did see a therapist, then I would have just made an effort to act more like my normal self.”

She simply nodded, and we both fell silent for a few minutes, before she spoke up again hesitantly.

“But what if she does know, Kai?” she whispered. “Or what if she figured it out from Nick’s story? What then? Even if she doesn’t believe his description of the guy, she might now suspect it’s really you who saved me.”

I glanced at her, suddenly wondering if she was right. Of course, my housemate wouldn’t know for sure even if she did suspect, but she might have made connections between Nick’s story and my own life. After all, I’d been nine years old when I unexpectedly became extremely depressed – a depression that lasted for months with seemingly no cause.

Doubtful that was something she’d ever forgotten about.

And it was also possible she’d made the connection between the victims and the fact that all the murders had been serial killer cases she’d been working on. All cases that resulted in her being extremely upset, compared to the others she was assigned.

But as Gabriella said, what then?

If my lifelong friend knew my secret now – actually believed Nick’s description of the perp – and yet still seemed fine with me, then what?

“I don’t know,” I admitted quietly.

“I’m going to talk to her,” Gabriella blurted out, prompting me to look at her in shock. She quickly clarified when she saw my alarmed reaction. “Like, I’m not going to tell her your secret,” she reassured me. “But I’m going to figure out what she knows.”

“And what would be the point of that?” I asked seriously.

Gabriella was hesitant. “Kai, if she has feelings for you…and if she already knows your secret…” Her voice trailed off, before she took a deep breath. “Look, I’m not an idiot. I know I’m hot, and I know you like me, but you’ve only really known me for a day. You’ve loved Serenity for much longer, and I’m not stupid. I know that if it came down to it, you’d probably choose her over me.”

I didn’t know how to respond.

What could I even say to that?

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Because denying it felt like a lie. Or rather, I felt like I wouldn’t even know how to choose at this point. Then again, I could probably survive losing Gabriella, whereas I felt like I couldn’t survive losing Serenity, even though losing either would be horrible.

“So,” she continued quietly. “I’d rather see if we can work something out now, instead of you leaving me years down the road.”

I again couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “But why would you even want to do that?” I asked quietly. “I can’t imagine that most women would want to…” My voice trailed off.

She sighed heavily, her gaze focused out the window. “Because I feel addicted to you. And because I don’t want to lose you.” She paused, her tone shifting. “You’re right, most women wouldn’t put up with it. But I’m not most women. I’ve finally found the guy I want to be with, and it might be different if it was another girl, but it’s Serenity.” She sighed. “I guess I also don’t want to lose her friendship either,” she added. “Because this feels very much like my friend telling me about the guy she’s crushed on for years, and then I went behind her back and stole him from her.”

Nothing about this conversation was making me horny, or otherwise affecting my appearance. Because it felt like she was speaking about impossibilities, and even the idea that she was serious about possibly sharing me with my lifelong friend felt surreal. Like, it was as if I was in some kind of alternate reality, where what would normally be every guy’s dream was coming true.

I had a girlfriend that wanted to share me?

Or was at least okay with the idea?

I mean, was she seriously that addicted to me? How was that even possible?

Or was she bisexual or something?

My eyes widened at that possibility, suddenly wondering if she wasn’t telling me something about herself.

Gabriella continued before I could speak. “So, let me talk to her and at least try to figure out how she feels about you.” She sighed. “And then, we can go from there. But I promise I won’t tell her your secret, unless you approve first.”

I nodded slowly, my thoughts now elsewhere as I glanced at her from the corner of my vision. “Hey,” I finally managed, only to choke up, suddenly really nervous.

“What’s wrong?” she wondered, her tone still a little somber from our conversation.

I took a deep breath. “C-Can I ask you a question?” I stammered. “One that might be offensive?”

She looked at me in confusion, her expression reassuring. “Of course, Kai. Anything. You won’t offend me.”

I grimaced, hoping that was really the case. “Umm,” I delayed, before gritting my teeth and just getting it over with. “You don’t, like…I mean, you aren’t like, interested in women too, are you?” I finally said.

Instantly, I knew from her scent she was embarrassed as hell. I glanced at her to see that her face was flushed red, all her muscles tense, her heart racing.

“I’m…” she tried, only to hesitate. “I’m not sure,” she whispered, focusing straight ahead at the road.

I sighed heavily, feeling a little less stressed now, mainly because her own tension made me tense, but having her admit my random suspicion made me feel less crazy for even wondering. It also helped everything make a lot more sense, making all this feel less like some kind of test or trap.

“Okay,” I replied simply, relaxing more fully.

She looked at me in surprise. “That doesn’t bother you?” she asked seriously, only to clarify. “I mean, obviously most guys would be thrilled to learn about that, but it doesn’t bother you that I have a bit of a crush on Serenity?”

My hair instantly flashed white, mostly alarmed by the unprompted confession.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” she replied quickly, glancing around to see it was far too dark for anyone to notice my appearance anyway. She then lowered her voice. “But I guess that means you’re okay with it,” she added somberly, like she’d just admitted to a grave sin.

I took a deep breath, trying to force my body to relax again. “Umm, it’s just that everything makes a little more sense, is all,” I admitted. “But then, that makes me wonder if adding women to the equation changes your answers from last night…” I paused. “About your experience with other people,” I added quietly.

“What?” she said in alarm. “No, of course not, Kai. I didn’t lie to you.” She then hesitated. “I mean, okay, yes, I did let the lesbian friend I mentioned kiss me once, but it was hardly anything romantic. It was more me just wanting to know what it was like.” She examined my expression for a moment before continuing. “And with that one boyfriend I had, we only ever kissed. Nothing more. All of that is still true.” She grimaced. “I’ve never actually dated a girl or anything. I just, sort of…” Her voice trailed off.

“Like my best friend,” I finished for her.

She sighed. “Well, obviously I like you a lot more. But Serenity is really sweet, and we have a lot in common, and of course she’s really pretty, and…” She sighed again. “I just kind of fell for her, I guess. At least, before I met you for the first time.”

I nodded, trying to keep my thoughts reserved since it still felt like she was talking about something impossible. Because I knew Serenity really well, and I just couldn’t imagine her being into anything at all deviant. No way in hell was Serenity interested in me as anything other than the young friend she grew up with, and no way in hell was she interested in women at all.

Certainly, Serenity had never had a serious boyfriend, assuming the few guys she dated before our parents passed away weren’t serious, but she’d also never shown any signs in even considering a date with a girl either.

As far as I knew.

I mean, what exactly was a date anyway?

Really, it was subjective, since going out to eat could be a date, depending on whether or not the two people were interested in each other. So then, technically my housemate having lunch with Gabriella almost every day could be a ‘date,’ but I doubted that was the case.

Even just now, Serenity denied that going out for coffee with Nick was a date, or even bringing him home for dinner, so she likely didn’t perceive herself as being someone who had gone on a date in a long time.

Either way, if she was actually into anything deviant, she’d never shown any signs of it, which would mean she’d have successfully kept her own huge secret.

Even though I was sure that wasn’t the case.

Taking a deep breath, I focused more intently on the road, just trying to process everything. I wasn’t going to ask Gabriella to not talk to Serenity, to figure out what she knew, but I also knew I’d be a fool to hope anything would come of it. Thus, instead I tried to focus on the more practical things to consider for the evening, like our sleeping arrangements.

“We need to figure out what we’re going to do about the bed situation,” I commented. “Like, it’ll be too risky to try sleeping together. Not that Serenity would do it, but if she barged in on us, or even just came downstairs if we were on the couch, then she’d find me transformed.”

Gabriella nodded with a pout. “Yeah, I hadn’t thought about that, but I guess you’re right.” She sighed. “That really sucks. I really want to sleep with you, and not for a romantic reason.”

I assumed she meant she wanted to feel safe. “I’m sorry,” I whispered, sincerely feeling bad. “I wish I had more control.”

She shook her head, looking up at me affectionately. “No, it’s not your fault. I’m glad I make you lose control, because then I might have never found out your secret either.” She paused, only for her face to flush bright red, her heart unexpectedly racing again.

“What is it?” I asked in concern, smelling her embarrassment as well.

“W-Well,” she stammered. “I was kind of awake by the time Serenity came downstairs this morning, and I heard her offer to…” She gulped. “Well, to let me sleep with her…” Her words began coming out in a rush. “Which, I normally wouldn’t be embarrassed about at all, even if I did have a bit of a thing for her, but just after telling you about it, my feelings suddenly feel more real than they did before, and it just feels really embarrassing knowing what you might be thinking and…”

Her voice trailed off, only for her to calm down as she looked at me in confusion, probably realizing I hadn’t transformed.

“Or maybe I’m overreacting?” she wondered hesitantly.

Copyright © 2020 Kaizer Wolf