Ikher scrolled through the song list and selected the one he wanted. Chuck waved to get his attention and when Ikher looked, Chuck shook his head and pointed at the screen.

“You don’t like Van Helen?” Ikher asked.

Chuck’s shoulders deflated as Vernard’s voice echoed down the hallway. “Nope! We aren’t playing that crap.”

“Ah shit, here we go,” Chuck said with a sigh.

Ikher looked between them as Vernard rounded the corner. “What’s going on?”

Chuck sat. “V’s got a passionate hate for the singer.”

“Disdain,” Vernard said to Chuck before he turned to Ikher. “He wore a leotard and did gymnastics on stage. The man’s a clown.“

“Yeah, but he could sing,” Ikher said.

“Could he?” Vernard asked, eyebrows going up. “Cause I seem to remember them having what, two other singers?”

Chuck shrugged. “I liked Van Haggred.”

“Sammy wasn’t bad,” Vernard said, pointing at Chuck before looking back to Ikher. “Derrick Lee Roth is an embarrassment to rock n roll.”

Ikher chuckled and shook his head. “Okay, something else then.”

They were halfway through the first song when Chuck’s phone buzzed several times. When the song ended, he picked it up and scowled. He sent a text and when the reply came back, he sighed and took the guitar off. “We gotta head out.”

Ikher set down his drumsticks. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah, we gotta pick up Buckets.”

“Buckets?”

Vernard snorted. “He means Larry.”

Ikher shook his head. “Why do you call him Buckets?”

“Buckets of tears,” Chuck said, sliding his coat on. “Mafucker’s always crying or whining about something.” Chuck gave Ikher a fist bump. “Sorry, mane. We’ll catch you tomorrow.”

“It’s all good,” Ikher said. “I should start getting ready for dinner.”

With Chuck and Vernard gone, Ikher put the game away and prepped for the evening. Eric warned him about Sun’s new smell sensitivity, so he spritzed the front room, kitchen, and bedroom to clear out the weed smell. With orders for little spice or loud smelling sauce, he decided on some basic hamburgers and potato wedges. As he pulled the burgers off the skillet, there was a knock at the door.

When Ikher opened it, Sun stuck her head in and sniffed. “Hey! Thanks for no bad smells,” Sun said, giving him a hug.

Eric followed her in and Ikher waved them to the table.

Around half way through, Eric wrapped his knuckle on the table and pointed at Ikher. “We’re having a summer solstice party next month. Your attendance is required.”

Ikher nodded between chewing. “What’s involved? Am I bringing a dish?”

Eric shook his head. “No dish needed. Just bring you. We have a bunch of friends over for food and drinks with a bonfire in the backyard.”

“Sounds cool.”

“It’s always fun,” Sun said, then elbowed Eric. “Someone ends up drinking too much and making a fool of themself.”

Eric held up his hands. “Learned my lesson from last year. Don’t let Billie make drinks for me.”

“That bad?” Ikher asked.

“He stripped down to his underwear and declared himself the Solstice King,” Sun said. “Then he tried to jump over the fire. Thankfully, it was small, but he still tripped and nearly knocked himself out.”

Ikher laughed. “Wow.”

Sun wrapped her hand around Eric’s bicep. “Yeah, he isn’t as refined when he’s two sheets to the wind.”

They finished their meal and as Eric put the plates in the sink, Sun put her hand on Ikher’s. “There’s something we need to tell you.”

“What’s up?” Ikher asked as Eric sat next to his wife with an enormous smile.

They looked at each other before Sun turned back to him. “I’m pregnant.”

Ikher’s heart caught in his throat and his eyes grew huge. “Is… is it mine?”

Sun squinted at him for a second, then laughed. “No, it’s not yours.”

“But the condom broke one time,” Ikher said, looking back and forth at them.

“Yeah, and we replaced it right away,” she said, then pointed to Eric. “We worked out the timeline. I was probably pregnant when you and I started messing around.”

Ikher’s whole body melted. “Oh, man. Whew.”

Eric laughed and Sun shook her head before getting up and taking Ikher’s hand. She pulled him over to the couch, made him sit, then dropped into his lap.

“So,” she said, drawing her finger down his chest. “In light of that, we should stop having fun.”

Ikher nodded, looking up at her. “Yeah, that makes sense.”

She pulled his hair out of the topknot. “Well, I have a request.” She smiled at him, then looked at Eric, who sat next to Ikher. “I want to have a going out of business party for my vagina.”

Ikher laughed. “Okay...”

Sun tucked some of his hair behind his ear. “I want us to have fun one last time. Before I get all big and awkward.”

Ikher looked at Eric, who chuckled and nodded. He thought for a second, then said, “Yeah, sure.”

“Excellent,” she said, tracing Ikher’s ear with her finger. “But, there’s more.” Sun stuck out her bottom lip and made her best puppy face. “Would you... be okay with Eric joining us?”

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

“Uhh,” Ikher said, his brows coming together. “Like... all of us having sex?” Sun nodded. “How would that work?”

Sun put her hand on his chest. “We know you aren’t into guys. So, Eric would be there for me. You both would.”

Eric nodded. “Yeah, I’d have no intentional contact with you. Don’t want you to worry.”

Ikher shook his head. “I wasn’t worried about that.” He looked lost in his thoughts for a moment before he looked at Eric. “It was more... do you go first, then me, or do we do stuff at the same time? To each other?”

Sun’s jaw dropped, and she looked at Eric, who was just as shocked. “Yes and yes,” she said with a bounce. “Let’s figure it out as we go.”

Ikher processed for a second, then nodded. “Ummm, okay, yeah.”

“Yay!” she yelled and pulled her blouse over her head.

“Curtains,” Eric said with a chuckle as he stood to close one side.

Sun leaned forward and pulled the other side. With the curtains closed, she unhooked her bra and let it fall to the floor. She put her hands on her hips and glanced between the two men.

“Well, what are you two waiting for?” she said, as she fell into Ikher’s lap. “Let the worship begin.”

----------------------------------------

Katrina grabbed the bags in the back seat and bumped the car door closed with her hip. She waited at the door after pressing the doorbell. After another minute, she dropped the bags, pulled her keys from her purse, and opened the door.

“Dahlia!”

Ferrying the bags in, she kicked the doors closed and yelled again, “Dahlia!”

Silence. Katrina set the bags down and started up the stairs. This girl is so lazy. If she was sleeping in the middle of the day again… At the top of the stairs, she rounded the railing and opened the door to her daughter’s room. Dahlia jumped at the door, flying open. She was on her bed, headphones on, painting her toes.

Dahlia slipped the headphones off and fast paced bass music emanated from them. “What happened to knocking?”

Katrina put her hands on her hips. “Come help with the groceries.”

“But,” Dahlia said, pointing to her freshly painted nails.

Katrina pointed out the door. “Now.”

Dahlia huffed but swung her feet off the bed and duckwalked behind her mother, trying not to mess up the paint.

“Did you apply for jobs?” Katrina asked, grabbing two bags when they reached the bottom of the steps.

“I called around.”

“And?”

“A couple places need people. I gotta put in applications.”

Katrina nodded as she set the bags on the kitchen island. “Good. When your feet are dry, take my car and go apply.”

“Okay, okay,” Dahlia said, finally making it to the kitchen. She set her bags on the counter and grabbed an express mail envelope. “I had to sign for this.”

Katrina took it and turned it over. She wasn’t expecting anything and nothing for the business would have come to her house. Inside was a black envelope sprinkled with gold glitter.

“Looks fancy,” Dahlia said, peeking around her mother. “You have a new admirer?”

“No,” Katrina said, reading the card inside. “It’s a party invitation from one of my clients.”

“Is he hot on you?”

“Stop,” Katrina said with a scowl at her daughter. “It’s a married couple.” She flipped the card over to look at the back. “This might be fun. Would you want to come?”

Dahlia used a finger to pull down one edge of the card so she could read. “Maybe. Can I bring a date?”

Katrina dropped the card and glared at her daughter. “As long as it’s not that thug boy.”

“What’s wrong with Ricardo?”

Katrina opened the refrigerator door and sighed. “What’s right with him? Does he even have a job?”

Dahlia huffed. “Him and his cousin have been selling car stereos.”

Katrina’s eyes rolled. “My god. Why do you have such terrible taste in men?”

“I’m not trying to marry him, momma.”

Katrina let her head fall to her shoulder as she looked at her daughter. “Why are you with him, then?”

Dahlia grinned over her shoulder and mimicked having sex against the kitchen counter. “Having fun.”

Katrina sighed. “You’re so crude.” She pointed to the peppers near Dahlia. “At least your sister has a decent man.”

Dahlia shook her head as she handed the peppers over. “Nope. DiDi broke up with Mike.”

“What? Why?”

Dahlia shrugged. “He wanted her to move back east with him after she graduated.”

“Oh, well no, she shouldn’t do that.” Kat stood and crossed her arms. “That’s a shame. Mike was such a nice boy. Is she upset?”

“Not really. She liked him, but she wasn’t in love or anything.” Dahlia elbowed her mother. “What about you? This is the longest you been single in a while.”

Katrina shook her head. “There are no good men at my age. This is why I told you two to find a good one while you’re still young.”

Dahlia sucked her teeth, then hopped up onto the counter and swung her feet to dry the paint. “We got plenty of time, momma.”

Katrina sighed. She had thought that too, but it felt like creating a business and raising her girls to be smart and independent had taken most of her ‘youth’. She had tried to get back into dating since the business didn’t require her constant attention and her girls were self-sufficient. At thirty eight, she was far from past her prime, but it sure seemed like it considering the caliber of men that approached her: very young foolish boys who approached any woman with a pulse or greying retirees who wanted everything their way.

It would be nice to have someone to lean on or relax with, but the long-term prospects just weren’t there. The loneliness was easier to ignore by keeping busy with the football coaching seasons and the busy season at work. With the latter dying down, maybe it was time to find a new hobby.

“I don’t know if I like this color,” Dahlia said, examining her toes under the bright kitchen lights.

Katrina whacked Dahlia with a package of tortillas. “Get off my counter and go apply for those jobs.”

----------------------------------------

Eric and Sun were mostly clothed when Ikher came to the front room in only his boxers, a lit blunt in his mouth. He slipped on his shorts, then held the blunt out to Sun. She pinched her nose and backed away.

“Oh, yeah. Sorry,” Ikher said, backing up and wafting the smoke away from her.

He put the blunt in the ashtray and moved it to the kitchen table, then opened a window. He turned to find Eric standing behind him.

“Hey, are we cool?”

Ikher squinted at him. “Yeah. Why wouldn’t we be?”

“You know, back there,” Eric said, nodding his head back to the bedroom.

Ikher waved him away. “Oh yeah, it’s all good.” He grabbed his shirt off the floor and shook his head. “That was crazy intense.”

Sun nodded. “You got a small taste of what it’s like when you’re both doing stuff to me.”

Eric took a few drags from the blunt and blew it out the open window as Ikher pulled his shirt on.

“Thanks for dinner,” Sun said, giving Ikher a hug.

“Thanks for… including me?” Ikher said with a chuckle.

Eric laughed and gave Ikher a fist bump. “Don’t forget the party.”

Ikher shook his head. “No way. I’m looking forward to it.”