50 - Joanna

50

Joanna

Theo was afraid the other guys might come back for more weed, so the three of us got dressed before ordering room service. Then we lit up another joint while waiting. I had to admit: marijuana was a nice alternative to alcohol. I wasn't going to make a habit of it when we got back to Chicago, but while we were here? It was doing a great job of helping me forget about my problems.

The waiter who delivered the food made a joke about us having the munchies, which of course sent us into a new fit of giggles.

Theo turned on the TV and found a channel playing A Muppet Christmas , which was a ridiculous thing to be showing in May, so of course we decided to watch it while chowing down on our food. I dipped a mozzarella stick into my ice cream just to tease Austin, but to my surprise it was actually delicious .

We even told Austin the full story about how Theo and I had come to meet. He thought that was hilarious. "A dentist? No kidding?"

"For the Blackhawks!" I exclaimed.

Once I was in a food coma, I found myself crashing hard . Theo offered to make sure I got back to my room safely, but I told him I would be all right.

"Same time tomorrow?" Austin asked.

I grinned at the two of them. "Yes, please."

"Hell yeah," Theo agreed.

"Let's meet in my room," Austin added. "To lower the chances of Bradyn or the other guys swinging by to pick up weed."

I gave them a final lusty smile. "It's a date."

I wandered back to my room in a daze. I hadn't given them goodbye kisses or anything, but it didn't seem weird. If anything, it added to the casual nature of what we had done.

But the act itself was anything but casual. It was one of the most intense things I had ever done.

And I loved every sweaty minute of it.

A threesome had always been an abstract idea to me. Something that maybe would be fun to try once. But after tonight's experience, I knew it was so much more than just a one-off night of experimentation. It was something I really, really wanted to do again.

I was thrilled that Theo and Austin felt the same way. Together, we all had this amazing chemistry that was… well, shocking, given my awful history with men. It was refreshing to connect with Theo, and Austin…

…and Landon .

I almost stumbled on the resort path. Why had Landon popped into my head like that? It was true, we did have some chemistry which made it easy to pretend that we were in a relationship. And the kisses we'd shared absolutely had the spark of something real. But I couldn't compare those few incidents with what had just happened with Theo and Austin.

Could I?

When I rounded the corner toward our suite, I skidded to a stop. There was a woman outside my door, knocking gently.

Danicka?

Oh no. I was way too high for this interaction. If I could sneak away…

When she saw me, she turned and said, "There you are! I've been looking all over for you, Joanna."

"You have?"

"Where have you been?" she asked.

"I was just, uh…" My mind refused to work. Zero plausible excuses came to mind.

"Oh, it's all right dear," Danicka said with a knowing smile. "I wasn't born yesterday. You're allowed to have a little fun."

"I am?"

"Oh, please. I did plenty of that when I was younger and more adventurous."

"You did?"

"It's not exactly a secret. Clark still tries to talk me into it sometimes, but he thinks I'm too old to handle it."

I stared at her like an idiot.

"I can smell the marijuana on you, dear," she said in a lower voice. "I know everyone has been sneaking off to Teddy's room to get high. It's perfectly fine."

"Yes," I said in the most normal voice I could manage. "Marijuana. That's exactly what I was doing."

"I wanted to tell you about the judges I know," Danicka went on. "I took the liberty of putting some feelers out today, especially in the light of what happened at Defense Technologies. I'm going to get you a clerkship, even if I have to call in every favor I know!"

"Oh, you don't have to go to all that trouble," I said.

"Nonsense! Anything for family."

Family . She was acting like I was family. Guilt flooded my body and made me want to run into my room and slam the door.

"That's incredibly sweet of you," I said. "But what if Landon and I break up? Not that I expect us to, of course! But I'm afraid that if you get me a job like this, and we ever do break up, you…"

She smiled sympathetically. "Oh, honey. I want to help you because it's the right thing to do. Us women need to support each other. The men certainly aren't going to help us get ahead, are they?"

"Well…"

"You two could break up tomorrow and I would still help you get a clerkship," she reiterated. "You helped make the wedding special, and I will always remember you for that, no matter what happens."

"That's… really sweet of you to say," I said, although this wasn't helping assuage my guilt.

"Besides, if you two ever break up, I'll probably take your side!" she added with a laugh. Then she leaned close and said, "Marisa is sweet. But I always pictured my daughter-in-law being more like you."

She gave me a hug, then said, "By the time we get back to Chicago, I'll have something lined up for you. So relax and enjoy the rest of your vacation!"

I watched her go, feeling a strange mixture of guilt and giddiness. A clerkship? It was the life preserver I desperately needed right now. And even if I didn't necessarily believe that she would take my side if—when—Landon and I broke up, it was at least something .

Our room was empty. Landon must have been down by the pool hanging out with the others. I took a long shower to get the smell of sex off me, then crawled into bed.

I'd had my first threesome. I'd tried anal, to a small degree, and enjoyed it more than I expected. And now instead of a corporate job at DefTec, I was potentially going to be clerking for a judge.

It was like all of my luck had changed in the blink of an eye.

I fell asleep immediately, and slept more soundly than I ever had in my life. I suspected that the weed had something to do with that. It also gave me extremely vivid dreams. Or more like memories mixed with dreams. I was back in Theo's room, wedged between the two of them as they moved back and forth, steadily making love to me.

It somehow felt more passionate in the dream, and more erotic, if that were even possible. Theo was the one taking me from behind while I rode Austin, plunging his hard length into my ass all the way to the hilt. And while there had been a tiny amount of discomfort when we'd done it for real, in the dream there was no pain at all. Just an overwhelming pleasure, almost too intense to handle.

I woke up hornier than I had ever felt in my life, and immediately reached down to touch myself. But I stopped as I realized my current circumstances.

I was in bed. That was normal. But I was being spooned by a warm, hard, strong body. His legs were tangled with mine, and an arm was draped over my chest. It was Landon. The pillow barrier was gone.

It was my fault, I immediately realized. I was on Landon's side of the bed, with a big open space in front of me where I was supposed to be sleeping. I must have migrated over here in my sleep.

Just like when something similar had happened a few days ago, I savored the way we felt together. This was nice. It was comforting. How much of that feeling was genuine, and how much was spilling over from my erotic dream?

Now the tough part: figuring out what to do about it. As nice as this felt now , it would be awkward when he woke up. The best course of action was to quickly slip away from his grasp and leave the bed. By the time he woke, he wouldn't realize we'd been spooning.

"It's okay," he suddenly whispered into my hair. "Don't be embarrassed."

I felt my entire body tense. Well, shit. So much for that plan.

"I woke up a few minutes ago," he explained quietly. "You were all the way over here, cuddling against me. I've been trying to figure out a way to get out of bed without you waking up and feeling embarrassed."

"Too late," I said.

His broad chest vibrated against my back with silent laughter.

"Break apart on three," I said. "One, two, three."

Landon lifted his arm, and I rolled one rotation over until I was facing him with a few inches between us. His eyes were heavy from sleep, his dark hair messy from the pillow. A single beam of sunlight was streaming in the window, illuminating half of his cheek.

He looked so beautiful in that moment. Perfect in every way.

"You felt good," I revealed. I hadn't intended to say it, but the words just slipped out.

"So did you," he replied.

"There's nothing wrong with some innocent, accidental cuddling," I said.

"Nothing wrong at all," he agreed.

We continued staring at each other.

Just when I was about to get out of bed and end the awkwardness, he leaned forward and brushed his lips against mine. It caught me by surprise, and he pulled away before I could properly kiss him back.

"I just wanted to see how it felt," he said softly.

"We've kissed before," I reminded him. "A few times."

Landon shook his head against the pillow. "We've kissed. But we haven't kissed ."

"And?" I asked. "You said you wanted to see how it felt. So, how did it feel?"

"It felt," he replied, "like I want to do it again."

We stared at each other for several heartbeats. I held my breath.

Our bodies came together like magnets, lips and chests and legs and arms wrapping around each other. My body was on fire with lust, and he responded with just as much passion as I felt, kissing me hard and rolling me onto my back. I ran my fingers over his chiseled arms while he deepened the kiss with his tongue, grinding into me with his entire body. His hard length was impossible to ignore, a source of heat pushing against my thigh from within his boxers. I imagined it inside of me without any barriers, filling me, fucking me.

"I've wanted to do this all week," he said while bending down to nuzzle at my neck.

"It's crossed my mind," I admitted.

"It's almost been torture, watching you walk around in that bikini," he growled. "Stretching out on the beach chair. Rubbing lotion on your skin."

"Mmm, I wasn't trying to torture you."

"I'm sick of pretending," he admitted. "I want you for real. Right now."

"Yes," I breathed.

"If I don't have you, I'm going to explode."

"I want you too," I responded, meaning every word. "I need you inside me. It's only sex. It doesn't have to mean anything."

His kisses faltered, and he pushed up on his arms to gaze down at me.

"What's wrong?" I asked, reaching for his cock.

He jerked away as if my touch burned him, kneeling back on his haunches. "Joanna…"

I sat upright in bed. "What's the matter? Was it something I said?"

"I…" He looked at a loss for words. "Joanna, I… you…"

"Spit it out," I said, more harshly than I intended. "You're killing my lady-boner."

It was the wrong thing to say, and I realized it immediately. Landon's eyes glazed over numbly, and he hopped out of bed and pulled his pants on.

"What are you doing?" I demanded.

"I can't do this. Sorry."

He practically ran out of the room.