“Dane, stop worrying so much,” she said, sliding from his lap and going over to stand in front of her computer desk. As he watched, she placed both hands flat on the surface and bent forward, her legs straight and her rear poking out enticingly. She turned to look at him over her shoulder, a smoldering look in her eyes.
“Sam,” he groaned, laying back on the bed in defeat.
“I’m kidding, jeez!” she said, standing back up and bouncing back over to where was. “Do you really think I want to be caught by anyone?”
“I’m just saying that we need to be careful,” he sighed.
“Look…” she continued, pulling him back up to a sitting position, “I’m not stupid. I’m not going to start blowing you at the dinner table or anything.”
“That’s good, at least,” he said, fixing her with a single raised eyebrow.
“This was just some fun between two healthy adults, okay?” she continued. “We don’t have to make a big deal out of it. You got a girlfriend that I know you care about. I’ll be happy to take care of you when you’re pent-up if you’ll be open to helping me when I am.”
He nodded despite the sudden feeling of loss that had sprouted in his gut. Forcing a smile, he turned toward her and tried to look as convincingly happy as he could.
“So, you’re good?” she asked at length, eliciting a nod from him. “I promise to do my very best to leave some of you for Sally.”
“Yeah, I’m sure she’d appreciate that,” he replied.
After a long embrace, she slid off the bed and went to her door. “I guess I better make sure the coast is clear for you.”
Dane nodded, standing and moving over to where she was waiting.
Cracking the door open, he watched as she peered out for a moment before opening it a bit more and nodding for him to go.
Without hesitation, he started past and went to his room, kicking the door closed behind him.
*****
Alex
Tuesday morning
Alex bounced out of bed feeling incredible that morning. After Toni had joined her the night before, all the odd trepidation and bad feelings had eventually gone away and she’d ended up having an incredible night of sleep.
Feeling delightful, she danced around her room humming a tune for a minute, despite feeling ridiculous doing so, before hurrying out to see what other members of her family were up and moving.
Dane’s door was closed, and she briefly thought about going in and torturing him a bit but decided against it when Sam came out of her room at the end of the hall. Alex changed directions and scurried over, wrapping her up in a hug and kissing her on the cheek. Sam’s laughter was good to hear, and Alex backed up and danced away without explanation.
“I guess you had a good night?” Sam asked, following her to the bathroom.
Alex shrugged. “Just happy I guess,” she said. “I slept great, though.”
After doing her morning necessities, Alex planted another kiss on Sam’s cheek as she was standing at the sink reaching for her toothbrush and went to check on Toni. Happy to see that her twin was awake and moving, Alex pounced on the bed next to her and grinned inanely.
“Ugh… why are you in a good mood?” Toni grumbled.
“Cuz, I slept great, I love you, and… I slept great!” she explained, not really knowing why she was in such happy place that morning.
Toni laughed, despite her foul mood and scowl, then rose to start her own day. As she stood, Alex hopped off the bed and embraced her again, forcing a hug on her as Toni surrendered with a resigned sigh.
“You’re ridiculous,” she grouched.
“And you’re gorgeous!” Alex retorted. “Ha!” She gave Toni another goofy smile and kissed her. Her twin surprised her by pulling her tight and turning the kiss into something much more intense. Several seconds passed by until they both heard a noise from the doorway.
Sam was standing there, a look of surprise on her face and her mouth slightly open. “I… forgot…” she stammered and turned back to go to the bathroom.
Alex’s eyes went wide as she turned to Toni, covering her mouth as a laugh tried to escape.
Toni’s response was to roll her eyes and step around her embarrassed twin. She continued walking and left the room, completely naked. Wondering what she was actually going to go do, Alex turned after Toni as she followed Sam into the bathroom. Peering the corner, she saw Sam standing frozen facing the door as Toni walked directly up to her.
“I didn’t see,” she stammered, shaking her head.
“It was just a kiss,” Toni said. “What are you so weirded out about?”
Sam raised an eyebrow showing her skepticism. “That, was not just a kiss,” she pointed out.
In response, Toni walked right up to Sam and grabbed her face, planting yet another kiss on one of her sisters. Sam seemed to not know what to do and was standing frozen, her hands up and clenched into fists as if she were about to take a swing at Toni. After a few seconds, Toni broke the kiss and turned, offering Alex a wink before she went by on her way back to her room.
“What just happened?” Sam asked.
Alex laughed, the ridiculousness of the situation finally too much to contain. “I don’t know, honestly. It’s been a weird morning.”
Sam visibly relaxed the moment Alex laughed, then joined her a few seconds later. “You two are so weird sometimes,” she said.
With a shrug, Alex turned to go back to Toni’s room. Once inside, she shut the door and went to sit on the bed as Toni put on clothes.
“Did I mention that we need to go back to Camille’s to check out our pictures?” Toni asked. “She called and let me know that they were finished and ready to go up.”
The photo session was still a happy memory fresh in her mind, and Alex smiled when she thought back about it. “That’s fine,” she said. “When?”
After briefly discussing their work schedules and any prior commitments, the two decided to schedule some time with Camille that very evening to look at the results. Conversing a little more, Alex made sure that Toni was actually okay given the dour mood she was in and the surprising kiss. Of course, it wasn’t that Toni had kissed her, it was the fact that she’d kissed her without regard for being caught by someone else.
Satisfied that her other half wasn’t having some kind of crisis, Alex went back to her room to start getting ready for class.
***
Once class was done with, Alex hurried up to work to start her shift. While she was there, she met a new waitress that was working with Cadence, one of the other girls. The newcomer was cute, almost irritatingly ebullient, and seemed to be excited for everything.
Alex had taken the opportunity to go and find her during the lulls, wanting to introduce herself. She went over to Cadence’s section, which happened to be one off the two topless sections and waved as the two came over to the drink station she’d stopped at.
“Jessie, this is Alex,” Cadence said.
“Hi!” Jessie said, sounding extremely excited about meeting Alex.
With an easy laugh, Alex replied. “Nice to meet you, Jessie. Are you enjoying the shift?”
“Absolutely!” she gushed. “I mean… it’s still work, but at least I get to show myself off in these cute uniforms and flirt with people!”
Alex laughed again, casting a glance at Cadence. The other waitress rolled her eyes a bit and sighed, though Jessie seemed not to notice her disdain.
“Are you working all day?” Alex asked.
“Yep!” Jessie confirmed. “I’m not sure where I’m going to be this evening, though.”
“I’ll be right back,” Cadence said suddenly, and turned away, heading for the bathroom.
“Yeah, they’ll most likely move you from this room around six,” Alex confirmed. “They don’t force the new girls to work the topless sections.”
“Oh!” Jessie cried again. “This is one of those sections?” she asked.
For a moment, Alex thought that she excitable cutie was actually offended by the notion.
“Do you think they’d let me work there if I wanted to?” she continued.
“Oh… I guess, maybe,” Alex replied. “I don’t see why they wouldn’t, if you’re comfortable with it.”
“Gosh, yes!” Jessie said, her energy and enthusiasm seemingly endless. “I really hope they let me stay. Will you be the one there? You’re so gorgeous!”
Unable to stop herself, Alex laughed at the excited young woman. Still unbothered, Jessie just beamed at her happily.
“You’re so sweet,” Alex said. “I’m only working until six today, but I normally work the Saturday shift in one of the topless rooms.”
“Aww,” Jessie said with an exaggerated frown. “Well,” she continued, then cast a look around as if she were checking for ninjas or something. “Don’t tell Cadence, but she’s kind of a stick in the mud.”
“Oh?” Alex asked. “How’s that?”
“Well,” she said, reaching up and almost absentmindedly picking a string off of Alex’s top. “She’s super sweet and all, but she just doesn’t seem to have any fun. Like, I love letting people take pictures with me and stuff, but she keeps checking the phone to make sure they didn’t get her face and I’m just like… why? I can’t believe she would actually take her top off, either!”
That did sound like Cadence. She was nice, but this was definitely just a job for her.
“Don’t let her get to you, though,” Alex said. “I really like your energy.”
“Aww,” Jessie said, her tone sounding like Alex had just called her the most beautiful thing in the world. “You’re so sweet! I really hope I get to work with you sometime soon.”
Toni came up behind Alex in that moment, and she genuinely thought that Jessie was going to lose her mind.