Geoff tugged her closer and touched his lips to hers. She closed her eyes as Chris stroked her side, her hip. Geoff lifted his head. "Glad you're ours," he said softly.
She curved her arms around them as much as she could reach, and they enveloped her between their two bodies. This was so much more right than how she'd felt earlier in the week, when she hadn't realized it was fear of losing them that was keeping her from slowing down, savoring. She took a nice, deep inhale of them both and tilted her head back.
"If they play the Macarena, you guys have to do it with me," she declared.
"Hey, I know the steps to that one." Chris brightened.
"Sad," Geoff said. "Your lack of coolness is just sad."
"You just wish you looked as good doing it as I do," Chris said, beginning to swivel his hips through the initial steps, bouncing on his size-thirteen shoes. Laughing, Sam started to backpedal toward the door.
"I'm hungry," she said. "Food, then dancing."
"Pushy, pushy, pushy." Geoff grabbed the keys from her. "I'll drive."
"The Lord is our shepherd; we shall not want . . ." she started, while Chris obligingly crossed himself.
"Get in the car, both of you. Smartasses."
***
For dinner she had a berry salad with pistachios and walnuts. Chris had a slab of steak and mountain of fried potatoes, ignoring the usual admonitions from Geoff about cholesterol and Sam about the benefits of veganism. She narrowed her eyes at Geoff as he seasoned his grilled chicken and asked him sweetly if he wanted any chicken with his salt.
"I'll outlive both of you," she said, shaking her head as they were both polishing their plates.
"Gender-wise, you're already likely to do that," Chris pointed out. "Women drive men into early graves. Everyone knows that."
She tumbled several raspberries onto his plate and won a mildly horrified look. "You've contaminated my cow."
"Oh, the growth hormones and antibiotics already did that."
"Not. You like this restaurant because all the meat is supposedly organic and humanely raised."
"That, and because of the desserts," she said as her vegan cupcake arrived. The frosting was sheer heaven.
"Dairy-free baked goods." Chris shuddered.
"It's not bad. Especially if you combine it with the right flavor." Geoff took a sip of the after-dinner coffee the waitress brought him, then touched the cupcake top to collect frosting on one finger. "Don't eat this," he told Sam before she could protest, and dabbed it on her top lip.
Leaning in, he kissed her, licking the frosting off with the tip of his tongue. Sam closed her eyes as he lingered to suck on her bottom lip, just to be equitable. When he finally sat back, she had parted, moist lips and elevated breathing. "I'd try it, Chris. It's better than you'd expect."
Chris obligingly collected some frosting on his own finger, only he picked up her hand off the table edge, put the creamy spread on her wrist and brought that to his mouth. He sucked her flesh a little harder, nipping her. Beneath the table, her toes curled.
Geoff had moved his leg so it was pressed against hers. Slipping her foot out of her wedge, she played with his ankle beneath the cuff of his jeans. His look increased the heat in the pit of her stomach, especially with Chris holding on to her hand and wrist, his mouth still on her.
"If we had a pint of that frosting," Geoff murmured, "we could cover her nipples and pussy and suck all of it off, making her sticky and sweet at once."
Chris's eyes kindled like firelit molasses as Geoff spoke, and Sam's hand trembled in the grip of his. "Add that to our next grocery list," Geoff told her. "Whole Foods has vegan frosting, right?"
"Yes," she managed. Chris released her as the waitress returned, though he'd adjusted his feet below the table so they were sandwiching one of hers. Geoff took the check. When Sam started to draw her hand away from Chris's to reach for her card, since they usually did a three-way split of checks for more expensive meals, Geoff shook his head and Chris recaptured her hand.
"Not this time, Sam. Chris and I are covering this weekend. You're not just our roommate anymore."
"But that doesn't mean I want you two paying for everything."
"We know that." He touched her arm in brief reproof as Chris tightened his fingers on hers. "We'll go back to our usual bill divisions on Monday. But this weekend you're our date, and we're treating you that way. All right?" Catching her chin in his thumb and forefinger before she could argue, he met her gaze. "That was a rhetorical question, by the way."
"Okay," she said. As he waited expectantly, her nerves tingled under his hold. "Yes sir."