With one final deep thrust, I shuddered, my mind going blank as waves of euphoria washed over me.
“Fuck!” Cairo roared as he followed me into his climax.
As we lay entangled on the couch, gasping for breath, the sounds from across the street drifted into our peaceful haze. Cairo kissed my cheek. “Stop thinking about it. I’m sure they have a good reason for not inviting us.”
“Like what?”
But he couldn’t come up with one. The doorbell rang, and I jerked my head up. Maybe it was them asking us to join them.
“Don’t get your hopes up.” Cairo climbed off me and picked up his clothes from the floor. He tossed mine to me and got dressed quickly, then walked out of the living room, buttoning his pants.
“Who is it?” I rose to my feet, tugging down my shirt.
“It’s Merry. He’s brought back Frostine.” Cairo entered the living room with Merry, who put the cat down. Frostine scooted beneath the coffee table and stretched out.
I tried not to stare at Merry, but he was wearing just a short robe with his hair mussed. Was it my imagination, or did his lips look swollen? He also had beard burn along the lower half of his face.
“Uh, thank you?”
“No problem. You know we don’t mind having Frostine over, but tonight we’re a bit swamped.”
“We understand. Sorry about her. We’ll barricade her doggy door.”
Frostine pouted. “Poor baby doesn’t like to be cooped up.” He lowered himself down onto his haunches and gently poked Frostine’s paw. “It’s just for tonight, Frosty. We’ll make it up tomorrow with some treats.”
“You spoil her,” Cairo said.
“We can’t help it. She’s so stinking cute, just like her owners. Thanks for sharing her with us. We’ve always wanted pets, but with me away so often, I’d feel guilty leaving Jim to take care of them alone.”
“It’s definitely a commitment,” I said. “We never wanted kids, but we like to joke that we got one anyway.”
Merry giggled. “Well, I better get back. And don’t worry. We should wind up in two hours. Wouldn’t want to keep anyone from their beauty sleep.”
I bit the inside of my cheek, not wanting to lose it, but the warning in Cairo’s eyes told me he knew anyway.
“Let me walk you to the door, Merry.”
I held it in for as long as possible, then blurted out. “Why didn’t you invite us to your party?”
Oh shit. Cairo groaned. Merry slowly turned. “What?”
“Your party.” I might as well plunge ahead. “We thought you thought of us as friends the way we do you and Jim, but you didn’t invite us.”
Merry covered his face with his hand. “Have you guys been worrying about this? I told Jim he should have extended an invitation and let you be the ones to reject us.”
“What are you talking about?” Cairo asked. “We’d never reject you.”
He cocked his head to the side. “Even if you knew we were having a swap party?”
Frowning, I shrugged. “We have tons of things we could swap.”
“Babe, I don’t think he’s referring tothatkind of swap.”
“Huh?” What could they be… . Oh.Oh. “Like—like a partner swap party?”
Merry nodded. “Exactly. We didn’t invite you because we didn’t think you would be interested. We should have told you, but we didn’t want to until you got to know us better. Jim and I are swingers, and we host a few swap parties each year. Tell you what. Think about it, and if you’re interested, we’ll invite you to the next one. I know at least one couple who would love to take a bite out of you two.” With a wink, he walked out of the living room.
Cairo and I stared at one another, our shared surprise reflected in each other’s eyes. The echo of Merry’s words hung heavily in the air. We had been friends for two months, and we would never have guessed.