Nah.

I picked up the bill for both our coffees, hers was some ridiculously complicated thing, with approximately the same number of calories as a meal, while mine was black. Personally, I actually like the fancy coffees, especially now that I don’t need to worry about getting fat, thank you Lock In Those Gains. But that wouldn’t go with the role I was playing.

Her husband was an older, religious man, which left me playing the young stud, in the little game we were trying to set up and that went with black coffee a lot better than anything fancy.

“So, how is Asa, really?”

“Good. Like I said, she’s doing well and likes the work a lot better than her old job.” I smirked, “And we’re back together, so she’s obviously doing better on the personal front too. The man she met when we were broken up couldn’t—” I snorted and cut myself off, “sorry, sorry, forgot who I was talking to for a moment there. You’re a married woman, not one of my friends and this isn’t a locker room. You don’t want to hear this. She’s good.”

Alina laughed, “I’m married not dead. And back in the day, Asa and I shared more than one man.”

I smiled, “Her ex was a bit prudish, but we’re making up for lost time. You should come over,” I paused for just a moment, “for dinner,” another pause, “with your husband, of course.”

She shook her head after a moment of hesitation, “Asa doesn’t really like my husband.”

“Oh, well, we could get together just the three of us,” I offered.

“Maybe...anyways, is Asa still doing that whole ‘ethical slut’ thing?”

I rolled my eyes, “Yep. Threesome galore, but sex only with agreed upon partners, after STD checks and negotiations that are about as elaborate as an employment interview.”

“With pre-approval like you’re a fucking bank?”

I nodded and chuckled, trying to put a hint of bitterness into it. I dredged up some of the old anger about our break-up. There wasn’t much there, but I could get at it if I tried.

“See, that’s Asa’s whole problem,” she continued, “if you really trust someone, you trust them with everything…”

I gave her a flat look. “Oh? And does your husband trust you like that?”

“Of course not, but we’re not a love match and don’t pretend to be. He wanted a hot piece of ass to replace his old wife and I wanted to not have to work anymore. We both lose if I get caught cheating.”

The phrasing of that didn’t escape me. “Caught?”

She smiled, “Will Kianna need another appointment next week?”

I nodded, trying to look stunned and considering, while my actual brain spun. This...my life may have turned into a porno, but given she admitted the risks and the concern about getting caught...this felt real fucking fast. Even if she had issues with Asa and had reason to think I wouldn’t want an affair revealed either, this was real fucking fast. Though she wasn’t pushing anything right now. But this felt like a fucking trap, not an invitation. Maybe it was my paranoia, or the fact that I hadn’t needed to do much of anything and had gained almost no SP.

“Well, then, maybe I’ll see you then,” she said, taking a sip of her coffee and starting to rise.

“Tell me, are you going to mention running into us to your husband?”

She glanced back at me, “What’s there to mention?”

“Nothing, if it’s not happening again. Everything if it is and we don’t wish to be suspicious.”

“So you’ll be mentioning running into me to Asa?”

“Of course. I’m sure she’ll ask how you are. Tell me how you want to be described…”

“And you’ll do it?”

“Unless it’s an obvious lie,” I smiled. “If you say you’re hot, she’ll want to show you up, if you say you were tired, or self-obsessed or whatever, then she’ll feel good about herself. Either way works for me.”

She laughed. “Tell her I looked good. Happy with my life and my husband.” +2 SP (Alina: -20). “And what should I say about you?”

“Nothing besides you ran into Kianna and Asa’a boyfriend was driving her around and you caught up a bit.”

She nodded. “Maybe I will,” she said, but the +2 SP (Alina: -18) meant I just gave her an amused smirk as she turned away. “See you next week. Or not,” she said over her shoulder as I let my eyes run down to that ass.

She smiled and walked away. Leaving me behind. The rest of the hour was spent browsing shit on my phone. I was back up to 2 credits, but there was nothing exciting I could do with that, so it was just a matter of waiting until…