Movie Night with the Girls

Dinner had been a good idea. I put my best effort into the food and was pleased with how it turned out. The three girls raved about it for several minutes before turning the conversation to other things. I remained silent, observing their noise more than the conversation topics. Natalie was a welcome sight at the table. It had been far too long since she had been over, and I sensed she needed this more than anyone. Her contribution to the dinner was the wine. I passed, but Chloe and Alexis seemed happy to jump on my share.

I could see the worry embedded in Natalie’s noise. Relaxed as she was during dinner, it never went away. She had caught me staring at her several times during dinner. Each time, she gave me a warm smile that defied the emotions in her noise. Whenever she saw me, I could see the part of her noise that reminded me of Alexis clarify. The worry would spike and a swarm of negative emotions would flow through her until her noise normalized. Something was going on, but I was **** to get involved. Natalie was less open than Alexis was and I didn’t want to seem like I was prying into private matters.

Beyond Natalie, Alexis and Chloe seemed closer than ever. Whatever hesitation they had for the other had vanished over the past few days. I hoped the same would happen between Chloe and Natalie as well. She had her boyfriend, Alexis, and I, but Chloe would have been an excellent addition to her social circle. Her boyfriend was physically distant from her and Alexis being family wasn’t the same as being a friend, no matter how close their relationship was.

As for myself, I couldn’t offer much in the way of emotional support. Maybe Chloe could help there. Despite her lack of social interaction for most of her teenage years, she was a quick study if her relationship with Alexis was any indication.

In light of this being Chloe’s first movie night, the honor of choosing our movie was hers. No surprise, she picked Sarah’s Gift. While I had no opinion on it, neither of the Parker sisters seemed opposed to it. I think Natalie was the most excited of anyone to see it. She was more of a B-movie person, so I wasn’t expecting her to be so invested in a romantic movie like this.

The movie itself was interesting. It followed a woman who was torn between two men. The first was a good friend she had known for years. The other was a newcomer who had a Gift. The core conflict of the two and theme explored in the movie was the idea of ‘natural’ love and love brought on by a Gift. The director's approach was fascinating in the balanced form it took. Despite the high tension and angst involved, no one was portrayed as the villain or set into an antagonist role. Even though the two men were rivals, they had a friendly, almost supportive relationship outside their competition for Sarah.

It was a fresh take considering most movies the villain had some sort of Gift they wielded against the protagonist.

Chloe sat between my legs, my arms wrapped around her as she leaned back against me. Natalie took the couch beside me while Alexis sat in front of her on the floor even though there was enough room on the couch for her to squeeze in. The girls were all invested, though it was interesting to see how different moments impacted them. Chloe teared up when Sarah was **** to choose which guy she was taking to her sister's wedding. Natalie teared up when she admitted to her friend that she had slept with the other guy after getting a strong dose of his Gift during a date, sniffing as she stealthily patted her eyes with tissues.

Alexis' reaction was completely different than either woman, her noise a happy joy as the sex scene between Sarah and her friend played out. It was tasteful, but I felt it lingered longer than it should have.

“Don’t watch,” Natalie said, reaching down to cover her sister’s eyes as clothes began to come off. “You’re too young for this.”

Alexis swatted her sister’s hands away, giving her an annoyed look. “Really? This is the best part!”

My girlfriend giggled as the two bickered during the duration of the scene.

“This is sad! You can see how much she loves Drew, but Grant’s Gift keeps pulling the two apart.”

“You kidding? What other movie do you see the female lead having sex with two guys in one movie? I can totally relate to Sarah right now. Why settle for one hot guy when you can have two?”

“Disgusting.”

“Two hot guys competing for the same girl? Nothing disgusting about that.” She tilted her head back to look up at her sister. There was a wide grin on her face. “And if they are fine with sharing, why choose?”

“I think we are watching completely different movies here.”

Alexis made a face. “No, you’re just paying attention to all the boring mushy stuff.” Rolling her head to the side, she looked over at Chloe. “What about you?”

“What about me?”

“Two guys are chasing after you. You like both about the same and can’t choose between them. They’ve both suggested they don’t mind sharing, what do you do?”

“I already have a boyfriend,” she said, patting my arms as pride and happiness radiated from her.

“No running away! You pick one or go for both?”

“I don’t think either guy is saying they want to share Sarah…”

“Bah, forget the movie for a second. You. Two hot guys. You date one, or you go for the double?”

Chloe glanced over at Natalie who shook her head and shrugged. Then she tipped her head back to look at me. She wasn’t going to find much there as my face remained as indifferent as always. I don’t think she was looking at me for some sort of clue though. Worry and fear danced around her noise.

“We’re all friends here,” I said softly before kissing the top of her head. “You know no one is going to judge you.”

She looked back at Alexis who was still waiting for her answer. “I mean, if I liked them both and they wanted to share...”

“Knew it!”

“Only until I knew which one I liked better!” Chloe added, nearly tripping over her words. “No sense in picking one right away until you can make an informed decision on which one is best for you.”

Natalie shook her head. “I’m surrounded by horny children.”

“Agreed,” I said, earning a grin from her. There was a moment of understanding between us.

“Hey! You said you wouldn’t judge!” Chloe said, giving me an exasperated look.

“What about you, Mr. Happy?” Alexis said, turning the conversation towards me. “You have two smoking hot girls wanting to jump your bone and don’t mind sharing. You go for it, or wimp out?”

“You already know the answer to that.”

“Well I don’t,” Chloe said, interest swirling around her noise.

“As I told Alexis, I am not comfortable with sharing.” I looked to Chloe as I continued. “You know how difficult my Gift makes sex. Making love is exhausting and oral sex is almost as bad. I can’t imagine adding another person into the mix when it takes everything I have to ensure you are taken care of.” Chloe’s eyes were wide, her face a cherry red. I glanced at her noise to find embarrassment overpowering everything else. “Something wrong?”

She buried her face in her hands, looking away from the group. “Yes, you idiot! Read the room!”

I swept the noise dancing around us. “You are embarrassed without measure, Alexis is aroused and envious, and Natalie—”

“You say it, I will kill you,” she said, smiling sweetly. Something was creeping into her noise but my attention was pulled elsewhere.

Alexis was cackling happily, slapping her legs. “Okay, now I know you are fucking with us.”

I **** a smile. “I am pretty bad at this.”

“Yes! Yes you are!” Chloe said, trying to get away from me as I held her against me. “Let me go you asshole!”

“Why would I do that?”

“Because I hate you right now.” I found no evidence of that in her noise.

“I don’t believe you.” Leaning forward, I kissed her neck in one of the places she liked. She went stiff as I managed to get a second kiss there. “I can do far more embarrassing things to you if you keep trying to run away,” I whispered loud enough for the others to hear. She whimpered as my hand ran between her legs. I pressed my lips against her ear and whispered so only she could hear. “Or I could save that for later.”

Noise twisted around me as the positive vibe of their combined noises was awash with negative emotions. It slid over the clear noise like black oil in the ocean. My head snapped around to the source and found Natalie scrambling to her feet. Her face was flushed and near tears.

“I-I’m sorry. I have to—”

She didn’t finish, rushing for the door. Concern had cleared out all other emotions in Alexis’ noise as she launched herself to her feet to chase after her. She paused at the door long enough to say she would call later. The door closed, leaving Chloe and I entwined together.

“Jake?” The worry in her voice was nothing like what was in her noise. Closing my eyes, I pushed my Gift out until I found Natalie. Her noise was chaos. Confusion, anger, lust, and more. It all swirled around that part of her noise that reminded me of Alexis. Fortunately, Alexis was there with her and I didn’t think she was in any danger.

“She’s okay,” I said trying to give her a comforting smile as I patted her hand with mine.

Chloe let out a breath. “Was it something we did?”

“I’m not sure,” I said, running my hand through her hair. Something was going on and I don’t think I was comfortable standing on the sidelines any longer.