Josh

The weeks went by. We somehow, after some initial awkwardness, found some rhythm to the whole tenant aspect. Usually, we just saw Toby at breakfast, and sometimes he would join us on Friday dinners, as my dear wife made the best Mexican food. Frankly, saying no to my wife’s food under my roof? Those were fighting words.

“So you don’t mind?” Kimberly asked one morning. I ate toast, she drank OJ. Toby just sat on a bar chair, eating as well.

“No. If you think there is profit to it,” I said. Kim had proposed buying us a way into a shop that bought used cars, fixed them, and sold them. She had done welding, blowtorching and some metal work highschool so she could probably be a benefit to the company, in addition to our money would surely be nice for the company.

“I think so. And it could help during the downtime between tournaments,” Kim said. It could often go weeks up to a month between when she worked.

“Why not. What was the company’s name again?” I asked.

“Hopes’ Branded Cars,” Kim answered. I shrugged my shoulders. It was settled.

“How about you? Gonna blowtorch some motors in two?” I asked Toby. He jumped a bit as I turned to him. In his own world as always.

“Erh no. The heat scares me,” Toby muttered in his soft, low voice.

“Oh, we could all handle a bit of heat, can’t we?” I said winking at Kim, who rolled her eyes. I knew she loved it, but she also thought it was so corny when I flirted with her.

“You think we’ll get to swim this weekend?” I asked the room.

“I mean it’s April,” Toby muttered, still part of the conversation.

“You guys are fucking pussies. It’s at least 50 degrees out. Probably more come… weekend you said? I am barely familiar with this foreign concept,” Kim joked. Our lifestyle was sort of melting the days together. I chuckled.

“Get your swimming trunks, Toby, you heard the lady. We’re having a pool day this weekend, even if the frostbite gets us!” I joked jovially. I saw a small smile on Toby’s full cheeks.

“How long have you guys been married?” Toby dared. I was a bit surprised. He never spoke out or asked anything.

“Two years. Coming up on three this summer,” I answered.

Meanwhile, Kim took her cue to get out of there. She wasn’t being rude or anything, or cold. She just kept the whole thing with Toby very cordial and at arm's length. We had said this beforehand, to Toby and to each other. It was just me who wanted to be all chatty. The locker room guy in me just wanted to shoot some shit at any given moment. Made me a decent salesman when it came to my clothing line, and I easily buddied up to most people. Toby was just on a different vibe than me, but I’ll get to him.

“You brought any swim trunks?” I asked, leaning on the kitchen island.

“Nope. They rarely fit,” Toby muttered.

“Well. It’s still a few days. Don’t wanna miss out. Maybe we’ll get the year's first grilling out of the way too.”

Saturday rolled around. And while the temperature said 55, that was Fahrenheit, not Celsius. Still, Kim insisted on it being a pool day, so she wore her red bikini again, and I wore my Hawaiian kneecapped swimming shorts. I bought them in Hawaii, actually. Sadly, Toby didn’t seem in immediate need to join us.

“More sausage for us,” I thought, warming my trembling hands on the grill.

Why did I agree to this? Well. For starters, I loved the thought of the neighbors in this posh neighborhood looking over and seeing us bathing and grilling, having a good ole time on a weekend in the middle of April. But Toby never joined us. I did however find him lurking in our kitchen when I headed in to find the ketchup.

“What’s up? Joining us?” I asked.

“Heh no. It’s a bit too cold for me. I didn’t find a swimsuit anyway,” he explained, glancing quickly out. I looked out the ceiling windows to see what he was looking at.

Outside I saw Kimberly swim to the far side of the pool, locking her palms on the wood boards surrounding the pool and shoving her wet body out of the pool. What a sight. My wife shone from the water, and her muscles were highlighted by the glimmer. She wasn’t the buffest girl, but she did her deadlifts and her squats. And now her swimsuit, which was just a normal one, had caught in her sexy ass crack, essentially becoming a thong. Showing all the goodies. Kim slowly moved her hand down her ass, as if feeling her way down, and pulled it out. Now, that was hot. Even as casual as she could be, when Kim was hot, Kim was fucking hot.

I glanced over at Toby.

“Pretty good, eh?” I said, nudging him with my elbow. For some reason, I found it highly enthusing bragging about, no, showing off my girl. Toby couldn’t do anything but nod. He knew he was in deep shit if I decided it was not okay. But some part of me… enjoyed this voyeurism.

And that was that.