"About that..."

"Honey!" Shane yelled through the house. "We're home!"

"We?" Connor asked.

"About that," I smiled a guilty smile hoping it would ease the blunt force of what Connor was about to find out.

"Ria!"

It was Tracy. I winced at the high-pitched voice I should have been welcoming.

"Get your sexy little butt down here, I can only keep my hands off your husband for so long!"

I could see the red in Connor's face rise from his chin to his eyebrows like a cartoon - steam coming from his ears.

"You told me she couldn't come."

"I know."

"You said it would only be the three of us, I specifically asked Shane about this before agreeing to come. I didn't want to come but I came. For you guys. Because you begged me to come-"

His voice cut off.

"Oh." Connor was on such a tirade that we hadn't even heard Tracy come upstairs. I turned to find her standing in the doorway, her expression drowned in shock. "I didn't know you...?

Shane appeared behind Tracy. He looked at Connor, then at Tracy, then at me. I chittered my teeth and shrugged.

"Surprise?"

********

SHANE

********

"We fucked up," Ria said. She was pacing back and forth, covering every square inch of the large master bedroom. Her hands flailed wildly with every syllable.

"Relax," I said, trying my best to calm her. If I was being honest, though, the whole thing was still playing through my mind.

***** "How could you? You invited me here to, what? Use me for your own pleasure? 'Oh, Tracy you have to come to the cabin with us and surprise, your ex-boyfriend is also here and by the way we just hooked up no big deal.'" *****

"We really fucked up. They are so mad at us. Do you think they'll ever forgive us?"

"Relax," I said again. "Sit down." I guided her down on the bed next to me and placed my hand on her knee but Ria stood right back up and continued her pacing.

***** "Are we just toys for you to use in your little game? Oh, I'll let Shane hook up with Tracy so that I can get my hands on Connor." *****

That one really stung.

"We fucked this whole thing up. Why did you agree to do this?"

"Hey!" I said, growing a bit more impatient myself. "We both had this idea. We both were excited. We both went all in."

Ria gave me a look as if she wanted to argue but ultimately conceded that I was right.

"Look, they are still here. They haven't left. They are talking to each other. This is a good thing. This is what we wanted."

"We didn't want them to hate us."

"They don't hate us," I assured her. "They are pissed at us. And rightfully so. But they'll get over it. Especially once this whole thing works and it brings them together."

***** "You lied to us. You lied to us so you could bring us here and use us for your "sexy games" and you never thought how it would make us feel." *****

Connor hadn't said anything. He just gave us a look of growing disgust and ashamedness as Tracy went on. She was both right and wrong.

On one hand, she was wrong. We had thought of how it would make them feel. As much as hooking up with our friends was part of the fun, we did this all to bring them back together.

On the other hand, she was right. We had become so blinded by our lust for our friends that we didn't consider that they would react in this very reasonable way. We lost our ground for reality and now we were paying the price, crashing hard back to earth just moments after floating among the clouds.

"I don't know..." Ria said, staring out the window. "What if it backfires instead and we lose them as friends?"

"If they were that pissed, they would have left already. If they were that angered by the sight of each other, they wouldn't be talking to each other now. Listen, I know them. This is going to work."

A few minutes later Tracy knocked on our door.

"The council has made their decision," she said. "You may come down to the living quarters for your judgement and sentencing." She paused and glanced at the ground. "Connor told me to say that," she added as a slight smirk crept in. She turned and began hurrying down the hall to try to hide it.

Ria and I looked at each other then followed Tracy to the Living Room where Connor was already seated on one leg of the large wraparound couch. His arm extended over a seat, his large bicep flexed flawlessly in his short, white t-shirt, essentially inviting one of the girls to cozy up to it. Tracy took a seat on the same leg as Connor, though just out of reach of his extended arm. Ria and I sat next to each other on the other leg.

I took a deep breath. "We're sor-"

Tracy cut me off before I could finish.

"It is not your turn to speak," she said in a faux-authoritative tone. "This is not a trial. This is a sentencing. Your guilt has already been determined."

"Understood," I replied. Connor was actively fighting back a grin. Tracy continued.

"The council recognizes the intent of the defendants but the intent does not excuse the actions." She paused for a moment and shook her head. "OK, look..." she glanced at Connor then back at us. "We know why you did this. We get that you want us all to be together again and we get that you want us all to have fun together again and we get that that fun includes this sexy game we've been playing and we are a part of that game. I got caught up in it all just as much as you did. Hell, these first two days have been a whirlwind. I barely even believe they were real. But they were real. As much as they seem like a fantasy, they were real. And so are me and Connor. As hard as it has been for the two of you, it's been even harder for us. And you guys have been great and helpful and supportive but... I think we all just got a bit carried away."

Silence filled the room like a gas chamber as we sat in the weight of Tracy's words. "Connor, I think you had something you wanted to say."

Connor cleared his throat and sat up. "Yea, umm. I wanted to apologize. I don't know if we've been the best friends, well, if I've been the best friend this past year. I know it hasn't been easy for you guys and there were definitely times I could have made it easier but chose not to. That's on me and I apologize. But it's not OK to lie to us and trick us like this. I've been trying my hardest to get over Tracy and to understand that things aren't going to work but it's not easy when I still have feelings for her."

Tracy looked down at her feet.

"And I'm dealing with those feelings, and then Ria... my god, Ria. That was, I don't even know how to describe that. And then BAM! Tracy walks through the door. It's just, just, it's a lot. A LOT." He paused then began laughing. "I don't even know if I'm making sense right now."

Silence crept back in though it wasn't quite as suffocating. Tracy was circling her toes on the carpet. Connor was fidgeting his fingers in his palms. Ria and I looked at each other then back at Tracy and Connor, unsure if we were allowed to speak yet.

"Permission to speak?" I asked. Tracy looked up, her expression both sad and welcoming.

"Granted."

"You're right," I said. "You're right about everything." I wished I could tell them right then and there that our ultimate goal was to get them back together, that this wasn't all about hooking up with our friends but I couldn't risk it. I felt bad for continuing to deceive them but I was sure in my heart that our plan was ultimately working.

"We've been thinking about you guys since that night before our wedding and after we had told each other what had happened, the idea of it happening again really got us going. Like, really got us going. Especially since there seemed to be an excuse for it, however ridiculous that seems. Then you guys broke up and it all seemed out of reach until we got this house for the Holidays and we came up with this plan and we really thought that we had thought it through but we got too caught up in what we wanted. We didn't mean to use you. We wanted you to participate, to enjoy it as much as we did but we didn't think this part through."

Ria picked up. "Tracy, everything you said was right. I don't know how I could have expected you to react differently. I don't know how I can call you my friend while I was doing that. And Connor, I didn't mean to use you. Although, sometimes I wish that I could." She sniffled and laughed then wiped her nose with the long sleeve of the hoodie she was wearing. It was crazy how she looked so beautiful even with her hair in a mess and tears welling up in her eyes.

Tracy and Connor let out a nervous laugh.

"We're sorry," I added once more. "We'd understand if you want to leave. Hell, we'd have understood if you both walked right out the door and drove off immediately but we are happy you stayed and talked to us. You're great friends. Both of you."

"Well, we aren't going anywhere," Tracy said. The heavy weight we'd all been dealing with had seemingly lifted. "At least not me. This place is awesome and I'm going to be honest I don't really know where I'd go or where I'd rather be for Christmas than with you guys so, you're stuck with me."

"I just got here," Connor said with a chuckle. "I'm not turning around and driving six hours back home through the mountains in the dark. Maybe I'll leave in the morning." He grinned. "Though I might be convinced to stay depending on how the rest of the day goes."

"Well we would be so happy to have you," Ria said. She jumped up and gave Tracy a big hug then pulled Connor off the couch for an embrace. She kissed both of them on the cheek.

"Wait!" Tracy piped up, startling Ria. "We haven't given you your sentences yet." Ria looked confused and nervous.

"It's been almost a year exactly since we gave you two a little show," she said, clearly referring to the striptease that she and Connor had performed for me and Ria. "And if we are playing this game of 'you can do it if we let the other person do it as long as we are even' then... I think it's only fair if you guys give us a show. Fair is fair after all right?"

Fair is fair. The call back to that night sent images through my brain. I could see Tracy's face twisted in pleasure, feel her breasts in my hand, hear her moaning my name...

"What do you think?"

I snapped from the fog and rested my hands over my crotch in an attempt to hide my rapidly growing erection.

Ria and I looked at each other and shrugged. "Fair is fair," we said in unison.

"In that case," Connor said. "We need to make it official with a toast."

"Holy shit," Tracy giggled. "I really need some alcohol."