Working Things Out

“You alright? You’re not as focused as you usually are.” You ask Brooke as you do your stretches with her.

“Yeah. I didn’t get much sleep last night. Courtney was being extra fucking loud.” Brooke says in annoyance.

“Loud like…” You begin to ask, and Brooke understands what you’re asking without completing your question.

“Loud like your girlfriends? Yes.” Brooke confirms.

“I guess her talk with Chad went well then?” You ask.

“Nope.” Brooke answers, and you didn’t see that coming.

“I thought you said she was being loud? Did that not mean what I thought it meant?” You ask again.

“She was being loud… just with another guy.” Brooke answers you.

“I thought you said her talk with Chad didn’t go well?” You ask, still confused. It’s not like having another guy with Courtney isn’t what Chad wants anyway.

“It didn’t. The other guy was there, but Chad wasn’t.” Brooke finally explains.

“Oh~” You say in realization. “Oh.” You say again in further realization of what happened with Chad. “You’re saying Chad didn’t agree to that arrangement.” You say in realization.

“Yep.” Brooke confirms.

“Is that why he’s not in the gym today?” You ask, having noticed his absence.

“Yep.” Brooke repeats.

“What happened?” You ask. Brooke doesn’t answer you immediately, but instead directs you to the treadmill first. She sets it up for you before letting you take over.

“Based on what Courtney forcefully made me overhear this morning — if Chad wanted a whore, she’s going to be the whoriest of whores for him. Although, there was an implication in her tone that she's doing it out of spite.” Brooke explains.

“So she’s cucking him… but not the way he likes being cucked.” You say while the pace of the treadmill starts to pick up.

“To get back at Chad for admitting he’s a cuck that wants her to cuck him, don’t forget.” Brooke points out.

“So if I’m getting this right, she slept with another man to get back at the guy that wants her to sleep with other men?” You ask, not finding any sense in that **** plan.

“As the completely demeaning, but sometimes perfectly accurate saying goes — bitches be crazy.” Brooke confirms, and you can’t help but chuckle at that.

“You’re not really friends with Courtney, huh?” You ask, still chuckling at her assessment of Courtney’s actions.

“She and I get along fine actually. She does things that irritate me, like all roommates do; but she’s been there for me during bad times too.” Brooke answers you.

“I just assumed since you mentioned yesterday that she wasn’t even a member here at the gym.” You explain your assumption.

“I don’t think Courtney’s ever worked out outside the bedroom. She’s mostly on diets to stay slim, and the occasional surgery to fill out areas she wants to fill out.” Brooke answers you.

“She can afford surgery but not rent for a place of her own?” You ask, as the math isn’t really making sense in your head.

“You know that kinda applies to me too right?” Brooke points out to you, and the look of panic on your face is evident. Brooke laughs it off though, so she knows you didn’t mean to ask it in judgment of either of them.

“Relax. I know where you’re coming from. As for Courtney, between undergoing the knife and getting her own place, she’s made her choice.” Brooke answers.

“Bitches do be crazy.” You joke, which gets a laugh out of Brooke.

“Only we get to say that by the way.” Brooke says with a laugh. “Okay, that’s enough of me backstabbing my roommate. Focus on your breathing.” Brooke goes back to coach mode.

You continue your workout under Brooke’s guidance, and before you know it, the workout is over. You’re a lot more tired than you were yesterday when you lifted weights with Chad, but it’s not as bad as it was last week. Especially now that you’re able to catch your breath, taking sips of your water to help recover. You’re with Brooke in one of the corners of the gym that doesn’t have as many people at this hour, catching her up on the events of last night after she asks you why Becca stayed behind.

“So Viv finally got over herself?” Brooke asks you, and you look at her accusingly. “You know what I mean!” Brooke says defensively, and you both laugh at her phrasing. You just silently nod as an answer, not wanting to bother Brooke with the details. You take a sip of your water in between laughs, a sip which you almost spray into the air thanks to Brooke’s next statement.

“Viv said you fucked her like a virgin.” Brooke brings up out of nowhere, taking you by surprise. You try hard to gulp all the water down and not do a spit take, which Brooke seems to appreciate. “Thanks for not spraying spit all over my gym.” Brooke jokes.

“She told you?” You ask her.

“Her exact message was in all caps ‘WE DID IT’ and dot-dot-dot ‘but he fucked me like a virgin tho’.” Brooke informs you. “I thought she was joking, but based on your reaction…” Brooke trails off, leaving the rest to implication.

“I-I-uh~...” You start saying, wanting to defend yourself, but you realize there’s really no point in doing so. “I don’t kiss and tell, Brooke. You want to find out more about it, ask Viv.” You answer her, getting an appreciative smile out of her.

“Good answer.” Brooke tells you. “A man of integrity.” Brooke compliments you.

“Oh, please. You’re just masking your disappointment in not hearing how good I fuck again.” You boldly tease her. The chuckle you add on unintentionally becomes awkward as Brooke just looks at you with a judgmental raised eyebrow and a comically open mouth.

“I’m not going to go easy on you again if this is the disrespect I get.” Brooke finally cracks and jokes, and the two of you chuckle.

“Wait, ‘this’ was you going easy on me?” You ask, playing up your shock.

“I always go easy on you.” Brooke teases you, trying to take a jab at your male ego. “You said you wanted to talk afterwards, so I made sure to keep this session extra light for you.” Brooke continues to tease, and you accept your defeat on that front.

“Anyway, what did you want to talk to me about?” Brooke asks, a bit more seriously.

“You remember the ‘relationship rules’ Cassie mentioned last night?” You ask Brooke.

“The one about not doing anything to hurt anyone in the relationship?” Brooke asks to confirm.

“Yeah, that’s the main one. Stella, Cassie, and Tanya agreed on something else too. It’s something that’s been brought up by Becca this morning, now that she knows about the app.” You preface, and Brooke looks at you intently, waiting for the ball to drop. “I’m not sure if Tanya has mentioned this in the past, but they basically gave me a hall pass.” You tell her.

“Wait, that’s it? We’re going on a date this Saturday! Of course, I know.” Brooke answers you.

“No, Brooke. Not just a hall pass to pursue more relationships. A hall pass to fool around completely.” You inform her, a bit of cringe on your face since you know you sound like a total douchebag by admitting that. You don’t want it to look like it’s an ultimatum she has to accept in order to date you, since you’re completely willing to drop it entirely if that’s what she wishes.

Brooke continues to stare back at you. She seems to be deep in thought after hearing what you told her, and you’re not really sure how she would react. You realize that Brooke has a history of her partners lacking fidelity, and she may not find this acceptable at all. Even if it is just as a suggestion. Granted, she’s willing to enter a relationship where she has to share you with other women, it’s still probably different from the original parameters she had in mind.

“Are you not going to continue your point?” Brooke asks you, and you realize she was just waiting on you.

“Oh, uh~, do you not have a reaction? Are you okay with that set-up?” You ask her directly.

“If I say I’m not okay with it, what happens?” Brooke asks you.

“Then there’s no hall pass. Either you all agree to that set-up, or I don’t push through with it.” You assure her.

“Oh? Aren’t you just going to buy Normalized Polyamory and have me change my mind anyway?” Brooke asks you.

“I’m not buying that trait to **** you to change your mind, Brooke. It’s necessary that I have that trait for Maddy. Becca’s encouraging me to get it too. Once I buy it though, it doesn’t change the fact that you don’t want me to just fool around outside of our relationship. I completely understand why too. I don’t want to risk losing you just for the opportunity to earn extra points.” You tell her as sincerely as you can. Brooke just continues to stare, but she does have an amused smile on her face.

“And I thought I was a hopeless romantic.” Brooke says in bemusement, but chuckling. You’re not sure if that’s a good response though.

“You know what I like about you? You’re not an asshole.” Brooke tells you all of a sudden.

“Thanks?” You respond, unsure what brought that out of her.

“More than that, you go out of your way for people not to think you are an asshole.” Brooke continues. “You’re the first non-asshole I’ve met who cares so much about not being thought of as an asshole.” Brooke tells you.

“The amount of times you’ve said I’m not an asshole is starting to make me think you think I’m an asshole.” You joke, and Brooke chuckles before apologizing.

“Sorry. I’m just realizing how insecure you are about that.” Brooke explains.

“I’m not insecure about that. I’m actually pretty secure with the idea that I don’t want to hurt anyone by being an asshole.” You jokingly correct her, and Brooke rolls her eyes before giving you a mocking look.

“What I’m trying to say is, I know you’re not an asshole.” Brooke tells you directly. “I have zero doubts about that after last night. You never needed to tell any of us about the app. You could have kept that to yourself, slept with whoever you wanted, bought Normalized Polyamory, got as many women as you could manage, and do whatever you want about the app… but you didn’t. You bought you and your daughter a way to kick a bad habit, you helped Maddy find a way for her family to reconcile, and most importantly, at least to me — you gave up chasing your childhood fantasy, something you could have easily fulfilled with your app, when you knew it would mean hurting somebody else.” Brooke points out.

“You’re not an asshole. So stop acting like a martyr to try not to be one. You don’t need to.” Brooke adds. “I know what I’m getting into. I’ve known for a while now. Tanya told me about it the day you guys agreed on it, and that was before you asked me out on a date at the Aphrodite.” Brooke informs you.

“I know the reason you’re afraid of hurting me if you take advantage of your hall pass is because you know my history. Well, I know your history too. We both won’t wish that pain on anyone, and we both won’t intentionally cause that pain to people we care about.” Brooke assures you.

“I’m not saying the pain of being cheated on by boyfriends is anywhere close to what you experienced, but most of the pain I experienced was from feeling betrayed; having my trust taken advantage of. So you don’t have to worry about hurting me that way. You never promised me anything that you would suddenly take away by taking advantage of what you and your girlfriends originally agreed upon.” Brooke assures you, and you can’t help but be in awe at how understanding the women you’ve met so far have been.

“Thanks for understanding, Brooke.” You tell her, and she gives you a pat on the back and a shoulder squeeze to assure you that everything between you two is fine.

“Oh, wow. That magic thing of yours is really noticeable now that you’ve pointed it out.” Brooke tells you, still squeezing your shoulder; and you can’t help but just awkwardly let her do it. Brooke seems to be getting too distracted by the feeling that you snap her out of it.

“You can stop squeezing my shoulder now.” You remind her, but she doesn’t stop. She even gives your shoulder a harder squeeze after hearing your reminder. She then moves her hand from your shoulder down to your back… then dangerously down to your lower back. Brooke then squeezes one of your ass cheeks before slapping it and laughing.

“Thank God for double standards.” Brooke then jokes, before taking a deep breath to recompose herself.

“Saturday. Don’t you dare cancel on me.” She then tells you with a playful smile, and you can’t help but smile in return. It’s nice to know, despite being surrounded by more fit dudes all the time, she still has a physical attraction towards you.

That’s not going to be good for your ego.

Brooke’s mention of Saturday does remind you of something.

“Oh, by the way, did Viv invite you yet?” You ask Brooke.

“Invite me to what?” Brooke asks back.

“Are you free tomorrow night?”