You Are Clearly Both Interested, Right?

“I think we both clearly are more interested than not. Even though, only speaking for myself, I’m not at all sure about how or even if something like that could work, I also can’t say it wouldn’t. I think it still scares me a little, but that’s silly.” You see Jayne nodding slowly, still looking deep in your eyes. “Also, and maybe it’s weird, but I really respect the hell out of Karissa for even asking?”

“Heh. I know what you mean, poor girl was really put herself out there. I can’t even imagine being as brave at her age about something like that,” she admits.

You have to agree, “It is honestly just flattering that someone is interested in us, huh?”

There another minute of silence, then you realize that Jayne is still waiting for you to say something so you smile, “Ok how about this - if you want, we try a date. Karissa is fun and we both like her, maybe we just all go hang out and… see how we feel about it?”

“Yeah,” Jayne agrees readily, “no one is promising anything. Maybe we all agree it’s weird or she realizes we’re dull and it isn’t what she wanted. But even if it doesn’t work we’d still be friends out having a fun night I’m sure.”

You give a short laugh and then a sheepish grin, “Wow I can’t believe we are having this conversation, but it feels somehow right? Besides, if anyone is not absolutely having a good time or feels at all iffy about it then that’s it. And maybe TAM is doing more than we suspect, but if that’s the case and we notice we’ll talk to Karissa about it and convince her to let us remove her from the PoI list.”

Jayne says, “Yes, but really she doesn’t seem to be acting that strange or anything, and she certainly seems sure that the influence is mild now that she’s aware. If we do this with her maybe we can ask about checking her scores? As a test? I don’t want to do anything on TAM involving her without her permission.”

You grimace and say, “Other than me adding her in the first place.”

“Well, you get a pass for that one. No one would have believed what it was saying right from the start.”

“I guess,” you sigh, “but I still feel bad about it, no matter that she says she doesn’t mind.”

Jayne pulls away from you to stretch out and reach her own phone which was on a side table. “Well if you like you can apologize again when we go out on our casual friends night out slash polyamorous first date.” With a nervous smile Jayne opens an app and starts typing. “Just asking her if she has a minute. I think you should ask her though.”

“Why me? Not that I mind I guess.”

Shrugging, Jayne simply says, “Just a feeling I have. I think Karissa would say yes to either of us but I also think her crush on you is more romantic perhaps. It’s probably nothing, but the way she talked about you and I was subtly… different I felt. And the scores for that matter.”

Thinking it over, you realize with some small amount of bashfulness that Jayne might be on to something. The way Karissa’s scores bounced around when you first added her on Monday (and wow does that feel like a hundred years ago now) is part of it. And if you assume TAM is completely accurate and slight variations in the scores are meaningful - both big assumptions - then her Love score was higher for you and her Lust score higher for Jayne.

Suddenly, you imagine Jayne and Karissa, naked and making out. Good Lord. Well, you never claimed you weren’t intrigued by the more carnal aspects of imagining taking Karissa up on her offer!

A beep from Jayne’s phone and she says “Ahh, she’s home and can talk to us now. Here you go,” and hands you her phone.

You look at the screen and see Jayne had messaged Karissa on Instagram, so you use it to make a video call.

“Oh, hi Zach!” Karissa is smiling broadly at her phone as she walks into a room. You assume it is her bedroom because she closes a door behind her and then sits in such a way that you can see part of a bed behind her.

“Hi Karissa, I’m just here with Jayne at her place and we wanted to talk to you if you have a minute.” Uh, why did you phrase that like you wanted to arrange a meeting at work? Smooth Pritchard, real smooth. You know for a fact she wants you to ask her out and you’re still bad at it!

“Absolutely,” Karissa has a polite and somewhat serious expression but you can sense her nervousness. The pretty blonde keeps very still and you move the phone so that Jayne is on camera as well, causing Karissa to smile again and say, “Hi Jayne!”

“Hey Karissa,” Jayne cuddles up to you more, making it easy to have you both visible.

There is no reason to drag this out, and you’re sure Karissa is anxious about the purpose of your call so you decide to be plain. “Karissa, we were talking about your kind offer and we wanted to give it a try. If you are still interested, we’d love to go out with you, just to see how it goes.”

“YES!” Karissa shouts and you see her image shake around as she clearly started gesturing with her hands. Jayne and you start to laugh as Karissa, now smiling wildly, comes back on the screen to say, “Hell yeah I still do! Thank you both so much for being willing to try something so uncommon! No matter what, if it doesn’t work at all, I appreciate it more than I can say you guys!”

The young woman’s obvious delight and gratitude are making you emotional too. Jayne clears her throat and says, “Thank you for your honesty and willingness to let us think about it. We may not fully understand but we both, well, like you too so we wanted to go out. All of us together, just to see how we all feel about it, like Zach said.”

“Absolutely Jayne! I have some ideas of what we can do. It will just be a chance for us to get to know each other better, no pressure or expectations, just a fun time. Hopefully.” Taking a deep breath, Karissa continues, “So, when are you available? I had thought we could go to a club if you want to go dancing and party, or we could just go to a restaurant for dinner and then catch a show. What sounds good to you both?”

You and Jayne share a look, and you say, “I’m down for whatever, but a meal and some conversation sounds good to me.”

Jayne agrees, “Yeah we can talk and have dinner and if we’re having fun, go out and do something else. If it’s not too soon, how about tomorrow?”

“That would be perfect!” Karissa says, “I’m going to my cousin’s wedding with my Mom on Saturday so tomorrow is great! I know just the place to go. Oh, if you want you can pick the spot too.”

You exchange a shrug with your girlfriend and she says, “No you can.”

“Do you like Italian? There’s one really good little Italian place near me that I’ve gone to a million times. It’s very cozy and good.”

Heaving an internal sigh of relief that she wasn’t going to suggest the Poop Cafe again, you say, “I certainly like Italian.” Jayne nods and it’s set.

“Now I’ll make a reservation for tomorrow,” Karissa says, “how does 7:00 sound? That way if we’re having fun we can go do something else too.” Again, everyone agrees and Karissa gives a nervous chuckle. “Ok this is so awesome and nerve wracking I’m going to let you guys go before I freak out and you change your mind. I’ll text Jayne when I have it all confirmed, but I’m sure I’ll see you two tomorrow at work too. Good night!”

“Good night Karissa,” you say in unison with Jayne and then disconnect.

As you hand Jayne her phone back it buzzes, and after looking at it she says, “That’s just Karissa asking me to pass along her phone number to you if you don’t mind.”

“Of course not,” you say, “but, uh, this is so freaking trippy.”

Jayne laughs, “God I know right! I do feel like no matter what we’ll have a good time and it will be fine. Maybe nothing comes of it but Karissa is such a nice girl I can’t imagine not having fun.”

“Agreed. Part of it honestly is just doing something with you is inherently awesome. Now, this may be sudden and I know it’s not even 8 o’clock yet but all this snuggling has me wondering if you’re up for a ravishing yet.”

“Fucking hell Pritchard, I was just about to pull your pants off and give you that blowjob I owe you, but I can show you my bedroom now if you want.”

Chasing her to her bedroom, you get that very skillful blowjob and a lot more besides.