they get a bit existential and think about their own partners (Jake's perspective)

[NOTE: This chapter happens in parallel with perspectives from Abbie, Kei, Aguri, and two voyeuristic strangers.]

How did we even get here?

Sometimes, in the middle of various activities -- including sex -- Jake would randomly ask himself questions, almost like an old school textbook that would conclude chapters with some kind of quiz to make sure the reader had been paying attention.

Jake suddenly wondered whether he had been paying attention. He looked down. It was his body, it was his penis, it was his experience -- and he was getting oddly existential about the whole thing.

Oh come on, Jake. Just fuck the girl and enjoy yourself. The truth was that he was enjoying himself. Kei was kind of like a fantasy. She was a model, a picture-perfect physical specimen, the kind of woman who shows up in magazines and maybe a high-class porn movie, but never in real life. And yet -- here she was, real life, completely naked, with her legs in the air. Jake looked down again, unable to believe that what was happening was actually happening.

Yup. I'm actually fucking this woman. And I don't have any idea how we got here.

He heard Abbie's voice asking Aguri something, and the more he thought about it, the more he realized that Abbie was the fantasy. Kei was fiction; Abbie was real. Abbie was an actual person from real life, a woman with a normal job and a normal house and ate normal meals and washed her face and brushed her teeth ... and has a wildly insatiable appetite for sex and says 'yes' to literally any question.

Jake chuckled to himself and glanced down at Abbie. She didn't notice him look. She was watching Aguri massage her foot, which rested on his chest. Does she like what he's doing? I've done that to her before, and she always seemed to like it. But was that because it was me, or just because she likes having her feet touched?

Jake had so many questions for Abbie. He didn't quite know how to ask her things, when, if, whether it was worth it -- he just wondered so much about her. He hoped that he'd just learn in time, and as long as she seemed both happy and willing to spend time with him, then he'd find a way to accept this very different type of ... whatever this non-relationship-relationship-thing they had going.

And then he looked down once more. He drew his dick out of Kei's pussy. He watched Kei as she breathed into his movements. Her eyes were closed, but her body was active. Even without his dick inside her, she squirmed a bit, rubbing against him, her foot up on his chest. He touched her snake tattoo again. Then he rested the tip of his cock against the top of Kei's pussy. He rubbed into her clit a bit with his dick before sliding back inside her. He pulled out again, and re-inserted again. Out. And in. With each penetration, he felt Kei breathe and noticed the muscles in her leg tense up a little.

It might be fantasy, but it feels fucking great. Jake smiled, plunged his dick back into Kei's pussy, and returned to a steady rhythm.

Jake felt Kei's body against him, grinding toward him as he pressed into her. It gave him the sense that she was enjoying herself, that she liked how this felt.

Despite a general confidence that things with Abbie were going well, Jake was always a little unsure if he was enough for her. Abbie presented such a positive energy all the time, and Jake wasn't quite as perpetually sunshine-y as that. Not that he was dour or morose, just not as outwardly joyful as Abbie. It's probably because I'm a guy, he thought. Guys are dumb.

His thoughts shifted to Abbie again. Am I enough for her? he wondered. Is she either so easily satisfied that it doesn't matter how 'enough' I am ... or do I actually meet her needs and desires? Jake didn't want to get too heady about it all. He looked down at Kei. Am I enough for her as well? Without a metric and statistics, Jake knew there was no pure way to know. Typical account-minded me, thinking of metrics and statistics during all this.

He touched Kei's body, his hands feeling the firm rise of her breasts, his fingertips tracing her collarbone, touching her neck. He heard Kei sigh just as he grazed his hand toward her face. Maybe she likes her face being touched? Jake wasn't about to break the moment with questions. Not out loud, at least.

Jake straightened up again, his hands back on Kei's hips and legs. He pulled her toward him slightly, as she had naturally drifted backward a bit. She opened her eyes and they looked at one another. She was a far more intense starer than he, and just as it was about to border on awkward for Jake, he saw Aguri reach over and touch Kei's face, stealing her attention. Jake hadn't realized, but Aguri had stopped fucking Abbie for a moment, and stood near Kei's mouth, perhaps hoping she'd give him a little oral attention.

Kei looked up at Aguri and quietly said, "Oh, if I must ..."