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

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

Kei was a smart woman, but she didn't philosophize much. She never spent much time thinking about herself in terms of why she did the things she did, why she liked the things she liked. She worked on instinct, found what satisfied her, and that was that.

She liked being bossy. And she liked being coy. She wanted someone to fall into her traps and then do what she told them to do. Or better yet, someone who just knew how to do what she wanted without having to tell them. Why can't men just read my mind? It would make everything so much easier.

Jake seemed like such a nice man. Too nice, she thought. She glanced over at Abbie. She's beautiful, but also, too nice. What a perfect couple.

She liked sex, most of the time. She liked what Jake was doing, though she considered asking for something new (but didn't). She liked being dominated, as long as it met her unspoken rules. Jake wasn't all that dominating, but at least he was taking charge. At least he wasn't weak.

She remembered the last time she and Aguri had fought, the last time they'd broken up, gone their separate ways, and how she'd gone and hooked up with a man she barely knew from the gym. So muscular, so fit, so strong -- and sexually so boring. He kept asking her how she felt.

"Hey." Abbie's voice floated through the air. Kei figured Abbie was probably not talking to her, so she didn't initially pay attention -- except Abbie continued with, "does this feel okay?"

That stopped Kei's thought process. Does this feel okay? It's sex, of course it feels good. Having just reconsidered the memory of the guy from the gym, and then hearing Abbie ask Aguri (what does she care what Aguri thinks?) whether it felt good, Kei pondered whether or not she should be asking her partner if things felt good. Am I just a selfish lover? Or maybe I just don't get invested in what other people think. 'Does this feel good,' it's so dumb. Just fuck, that's enough. No?

Kei looked at Jake. Nothing like the guy from the gym, and yet capable and strong. Realizing this made her a little jealous of Abbie, though she didn't quite understand why. She turned to look at Abbie and Aguri. She watched her boyfriend fucking a woman who she weirdly admired, a woman whose boyfriend was in turn fucking Kei, and giving her a good deal of pleasure. This hybrid jealousy-joy feeling was confusing to Kei -- and it was getting stuck in a thought cycle like this that kept her away from trying to figure out her life.

Instead, she just stuck with what she liked, and didn't waste time on anything else.

And she did like Aguri. She didn't really know why, but needing to avoid those confusing thought cycles, she didn't dwell on it. Sometimes it frustrated her anyway. Sometimes she worried that they weren't meant to be together.

Those fears were exacerbated when they fought -- like today -- because they'd inevitably go their separate ways and use sex as a recovery tactic. Kei's friends knew she did this, and although they never quite said it to her face, they believed it was an unhealthy response. Kei wondered if they were right. Perhaps it was unhealthy. Perhaps there were better ways to cope with relationship struggles.

Then again, thought Kei, maybe it's not so bad. She looked up at Jake. Who is this man? she asked herself. He touched her foot, tracing the snake tattoo that ran along the side. She felt him pull his penis out of her, then slide it back in again. He did it again, this time pressing his fingers against her clit. That moment of penetration was slow, tender, and nothing like Aguri.

She turned her head slightly and caught sight of Aguri close by. If we had just met another couple, and if the four of us had decided to get a little drunk and mess around together, this is exactly what we'd be doing. So who cares if it was by chance or by design?

She closed her eyes again and took a deep breath. She felt the rhythm of Jake's body pulsing against her. She pushed back on him very slightly, just enough to increase the pressure as he thrust into her, just enough so that as he penetrated deep into her, she could feel the end of his cock inside her.

Does this feel good? she asked herself, but imagining the question as if it were being asked of her, not by her. Yes, it feels good. Should I be asking him? He's just a one-time something, I ... I don't think I need to say anything.

Kei knew she was a beautiful woman. Kei was confident that Jake thought so. He was extremely erect, he was fucking her passionately, he kept putting his hands on her body (which, she was certain, felt good to both of them).

She let out a sigh. She wondered if the others had heard her, whether they thought it might sound like boredom or pleasure or -- but no one said anything. She wasn't bored, but she didn't want to be in her own thoughts this much. For Kei, sex was not a time to think, it was a time for physical pleasure and nothing else.

This was part of what made Aguri such a good partner for her. They both so easily fell into one another, fell into love, fell into sex, just ... it was always easy. The hard parts were the conversations. Maybe we need to be more willing to just fall into each other's ways of life? Kei thought. Wouldn't it be funny if after all this, all this sex in the woods, all this forcing ourselves to be with other people -- wouldn't it be something if we came back together stronger than before?

For the second (or maybe third) time in the last few minutes, Kei shook herself out of these introspective thoughts. She closed her eyes and felt herself escaping from the moment -- escaping from the woods, escaping from Jake. She breathed deeply.

Just then, she felt a hand on her cheek. She opened her eyes to see Aguri looking back at her, his hand gently stroking her face. Blinking, she glanced down, saw his dick close to her, and looked back up at him, smiling.

She rolled her eyes coyly and said, "Oh, if I must ..."