Dinner, and having too many girlfriends means lots of touching base

I figured we were going to end up grabbing dinner on our way home since it was late and we were all getting hungry, but it turned out that part of Cassidy’s breakdown that afternoon of feeling like a shitty partner and girlfriend after finding out about my panic attack was throwing together a dinner in the slow cooker. When we got back to our place, she had chicken thighs in a creamy lemon sauce simmering in the crock pot, and all we had to do was whip up some rice in the rice cooker.

“Er-ma-gerd,” Cattie mumbled around her mouthful of food, rolling her eyes up into her skull as she groaned at the burst of flavour. When she swallowed, she sighed. “Girl, you never said you were, like, a chef.”

“I’m not a chef,” Cass said with a little smile of thanks at the compliment. “Cooking really isn’t that hard, it just takes a little practice. When my Mom died, me and my Dad were a total wreck because she used to do all the cooking. We kind of started trading off cooking duties to keep each other fed rather than ourselves, and it turned into a competition to see who could recreate my Mom’s dishes the best. And then I started bringing Robbie home for dinner sometimes, and I got to cook for both the men in my life.”

“Aww,” Cattie cooed, smiling warmly.

“Robbie’s no slouch in the kitchen either,” Cass smirked.

“You and I both know you’re better than me at just about anything in the kitchen except bacon,” I chuckled.

“My bacon is just fine,” she rolled her eyes.

“She overcooks it every time,” I stage whispered to Cattie, and then I grinned and spoke over my fiancee’s protests. “But this is so perfectly done; I can’t wait to take another bite.” I shoveled a big bite into my mouth and groaned almost orgasmically, mollifying Cass somewhat.

Once we’d eaten, the girls started cleaning and shooed me into the living room to start making my phone calls. I started with a text to Ami to see if she could even take a call or if she was still dancing around her parents for the moment. Then I called Terra, who sounded stressed when she picked up but was just grateful to hear my voice and know that I was taking my therapy seriously.

Zenya was next, and she answered my call with a sigh. “Hey,” she said.

“Hey, Freckles,” I said. “Something wrong?”

“Well, you didn’t send me a single dick pic today after I sent you some pretty fucking explicit nudes,” she said.

“...Shit,” I said.

She snorted, and I could visualise her little smirk-smile. “I guess the panic attack didn’t really put you in the mood, huh?” she asked.

“Not really,” I said, feeling lucky that I was getting let off the hook. She was right - if a woman went out of her way to send something like that to me, she was owed something back.

I gave the curvy redhead a quick rundown of the attack and then my odd therapist and his homework.

“OK, for real,” she said when I was done. “That’s a reasonable request, but you’re leavin’ a girl wanting. Send me something tonight before you take me down to emojis for good morning and good night.”

I chuckled and agreed, and she let me go so I could ‘get busy’ once I was finished checking in with everyone. Ami had texted me back that she was with her parents and couldn’t talk, so I did my best to update her quickly via text. She sent me back a hug emoji and some hearts to show she understood, and I sent her a pair of those back as well.

Leia was next up and had a good question. “What about our plans to play games?” she asked, sounding disappointed.

“Fuck, I- I hadn’t really been thinking of that, Sunshine,” I admitted. “I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s OK,” she immediately backtracked. “Mental health stuff should come before stupid games-”

“Hey,” I interrupted her. “Leia, spending any time with you, even playing video games, isn’t stupid.”

“Robbie-” she started.

“Leia,” I countered, and we were both silent for a long moment.

And a moment more.

“You’re still there, right?” she asked.

That made me snort softly. “I am, babe.”

“So…?”

“I think playing some video games can fit into ‘Dude Time,’” I said, smirking a little. It was fudging the rules a bit, but Leia loved fighting games - it’s not like we were going to be playing Stardew Valley or Animal Crossing, or even something more social like Mario Party or Among Us. We’d be shit talking each other and being competitive. “And I’m going to beat you. At least twice.”

“We’ll see,” she said, and I could hear her grin.

With my Thursday night now partially booked up, since we decided to do it later in the evening, I made the final call for the evening.

“Tell me everything,” Becca answered her phone, not even saying hello. “Or- Everything you’re comfortable with telling me.”

And I told her everything. She already knew the hard stuff anyways - the betrayals, the hurts, the panic attacks. But talking about it, talking about all of it, was something that I knew was going to feel good. Something I wanted to do.

Because talking to Becca was like talking to a version of myself, with the way our minds went in the same direction so often.

I hadn’t held anything back from Cass or Cattie, and I wasn’t afraid of them overhearing me with Becca. I also wasn’t recounting things word for word or line for line to my blonde girlfriend. That similar-mindedness meant I knew which parts she wouldn’t mind glossing over and which parts she’d want more detail on.

The beer was funny but not something to focus on. The plans moving forward were very important.

“Robbie, almost a week of no communication is… a lot,” she said.

“I know,” I sighed. “And I don’t know how realistic it is, especially with Cass and Terra driving for three days. I’m thinking more realistic is that ‘Me Dude Bro Time’ will go to Sunday night, and then we ramp back up into communication on Monday and Tuesday.”

There was a moment of thought as she processed my thoughts. “That’s definitely more realistic, but should we be realistic or should you try and go whole hog on the Doctor’s orders?”

“I think the point of the whole exercise is to have me time, and getting used to having me time,” I said. “It’s not like I’m taking off time from work.”

“That’s fair,” she said. “OK, well… You do realise that I’m going to be bummed out all weekend now, right? We all are.”

“Becca,” I said. “Sugar. I love you, but we’ve been in a relationship for less than a week, and we’ve been long-distance for the last three days. I think you can manage doing life without having a direct line to me.”

“It’s not about needing you, Tiger,” she growled softly. “It’s about wanting you.”

“Fuck,” I breathed out at the tone of her voice.

She laughed warmly and then hummed into the phone. “I love you too, by the way.”

“Any news from Wanda?” I asked, pivoting the conversation.

“Brodi still hasn’t shown up as of… twenty minutes ago,” Becca replied. “Wanda called his parents and they say he caught his flight and eventually landed here in Seattle, but they don’t know where he is now. She’s stressing out a bit and I’m thinking of going over there - she doesn’t like the idea of him coming into their place when she’s asleep.”

“Honestly, I’d rather she came to you, or you went and brought her back to yours,” I said. “That way neither of you are there if he shows up drunk or high or something in the middle of the night.”

“That makes sense,” she said. “Shit. OK, I’ll go get here and I won’t give her a choice.”

I swallowed down the quip that almost blurted out of me about Wanda liking it if Becca didn’t give her a choice. Now wasn’t the time or situation for a joke like that.

“Anything else before you go, then?” I asked her.

“Just that I appreciate you, Tiger,” she said. “And I hope your day is getting better.”

“It is, Sugar,” I said. “And you’re a part of that for sure. I miss you already.”

“Miss you too,” she said. “Are you going to fuck those two little BFF Sluts now?”

That made me snort, looking over towards the kitchen where I could see Cass and Cattie sitting at the kitchen table talking and laughing, the cleanup long done. “I’m not sure what the plan is on that front, but I’m guessing it’s a version of that,” I said. “And I owe Zenya some, ah, self-gratification material. Do you want me to send it to you too?”

“Robbie,” Becca said. “Tiger. If you’re willing for it to go on camera, and they are, then I’d watch the whole fucking thing.”

“I’ll keep that in mind, Sugar,” I said. “Want me to hand you over to them quick?”

“No, no,” she said. “I’ll get moving over to Wanda’s now. Have fun. I love you.”

“Take care of her, and I love you too,” I said.

“I will,” she promised.

We hung up, and I sighed softly. Eight women I wanted to check in with. Two in the building, one unavailable, one really unavailable, and four calls complete.

Somehow, I felt like I owed them more, but I wasn’t sure what more I could give at the moment. At least to the ones that weren’t here.

I had lots to give to the ones who were.

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