On the edge

"All right den," Nikki pushed open her door, and stepped out of the van, slamming it shut behind herself.

I hurriedly pulled the parking brake, and locked up, joining Nikki as she strode towards the escalators at the far end of the structure.

"So... Don't normally do da mall anymore, haven't done that since... hmmm, When did Gurnee Mills start to suck?"

"Where's that?" I asked, Leaning on the escalator bar as we rode up next to each other.

"Big ass mall over in Gurnee... uh, you ever see Wayne's World? Same area. Lotta Navy guys."

"In the middle of Illinois? Seriously?"

"Got three cousins in the Navy. I'm guessing you're a former grunt, because a jarhead would have known dat." Nikki smiled. "So... let's see Hawaiian shirt..."

"What are you doing?" I asked, as she appraised me while we were walking.

"If this is a date, I'm gettin' to know you." She explained. "Notice you are wearing a band, but it's pretty subtle... what is that on it?"

"Ah, just... you know, what we had around when we wanted to get married. I didn't want to blow money on a ring for me, and I had this one that Kaila really liked."

"Kaila, now dere's a nineties name if I've ever heard one," Nikki grasped my hand and took a closer look at the small silver ring on my left hand. "This hasn't come off once, has it?" She wiggled the ring back and forth, before yanking it off with a quick jerk. "Ooops, guess you're not married now... what a shock..."

The slight abrasion on my left hand was a momentary flash of pain, and I looked down at the now bare spot. The feeling of absence on the fingers around it was the first thing I noticed, the lack of pressure that had been a constant reminder of my gorgeous wife.

She brought her left hand to her face in an expression of shock, and I clearly noted the bare spot on it where she had removed a ring, leaving a clearly lighter portion of skin.

"Give that back..." I held out my hand, and she happily dropped a ring into my hand. I noted it was not the one she had taken off my finger. It was gold for one, and in addition, had a small stone surrounded by several others, as well as being linked with a second ring with an integrated setting.

"Tell you what... I'll give it back... when you drop me off. Little insurance policy dat you won't ditch me." Nikki smiled.

"I don't do that to people." I argued.

"You just did it to your sister because she pissed you off. Not taking any chances." Nikki hopped into a quick skip before, slowing and grabbing my now bare hand. "C'mon, I'm KIDDIN'. Seriously, if you want it back, just say so. But I'm kinda finding dis a little kinky hanging onto your wedding ring while you've got mine. Little risky, and kinda hot."

She Momentarily adjusted, before reaching behind her neck and deftly unclasping the long gold chain that held her medal. I watched as the silver ring slid across her flesh, down to nestle in the hollow of her breasts. She refastened the chain, and brought her hand to it, pressing it against herself.

"Oh yeah, Ok... so...oh hey, I think my Aunt Vita has dat dress... " She pointed to a store window, grabbing my arm and beginning to comment on the various displays.

I felt the warm metal of her ring in my hand and a shudder went through me. I didn't have anything really Secure to keep it on.

"Uh... I can't really keep it as safe without putting it on..." I mumbled.

"Put it on your keys or something..." Nikki shrugged, and I did just that, making sure that I didn't scrape up the gold or the settings. Unfortunately it was impossible to keep the two rings together without wearing them, so they ended up dangling loosely off my keys as I shoved them back into my pocket.

We continued to walk, taking note of the various groups of older folks walking about as well as the occasional band of bored teenagers. Must not be a school day, I thought.

We walked through the mall, and as we did so I noticed that Nikki moved closer and closer to me as we browsed. We didn't end up going into a single store, just rambling, talking, enjoying each other's company. Nikki had opinions on every display, and yet seemed happiest when I disagreed with her, as it gave her a reason to launch into another story of one of her family members. I quickly lost track of names, as cousins, cousins-in-law, nephews, uncles and friends of the family all seemed to merge into a huge conglomerate that sounded both monolithic and yet fractured as all get out.

"Ok, so... dis whole thing with dat bet of yours... it serious?" Nikki asked after I relayed the story of what had been going on while we munched on a particularly expensive pastry that claimed its lineage from a long line of vegan hippie peace love and cash only please.

"Yeah... I get back without Imogene, they are gonna do whatever I say." I nodded. "So... you know, thanks for winning that for me."

"Hey, If I won a bet, I want da payout." Nikki toyed with my ring a bit, before letting it fall once again into the lovely crevice between her full tits. "I could think of a LOT of things I could do with three willing **** girls..."

"Are you suggesting something...?" I felt a quick throb of blood at the thought through pretty much my entire body.

"I'm not suggesting anything. I'm straight up propositioning you." Nikki grinned. "Back home, no way in hell dis wouldn't get back to my husband. Somebody in de family would know if I used tinder or fetlife, and he'd hear about it in an instant because nobody can resist good gossip. Here... nobody knows me. Even de old biddies listening in."

I looked about myself and noticed that several people were studiously watching the birds, or investigating a particularly important tire ad in their newspaper.

"Course, if I said yes, since you're asking, I'd have a few rules I'd expect you to follow." I took a deep breath. The hungry look in Nikki's eyes said everything. I just wasn't sure how far to push this.