I jumped up from the couch to get the door, opening it for Richard to enter. I had invited him over to meet my roommates who had been asking about him.

“Hey.” I smiled up at him as I closed the door behind us.

“Hey, Mae. Thanks for inviting me over.”

“I’m glad to have you.” I grabbed his hand, pulling it to my chest. Richard moved to hug me tightly, allowing me to take a deep breath of his scent. We parted and I looked up at him. “Dinner is already made. One of my roommates helped me make it.”

I guided him to the kitchen table where Mason and Julian were already at. Richard and I took our seats as we began passing food around until everyone had a full plate.

“How did you all end up roommates?” Richard asked, taking a bite of the dinner and not throwing it up so that’s a good sign.

“Mason and Julian were already roommates. They met in college.” I explained. “And Mason and I met back in elementary school. Our teacher put us at the same table on the first day. I moved in after my mom left.” I shrugged, finishing my explanation.

“And you’ve been friends since. Impressive.” Richard smiled. “I have a few friends I still know from college as well, but there aren’t many.”

“I obviously didn’t have college friends…since I didn’t go. Mason and Julian were roommates in their second year. I’m honestly pretty jealous it took this long for us to become roommates.” I smiled, but I wasn’t really lying. I had always wished Mason had fulfilled his promise of us being roommates sooner.

“It’s nice to meet you two finally. I’ve heard quite a bit, though mostly about you Mason.”

“Good things, I hope.” Mason laughed, seemingly getting along fine with him so far. It felt like taking my boyfriend home to the parents. Except with friends. And we’re not even dating.

“Of course.” Richard chuckled.

Richard’s tongue grazed my clit, causing me to clench onto the sheets. His thumb moved to rub my clit while his tongue dipped inside me. He continued, forcing a few moans out of me, before stopping abruptly. “Can we…?” He trailed off, looking me in the eyes. I nodded, getting a smile out of him.

I was already naked, so he watched me as he stripped down, his dick already mostly hard and after a few strokes he was ready to go. He crawled on top of me, hovering over me before pushing it in. We began fucking, but not too long into the process loud yelling from upstairs distracted us.

“What the hell is happening?” I finally asked after it was so loud I couldn’t ignore it. From here we could hear there was a commotion of some kind, but not pick up on what was being said or what was going on.

Richard pulled out and looked down at me. “Do you wanna go check it out?”

“Yeah. I should.” I sighed, slipping out from under him and pulled a robe on. I jogged up the stairs to find Mason pushing Alec back. Alec was yelling, telling him he can’t keep me away from him and ‘to get the fuck out of the way’.

“Hey, hey.” I walked up the rest of the stairs, speaking up. “What is happening here?”

“Your little tranny friend is trying to keep me away from you.”

“What the fuck?!” My eyes widened at the slur he just called Mason. “You need to leave.” I pointed towards the door before crossing my arms over my chest.

“No, I don’t.’ He pushed past Mason and grabbed onto my arm. “We need to talk.”

“About-” I stopped as Alec’s eyes different darkly behind me. I looked back to see a dressed Richard walk up the stairs.

“You were with another man! I fucking knew it!” His grip on my arm tightened.

“You said we were going to be open; isn’t this okay?”

Before Alec responded he pushed me out of the way and lunged at Richard. Richard and him threw a few blows before Mason and I got them separated.

“We need to talk.” Alec and Richard said in sync, causing Alec to glare at him coldly.

“We’ll talk later, Mae.” Richard sighed, walking past me to the door without saying another word.

“And we’ll talk now.” Alec grabbed my arm and pulled me downstairs into my room. He surveyed the room, his eyes stopping on my clothes on the ground. “What the fuck are you doing?”

My lip trembled before I started crying, blubbering out the I had been holding in. “I just want someone to love me. To want only me. You told me we were going to be open and Richard told me to see other people so I was doing that by seeing you. Both of you approved of me being with another person, so I don’t get why you're fighting.” I spoke quickly between tears, hoping he’d understand me.

“No I did not.” He crossed his arms.

“You said we were going to be open.” I wiped my face with the sleeve of the robe. “Unless…” It finally dawned on me. “You were only wanting an open relationship so you could be with other woman but expected me to be only with you.”

“You were a virgin.” Alec shrugged casually. “I didn’t think you wanted to be with anyone else.”

”So you’re not denying it?”

Alec sighed. “No.”

“Fucking bastard.” I turned away from him. “You’re no better than me. Leave. Now. I don’t want to see you.”

“We fcan still work things out, Mae.” Alec placed his hand on my shoulder.

“But it’ll never just be you and me.”

“No, but we can still have a good relationship.” He stated softly.

“Please,” I shook my head, “just leave.”

Alec took a deep breath before removing his hand from my shoulder. “Fine. I’ll go.”

I knocked on the door to the penthouse. After a few moments Richard opened the door, an ice pack held to his face. He didn’t look all too happy to see me.

“Can you…let me explain myself at least?” I asked meekly.

Richard took a deep breath .”I suppose I don't have much to be upset with you over.” He moved out of the way, letting me into his apartment.

“You did tell me to see other people…” I rubbed my arm nervously, before looking up at him. “But I’m still sorry.”

“You don’t need to be, Mae.” He shook his head.

“I’m sorry you got hurt.” I looked up at him sadly. “I never wanted that to happen.”

“Explain this all to me.” Richard motioned for me to follow him into the living room where we sat down.

I explained everything to him, from the debt and my father to him taking my virginity and the open relationship. Richard reached out and placed his hand over mine. “I’m sorry you went through that, Mae. Let me help you with your debt.”

“No.” I shook my head. “I can’t ask that of you.”

“Well, Mae,” Richard paused for a moment, “what do you want form this? From you and me?”

“I want to be with you. Only you. I--I love you, Alec.”

“Mae, I don’t know if I can give you everything you need, but…I want to be with you too.”

“Really?” I looked at him with wide eyes.

“I’ve regretted telling you to see other people since I first said it. I want you to be mine and only mine.”

“I will. I want that too.” I excitedly spoke. “Only yours.”

The next day I had work. I wasn’t looking forward to the conversation with Alec I was going to have to have. I liked him. A lot and I was hoping we could leave things amicable, but I doubt that would happen.

I opened the office door, peeking my head in. Alec’s car was already outside so he was likely in, but I couldn’t see him in the main room. He must be in the bathroom. I walked over to my desk when a bright color on the couch caught my eye. A…purse? I grabbed the bag, seeing a set of leopard print heels on the floor next to it.

I looked up to see Alec and a girl walk out of the bathroom. The girl snuck over to me and grabbed her things before leaving, never once making eye contact or acknowledgment of me.

“Alec.” I spoke his name as calmly as I could while feeling boiling rage. “What the fuck?”

Alec sighed. “It was supposed to make you mad.” He seemed less confident than normal, maybe even regretting his decision. “I’ll do it out of sight from now on. I’m sorry Mae.”

My eyes widened, surprised by his apology. “It doesn’t matter. Richard and I are going to have a relationship.”

“Come on, Mae.” Alec walked over towards me. “Drop the old guy and me mine.”

“No, Alec. I want to be with Richard.”

“I have money too, Mae. I can buy you whatever you want. You can move in with me.” He attempted to win me over, but I had my mind made up.

“No.” I crossed my arms. “Just stop. We’re done.”

“Fine.” Alec glared at me darkly. “But you can’t get rid of me no matter what. You’re still in debt to me and you can’t quit your job when you need the money. Get to work.” He demanded. I took a deep breath before walking over to my desk.