Title: Affection Multiplier App: The Boyfriend
By: BreaktheBar
Chapter 249
I waited out on the dock while Becca dipped into the Singles Boat to go knock on Sherry’s door. I wasn’t entirely sure what the sleeping arrangement had been in there—Becca and Ami had been sharing a room, so that wasn’t an issue, but with Heather in Sherry’s room I had to assume that Zenya had crashed with Leia. I wasn’t sure whether Ginny was a ‘sleep with the girls you hooked up with’ kind of girl or not.
Becca came back out after a couple of minutes, the dull blue of pre-dawn now lighting the sky and illuminating her shaking her head. “Heather grunted for me to get out, and I think Sherry was just starting to realize she’d fucked up. They aren’t leaving.”
I had to sigh heavily. “Well, there goes the easy answer.”
“You know I would kick them off the trip if I reasonably could,” Becca said, frustration clear in her voice. “I don’t want them fucking things up, but being a shitty girlfriend isn’t a valid reason.”
“I know, Becca,” I said, pulling her into another hug. “I know. That would be my answer too.”
We quickly went to work, unmooring the Singles Boat first, and then I quickly did the same with the Couples Boat. Once we were both ready to go we went up to the Pilot’s Cabins and started our engines just a couple of minutes after the sun started peeking over the horizon. Becca radioed over, even though we were probably close enough she could have yelled it, that she was ready and I acknowledged. She pulled out first, as usual, and I followed behind her as we got moving for the day.
Morning on the lake was a little cool, so I was happy I’d followed Becca’s lead and worn a long-sleeved shirt, but I kept the windshield open to enjoy the open water air. I loved living in Vegas—it was everything Cassidy and I had hoped for, moving to a larger city. And sure, Vegas was weird, but we lived out in the suburbs so it was a nice mix of weird and normal folks. One thing we didn’t get very often though was the sort of serene calm that came with being on a smooth body of water. The lake was like glass at the moment, reflecting the sky and the sunrise, and even though I knew it was actually flowing down towards the dam I felt like I could have dove in and just floated in place forever.
I was pulled from my reverie by footsteps on the stairs beside the cabin and I smiled as Cattie appeared in the doorway behind me. She was wearing a pair of my athletic shorts cinched around her waist and a crop top with long sleeves. “Morning, Catherine,” I said, reaching out a hand to her.
“Good morning, Tiger,” she said, coming to me and taking my hand before stepping closer and hugging me with her other arm.
“How are you feeling?” I asked.
“Sore in all the right ways,” she smirked softly. “And I think I slept the best I have in a while even though we got woken up early.”
“I’m glad to hear it,” I said. “But you know what I meant, gorgeous.”
“I do,” she said. She let go of me and leaned back against the counter next to me, just keeping her fingers tangled with mine as I drove the boat one-handed. “Are you still sure about last night?”
“I know I am,” I said. “Are you?”
“Yes,” she said with a happy sigh. “I just- I was breaking up with Heather no matter what, but that doesn’t mean you and Cassidy need to redefine your own relationship for me.”
“We may not ‘need’ to, but we want to,” I said. “Cattie, you’re good for Cassidy. Before you, she had friends but I don’t think she’d ever had a best girlfriend. You bring out good things in her, and a brightness. And you do the same with me. I’ve loved you for being what you are for her, but I never realized how much you were impacting me too. I adore everything about you, and having the chance to love you romantically is the chance of a lifetime.”
Cattie’s smile looked like it could break her face and a small tear dripped from her eye. “Thank you, Tiger,” she whispered.
“There is a ‘but’ though,” I said. “And it’s not about you, it’s more… for you, I guess.”
“But is this too soon?” Cattie guessed.
I nodded.
“Probably,” she admitted. “But I don’t care. If you and Cassidy weren’t who you are, this might have been a rebound decision. If you hadn’t been supporting me from the very start, being everything I needed even when I wasn’t accepting it or listening to you despite knowing I should… Robbie, you’ve been a better partner to me in the last week than Heather was through almost our entire relationship. And you were able to do that while dealing with a heartbreaking issue of your own. ‘Too soon’ for me isn’t what I’m worried about at all. I’m worried that this is too soon for you guys. But Cassidy is full steam ahead like always, and if it wasn’t me I think it would have been someone else officially by the end of the week. So I’m glad that it’s me.”
That made me swallow and hesitate for a moment. “Cattie…” I said.
“Shh,” she shushed me. “I know I won’t be the only one. Wanda is yours, even if you guys are being respectful of her dead marriage for the most part. Cassidy says the only thing stopping you from being official with Becca is how busy everything has been. And I know there are other girls who feel strongly too.”
“Are you OK with that?” I asked. “And I mean really, truly good with it? Because I feel like each of you belongs with someone who is completely devoted to you. Each of you is amazing and beautiful and different, and I feel like I’m… I’m not everything you deserve because I can’t be 100 per cent yours.”
“You are 100 per cent mine, Tiger,” Cattie said, then smirked. “It’s just joint ownership of 100 per cent. As long as I get a say in who joins the ‘owners club’ of Robbie Blane, then I’m happy to be a co-owner of the sexiest, sweetest, most loving man I’ve ever known.”
I pulled her into another hug, my own eyes starting to water. “I love you, Catherine.”
“I love you too, Tiger,” she sighed happily. She held me for a little bit, looking out at the lake as the sun slowly crawled higher into the sky.
“OK,” she finally said. “I have two more things I want to talk about.”
“Go for it,” I said, still holding her.
“Before I came up here, I called Jake. He’s Heather’s roommate and her long-time gay best friend. Honestly, I love him and he’s the only thing from that relationship I’ll miss. He was mad I woke him up so early at first, but when I told him what was going on he was pissed that Heather fucked up a good thing. He’s going to get all the stuff I have at their place together and drop it off with my spare key at my place. I trust him to do that for me. After that, though, we need to talk about what happens.”
“Well, the way I see it, I want to date you long-distance for as short a time as possible,” I said. “We need to talk with Cassidy about it, but I think we can probably change your ‘permanent invitation to visit’ into ‘invitation to permanently visit’ as soon as it makes sense for you. And we’re definitely changing your flights—you aren’t driving to an airport or flying back with those two. You’ll come back to Vegas with me and Cass and crash for a day or two if you can before flying out.”
“I love you,” she sighed again. I leaned my head over and kissed the top of her hair.
“What’s next?” I asked.
“We need to talk about sex,” she said.
* * *