The Affection Multiplier - Chapter 225: A walk in the park with Jessica. (Patreon)

Or to be exact, the dog park.

Jessica approached you at school to ask you out the Monday after your date with Lilian. Of course, you said yes, but the following question left you curious.

“Do you like dogs?”

And you do, actually. Very much so. And the reason Jessica asked is because the dating spot she picked is a dog park. A lot of space to walk around and simply look at the dogs play. She was a little embarrassed to admit that she didn’t have the money to do anything fancy, but hearing you’re in the same boat helped her relax.

You meet up with her at a bus stop near the park. Since you’re probably walking a lot, you picked your attire accordingly. It’s your usual workout outfit with a hoodie on top. And it seems Jessica had the same idea.

Her whole outfit is a tight fit, however. Black pants and a dark gray hoodie that perfectly show her hourglass silhouette, prominent bust and a bit of her midriff. This girl manages to look sexy no matter what she’s wearing.

“Hey.” She greets you with a smile. “Everything ready?”

“Everything ready. Lead the way.”

You walk together to the park. The place is huge, of course, and it’s almost completely covered in grass. Looking around, the inner area behind the chain fence is an ample field where you can see lots of dogs running and playing. The sounds of playful barking and yelling from kids fills the air. And around the fence is the rest of the park, with dirt paths to walk, tall trees and gazebos around to have picnics.

You walk around side by side as you look at the dogs run around. Watching a Dalmatian get spooked when a small Corgi stealthy approaches to smell its bum makes Jessica laugh.

“Would you like to have a dog, David?” She asks you.

“Yeah, I’d like it a lot.” You sigh. “The only reason I don’t have one already is because I live alone and I’d have no one to look after it while I’m at school.”

“Dogs can be independent.” She says.

“If taught to be, I guess. But what about when it’s a puppy?”

“Oh. Yeah, you have a point.”

“What about you? I guess you don’t have a dog, or you would’ve brought it?”

“Right. I live in an apartment, so we can’t have pets. I like both cats and dogs, though.” She giggles.

You keep walking around for a while, talking about nothing in particular. The thing is, you’ve spoken to Jessica a lot more than you have to Olivia and Lilian. You hang out with her every so often, so you’re up to date with what she’s doing.

“Still having troubles finding a role in a play?” You ask carefully. You know it’s a bit of a sore topic for her.

“Yeah.” She sighs. “It’s not like there’re many theatre groups in this town. So even finding auditions is difficult. The few ones I’ve tried were looking for people with more experience.”

“It’s always like that, isn’t it? They want someone with experience, but newcomers aren’t even given the chance to build said experience.” You groan.

“That’s exactly it!” She groans with you. “It’s so frustrating!”

“Still thinking of taking theatre in university?” You ask.

“Yes, but… considering how things are going I might have to give that up.” She smiles wryly. “It’s… difficult to find the will to follow your dreams when you’re not sure it’ll put food on the table.”

“You’re right.” You grimace. That has to be a hard choice.

“You do have any big dreams, David?” She asks, shaking her head to dismiss the downer topic.

“Dreams? Well… I don’t really know. It’s hard to say.” You chuckle. “More than a dream, right now my goal is to, well…” You clear your throat nervously. It’s kind of weird to say this to her. “I’m looking towards marriage right now. Everything I’m doing is towards that goal and what comes after.”

“R-Right.” She nods. “So your dream is having your own family?”

“I guess you could put it that way.” You laugh. “It’ll be a pretty big family, though.”

“…” Jessica purses her lips before she lets out a soft sigh. She looks around and points towards a gazebo close by. “Do you mind if we sit over there for a while?”

“Not at all. Let’s go.”

The two of you sit side by side on a bench under the wooden gazebo. From here you still have a good view of dogs playing around, and you stay quiet for a while, watching them run from one place to the other.

Then, Jessica finally speaks.

“David… We both know why we’re here, right?”

“Yeah…” You sigh and nod. “I guess it’s about time I give you a definitive answer, right? You deserve that.”

“Thank you.” She gives you a small, if very nervous smile.

After all, it’s been a few months since Jessica explicitly confessed to you. She’s made it no secret that she likes you. You had to say no at the time because things were too complicated. Not to say they aren’t complicated now, but much less so, at least.

Your girlfriends are willing to give her a chance. And honestly, so are you.

“Jessica, I think the way you support your friends is amazing.” You chuckle lightly. “Really, they’re lucky to have you. You’ve stuck with them no matter what, helping them however you can. I’ve seen how serious all three of you are in making changes in your lives, and I think that’s admirable. So yeah, I don’t see a reason anymore to turn down a girl as loyal and as beautiful as you.”

Her mouth hangs half-opened, and her eyes start getting teary.

“Y-You’re not joking, right?” She asks. Her voice nearly cracking.

“Of course not. I could never joke with something like this. I like you, Jessica. Enough to want you close to me, to have you in our group. If we can earn even a speck of the loyalty you have for Lilian and Olivia, then I think we’ll be fine.” You tell her, taking her hand and holding it in yours.

“You have it.” She says, smiling widely. “I promise you, I’ll do everything I can to make you happy. I promise to try my best to make up for everything I did.”

“Hey, what matters to me is that you’re happy as well.” You chuckle. “Let’s do our best to make everything work out, okay? I know this is a very strange relationship you’re getting into.”

“It is, but I don’t mind.” Jessica nods, still looking into your eyes. “We’ll make it work. And not just because I’m in love with you, but because I want to follow your advice from back then.”

“My advice?”

“Yes. I want to start making more friends. I want to finally try to let people in instead of pushing everyone away. I admit I’m not sure how well I’ll get along with the older women of the group, but… I think the other girls are pretty cool.” She giggles.

“Emma’s not that different in private than she is as a teacher. Just a bit more playful and, as always, very approachable. Mia likes to look after us. She’s kind of like… the mother of the group, weird as that sounds.” You smile sheepishly. “Anzu is quieter, but she’s very reliable. I’m sure you’ll be able to talk to her about anything. And Julia is very open-minded. She’s up for anything that seems interesting to her and always willing to have fun.”

Jessica giggles. “That sounds great.”

Her body visibly relaxes, tension and nervousness quickly leaving her. She leans on you and rests her head on your shoulder as she squeezes your hand, sighing contently.

You gently kiss the top of her head, making her giggle again. “You know, I used to daydream about us being together just like this.”

“Hey, if I’m making some of your dreams a reality from minute one, then I guess I’m a pretty great boyfriend.”

She starts laughing at that, and you laugh along. It’s refreshing how painless this all was. After months of maintaining an odd distance, you and Jessica are officially together.

You put your hand on her cheek and turn her head towards your face. Then you lean down and kiss her lips. She’s not surprised. It’s more like she was eagerly waiting for it. She kisses you back and before long your tongues are passionately intertwined.

Jessica moans into your mouth and slowly starts to lose her strength, letting you take charge. You taste those full lips that have temped you for so long, you roll your tongue around hers and rest your hand on her waist.

“David,” Jessica moans. “I want you. And I want you to take me.”

“Are you sure?”

“I am.” She swallows. “But I want to wait a bit more.”

“Wait for what?” You ask, curious.

“For Olivia and Lilian.” She smiles nervously. “I want to wait until Olivia takes you on a date. Until you know for sure how you feel about both of them. Just like how it’s important to you that I get along with your other girlfriends, it’s important to me that I know where you stand regarding my best friends.”

“I understand.” You smile. “We can do that. The date with Lilian went way better than I expected. I think both of us understood more about what we want. And Olivia… Well, I admit I’m looking forward to that date.”

“You better.” Jessica giggles. “She has something very special prepared for you.”

“Oh?”

“Yep. No matter how hard you try, you will never guess what she has in store.” She grins mischievously.

“Now I’m REALLY curious.”

“Good. But, if only for a little while longer, focus only on me, okay?” She asks shyly.

“Of course. Come here.” You pull her into a tighter embrace and kiss her again. The rest of the day goes on quietly, with you and your new girlfriend sitting together in comfortable silence, basking in the joy of finally getting over one of the barriers between you.