[Spirit of Lust 2] Chapters 219, 220 & 221. (Patreon)

Chapter 219: Intermission - Isabelle and The Girls.

Isabelle wondered what her brother must be thinking after seeing that picture. But hey, he was stealing her friends, so it was fair if she did the same to him once, right?

“But yeah, don’t sweat it,” Sarah said after taking a sip of her latte. “With everything people say about us, it’s no wonder you thought we were just messing with Oliver.”

“It still wasn’t fair to you. I never should’ve believed rumors over my brother,” Isabelle insisted.

“So, what? Would you feel better if we were mad at you?” Grace asked. Her stare was calm, but coolly intense. It almost made Isabelle want to shrink.

“Maybe?” Isabelle said sheepishly.

Milana chuckled. “God, you two really look alike. He makes that same face sometimes.”

“We have no reason to be mad at you,” Grace said, shrugging and taking a bite out of her doughnut before continuing. “Oliver does, but you’re already trying to fix that, right?”

“Right…” Isabelle sighed. “I’m hoping he’ll forgive me in time. He’s quiet about it, but he can hold grudges for a long time.”

“Really?” Sarah asked. “But actually, now that you mention it… I still catch him glaring at Mark every once in a while.” She chuckled.

“Maybe he does, but I bet he doesn’t like it,” Grace said.

“What do you mean?” Milana asked her.

“Hmmm.” Grace turned to Isabelle. “Do you know anything about what happened to him at the music club during freshman year?”

“Eh? That’s…” Isabelle furrowed her brow. That was something she never got out of him. She asked, but he wouldn’t say a word about it, not even to their mom. He was so into playing guitar that he even joined the music club. Then all of a sudden he quit. That was still a big mystery to Isabelle. “No, I don’t. He quit all of a sudden and has never said why.”

Grace sighed. “There’s this guy in Thomas’ class, Julian Jenkins. He is currently the lead guitarist for the music club’s band, something he likes to brag about a lot to the girls he woos and everyone who’ll hear.”

“Julian?” Isabelle asked. “I know him. He puts on a pretty smile, but he’s super petty.”

“Not confident in his guitar skills, either,” Grace continued. “Every person who has tried to compete for the position of lead guitarist has been bullied out of the club in some way or another. He’s the one who cut the strings of Oliver’s guitar while he was out of the room. That’s what made Oliver quit.”

Isabelle’s jaw dropped. “He cut the strings!?”

Her chest began to fill with hot, boiling rage. Every day since he got it, even if only for an hour, Oliver played his guitar. If you made him choose between his PC and his guitar, he’d pick his guitar every time. If someone cut the strings, she was sure he would take it as not being wanted, but more than that, they would be rejecting the one thing he was most proud of. And… Isabelle let him go through that alone?

Given by the angry yet calm faces of Milana and Sarah, they’d already heard the story. Isabelle couldn’t believe she was just now finding out what happened.

“How did you find out? Did he tell you?” she asked.

“He told me someone had cut the strings and that was what made him leave. I had to find out on my own who had done it and why.” Grace sighed. “Turns out Oliver was going to be picked as lead guitarist. Everyone I talked to said it was the obvious choice, that he was really good. Julian panicked and cut the strings of Oliver’s guitar and paid off everyone who saw him, effectively making them accomplices.” She clicked her tongue and sneered. “I still want to do something about it. I want to get him kicked out of the music club, I want to get him expelled, I want to ruin every chance he has to ever make a career out of music.” Isabelle felt a chill. She could see where the rumors about Grace came from, at least. The busty brunette sighed and calmed herself. “But Oliver didn’t even want me to tell him who had done it. He hasn’t moved on, but wants to.”

“If it had happened to me, I would’ve beaten the guy to a pulp,” Sarah said. “I still think Oliver should’ve done something other than quit, but at least he didn’t get in trouble. Can’t say I would’ve handled the situation better.”

“Yeah, but you were more aggressive back then,” Milana told her. “You’ve calmed down a lot.”

Right. Sarah had admitted to throwing a tennis racket at someone once. Alice had even said the guy deserved it. So even Sarah had grown from how she used to be, huh? It had taken Isabelle so goddamn long to even take the first step…

“Anyway.” Grace sighed. “Sorry, that was a long tangent.”

“No, I’m glad you told me. I’ve always been curious.” Isabelle chuckled softly. “Though it hurts a bit that Oliver trusts you more than he trusts me now.”

“To be fair,” Milana started, “we’re sort of cheating.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“Feel free to believe me or not, but we have this… connection with him. Sometimes we can sort of tell what he’s thinking.” She grinned mischievously. “And we’re pushy enough that we can usually get the truth out of him.”

“A connection?”

“Half the reason we’re even in this relationship,” Sarah told her. “Imagine this. You’ve fallen hard for a guy, okay? And you somehow know with 100% certainty that he is madly in love with you, he wants nothing but the best for you, and is actively trying to be a better person for you. And that’s on top of all the reasons you like him already. Would you let him go?”

“I…” To know with 100% certainty? Isabelle always thought her boyfriends liked her like that. She’d been wrong, though. Every time. “I… suppose I wouldn’t.”

“That’s basically how we feel,” Grace said, smiling fondly. “Oliver is sweet, hardworking, loving, and more proactive than he believes. He’s talented, loyal, a great listener… And a lot more things that I’m not sure I should tell his sister.” Isabelle blushed. That said enough. “Add that to what Sarah said, and he basically has us hooked.”

“What they said,” Milana added. “So I hope you can believe us when we say we’re not playing with him. We’re serious.”

“That’s more than clear already,” Isabelle told them. “But why encourage him to ask Alice and Noelle, too?”

The three girls shared a look.

“That’s a dangerous question, Isabelle,” Grace said, grinning teasingly. “You sure you want to hear the answer?”

“Huh? W-Wait. What did that mean? “Y-Yes?”

“One reason is that we could sort of tell he liked them, but would’ve never done anything about it,” Milana said. “Which would be a good thing in any other situation, but for us…”

“Another reason is that we… find the idea appealing,” Grace said. She left it at that, but the delighted shiver that ran through her said more than enough.

“And the final reason…” Sarah sighed. “He’s too much even for us three.”

Oh.

…

…

Oooooooooooh.

************

Chapter 220: Inspiration.

When I got home, the only one there to welcome me was Cake. She meowed at me like the talkative cat she was. I kneeled down and started scratching her head and neck. Cake purred and nuzzled into my hand.

“You wouldn’t believe the day I had,” I told her. “Would you believe me if I told you there are five girls who like me? I wouldn’t.”

I played with Cake absentmindedly for a while, my thoughts firmly set on the kiss I’d shared with Noelle and the kiss I’d shared with Alice that Saturday night. I could only hope Mila, Grace and Sarah wouldn’t suddenly decide to pull back their approval of all this. I was already in too deep to want to let go of any of them.

A short buzz notified me of a message to my phone. I checked it while I continued to wiggle one of Cake’s toys for her.

-Alice: Noelle called me. Are you free to talk right now?

Instead of replying, I gave her a call. She answered after the second beep.

“Hello,” she said.

“Hey. It was okay for me to call, right?”

She giggled. “Yes.”

“So… Noelle told me you two talked already.”

“Yeah.” I heard her swallow. “Let’s say I… didn’t want to let too much time pass before I did.”

Her bashful tone lit a teasing spark in me, and I couldn’t resist. “Oh? And why’s that?”

“...Because there’s a certain something I want to continue doing with a certain someone.” Man, hearing it was something else. My heart skipped a beat at it. “But before that… I hear it went well with her.”

“It was… strange. What did she tell you?”

Alice laughed. “She apologized for getting ahead of me and asking you out. I didn’t know she had it in her.”

“Apparently she thought I was friendzoning her, which is why she asked me.”

“Is that so? Hmm. I think I can understand the logic a bit. So this means… you two are technically going out now, right?”

I took a deep breath. “Yes. And she accepted my… situation.”

“You have to treat her well, you hear?”

“Loud and clear, ma’am.”

“And… You and I. We’ll talk tomorrow.”

“...No chance we can meet now?” I asked, hopeful.

“Sorry. I’m at the workshop.” She sounded genuinely disappointed. “I promised my brother I’d help him with a troublesome car. I’d get out of it if I could, but he’s counting on me being here.”

Bummer, but no use making it worse by crying about it. “Troublesome? How so?” I asked instead.

“There’s this guy who wants to install a turbo, but if we do that as the car is now, it’ll explode after two minutes, so we have to change plenty of other parts.”

“And is it a pain or are you looking forward to it?”

She giggled. “The latter. Seems like a fun project, and I’m getting a new set of tires out of it.”

“Sounds like you’re only winning.”

“Not gonna lie, I am. Things are going surprisingly well for me lately.”

“Lucky you.”

“Shut up. You have it even better.”

We laughed together. Even if I couldn’t see her today, hearing her voice was still good.

“Sorry, I have to go now,” she said. “We’ll talk tomorrow.”

“What time?”

“Would first thing in the morning be too early?”

“No. I’m always early at school.”

“Come to the student council office, then. Don’t worry, we’ll be alone.”

“Okay. Have fun, Alice.”

“I will.”

We hung up, and in the sudden silence, I couldn’t help but contemplate my situation. It was an odd feeling. If you asked me which girl I liked the most, I wouldn’t be able to answer. I liked them all. However, as I talked to Alice… I felt like I liked her the most. When I was kissing Noelle, I felt like I liked her the most. When I was with Grace, I felt like there was no way I could love anyone as much as I loved her, but then being with Sarah and Mila made me feel exactly the same. Was this a good or a bad thing?

I felt a familiar itch in my fingertips and heard a vague melody in my head. These thoughts were giving me ideas, and I couldn’t let them sit and be forgotten. I abruptly stopped playing with Cake and went to my room. The cat followed me and watched me pick up my guitar, plug it to the amp and begin playing.

Seemingly random notes played as arpeggios slowly began to make sense, to have some coherence. This wasn’t a song from a game, or from a band. It wasn’t something you could call a song, even. It was… stream of consciousness in musical form. I played the notes that sounded right, and… I liked it. Not sure if it sounded good, but it sounded right. It was quick, melodic, with an emphasis on lower notes.

You couldn’t have stopped me from smiling if you tried. To know in an instant the next note I wanted to play… It was the first time I’d ever felt it. Some parts didn’t match, some notes didn’t mix well, and I screwed up in the arpeggio a couple times, but none of it mattered. I wasn’t writing a song, but… putting feelings into music. It was wild.

That was the moment I reached a breakthrough as a guitarist. Music wasn’t just learning a set of notes and playing them at a specific rhythm. It wasn’t about memorization. That was what I did when I played songs that already existed, but doing this made me aware of how much emotions and mood played a part in making music. This was what inspiration felt like, and it was addicting.

Cake sat lay on my bed next to me, curled on herself as she listened to me play without pause. My arpeggios had never been so smooth. I was in a state of flow, where everything felt right.

When I finally stopped playing, I didn’t stand up or do anything else. I simply stayed there, sitting on my bed, taking in all the sounds I’d just made.

************

Chapter 221: Official with Alice.

“So you’re really fine with this,” I asked them just to confirm one final time.

“Yeah!” Mila assured me.

We got together early that morning by the school’s front gate. I felt the need to consult one last time with Mila, Grace and Sarah before I went to see Alice.

“You should’ve heard her after her date with you.” Sarah laughed. “I’ve never seen her so smithen.”

“We already told you we encourage it, so stop asking,” Grace told me, poking my stomach.

“It’s just… Look, I’m already serious about this, okay? If you have any last reservation…”

“Oliver.” Mila stepped closer to me, grabbed my head and kissed me hard on the lips before she pulled away, grinning. “Go make her crazy.”

I sighed with a resigned smile. “YOU girls are crazy.”

“And that’s a fact,” Sarah said, nodding. “And while you’re doing that, we are going to steal your petite, redheaded girlfriend for a while.”

I frowned at her. “I know you like to be blunt, Sarah, but don’t go overboard with her. You too, Grace.”

“Hey!” Grace complained. “I have more tact than Sarah, thank you very much!”

Mila laughed. “Don’t worry. I’ll hold them back. We want to be on Noelle’s good side, after all.”

“I’m counting on you,” I told her.

Sarah scoffed. “Seriously? Zero respect around here…”

To think I’d get to the point where I could actually banter with them instead of solely being the target of their teasing. Look at me, I’m growing.

Alright, then. Time to meet Alice.

The student council office was on the first floor of the main building. I walked there with stiff steps, not even sure what I was nervous about. No, you know what? It wasn’t nerves. I was excited.

I knocked lightly on the door. It must’ve taken at least 10 long, agonizing seconds before she answered.

Alice was wearing a sweater under her blazer, a scarf, mittens, black stockings, and yet she was still shivering.

“You don’t do well in the cold, huh?”

“I hate it,” she said.

She stepped aside to let me in. When I was inside, I heard her lock the door.

Now… I’d been pondering on what to say since last night. We may have been in agreement already on what we wanted to do, but that didn’t mean I shouldn’t try to make this moment special, right? Maybe say something charming, something to sweep her off her feet, something to make her fall even deeply in love with me!

…

Hah. Like I was capable of something like that. Words weren’t my thing, so no matter how much I thought about it, nothing came to me. So now I was stumped.

Good thing it didn’t matter, anyway, because the moment I turned to look at Alice, she practically jumped at me and pressed her lips against mine. I got startled for all of three seconds before I hugged her and kissed her back.

Her face felt cold at first, but as we made out, it began to warm up. The taste of her tongue was every bit as intoxicating as I remembered, as was the thrill of having her in my arms. In fact, I was so excited that I pushed Alice against the wall right next to the door.

She got her arms around my neck, moaning as I kissed deeply. I kept my hands firmly on her waist, because I can’t express how much I wanted to let them roam more. I was too used to making out with Mila, Grace and Sarah. Those girls let me get away with a hell of a lot of groping. But that was them, not Alice. Maybe one day, when we understood each other’s limits better. For now, I was more than happy to be exploring her mouth and savoring her lips.

After a while, she pulled away, putting a hand on my chest. She looked me in the eyes, grinning from red ear to red ear. “I would apologize for doing that so suddenly, but I think you liked it as much as I did.”

“Turns out only two days went by before we could kiss again.”

“Well, you know…” She fixed the neck of my shirt as she spoke. “We had to talk to Noelle soon, right? It wouldn’t do to hide it from her.” She chuckled. “I didn’t expect her to also agree to go out with you. Hoped for it, but didn’t think she would. You’re something else.”

I shook my head. “No, I’m starting to think it’s you all who are crazy.”

“Rude,” she said, playfully poking my cheek with her mitten-covered hands.

I leaned in and kissed her again, this time more calmly. Soft, wet kissing sounds echoed in the silent student council office.

“Mmm. Not only does kissing feel amazing, but it also warms me up,” Alice said.

I readied myself. Since yesterday, there was one thing I wanted to ask both Alice and Noelle.

“Can I ask you something?” I asked. Alice nodded. “I don’t know if it’s even right to ask, but… I’d like to know. What… What do you expect from me?”

“As in… as a boyfriend?”

“Yes. I realize it’s a lot to ask you to agree to my terms, so I’d understand if you had high expectations of me.”

“I suppose you’re not wrong about that. Let’s see… I think it’s fair to set our date as the bar, right? Unless that was just an act to woo me.”

“I’m a terrible actor.”

She giggled. “I know. So, what I’m expecting is… A man who enjoys hearing me gush about boring car stuff, a man whom I can feel comfortable being myself with, a man who is strong and reliable, a man who will be… gentle and passionate with me and who’ll teach me all about intimacy.”

“That’s not fair,” I told her. “If that’s all, I won’t have to put any effort into it.”

Alice laughed. “Seriously, what happened to the old, awkward Oliver I used to know? Who’s this walking hunk of confidence?”

Good question. What was it about me that I could now say that sort of thing without stuttering? I would have never been able to say something like that before. I think it had to do with my personal growth, but more than that, it had to do with the reassurance that, even if I wasn’t completely sure why, five girls all liked me. It’s hard not to have a surge in self-esteem when you see five girls are willing to share you just to be with you. Add to that, Alice and Noelle were more reserved than Mila, Grace and Sarah, so I unconsciously took the lead. Feeling their worries and nerves eased my own, strangely enough. That said…

“Don’t be fooled,” I told her. “I’m still as dumb and awkward as always. It’s just that you can hear me now.”

She smiled. “And that’s miles better already.”

“Alice, go out with me.”

“I’d love to.”

I kissed her again, and she welcomed me eagerly. We made out until we heard the bell ring.