[Spirit of Lust 2] Chapters 328 & 329. (Patreon)

Chapter 328: Becoming closer.

I’m no relationship guru or an expert in love science but I’m confident enough I can tell when there’s a change in the chemistry between one of my girlfriends and myself. My gut feeling was proven correct that very next morning after Alice told me everything, and this change in chemistry was definitely for the better.

We were the first ones in the club room. I was already there, sitting at the table, when Alice arrived only a couple minutes later. She sat down next to me and moved her chair even closer so that we’d be touching shoulders.

“Good morning,” she said, beaming a smile at me.

I reciprocated. “Morning.” I leaned in and kissed her. A tender, lingering kiss on the lips that felt surprisingly electrifying for how tame it was, especially when just yesterday I could’ve sworn I felt her trying to shove her tongue down my throat.

My eyes also lingered on her. On her big, beautiful blue eyes; on her pink, glistering, grinning lips; on those cute, flustered cheeks. I felt excited just to see her, to have her close to me. More than usual, I mean.

Alice reached out and held my hand, interlocking fingers with me as we stared into each other. We kept quiet for a while, letting our fingers move and play. Alice began to feel my fingertips with her thumb and giggled.

“I never gave it much thought, but you have rough fingers,” she said, gently rubbing my middle fingertip in circles.

“Years of guitar practice with metal strings. When I started I got really nasty calluses. And yours are a little rough, too. From countless hours of driving, I assume.”

“Yeah. They used to be worse. Gloves and hand creams are my life savers.” She leaned closer and kissed me like I did her, only this time she playfully licked my lips. “Sorry I interrupted your practice yesterday.”

I shook my head. “It was worth it.”

Alice smirked. “Because of that heavy make out session we had?”

“That too,” I said, chuckling.

It was my turn to go for a kiss. I slid the tip of my tongue between her lips and she met it with hers. We kissed with playful, short flicks of the tips of our tongues.

“Hmmm… Kissing feels so good,” Alice said, gasping and chuckling. “You’re so tasty.”

“Am I?”

“Yep.”

“What do I taste like?”

“Like sweet, sweet anticipation.”

We both laughed softly. We pressed our foreheads and rubbed our noses together. We were the classic, obnoxious couple that can’t get their hands off each other even in public, but we were in our own little safe space, so it was okay.

Then we heard the sound of someone snapping a picture and turned towards the door.

Sarah and Noelle were standing there, with the blonde holding her phone towards us.

“Now that’s a nice picture, don’t you think?” Sarah asked Noelle, who giggled cutely and nodded in agreement.

“I’ll forgive you for interrupting if you send me that photo,” Alice told Sarah.

“Oooh, scary.” Sarah laughed, but began to type on her phone. A moment later, Alice’s phone buzzed with a notification.

We looked at the picture together. We really did look like those obnoxiously lovey-dovey couples I used to hate seeing. Man, what have I become? Alice, on her part, didn’t hesitate to make that picture her new screensaver.

“So what’s this?” Noelle asked as she and Sarah took their seats across from us. “You two seem a little different.”

“Do we?” I asked.

“You can tell?” Alice asked, blushing but staying very close to me.

Sarah narrowed her eyes and theatrically stroked her chin. “Wait. Don’t tell me. Let me guess.” She gave it some thought and finally gave her answer. “You’re pregnant.”

Alice rolled her eyes. “I wish.”

I felt my chest tightening and a full-body chill. My jaw fell slowly as I stared at Alice, stunned.

“Alice!” Noelle gasped in a reproachful tone, but she was clearly holding back her laughter.

Alice’s straight face broke immediately after and she burst out laughing, hugging me tightly as she apologized. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry! I couldn’t resist!”

I groaned into my hands. I’d gotten better at handling their teasing, but this one I did not expect. Dammit, I should've played along!

“Alright, if not that, then what happened?” Sarah asked, smirking. “You two definitely feel closer.”

Alice sighed, and though her laughter stopped and she became more solemn, her smile didn’t leave her. “I… told Oliver about my… first relationship. I feel like I just got rid of a huge, stupid weight on my back.”

“Thank god!” Sarah said, sighing deeply in relief. “Do you have any idea how long we’ve been waiting to hear you say that?”

Alice lowered her head between her shoulders and smiled shyly at Sarah. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be.”

“U-Um… W-What first relationship?” Noelle asked hesitantly.

So she didn’t know, either. It made sense, I thought. Sometimes you just don’t want to burden your friends with your own baggage.

“I’ll tell you later,” Alice said. “Isabelle, too. At this point, it would be unfair to keep you in the dark.”

“...You don’t have to if you don’t want to,” Noelle said.

“I admit, I don’t want to,” Alice said. “I didn’t want to tell Oliver, either, but I’m glad I did. I don’t want you to feel like I don’t trust you in the same way, because I do.”

Noelle pursed her lips and nodded slowly. I felt her emotions. Noelle didn’t want to make Alice uncomfortable, but she did want to know what she was talking about. No one likes to know there are things your friends don’t want to tell you. Makes you feel like you’re… untrustworthy and unreliable. I wasn’t worried. I knew for sure that Noelle and Isabelle would be supportive of Alice.

As an aside, there is one slightly annoying thing about being a big group of friends, and that is having to repeat things to those that weren’t there when you first talk about something. When Grace and Mila arrived, they made the same comment about Alice and I. It was basically a repeat of the exchange Alice had with Sarah just before.

It was kind of funny, admittedly.

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

Chapter 329: About the show.

Normally there’s a bit more competition for a spot on my lap during our breaks, but that day the girls were letting Alice have it whenever she wanted, which was during all our breaks. It was like they’d recognized it was important to her and agreed to let this be Alice’s day with me. I appreciated it because I also wanted to stay close to her.

During our lunch break, Alice was sitting on my lap and we were taking turns feeding each other. Alice opened her mouth and I fed her the salted stem of a lettuce with my hand. When she did the same for me, feeding me a small piece of meat, I took the opportunity to lick her fingers. Alice shivered and kept them there.

“Stop that, you’re making me horny,” Grace chided us from across the table.

“I don’t mind if you come join us, Grace,” Alice told her, now taking her fingers out of my mouth and sucking them herself.

“Don’t tempt me, woman.”

“Enjoy this while you can. We’re going back to normal tomorrow,” Mila said, giggling.

“Leave them be. We’ve had our turns like that, Grace,” Sarah said. “But moving on another topic, how’s practice going, Oliver? I haven’t been able to go watch you.”

I swallowed the piece of meat and nodded. “Good. The bass part is slowly coming along and Isabelle and I already have a good idea of how we’re going to edit the video and sound.”

“Speaking of… Oliver, how are you going to perform?” Noelle asked me.

I tilted my head in confusion. “What do you mean? I’ll play the guitar.”

“No, not that. I mean, do you have an actual performance prepared? As in, will you make a show of it or are you just going to stand there and play? Also, what are you going to wear?”

I blinked and my eyes slowly began to widen as realization kicked in.

“I… d-don’t know…”

“Damn, that’s a good point,” Sarah said, nodding. “This is a show, after all. Even if you’re doing this for yourself, the objective is to entertain the audience.”

“Yeah. If you just stand there looking down at your guitar, people will be bored even if you’re playing like a god,” Mila said.

“Apparently the sewing club is getting some commissions for outfits, even,” Alice said, smiling brightly. “People are really excited about this and are taking it seriously.”

“Ugh…” I groaned. My plan really was to just stand there and play, but they had a good point. I wanted to perform in the talent show to prove to myself that it was something I could do. I wasn’t aiming to win the whole thing, but standing there all stiff while I played would not count as accomplishing the goal, either.

“Well, when it comes to an outfit, I don’t think you have to worry,” Noelle continued. “You don’t need anything fancy. We can look in your closet and find something nice. You look good in almost anything.”

“But then we’ll miss out on an opportunity to go shopping again…” Mila said, pouting. “Oliver should look the part when he takes first place!”

I sighed. “I’ll run it by Isabelle.” She was my partner in this, after all. She had the right to give her opinion.

“But what about the performance itself?” Grace asked. “He’ll be holding a guitar, so it’s not like he can start dancing on stage.”

Sarah’s eyes widened. She smirked and snapped her fingers. “I’ve got it! Smash the guitar against the floor! That’ll make it memorable.”

“...Sarah, my girl, I love you very, very much, but fuck no.” I told her bluntly.

That got a laugh out of all of them, but I was being pretty serious. I wasn’t breaking any of my guitars, okay!? I’d fucking die!

“Okay, I agree that Oliver should do more than just stand there and play, but…” Grace grimaced. “I’m sorry, but I just don’t see Oliver jumping energetically or doing fancy moves on stage. I don’t think it goes with his vibe.”

I had to agree. Windmilling, duck walking, power stancing, power sliding… Just being on stage would take a lot out of me. Any more and there was a chance I’d pass out from embarrassment.

“I’m not saying he has to,” Noelle said. “But there are small things that could help. Looking at the audience, for one. Moving to the rhythm of the music, too. Maybe add a bit of flair for the important parts so the audience knows it’s something to be excited about.”

I nodded along. That sounded way more up my alley on top of being something I could actually do. Hey, all those moves I mentioned just now are a lot harder to do than they seem, okay?

“Hey, Oliver?” Alice called. “You… You’re really doing this because you want to, right? We joke, but we won’t think less of you if you don’t do it.”

“What she said,” Mila agreed.

I chuckled. “You girls gave me the push I needed. If not for you, I would’ve let this chance go without a second thought. But yes, I’m doing this because I want to. In the end, there’s a point where you start wondering if other people may enjoy what you do. If at least one person hears me play and thinks it’s cool, then… I’ll be happy.”

“Well, you’ve got five in this room already,” Grace said.

I laughed. “Sorry, but you don’t count. Much like my mom and my sister don’t count.”

“Yeah, I get that,” Noelle said, giggling. “I know that what I do is different, but it’s nice to see that strangers can enjoy your work and be entertained by it. I’m sure it’ll be the same for you, Oliver.”

“Here’s hoping.”

Every day that passed was another day closer to the talent show. Excitement and anxiety grew in equal measure.