They tried to push half of a chocolate chip cookie towards Noah, but he hadn’t really needed the blueberry danish they’d already forced on him. He nudged the plate towards Rachel, and she accepted it with one of her sweetest smiles yet. Somethingbegan to stir in his stomach, and he leaned forward to hear her answer.
“Not quite yet, no,” she said, breaking off a corner of the cookie. “I’m not really ready to date, and honestly have no idea how I’m supposed to find folks who would be down for a casual hookup with someone who’s…”
She looked down at the cookie before dropping her hands into her lap. “Uhm…as inexperienced as I am with nonheteronormative sex,” she murmured into the neck of her sweater.
Noah hadn’t been expecting to have this same conversation twice in three months, but perhaps this is what it was like for late-blooming queer folk. Noah had always known he was queer. It was his gender that came to him a bit later.
Noah took a slow sip of his second cup of tea and weighed his words carefully. “You don’t want to make them feel like an experiment?”
Rachel nodded meekly. Meanwhile, Aspen looked like they were ready to explode out of their seat. “Can we tell her?” they asked Noah.
Noah shook his head in exasperation before quickly nodding. “Well, you have to tell her now, don’t you, otherwise it would be rude.”
Aspen gave her an eager grin. “So, the real reason Noah and I wanted to talk to other people tonight is because we’re interested in sleeping with someone new. We thought maybe we’d meet some nice folks here, and see what happened.”
Rachel blinked slowly at Aspen and then at Noah. “Sorry, are you two together, or…?”
Shit, he should have prepared better for this question. Obviously, it was bound to come up. Would Aspen be okay with him sharing about their trial relationship?
“We’ve been friends for over a decade, seen each other through transitions, relationships, heartbreak, and finally started fucking a few months ago,” Aspen said easily. “We may date one day, but for now we’re more like forever friends exchanging benefits.”
Damn, what a title that was. Forever friends. He could definitely get used to that.
“Oh,” she said slowly, before she began nodding like that made total sense.
“Now, let me be up front and say that tonight, I’m really in the mood to top, and so is Noah,” Aspen said, and while Noah choked on his mouthful of tea, he was also eternally grateful he wouldn’t have to say that himself later.
Rachel’s eyes were wide, but she nodded again.
“I don’t want to make any assumptions, but if that’s something you’re interested in, we’d be happy to show you the ropes of nonheteronormative sex and give you some tips and tricks, but again, only if you’re interested.”
“If…I’m interested in tips and tricks?” she asked.
Something else Noah was learning about his forever friend was that they sometimes sucked at delivering the bottom line. “If you’d be interested in sleeping with us, we’d be happy to demonstrate and discuss topping, bottoming, straps, dildos, or anything else you’re curious about.”
She kept nodding, sort of like Noah had that first time with Aspen. Usually, Noah would have asked for more verbal consent, but Aspen jumped to their feet.
“Perfect! We live just up the block, and Noah’s apartment is always suitable for guests. Why don’t we go there?”
Wait…had Aspen not cleaned up in case they ended up finding someone to take home? Had they truly been assuming they would go home with someone together?
Aspen pulled Rachel out of her seat and led her towards the exit, leaving Noah to clear their table and trash. He had no choice this time but to follow after them, because he couldn’t very well leave them alone in his own apartment. Whether on purpose or not, Aspen’s plan had worked out perfectly.
On the walk back to his apartment, Aspen pulled out their phone to share test results. They turned around to walk backwards, grinning at Noah like a proud peacock. Noah actually would have been impressed they remembered to ask before he did, except for the fact that when they arrived in Noah’s bedroom, Aspen ripped off their clothes and was once again standing completely naked with zero preamble.
“Jesus, Aspen,” Noah said, unable to contain his incredulous laughter as Rachel struggled to look anywhere but at Aspen’s gorgeous, naked body. “We went over this. Rachel needs an introduction first.”
“What do you mean? We talked for almost three hours!” Aspen said, planting their hands on their hips.
Noah wondered if his cheeks were quite as red as Rachel’s were as she glanced down at Aspen’s naked hips and then quickly back up somewhere above their head. Even after nearly three months of hooking up with them, he wasn’t immune to their charm and sexy looks, either.
He sort of hoped he never would be.
“Asp, you’re naked, and Rachel doesn’t know what to do or where to look because we haven’t discussed parts orhardlyanythingat all yet.”
“Oh, shit, okay, you’re right. Well…” Aspen waved their hand from their neck, which was flushed a pretty pink at their little faux pas, down to their naked thighs. “Tits, dick, front hole, back hole.”
Noah loved how confident Aspen was now, listing off their parts with zero hesitation. He was almost positive that if todayhad been a day where Aspen wore a binder or trans tape, they would have just as easily said chest instead of tits, and would still be standing there on display. They wiggled their hips a little under Rachel’s assessment, and Noah found he was also strangely proud of her clear approval and attraction. Not that Aspen was his, and therefore, he had any right to be proud of how aesthetically pleasing they were to look at. It just…did something to the thread in his chest that belonged to Aspen.
