Love Like a Blue Shell Pt. 02

Welcome to Part 2 of our epic four part story. Warning: as long as Part 1 was, this is even longer.

Last time, Taylor got a bit too drunk and fooled around with another guy while her boyfriend watched. And she felt really bad about it. Her solution? Well, maybe two wrongs don't make a right, but what about two pussies?

Everyone is over 18.

Although he had regrets about the drunken debauchery of the previous weekend, Tim had to admit he was also hoping that it might lead to more. So he was a bit disappointed when the next weekend arrived and things were back to normal. Not that he thought that he and his girlfriend Taylor should become, like, swingers or whatever. But a little sexy play might have still been interesting.

Only they weren't doing any of that. In fact he and Taylor weren't having sex at all. Tim chalked it up to his girlfriend's body feeling icky from before. He just hoped she got over it soon. He had some serious role play in mind and it wasn't going to involve dice or a dungeon master screen.

In the meantime, they slipped into something that felt more like a friendship. Ironically, that involved playing a lot of Mario Kart. Taylor even paused the game in places to give Tim tips -- how to grab the shortcuts and avoid the most dangerous obstacles. But it was still extra awkward between them and Tim was hoping that a nice relaxing weekend would help them both loosen up.

"Colin and Courtney are coming over this afternoon," Taylor told him over breakfast, "I told them about last weekend and they want to have another Mario Kart tournament."

"You WHAT?"

Tim had known Colin and Courtney since his freshman year of college. They were his closest friends. But he still wasn't going to tell them about what had happened with Taylor the previous weekend.

"Not that stuff. Just that we played and it was fun and I thought it would be fun for them to play too. We never see them anymore -- I feel like the last time we hung out was before their wedding. I'm sorry. You said you were OK and I just missed them so much. I can call and cancel."

Tim sighed. He had to admit, he missed his friends, too. Maybe some time with their college companions would be just what he and Taylor needed.

*

Colin and Courtney took their Civic to Tim and Taylor's place. It was a little annoying, having to drive into the city, but it was easier than taking the T. Plus it gave them plenty of time to stare out the windshield and not talk to each other.

Colin had met Courtney right at freshman orientation. They'd lost their virginity to each other, moved in together after graduation, and gotten married. Then the honeymoon. They'd been lying there, under a Caribbean blue sky in post-coital, post connubial bliss, when suddenly Courtney had announced that she wanted to see other people.

Well, not exactly.

Courtney had said that she was afraid. Neither of them had been with anyone else and she was worried that they were missing something. Her parents had a beautiful high school romance followed by an ugly divorce. Courtney was worried that she and Colin were headed down the same path -- that they'd grow to resent each other if they didn't at least enjoy being young.

Colin understood that. The idea of spending the rest of your life with someone was scary. And, he guessed, Courtney had gotten a little frightened. But Colin also didn't understand it. Because spending the rest of his life with Courtney sounded wonderful to him. He didn't want her to be with someone else and he had no interest in trying someone new, either.

But the more he argued the harder they fought. Now they really did resent each other and the silence hurt him far worse than the shouting.

Courtney found a parking spot a few blocks from Tim and Taylor's apartment. It was icy cold, even by Boston standards. Colin and Courtney were both buried in layers, wrapped around themselves, just trying to hold in the heat.

When they got to the apartment building, Courtney held up her hand and told Colin to wait a moment. They spoke. Well, mostly Courtney talked and Colin listened. When they were done, and Colin had agreed, they went inside.

Tim was waiting at the door, almost too smiley. Taylor sat on the couch, controller already in hand. Colin had always thought Taylor was cute, even though she was so different from the woman he married.

Both women were around the same height. Courtney, though, was a bit thicker. Not chubby really, she just kept a bit of baby fat. Mostly in her chest and bottom. Colin could live with that.

They both had dark hair, but Courtney's ran to the reddish and she wore hers long, almost to the middle of her back. Courtney was always reserved. Sort of serious. Taylor liked to laugh loudly, scream and curse. Colin imagined that Taylor was probably a lot of fun in bed. Courtney was more sweet, caring.

Colin could live with that, too.

*

Taylor took Colin and Courtney's coats and tossed them in the bedroom. She noticed that they were both wearing sweaters and jeans. They looked couple-y, Taylor thought, despite it all.

She was so happy to see them both. Courtney was the closest thing Taylor had to a female best friend. When Taylor had started dating Tim, junior year, Taylor and Courtney had bonded almost immediately. Like a sort of best friends grenade with the pin already pulled.

As for Colin, well, Taylor had always kind of had a thing for Colin. His light brown hair and shy smile. Taylor didn't like to admit to herself why she found him attractive, though. It was the oh-so-committed relationship with her bestie. Something about the idea of taking Colin aside and making him smash that loving loyalty in a desperate bid for Taylor's own body...

It gave her shivers.

Not that she'd ever act on such a thing. It was just a fun fantasy. But she always had thought that if things with Tim had broken she'd make a play for Colin.

Taylor looked over at Tim and he gave her a little smile. But his eyes still looked distant and sad. Tim might say they were OK, but she knew it wasn't true. They weren't even having sex, for God's sake. Objectively, Taylor knew her plan seemed like something stupid you'd see on TV (or PornHub). But she also knew that she would do anything to fix what had happened.

Even this.

"This is the plan?" Courtney asked, "We're going to play Mario Kart all day?"

"Pretty much," Taylor said, and shrugged. "And drink."

"Awesome," Courtney said and plopped herself down on the couch. Tim went around and cracked open beers for everyone. They gathered around the TV. Courtney, Colin, and Tim crowded onto the couch. Taylor climbed back on her throne -- the lounge chair.

"Let's do this thing," Colin said.

"Just waiting on one more," Taylor said. Tim cocked an eyebrow at her. She just shrugged. As if on cue, there was a knock on the door.

"Tim, could you get that?"

Tim extricated himself from the couch then walked through the kitchen and opened the front door. Then there was silence.

Like the whole world had just stopped.

*

Tim opened the door and his whole world just stopped. His body, his breath. His heart. They all ground to a halt and he stood there statuesque and staring at the girl smiling shyly back at him.

Sydney. Beautiful, blonde, and buxom Sydney. Tim hadn't imagined ever seeing her again. He tried to say hello and it just stuttered out like a shorting circuit.

What was she doing here? Was Steve there, too? Tim hadn't spoken to his work friend at all since the week before. They had actively avoided each other, actually. Oh fuck. What if Taylor came to the door right then? Oh my God she'd murder both of them right there in cold blood. And suddenly Tim felt fear and horror and excitement and joy and his erection was threatening to just bust out of his jeans and take her of its own volition. FUCK!

"Taylor invited me," Sydney said, as soft spoken as ever, "I promise."

Tim slowly stepped out of the way and let the blonde in. She flashed past him like a golden dream. Taylor leapt up and quickly introduced Sydney to Colin and Courtney. Tim just stood there holding the door.

While the other three got settled, Taylor went over and shut the door for Tim.

"It's OK," she whispered in his ear.

"Why is she? How is she?"

"She called me on... I think it was Tuesday? Anyway. She got my number somehow and wanted to apologize. Apparently she dumped Steve's ass right in our hallway that very night. She said she felt terrible and suddenly I was like, you know what? Maybe I need to make things right for her, too."

"Make it right?"

"Yeah, you know. Maybe I hurt her just as bad. I don't want her thinking of us as this weird, dirty sex couple the rest of her life."

"But what about..."

"Colin and Courtney? I told them she's a friend from work. It's cool, Sydney's in on it. Seriously, it's OK. Just please stop freaking out and come race, OK?"

Tim stumbled back to the living room in a stupor. Colin was now sitting on the floor, putting Tim in the middle of Courtney and Sydney on the couch.

He couldn't tell if he'd just won the lottery or been given the death penalty. Maybe a little of both.

*

Once everyone was seated, Taylor popped back up and went to the kitchen. She took out four shot glasses (she knew they had them) and filled each with coconut rum.

"OK," Taylor said, "Here's the deal. We'll race for shots."

"Ummmm. Honey? Are you sure that's a good idea?" Tim asked.

"What's wrong?" Colin asked, "we used to drink and Kart all the time."

"Last time we played..." Tim started, but then clearly stalled out.

"We got a little too drunk playing Kart last time," Taylor said, "But, I think we can learn from that. Every race, the person who comes in last -- and only the person in last -- has to do one little shot. That's it. That's all."

Everyone else nodded in agreement, like this was the most logical suggestion in the world. Tim, however, was obviously wary and made that known.

"Don't worry, hon, I'm not even going to play," Taylor said.

"Oh, come on, Tay," Colin said, "You have to race. This whole thing was your idea."

"Seriously," Courtney said, "If you're not playing then I'm out too."

Shit and fuck and damn. This was such an important part of the plan and if they made her play then the whole thing just went to... Fuck.

"There's only four controllers," Taylor said, meekly, "We can't race five people at a time, anyway. Plus I'm not feeling well and I think everyone would have more fun."

"No," Colin said flatly. Taylor could see what Courtney liked about him. He was such a gallant gentleman. Of course that was also why Taylor had always wanted to debauche him.

"Here's what we'll do," Colin continued, "Whoever comes in last in all four races has to do an extra, fifth shot, and pass the controller to the person who's not playing. That person then does a shot, like paying an ante, to get in the game."

"That sounds like a lot of alcohol," Tim said.

"Oh come on," Colin said, "It's next to nothing compared to what we'd do in college. Besides what's Taylor pouring over there -- coconut rum? You can't get drunk from that. It's woman stuff. Ummmm, present company excepted of course."

Everyone laughed. Taylor knew she was up against it now. She was trying to balance things out. Not double down on them. But if she stopped the game now there was no point at all.

Taylor sighed. She told herself she would just have to be careful. Then, when things got where she wanted them, she could just claim she was too drunk and bow out. Easy.

"Sounds good guys," Taylor said, and pulled a fifth shot glass out of the cabinet.

Oh boy.

*

The first round went as expected. Taylor sat out and watched as Tim won three of four races, leaving Colin and Courtney to both take one shot each and giving Sydney two.

"Wow Tim, you've been practicing," Colin said. Tim just smiled and blushed a bit. Taylor couldn't help but feel proud. Her boyfriend had definitely taken to his lessons well -- little did he know what promise they held for him.

Sydney was the overall loser so she took her bonus shot and handed Taylor the controller. It looked like the blonde girl might be a little tipsy already, Taylor thought, but then dismissed it. How could three shots do much of anything?

Taylor took her first drink of the day, sweet and sort of acerbic, and then jumped in to take her turn. Taylor started to select Donkey Kong but stopped herself. Maybe not everything could be forgotten. Instead she took Bowser. She saw Tim had done something similar, driving as Shy Guy instead of his old standby, Yoshi. Colin and Courtney had Luigi and Dry Bones, respectively.

Following her plan, Taylor made sure that everyone got a chance to take a drink rather than just her dominating. Soon everyone had won at least one race and everyone had done at least one shot. Some had already had two or more.

Everything was going to plan.

*

Tim sat back against the couch and took everything in. After starting strong, he'd taken a blue shell and it had sent him into a bit of a tailspin. He was glad he wasn't racing this round or things would almost certainly have gotten worse.

Tim looked over to his right and watched Sydney. The buxom blonde looked so good. She was wearing another sweater, a pink one. She had these cute little gold earrings in her ears this time and a gold necklace as well. Shiny Sydney!

And Shiny Sydney had definitely brought her golden globes with her, once again. Tim marveled at her chest. She had a B-cup body with these, like, D-cup tits and the context made them look all the more massive.

Sydney caught him staring and she smiled. Not the shy, uncomfortable thing from the past week but something genuinely comfortable and friendly. They'd both had their share of shots and Tim could tell Sydney was feeling at least as fuzzy as he was right then.

With no little effort, Tim tossed his head to the other side to look at Courtney. He'd always thought of her has one of the guys, honestly. Not that she wasn't feminine, because of course she was. And pretty, too, with a heart-shaped face, an impertinent freckled nose, and almost-grey eyes.

He had to admit that Courtney seemed a bit nervous, though he couldn't imagine why. She'd been a worrier as long as Tim had known her, though, so it wasn't totally weird. Courtney was smart, yes, but she could make herself crazy with how much she cared sometimes.

Taylor handed Tim another shot and he almost pushed it away. He knew before the alcohol even hit his lips -- he'd already had too much. The whole world seemed to tip along with his glass as he turned it over. I'm such a lightweight, Tim thought to himself, there's no way anyone else is already this wasted.

*

Colin didn't want to admit it after he'd made fun of them before, but he was wasted. Fucking coconut rum. They'd been playing Kart for less than an hour and Colin knew he was already over his limit.

Looking around, Colin could tell that everyone was in a similar place. Tim was now lying back against the couch like a dead man. Courtney was also past the point of no return -- Colin knew that face. The new blonde, Taylor's work friend Sydney, she'd been turning shades of pink since the first round. Only Taylor seemed even within sight of sober and Colin never really could tell with that girl. She handled her liquor so well, he couldn't think of a time he'd seen her lose control.

But Colin wasn't going to admit he was done. No way. His pride wouldn't let him. Was college really so long ago that he couldn't do a few shots with friends? No. He'd make it work somehow. Force it down.

They finished the last set of races and Colin was in last. Someone filled his shot glass and he was about to empty it when some part of his brain took over and made him yell, "Stop!"

The room turned to look at him. Now Colin had to cover for the other part of his mind that had, without his permission, suddenly spoken.

"I just... I think I've had enough. Too much, honestly."

Taylor gave him an odd look. Sort of disappointed. Maybe a little angry? He couldn't tell through the alcohol and worse, he had no idea why.

"Colin's right," Courtney said, getting his back for once, "I'm done."

"Oh man," Taylor said, "We were just getting started. I had all these, like, tournaments and stuff set up. Ultimate Mario Kart Championship. Like old times?"

"I'm sorry, hon. I think we let the alcohol get away from us again," Tim said.

"Yeah," Sydney said, very quietly. She seemed very shy -- not at all Taylor's type. Colin had trouble imagining the two of them ever hanging out.

"I mean, we could still race," Tim said. Colin practically flinched. He knew Taylor -- she would not play for nothing and got angry when anyone ever suggested they do otherwise. It was one of the unwritten bylaws of the group: never tell Taylor to play a game just for fun. Tim really should have known better. The alcohol was clearly messing with his mind.

"We should play for something."

Colin looked up and, to his shock, saw that it was Courtney talking. Courtney?! Maybe he wasn't drunk. Maybe he was in another dimension. Actually, Colin thought ruefully, that might explain a lot of things lately. Maybe they'd crossed over on the way to the honeymoon. Alternate dimension Courtney continued.

"We could play for something other than alcohol."

"Like what?" Tim asked, cautiously.

"Well, what if we played for, like, clothes?" Courtney said.

Colin felt the whole room pucker up. Like, he practically heard the air whoosh right out.

"That could be fun," Tim said, tentatively.

Silent Sydney nodded in agreement. Taylor sort of shrugged.

The blood in Colin's ears started to rush so loud he could barely hear. His heart pounded in his chest. Everything drowned out by the dull roar. He remembered that morning.

*

They were standing outside in front of Tim and Taylor's apartment building. Right before they went in. I need you to trust me, Courtney had said.

"What are you talking about?" Colin asked.

"I spoke to Taylor last week," Courtney said, "She and Tim are having troubles, too. Together, us four friends, we're going to fix everything."

"With Mario Kart."

"I know things have been bad but I promise it will get better. Just, if today starts to be weird or whatever, please. Just go along with it. For me. For us. I promise you're going to have fun, too. OK?"

And Colin had agreed, not knowing exactly what Courtney was talking about.

Until that very moment up at the apartment. And it all fell into place.

*

"Yeah," Colin said, "Kart for clothes. Sounds fun. Let's do this."

The group agreed to take a quick break for the bathroom before beginning under the new rules. With everyone distracted, Tim cornered Taylor back in the kitchen.

"We're making the same mistakes as last time," he said.

"This is me fixing the mistakes from last time," Taylor said, "They've been having problems too. Courtney told me."

"I take off my pants, see Courtney's tits," Tim said, "That makes us even in your mind?"

"I don't know. Maybe. That's what I'm hoping for anyway."

"And then you show your goods to Colin?"

"No! Duh," Taylor leaned in and whispered in Tim's ear, "That's what Sydney is for."

Tim looked over at Sydney, sitting on the couch. She smiled at him and gave him a little wave, unaware of how she'd just been sold out. And Tim's first thought, damn him, was not about seeing Courtney naked or worrying about Taylor or any of that.

All he felt was jealousy that Sydney was for someone else.

*

Everyone returned to their seats. This was the moment Taylor had been planning all week.

"OK -- the rules are basically the same. If you come in last, you lose a piece of clothing," Taylor said, trying not to sound too rehearsed, "Sock, belt whatever."