Chapter Ten: A Religious Experience
1715words
2024-10-15 08:55
Robyn
I knew it was a bad idea to let Phoenix put his hands on me. I thought a foot massage would be mundane, unexciting, and safe, but boy was I wrong. That man had magic hands. First, they soothed me and relaxed me, and then they began to excite me. On my feet, for crying out loud! But apparently driving a girl almost to orgasm just by rubbing her toes was all in a day's work for Phoenix Williams. He left my room, and I swear, not an hour later, I heard him next door with a woman.
This may be a beautiful and luxurious house, but the walls were way too thin, because I could hear everything. Everything! The moans and grunts of his pleasure, and of course the woman, who sounded like she was in the throes of a religious experience.
I was livid, and embarrassed. I was so mortified that I threw his lotion bottle against the wall. It exploded, spilling the fine white lotion over the wall and carpet. I grumbled and swore profusely, because now I had to go out into the hallway, and to the bathroom to get a towel to clean up the mess, and the sounds were even louder in the hallway.
I heard the soft thumps of their bodies hitting the wall, and the little smacks of their lips on each other as they kissed. I heard his groans, and I heard her cries. I covered my ears, but I couldn't block it out. Her high-pitched gasp, right before she called him by his first name, came through loud and clear.
Retreating to my room, I slammed the door with enough force to make the window rattle. I bet he wanted me to hear that little performance. After some giggling, and some bumping of furniture, it sounded like they were about to go for round two.
I found my earbuds and stuck them in my ears. I turned up the volume as loud as I could stand and threw myself back into the bed. All the relaxation from my foot massage was long gone, and I was drawn tight like a bow string. Sleep at this house was really going to be a problem.
I made sure to get up an hour early so that I wouldn't have to run into Phoenix or his woman friend in the morning. By 5:00 AM I was down in the gym, taking out my frustrations on the rowing machine.
It shouldn't bother me. After all, one look at him and I had already pegged him as a man-whore. It was all over him, from his sexy smile to his flirtatious manners. So, let him do his thing, it had nothing to do with me. I was just his housemate in this silly living arrangement between his father and my mother. Like I said in the pool, it was totally unrealistic to expect that there could ever be anything between us.
I was focused on my own internal dialog, and I had the music blasting in my earbuds, so I never heard the door open to the gym. I had finished on the rowing machine and had moved to the treadmill. I should have been going easy this morning, knowing full well that I had class this evening, but I just needed to find the release I got from pushing myself to the very limit.
Suddenly my earbud was plucked out of my ear, causing me to jump and almost fall from the fast-moving treadmill. I jumped up and put my feet on the sides and turned to see a stone faced Jack holding my earbud.
"Easy there, Wonder Woman," he joked. "I just wanted to talk to you, and I couldn't seem to get your attention." He looked up and down my body in a way that made me feel naked, despite my tank top and bike shorts. I was sweaty, and my clothes were sticking to my body, so I know I wasn't exactly appealing.
Not that I needed to appeal to him.
"So? What did you want to say?" I tried not to pant and sound too out of breath.
He raised his eyebrows at me, "Just, 'good morning', and 'how was your night?'" He offered my earbud in his outstretched palm.
"Good morning to you, too," I said testily, swiping my earbud back. "And my night was disrupted by noisy and inconsiderate neighbors." I stuck it back in and slowed down the pace of the treadmill so that I could hop on without falling off the back of it. His lips curved into an almost smile.
Had I ever seen Jack smile? He always seemed so serious and grumpy. I resented the way my heart jumped at that slight sign of humanity.
“You’ll get used to it, eventually.” He said, taking up a place at the rowing machine I had just vacated.
I squinted at him suspiciously. Was it his habit to work out in the morning? He didn't do it yesterday. I almost wanted to ask how often he brought his girlfriends home, but quickly decided that it wasn't my business, and I didn't really want to know. He and Phoenix could do whatever they wanted to do it wasn't going to mess up my routine.
By the time I left the gym, Jack had moved to the weights. The one good thing I could say about Jack is that, unlike Phoenix, he wasn’t very talkative. It was almost comfortable sharing the space with him. I left the gym while he was still lifting. I was tired, but somehow, still a little edgy.
I went to the shower and then went down to the kitchen. I politely refused pancakes from my mother and filled up my water bottle. I found a fresh bag of lemons on the counter, and happily squeezed one into my water bottle. After some polite small talk, I retreated back into my room.
At precisely five-thirty, I started to get ready for my Karate class. I slipped into my gi so that I wouldn't have to change at the dojo. I pulled my hair up on top of my head and put in my contacts. I grabbed my gym bag that had my gloves and the rest of my equipment and headed down the stairs to get the keys from my mother.
They were all sitting around the kitchen island, my mother, Andrew, and Phoenix and Jack. They looked like they were already at ease and comfortable with each other, which made me feel even more awkward. Jack looked like he had just gotten in. He was still wearing a suit and a tie, although he'd tugged the tie loose and unbuttoned the first few buttons of his shirt. My eyes were drawn to the little bit of chest hair that was peaking out of his open shirt.
Phoenix had already changed into a pair of shorts and a t-shirt.
"Oh Robyn, I almost forgot," my mother offered me a wan smile and jumped off the stool to grab her purse and fish out the car keys.
"Thanks," I mumbled. I topped off my water bottle and gave everyone an awkward little wave as I left the house.
I had been a student at the Martial Arts Academy for five years. It was quite a drive from Andrew's place to the rather rough neighborhood where the gym was located. I parked and grabbed the bag, hoisting it over my shoulder, jumping up over the curb and heading for the back door of the dojo. I let myself in, knowing that I would be the first adult student to arrive. The sensei was still teaching one of the kid's classes in the front, so I quietly got myself ready in the back, stripping off my shoes and socks, tying on my black belt, and beginning to stretch.
The place brought me comfort. The worn carpet, the crisp white walls decorated with random Japanese art and old fight posters. The peculiar smell of sweat and window cleaner. The sound of voices echoing through the building, counting off reps in Japanese, the sound of gloves hitting bags. This was more "home" than any of the places we'd lived since my father died.
Everything was familiar and expected.
As soon as the little kids cleared out, I bowed myself onto the mats and began to practice my Katas. Sensei Peter came and slapped me on the back, before pulling me into a hug. "Robyn! Where have you been, girl?"
Peter wasn’t a tall man, he was only an inch or two taller than me, and he was somewhere in his sixties, I guess…if not his seventies. He had a sort of ageless quality to him, and he was still stronger and faster than any fighter I’d ever seen. Since my dad died, he was the closest thing I’d had to a father figure.
I hugged him back, feeling like I was hugging a tree trunk, and smiled up into his lined face. "Moving, again." I said weakly.
He rolled his eyes. He knew all about my mother's serial relationships. "Well, I'm glad you are back. I think it's time we started working on your next belt, don't you think?"
I was already a second-degree black belt. He'd been after me for a while now to advance to my third. I gave a non-committal grunt in response. While I loved the everyday practice of martial arts, there were two things I avoided: competitions and shiai. I did not like performing in front of other people.
"I'll teach you some new moves this week." Sensei Peter patted me on the cheek and went back to the front to talk to some newcomers. It was easy to know they were newbies, because they came in wearing gym shorts, and had not yet committed to buying the full regalia.
I smiled to myself and went back to my practice until the adult class officially started. I would go home with several new bruises and a sore spot on my thigh, but my heart was peaceful, and that was priceless.
At least it had taken my mind off from a particular set of twins for a good two hours.
I knew it was a bad idea to let Phoenix put his hands on me. I thought a foot massage would be mundane, unexciting, and safe, but boy was I wrong. That man had magic hands. First, they soothed me and relaxed me, and then they began to excite me. On my feet, for crying out loud! But apparently driving a girl almost to orgasm just by rubbing her toes was all in a day's work for Phoenix Williams. He left my room, and I swear, not an hour later, I heard him next door with a woman.
This may be a beautiful and luxurious house, but the walls were way too thin, because I could hear everything. Everything! The moans and grunts of his pleasure, and of course the woman, who sounded like she was in the throes of a religious experience.
I was livid, and embarrassed. I was so mortified that I threw his lotion bottle against the wall. It exploded, spilling the fine white lotion over the wall and carpet. I grumbled and swore profusely, because now I had to go out into the hallway, and to the bathroom to get a towel to clean up the mess, and the sounds were even louder in the hallway.
I heard the soft thumps of their bodies hitting the wall, and the little smacks of their lips on each other as they kissed. I heard his groans, and I heard her cries. I covered my ears, but I couldn't block it out. Her high-pitched gasp, right before she called him by his first name, came through loud and clear.
Retreating to my room, I slammed the door with enough force to make the window rattle. I bet he wanted me to hear that little performance. After some giggling, and some bumping of furniture, it sounded like they were about to go for round two.
I found my earbuds and stuck them in my ears. I turned up the volume as loud as I could stand and threw myself back into the bed. All the relaxation from my foot massage was long gone, and I was drawn tight like a bow string. Sleep at this house was really going to be a problem.
I made sure to get up an hour early so that I wouldn't have to run into Phoenix or his woman friend in the morning. By 5:00 AM I was down in the gym, taking out my frustrations on the rowing machine.
It shouldn't bother me. After all, one look at him and I had already pegged him as a man-whore. It was all over him, from his sexy smile to his flirtatious manners. So, let him do his thing, it had nothing to do with me. I was just his housemate in this silly living arrangement between his father and my mother. Like I said in the pool, it was totally unrealistic to expect that there could ever be anything between us.
I was focused on my own internal dialog, and I had the music blasting in my earbuds, so I never heard the door open to the gym. I had finished on the rowing machine and had moved to the treadmill. I should have been going easy this morning, knowing full well that I had class this evening, but I just needed to find the release I got from pushing myself to the very limit.
Suddenly my earbud was plucked out of my ear, causing me to jump and almost fall from the fast-moving treadmill. I jumped up and put my feet on the sides and turned to see a stone faced Jack holding my earbud.
"Easy there, Wonder Woman," he joked. "I just wanted to talk to you, and I couldn't seem to get your attention." He looked up and down my body in a way that made me feel naked, despite my tank top and bike shorts. I was sweaty, and my clothes were sticking to my body, so I know I wasn't exactly appealing.
Not that I needed to appeal to him.
"So? What did you want to say?" I tried not to pant and sound too out of breath.
He raised his eyebrows at me, "Just, 'good morning', and 'how was your night?'" He offered my earbud in his outstretched palm.
"Good morning to you, too," I said testily, swiping my earbud back. "And my night was disrupted by noisy and inconsiderate neighbors." I stuck it back in and slowed down the pace of the treadmill so that I could hop on without falling off the back of it. His lips curved into an almost smile.
Had I ever seen Jack smile? He always seemed so serious and grumpy. I resented the way my heart jumped at that slight sign of humanity.
“You’ll get used to it, eventually.” He said, taking up a place at the rowing machine I had just vacated.
I squinted at him suspiciously. Was it his habit to work out in the morning? He didn't do it yesterday. I almost wanted to ask how often he brought his girlfriends home, but quickly decided that it wasn't my business, and I didn't really want to know. He and Phoenix could do whatever they wanted to do it wasn't going to mess up my routine.
By the time I left the gym, Jack had moved to the weights. The one good thing I could say about Jack is that, unlike Phoenix, he wasn’t very talkative. It was almost comfortable sharing the space with him. I left the gym while he was still lifting. I was tired, but somehow, still a little edgy.
I went to the shower and then went down to the kitchen. I politely refused pancakes from my mother and filled up my water bottle. I found a fresh bag of lemons on the counter, and happily squeezed one into my water bottle. After some polite small talk, I retreated back into my room.
At precisely five-thirty, I started to get ready for my Karate class. I slipped into my gi so that I wouldn't have to change at the dojo. I pulled my hair up on top of my head and put in my contacts. I grabbed my gym bag that had my gloves and the rest of my equipment and headed down the stairs to get the keys from my mother.
They were all sitting around the kitchen island, my mother, Andrew, and Phoenix and Jack. They looked like they were already at ease and comfortable with each other, which made me feel even more awkward. Jack looked like he had just gotten in. He was still wearing a suit and a tie, although he'd tugged the tie loose and unbuttoned the first few buttons of his shirt. My eyes were drawn to the little bit of chest hair that was peaking out of his open shirt.
Phoenix had already changed into a pair of shorts and a t-shirt.
"Oh Robyn, I almost forgot," my mother offered me a wan smile and jumped off the stool to grab her purse and fish out the car keys.
"Thanks," I mumbled. I topped off my water bottle and gave everyone an awkward little wave as I left the house.
I had been a student at the Martial Arts Academy for five years. It was quite a drive from Andrew's place to the rather rough neighborhood where the gym was located. I parked and grabbed the bag, hoisting it over my shoulder, jumping up over the curb and heading for the back door of the dojo. I let myself in, knowing that I would be the first adult student to arrive. The sensei was still teaching one of the kid's classes in the front, so I quietly got myself ready in the back, stripping off my shoes and socks, tying on my black belt, and beginning to stretch.
The place brought me comfort. The worn carpet, the crisp white walls decorated with random Japanese art and old fight posters. The peculiar smell of sweat and window cleaner. The sound of voices echoing through the building, counting off reps in Japanese, the sound of gloves hitting bags. This was more "home" than any of the places we'd lived since my father died.
Everything was familiar and expected.
As soon as the little kids cleared out, I bowed myself onto the mats and began to practice my Katas. Sensei Peter came and slapped me on the back, before pulling me into a hug. "Robyn! Where have you been, girl?"
Peter wasn’t a tall man, he was only an inch or two taller than me, and he was somewhere in his sixties, I guess…if not his seventies. He had a sort of ageless quality to him, and he was still stronger and faster than any fighter I’d ever seen. Since my dad died, he was the closest thing I’d had to a father figure.
I hugged him back, feeling like I was hugging a tree trunk, and smiled up into his lined face. "Moving, again." I said weakly.
He rolled his eyes. He knew all about my mother's serial relationships. "Well, I'm glad you are back. I think it's time we started working on your next belt, don't you think?"
I was already a second-degree black belt. He'd been after me for a while now to advance to my third. I gave a non-committal grunt in response. While I loved the everyday practice of martial arts, there were two things I avoided: competitions and shiai. I did not like performing in front of other people.
"I'll teach you some new moves this week." Sensei Peter patted me on the cheek and went back to the front to talk to some newcomers. It was easy to know they were newbies, because they came in wearing gym shorts, and had not yet committed to buying the full regalia.
I smiled to myself and went back to my practice until the adult class officially started. I would go home with several new bruises and a sore spot on my thigh, but my heart was peaceful, and that was priceless.
At least it had taken my mind off from a particular set of twins for a good two hours.
