Chapter 33: Call of Duty.

February 6, 2:00 PM. Château des Rêves, Alex and Kate’s room.
Alex lies on his stomach on the Sexodrome, surrounded by pillows, a purple plush blanket with straight edges, and a couple of empty Coke bottles. He opens his eyes and sees Kate’s face right in front of him. Her expression mixes care with deadpan mischievous humor. He wears a white t-shirt and black shorts.
“I played CoD with Chase all morning, and I won!” he exclaims sleepily. He points toward the big TV. The screen still shows the game’s main menu. The PS5 controller rests on the other side of their huge couch. “And I’m going to Sarah’s grammar lessons at 5 PM. She texted me this morning. And Becky… well, I guess they already told you.” He rolls onto his back. “So how was your date, Goddess?”
Kate exhales and sits back on her heels at the foot of the Sexodrome. She still wears the red dress from Topanga. It clings to her in all the right places, now slightly wrinkled. Her hair looks a little messier than usual, and her expression stays unreadable. She studies him for a long moment.
“You won against Chase?” she asks, her tone carefully neutral. “That’s impressive.” Her fingers toy with the hem of her dress as she watches him.
Alex looks at her outfit. The bright red, long-sleeved dress has a fitted bodice and a flared A-line skirt that ends above the knee. The high neckline features a white pointed collar, giving it a preppy, school-inspired touch. A slim black belt defines the waist, and the straight sleeves end at the wrists without cuffs or embellishments. Her makeup stays soft with matte rosy lipstick and black mascara. She wears her hair down with a gentle side part, slightly wavy at the ends and with subtle volume at the roots. Her elegant gray heels with a black polka-dot pattern now lie on the floor. Her stylish black shoulder bag sits on the nightstand where she set it moments after entering.
“Yeah, I beat Chase,” Alex says, giggling. “While we talked on video call, he bragged that even a little drunk he’d wipe the floor with me in CoD. Well, he had a couple drinks while we chatted. And I wiped the floor with him.” He meets her eyes. “Everything okay? I hope the date went well. Just don’t tell me Amy or one of the other girls started lecturing you again. We already discussed everything. This is between me, you, and Brian. And Aria too.”
Alex shifts and sits cross-legged as he looks at her. “Tell me. Is everything fine? I need all the details about Kate and Brian’s first sex. You know, it’s for the book.” He laughs.
Kate answers with her deadpan humor. “He fucked me like he was reading his new rap song. Verse by verse, rhythm by rhythm. It was awesome.” She exhales through her nose, her lips curling slightly at the corners. “Amy and Kae didn’t lecture me. They just asked when Brian was moving in.”
Alex raises his eyebrows. “And what did you say?”
Kate leans back and rests her hands on the Sexodrome’s edge behind her. The red fabric pulls slightly taut over her thighs. “Next week,” she answers simply. “Before Erodreamarts gets too crazy.” They both burst out laughing at the same time.
“Hmm,” Alex says slowly, still giggling. “You two moved fast.”
He scoots closer to her. “I’m happy if you’re happy. So what’s the deal with the new dynamic? How are you gonna split your time between the two of us?” Kate exhales and tilts her head slightly. “I don’t know yet,” she admits. Her fingers drum absently against the Sexodrome’s edge. “I’ll figure it out. Maybe some nights here, some in the guest house. I’ll work it out with Brian.” She studies his face, searching for any signs of discomfort.
Alex giggles and playfully rolls his eyes. “Oh, I figured as much. You don’t know, Goddess.”
He pokes her lightly with his finger and starts tickling. Kate bursts out laughing. “Baby Boy!” she exclaims, trying to swat his hands away.
Alex stops tickling her. “Okay. I get that this wasn’t easy.” He waggles his eyebrows. “First, from January 26 you mulled over Aria’s idea before you agreed. Then Aria dumped all of it on me the morning of February 3 while you supposedly went to Swag&Pop on ‘business.’ Then I spent days panicking that you’d leave me.” He draws out the words, giggling. “Alright, we got through that shit. I’m just curious. Am I gonna get any sex with you in the near future or not?”
Kate’s lips curl in a slow smirk as she watches him. She scoots closer on the Sexodrome until her knee brushes his thigh. “Oh, I think you will,” she says. Her voice dips into that smooth, controlled purr that always makes him shiver. She lifts her hand, traces her fingers lightly along his jaw, and tilts his face up toward hers. “I mean, look at you. Still asking permission like a good boy.” She moves closer, her lips nearly brushing his ear as she murmurs, “I’d hate to break my streak of fucking you every day.”
Alex playfully huffs. “Okay. But here’s the situation. You now have two boyfriends.” He squints playfully. “I mean, besides your professional life as an artist, model, golfer, and actress. I hope you haven’t completely abandoned acting? Well…”
He continues, drawing out his words. “You’ll have to divide your time between an erotic writer and a rapper-slash-boxer-slash-basketball player-slash-guy with a big black cock. How are you gonna manage that? And most importantly!” He raises his finger. “Dana’s shipping me off to Cambria starting February 28. So how are you gonna handle this whole thing? Because the entire junior staff is definitely gonna think we broke up. And that I left, handing you the whole mansion.”
Kate exhales slowly and tilts her head as she studies his face. Her fingers trace absent circles on the Sexodrome’s fabric between them. “The staff can think whatever they want,” she says finally. “They always do. Amy says they’re already betting on how long Brian stays here.” Her smirk deepens. “I guess they’ll be surprised when you come back from Cambria and start fucking me again.”
Alex chuckles. “Yeah, except I have no idea how long I’ll be stuck there. Dana said about this Erodreamarts thing that ‘The project is scheduled to last two months. But if it goes well, it might get extended.’ And she doesn’t know about you and Brian… um… now kinda ‘expanding boundaries.’ Same terminology Aria uses?” He stretches and slaps the couch with his hand. “So you’ll be fucking here, right? On our couch? On our Sexodrome? Like you said last night before leaving with Brian for the date? ‘The guest list is… flexible.’ Right?”
Alex looks at Kate, waiting for an answer. Kate studies his face.
“I don’t know yet,” she admits. “It’ll depend on schedules, moods, availability.” She smiles at him, slow and knowing. “But you know I don’t do anything alone, right? That couch is big for a reason.”
Alex rolls his eyes, smirking. “Oh, I know. You probably told all our girls way more than you told me. Fine. So when Erodreamarts starts, you’ll be telling all those invited media people in our mansion that he’s your boyfriend? And info about me stays hidden? Being a male erotic writer for Sogni Nudi is so damn inconvenient.”
Kate lets out a soft chuckle and stretches her legs along the Sexodrome. “Oh please,” she says, amusement warming her voice. “You act like you don’t know how this works by now.” Her fingers tap lightly against the couch as she studies his face. “There’s a difference between telling people and letting them figure it out. I don’t need to make some big announcement. Everyone sees how it is.”
She reaches over and rests her hand on his thigh. “And I don’t need to tell you everything before it happens. That’s part of the fun.”
Alex widens his eyes. “Oh yeah. I know. And you know Lila is already trying to find me a new girl. She’s convinced you’re gonna dump me. Sarah is totally into me. She says it outright. All this grammar lesson stuff isn’t really about fixing my English. It’s to set me up with her. Lila doesn’t even hide it anymore.” He giggles. “But you figured that out when she organized the tutoring, right?”
Kate exhales through her nose, amusement flickering across her face. “Of course I figured it out. Lila isn’t exactly subtle when she wants something.”
Alex runs a hand through his short chestnut hair. “They definitely want me to start fucking her. Lila wants it, and Sarah obviously does too. Like, ‘If Kate can, then why can’t Alex?’ This is some fucked-up…”
Kate hums thoughtfully, her fingers trailing up and down his thigh in slow circles. “You know I don’t control what other people think or do. If you want to fuck Sarah, that’s your business. Just like if I want to fuck Brian.” Her smile turns wicked. “Or anyone else.”
Alex rolls his eyes and stretches. “Well, yeah, tease me. A few days ago I knew nothing about Brian or what Aria offered you on January 26. I don’t think it’s worth repeating a thousand times, but I still think you’re tired of me. That’s why you accepted her offer to fuck her boyfriend. I hope you didn’t fall out of love with me.” He makes puppy eyes. “Don’t leave me, Goddess. Sorry that I have such a small penis…” He whispers, holding back laughter.
Kate laughs softly and shakes her head. She shifts closer, trails her fingers up his chest, then rests them against his face. “Oh Alex,” she murmurs, tilting his chin up with her thumb. “You really know how to make things dramatic.” Her eyes glint with amusement, but something softer lingers beneath it. “I haven’t fallen out of love with you.”
Her thumb brushes his cheekbone. “But that doesn’t mean I’m not curious or that I don’t want new things.” She moves her hand to his shoulder.
Alex leans back on the couch and stares at the ceiling. “Fuuuuuck. I don’t want to go to Cambria for who knows how many months. Can you talk Dana out of sending me? I get that she’s my boss and it’s best for Sogni Nudi to hide male authors, especially me. But this is ridiculous. What if Erodreamarts lasts seven or nine months? It’ll look like we took a break. We broke up, in short.”
Kate exhales slowly, watching his exaggerated concern with a small smile. She leans back beside him and crosses her ankles. “ Dana doesn’t take no for an answer,” she says, tapping her fingers on the cushion. “And I’m not fighting her on this. It doesn’t change anything between us.” She glances sideways at him. “It’s just logistics.”
Alex giggles, pulls a pillow over with his foot, and hugs it while glancing at her. “So in Cambria I’ll be fucking pillows while Brian fucks you. Fine. Just don’t break this couch. As I understand it, you gave him my suggestion about moving here. When is he moving in? And where will we put him?”
Kate stretches her arms above her head and rolls her shoulders. “I told him he could move in next week,” she says, voice steady. “Before Erodreamarts starts.”
Alex rubs his face. “Ah, yeah. You said that at the beginning. You told Amy and Kae. I’m a little distracted. I dozed off a bit before you came back. So, do we have any free rooms in the main building? Or should we put him in one of the guest houses?”
Kate’s expression stays perfectly neutral. She reaches out, traces his jaw, then rests her hand flat on his chest over his heart.
“Actually, Baby Boy,” she says, her voice a smooth low purr. “I’ve already figured out the logistics. Since Brian is the center of this Erodreamarts push, it makes sense for him to be right here in the main house. In this room. On our Sexodrome.”
She tilts her head, eyes glinting with deadpan mischief. “And for you, I’ve decided you’ll be much more comfortable in one of the guest houses for a while. It’ll give you the perfect headspace to focus on your writing before Cambria. No distractions, no noise…”
She kisses his lips. “Don’t look so shocked, Alex. ‘The guest list is flexible,’ remember? I’m just making sure everyone is properly positioned.”
Alex laughs and slaps his palm on the pillow. “Oh fuck, fucking… fucking…” He pushes up on his elbows and looks at her. “I knew being in a relationship with Kate Norwin would be… Besides the fact that you’re an actress, an artist, a model, a golfer, and a bit of a ballerina, you’re also Kate Norwin. Awesome. Does Amy know already?”
Kate gives a small, knowing smile. “Of course she does. I told her and Kae earlier today.” She rolls onto her side, props her head on one hand, and watches his reaction. “Amy took it surprisingly well. She’s just worried about staff gossip.” Her fingers tap the cushion. “Kae thought it was hilarious.”
Alex snorts. “I’m not surprised about Kae. She’s Aria-lite. And Amy has just accepted the whole situation, like Madi. Lila… oh, that Lila. I don’t think I’m in a hurry to push boundaries with Sarah right now. Everything is happening too fast.” He shifts closer. “So when are you kicking me out of our shared room, darling girlfriend?”
Kate hums and rolls onto her back. She stretches, lacing her fingers behind her head as golden sunlight catches in her blonde hair. “I was thinking next week, before Brian moves in. That way you get used to the space before you leave for Cambria.”
He pauses, then adds with a mix of whine and joke in his voice. “You’re kicking me out starting Monday. Damn, that means I have to haul my whole office into one of the guest houses. Why can’t I just stay in the main building? There are tons of rooms here.”
Kate doesn’t even blink at his whining. She tilts her head slightly and considers him with that same detached amusement she always wears so well. “Because I want Brian in here,” she says simply, as if stating a fact about the weather.
“And you’ll be more comfortable with a change of scenery. This house is big enough for both of you, but I think you’ll appreciate having your own space to focus.” She reaches up to toy with the hem of his shirt, her fingers brushing lightly against his stomach. “Besides, I like knowing you’re close by. Just… not right next to me at all times.”
Alex snorts, then bursts out laughing. “Of course. Especially starting February 28, I’ll ‘not be right next to you at all times.’ And…”
He looks into her blue eyes. “Listen, I’m not jealous. I just envy Brian. He’ll have both you and his Aria. Are you three gonna be a throuple?”
Kate arches an eyebrow, her lips curving into that maddeningly vague little smile. “Would that bother you?” she asks, tilting her head just slightly. She teases him, but something more deliberate lingers behind it as she leans closer, her fingers trailing up his chest.
“No…” Alex says slowly, looking at Kate. They lie almost embracing, faces inches apart.
“I’m just thinking about why Brian got so lucky. In all four years of our relationship, your bestie Aria never suggested anything like that for the three of us. I mean you, me, and Aria. I’m surprised. Of course I would never have suggested it myself. I didn’t want you to think your Baby Boy doesn’t love you. Because Baby Boy is very afraid of angering his Goddess…” Alex whispers, gently running his hand through Kate’s hair.
Kate exhales through her nose, a quiet sound that could almost be a laugh if not for the lack of any actual humor in it. She doesn’t pull away from his touch, but her fingers still against his chest for a moment before resuming their idle tracing along the fabric of his shirt.
“Brian didn’t get lucky, Alex,” she murmurs, her words dropping just a fraction. “He didn’t get lucky at all. He got exactly what I wanted him to have.” Her blue eyes flick up to meet his, steady and unblinking.
“And you… you’re getting exactly what you need.” She shifts closer, her breath warm against his lips as she adds, “You’re getting space.” Their faces draw even closer.
A moment later they lock into a deep, hungry kiss, tongues sliding and caressing each other.
After a few seconds Alex pulls back just enough to speak, eyes locked on Kate’s. “Listen. The truth is, the idea of you being with Brian turns me on. I’m just ashamed to say it out loud.”
Embarrassment flickers in Alex’s eyes. He presses himself closer to Kate, and through the fabric of her red dress and his black shorts she feels his erection pressing against her. Her fingers curl into the fabric of his white t-shirt as she kisses him again, slower this time, more deliberate. She breaks it with a soft sound against his mouth.
“I know,” she murmurs, her breath warm against his skin. Her free hand trails down his chest, fingers dancing over the contours of his body before slipping beneath the waistband of his black shorts. She finds him already hard, and her hand closes around him with perfect, practiced ease.
Alex gasps into the kiss, his hips jerking slightly as her fingers tighten. She strokes him slowly at first, then with more pressure as his breathing hitches. Kate pulls back just enough to watch his reaction, her blue eyes dark with something unreadable. “Listen, I’m not gonna fuck Sarah…” Alex whispers. “I mean, sure, she turns me on. All the girls around me turn me on, that’s why I jerk off. All my books are born from jerking off…”
They both laugh. Then Alex continues. “I mean, this needs to be thought through. I don’t want it turning into a competition. I mean, if you’re against it…”
Kate tilts her head, fingers still moving slowly along his shaft as she watches him. “I’m not against it,” she says softly. “But I don’t want you to do it just because I’m with Brian.” Her thumb brushes over the head of his cock, feeling the wetness there.
“And I don’t want you to feel like you have to compete.” Her grip tightens slightly, drawing a shudder from Alex. “We both know you don’t need to.”
Alex smoothly moves his hips, fucking Kate’s hand as she holds his cock. He whispers, “I could fuck Sarah, but I don’t think that’s really what she needs. Probably. She’s an administrative assistant in the art class at Dreamside High School. She…”
Alex presses himself closer to Kate. “You don’t know, is she really okay? She was so happy about those ten thousand dollars I gave for their class. She’s one of the few people for whom I even show up at the Christmas and New Year’s parties. Sarah and Lila always create this cozy protective social bubble for me in the middle of the whole crowd…”
Kate’s fingers pause, her grip still tight around Alex as she listens to his words. She watches his face, noticing the way his brows furrow slightly as he talks about Sarah. Her thumb makes small circles around the head of his cock, smearing the precum there. “You think about her a lot, don’t you?” she murmurs.
Alex brings his face closer to Kate’s, and they kiss again for several seconds, their tongues gently caressing each other. Then Alex pulls back just enough to speak.
“Not in the way Lila wants it…” he says quietly. “But yeah, I do think about her. She’s still our friend, after all. Listen. I don’t know. I mean, I could help Sarah financially, introduce her to the right people. She definitely deserves more than just being an administrative assistant in the art class at Dreamside High School. But I’m not sure about sex. You’re my first girlfriend, and for all four years I’ve only been with you. I’m scared to start anything right now, until we’ve figured out this new dynamic with Brian and all the rest.”
He arches his hips slightly. “I just want to keep having sex with you for a few more days, until you completely replace me with Brian. Maybe my hand will be enough for me for the next few months?”
Kate’s fingers tighten around Alex’s cock, her grip firm and measured. She leans in until her lips brush his ear. “You’re not getting replaced, Alex. But you are getting options.”
She strokes him slowly, her thumb rubbing circles over the sensitive head. “And if you want to touch Sarah, I’m not going to stop you.” She pulls back enough to meet his gaze, her blue eyes glinting with something unreadable. “But I don’t think it’s about sex for her. She cares about you. She worries about you.”
Her free hand cups his cheek, thumb brushing his skin. “Although maybe your hand will be enough,” she muses, her fingers still working his cock in slow strokes. “But Brian seems to think he’ll be enough for me.” Her thumb circles the head, smearing precum as she watches his reaction. “Hmm…”
Alex hums thoughtfully. “I feel like he’s definitely not the type who’ll want to share. Unlike me. Doesn’t that worry you? Should I expect to have sex with you when I come back from Topanga after Erodreamarts… after some time?”
Kate’s fingers keep their steady rhythm, firm but not punishing. She studies him with that same unreadable look—part amusement, part challenge, and something deeper. “No,” she says at last, her voice soft but certain. “I don’t think you should expect anything.”
She moves closer, breath warm against his ear. “But I think you should hope for something.”
Alex shudders, hips thrusting involuntarily into her hand. Kate makes a soft sound of approval and tightens her grip. He is right on the edge.
“And what are you two gonna do all that time besides fucking? Is he gonna teach you how to rap or play basketball? Or are you both just gonna spend all your time on the golf course? I’m curious. It’s for… the book.” Alex smirks. “Yeah, I think I’ll write a novel about an interracial couple after all. Still don’t have even a working title though.”
Kate tilts her head, fingers still moving along his cock. “I think Brian will be… instructive,” she murmurs, thumb rubbing circles around the head. She feels him pulse in her grip. “But you’re right. We’ll need to do more than just fuck.”
Her free hand slides up his chest and rests against his throat, warm and light.
Alex giggles, cock pulsing harder. “Are you sure the mansion staff won’t spill everything about me to that pack of journalists who’ll be swarming here during Erodreamarts? There are over 500 people here!”
He chuckles again. “I think Dana and Mayor Navari might not have thought of everything… And what are you gonna do with all the memorabilia scattered around the mansion? Our joint photos and stuff like that?”
Kate tightens her fingers around him and leans in, breath hot against his ear. “I’m not worried about the staff. They know better.” Her thumb circles the head, spreading precum. “And as for the photos… we’ll take new ones.”
Alex shudders, hips jerking into her touch.
“But you should worry about your boss,” she adds, voice soft with an edge. “ Dana is not the type to let something like this disrupt her and Navari’s plans for Erodreamarts.”
Alex comes hard in her hand, groaning softly as his body tenses and releases.