Provocation

There mightseemto be some repetition in this chapter, but it is progression, not rhyme.

------------

Provocation - Six

------------

"Yo, Sammy!" I said as the call went through.

"Hello," Sammy answered automatically, then I heard who I was register in his voice. "Oh... hey, Carl. How are you... what can I do for you?"

Look, I will freely admit that I was kind of grooving to this strange condition of Sammy being intimidated by me. Dude is at least five inches taller than me, and outweighs me by about 30 pounds of not fat, so this was a novel feeling for me, in particular and in general. But I did not want to leave him hanging out to dry, either. My better angels had already won this battle, which was why I was calling.

"So, Yardbirds this weekend, huh?" I asked casually. "I hope it isn't too quiet. The crowds don't seem to be going there anymore."

"That's where the girls declared," Sammy agreed, also puzzled. Then he hemmed. "But, um, maybe I won't make it there this week... I, uh, maybe I should..."

"Dude," I cut him off. "I hope you show. If it does turn out to be lame, it would be infinitely more lame without you."

"Uh, thanks. I appreciate the confidence, especially after I, uh, what happened the last couple of times," he struggled.

"Dude," I said again, putting the steel in my voice he clearly expected, but not for the reasons he expected. "I. Have. No. Beef. With. You."

That took him aback, as I had expected. "I...? You... But I..."

"Sammy, you did exactly what Gwen wanted you to do. She enjoyed it. You enjoyed it. And to answer your worries,Ienjoyed it. At least Ihopeyou enjoyed it, because if you didn't, I'm driving over to your office and taking you to get a CT scan right now."

"Uh, that's... why?" Sammy asked.

"Because it was sexy to watch. Because I love it any time Gwen enjoys herself. And mostly because we have recently discovered that when we get home after us provoking each other like we both did that night with all of the rest of you guys, the aftermath is always legen... wait for it... dary." I added that last because I know Sammy has a weird love for the Barney Stinson character. It got the laugh I wanted and a reset from my friend. I could tell he was still not comfortable, but he wasn't skittish anymore.

I heard him take a deep breath. "So, yeah. Yardbirds. Think maybe you and I can take control for once of where we go from teh wimmenz, after this weekend crashes and burns?"

"I like the cut of your jib," I replied.

*

Yardbirds sucked in all possible ways.

There was no energy in the place. It was half-empty, which was a little sad. We all remembered how it was when it first opened, and we had a crazy time every time we went. There was no energy on the dance floor anymore, and no crowd there either, which made it sort of impossible to get away with any provokinatin' behavior. And it really was well-lit. Like, as well-lit as an Applebee's.

"I hate to see an institution pass," I said, as we all huddled around the table we had easily claimed. "But if this place is still open in another month, I'll eat my hat."

"Okay, Okay!" Zoe grumped, slapping the table with her hand. "I fucked up this time. This is lame. I'm sorry."

Sammy and I looked at each other. I liked that we were back to making comfortably conspiratorial glances at each other. It was time to seize control of the future Saturday night agenda.

But Gwen spoke first. "Fuck this. I say we write this off, finish our drinks, and go bowling!"

"Bowling?" I asked, surprised.

Sammy laughed. "Actually, I say we go for it. They just built that gigantic bowling palace near here. They even supposedly have good wings."

"We all already had dinner," Deidra said drily.

"There is always room for good wings," Sammy intoned.

"I haven't gone bowling in like five years," Deidre mused. "Sounds like fun."

"You good with assaulting innocent little pins with giant boulders?" Gwen asked me.

"An athletic endeavor where I can whip Sammy's ass? I'm in."

"You wish, dude," Sammy said.

Game on.

He and I went back and forth about our once-upon-a-time bowling scores. I was betting Sammy had not bowled any more recently than I had. I was hoping that, at least.

"Hey, Zoe," Deidre interjected suddenly. "You haven't said a word. Are you okay with blowing off dancing?"

She was right. None of us had confirmed that it was cool with Zoe. We all looked at her solicitously.

Zoe looked a little skittish about the idea, actually.

"Bowling is totally easy," Gwen reassured her heartily. "And even if you gutter every frame, it is still fun to give each other shit. You'll be fine."

Zoe grinned. "I think I can manage. I've been in a Tuesday night bowling league for four years."

Damn. We all stared at her in shock. You think you know a girl.

"A league?" Gwen snorted. "Thank God. Zoe is finally acting older than me."

*

Sammy and I both found that we remembered how to bowl pretty well. But it was a good thing we had each other to compete and talk trash with, because neither of us was literally or figuratively in Zoe's league. She rolled a 217 her first game, and spent the whole time complaining that she was sucking this evening since she had to roll the shitty rental ball she had laboriously picked out.

Sammy barely beat me in both games we played, and I had to salve my ego by making him admit that the wings were, in fact, not all that.

What had started out as an absolute bust turned into a pretty great evening out. We all laughed and had a great time. The lanes had an excellent selection of craft brews, but we were all remarkably sober... ish the whole night.

It did occur to me that there was a drawback. This was a huge, fairly crowded bowling alley. There was no opportunity for even the most innocent of provoking behavior.

Midway through the last game, I missed picking up an easy spare and flounced grumpily back to sit next to my woman, draping my arm around her shoulder. Gwen's turn had been right before mine, so we had time to relax while the others took their turns, and she nestled lightly into me.

"This is the most action we've gotten all night," I mused, mostly just to voice my casual happiness with the snuggle.

"It's nice to remember that we can still hang out normally with our friends," she replied.

"Kinda reassuring, honestly," I thought out loud.

"I agree, but how do you mean?" Gwen asked. Those exact seven words were a common thing to say between us. Talking through an instinctive accord often made it stronger.

"I'm just glad to remember I don't need a whole weekend's worth of provocation to still pound you into the mattress as thoroughly as I'm going to when we get home."

I expected a poke in the ribs, but I just got a yummy, "Mmmmm." We shared a wicked glance. "You know," Gwen added casually, "I love that we both still want to just be normal with our friends most of the time. But I hope that you don't want to give up being provoked when the opportunity arises. I know I don't."

I snorted. "I think you enjoy provoking me!" I waggled my eyebrows.

"I do enjoy the variety of actions that provoke you," Gwen admitted. A fleeting memory of Ron's cock sawing into her caused a twitch in my pants. "But what I love are your reactions, at the time... and especially later."

"I say we table this discussion until we get home," I said abruptly. "Because if we continue, I'm going to bend you over the score table there and get us all thrown out." Putting word to deed, I popped up and watched as Zoe,Zoeleft herself with a seven-ten split!

"God dammit," our Pro From Dover growled. "No more spur-of-the-moment bowling nights, you guys! We plan ahead the next time we bowl, because I can't be bringing my ball with me in the Uber every week, just in case."

That got a laugh, but I think we all surprised ourselves at the way the idea of another bowling night sometime soon appealed.

"That sounds good," Gwen said, rising from the hard plastic bench with a sinuousness to her movements that had been heretofore absent on this evening. "But I am also missing getting in my dancing. Next week, I say we go back to Vein."

That drew a surprised silence for a moment.

Sammy blanched. Well, he would have blanched if it were physiologically possible. His eyes widened, and he looked at me. The skittishness was back.

This again? I thought we had talked. I locked eyes with him. "Sounds great to me. You in, Sammy?"

He didn't like being punished for not listening to me, so he replied with a hearty, "Absolutely," to cover his grimace.

"I'm in," Zoe said, shooting a glance at me. "But I should have guessed Gwen would want to go back there. She had the best time last time!"

"I had a pretty good time," Deidre muttered, and Zoe giggled quietly.

I just drummed my fingers on my chin, which made both of them flinch.

"The only problem is, I can't wear the white dress again so soon. I'll need to go shopping for a new blacklight outfit!" Gwen said in suddenly acquisitive glee.

So, add another 300 bucks to the cost of next weekend's dancing...

"How about we go shopping on Wednesday after work?" Deidre asked quickly. "I'll get something cool too."

"Me too," Zoe chimed in. "I'm tired of the hot pants. I think I want something with a skirt..."

*

The dress ended up closer to 400 bucks.

Worth it.

It too had the flaring skirt that would probably spin out wide when Gwen twirled hard enough. What the top sacrificed in side-boob from the white dress, it made up for with cleavage. Again, my lady is not extravagantly well endowed, but with a neckline like this, that was a good thing.

Cathy would have needed rescue tape just to keep from falling out of this dress while doing something simple like getting into a car.

Hmmm... Maybe Ron and I could talk Gwen into letting Cathy borrow it some Friday night.

It would be an awesome clubbing dress anywhere, but the fabric made it super awesome for Vein. It was a shocking pink that fluoresced hard, accented with strategic black pin-cording to accentuate her waist. In the dark of Vein, in that glowing outfit, even my self-conscious woman could not complain about any fictional issues with her waistline.

"I think we should eat early tonight," Gwen said, pulling a pair of frozen Chicken Kievs and a leftover creamed spinach out of the freezer. "I'd like to get to Vein and be in line when they open."

I grinned at her and went to set the table. "Want to make sure we get a wall booth again?" I asked archly.

"Darn straight," Gwen said, looking at me with merry seriousness. "I think there might be one or two tables that are even darker than the one we had last time."

I chuckled, looking forward to standing in line long enough to get one of them. "Why do I feel that I am going to be expected to provoke the hell out of you this evening?"

"Because you are," Gwen said. Then she leaned over toward me with a lascivious smile. "And I think you can expect me to hot and sweatily provoke the shit out of you too!"

I matched her smile. What she said could mean a host of things, from just some crazy as fuck dirty dancing, to...

I did not ask her what she meant, because it was much more fun this way.

I also noted that this time she did not even go through the charade of putting panties on under that new dress before we left.

*

My lady and I were in line to get in well before opening, and managed to get what had to be the best wall booth in the club. It was pitch black there, with even a few of the pinlights in the floor for footing burnt out. It also was on the slightly elevated side of the club, so it afforded the best view of the dance floor.

Since Gwen and I had saved money by eating dinner at home, I chose to forget the money spent on Gwen's new dress (we could afford it, after all) and splurge on bottle service for the table, our treat this time. The chilled liter of Belvedere, along with glasses, mixers, and two ice buckets of bottled water, were all on the table when Sammy and Zoe arrived. Deidre was not far behind.

We all shared full to the brim shots, then spent a few minutes as the liquor kicked in, crapping on poor Yardbirds and how lame it had been. Some shit was talked about bowling scores as well.

Deidre peered around under the high table. "I don't see your bowling ball, Zoe. Where is it?"

"We are not ending up bowling tonight," Zoe said firmly, with what was probably a gleam in her eye, though it was hard to tell. "Tonight is going to be epic!"

There was definitely an anticipatory note in her voice. I sensed she had plans to provoke Gwen herself. I could absolutely live with that.

A second round of shots later, and Gwen and I hit the floor to dance. We had actually practiced a little during the week, and threw ourselves into the craziest moves we thought we could pull off. I spun her a lot, especially at first, but the new dress turned out not to flare as fully as the white dress. I was unable, therefore, to flash my gal's naked nethers to the whole club, who would have been unable to make them out in the darkness anyway. It was a massive bummer.

We shifted to a series of passes, turns, and clinches, and that was much better. The energy in the club was high, even this early in the evening, and despite how energetic Gwen and I were being, I doubted people were paying any particular attention to us. The only people who were likely watching closely were Sammy, Zoe, and Deidre, back at our table. We knew they had not gone off on their own to dance yet, so we knew that while we could not see them back there from out here on the floor, they could certainly see us.

Gwen did not once start grinding on me, or I on her. But we had an absolute blast trying various ways to run our hands all over each other, right out in the open, without being noticed.

She had the harder time. My pants were a nondescript light gray, but there were enough white threads in the weave to make them still glow pretty brightly in the UV light bathing us. Gwen's hands must have looked like obvious dark silhouettes whenever she grabbed my ass. But she swiftly got the hang of giving my junk a good squeeze that wasn't obvious unless you were looking closely, every time I led her through certain passes, clinches, or turns. Of course, that meant I was calling for those maneuvers almost exclusively by the time we were done.

My hands were quite obviously on her ass often, and were practically bathed in the glow of the pink fabric, but hey, there were lots of guys' hands on their dance partners asses out there.

My greater difficulty was in getting much of a feel of Gwen's tits. I hadn't usually tried to feel them up in public much in the past, but I was determined to do so tonight, and likely going forward.

But my hands would have stood out like mad if I put them over the pink of that dress. It would have been obvious. I felt like that might have caused a bit of a scene.

At least this early in the evening.

But here's the thing about a dress that low-cut. There are lots of ways to get your handsunderthe fabric of the dress.

When I figured out a few moves that let me casually slip my hands completely inside the cleavage, get a good feel, and then withdraw, all without being obvious about it, I really leaned into those moves.

No one around us so much as batted an eye.

After the fifth song, I blew out a breath as Gwen came to a simultaneous halt. "I need another shot and a bottle of water, not in that order," I said.

"Deal," Gwen said, giving me a flushed smile and heading back to our table.

All three of our friends were still there, staring at us. My subtle moves had clearly not been missed by them.

"Damn, bro," Sammy said, pouring a round of shots for all. "Dial it back a little. You guys have been making it an early night of it lately anyway, but you were looking like you were ready to drag Gwen home and get busy already!"

Zoe slammed back her shot and giggled, "Who says they have to go home to get busy?"

Deidre shoved her, but not in disapproval. I noted that the level in the bottle indicated that the three of them had done at least one more shot amongst themselves while Gwen and I had been out provoking them.

"It is almost dark enough in here," Sammy agreed.

"Almost?" Deidre laughed. "Come on, Sammy! You really didn't notice?"

"Huh?"

I rolled my eyes, but this was too entertaining to cut off.

"Remember last time here? When you came back by the table and thanked Gwen for all the 'advertising' she gave you out on the dance floor?" Deidre asked. Sammy started to nod, and she pounced. "Carl was outright fucking her right at the table at that very moment, while she was talking to you!"

"Ha! Pull the other one, Dee," Sammy snorted. "You two were standing right next to 'em."

"I know," said Zoe in a husky voice. I felt a hand brush over the front of my pants and the still quite tumescent bulge therein. "It was so fucking hot." The hand had not been Gwen's!

How provoked did we have Zoe?

Sammy looked at me, eager to share the joke.

I just stared back at him blandly. "Dude. I told you I enjoyed it when you danced with Gwen like that."

Sammy still didn't believe it. I mean, he certainly did, but his brain wasn't going to admit it. "Well, regardless of whatever nutso shit that is going to allegedly happen tonight, I want my advertising! Let's dance, Gwen," he said, and tugged at my lady's hand. She shot me a challenging look over her shoulder as they headed for the floor. I watched them go, feeling a little preemptively provoked.

"Guard the bottle, Zoe," Deidre sang, grabbing my hand. "I'm not going last tonight!" With an outraged bark from Zoe, Deidre yanked me after her toward the dance floor.

We laughed as we took up position almost next to Sammy and Gwen, which was just perfect as far as I was concerned. I was glad to have a front row seat as I watched how much Gwen could convince my buddy to try. As for Deidre, I was decidedly uncertain which of us would be trying to convince the other.

Dee's dress was not a sausage casing like the last one she had worn here at Vein, but it was better. It was lime green and hugged her slender body gently while covering very little of it. The top was held up with spaghetti straps, and there were huge cutouts on either side of her waist. Best of all, it was as short as the Gettysburg Address. It had a beaded fringe that didn't glow, overlaying the dress below the waist, but that just made the fabric beneath seem to peek through more dramatically.

And I doubted that I would need to do much convincing, if any at all, to get Deidre to help me provoke Gwen, because Dee's nipples were tenting that dress like mad.

"That's a nice, demure outfit," I said to Deidre, again glad that Vein was never too loud.

"Demure?" she scoffed.

"Yeah," I said seriously. "For a stripper gown," I added with a mocking grin.

She shot a glare at an oblivious Gwen. "She told you?"

"Told me what?"

"This is a stripper dress."

"What?"

"When we went shopping, Gwen and Zoe found good stuff at the mall, but I struck out. So Gwen conned us into going to that place, Skinz Exotique, the one out on Industrial. You know it?"

I knew it. The window displays were a menace to vehicular traffic. "Seriously?" I asked.

Deidre just spun around for me. "It was hard to find even this one that covered enough for me to dare to wear it," she said, leaning against me now. Her modest breasts, not covered by much, pressed against my chest. I reached out and grabbed her lower back... upper ass really, and pulled her in to press against my up and coming hard-on. "I tried to chicken out on even this one, but Gwen was insistent."

Thank you, my beautiful woman.