The Side Project

Chapter 6 - Lexi

Chapter 6 - Lexi

Partnering Up

Partnering Up

Ky and I only lived about a five minute walk apart. We made the short trek to retrieve his racquets and ate a quick breakfast. I was mostly quiet, thinking about the implications of Kyle's newly discovered wealth. He seemed to understand and didn't bug me.

My first reaction when he told me the news had been 'fuck yeah' - both that Ky trusted me enough to tell me about his windfall and that he wanted me along for the ride. However, I'd also quickly realized the dangerous implications. It was his money. Not mine. I trusted Ky more than anybody. But my independence was, and always had been, important to me.

I had liked his answers to the concerns I brought up though. Particularly the one about writing our own rules. That felt like what I had always considered was quintessentially us: that we worked as a team but we did things our way, even if they were a little different from conventional. I needed to spend more time thinking about it, but for the rest of our Saturday I decided to be happy for my friend, and happy he had that level of trust in me.

There were some public tennis courts near where we lived, and since it was still relatively early on a weekend morning we had no problem getting a court.

"How much tennis experience do you have?" Ky asked.

"You know I played club soccer in college, but I needed something to do in the winter when it was too cold and snowy to play outside. That was sort of before indoor soccer took off, so I took up tennis with a couple teammates as a way to stay in shape," I explained. "It's been awhile since I played, but I'm not a total novice."

"I feel like a jerk for not even asking you about that after telling you all about my adventures the last week getting back into it," Ky said.

"I mean, I could have brought it up. To be honest I was more interested in hearing about the stuff with that Katrina girl. She sounds interesting," I said.

We began warming up with mini tennis. It took a few minutes but before too long we had a good little back and forth going. We moved back to the baseline. It took the better part of half an hour for me to get comfortable but eventually we began to get some real rallies flowing. Another half hour after that we started to try to make shots to get each other moving side to side - not just hitting it back to each other. I could feel my competitive side creeping in and wanted to start going for winners. Ky beat me to it, making a nice little backspin drop shot I was not ready for and couldn't get to.

"I guess we're done with nice practice rallies?" I asked.

"Sorry I couldn't help it," Ky said, grinning. He was not remotely sorry.

"No you're not, but you can expect payback," I told him.

We kept on rallying but were less focused on keeping the rally going and got more aggressive with our strokes. We managed to keep our competitive sides under control just enough that it was good practice.

"Let's practice serving," Ky suggested after we took a water break. "That was honestly the hardest for me to shake the rust off on."

"Good idea, I was never that good at serving," I admitted.

"Hard to generate much of a serve when you're pint sized," he joked.

I hit a ball in the vague direction of his face. "I prefer fun-sized," I admonished. Jokes about my small stature were a staple of our banter. They didn't bother me.

I got in position and Ky watched me hit a few serves. "Did you ever have formal lessons?" he asked.

"Not really. A couple of the girls I played with regularly in college had grown up playing tennis and they taught me some basic stuff."

"Do you mind if I make a couple suggestions?" he offered. I knew Ky had grown up playing since he was a kid and had gotten tons of lessons over the years.

"Sure."

Ky gently took me by my hips and slightly turned my body so my stance was more on line with the target service box. "This way everything is moving towards where you want the ball to go. It eliminates that slightly crossbody thing you were doing and should help you be more accurate," he explained.

"If you wanted to feel me up you don't have to make up stuff about my serve," I joked, although I had enjoyed his gentle touch so close to an erogenous zone.

"I plan to do a hell of a lot more than feel you up later. Last night was hot." His hand moved from its guiding position on my hip and he grabbed a handful of my butt.

"Good, I was hoping so," I said and wiggled my ass at him just a little, playfully. Last night had been fantastic and after our revelations today I felt very attracted to Ky.

"Try serving that way though, for real," he instructed before we could get carried away.

It took some practice, but after a few more small coaching points from Ky, I was able to get to the point where I was rarely faulting. He challenged me to start aiming for corners of the service box and, to my surprise, before long I was hitting close to my targets using my new technique.

"You're never going to have a huge serve because of your height, but you can have an accurate serve, which will help us, especially in doubles," Ky said.

"Right, especially if like one of them has a weak backhand or something," I guessed.

"Exactly right."

"Do you think we have any real chance of beating them?" I asked.

"I do," Ky said. "They probably have the better technique, but Reed has only been playing for a few months, so he's not infallible. Katrina's really good technically, but she doesn't really have the power to just blast balls past us. We're both in good shape and pretty quick from playing soccer. I don't think it will be easy but if we can scramble around and not make too many unforced errors, we have a shot."

"Hopefully they're too distracted flirting with each other to play their best. Speaking of, we should probably fuck beforehand tomorrow morning right?" I asked playfully. I was half serious, half just wanting to tease.

"I'm told sex does improve athletic performance, although you in a white tennis skirt will be a distraction regardless. Hmmm, now that I think about it, perhaps we should make a little bet with ourselves so we stay focused on winning," Ky suggested.

"I mean, we're pretty fucking competitive anyway, I don't think we'll have a problem staying focused, but I'll play along. What do you have in mind?" I asked.

"Remember that Napa trip I suggested last night? What if we do that for Thanksgiving?" Ky offered.

Both of us had bad relationships with our families - it was another point of connection from our early days - so we had spent the holidays together the previous year and really enjoyed ourselves. We had tentatively planned to do the same for the upcoming holidays.

"That's in like ten days, won't tickets be insane?" I asked. Ky looked at me for a moment, waiting for the reality of his new situation to kick in. "Oh right, money is no object now. I dunno Ky, I feel a little weird about you paying for me for something that expensive."

Up until that point in our relationship, finances had never really come up or been much of a concern. Ky and I both made similar salaries so we typically just alternated paying for things like dinner. I liked that equality.

"I've been thinking about this since our conversation this morning because I knew you'd probably bring that up. So here's the deal: the way I look at it, now that I don't really have to worry about money, life is going to be about experiences. A spur of the moment trip to Napa for a holiday because we won a silly tennis match? That's an experience. And you know what will make that experience better for me? If you're there. So really I'm not paying for you, I'm paying because I want my pal along for the ride," Ky explained his rationale.

"So I'm just there for your pleasure, sounds suspiciously like an escort," I said. I got his point, but I also wanted him to see why this felt so risky to me - like becoming a kept woman.

"I was thinking more I want my partner in crime, but you should know me well enough by now, that you always walk away happy if we do have a little fun - so it's hardly just for my pleasure. Also remember: wine, and no real budget," he said, lightly placing his hand on the front of my upper thigh where my leg met my torso. This time he was not adjacent to an erogenous zone, he was right on it, which he knew well. I shivered involuntarily.

"Ok fine, I'm in. We still have to win anyway," I pointed out. Maybe a trip with him paying would be a good half step for me to decide how it felt to operate in our new dynamic.

"Honestly, we don't, we can do whatever we want, but I like the idea of having some extra motivation, it's like a little game for ourselves."

"Agreed. I think it may still be weird for me at times, just be patient. I guess what also scares me is entering this whole new world and losing a little bit of myself. Like when I woke up this morning if you had proposed something so expensive I would have thought you were insane. I'm worried about us doing things just because we can," I said. Beyond just the independence aspect, I felt there was a real danger of becoming people we wouldn't like.

"Totally understand, it's still all new to me, too, keep in mind," Ky reminded me. "Part of the reason I want you on this journey with me is that I have the same fear. Having you around, who knew the before me, will keep me grounded. Also I feel bad I didn't tell you immediately last night, just like the first thing they tell you when you get a ton of money is not to tell people and I was sort of drunk."

"Totally fine with it, I would have done the same," I said. It was honestly pretty cute how hard a time he had had keeping the secret from me. To me it spoke to how strong our connection was. "Did you and Reed talk about what you wanted to do with it all? I guess I'm sort of assuming you'll want to partially pool it since you guys are best friends for stuff like investments."

"Not in any real depth. We were so shocked - we bs'd about some cool trips and stuff like that, then we ran into Ashley pretty soon after. We know we need to speak to attorneys and finance people this week, but we figured for this weekend we could just have fun."

"Good plan, ready to head home and have more fun?" I asked in a slightly seductive tone. I was ready to act on the desire for him that had been simmering all morning.

"Your place or mine?"

- - - - -

- - - - -

We stopped by Ky's place first to drop off the tennis gear, but decided lunch actually needed to be our next order of business. We had built up quite an appetite practicing for nearly three hours. We got a quick meal at a fast casual Asian restaurant nearby that we liked and mostly chatted about tennis, along with the afternoon's slate of college football games.

We went back to his apartment after lunch and undressed to shower. Ky quickly washed himself while I admired his lean frame. Ky was not a big gym guy, much preferring to run or bike and actually play sports. I had never been attracted to heavily muscled guys so that was perfect for me. Once he was done he grabbed the shampoo and offered to wash my hair. I absolutely loved having my hair and body washed for me and Ky was typically happy to oblige me if we weren't in a rush because he liked touching me, and knew it put me in the mood. He took some extra time to rub my scalp, which he knew was my favorite part. I was really getting the works. We were definitely having sex after.

"Conditioner day?" Ky asked once I had finished rinsing out the shampoo.

"Yes, please," I said and he repeated the process with conditioner, to my delight. I sighed with pleasure at the sensations. Ky moved me under the showerhead once he was done and ran his hands through my hair as the conditioner rinsed out.

Ky picked up the scented bar of soap I preferred and lathered up his hands, then began to wash my body, starting with my shoulders and slowly working his way down.

"I love how soft your hands feel after you condition my hair," I murmured quietly. Ky took his time cleaning me all over before he told me to rinse off.

The shower at Ky's place had a small ledge along one side of the tub that was tiled. We had discovered that with my short stature, if I put one leg up on that ledge it opened me up at the perfect height for Ky to eat me out when he squatted in front of me. So, after I finished rinsing off, when I put one foot up and gave Ky my naughtiest look he knew exactly what I was thinking.

He was more than happy to drop into a squat and launched into his routine. Normally I preferred and needed a good bit of foreplay to really get wet, but that was not always the case. Like today. When Ky started kissing his way up the inside of my standing leg, I grabbed his hair and redirected his head so his face was poised at my opening. He seemed to get the message we could skip the foreplay and began lapping away at my outer lips. It was fantastic.

Ky was pretty skilled at getting me off considering how frequently he went down on me, but that afternoon he really did not need to be on his A game. I was so turned on. Within minutes I was panting and could feel my orgasm approaching.

Ky moved up to lick my clit and used one finger to just lightly tease the outside of my opening, just the way I liked it. I was not typically a particularly vocal lover, but I couldn't help but give a small cry as my orgasm hit. Ky made sure to put an arm around my standing leg in case I had any trouble keeping my balance as I rode out my climax.

"What got into you today?" Ky asked once I had recovered.

"Well in a minute your dick," I quipped, I couldn't resist the one liner. I quickly met his expressive eyes and knew he deserved a more serious answer. "I dunno, just in the mood I guess. I mean you did entrust me with a huge secret and basically invited me on your life adventure, girl's gotta like that. Tennis was really fun too, I like doing stuff like that with you. You know I like it when we feel like a team, on the same page. Now come on, I want to get you off."

Ky and I had long ago agreed that shower sex really wasn't worth it for the most part. Starting in the shower could be fun, as we had just proven, but for the real thing we wanted more space. We quickly got out, dried off and made our way to my bed. I lay down a towel so my wet hair wouldn't make a mess and got on my back with legs spread.

"I'm still very wet for you, more than just my hair," I teased Ky and ran a hand up my slit sensuously. He followed me onto the bed and fed his length into me. I sighed with pleasure, feeling this connection was just what I needed.

"Do you mind if I get a little greedy and cum a second time?" I asked, already recognizing I probably could easily.

"Of course not, you know how hot I think that is," Ky said. I smiled. This was a discussion we'd had quite a few times. I sometimes felt a little guilty taking advantage of the reality that I was multi-orgasmic since that was obviously not possible for Ky without at least a little recovery time. He had finally convinced me it was more than ok with him, but sometimes I still liked to check.

I moved my right hand to my clit and began stroking in time with his thrusts inside me. The feeling was sensational. I closed my eyes for a moment to enjoy it. Ky kept up his movements, I concentrated on the wonderful feelings that caused inside me. I could hear him starting to pant a little, usually that was a sign.

"You're getting close aren't you?" I asked, opening my eyes and meeting his. My tone had taken on a smoky quality because of my own arousal.

"How could I not be?" Ky pointed out.

"So fucking hot, I want you to fill me. I want to feel your cum inside me. I think it's going to make me cum again when I feel that," I breathed. I knew feeling him reach his climax would do it for me. When I heard him sigh and felt him explode inside me it put me over the edge and I came too with a groan.

After we cleaned up, we settled in on the couch for the afternoon. Typically we'd be more inclined to do something social, but with our upcoming match on Sunday we decided to take it easy and have a quiet afternoon.

Reed texted Ky that we were meeting at 10 AM the next day, but not at the fancy club Katrina and Jimbo were members at. Reed had reserved a court at the place where he'd been taking lessons, so there was no real dress code and we decided to take a rain check on buying all white tennis gear for me.

"Ha, check out this text conversation," Ky said, holding up his phone so I could read it.

'Hey, just a heads up, I did tell Lexi about the btc,'He had texted Reed.

'When?'Reed had asked.

'This morning while we were getting ready, why?'Ky texted back.

'Ha, hit the over then. I thought your drunk ass would spill the beans last night,'Reed had texted.

'I tried. I'll make sure she's cool. How'd things shake out with that Ash chick?'Ky had asked.

'Kinda weird man...bit of a cold fish. Super enthusiastic until we got in bed'

'Fucking pillow princesses'had been Ky's response.

'Not even that so much, it was weird. Almost got the impression she didn't know how to enjoy herself. Then she freaked out when she found I had a big box of condoms and left'Reed had explained.

'The fuck? A chick who jumped in your bed after you bought her a drink and dropped a mediocre pick up line on her was skeeved out you had rubbers in bulk? That's weird shit dude'Ky had opined.

'I know man. Weird encounter. Not quite sure what to make of it really'Reed had texted.

'Sorry man, at some point here you really need to find your version of Lexi'had been Ky's parting shot. I melted a little reading that. They briefly texted about logistics and agreed Ky and I would meet Reed at his place and drive to his club together in the morning.

"You are going to be cool, right? I assume this is obvious, Lex, but don't tell ANYONE about the money, right?" Ky said to me.

"Of course, honestly who would I tell? What would I tell them? 'Hey, my friend who I sleep with a lot is suddenly filthy rich now and I think I'm going to be his...what?' Ha, shit what am I? Escort? Kept woman?" I mused.

"I still think partner in crime fits our dynamic rather well. Always has to be honest," Ky said.

"Yeah, I do think I kind of like that terminology," I said and snuggled into Ky on the couch. He wrapped his arm around me affectionately and we settled in to watch some football. I felt comfortable, happy, and valued after our big morning.

Northwestern, my alma mater, was doing well in the early evening time slot, which made me happy. We decided splitting a bottle of wine over the sushi we ordered for dinner was fine since the tennis match was not until mid-morning. We ended up going to bed at halftime of the west coast games to ensure we got a good night's sleep.