The two masked men dragging Sophie to her new temporary accommodations were growing tired of being kicked by the rebellious young spitfire, so they paused their march to her room. Instead of enduring further pummelling, they stopped, grabbed an arm and leg each and again picked her up, carrying her face up with a hand on each limb to save any more bruises inflicted by the still-hooded wildling they were carrying. They arr...

So, you’re all caught up, and we’re at this moment. You’ve been introduced to all the players in my sordid little life of lust, desire, passion, and, most importantly, love. The broad strokes are that we’re all fucking anything with a pulse. I’m with Becky and Sophie in a closed triad. Hamish and his wife Simone make quite the noise with my Mother, Helena, and her husband-to-be, Al. To complicate things, Hamish is the ide...

The scene in the dining area was utter chaos, and Hamish was not a happy man. He stood, having dropped a weighty tome about psychology onto the table to get everyone to stop talking all at once. On one side of the table were Rebecca, Sophie, and I – with me being in the middle of the threesome - literally. The other side consisted of Hamish, Simone, my mother Helena, and the omnipresent Carter or Al, as he now preferred t...

The air was thick with expectation as I looked from one girl to the other. Hope was etched into every pore on their delicate and exquisite features. “I have decided that life is too short not to try something new and have to live with the loneliness and regret of a missed opportunity later. I accept!” Becky and Sophie's squeals were high-pitched, long, and deafening. They were now both on their feet, hugging me and jumpin...

Having changed into a pair of loose joggers, I diverted to the kitchen to forage for snacks. Mom and Carter were still locked in… whatever they were locked into, and they seemed to be chatting up a storm. The quiet mumblings were punctuated by occasional laughter. I stopped by the fridge and took out a six-pack of Coke. I don’t usually drink soda; it's just a personal preference as I find it too sweet. However, after the...

One thing I admire about Becky more than any of her other characteristics is that she is a genuinely kind and gentle soul. She is friendly to everyone, not simply by showing empathy or being ‘politically correct’ (however, her stepmother Simone does not fall into that category and should be filed as a ‘work in progress’.) Becky and I had been dating for about three months at this point, and I was falling more deeply in lo...

We continued to walk through the exquisitely manicured gardens for a while, meandering this way and that while Rebecca showed off her comprehensive knowledge of the plants and bushes that Carter was so carefully cultivating. “I can explain,” I started, knowing full well that I was innocent of any accusations that could be levied against me, but my youth and inexperience were betraying me. My biology was fighting against m...

The following two days passed me by in a blur. I was fitted for my rental tuxedo and paid to have it dry-cleaned and pressed. I attended the rest of my classes but barely paid attention to the lecturers. My mind was replaying our encounter in minute, exquisite detail. Rebecca and I didn’t see each other until the Saturday of the party, as we only had Professor Wynn on Mondays and Tuesdays. I thought about her constantly....

We were sitting in class the first time I noticed Rebecca. The bright early fall sun was streaming through one of the opened windows in the lecture hall. Professor Wynn was droning on as usual about some ancient Babylonian tablet, and the weather was unseasonably warm. Despite the windows being open, it was stuffy in the hall, and the oppressive atmosphere made you feel as if everyone else was stealing your precious oxyge...

After spending a romantic night sleeping in each other's arms under the stars in the bush, they rose just before daybreak and enjoyed the spectacular sunrise. After an hour of marvelling at nature's majesty, they had just downed a tasty breakfast of bacon and egg sandwiches cooked over the campfire. An RACV mechanic quickly found our stranded protagonists and diagnosed a faulty fan belt as the cause of their Outlander's p...

The Mitsubishi Outlander crawled to a slow halt in the Gumtree Forest, in sight of a natural clearing large enough to make camp before the rapidly approaching night enveloped the land in its inky darkness. The couple had bickered about trivial matters on their long journey, as couples do, long before the car decided to give up the ghost in a spectacular cloud of steam issuing from under the hood and through the grille. “T...

I’ve been using my local coffee shop for years. I was a patron long before my accident. Unfortunately, I now needed to walk with a stick permanently, which made carrying a tray loaded with coffee and a sandwich or a slice of something delicious something of a faff. On the plus side, all the staff know me, and they know my order, large Caramel Latte and diabetes be damned. It wasn’t uncommon for me to walk in, wave a greet...