Love Far Away (A Spicy Contemporary Romance) (7 page)

The elevator pinged its arrival again, with another small
group of women, and Amy moved on to greet them. The four of us stood there in a
tight cluster, looking at one another. Amy’s reveal about the party’s true
nature had truly thrown me for a loop. Getting roofied and waking up with my
purse stolen and no idea how to get back to the hotel- that had been the worst
case scenario I’d imagined earlier. A sex party hadn’t crossed my mind and I
wasn’t sure what to think.

“Did she say, naked males?” asked Becca. “I don’t know about
this.”

“I don’t know. I think it could be fun,” said Megan.
“Clothed females, that’s us- we don’t have to do anything we don’t want to.”

“I don’t think I’m comfortable with this,” I said. “I just-
I know that if Bradley and I separate, I’ll have to sleep with someone else,
eventually. I’ll see another man naked, eventually. But I don’t know if I’m
ready to do it now.”

“Are you telling me you’ve never seen another man naked
before?” Ashley demanded.

“Well- I mean, we watched porn together once or twice, but I
know those guys aren’t like in real life” I started to say.

Ashley interrupted me. “Oh, honey. We really do need to
stay, then…..for your own education. There’s a lot more out there than just
Bradley. Look, we don’t take our clothes off. If you decide you don’t like it,
you don’t have to look. But you need to give it a try. No excuses, remember?”

I took a deep breath. “All right,” I said. “Let’s stay.”

W
e got some drinks from the bartender and decided
to sit down together while we waited for the party to get underway. I looked
around at the other women there and tried to get a read on them. Some of them
seemed filled with nervous excitement, like we were. Others seemed totally at
ease and circulated around, chatting easily with each other. I remembered
Claire saying that she and her friends came here regularly and realized that
they must do this kind of thing all the time.

Finally, Amy came out and stood in the center of the circle.
“Ladies, if you wouldn’t mind, it’s time to take a seat,” she said. “We’re
going to get this party started!”

The more experienced women let out whoops and cheers as they
found chairs. Once we were all sitting down, music started to play. The
bartender came out from behind the bar, opened a set of double doors that led
to another room, and dimmed the lights. A spotlight stayed trained on the open
area in the middle of the room. I couldn’t help but crane my neck to watch as
the bartender led a group of men- four or five of them, I guessed, compared to
the twenty or so women waiting- to dance in the stage area.

I wanted to look away- I felt like I should look away- but I
just couldn’t bring myself to do it. Once I’d attended a bachelorette party
that had a male stripper, and at first it was like that with dancing men. They
were doing a striptease as they removed their clothes. The other women in the
room were clapping along with the music, whooping and hollering as they cheered
the men on. I clapped along to the beat so I wouldn’t look out of place, too.

I snuck a look at my friends to see what their reactions
were. Ashley, as I might have guessed, was cheering loudly and encouraging them
to shake it. But Megan and even Becca seemed like they were enjoying
themselves, too. The men were definitely nice to look at, I had to admit. Their
muscular bodies rippled under smooth, tanned skin. I tried my hardest to keep
my eyes up on their faces, but every now and then I couldn’t help but stare at
their cocks. Aside from the very occasional porn film, Bradley’s was the only
one I had seen before. Next to the men in front of me, his was tiny.

After a song or two had played, Amy stood up and made an
announcement. “For the rest of the night, ladies, these men are here to serve
you,” she said. “Drinks, food, a massage...anything you want. Don’t be shy.
Take some time to mingle, and we’re going to have a little competition starting
up in a short while!”

My friends and I turned to each other to touch base. “Well?”
asked Becca. “What do you think?”

“This is amazing,” said Ashley. “I’m so glad I made us come.
What’s not to like, ladies? Honestly? Naked men serving you drinks and giving
massages...I’ll take it! Who wants a drink?” She snapped her fingers and called
out for someone to bring her a fresh drink. Not even a minute later, a naked
man appeared with a fresh glass of wine.

“For you, madame,” he said, bowing slightly. Ashley gave his
buttocks a squeeze and dismissed him.

“I think it’s kind of fun, too,” admitted Megan. “I mean,
we’re on vacation, its Paris, everyone knows the French are the sexiest people
alive...why not? It’s not like any of us are cheating by looking at some other
guys.”

Becca stood up and I almost thought she was going to leave,
but she just pointed to one of the men. “That guy is so unbelievably sexy. My
feet hurt from dancing all night...I’m going to go make him give me a foot massage.”
I watched her walk over to him and had to make a conscious effort to keep my
mouth closed from the shock. Becca- sweet, museum-loving Becca- was getting in
to the vibe of Amy’s party.

Megan stood up too. “I think I’m going to go dance with that
group over there,” she said, pointing to where a cluster of a few women were
taking turns pressing up against a naked man and grinding.

“I’ll go with you,” said Ashley, tipping back her glass of
wine. “Come on, Jules! It’ll be fun.”

I couldn’t. I shook my head, feeling too embarrassed to even
say a word.

Ashley frowned. “Oh, come on,” she said. “It’s just a bit of
dancing. You had fun doing that at the club, didn’t you?”

“I- I have to get another drink,” I said. “Maybe later.”
Ashley shrugged, and followed Megan over to the group that was dancing.

I was only sitting by myself for a minute or two before
Claire, the woman I’d been talking to at the club who had invited us all here
in the first place, stopped by. “Julia! Are you having a good time?” she asked.
“There’s going to be some great contests we make them do coming up- and there
will
be a ruler involved,” she promised. “Want to come dance?”

“Um, that’s okay, thanks,” I said. “Actually, where is the
restroom, if you don’t mind?”

“Oh, sure, it’s just through there,” said Claire, pointing
at the doors that the men had come through at the beginning of the party.

“Thanks,” I said, and slipped away.

I took my time in the bathroom, which was the size of the
master bedroom back in my house in Ohio and even more luxurious than the
bathroom at our hotel room here in Paris. I reapplied my lipstick, and pulled
out my phone to check if I had any new messages. (Two more angry texts from
Bradley, who hadn’t been able to find where I had hidden the toilet paper, so
he was going to be staying at Nikki’s and he hoped I was satisfied.) Feeling
angry all over again, I sat down on one of the chairs in the bathroom for a few
minutes playing games on my phone until enough time had passed that I thought
the mingling session might be over out in the main room.

I opened the door to the bathroom and stepped out. I was in
a bedroom with a king sized four poster bed and, lounging on it, a very
attractive man. Unlike the other men out in the main room, he was dressed in
linen slacks and a blue shirt. I was so surprised to see him that I did a
double take.

“Oh, hello there,” he said nonchalantly, looking up from a
tablet. “What are you doing in here? Party’s out there.”

“It’s...not really my thing,” I said. “I came here with
friends, and they’re out there having a great time.”

“I see,” he nodded. “Same thing with me. I came with some
friends, but you can’t have a clothed man at one of these parties I guess.”

“What made you come?” I asked, taking a step closer despite
myself. “Wouldn’t it make more sense to go back to your hotel? I mean, it’s
what-“ I looked around the room for a clock and didn’t see one, so I pulled out
my phone- “after three AM. Wouldn’t you rather be sleeping?”

“I’m visiting Paris with a few friends,” he said. “Three girls,
two guys. We were all going to go out but the other guy, he came down with food
poisoning at dinner so it was just the four of us. While we were at a club my
friends got invited to come to a party here. Guess the woman who invited them
didn’t realize I was with them. Imagine my surprise when I showed up here.” He
laughed. “Amy did say I was more than welcome to strip down and join the
dancers, but it’s not really my thing either.”

“Oh, no!” My hand went to my mouth to cover up a giggle that
was threatening to slip out. “I’d be mortified. I don’t know how they do it.”

“There’s some kind of dick measuring contest going on,” said
the guy. “I don’t feel up to subjecting myself to that kind of humiliation
right now.”

“I’m Julia,” I introduced myself. “Do you mind if I stay in
here and hang out with you while they continue their party out there?”

“Sure. I’m Matthew,” he said. He looked to be around my age
and had that wholesome, all-American look to him- blond hair, blue eyes, and a
strong jaw. He patted the bed next to him, and as I sat down I couldn’t help
wondering what he might have looked like up there in comparison to the other
men with no clothes on. “So what are you doing here in Paris?” he asked. “How
do you like it?”

“Oh, I’m here on a girl’s trip,” I said. “We just got here
the other day so we haven’t really been out to see much. Just a bit of shopping
on the Champs-Elysees and a trip up the Eiffel Tower, then out to dinner and
clubbing tonight of course. But I love what I’ve seen. It’s a city that so many
people dream of, you know? I never imagined that I would actually be here one
day and seeing it all in person. I want to- well, no, it sounds silly.”

“Oh, you can’t leave me hanging like that!” said Matthew.
“Nothing’s that silly. What do you want to do here?”

“I just want to find some old, twisty cobblestone streets
filled with cute little stores full of hidden treasures, and tiny but delicious
cafes,” I admitted. “Just wander around by myself for hours and get lost and
enjoy the atmosphere. I usually have a problem with over-planning vacations so
I made a promise to the girls that I wouldn’t do that, but I need to have some
kind of plan to function- even if getting lost is my plan, you know?”

“I get it,” he said. “You should check out Montmartre. We were
there the other day- you start at the bottom and just kind of pick a street and
walk up towards the top of the hill. It’s a great way to spend a day doing
pretty much nothing.”

“I’ll have to go there,” I said. “How long have you been
here? What else do you recommend we do?”

I leaned back against the soft pillows of the bed and
relaxed for the first time all night. Matthew and his friends had been here a
few days so far, but it wasn’t his first trip to the city. He’d first visited
it as a young college kid travelling Europe during the summer, like the
backpackers I’d been envious of at the Eiffel Tower earlier today. He talked on
for a while, telling me about the Louvre- I couldn’t miss the Louis XIV rooms-
and the Rodin Museum couldn’t be missed either, and if the weather was nice
some of the parks around the city were great to wander through.

On the other side of the bedroom doors, I could hear the
music start up again. I found myself hoping that none of the girls came looking
for me to drag me back out to watch the erection measuring competition. I was
enjoying talking to Matthew much more than I’d enjoyed watching the spectacle
out in the other room.

“You want a drink?” he asked, getting up from the bed and
walking to the door. He peeked out through the crack. “I doubt anybody would
notice if we snuck out there and grabbed a bottle of something.”

I followed suit. “Let me go grab something,” I said. “You’d
stick out too much, being a man wearing clothes and all.”

Matthew laughed and stepped back. “Okay, go grab us some
drinks,” he said. He opened the door and I slipped through the crack.

I scurried along the wall to the bar in the corner and
ducked down behind it. I grabbed a couple glasses and looked for a bottle of
wine. For such a small bar it was well stocked, but I didn’t want to be
grabbing ingredients for lots of different drinks. I held a bottle of wine and
a glass in each hand, and tucked a third bottle of wine- opened, but not much
gone- under my arm. I peeked up over the bar to make sure nobody was looking.

I had nothing to be afraid of, since a line of naked men
were getting their erections measured. Five different women were standing up
there too, holding measuring tapes. I recognized Ashley as one of them. I gave
my head a little shake and hurried back to the door that Matthew had left open
a crack. My friends didn’t seem to be missing my presence at all. Well, too
bad, because hanging out with Matthew and drinking some wine was more my style
anyway.

Nobody noticed me as I dashed back in to the back bedroom
with my loot. “Well done!” Matthew exclaimed, once the door was closed behind
me. “Wow, I’m impressed. Three bottles of wine? That takes skill to carry all
that back in here!”

“Thanks,” I said, feeling strangely proud of myself. He
accepted the glass I held out to him, and took one of the bottles of wine as
well.

He poured both glasses full and took a sip. “So did anybody
see you?” he asked.

“No, they were all pretty preoccupied,” I replied. “I don’t
think my friends even noticed I was gone.” I couldn’t hide the disappointment
in my voice.

“Maybe they thought you left and went home,” Matthew
suggested. “If they knew you weren’t having a good time, that is.”

“Maybe,” I agreed. I took a sip of wine. “God, I haven’t
done anything like this in years. I was never a very wild kid in high school
and in college, I had a- a steady boyfriend I spent most of my time with. I
never went out to wild parties, that kind of thing.”

“Sounds like a game of,
never have I ever gone to a wild
party
,” said Matthew, taking another sip of wine.

“Huh?”

“You’ve never played that game? Oh good, I’m so glad I met
you tonight. It’s a game, a drinking game…typically it’s played at those wild
teenage parties. One person says something they’ve never done, and if you’ve
done that thing, you’ve got to take a drink. Let’s play. Okay?”

“Sure,” I said, feeling reckless. I took a sip of wine too.
“As of tonight, I have gone to a wild party. Your turn.”

“Hmm,” he said. “I’ll start easy. Let’s see- never have I
ever skipped school.”

“You never did senior skip day?” I asked. I took a sip of
wine…two, actually. I couldn’t help but remember Bradley and I sometimes
skipping class to make out behind the gym. Then I remembered the day he’d
pressured me to skip class to be with him when I’d had an essay due, and I
ended up handing it in late. I’d given things up for him. I’d made sacrifices.
And this was how he’d repaid me.

“Nope,” said Matthew. “Your turn.”

“Never have I ever...lied on my resume.”

“I’m not evil,” said Matthew. “I’ve never done that. Never
have I ever gone skinny dipping.”

That summer during college when Bradley and I had gone
camping and enjoyed a moonlit swim. I took a drink. “Never have I ever cheated
on someone.”