“I was going to say, ‘now that we're intimate’."

Mother shrugged, "Same difference to a father of a teenage girl."

“ANYways, he said that she can spend the night with me on Friday and

Saturday nights. So, uh, you can expect to see her around a Little more often than you used to."

Mother's eyebrow arched.

“Does Samantha know about this Little arrangement?"

I frowned. "Sam? What does she have to do with it?"

“If you seriously need to ask that question then you're in over your head even more than I originally thought."

I pursed my Lips and rolled my eyes.

“This is different. Everyone knows

Belle and I have always been close. I already spend afternoons and evenings with her. This is... just an extension of that. And more to the point: Belle's dad knows about our relationship now. Sam's parents don't, and unless that changes, there's no conflict. Maybe she can use

Zofi as an alibi a few more times, but it's not like she or any of the other girls can consistently stay overnight anyway."

Mother chuckled, sipped her coffee, and shook her head wryly.

“Got it.

You're in over your head even more than I originally thought. Sometimes

I keep forgetting you're only eighteen.”

“Mother..." I drawled.

She just waved me off.

“Don't worry. I'm sure you'll figure it out." sem

Despite Mother's cryptic warning, Sam and the other BTC girls took the news in stride. Like I said, everyone knew Belle and I had always been close, and now that her dad knew of our relationship, it sort of made sense that she'd seize the opportunity to have a few overnights with me. None of them could spend consistent nights with me without their parents giving them the Spanish Inquisition, but if Belle could get away with it, ‘Go get some girl!’ It's not like there were any scheduling conflicts. As long as they got their “study breaks" and I made time to satisfy their cravings on demand, they were satisfied.

In the meantime, after two weeks off, we were all absorbed in getting back into the school routine. It was a bit of a system shock to have homework and need to study for tests again. So our afternoon study sessions once again became primarily about actual studying and less about messing around with each other (although of course we still carved out time to mess around with each other).

Two weeks away from school also gave me some perspective on the way the

PDA had been steadily growing without me really being aware of it while it was happening, much Like that boiling frog urban myth. For example, lovely Zofi held my hand as we walked between classes, same as always.

But after she cradled my head in her hands and gave me a sweet kiss just before we parted, it occurred to me that I couldn't remember exactly when we'd started doing that. Maybe early December or something?

Naimh straddled my lap during lunch, face-to-face while feeding me grapes. Then the Irish redhead started putting them into her own mouth and French kissing me to pass me the grapes directly. This development in and of itself wasn't such a big deal. People were used to us making out at school. But then Mari commented that what we were doing looked fun, and she asked if she could try.