Free Magic of Three by Jenna Castille

heating her skin again. Geez , what ’ s with this schoolgirl crush crap ? “The guy you bought the lap dance from for me, that’s who. The golden Adonis boy and some other guy. And to make matters worse, they jumped in to help calm down an angry customer.”
     
    With a negligent shrug, Janice turned back to her bagel. “Okay, high on the weird meter, I grant you. But for a big city, I run into people I wouldn’t expect all the time.” She stopped for a moment, a teasing light sparkling in her green eyes. “Was the other guy a stripper from the club too? It’s not far off the Strip. Makes sense they’d try your place sometime, especially if the tips were good.”
     
    “I don’t know. I wouldn’t peg the other guy for the stripper type. Too tightly laced, military or law enforcement.” Lisa thought about it for a moment, running a picture of the two of them standing next to each other over in her mind. Night and day. Darkness and light. One hell of a fantasy in the making. “Actually, I wondered if they weren’t…you know…involved.”
     
    Janice smirked, completely ignoring her food and drink for the hot and twisted soap story in the making. “You mean a couple out for a romantic evening alone?” She laughed as Lisa blushed again, skin flaming even hotter. “Hell, it is a free country. And the stereotype of gay strippers must’ve come from somewhere. But it does put a damper on the whole fantasy.”
     
    “But I’m not sure if they were,” Lisa muttered, wishing a hole would appear under her and swallow her up. I know better than to mention this to Janice . What was I thinking ? If I could just get them out of my mind . “They were both flirting with me too.”
     
    Janice’s smirk grew into a full-out grin moments before her trademark cackle blasted through the air. Other patrons either stared or worked very hard not to look. “So they’re bi, so what? Doesn’t mean you can’t savor the attention. Hell, all the more reason to enjoy. A two for one deal. Can’t beat that.”
     
    Lisa didn’t know how to respond. The image Janice created opened up too many secret feelings, too many deep, dark, hidden fantasies. Three bodies writhing together. Four hands and two mouths roving her body. Dreams only admitted to in the cover of night.
     
    “Two too many to handle if you ask me,” she replied, forcing the picture of the three of them naked and intertwined out of her mind. The image haunted her. She couldn’t let it take root, not when it was so obviously impossible. “I mean, don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying I’m butt-ugly repulsive or anything, but the second guy was almost better-looking than the stripper, if you can imagine that. What kind of a woman, short of a supermodel, could hold that kind of attention? Holding on to one would be a struggle. Two…impossible.”
     
    “But you’d have the other guy to help you keep his attention, if they are bi,” Janice was quick to point out. No way was her friend letting Lisa off the hook that easily. “You just need to learn how to work as a team. Pull together for the greater good. And can you imagine any greater good?”
     
    Lisa reached for her white ceramic cup with a trembling hand and took a deep, bracing drink. Anything to postpone an answer. She closed her eyes and concentrated on the Sixties elevator music jamming in the background and the creamy, sweet caffeine flavor of the latte. How did you respond to a question like that? Tell the truth and let your friend know you’re a bigger perv than she thought? Or outright lie to her face when you know she can read you like a book? Damn girl could scent a lie like a bloodhound. Janice’s ex couldn’t even lie to her, which had ended their marriage. “I can’t believe I’m having this conversation.”
     
    “You’re just saying that because the thought of it’s turning you on,” Janice replied, coming too close to the truth for Lisa’s comfort. She leaned forward, forcing