I sat at the breakfast table with coffee and toast, looking through the glass door at the porch and the woods beyond. The morning light filtered through the trees, peaceful.
Moving in with Mandy had seemed like a good idea. Rent was cheap and the location worked. We both went to the University of Pittsburgh, her as a psych undergrad, me as a math grad student.
But now that I was actually here, settling into this new living arrangement, I found myself wondering what the day-to-day reality would be.
Nineteen years old, intimidatingly cool and energetic. She made me feel ancient at twenty-two. She had this emo-punk aesthetic going on with her makeup and piercings. But her body was pure athlete. Toned everywhere. Where do you get the time to work out like that?
The woods outside were thick with green. I could see a cardinal hopping between branches, its red feathers bright against the leaves. My coffee was still hot enough to burn my tongue slightly when I sipped it, giving a nice momentary distraction from the probability theorem on my mind.
I heard footsteps on the stairs behind me, reaching the bottom of the stairs and moving into the kitchen.
“Sup nerd,” Mandy said.
I glanced up to acknowledge her greeting.
That was a mistake.
She wore a white shirt so thin it barely qualified as clothing. The fabric clung to her in a way that left nothing to imagination. Her nipple piercings were completely visible through the material, two small barbells that caught the light. The shirt ended just below her ribs, showing off her abs.
Below that, she had on white panties that rode low enough to expose her hip bones. The front barely covered anything. She turned, and good god. The back was basically just a strip of fabric disappearing between her ass cheeks. Already my heart was thumping.
I turned back to the window fast, feeling heat rise in my face. The cardinal was still there. I focused on it like my life depended on memorizing its feathers.
“Sleep well?” Her voice had an amused quality.
“Oh yeah great,” I said. I took a bite of toast, even though I wasn’t hungry anymore. The bread tasted like cardboard in my suddenly dry mouth.
I heard her moving around in the kitchen, opening drawers and cabinets. Then there was a metallic clatter right in my line of sight to the porch. A spoon had landed on the floor directly between me and the glass door, spinning slightly before coming to rest.
“Oops,” Mandy said.
“Oh shit” I said to myself, knowing where this was about to go. Mandy walked into my peripheral vision. Then she bent over to pick up the spoon.
I tried to look up at the ceiling. I’m telling you sincerely, I tried. But I couldn’t will my eyes away.
The movement was slow, deliberate. She bent at the waist with her legs straight, her ass lifting as she reached down. The white panties stretched tight across her cheeks, the string in the back doing absolutely nothing to provide coverage. Her abs flexed as she lowered herself. The shirt rode up slightly, exposing more of her toned back.
She grabbed the spoon and straightened up, turning to face me with a grin that told me she’d caught the whole thing. I had only looked for a second, though!
“Enjoying the view?” she asked. Her voice was light, playful. “I thought you were watching the birds or something.”
“Cardinal. Out- out there.” I said, trying to breathe deep. Tilting my head to indicate the direction did nothing to help my explanation. But it succeeded in making me look pretty stupid.
“Uh-huh.” She walked closer to the table, still holding the spoon. “Sure the cardinal wasn’t perched on my ass?”
“Uh… heh, I don’t… know…” I stammered and eventually sighed, feeling caught red-handed.
She laughed. She took a carton of orange juice out of the fridge, threw her head back and chugged a few times. Her throat moved up and down.
I couldn’t believe what it made me think of. My own mind shocked me.
“Yeah, I see some new wood coming up,” she teased.
I moved to try to hide the tent in my pants. “I don’t mean anything by it, hah. I just… cardinals do that sometimes…”
Before the sentence was out, I was kicking myself, thinking “Oh GOD Harman, what a fucking weird joke!”
A laugh exploded out of Mandy’s nose and mouth at the same time, not expecting my nervousness to get this extreme. When she finally recovered, crying a little, she just flatly said, “Weird.”
Mandy moved to stand directly in front of the glass door, positioning herself between me and my view of the outside. Then she stretched her arms up over her head in a long, exaggerated motion.
The stretch arched her back, pushing her chest forward. Her shirt rode up even higher, exposing the underside of her breasts. Stomach on full display, every muscle defined as she held the position. The piercings through her nipples were impossible to ignore with her arms raised like that, the shirt pulled so tight that the metal barbells created obvious points in the thin fabric.
She held the stretch, her body forming this perfect curve, right in my line of sight to the window. I tried to keep looking past her, but there was nowhere else for my eyes to go. She was blocking the entire view.
My brain was melting; my mind correspondingly spinning. Mandy grinned like a predator.
“Still working on that eye discipline, huh?” She tilted her head, mock concern crossing her features.
“I was looking at the window,” I said. The excuse was lame, even to me. “You’re blocking it.” I tried to point, as if that somehow made me seem honest.
“I’m blocking it.” She nodded slowly, like she was considering this explanation. “So you had to stare at my tits instead.”
“I wasn’t—” I started.
“You were absolutely staring,” she cut in. Her voice had more edge. “Don’t even try to deny it. I saw exactly where your eyes went.”
I shifted in my seat. “I uh, heh, promise I’ll work on not looking,” I said and did a mock salute, trying to cut the tension.
She laughed with her chest thrown forward. “Dork!”
She walked to the kitchen counter, hips swaying. Then she hopped up to sit on the counter directly across from where I was sitting at the table, her legs dangling over the edge.
She sat with her legs slightly apart. Not spread wide, but enough that I could see the way the white panties stretched across her. She swung her legs casually, like relaxing on a pier.
“So I’m throwing a party tonight,” she said. Her tone was conversational now, like we were just two roommates discussing plans. “Should be fun. I invited a bunch of people from school.”
I nodded, trying to focus on her face. “Cool, I’ll make an appearance.”
“Jake’s coming,” she continued. She watched my reaction carefully as she said the name. “You know Jake, right? From your wrestling gym?”
I knew Jake. Two years younger than me, built like he’d been lifting since childhood. All the guys at the gym hated wrestling against him. Because he was fucking strong. And so good looking, it felt unfair. I guess that’s irrelevant for wrestling.
“Yeah, I know Jake,” I said.
“He’s so hot,” Mandy said. She leaned back on her hands, the position pushing her chest forward again. “Like, seriously built. Have you seen his arms?”
I had seen his arms; everyone had seen his arms. He wore tank tops even in cold weather, to make sure of it.
“M hm.”
She caught the tone, and her grin returned in force. She’d found the button she wanted to push.
“And his hands,” she went on. “Those huge hands could pin me down all night!”
I took a drink of my coffee and nodded, trying to let this wash over me, unfazed.
“Then there’s Marcus, from my psych class,” she continued. “He’s more lean than built, kind of artsy. He has these tattoos all down his ribs.” She traced a line down her own side as she said it, her fingers running along the edge of her shirt. “I’ve been wanting to see the whole design up close.” She made an expressive face while she explained.
My expression must have shifted.
“What?” she asked, her voice innocent. “I’m just telling you about my party plans.”
“No, it sounds fun!” I shrugged and mustered an excited tone.
She swung her legs faster, her whole body language radiating satisfaction. She’d gotten the reaction she wanted. Jealousy mixed with desire mixed with frustration, all of it probably written across my features like a neon sign.
“Gonna be great,” she agreed. “I plan to suck a dick tonight! Maybe two if I’m feeling ambitious.”
The words hit me like a physical blow. My coffee mug stopped halfway to my mouth. I set it down carefully on the table, not trusting myself to hold it steady.
She was watching me with bright eyes, enjoying every second of my reaction.
I chuckled. I had to. I shook my head in disbelief, knowing this is the impact she hoped to have.
I’m an extremely good-looking guy, but Mandy’s a level of hot above that. If I were that attractive, maybe I’d be like her—has to feel thrilling and powerful, to know how much you can get away with.
“Good for you.” As the words wobbled out of my throat, I almost put my face flat on the table because of how much they betrayed my insides.
“I think so,” she replied. She hopped off the counter, landing lightly on her bare feet. “Jake seems like the type who’d be fun to blow. He’s got that confident thing going on. You know what I mean?”
Rich kid, student athlete, douche bag. But sure, let’s generously call it “confident”.
“Yeah,” I nodded.
“Anyway, I’m going to do some yoga on the porch,” she said. “Get my body warmed up for tonight.” She walked toward the glass door, pulling it open. “You can finish your breakfast, mathelete.”
She stepped out onto the porch, leaving the door open behind her. Through the glass I could see her laying out a yoga mat, positioning it so she was facing the house. Facing me.
She started with a downward dog, her ass lifting high in the air as she planted her hands and feet. The white panties stretched tight across her cheeks again, that string completely useless as coverage. Her legs were straight, muscles defined, her abs visible even from this inverted position.
I stood up from the table. My erection was painful now. I didn’t bother trying to hide it as I walked away from the table, leaving my half-finished breakfast behind.
I went upstairs to my bedroom and closed the door. The image of her bent over on that yoga mat was burned into my brain. Her in those white panties, her piercings visible through that see-through shirt, the way she’d sat on the counter with her legs apart while telling me about sucking Jake’s dick.
I pulled my sweatpants down and took my cock in my hand. It was already leaking precum. I started stroking, my mind filled with images of Mandy. Her bent over picking up that spoon. Her stretching in front of the window. Her sitting on the counter, legs swinging, talking about other guys while knowing exactly what she was doing to me.
I came hard and fast, my hand moving urgently as I pictured her on that porch right now, stretching in positions designed to show off. The orgasm hit me like a wave, pleasure mixing with the knowledge that she was completely unattainable even as she paraded herself in front of me.
I cleaned up and sat on the edge of my bed, my breathing slowly returning to normal.
This was going to be a long living arrangement.