Shut Up and Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is

Renee's head throbbed as she woke up, the light peeking through the windows practically blinding her. There had been a lot of celebrating last night. And rightly so. After all, marriage wasn’t exactly an everyday occurrence. Still, she began to think they had overdone it on the booze. She sat up gingerly, wanting nothing more than a cup of coffee and a hot, greasy breakfast. She placed one hand on his shoulder, gently patting him, using the other to rub her temple.

“Larry…” She mumbled.

He didn’t respond, but when she turned and realised that he wasn’t next to her, she quickly pulled her hand away. The blonde was sleeping heavily luckily because she couldn’t stop herself from gasping a little at the realisation that he wasn’t her husband. Renee sighed with relief when she looked a little further over and found Larry, who was also asleep. She was incredibly eased to know she hadn't drunkenly destroyed their marriage before it had even begun. Still…she wasn’t exactly sure why there was a stranger wedged between them. Come to think of it, she also wasn’t quite sure what happened last night. She remembered their wedding ceremony. She remembered eating dinner. Then everything started to get hazy.

"Larry," Renee repeated quietly, carefully reaching over so as not to disturb mystery-man, as he was now dubbed in her head, and squeezing his bicep. She grew impatient when he didn’t stir despite the snores escaping his mouth. He finally woke with widened eyes, his lips moving, ready to speak. Before he could, however, she pre-empted him by clasping her hand over his gaping mouth. Craning his neck, he let out a muffled noise when he noticed the man next to him. Renee tilted her head in the direction of the bathroom.

He got up, following her into the bathroom, leaving the door open in case the other occupant of their bed woke up.

“Who the hell is that?” She hissed.

“I don’t know!” He whisper-yelled, looking at her in disbelief, eyes continuing to flit over to the bed.

“What I do know is that my head is killing me.”

“What…what the fuck did we do last night?” Renee said, starting to pace back and forth. “I remember getting married…I remember going out to eat…then…”

Larry’s face became concentrated in thought as he also tried to recall the previous night. Both of them tried to stay quiet, listening out for movement in the other room. Suddenly, he snapped his fingers. “The casino. We went to the casino.”

The lights and sounds of the casino were dazzling, but all Larry could keep looking at was her and the way she couldn’t stop smiling as she took him by the hand from table to table. Renee was the love of his life, and he was so happy to now call her his wife. After several months of stressing about money, listening to every criticism under the sun from family members, and finding themselves arguing over petty details such as floral arrangements, on top of working at the FBI, it had been Renee’s idea to throw all the plans for their wedding out the window, and elope in Las Vegas. Cliché, yes. But it was simple. And what they both wanted. And at least she could still wear the dress. 

It also gave them a little extra cash to play with now that they weren’t catering for every colleague, friend, and family member. They’d budgeted for this. They weren’t spending money they didn’t have. So far, they hadn’t been particularly successful, even at the poker table, where they’d hoped their ability to read people would get them somewhere. If they’d tried a little harder they probably could have done better. But Renee couldn’t stop looking over at Larry, and the gleeful, almost giddy, smile he kept flashing her. And every time he looked over at her, he would get lost in her eyes, find himself admiring how her dress fit her body, and all his focus would disappear. 

Renee nodded. “Roulette, I remember. You…You told me we weren’t going to win, and I was trying to make you bet on it. We were playing around.”

“Okay…we’ve got a hundred bucks left.” She showed him the chip. “How about roulette?”

“Sure. May as well throw the rest away.”

“At least we’re leaving it up to fate this time.” They were at the table now, where a few other people had already placed their chips. “No more trying to get into other people’s heads, we do enough of that already. Now…” Renee gestured behind her. “Pick a number.”

He furrowed his brow. “You’re betting inside? At least pick reds or blacks so we can almost have a fifty-fifty change.”

Renee shook her head at him, grinning. “Nope. I’m feeling good tonight. Even losing a hundred bucks can’t upset me.”

Larry scoffed but couldn’t help but return the smile. “Fine. Pick twenty-four. Since you’re feeling lucky.”

She slid the chip over and turned around, wrapping her hands around the nape of his neck. ”Let’s bet on it.”

“It’s a one in thirty-eight chance, Renee. It’s practically zero.”

“But it’s not zero. Come on. If we get a twenty-four, we do something crazy.”

He hummed, trying to think of something to entertain her idea. Larry watched the wheel spin out of the corner of his eye.

Suddenly, the people around them cheered. Someone near him said ‘congratulations’, shaking him by the shoulders.

Larry's eyes widened as he returned his gaze to the board. Before he could even start to collect the mountain of chips being pushed over towards them, Renee grabbed him by the collar and pulled him in for a bruising kiss. He rested a hand on the edge of the table to steady himself, laughing a little in disbelief.

“You’re insane. I love you.” He murmured into her mouth.

“Love you too.” She giggled.

“We won…” She realised. “Okay, I…I do remember that. We won the three and a half grand, we went and got it in cash, then…surely we would have gone back to the hotel, right?”

He shrugged. “Well, even if we did, we picked someone up on the way. How did that happen?”

“Was it to do with the bet, maybe?”

Larry thought back before suddenly putting his hand over his mouth. “Yes.” He said. “I…”

“If it lands on twenty-four, we’re bringing somebody else back up to our hotel room after this.”

Renee wiggled her eyebrows at him, her expression darkened. “You’d be into that?” She asked huskily.

Larry scoffed at her. “Renee, if we win three and a half thousand dollars, I’d be into anything-”

“And I…agreed.” Renee said. To Larry’s relief, she didn’t seem upset.

After exchanging their winnings for an envelope of cash, Larry started to walk towards the exit, so they could return to their hotel.

“So…where are we picking up our mystery person?”

“What?” He stopped in his tracks.

“Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten.” She said coyly. “Our bet.”

He gave her a look of disbelief. “I was kidding! I didn’t think we would…”

She pouted a little, going to make some remark about how much fun it would be, but as she looked closely, she could see he was nervous. He was nervous as though the thought was still weighing on his mind. Maybe he wasn’t entirely joking. “Larry, seriously? If you want to…I’m down. After all…what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas, right?”

His expression changed, realising she wasn’t being anything but honest. She wouldn’t lie to him, one. And even though they were a little tipsy, they weren’t anywhere near the point of being in a place to make decisions they’d regret. He took a deep breath. “You’re sure…you’re sure you won’t resent me? You’re not just doing this for my sake?”

Renee pulled him closer to kiss him softly. He cupped her cheek, kissing her back. “I want this too.” She told him quietly.

Looking into her eyes, he believed her. He nodded.

He nodded. “We went to the bar to try and pick someone up.”

“And obviously that ‘someone’ is in our bed now, so he must have said yes.”

“What about her?” Renee asked. Her eyes had fallen upon a woman with short, curled blonde hair and a smile that could only be described as infectious.

“Uh, she’s pretty but she’s wearing a wedding ring. I don’t think we want to be homewreckers.”

She bit her lip, noticing the gold band on her finger in question. “Yeah, probably not the best idea.”

“Him?” Larry asked, touching Renee’s forearm so she could look in the same direction as he was. 

Renee hummed. “He’s got about half a dozen empty glasses beside him. A little too drunk I think.”

He sighed. They continued to ask each other about practically everyone in the bar. Sometimes they found valid details to justify saying no. Other times it was just based on gut feeling, something they both respected. It had to feel right.

“Alright, maybe we should change location-”

“Wait.” She said, grabbing his bicep. “What about the guy that just walked in?”

“Where?”

“On your left, blonde, white shirt, has a real...intense look about him.”

His eyes widened a little when he saw who Renee was referring to. “He’s…wow, he’s…yeah.”

They watched as he sat and ordered himself a scotch. He was quiet, composed, enigmatic, almost. There was very little to read off of him, which meant there was only one way to find out exactly what he was here for. They had one shot at this.

“I’ll go.” Renee offered. “Considering I’m the one who asked you out, I think it’s best if I do it, don’t you think?”

He laughed through his nose, remembering the day he’d tried to ask her out in a tactical van and how she’d had to finish the sentence for him, fondly. He’d at least managed to rectify the error when he’d proposed to her, even looking her in the eyes when he'd popped the question. But in terms of flirting and making introductions, she was definitely the right choice here. Larry watched her casually walk over and slide into the bar stool next to mystery-man. She was too far away to hear. And even if she wasn’t, he was far too busy paying attention to how pretty she looked, thinking about how lucky he was to have her, to have heard anyway. Renee leaned in closer to the man as though whispering something. Suddenly, the man pivoted, looking straight at him. Larry felt his breath catch in his throat. There was something about the man’s eyes that was so striking. But still, he tried his best to smile back and keep his cool.

Larry watched the man nod as Renee wrote something on a napkin — probably their room number — and slid it over to him.

Renee sauntered back over to him, a sly look in her eyes. “His name is Jack.” She whispered near the shell of his ear. “And he is very interested in our offer.”

“Then let’s not keep him waiting.”

“I thought he would follow us up, but then he disappeared.” Renee said. “He was…mysterious.”

They walked back to the elevator, assuming that Jack was trailing them from afar. The fact that they could feel his presence behind them was almost chilling, but it wasn’t a bad sensation. It added to the intrigue and excitement of what they were about to do. At some point, they lost sight of him and started to wonder if he wasn’t going to follow through. But as they entered their dimly lit suite, the quiet tap on the door caused anticipation to rise within them again. When Jack entered, he was silent, looking both of them up and down with the same kind of interest they had each given him. None of them said anything, not exactly knowing where to start.

Jack revealed a large, expensive-looking bottle of champagne from behind his back, along with a trio of glasses. They looked at it, slightly confused.

“Well, it’s your wedding night, isn’t it?”

She looked at Larry, shrugging a little. “I think we could use something to relax a bit more. Don’t you?”

Larry nodded, taking the bottle and popping the cork. Renee took the first glass and he handed the second to Jack, before pouring himself the third and skulling it. Jack sipped his slowly, eyeing the two of them. 

She also knew Larry was probably more on edge than she was, probably still feeling a little insecure about this being his idea. 

“You were a little nervous. So was I.”

“We kept drinking.”

“Then I gave you a minute alone with him while I put on…”

Renee dug through her luggage, picking something up and tucking it under her arm before moving to the bathroom. She stopped at the doorway, turning her head back towards the two of them.

“Both of you be wearing less when I get out.” She said sweetly. “And don’t be afraid to start with me.”

The door closed, and Jack sat on the bed, slowly unbuttoning his shirt and taking his belt off. Larry took in a breath to steel his nerves and moved to push Jack against it, straddling him. Not bothering with the glass this time, Larry took another swig of champagne straight from the bottle. Jack sat up on his elbows. Larry tried to lean down to kiss him but found Jack’s hands grabbing the bottle instead and drinking from it. He attempted to laugh it off, but his laugh turned into a muffled groan as Jack yanked him down by the tie to crush their lips together. Larry could taste the champagne mixed with the scotch in Jack’s mouth, and feel his hands slowly loosen his tie and unbutton his shirt.

“We better make sure we do what she said.” He mumbled.

He smiled. “The, uh…the green lingerie. I definitely remember how you looked in that.”

Meanwhile, Renee was grateful the time she took to put on the emerald green lingerie set she had bought for their honeymoon allowed her to calm her own nerves. Opening the door, she bit her lip at the sight of the two of them, pleased they had taken her up on her offer. Jack’s shirt was off, revealing toned and from what she could see in the dark, tattooed skin. Larry had a hand around the back of his neck, kissing him eagerly. Jack’s hands were creeping lower and grabbing at Larry impatiently.

Renee cleared her throat, and they pulled away. The look of sheer adoration Larry gave her made her heart melt. Jack looked awfully appreciative too. 

She blushed a little. “We wanted him to watch first.”

Moving forward, Renee cupped Larry’s face and pressed her lips to his, tasting the champagne in his mouth. He breathed into her, running his hands along her sides. Her hands went to his pants, unzipping them and yanking them down. He kicked them off before his mouth slipped to her neck. Renee sighed, almost losing her footing. She took the bottle from his hands and drank a bit more, noting it was considerably emptier than it had been before. Larry’s hands splayed across Renee’s back, keeping her trapped against him. Playfully, she pushed him to sit back on the edge of the bed, and he pulled her into his lap. Slowly, she started to move her hips forward. He groaned softly, noticing out of the corner of his eye that Jack was looking at them intently.

“Is he watching?” Renee murmured near the shell of his ear.

He nodded, grazing his hands down to her lower back, pushing her closer to him in time with her repeated movements and spanking her lightly. She smirked at him, feeling how hard he was growing beneath her, feeling the way he was grabbing her tightly, suckling softly at her skin. Occasionally she’d look back at Jack and feel her heart race, especially now that he too had gotten rid of the rest of his clothes and started to stroke himself.

“You know as nice as it is to watch.” Jack started, his voice low. “You two brought me up here for a reason, right?”

“Then we let him…join.”

Larry whimpered a little as Renee stopped grinding against him, but she kissed him again and smiled before standing and turning to press her lips to Jack’s. She could smell his cologne and taste the remnants of the sharpness of the scotch on his tongue. His hands were strong as they moved to her back, and she could feel the muscles in his back tense as her nails dug into his skin slightly. A second pair of hands joined Jack’s, pushing her underwear to the side and slowly teasing her. She could feel Larry’s warm breath on her shoulder, her heart beating faster. 

Jack made eye contact with Larry, motioning with his head towards the direction of the bed. He nodded, pulling Renee back towards him. He sat on the bed, with her between his legs, head leaning against his collarbone. Jack knelt at the bed’s edge, slowly pushing Renee’s knees open and planting trails of kisses on the inside of her thighs. At the same time, Larry started to circle her nipples with his thumbs. She exhaled, tipping her head back and clenching the sheets. Renee gasped when Jack moved his mouth to her centre, tongue spreading her wide and swirling in unpredictable patterns. Larry was still caressing her breasts, now sucking at the crook of her neck too. When Jack’s fingers joined his mouth, she moaned loudly, one of her hands coming to bury itself in his hair. The other fell to the back of Larry’s head, keeping him in place and prompting him to bite down on her collarbone. Renee came with a loud cry, desperately pumping her hips to ride out the wave.

When Jack stood up, he wasted no time moving up the bed and pulled Larry to him. He groaned, tasting Renee in Jack’s mouth.

“Your turn…” He said huskily.

Renee knelt on the bed, gently grazing her hands along Larry’s sides and back, kissing his neck just as he had done to her before. Jack pulled Larry to his feet, kissing down his body from chest to stomach. When they made eye contact, Larry again felt himself lose control of his breathing, finding Jack’s eyes so piercing. But the familiarity of Renee’s soft hands on his skin distracted him, causing him to lean back into her touch just as Jack began to stroke him.

“Just relax…” She whispered, licking her lips as she watched Jack replace his hands with his mouth and take Larry in deeply. Larry’s eyes rolled back into his head, and she sighed, squeezing him tighter. She kissed his cheek, his neck, his shoulders, gently encouraging him as Jack continued to suck him off, tongue gliding along the underside of his dick. Eventually, the feel of Renee’s touch and Jack’s mouth became too much for him, and he tensed, coming with a shudder that coursed through his whole body. Jack didn’t pull away, taking in every last drop before retreating.

Larry pivoted, grabbing Renee fiercely and kissing her desperately.

“God…” He breathed into her mouth.

“I know…” She replied, grabbing his face with one hand, running the other over his chest and feeling how fast his heart was beating. 

Larry’s fingers slipped between her legs, feeling how wet she was still, reassured to know this was just as exhilarating for her as it was for him.

“Let’s not leave him waiting then…”

He moved behind Renee, never breaking contact with her but letting her come face to face with Jack, who leaned in to kiss her but instead found himself caught off guard by her hand slowly wrapping around his cock. She started to slide her hand up and down slowly. Jack shook a little as their gazes met. He looked at her with admiration before Larry grabbed Jack’s face to pull his lips to his. She noticed how glassy his eyes were, how he was constantly watching them with equal attention. Renee bucked when Larry’s fingers suddenly started working inside her again, pumping slowly.

She sped up her motions, listening to Jack groan, knowing he was close. Quietly, she urged him to come by repeating his name. At the same time, Renee felt her legs start to shake as Larry continued to pleasure both of them. Jack squeezed his eyes shut as he came into her hand. Some of it ended up on her stomach. When he opened them, he could see how close Renee was too, hearing her longing whines, and moved his hand to join Larry’s, rubbing at her clit until she came. She felt Larry take her shaking hand and suck at her fingertips, cleaning off where Jack had come...

As the rest of the night’s memories returned to them, neither of them seemed to appear ashamed or rueful, which was relieving to each of them. 

“So you’re not…upset with me?” Larry asked tentatively.

She furrowed her brow. “Why would I be upset with you?”

He shrugged. “It was my idea. We weren’t in the best frame of mind, one of us should have realised-”

“Both of us got drunk.” She said. “We were happy. We were being stupid and a little reckless. It could have gone badly, I don’t think it’s something we should risk doing again. But at the end of the day…I’m not going to complain about what happened last night because it was…incredible. And I know you feel the same way.”

“You mean it?” 

She nodded. “Even though I have the hangover from Hell right now, I’m going to be thinking about last night for a long time.” 

He let out a breath, and he could see she was just as relieved as he to have figured out what had happened. And more importantly, that it hadn’t destroyed their marriage before it had even begun. Caressing her cheeks with his thumbs, he kissed her gently on the lips for good measure and felt her smile against him.

“Yeah. Me too.” 

Both of them whipped their heads around at the sound of Jack’s voice, finding him sitting up in bed. They stood there stunned, too taken aback to say anything. 

He simply snickered and grabbed his clothes from the floor before dressing himself in the bare essentials and leaving.