I didn’t see Marc that weekend after we had sex, because he had to go home. Some kind of family emergency. I didn’t see him the following week except for a couple of brief minutes. Until, on Wednesday, he showed up at the house at five o’clock in the afternoon.

"Hi. Have you eaten yet?"

"No," I said.

"You wanna go to Nick’s?"

"What a great idea," I grinned. Nick’s Roast Beef, he meant. Best Roast Beef sandwiches around, and right in Beverly. The other side of Beverly, mind you, but it was only about a 10-minute drive. We walked to Marc’s car and got in.

He started driving. It was quiet—and awkward—for a minute. Then he snorted out a little laugh and said, "You know, I’ve been waiting to talk to you for a week. Now I’m not quite sure what to say."

"I know the feeling," I muttered.

"Look, I did not go over your house last week intending to lure you into bed. Not that I regret that it happened, mind you, but that’s not my usual style."

"Nor is it mine," I agreed, "but I don’t regret it, either." My voice dropped a touch. "It had been quite a while for me, you know. And it was definitely worth the wait." He lit up at that one!

"Well, it hadn’t been that long for me since I’d had sex. But, sex like that? Never in my life."

I couldn’t help it. I started giggling. "Well, I guess that’s one thing we know for sure. We’re sexually compatible!"

"And how!" he laughed. "I’ve been having wet dreams about you for a week."

I laughed. "Well, then, why are we going for roast beef instead of heading to my room to do the horizontal mambo?"

"Man’s gotta eat," he grinned. "No, seriously, I think we do have to talk."

"You’re right." By that time we had arrived at Nick’s. He got out, came over and opened my door—the sweetie—and took my hand. We walked in and ordered, got the food, and sat down at a table.

"I need to ask you something first," I said uneasily. "Look, this worries me, OK? Are you sure you’re over Candy?"

"Absolutely," he said. "No question about it. Look, Colleen, I’ve had time to think things over. The reason I went home last weekend is because my brother was in a car accident. He’s going to be fine, thank goodness, but I spent most of the weekend at a hospital, waiting around. Once we got the news that he was going to be OK—he just has a mild concussion and a few broken bones—I had time to think about a lot of things.

"Candy’s selfish. I’ve known that all along. Honestly, at first, I liked it, because her selfishness came out as possessiveness. I didn’t mind her being possessive about me, not at all. Cat will tell you I wasn’t exactly the most outgoing guy in high school. I dated some, but not a lot. So, going out with someone as vivacious and outgoing as Candy, especially when she wasn’t shy about putting her arm around me and proclaiming ‘Mine!’ was very appealing.

"But when the selfishness turned on me...." He sighed. "I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised. Deep down, I don’t think I was. You know how it is, you get used to being with someone, and it’s comfortable, so you stay with it. And, I’ll be honest, I thought a lot of the appeal was sex. I thought the sex with her was good." He grinned at me. "Boy, was I wrong!"

"Uh-huh," I giggled. "Cat cornered me after we were done, so I ‘fessed up. And I told her that Candy was out of her mind for giving that up."

"Oh, I don’t think I was that good with Candy, believe me." He grinned at me. "It’s just us. I think we’re combustible." I had to giggle at that. "But, beyond that—look, Colleen, I’ve known you for two years. I’ve always liked you. I think you’re great. But I never thought beyond that because of Candy." He put down his sandwich and looked into my eyes. "I’m willing to think beyond that now. Beyond the sex, I’ve loved talking with you. I’ve loved just being with you. Coll, I’m not sure what’s there, but I’d like to find out."

"I’d like that, too," I whispered. Then I took a deep breath. "Though it’s a bit different for me. I have to confess—I’ve had a little crush on you from the minute I met you, but Candy was in the way."

"You have?" he grinned.

"Yeah," I admitted. "Like I said, I put it aside. And when you were so despondent about Candy, I was just trying to be your friend. But when we started talking about other things, it all kind of came back to me. Then, on the lawn that day....well, that’s why I wasn’t upset that you said we were together. And that’s why I kissed you. I just couldn’t stop myself."

"Boy, am I glad you didn’t!"

"Uh-huh. But then I ran away like a coward. So I’m glad you showed up on my doorstep the next night."

"Smartest thing I ever did," he said. I beamed at him. "You done?" he asked, pointing to the remnants of my food.

"Yup."

We dumped the trash and got back in his car. "So, now do we get to go do the horizontal mambo?" I giggled.

He grinned at me. "You’re something else."

"Who knew?" I grinned back at him. We got to the house and I practically dragged him up to my room. We burst in, giggling—and Wendy was there.

"Oops," I said. "Sorry, Wen."

"That’s OK," she smiled weakly. "Hi, Marc. I’ll just go hang out with Marissa and Yuriko for a while. You guys have fun." She got up and left the room.

"What’s wrong with her?" Marc asked. "She looks like death warmed over."

"We don’t know. She won’t talk," I sighed. "Something happened, but we don’t know what. We’ve been trying to get it out of her but no dice."

"I hope you can, soon. She didn’t look good at all."

"I know. You’re a complete sweetheart, you know that?" He blushed! "Well, you are. Now, enough about Wendy. I need someone to make love to me."

"Someone?" he said, eyebrow raised.

"Yeah, someone. But he has to be really good at it, and I have to like him a lot. You know anyone like that?" I teased.

"I think I can find someone a little like that," he grinned, then started to take my clothes off, kissing me the whole time.

Then he made love to me. Very, very well.

--The End--

This is the fifth story in this story arc. The previous is called Another Girl. There will be at least one more, but I don’t know what it’s called yet <G>