I was having one of those moments where you can’t tell if you want to scream, cry or go on a shooting rampage.

I’ll admit that it was probably partly my fault. But the school administration had more than its fair share of the blame.

I had arrived on my new college campus as a first semester freshman in the third week of September. Which was a pity as classes began the second week of August.

I had a good reason not to be there the first day – I was in Beijing winning both a silver and a bronze medal in the Summer Olympics. As I was on a full ride swimming scholarship, the coach of college swim team personally assisted me in enrolling in online classes for the first semester so that I could concentrate on the Games and not have to rush back to school. Apparently, having a State record holder and potential Olympic medal winner on campus was considered a good thing.

So, when the Games ended, instead of running to school, settling into my new dorm room and doing whatever freshmen do, I took a month and went on a cruise of the Pacific with my sister and my cousin. We spent 35 days taking pictures of exotic places, eating strange foods, and fucking. Fucking everything. Each other. Strangers. Members of the crew. Other passengers. People we meet on shore. It was dazzling and exhausting and the penalty – assuming I didn’t catch anything – was that when the cruise docked in LA, we had to immediately take a flight to Richmond, rent a car to drop Beth and Alex at home, spend half a day unpacking, doing laundry and repacking and then drive to school in Fairfax, VA. In the last two weeks, I’d gotten maybe 10 hours of sleep. I was absolutely wiped out and was looking forward to sleeping like the dead for a day or so then meeting my new roommate or mates sometime thereafter.

So, I was not at my best when the woman in the Student Housing office informed me that they did not have a bed assigned to me. She searched by name, date of birth, student ID, and social security. She went through the unprocessed and rejected applications.

“Look again!” I growled. I am a McElroy, damn it! My family is sinfully rich. We own a historic landmark; a fishery that has been profitable since 1702. Where I come from, the small town of Reedville, VA, they would have taken one look at my name, given me a room and dealt with the paperwork later. There has always been a McElroy on the City Council. One of my Grandfathers is a judge. My Great Grandmother is the founder of several local charities. I won two Olympic medals for God's sake! I’m not used to being the one who doesn’t get what they want – that happens to other people.

I watched the clerk type at the computer again and sighed deeply. My mother used to say that one day I’d leave the styx and learn that the world is bigger than the McElroy family name. “You won’t get everything you want in life, Peter.” She told me. “An’ you best not cry ‘bout it.” She usually said it when she really meant that I wasn’t getting whatever I wanted at the toy store. It wasn’t often but if she said it, I didn’t get it.

Now, I was beginning to see her point. I don’t have a dorm room. And this woman can search for another two hours and isn’t likely to find me one.

“Peter Harper McElroy?” She said suddenly.

“Oh thank God!” I gasped. “Yes! Thank you!”

“It was released.”

“Released?”

“Uh-huh.”

“What does that mean, released?”

“When you didn’t claim the bed, it was released to the open list.” She scanned the screen. “On August 15.”

“What do you mean, released?” The word didn’t make any sense.

“When you pay the dorm fee, we reserve a bed for the student. But if the bed isn’t claimed by the first day of classes, the reservation is released for other students. Harris room 626 was reserved for Peter Harper McElroy on May 18th and then released on August 15th. And another student took the room the same day, the 15th.”

“You gave my room to someone else.” I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “Ok. So, what room am I in now?”

“You’re not in any room now.”

“So put me in a room.”

“There aren't any. All the dorms are full.”

“But I paid the fee.” She shrugged and I pictured myself hitting her with the computer. “So where am I supposed to go?”

“I’m sorry but…well, have you gone to Student Counseling? They keep a list of off-campus housing. Maybe they have something available.”

“Ok. Ok. Call them for me. Thanks.”

She looked shocked. “Oh, we don’t do that. They’re in Admin C – just across the Quad.”

“And my fee?”

“What about it?”

I counted to five. I promised myself I would do this without calling my father and without killing someone. “How do I get my fee back?”

“Oh, the dorm fee is non-refundable.”

Of course. One, two, three, four, five. “Ok. Where is the Quad?”

She gave me vague directions and I spent another half hour trying to find Admin C before a Latin beauty with smoldering eyes and a soft accent pointed me in the right direction.

I debated giving up on finding a room and following her instead but remembered that I needed to stop in at the campus clinic before I did anything – or anyone – else. I found the Student Counseling office on the third floor and waited in line for almost an hour before they told me that they too did not have any housing sources available. They provided me with a list of nearby hotels.

I went back to my car and sat. I could afford a hotel, for a few nights. But I couldn’t stay there the entire semester. I could call my Dad. He’d fix it. He’d make the whole problem go away.

But the whole point of going to school half a day’s drive away was to keep Mom and Dad out of my life. To grow up a little, solve my own problems and not depend on the family name to do everything for me.

A tap on my window startled me and I realized that I was falling asleep in the car. I looked up, expecting campus security and found my Latin beauty looking a bit worried. I rolled down the window.

“You don’t like you were counseled.” She remarked. Her accent gilded her words like the pages of a leather bound book.

“I don’t feel like I was counseled.” I agreed. “But I have been informed.”

“Helpful information?”

“Sadly, no.” I sighed. “You might be looking at my dorm room this year.”

Her eyes circled the car. “Cozy. At least there’s no roommate.”

I had to smile. “I wouldn’t mind that, if it was the right roommate.”

She smiled back. She glanced over her shoulder and looked back at me. “My friends and I are going to the Union for lunch. Have you gotten your dining card yet?”

“Not yet.” I hadn’t even thought about food. “But I won’t be cooking much here, so I’d better get one.”

“Maybe you should follow us.”

Anywhere. I nodded and got out of the car. “Peter.” I said, offering her my hand. “Peter McElroy.”

“Maria Alvarez.”

“Maria.” I kissed her fingers – which is a bit over the top but extremely effective if you can hold her eyes the whole time. “My pleasure.” Beautiful, warm brown eyes.

She had three friends, none of whom held my interest at all. They took me to the student union where I was able to get my student ID and my dining card. I also found a bulletin board where local residents and students posted rental units.

“That one is in my neighborhood.” Maria pointed to a card. “I’m off campus.”

“Are you?” I took the number. “Maybe we’ll be neighbors.”

“Oh you wouldn’t like where I live.” She grinned.

“And why not?”

“I live with my family. I have two brothers and a baby sister. And a ton of cousins.”

“I wish my family lived close enough to live with.”

“Really? Everyone else around here couldn’t wait to start throwing wild parties and doing things they couldn’t do at home.”

I chuckled. “Oh, I can’t wait for that either. But having a place to sleep without worrying about all these roommate nightmares I’ve heard about. That would be nice.”

We walked over to the food court and I realized that we’d lost her friends at some point. I did not point that out to Maria. Instead, I paid for her meal as well as mine. “The least I can do for my first college friend.”

“I guess I’ll have to buy the popcorn.” She laughed deeply. "When you ask me for a real date."

“Is there a theatre nearby?” I could go for a nice dark movie.

“Not too far. We could see what’s playing later.” She laughed more lightly. “Of course, you’ll have to take me back to your place and that’s bad on a first date.”

“Pick on a guy when he’s homeless, huh?” I shook my head. “And here I thought you were a nice girl.”

“That depends; are you a nice boy?”

Given that I’d spent the last hour thinking of immoral, possibly illegal things I could do to her just as soon as I found a private enough place, I shook my head. “I don’t think so.”

“Well that’s a shame because I only go out with nice boys.”

“Oh well, in that case, I’m a very nice boy.”

“Are you?”

“Yes, I am.” She laughed. I laughed.

We finished eating without much conversation but a lot of eye contact and smiles. Once we were done, she checked her watch. “I have to go to the athletics center to pick up my brother.”

“Need a lift?”

“It’s on campus. And we can take the bus home.”

“I wouldn’t dream of it. I’d be happy to take you. I could even see if this room is still available.” I waved the phone number from the bulletin board.

“I suppose you could.” She said, still appraising me. She stood up. “Come on.”

Her brother – the younger one – was in a wrestling program that used the college’s facilities. She picked him up on days she was available and rode home with him. When we got there, however, the sight of the state-of-the-art Olympic pool that was visible through the front glass wall struck me. It was still under construction when I last visited the campus.

“Oh my God.” I had to admire it. “Electronic sensors. Sweet.”

“Do you swim?” She asked.

“Yeah.” I grinned. “I won two medals in Beijing.”

“What?! No!” she laughed. “Oh, come on. Now you’re just lying.” I continued to grin. “Oh come on!”

“The silver in the Open Water and a bronze in the 1,500k.”

“Really? You did not.”

I shrugged. “Since I’m here, I should let the coach know I’ve made it.”

We made our way to the Aquatics administrative offices. “Hi. Is Coach Lambert here?”

“He’s in a meeting. Did you want to leave a message for him?” The receptionist put a pen and note pad on the counter without even looking at me.

“Yeah.” I spoke as I wrote. “Just let him know that Peter McElroy was here and…”

“McElroy?” Someone at a desk around the corner nearly shouted. A tall woman with swimmer’s short hair stepped out. “Peter McElroy?” She stuck her hand out. “Dina Wallis. I’m the Women’s coach. Honor to meet you, really. This guy does the Open Water 10k in an hour, fifty. You were robbed in Beijing.”

“I got beat. That’s all.”

“Robbed.” She gestured to sofa. “Have a seat, and let me get Bill out here. He’d have a stroke if I didn’t get him.”

“Thanks.”

We sat and I tried not to be smug as Maria tried not to be impressed.

“You really won the Olympics.”

“I really came in second at the Olympics.” I smiled. “Some guy from Denmark won.”

“What’s Open Water?”

“Not in a pool. Ocean, lake, river. Just open.”

“But isn’t there stuff – fish or seaweed or trash out there?”

I laughed. “Well, hopefully, they clean it before a race. Part of the hazards. You just have to adjust.”

A man I recognized nearly sprinted down the hall. “Peter! How the hell are you! How was the cruise?” He shook my hand enthusiastically. “Ready to get back to work?”

“Absolutely, sir. Ready to get back to training.”

“Good, good, glad to hear it. Listen, this is budget talk so I have to get back in there but I’m glad you stopped by. Classes ok?”

“Yes sir. I started the onlines while we were at sea and everything’s going fine.” I paused. “Actually, the trouble is that they don’t have a dorm room for me.”

“What? I put you in Harris. That’s where all the athletic majors are.”

“I don’t know. Something about not confirming the room.”

“I tell you what, let me look in to it. Have you called your folks, yet?”

“No. I figured….”

“Call ‘em. I know, you want to be independent but sometimes a parent can get the administration to do what a student can’t. Come by after 9 on Monday. We’ll get it all worked out.” He shook my hand again and headed back down the hall. “Oh and the 1,500? Robbery!”

“What happened?” Maria asked as we left and headed to where her brother’s class was.

“Nothing. I did my best; someone else was a tenth of a second better.”

“Huh.” She sounded thoughtful.

“What?”

“I’m beginning to think you are a nice boy.”

Her brother was about my brother’s age – twelve or so – and took me up on the offer to treat them both to ice cream before taking them home.

“Bribery.” I said as the counter girl served us. “Not at all a nice thing.”

“Treating a child to ice cream?” She countered. “Very nice.”

“Sugary snack. Bad for his teeth and ruin his appetite for dinner.”

“Carlos?” She laughed. “You haven’t seen him eat!” She smiled and spoke to her brother in Spanish for a moment.

“Are you coming to our house for dinner?” The boy asked me.

“I haven’t been asked yet.” I answered grinning at Maria. “And I wouldn’t want to impose.”

“Oh, Mom won’t mind!” The teen offered. “She likes cooking for a lot of people.”

“Well if ‘Mom’ is cooking, then I guess it’s up to ‘Mom’ if I’m invited.”

“Well then.” Maria kept grinning. “I guess we should go ask Mom.”

We got back to my car. I had to shift stuff in my back seat to make space for Carlos but while I was shifting them, I found the Official Photo of me, in team colors, with both medals around my neck. “Here.” I handed it to Carlos. “Hold this.”

As anticipated, he wanted to know all about it and we spent the whole car ride going over all there was to know about swimming. I even went as far as offering to teach him to swim.

As I helped her out of the car, Maria smiled softly. “You’ll never hear the end of this now, you know.”

“I know.” I shrugged. “I like kids.” I would have been a father already if my ex-girlfriend would have just let me marry her – and hadn’t married the guy who actually got her pregnant but that’s a different subject. I didn’t want to think about ex-girlfriends when this tempting potential next girlfriend was in front of me.

“I want a whole house full of them.” She said. It had the air of a challenge.

“I don’t think you can have too many.” I answered.

“Really?”

“Really.”

“Huh.” She smiled and her eyes just smoldered as she slithered past me. “Nice.”

I took a moment to adjust my pants before I followed her into the house.

There was music coming from upstairs, and the TV from downstairs and something amazing cooking in the kitchen. Maria told me to stay put and headed in that direction. Carlos and my picture vanished. I could get another one.

“Mamma,” Maria and a heavy-set woman with dark hair appeared, “this is Peter. He’s going to join us for dinner. “Peter, this is my mother, Lucinda Garcia.”

I took Ms. Garcia’s hand and kissed her fingers the way I kissed her daughters. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Garcia. Your daughter has been very kind to me today.”

She said something in Spanish that sounded like it included the word ‘Casanova’. “Very nice to meet you.” She said to me. “You estudent?”

“Yes. Maria and I met on campus.”

“Peter needs a place to stay. Mamma.”

“You stay here.” Ms. Garcia offered.

“Ma’am, no! I couldn’t.” But the idea was tempting.

I was rescued by Carlos and several young men. They were introduced as Maria’s other brother and cousins. I lost track of who was who quickly. We sat in the living room and talked about everything and nothing until dinner was ready.

Apart from the language, it could have been dinner at my house. Staying there was even more tempting.

Midway through the meal, my phone rang. I checked the number and excused myself. “Sorry. It’s my mother.” I stepped out to the hallway. “Hi Mom.”

“Ya’ll couldn’t be bothered t’call me.”

“Sorry, Mom. It’s been a hell of a day.”

“What’s wrong?”

“No dorm.”

“What?” She shifted the phone and I heard her yell at my father. A moment later, he picked up.

“What the hell you do up there, boy?”

“Hi Dad, trip was ok. Thanks for asking.”

“Don’t get smart with me, boy. Just tell me what’s going on.”

I sighed, all my frustration returning in one fell swoop. “What’s going on is that since I wasn’t here the first day of classes, they didn’t hold a dorm room for me.”

“So where you been at, these nine, ten hours?” Mom wanted to know.

“Well for one thing, I ate. I saw Coach Lambert. I got a tour of the campus.”

“Why didn’t you call this morning? The offices are closed by now.”

“Because there was nothing you could do, Dad. There are no rooms.”

“Bull shit! If’n I can’t get you one, Daddy sure as hell can. Hell, you could at least stay with him until we get this sorted out.”

“I can’t stay in Reedville, Dad!”

“Not here! His old house, up there in DC.”

“McLean.” Mom corrected him.

McLean. Where I was currently having dinner.

“McLean? Do you know the address?” It took mom a couple minutes but she found it and gave it to me. I stepped back to the dining room. “Excuse me, Maria? Do you know where this is?”

She raised an eyebrow. “I think so. Some place you can stay?”

“My Grandfather’s house.”

“Oh.” She handed the address back but looked impressed.

“Who’s that?” Mom asked.

“I’m having dinner with friends.”

“You ain’t got no friends up there, yet.” She reminded me.

“Well, I made a friend today and she invited me to dinner at her place.”

“Oh Christ,” Dad moaned. “Here we go.”

“Dad!”

“Don’t you pay him no never mind, honey. Just put this girl on the phone.”

“Mom!” There wasn’t any doubt about who was going to win this so after a momentary resistance, I waved Maria out to the hall. “My mother wants to speak to you.”

“Me?” She looked a little surprised but a lot pleased as she took the phone. “Hello? Yes. Maria. Oh, thank you. On campus – he looked a bit lost. Yes. Yes.” She looked at me and smiled. “Yes, thank you. You too.” She handed me the phone back without speaking with anything but her eyes.

“Mom?”

“She sound right nice.”

“She’s very nice.”

“Peter?” Dad cut in. “Ok, just got off the line with Daddy. He says there’s a spare key by the back steps. Call him when you get there and he’ll tell you where. And give me the number for these dorm people.”

“I don’t have it. It’s all in the car.”

“Well as soon as you can get it to me.”

“Ok, Dad.”

“Now.” His tone changed, softened. “How you holdin’ up? I’d figure you be ‘bout dead right now.”

“I haven’t had time to stop yet. You know how it is.”

“Well, get over to the house before you crash. And call us when you get there. Your mother worries.”

“Yeah, Dad. She does.”

I got back to the table.

“Are you close to your family?” Maria asked.

“Very. First time I’ve ever been away from them.” We chatted some more and ate some more and slowly, I began to feel what little energy I had slipping away.

When I yawned for the third time, Maria laughed at me. “You should go home now. Another half hour and you won’t be able to drive.”

“Yeah. Ms. Garcia, thank you so much. That was amazing.” I said all the things I should say and Maria walked me to the car.

“Do you know where you’re going?” She asked.

“Not a clue.” I laughed. “But I have a GPS so I should be able to find it.”

“No navigator required?”

“Well.” I leaned on the car door. “I could always use a navigator but I don’t think I’d be able to give you a ride home.”

“Then I guess I’d have to stay there.” She said helpfully. “I could stay on the couch. Like a good girl.”

“Yes. Yes, I suppose you could.” Even I’m not this lucky. "What about classes tomorrow?"

"On Saturday?" She asked sweetly.

"Oh, well. I guess we can sleep late then."

“I’ll get my coat.” She slipped back into the house. It took her several minutes to get her coat which made me suspect that she was having a bit more conversation than that but eventually, she came out and I opened the passenger door for her. “Thank you.”

We drove off. She directed me out of her neighborhood and the GPS took me only two or three miles away.

“Oh shoot.” She frowned.

“What?”

“Cell phone is dying.”

“Ah. See if the charger in the glove is the right size.”

She opened the glove and pulled out the cord. “Perfect! Ah, you must have been a boy scout.”

“Why?”

She pulled out the box of condoms I keep stashed in there. “Always be prepared.”

I glanced at her and tried to remember I was driving. She pulled three of them out and stuck them down her shirt. Then she closed the glove.

It wasn’t a long trip, which was a good thing because I wasn’t sure how much longer I could stand the idea that this was going to happen. You’d think that after a month of fucking anything that moved, I’d be immune to it. But no, I was just as excited and anxious as if I hadn't had any sex in a year.

We pulled up to the address mom gave me and I pulled into the driveway. I could see now why Maria responded the way she did. All the houses were large, well groomed manors. They didn’t have a lot of land around them but they didn’t need it to see this was the expensive side of town.

We got out of the car. I took Maria’s hand with one hand and dialed my Grandfather with the other.

“There y’are boy!” Granddad greeted me. “I ain’t fixen t’be up all night, now. You at the house?”

“Yeah, we’re heading around back now.”

“We are, eh? Well, use the guest room across from the master bedroom. Bed’s firmer.”

I had to laugh. “Thank Granddad.”

“There are emergency supplies in the bottom dresser drawer.”

“What, like flashlights?”

“Don’t act coy, son.” He dismissed the question. “Are you at the back steps yet?”

“Yeah. Right at the base.”

“Look to yo left. See the planter?”

“Yeah. Under that?”

“Yep.” I found the keys. “That’s front door, back door, and the garage. The basement stays locked. Anything in the dinin’ room liquor cabinet is ok, but re-stock it if you drink the last. Me an’ Miss Rachael only come up ‘bout once uh month these days but we have our own key an’ we’ll always be in either the master or the basement. Just don’t wreck the place, y’hear, now?”

“Granddad, I’m only going to be here a week or so. Just till I get housing straight.”

“Boy, why in the hell would you pay for housing, I got uh whole house sittin’ twenty minutes from campus?”

I almost dropped the phone. “Are you serious?”

“Yeah!”

“For the whole semester?”

“I figure you gonna be there four, five years!”

“Granddad –” I choked, speechless.

“What?” Maria asked.

“He’s giving me the house for the whole time I’m here.”

“Oh my God! Your Grandfather is the bomb!”

I had to agree. “You the bomb, Granddad. You the bomb!”

“I’ma assume that’s a good thing. Now, Miss Rachael waitin’ on me an’ she ain’t all that patient. So good night, and I trust that young lady knows what’s in store for the night?”

“Oh, we’re going to have a quiet night. She’s a good girl.”

He laughed uproariously as he hung up the phone.

I took Maria's hand again and we went to the front door. I figured out which key when where and let us in. She found the light switch that illuminated the living room and the foyer.

"Nice." She nodded, looking around. "Which room is yours?"

"I have never been here." I shrugged at her expression. "Ima country boy. This here's Granddaddy's city house."

"I see. Well, I think you should go straight to bed and take the tour in the morning."

"Only if you'll tuck me in."

She didn't answer, she just slowly walked up the stairs. I followed hoping against hope that I fell asleep after she came. I was pretty sure that was the best I could hope for.

We picked a door. The room had an ornate four-poster bed. Maria cooed but before she could get comfortable, I spied the handcuffs on one of the posts. "Granddad's room. He said use the one across the hall."

"Oww." She pouted and it was very tempting to give in. "Granddad's not here."

"Yes, but Granddad could be here by morning." I pulled her gently out and opened the room across from it. It was simpler but nice. "There. A queen bed all to yourself."

"You'd leave me all alone?" She put her hands on my chest and looked seductively into my eyes. "That's not very nice."

"If I stay here, I am going to be very very naughty." I started to kiss her but didn't close the gap.

She did. Her lips were soft and warm and hungry. I tried to give as good as I got but I was much more interested in manovering her over to the bed.

"Light." She murrmered and I let go of her long enough to flip the switch.

Then I went back to kissing her and unbuttoning her shirt. Her bra felt lacy under my fingers. We got into the bed and I pulled one of her breasts out. I remember kissing it softly and thinking it felt perfect.

When I opened my eyes, however, there was sunlight.

"Fuck." I groaned. How much of that was a dream, how much was me actually falling asleep on a gorgous woman?

I opened my eyes to see Maria, curled up in a chair, looking lovely, reading. She was wrapped in a robe that looked like something Ms. Rachael would buy but not something my Grandfather would wear. I fell asleep on a chance to make love to that. I'm a moron. No one can be that tired.

"Mornin'." I managed to yawn.

"Good afternoon." She chuckled back.

"Wha'time'sit?" She looked at the clock next to me. 3:40. PM. "Jesus." I groaned and fell back on the pillow. I'd slept for almost 15 hours. I had one of the world's most beautiful women sitting in front of me with probably nothing on but a bathrobe and I still wanted to use the head and go back to sleep.

She came over and sat next to me. "My Papa will be pleased to know that you were a perfect gentleman."

"I hope you be pleased to know I had no intention uh bein' one." I tried to stifle a yawn. "I am just wiped out."

"So I see. And what were you doing in that car before I found you?"

"Wasn't the car. Was the two months 'fore I got here." I hate the way I sound before I wake up.

"Where are you from, again?" She grinned.

"Don't be... Don't make fun of my accent, little Miss Maria."

"Oh, is English a second language for you too?"

“Funny.” I yawned again. “Sorry. I haven’t gotten much sleep lately.”

“And why is that?”

“Well let’s see.” I opened my arms and she curled into them. “First, I swam in the Olympics. Then, I took a 40 day tour of Asia where I spent most of my time keeping up with a pair of hyperactive 16-year-olds.”

“Two? Ok, that’s bad.”

“Very. Then, after we docked in LA, I had time to get home, pack and drive here.”

“Where I found you.”

“Where you found me.”

“Now, what shall I do with you?”

“I have a few ideas.” I coaxed her into rolling over and then kissed her deeply. This time, no falling asleep: I was going to make up for last night and then some.

“Peter.” She stopped kissing me. You should get that.”

“Get what?” Then I heard the knocking on the front door. “It’s probably a wrong address.” She gave me a look and I sighed. “Ok. I’m getting the door.”

I got up, discovered that my boxers were still on, and we headed downstairs. Whoever was at the door knocked again before we got there.

I opened it to find an older woman. She looked startled to see me. "Oh! Is, uh, is JD home?"

"JD?"

"JD McElroy?"

"Right!" I laughed; nobody at home called him that. "You mean Granddad."

"Who else would she mean, silly?" Maria teased from behind me. "Mr. McElroy is letting us use the house for a semester."

"Oh. I see."

The 'us' struck me as a little presumpous - but only because we hadn't discussed it privately yet. If Maria was ready to set up housekeeping, I was generally ok with the idea. I put one arm around Maria to pull her forward and offered the other to the woman on the porch. "I'm Peter, Julius' grandson. This is my girlfriend Maria."

Maria gave me that smoldering look of hers and shook hands with the woman. "How do you do?"

"Fine. I'm Marian, from next door. 2625. We usually have dinner with JD and Rachael when they're in town and I just poped by to see if wanted to go tonight or tomorrow."

"Well, I don't know if they're coming up this week, but we'd be happy to join you for dinner." I offered. "Tonight. My treat."

"Oh I didn't mean to...." Marian started.

"Peter, don't we need to...." Maria asked softly.

"Nonesense!" I cut over both of them. "We have no prior plans and I would love to get to know friends of my Grandfather's. I won't take no for an answer."

Marian laughed. "Well, you certainly are related to JD! Ok, Ed and I will be here at 8. Do you know the area well?” I shook my head. ”Well, we'll drive and show you around a bit."

We chatted for another few minutes and then Marian left.

"Your girlfriend?" Maria asked.

"Granddad's letting 'us' use the house?" I countered.

She pretended to think about that. "Hmmm. I guess for one to be true both have to be true."

Not really but I didn't bother with the immence flaw in her reasoning. "Ok. I'll go with that." I pulled her to me. "Girlfriend."

I kissed her and we got lost in each other for some time.

"Think you can stay awake now?" She whispered.

"Absolutely."

We slowly made our way upstairs again. Once in the bedroom, I opened the robe slowly, kissing down her. I was right; she did have nothing on under it which was spectacular. From my knees, I took a moment to look up and admire the view.

"Lovely." I breathed. I kissed her thighs. She was a bit small, compared to the healthy sized girls I usually dated but that just meant it would be easier to scoop her up and carry her to the bed. I took a deep whiff of her shaved privates.

"Peter!" She giggled. "Stop!"

"What do you mean, stop?" I asked, kissing her thighs. "I'm just getting to the good parts."

She giggled but still pulled at my shoulders as I rubbed my lips against hers. "No, Peter! Don't. That's not nice."

"Funny, I thought it was very nice."

"It's gross."

I stood up slowly, kissing as I went. Whatever her issue was, I wasn't willing to risk killing the mode completely. "So what would you suggest instead?"

"Come on." She pulled me gently and I followed her upstairs. She lay back on the bed and gestured me over. Resistance wasn't even a possibility.

She let me kiss her lips and her breasts but wouldn't let my lips travel any lower. She did let my fingers do a little walking and I found her a bit drier than I'd like. It took a few minutes of concentration to get her gasping.

Finally, she pushed my hand away. "Enough! Take me now!"

I took off my boxers, wondering why I still had them on, and found the condoms she brought in from the car. I almost ripped one trying to put it on but I got it and eased into Maria slowly.

"You feel wonderful." I sighed. "What do you want, fast or slow?"

"I want you to make love to me, Peter." She replied. "Not ask me questions."

She had said 'take me' so I presumed myself answered. I picked up the pace some but I wasn't in the mood for a two minute jackhammer fuck. Maria felt good and with a condom on, I could last an hour at this rate.

I went slow, my prefered speed usually. I wanted to hear her cum and ride her through it. At first, she was with me - cooing and purring as I took my time with her. But then I started getting the feeling that she was not into it. Like she was bored.

"Do you like this?" I asked finally, hoping not to break the mode.

"It's fine." She answered, too quickly and without even a trace of breathlessness.

I stopped moving and looked down at her. "You uh lie."

"No, it's....."

"You gonna see me, we gonna have ta be straight now. Don't ever lie ta me, Maria." I leaned down and kissed her. "Especially not in bed." I pulled out of her and patted her thigh sharply. "Roll over."

She hesitated but did so. "What do you have in mind?"

"You just wait." I looped my arms around her thighs so she couldn't move and opened her legs a bit wider. She protested in vigorous Spanish when my tongue began stroking her pussy but I didn't let that stop me. I ate her until her body was shaking uncontrollably. She didn't squirt but I could feel her internal muscles spasming when I dipped my tongue inside her.

I unwound my arms and replaced the condom that had slipped off. She lay there panting but she cried out when I lifted her hips again and rammed my cock into her. I fucked her hard and fast for about a minute before I dropped on top of her and asked "Is that better?"

She whispered something in Spanish then moaned. "Peter! You take me like a man now!" She whispered.

"Oh." I caught on. I didn't realize she wanted to play games. "You like it a bit rough, huh? You uh whore, I can treat you like one." I pulled back, lifted her hips and proceeded to bang her hard and fast. She moaned and thrashed the whole time.

I got my fingers under, on her clit, and after a couple minutes, she yelled "Mi Dios!" and began shaking again. I held back, using as much control as I could not to cum and cum hard inside her but waited until she seemed to be coming down some. Then I whipped out of her, flipped her over and yanked off the condom. It took seconds to jack off on her face. I used my dick to rub some of the jizz against her cheeks - I wanted to push into her mouth but these condoms, I knew from experience, tasted terrible.

Then I collapsed next to her. I kissed her, licking some of my own jizz off her cheeks.

The next thing I knew, Maria was shaking me. “Peter, it’s 6 and I need to go home.”

“What?” I tried to peer through the mental fog and figure out what she meant.

“If we’re going to dinner, I need to get dressed.”

“Wear what you had on yesterday. That looked nice.” I couldn’t actually remember what she was wearing yesterday, but I did know she looked good.

“Peter! Get up.” She shook me again.

I yawned and realized that if it we were going out to dinner at 8pm, I did have to get up. I sighed, yawned again and then grabbed her and pulled her on the bed with me. She screeched, surprised, and hit me as I smothered her with kisses. We were both breathless by the time I let her slip out of my grasp.

“You are a very bad boy.” She grinned. “I’m going to have to stay very far away from you.”

“I’ll behave.” I lied.

“Uh-huh.” She pouted. “Now get up, I have to go home and get some clothes.”

“Wear something of Ms. Rachael’s. She won’t mind.”

“I’m not going to wear your Grandmother’s clothes!”

“She won’t care.” I said getting out of bed finally. “Come on. Let’s see what she’s got.”

Maria rolled her eyes but followed me into the master bedroom. In the huge closet, one side was dedicated to an impressive array of tailored suits that I’d never see my Grandfather wear. The other side was Rachael’s. It ranged from conservative grey suits to risqué red dresses. Rachael was a good bit taller than Maria, but some of the shorter dresses seemed an excellent fit to me.

“Now that’s hot.” I said holding one pink thing against her.

“These belong to your Grandmother?” Maria was stunned as she looked through the dresses, shoes and skirts.

“Granddad’s second wife; she’s 30.”

“I see.” She shook her head. “I can’t. She’d never forgive you.”

“You can.” I saw the phone on the nightstand and called Granddad.

“McElroy residence.”

“Hey, Ms. Rachael! Just who I was looking for.”

“Peter! How are you? Settling ok?”

“Everything’s just fine. Listen, your neighbor, Marian, invited me and Maria to dinner tonight and I slept through most of the day so I don’t have time to run Maria home now and….”

“And you were wondering if she could just wear something of mine.”

“Well, yeah, actually.”

“I swear! What is it with you McElroy’s?” She didn’t give me a chance to answer that. “What was she looking at? Never mind. Go away and put her on the line.”

I turned grinning and offered Maria the phone.

“Hello?” She sounded a bit hesitant. She listened for a moment and then the conversation switched to rapid fire Spanish. I figured Maria could handle herself and went to shower.

I hadn't unpacked the car yet so the first thing I did was throw on some pants and get my suitcases. I made a second trip for a couple smaller bags with most of my accessories and my toothbrush.

I checked on Maria and found her not were I left her. The master bath's shower was running so I presumed that she and Ms. Rachael worked something out.

I showered, washed my hair, moisturized and shaved. Everywhere. I'm not a particulary hairy guy but I had a full body shave in Beijing and I'm convinced that was the deciding factor for both medals so I was trying to keep it up. Besides, I can admit that I'm something of a priss. I've always liked being clean. Even when I was a kid, I prefered water to mud – bath time was never a fight. I guess that's why I took up swimming. It’s a clean sport.

I opened the two big cases. I didn't bring everything I owned but I knew I'd have occasions to dress. I figured one of my new Chinese silk shirts - they felt amazing against my shaved chest - and black slacks should work.

I was straightening my tie and deciding on jewelry when Maria came into the bedroom. I saw her reflection open the door and peek in. Her black hair was unbound and fell over one bare shoulder.

"Ay papi! You look nice." She cooed.

"Why thank you." I said a bit smug about it. "You look like you're wearing a door."

"I want you to be surprised."

"I will be. I promise."

She thought about it and then stepped into the room fully.

I dropped my watch. I turned around because I wanted to see her not a poor reflection. "Glory Almighty God."

She grinned, blushed and looked away. "You like?"

"You look spectacular." The dress she selected was a dark orange color that complemented Maria's skin tones in a way I'd have never guessed when I saw it hanging in the closet. It was sleeveless and left lots of skin for caressing and kissing and whatever a clever boy could think of. It was nearly a perfect fit and made the most of Maria's slender figure.

I crossed the room and kissed her. "Maybe we should cancel dinner." And as if they were waiting for me to say that, I heard the doorbell. Maria giggled and I sighed. "You get the door. I'll be down in a moment."

"I thought I was supposed to be the slow one."

"No. You are the stunning one. I'm the poor fool trying to keep up." I kissed her lightly. "Go." She looked at me oddly. "Go.” I repeated firmly. “I will be down shortly. But let's not keep our guests waiting. Go."

She started to say something but the bell rang again. "Fine." She scowled.

I picked a watch, my class ring, and a chain my sister gave me and considered the finished product. I was going to look like a rock next to Maria but at least I would be a polished rock.

Marian and Ed were the old marrieds that had live next door to Granddad for years. After listening to Ed tell stories about Granddad and he, I realized that I'd been hearing about them for most of my life.

"JD has done an amazing job keep home and work seperate." Marian commented as we lingered over coffee. "We made it down to Reedville once - while he was still with Claudia. It was so awkward! They were so friendly but so clearly didn't want us there. We just never went back."

"I guess I could see that." I nodded. "There was a lot of resentment about Granddad working here instead of at the fishery."

"He did a lot of work for your uncle is all I know." Ed shrugged. "Every Friday, he'd stop long enough to change clothes, eat and drain the lizard and then he'd be on the road down there. Rain or shine. I had to help dig him out one Friday - snow was up to the bumpers and still falling and JD still thinks he needs to drive somewhere."

I didn't get into family politics. If Granddad hadn't shared the details with them, I didn't see why I should. But we had a nice evening and after dinner found a nice little local place with a jazz quartet and just enough space to dance.

I love dancing. Watch the girl you're with moving to the music and the crowd. Or better, holding a beautiful girl close and feeling her heartbeat and her warmth. Maria wasn't a good dancer but she was having fun and that's much more important. Dancing, I have learned, is the best foreplay outside the bedroom, period.

It was a good night and when Marian and Ed dropped us at the house, we had already planned a dinner to meet a few other neighbors.

"You make friends easily, don't you?" Maria observed.

"I like people." I shrugged. "But I think it's time for a little alone time."

"Really?" She tilted her head slightly.

"Yes. I do." I pulled her closer to me and kissed her firmly. "You go shower, I'll be there in a moment."

"You don't have to instruct me." She didn't snap but she was frowning. "I'm not a child."

"I'm not instructing you. I need to make a couple phone calls before I go come up and I thought you might like a head start."

"I don't like being ordered around." Her bottom lip poked out. "It's not nice."

"Neither is pouting." I hugged her gently. "I don't give orders. I'm sorry if it sounded that way. Forgive me?"

"Maybe." But she was trying not to smile.

"I'll be up in a minute. Ok?"

"Don't be too long; I might fall asleep on you."

I watched her go about halfway up and then took my phone outside.

I called my cousin Alex. I should have called him yesterday but I didn’t do much at all.

Alex and I have a complicated relationship. We grew up more like brothers and he's my best friend. I'm also his Dominant - not because I like that kind of thing but because Alex needs dicipline. It's not just sex - which is fun, I'll admit - Alex wants pain, humiliation, control of his daily life, everything. It was sort of a surprise when we discovered it.

I've always been a little bigger, a little stronger, a little faster. So when Alex got out of hand - like on a date or getting into trouble at school - I was almost always there to knock some sense into his head. I was there when he got mad at his girlfriend a couple years ago and hit her. He popped her twice before I could get to him. Then I yanked his arm out of socket, which is a trick my Dad taught me. Alex isn't like that, not usually. But he really liked Lisa and she was dumping him and he didn't know how to handle it. About a week later, he handled it by trying to drown himself in the Wicomico River. He wanted God to punish him for hurting Lisa. He was under for eight minutes before I could get him out. I think God wanted me to swim fast so that I could be ready for that one moment. After that, Alex turned to me for punishment. And that’s when we discovered that pain and pleasure are kind of the same things for him. Given Alex’s all-or-nothing way of living, I knew it wouldn’t take much for Alex to starting doing things to deliberately hurt himself. So I decided to do it for him. And he submitted with frightening ease.

“Hey Sir.” he said when he picked up. “How’s college life?”

“Not like anything I expected.” I admitted. “How was school?”

“Didn’t go. Mom said she’d wake when I was time to get up and let me sleep in.”

Which sounded like a thing Aunt Stacy would do. “What time’d she wake you?”

“She didn’t. I got up about 2:30 and figured I’d at least get to football practice and Mom hit me.”

I had to laugh. “So you spent yesterday in bed?”

“Pretty much. ‘Cept I like it more when you make me do it.” When I made him spend a day in bed, he spend almost twenty-four hours being used as a sperm bank. I made him suck my cock and then blow as many Austrian swimmers as I could find. More than half of them fucked him as well. Alex couldn't walk right for almost two days after that. He love every minute.

“Yeah, well, you needed the rest.” He grunted at that. “So what did you do today? Sleep some more?”

“Nah. Dad took me to practice. The coach had me run a few lapses then made me sit through a bunch of the boring sh—uh stuff.” I made ‘no swearing’ a rule for him. “Y’know – what does the team do well, what could we do better, who’s good at what. That stuff.”

“He had you sit in on the coaching meeting?”

“Yeah. I saw Trucker does this thing where he slows down when he goes right but not when he goes left and I pointed it out and Coach Dutton asked if I’d noticed any other stuff like that.”

“And you did?”

“Well, yeah. We all do dumb shit some times.”

“Dumb what?”

“Oh, uh, sorry. Stuff. I mean, little things we don’t even think about but it’s like the difference between catching the ball and letting it slip between your fingers. Y’know?”

“Yeah, I know.” But I’m a little surprised that Alex noticed that kind of thing. “So now you’re coaching?”

“Naw, it’s not all that. He asked, I told him. It’s probably all stuff he knew about anyway.”

“But that’s a good thing. It shows him that you’re paying attention to the other guys. That’s the whole point of teamwork.”

He laughed. “Yeah, I guess so. I hadn’t thought about that.” We were both quiet for a minute. Then he asked, “So how things by you?”

“Ok. Granddad’s letting me use his house. If you go to Mason, we can both stay here.”

“Sweet.”

“And I met a girl.”

“You do her yet?” He joked.

“As a matter of fact, yes. We’re kind of dating already.”

“Whoa! How do you do that!?”

I laughed. “I didn’t do anything. Maria is very sweet and very family-minded and I think this could be a very good thing.”

“Oh.” his voice turned a bit pensive.

“But she has nothing to do with us, Alex.” I said firmly. “You hear me?”

“Yes sir.”

“Ok. Go back to bed; you probably need the rest. Give everyone my love. I’ll give you a call tomorrow.”

“Cool. Later, Sir.”

I showered and found Maria reading in bed, the covers pulled up to her armpits. But when I climbed into bed and tried to pull the sheets down, she held them firm. “Aw, come on. I wanna see you.”

“There is nothing to see. I don’t have a nightgown with me.”

“That’s what I want to see!”

“Peter! No!” she blushed. “You’re too much.”

“I’ll behave.” I tugged at the blankets. “I’ll only kiss you a little bit.”

“No!”

“Ok, you can kiss me a little bit.” I flung the sheets off myself and yanked off my boxers. “I hate sleeping in those things anyway.”

“Peter!” Maria covered her eyes. “Stop that! You’re just being vulgar now.”

“What? I’m not doing anything!” My hands had nothing to do with my dick twitching.

“Put that away. Now.” she sounded serious.

“Not until you kiss it.”

“What!”

“You hurt his feelings. It’s a sad 'peter'. See how droopy he is?” I poked her but she refused to look at my cock. “You have to kiss it and make it feel better.”

“Ugh! Don’t even joke about that.”

“Who’s joking?”

“Peter! That’s disgusting!”

“Seriously?” I sat up, suddenly realizing that she wasn’t laughing at any of this. “You have something against oral?"

"If God had wanted us to use our mouths for baby's, he would not have put them on our faces."

"What?" I couldn't even follow the logic.

Maria simply closed the book, turned off the light and roll away from me.

I thought about it for a while. Maybe no one had done it to her - maybe I was the first and she wasn't used to the idea that I like doing it. I got under the covers and wrapped myself around her. I started by kissing the back of her neck until she purred. I caressed her breasts lightly. When she moaned my name softly, I reached between her legs and played with her clit. But I couldn’t do that for long.

I wanted to taste her.

I didn’t know what her problem was and at the moment, I didn’t care. I slipped from behind her and moved between her legs. In the darkness she whispered. “Peter. Do it.”

I put one hand on each of her knees and pushed gently. Then I buried my face in her pussy. She screamed and struggled to push me away. She was sloppy wet and tasted warm, musky. Perfect. I ate her like I wasn’t sure I could stop. She pulled my hair until I grabbed her hands. Alex has the pain fetish, not me. She was squirming so much though that finally I stopped just long enough to switch positions. I doubted very much that she was going to suddenly change her mind and blow me, but at least I could keep one of her legs pinned down with my shoulder and the rest of her body still with mine.

Despite her protests, she did cum twice. After the second, I turned around again and pushed into her. I was balls deep when I realized I’d forgotten the condom. I tried to kiss her but she turned her face away.

“Oh, come on! You loved that! You know you did!” I nuzzled her neck. “I sure as hell did. You taste divine.”

“You are wicked.” She panted. “Evil. Sinful.”

“Yeah, but you like wicked, evil, sinful.” I began stroking slowly. “You like bad boys.” I sped up and burst in a matter of minutes. I lay there holding her while I caught my breath. Then I spun around again.

Creampie was possibly my favorite thing on earth outside of a swimming pool. I figured Maria was going to lose her mind so I draped my body completely over hers, making it almost impossible for her to move. Then I licked her pussy clean of my jizz and hers. I could feel her under me, quivering, as I plunged my tongue deeper and deeper into her. I took a moment to suck her clit and used my fingers to see if I could find her g-spot.

When she sprayed my chin, I couldn’t help it. I came again too. There was something about a girl cuming on my face that made me hair trigger – ever since the first time it happened. I had enough strength to twist around again and pull her into my arms and then I was out.

My alarm clock went off at 5am Sunday morning. I got out of bed thinking that I had an hour to get ready for church until I realize that I had no idea where the nearest church was. I went to the bathroom and came back to bed.

Maria looked angelic as she slept but I shook her anyway. “Maria? Sweetheart.”

She burrowed deeper into the blankets. “Que?”

“What time’s church?”

“10 o’clock.”

A bit late by my standards but that meant we definitely had time to fool around before we left for service. That was a trade-off I could live with.

We slept for another hour or so. Today I could afford one more morning sleeping late and loafing around the house. Monday I was going to have to start getting up at 5am and swimming for a couple hours a day. And I was going to have to hit the gym hard. I was working out aboard ship almost daily until the last week. Then I was doing a lot more aerobics than weight training.

But it was Sunday morning and I was awake and rested. A good chance to do something special for Maria. I wished Alex was there - having another pair of hands and a second tongue was useful if you want to make your girl scream.

But it was just me so I would just have to do my best. I thought about what she's responded to most so far. She liked it when I was more forceful - in bed. Outside the bedroom she seemed to rebel a bit. She also seemed to prefer it when I 'took' pleasure from her.

I pulled the covers off her and enjoyed the view. Her body was slender with heavy thighs. She didn't have the raw sexuality of most of my girlfriends but I'd learned already that sexy is who you make it.

I started with her feet, kissing and licking. I worked upward slowly and I managed to suck her clit for a full minute before she seemed to wake fully.

"Peter! Stop! No! No!" She gasped but her pussy was grinding against my mouth.

I refused to stop, not until she squirted and I drank her like nectar of the gods. When she was done - or maybe when I was - I let her hips down and straddled her chest.

"Ok. My turn." I rubbed the tip of my cock against her soft lips.

"Eh! Peter!"

"Come on, honey. You know you want it." I whispered. "You like it when I make you be a bad girl. Suck my dick, you bad girl." She whimpered. "Come on you pretty little whore, open up."

"No!" She gasped but it was enough for me to slip the head between her lips.

"That's it." I coaxed. I reached behind me and teased her nipple. "Lick my stick, you bad girl. Suck it so I can put it up in that sweet hot pussy of yours." I push a bit and she let more of my cock into her mouth. "Lick it, whore. Lick it! Yeah! Like that."

She swirled her tongue around me and it felt incredible. It was almost enough to tip me over the edge but I managed to hang on. "Oh baby! You're going to make me come, sweetheart." She whimpered and shook her head. I stopped moving. "You don't want to swallow, really?" It was disappointing but I pulled out of her mouth.

"Ugh! Peter, please. Do it the right way. Make love to me. Please."

I would have to have been made of cold steel to have resisted a plea like that. I leaned down and kissed her as I moved to lay beside her. She squealed when I pulled her on top of me.

"How bout you make love to me?" I groaned.

I placed one of her delicate hand son my cock and she took over guiding it in to herself. I let her set the speed and rhythm and kept my hands on her hips.

I watched her face twist as she rubbed her clit against my pelvic bone. Beautiful. It wasn't dramatic perticulary but watching her face and feeling her grind made me that much harder. When she finally gasped and came, I grabbed her hips and kept her hard pressed against me.

"Oh yeah." I whispered. "That's my pretty little whore. Cum for me."

She panted while I lifted her hips up and let her fall back down. Another reason to hit the gym. Maria was lighter than my sister Beth, but lifting any girl in that position was worse than any bench press.

Still, the depth I got into to her pussy felt amazing so it was worth a little heavy lifting and sore arms later. Maria must have felt it too because she began shifting, sitting more upright and with each shift and each stroke I went in a touch deeper.

She suddenly inhaled and I felt my tip hit her cervix. For one wild moment, I had an image of shooting my sperm directly into her womb. If I could have done it right then, I would have. My Grandfather married his high school sweetheart and had my father. My Father married his high school sweetheart and had me. Here I was in college, not married, not a father, not happy about it. I wanted a wife. I wanted a child. I let loose into Maria and prayed to God that today was the day.

When I woke up again, Maria was gone. For a moment, I panicked. Then I heard the shower and relaxed. For once, however, I was dressed and ready before she was. I tapped on the bedroom door. She didn’t answer. I tried it and found it locked.

“Maria?”

“Go away.”

Go away? “Maria? Open the door.”

“No.”

“We don’t have time for this, hon. If we’re going to get to church on time, we have to get moving.”

“Miguel is coming to get me.”

Her brother. “Why did you call him? I’m driving.” She rattled off something in Spanish, and it didn’t sound happy or church-like. “Maria, honey, I don’t speak a word of Spanish. Calm down and tell me in English.”

“I’m not going anywhere with you!”

“What? Maria, what are you talking about?”

“You’re evil, Peter! You are not a nice boy!”

I stared at the door for a moment. “Can you just open the door so we can talk like civilized people?”

“You are not civilized.”

“Maria, I have no idea what you are talking about! Open the damn door!” I banged on the door again. “We ain’t got time fo’ this. We got church, honey. Now open the Damn Door!”

She yanked open the door and swore at me some more in Spanish.

“Maria! Maria, calm down!” I put my hands on her shoulders but she pushed then off. I grabbed her again and held her hard. “Damn it, woman! Don’t be playin’ games, now!” I cleared my throat and used what Alex calls my ‘command voice’. “Tell me what the hell your problem is.”

“You put that – that – that thing in my mouth!” she screamed.

“So why didn’t you say no?”

“Oh, as if you would have stopped.”

“Hell yes I would have stopped! God damn it, what the hell do you think I am?” I let her go. “Finish getting dressed. I don’t wanna be late. Call your brother. Now.”

The drive to her church was tense, broken up only by her terse directions. We parked by a large ornate Catholic church in a secluded area. The parking lot was as big as my home church, Reedville Baptist. I was used to a much smaller congregation. This was at least twice the size and far more elaborate. Maria’s whole family was there and I was grateful that I knew someone if only vaguely. If Maria was still mad at me when we got there, she covered it well and I was happy to play along.

Almost all the families arriving were Hispanic or White. I'd never been to a church where half the congregation wasn't black. Race wasn't one of those things I spent a lot of time thinking about in truth. I dated a lot of black girls. Actually, I was related to half the black people at Reedville Baptist, by marriage. It occured to me that church was the only time I ever saw my cousins apart from the family reunion. I hadn't seen any of that side before I left for Beijing. I made a note to call them when I got back to the house and tried to put the thought out of my mind.

We arrived early enough that there was plenty of time for Maria and Miguel to introduce me to what felt like hundreds of people before the service. I confess to being completely overwhelmed. I like people but I am not used to crowds. I kept a firm grip on Maria when I wasn’t shaking hands with church brethren. I managed to steal a nerve-settling kiss occasionally as well.

At least I did until Miguel and I used the gents room just before service started.

“Hey, Peter.” He said as we avoided looking at each other. “I don’t know what your church is like but around here, unmarried couples don’t do a whole lot of public affection. Know what I’m saying?”

“So I should chill a bit on Maria? Yeah, I get you.” I sighed. “She’s just so … hot.”

“Eh! That my sister!”

“Sorry!” I washed my hands. “But, listen, just so you know. My intentions toward Maria are totally honorable.”

“Honorable like what?”

I shrugged. “Like I don’t believe in playing games or long engagements.”

“You asked her to marry you?”

“Not yet.” I admitted. “I thought she should at least met my parents first.”

He nodded. “At least.”

But after that, I tried to keep my hands on hers and my lips to myself.

It was a short service, comparatively, but we sat through two of them - the second one to receive communion. There was no choir and part of the sermon was in Latin. I found myself becoming restless and checking my watch.

It wasn't that I'm not a church goer, I am. But this didn't make me feel connected to God. It put him out there, in Latin, above me. Back home, God was a guy you could go fishing with and talk to. This was holy and sacred but not spiritual, not for me and I could already see that this was not a place I could ever call my home church.

But Maria seemed to enjoy it. I hoped she'd enjoy my church as much. I decided that next week we'd drive home Friday night. Granddad used to do it every week, I should be able to do the trip occasionally. It would be a shame if we had to attend separate Sunday services.

When service ended, Miguel herded me off with the other young men to a classroom on the lower level. There were soda, and a few snacks. Most of the men were around my age. The youth fellowship group. If I stayed with this church, I'd be spending a lot of time with these guys.

"Ok. Let's get started." A overly hip guy said. I thought he was dressed in all black until I noticed the white collar just barely peeking out at his neck. "I see we have a new member."

"I'm not a member yet." I said as I took a seat. "I'm just a guest. I'm Peter."

He smiled. "Hello Peter. Welcome to the Young Men's Ministry. This is just a chance for us to get together and discuss real issue facing christians in the real world. So tell me, what brought you here today?"

"Maria Alveraz." I smiled. "We're something an item."

"Oh." His smile slipped a little and I felt the room grow a little colder. "And is this a christian 'item' or more secular?"

"This is a personal 'item'." I replied keeping my voice level. But Maria is a respectable woman and I wouldn't treat her like anything less."

"Well of course not. Gentlemen, why don't we discuss some of the problems of dating."

Naturally, the discussion moved to the topic of pre-marital sex and stayed there. They discussed frankly and openly their sexual temptations for women. No one mention any attraction for other men - although stastically speaking, I couldn't have been the only one in the room who'd fucked a guy.

Actually, several of the guys over 18 were already married with children or one on the way. They all had essentially the same story: they started with kissing, moved to petting and wound up having unprotected sex.

"That's what oral is for." I said off handedly.

I heard a shocked gasp and watched as several faces turn to looks of disgust.

"Excuse me?" Miguel asked in a tone of outright offense.

"Gentlemen, he is a guest. And not all christians understand God's law here." The minister waited a moment and looked at me. "You see Peter, God has blessed sexual intercourse within the bonds of holy matrimony for the purpose of creating a child. Not for lust."

I thought about that for a moment. "Ok." I gave him another moment. "Go on."

"Vaginal intercourse is what God intended between man and woman. Oral and anal intercourse are tools of Satan's perverting God's sacred act."

"What?"

They were insistent and my point that both acts were a natural birth control seemed to convince them more strongly of their own position. Fucking was blessed and if she got pregnant, it was a sign from God. Sucking, on the other hand was an out and out sin.

It was one of the most frank and depressing discussions I'd ever had about sex.

I wanted to discuss the matter with Maria, but when the group ended, she was gone. I found out from her mother that she'd left with some girlfriends. I went home alone.

I mopped for a little while looking for something to do, to take my mind off her. Until I realized I hadn’t cracked a textbook in two days. I set up my laptop in Granddad’s office and logged in to catch up on my classes. I spent a couple hours half-assing some homework that was due and reading the class forums and generally acting like I was supposed to be in school. On-line classes reek. I’m a very social person and sitting alone at home was no fun.

I was just thinking that maybe I should pack the computer and move someplace like the student union to work when someone banged on the door. I could hear the stereotypical Latin music blaring and sighed deeply. Maria must have left something.

I went to the front door and stopped. Out of the side window, I could see four silhouettes – none of whom were small enough to be Maria. I went into the living room as they banged on the door again. From the front window, I saw Miguel – her older brother – and three gentlemen I didn’t recognize. They looked angry.

Miguel banged again. “Open the door, Peter! Be a man!”

I grabbed my phone and called Maria. “Why is your brother trying to break my door in?”

“You know why.” She snapped.

“If-n I knew why, I wouldn’t be asking you.” I caught myself and tried to remain calm. “Is this about last night?”

“What do you think?” I saw her get out of the car. She moved to the base of the front stairs. “He’s in there.” She told her family.

“I’m not opening the door, Maria.” I told her. “He can bang on it all God damn night, he wanna.” They all started yelling. “What the hell did you tell them?”

“That you wanted your own personal whore and I’m not like that!”

“Hey! You’re the one who followed me home the day you met me – I didn’t force you into bed.”

“So now you’re saying I’m easy!?” she screamed.

“Well, you didn’t make me work to get in there!” Which I regretted saying immediately. “Maria – wait! I’m sorry! I didn’t mean that.”

“Too late, bastard!” She hung up.

I could hear her start crying from outside. Miguel went to her side and one of the cousins took up banging on my door. I heard something break.

Then, I heard the police siren. “Oh fuck.” I thought.

I called Maria back but she wouldn’t answer. Then the police were there and asking questions and the guys were trying to down play the whole situation. I waited a whole minute before I decided that letting them get arrested would do nothing to fix me and Maria.

I opened the door. “Hi. I’m here. Uh, Officer?”

Two of them came to me. “Are you the homeowner?”

“Current resident. My grandfather owns the house.” I stepped aside. “Please come in. This is really nothing. My girl and I just had a fight – bed room stuff, you know.”

“Fight?”

“Argument.” I replied quickly. “I asked her to do something; she said no, it got kind of….bad. She went home. And I guess her brother thought it was more.”

“Uh-huh. What’s your name?”

“Peter. Peter McElroy. My grandfather is Julius McElroy. You can call him about the house.”

“Uh-huh. How long have you been here?”

“Three days.” I laughed. “I’m going to school at George Mason and Granddad’s letting me stay here.”

“You have ID?”

“Yeah. My wallet’s upstairs.” He nodded and gestured and followed me up to the bedroom. I handed him the wallet.

“Ok. Is there anyone else in the house?”

“No, sir.”

“Ok. Let’s go back down.”

“Listen, I don’t know what happened or who called you guys but there’s really nothing going on here.” I said as one officer stepped out with my ID and the other waited in the foyer with me. I could see lights rolling and more police cars pulled up. An officer was talking to Maria and another to Miguel. All of the guys were in cuffs. “They just wanted to talk this out. That’s all.”

“Uh-huh.” The officer nodded. “How long have you been dating?”

“Not long.” He looked at me and I sighed. “Ok, we met Friday. I know that’s not long but we really connected.”

“It’s not like that! I –”

The officer with my ID returned. “Mr. McElroy, here you are sir. Thank you for your time.”

“No problem.” I said out of instinct.

“Your story about the house seems to check out. We’ll take them down under disturbing the peace and attempted B&E.”

“Wait! What? No!” I reached to grab his arm but stopped myself. My Grandfather said never touch the uniform. “They didn’t do anything. This was all a misunderstanding. Look, just go ask Maria, ok? Miguel was trying to protect his sister – I would have reacted the same way!” They started to leave and I followed them. “This isn’t a problem; it’s a lover’s quarrel. That’s all.”

“Go back into the house, sir.”

Then I got it. “This is one of those race things, isn’t it?” I yelled out. “They’re Latin so naturally, they’re the trouble. For all you know, I am the one who started it, I did assault her.”

They all turned on me. “Did you assault her, Mr. McElroy?”

If I get arrested, my father will disown me. “No, no! Look, I just meant that – look can we all just go inside, sit down and talk about this? Maria, I’m sorry I asked you to – uh – you know. I’m sorry. I won’t ask again. We’ll do what you want.”

Maria looked at me, and then the officer beside her. “I’m not a bad girl, Peter.” She said, walking toward me. “I won’t do that kind of thing.”

All this over a damn blow job. “Ok. I won’t ask.” I put my arms around her. “I didn’t mean to upset you.” I kissed her lightly. “Forgive me?”

“Ok.”

“Good.” I kissed her again then let her go. “Miguel, I don’t know what she told you but I swear to you, I didn’t ask her to do anything that I wouldn’t have asked of my own sister.” His eyes went wide, his brow furrowed and I realized what I just said. It was true but he didn’t need to know that. “I mean, if her boyfriend asked her to do it, I wouldn’t be upset. Hell, you know what I mean. Look, can we just let it pass this time?” I put my hand out to him.

He glanced at Maria and then looked my hand. I remembered the cuffs and awkwardly pulled my hand back. “I think so.” He nodded.

“There, see officers? All friends. I’m not pressing charges against my friends.”

The uniforms conferred. Miguel shook his head. “Lobo’s got an outstanding warrant.” He told us softly.

“What?” Maria whirled on him and shoved her brother. She let loose a string of Spanish that included ‘el stupido’. I didn’t figure I needed the full translation but I stopped her.

“Hey! Don’t let’s get arrested now. Just calm down, sweetheart.”

The lead officer came back over to us. “Alright. Mr. McElroy. Are you willing to swear that none of the damages were caused by any of these people?”

“Absolutely.”

He frowned and shook his head. He went back over and conferred with another officer. They seemed reluctant but finally, they took the cuffs off Miguel and two of the cousins. There was nothing any of us could do about Lobo’s bench warrant for unpaid tickets. The line of police eventually pulled out of the neighborhood and I noticed several doors and windows suddenly closing down the block.

“Great neighbors.” I growled. “Racist bastards.” I sighed. “Come on. Have a drink.” I put my arm around Maria and they all followed me into the house. I opened Granddad’s liquor cabinet and took a quick glance. “Bourbon, vodka, gin, red wine, brandy….”

“Tequila?” one of the guys asked.

“Sorry. Next time. Anything?”

“Gin.” Miguel said. “Thanks.”

“No problem.” I grabbed the bottle and glasses. “I hate that shit. The white guy isn’t always right.”

“Maybe not where you’re from. Around here? That’s the way that works.”

We all sipped. “So, look. Were you coming to beat my ass, or what?”

He shrugged. “You disrespected my sister, man. What was I supposed to do?”

I didn’t say ‘not drive across town to get arrested’ but I was thinking it. “I hear you. But since when is sex disrespectful?”

“Peter!” Maria’s eyes went wide.

“What? I mean, you already told them what this was about.”

“Not specifically.” Her cousin looked away.

“So you came over to start a fight and you don’t even know why?” The phone rang. “Excuse me.” I didn’t have to look at the ID to know it was Granddad. “Hello sir.”

“No sir.”

“Jack said ya’ll had quite uh ruckus goin’.”

“Maria and I had a spat.”

“’Bout what?”

“She doesn’t do oral, I do.”

“That was uh mite more info than I needed.”

I chuckled. “Sorry.”

“Had the same problem with your Grandmomma.” He went on, maliciously I think. “She ain’t suck nothin’ but lifesavers. Ms. Rachael, of course, don’t have such reservations.”

“Thank you, Granddad!”

He chuckled. “So what was all this about, then? You asked her ta do a few friends and…?”

“No! Jesus, Granddad! We had an argument, she went home. A couple hours later, her brother came over to talk it out.”

“Talk. Huh. Jack didn’t mention assault an’ battery.”

“That’s because there wasn’t an assault to mention!” There was a lot of movement behind me and I realized that they were all heading for the door. “Wait! Hold on!” I put the phone down. “I’ll be done with him in a minute.”

“Don’t worry. We’re going to head out. It’s good. We’ll see you soon, ok?”

“Yeah. Cool. Good.” We all shook hands and the guys left. I took Maria’s hand and led her back to the phone. “Sorry about that, Granddad.”

“Jack said there was you, four Mexican boys and a pretty little thing between you.”

“Who is Jack?”

“Officer Jack Branch. He called me ta make sure you were who you said you were.”

“Oh. One of the cops.”

“He said he was taking the lot of ‘em in. When he got there, they were breaking my flower pots and tryin’ to break the door down.”

“Nobody got assaulted. I’ll replace the flower pot.”

“This woman worth all this?”

I looked at Maria and smiled. “I think so.”

We ordered in Chinese food for dinner. But the question nagged me the rest of the night. I didn’t want to live and ‘oral-less’ life. And I couldn’t ask Maria to sacrifice her beliefs for my sake.

“Honey” I said between bits of fried rice, “we have a problem.”

“I won’t act like a whore for you.”

“I know.” I nodded. “I’m sorry I asked you to. I didn’t realize how much I was hurting you.” She shrugged. “The problem is, Maria, I can’t just stop wanting what I want. It’s too much. I just can’t believe God doesn’t want us to give each other pleasure.”

“It’s not pleasure; it is sin.”

“I don’t believe that. I got a feeling that there’s a whole lot you and I don’t both believe. And I like you Maria. I really do. I don’t want this to wind up with us hating each other. After all,” I smiled at her. “you are my first college friend.”

She looked mournful. “So what do you think we should do?”

“I think we should finish dinner. And then I’m going to take you home.”

“And then what?”

“And then, we are going to be friends. Just friends.” I got up and kissed her softly. “You are a lovely woman, Maria. Someday you’ll find a man who can truly appreciate you.”

But that wasn’t going to be me.