The Bedtime Tales of Be287m

Friends and Benefits, Chapter Seventeen

“The summer flew by,” I told Sherri.  “I suppose I should have made more of an effort to see Tina, maybe driven up more than the one time.  But the fact was, I got buried in my research.”

“More than the one time?” Sherri asked.  She’d pushed her plate away, satiated with the brunch I’d served, and was now resting her elbows on the table.  “So you drove up to Tempe?”

I nodded.  “Tina’s father made it clear that he didn’t want her coming down to Tucson just to see me.  So I went up for the Fourth of July.  Nobody suggested me spending the night, so I left right after the fireworks and made the late night drive back to Tucson.”

“So how did that go?”

“Well… largely okay, I guess….”

* * *

During May and June, I talked to Tina on the phone about once a week, the same as Sharon.  I also wrote letters and received prompt replies.  She’d talk about her daily life—she had found a job in a local poster shop for the summer—and then say she missed me.  More than once, she said she missed our ‘cooking lessons’ and ‘movie nights,’ but she didn’t get more explicit than that.  It was obvious what she meant.

Toward the end of June, she wrote that her father was flatly refusing her requests to come visit me in Tucson.  He’d said that any man worthy of his daughter ought to be willing to drive up.  Perhaps, she suggested, I’d like to visit on the Fourth of July?

With some trepidation, I made the two hour drive to Tempe on the Fourth.  I did want to see Tina.  I did not want to see her father.  He might give his daughter some leeway, but I doubted an older guy that had corrupted his daughter would get the same benefit.

I didn’t have much chance to worry.  As I pulled up in front of the Delgado home, Tina flew out the front door.  She threw her arms around me the minute I got out of the car.

“I missed you,” she said, hugging me tight.

“I missed you, too,” I replied.

After several minutes, Tina reluctantly released her grip and pulled back.  I glanced toward the porch. Mr. Delgado stood there, watching us.  We slowly walked up, holding hands.

“Glad you could make it, Joe,” Mr. Delgado said when we arrived at the porch.

“Thank you for inviting me.”

Mr. Delgado made a slight nod of acknowledgement.  “Everyone’s inside or out back.”

“We should go see my mother,” Tina said.

I nodded, not pulling my eyes from Mr. Delgado.  Tina tugged on my hand and Mr. Delgado nodded, so I turned and followed Tina into the house.

Tina’s mom was in the living room with a couple of Tina’s aunts. She smiled and stood up when we approached.

“Joe!  Glad you could make it!”

“Thank you for inviting me,” I said as I clasped Mrs. Delgado’s hand.

“Tina’s friends are always welcome,” she said.  “Do you remember my sisters?”

I did, though not perfectly.  I remembered their faces more than their names, but Mrs. Delgado reintroduced them anyway, avoiding any embarrassment for me.  A few cousins I hadn’t met wandered into the room and I was introduced to them as “Tina’s boyfriend.”  Tina just continued to beam and hold my hand.  Tina’s aunts asked several questions about how school was going, but didn’t push when I got into the details of my research.  After a polite interval, Tina pulled me away and we headed into the back yard.

“I’m glad you came,” she said.

“No problem.  Though I hadn’t expected so many people.”  I glanced to the shade, where Tina’s sisters and cousins sat, drinking Coke and joking around with each other.

Tina shrugged.  “It’s always this way.  Why do you think I like Tucson so much?”

“I thought it was my charming ways,” I said, raising my eyebrows in an obvious tease.

Tina squeezed my hand.  “There is that.”

“So, any chance we could slip off…?”

Tina shook her head.  “We’d be missed.  But Dad’ll fire up the grill later and the fireworks will be good.”

“Are we gonna watch them from here?”

Tina nodded.

“Sounds fun.”

Tina detected the lack of enthusiasm in my voice.  “It’ll be okay,” she said.  “What’s important is you came.”

“I’m sure it’ll be fun,” I said.  I squeezed her hand.  “I’m really glad to see you, and that makes it worth it.”

“Good.”

We found a couple of drinks and settled into the shade near Tina’s sisters.  They teased us about holding hands, but Tina just rolled her eyes and told them to get over it.  She didn’t let go, though.  Instead she teased one of her sisters about a boy she had a crush on.  I wondered if the sister got chaperones as well, but couldn’t think of a polite way to ask.

About six, Mr. Delgado came out into the back yard.  Tina’s brothers immediately hopped up and headed over to him.  Soon they were ferrying food and plates from inside while Mr. Delgado fired up the grill.

I watched Tina’s brothers for a while, and remembered how they’d done all the clean up the last time I’d visited.  And how Tina’d suggested I help too.

“I should help,” I said to Tina.

She nodded and let go of my hand.

I took a deep breath and walked over to Mr. Delgado.

“Can I help?”

Mr. Delgado paused and looked at me.  “Thanks, but it’s under control.”

“Oh, uhh…”  I looked around.  Tina’s brothers were still carrying supplies out from the house.  I turned back to Mr. Delgado.  “That may be true, but I think I should do more than just sit around with Tina.  Is there anything I can do?”

Mr. Delgado stared at me for a moment and then smiled.

“You want to do more than spend time with my daughter?” he asked.  Then he paused.  “Can you do burgers?”

I shrugged.  “They’re not that hard.  Poke ‘em occasionally to see if they’re the right amount of pink inside and don’t let them burn.”

“No pink,” Mr. Delgado said.  Then he thrust a metal spatula into my hand.  “I’ll go get the steaks.”  With that, he turned and strode toward the house.

Tina was talking in hushed tones to her sisters.  Well, they would’ve been hushed tones if they didn’t start giggling.  They kept looking at me wide-eyed between Tina’s comments.  Feeling embarrassed without knowing why, I turned back to the grill.

As I’d predicted, cooking the hamburgers wasn’t hard.  I flipped them and nudged them around as Mr. Delgado brought out steaks and hot dogs and chicken.  Instead of taking over, he just added the meat to the grill, until it was too crowded for me to flip anything easily.  Meanwhile, his sons had gotten the tables set and all the various side dishes ready to serve. 

“I’ll take over now,” Mr. Delgado said as the rest of the extended family began to filter out to the porch.  “Go spend some time with my daughter.  You’ve earned it.”

I nodded and handed the spatula back to him.  Then I joined Tina.  Her sisters broke away with giggles and went to get hamburgers.  Tina took my hand again.

“What were you talking about?” I asked.

“You.”

“I figured.  Anything you want to share?”

Tina grinned and shook her head.  “No.”

I just rolled my eyes.

“Don’t worry,” she said.  “It was all good.  I just don’t think my Dad would approve of the conversation.”

I raised an eyebrow, but didn’t actually ask.  Tina didn’t say anything, so I let it drop.  As much as I wanted to know, there was a chance I really didn’t want to know.

Instead, Tina and I moved over to the tables and joined the crowd for dinner.  My steak was particularly good.  After everyone had eaten, I broke away from Tina once again to help her brothers clean up.  I caught Mr. Delgado nodding his head when he noticed.  I let out a deep breath and finally began to relax.

After dark, the fireworks started.  Tina and I sat on one of the picnic table benches and she snuggled in as we watched the explosions above us.  They ended all too soon.  Tina walked me to my car, so I could get on the road before it was too late.  No one else followed us to the front yard, so we stole a few kisses before I reluctantly slid into the driver’s seat and began the long drive to Tucson.  Tina’s father hadn’t killed me for corrupting his daughter after all.

The next night, like clockwork, Sharon called.

 “So how did it go?” she asked.

“Okay.  We didn’t get any time alone, though.”

“That sucks.”

“No kidding,” I said.  “Besides the fact that we couldn’t talk, it would have been nice for  . . . other reasons.  It’s been just long enough that I’m starting to get a little ‘anxious,’ if you know what I mean.”

Sharon laughed.  “I’m not the person to complain to.  I’ve gone much longer than you.”

“But you’re a girl.  You can change that any time you want.”

She snorted.  “I don’t do one night stands.  And I haven’t found a guy worth dating.”

“So find a friend.  You don’t have to be ‘in love’ to help take care of each others’ needs. You know that.”

“That’s just as hard.  Decent guys don’t exactly grow on trees. You’re the only guy that’s even come close.”

But not close enough, I thought, remembering New Year’s.  “Well, I’d offer to help…”

Sharon laughed again.  “I don’t think Tina would like that!”

“You’re probably right,” I said, trying to sound nonchalant.  But Tina hadn’t minded the pictures, had she?  Or Sharon seeing us.  Except those weren’t the same thing.

“Uh huh.”

“Well, it’s a moot point,” I said.  “You’re just going to have to find a guy in one of your classes.”

“Yeah, like that’s going to happen.”

“You never know.  Tall, dark, captivated by your intelligent questions during lectures.”

Sharon snorted but didn’t interrupt.

“He waits for you after class… he asks if you want to go out on Friday… it could happen.”

“I doubt it.”

“Well, you have gotten asked out this past year,” I said, “even if it never went anywhere.”

“None of those guys were good enough.”

That got to me.  “So who is?” I asked, exasperated.  “Besides Allen.  He’s not available.”

Sharon let out a long sigh.

“I’ve met his girlfriend,” I added.  “He’s not going to be available any time soon.  Maybe never.”

Sharon sighed again.  Her pause dragged out.  Finally, “I know.  And I guess I haven’t given other guys a chance.”

“Damn right.”

More silence from the other end of the phone.

“Okay,” Sharon said.  “I’ll stop comparing guys to Allen.  Or at least I’ll try.”

That was quick.  “Good.  It’ll be worth it.  After all, if I had been comparing every woman to Alicia, I wouldn’t have gone out with Tina.”

Sharon snorted.  “You wouldn’t have gone out with Tina if I hadn’t pushed you.”

“Fine,” I said, reacting more to Sharon’s tone than her words, “You get my point.”

More silence.

“Okay,” Sharon said, though her voice didn’t carry much conviction.

“So,” I said, “if you don’t compare the guy to Allen, what are you looking for?”

“I guess someone like you,” Sharon answered.  “Only available.”

I snorted.  “You weren’t interested when I was available.”

“That’s because your friendship means too much to me.  I don’t want to lose a friend again.”

“Huh?”

Sharon sighed.  “I never told you about Brad, did I?”

“No.”

“He was a friend in high school.  Just a friend.  We were in Knowledge Bowl together.  So our junior year, we were both complaining we had no one to go to the prom together.  I jokingly suggested we go as friends.  He agreed.”

“So what happened?”

“We had a great time.  After the prom, we went to a keg party at a classmate’s house. 

“Parents out of town?”

“Yeah.”

Sharon paused before continuing.

“Anyway, Brad and I ended up having sex in one of the back bedrooms.  The next week, he wouldn’t speak to me.”

I closed my eyes and winced.

“I’m not going to have something like that happen again,” she said.

“I understand.”

“So in the meantime,” she said, sounding more nonchalant, “I’ve got to make do with my baths.  Speaking of which, when’s my next story packet?”

“Mmm.  Give me a couple of days.”

The conversation hit a lull.  I was getting quietly angry at Brad, but didn’t know what to say.  Sharon had described things with him as if she was describing a car wreck she’d watched.  Not something that had happened to her.

“Well, I should get going,” Sharon said.

“Okay.  And I’ll get you some stories soon.”

We said our goodbyes and I hung up.  I started fixing dinner and, as I cooked, my mind kept drifting back to Sharon’s comment.  Someone like me, only available.

That was infuriating.  When I’d been available, she hadn’t been interested.  Oh, she’d been willing to talk about sex.  Rather explicitly, in fact.  But actually doing anything…

That was the real frustration.  We hadn’t done things like I wanted to.

But maybe we wouldn’t still be friends if we had.  I knew I wouldn’t cut things off the way Brad had, but I definitely could see it getting weird.  Particularly if one of us wanted more than “just friends.”  We might be just another set of exes in the world.

Instead, I had someone who supported me, through the problems with Alicia and even through the beginnings of a new relationship.  Good friends were worth a lot.

Even the occasional erotic story packet.  I got Sharon’s stories in the mail a couple of days later and she was excited when she received them.  The letters and calls with both women continued until the fall semester began and Tina moved back into the dorm.  Somehow I’d let July and August slip by without going back up to her family’s place.

Tina called the afternoon she arrived.

“Joe!  Can you come over to my dorm?  We just got done unloading.”

“Sure,” I said.  “You’re already done?”

“It didn’t take long and Dad wanted to get back on the road.”

“I’m on my way.”

I dashed out the door without bothering to save the computer file I’d been working on.  I decided to walk the couple of blocks to campus, because I knew I wasn’t going to be able to find parking.  Hopi was closer than Tina’s last dorm, which I appreciated. 

Halfway there, I remembered that I hadn’t saved my file.  Then I remembered something else I’d forgotten in my haste to get out the door—condoms.  I should have grabbed some condoms.

I called Tina from the lobby phone to let her know I’d arrived.  Moments later, she burst threw the door from the hallway and threw her arms around me.

“God, I’ve missed you,” she said.

“I’ve missed you too.”

“C’mon,” she said, pulling away and tugging me toward the hall.

“How was the trip down?” I asked as we walked to her room.

“Fine.  It was just Dad and me, instead of the whole family like last year.”

I waited for her to go on, but she didn’t.  Instead, Tina pushed open her dorm room door.  Boxes and suitcases lay scattered about, some partially unpacked.  One of the beds had already been raised above the other into a makeshift bunk.  Tina pulled me toward the bottom bed.

“This one yours?”

She nodded.  “Marcy and I agreed to that last fall.”  Tina wrapped her arms around me and kissed me, hard and passionately.

I pulled back.  “Where is Marcy?”

“She arrives tomorrow.”

“Oh.”

I didn’t have time to say much more because we were kissing again.  Hungry kisses.  Sloppy and wet kisses.

Tina started tugging on my shirt, pulling the ends out of my shorts.  I returned the favor.  She paused long enough to let me pull it up over her head, before removing mine the same way.

“I don’t have condoms,” I said.

“I don’t care.”

Well, she’s on the Pill.

Tina unhooked her bra before I could get to the clasp.  Since I was already reaching out, I placed my hand on her breast instead.  She let out a small moan as I caressed her. Then she started tugging on my shorts.

“Let me help you with that,” I said.  Tina let go long enough for me to back up and pull the rest of my clothes off.  At the same time, she finished shucking her own.

I paused and drank in the sight of her naked body.  She truly was beautiful.  And I’d definitely missed her.

Tina lay back and spread her legs.  She beamed at me, expectantly.  “Could you…?”

“You want me to go down on you first?”

“Yes,” she said, vigorously nodding her head.

I chuckled and moved between her thighs.  I toyed with teasing her, but decided she’d waited long enough—the whole summer actually.  I kissed her clit and then began to lick.

Tina let out a long shudder and sighed.  I continued to suck on her clit, bringing one hand up and sliding a finger inside her.  She was hot and already soaked.

I knew immediately what she wanted.  I gently sucked her clit into my mouth, and then began flicking my tongue on the underside.  Tina moaned.  I crooked my finger and began stroking her with the same rhythm I used to lick her.  Tina shuddered and began squirming.  I continued to lick and finger her until she let out a gasp and shuddered.  Then she went stiff, crying out as her orgasm hit.

Tina smiled at me through half-lidded eyes and I climbed forward and positioned my cock at her entrance.  She reached down and lined it up with her opening.

“Ready?”  I asked.

Tina nodded.

I slowly eased forward, parting her lips, and sinking my cock into her as deep as I could go.  Tina wrapped her arms and legs around me.  I began slowly thrusting in and out.

“I’ve missed you,” Tina murmured.

“Me too.”

I speeded up my thrusts.  Tina gasped, but then met my rhythm, pushing her hips back to meet mine.  Her pussy was hot around my cock, almost clenching it as I slid in and out.

“I’ve definitely missed this,” I said.

“We’ll have to make up for lost time.”

“I plan on it.”

I decided I wanted to make Tina come.  No more talking.  I shifted my angle, sliding into her deeper.  I sped up again and was rewarded by Tina’s gasps.  I kissed her, pushing my tongue into her mouth as I plunged my cock into her again and again.  Tina’s breathing became ragged and she moaned.  She was on the edge, and so was I.  The pressure in my balls grew, along with the bolts of pleasure that traveled up my spine.  With a few more thrusts, Tina let out a loud cry and shuddered, long and hard.  Her climax pushed me over the edge and I exploded inside her.

Gasping for my own breath, I slid out of Tina and rolled onto the bed next to her.  We shifted around a little until we could both lie on the mattress, side by side.

“More?” Tina asked, fluttering her eyelashes at me.

I laughed.  “You’re insatiable.”

She mock-pouted.  “Well, it’s been a while.”

“It’s going to take me a few minutes to recover,” I said, pointing to my limp dick.

Tina reached over and began caressing it.  “Anything I can do to help?”

“Well…”

“I could blow you,” Tina said.  “Would you like that?”

“I’m still covered with your juices.”

“So?”

“You don’t mind the taste?” I asked.

“I don’t when you kiss me after you’ve gone down on me.”

“Oh.”  I hadn’t considered that, but of course it was true.  Tina had never squirmed away or pulled back.  She probably didn’t mind.

Which she only confirmed by sliding down and taking my cock in her mouth.

Tina lightly sucked the tip before kissing her way up and down the side.  Then she gently lifted it with one hand and put it back in her mouth, licking the head and around the top.  She looked up at me as she did so, her eyes full of lust.

Unfortunately, nothing was really stirring down there for me.  I still felt drained, and I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to get hard, despite Tina’s efforts.

Tina pulled her mouth off my cock for a moment, while continuing to hold and stroke it with her hand.  “I want you hard,” she said.

“I want me hard.  I’m just not sure how to do that.”

Tina shrugged and licked my cock again.

“Well, you taste fine,” she said.  Then she slid her mouth around my cock again.

She liked the taste.  I wondered if she’d like the taste of another woman.  Would she be willing to explore…?

My cock twitched.  Tina let out an “mmmm” and began sucking harder.

I started fantasizing about Tina licking another woman’s pussy.  Then them sixty-nining while I watched.  Then their turning to me…

I was hard.  Tina made a satisfied sigh and started bobbing her head, taking me a few inches into her mouth each time.  It felt good, but I knew that I wouldn’t come.  I reached down and lightly touched her head.

“Get on top,” I said once Tina looked up.

She nodded and straddled me.  I held my erection away from my body and she hovered above it for a moment, before slowly sinking down onto it.  She let out a deep sigh as she began riding me.  I reached down and held her hips.

“I really have missed you,” she said.

“Me too.”

Tina didn’t reply.  She closed her eyes and shuddered, apparently feeling some bolt of pleasure from where we joined.

Holding her hips, I thrust hard into Tina.  She shuddered and moaned.  I thrust again, and this time she pushed back against me.  I started speeding up and she matched me.  In a few moments, we were both sweating and groaning.  I could feel my orgasm building, my balls getting tighter as my pulse rose.  Then Tina let out a shriek and came.  She collapsed forward, but didn’t pull off of me.  I thrust twice more, and erupted in my own orgasm.

We both collapsed onto the bed.

“That was good,” Tina said, smiling.  “We’re going to have to do that some more.”

I laughed.  “We’ll just have to start movie nights and cooking nights again.”

“You’re on.”

We lay there, holding each other for a while longer.  Then our other appetites kicked in and we decided that dinner might be in order.  Since I’d walked, we decided to just head over to the Student Union.

Tina caught me up on the trip down and what had happened in her life since our last phone call.  She was pleased when I told her that I’d successfully gotten my data from the Mt. Graham telescopes.  It looked like I’d be able to defend my Master’s in November.  I rambled about how I was going to have to start looking for a job, and Tina just listened quietly.  Afterward, we headed back to her dorm.

“Wanna come back?” Tina asked in the lobby, tilting her head toward the hall that led to her room.

“Sure!”  I grinned lewdly at her.  “We do have some catching up to do.”

She laughed and pulled me toward the hall.

Halfway down the hall, her brow furrowed.  I glanced ahead. The door to her room was open and the lights were on.  Tina strode a little faster and I fell a couple of steps behind her.  As she turned the corner to her room, her expression reverted to a smile.

“Marcy!” Tina cried.  “What are you doing here?”

I turned into the room and saw a woman with short spiked dark hair and a devilish smile looking at us.

“I decided not to wait until tomorrow,” the woman said.

Tina snorted.  “Well, I’m glad you weren’t too much earlier.”

“Why?”  The woman’s eyes darted from Tina to me and back again.

Tina flushed a little.  “It wouldn’t have been good.”  Then Tina turned to me.

“Joe, this is Marcy.  Marcy, Joe.”

“Pleased to meet you,” I said, extending my hand.

Marcy’s eyes danced and she shook my hand.  She didn’t say anything, though, before turning back to Tina.

“Have you picked which closet you want?”

“Not yet,” Tina said.  “I thought I’d wait for you to get here.”

Marcy flipped her wrists so her palms were up.  “I’m here.”

Tina giggled.  I just rolled my eyes.

The two girls began negotiating the room layout and who got what furniture.  While they did so, Marcy began unpacking a box and hanging the clothes in a closet.  She had some nice blouses, shorts, and jeans.  She only hung up one skirt and one dress.  Then she unpacked some CD’s.  I wandered over to look at them while the girls continued to talk about the room arrangement.  Her tastes seemed to run to contemporary rock and folk—The Indigo Girls, k.d. lang, Nanci Griffith and Ani Defranco.  I noted a couple that I might want to borrow and tape later.

After she’d emptied a couple of boxes, Marcy turned to Tina and me.  “So have you had dinner?”

“Yeah,” Tina said.

Marcy nodded.  “Well, I need to get something.  Talk more when I get back?”

Tina looked at me and I shrugged.  She turned back to Marcy and nodded.

“You two have fun,” Marcy said.  “I’ll be gone at least an hour.”

“Thanks,” Tina said.

Marcy waved and left.  Tina finished unpacking a box and then quietly walked over to the door.  She checked the hall and the closed the door.

“We have an hour,” she said.

“We do.  That should be enough time.”

She grinned.  “Well…more would be better.  But it’ll do.”

Tina slid into my arms and we kissed passionately.  Soon we stumbled over to the bed, with Tina pulling me on top of her.  Our sex this third round was slower and less frantic.  After we’d both climaxed, we got dressed and opened a window to air out the room.

Marcy grinned when she returned.  “Your shirt’s not tucked in,” she said to Tina.

Tina blushed and promptly fixed it.

“That’s okay,” Marcy said.  “I did tell you two to have fun.”  She leered for just a moment, before grinning at us.

“I should go,” I said.  “You two probably have a bunch of things to talk about.”

“See you tomorrow?” Tina asked.

“You bet.”

We kissed goodbye, which was a little strange with Marcy watching us, but Tina didn’t seem to mind too much.

The following afternoon Tina came over to my apartment.  We spent the rest of the day in bed, “catching up.”  After a late dinner of pizza, Tina was finally sated.  Which was good, because I wasn’t sure I could get it up again for another round.

Instead, we talked more about the fall.  We agreed to continue our cooking nights and movie nights, even though both of us expected to be busier with school.

That arrangement turned out fine once school started.  I was buried in data analysis, running regression calculations and trying to figure out what to do about some stars that were regularly inconsistent with the main data sets.  Tina got her old job back at the poster shop, though not with the hours she’d had.  Her boss had decided to let her summer replacement keep working one day a week.  Unfortunately, the Saturday shift was the one Tina kept, so she still had to leave my place by noon on Saturday.  The trade-off was now she could stay over after our cooking night too.  As a result, we quickly fell back into our old routine, with cooking and movie nights and each of us doing schoolwork on the other nights.

I did stop by the dorm a couple of times during the week, but Marcy was usually there so we just talked and joked around.  Marcy had a wicked sense of humor and seemed immune to embarrassment.  She could slide a double entendre into almost any topic, which caught me off guard at first, but I grew to enjoy as the semester went on.  I tried to tease her back about her own dating life, but she neatly deflected all my comments without admitting whether she was dating anyone or not.

Then on a mid-October movie night, Tina arrived at my apartment, eyes wide from excitement.

“Marcy asked if her girlfriend could spend the night!” she said.

“What?”

“Her girlfriend from Phoenix!  She figured I wouldn’t mind since I was going to be here tonight, but she wanted to ask just in case.”

I stared at her, still confused.

“Her girlfriend, Joe.  Marcy’s gay!”

I couldn’t help myself.  I burst out laughing.

“What’s so funny?” Tina demanded.

“That actually explains a few things,” I said.  “I’m surprised I didn’t pick up on it earlier.  My gaydar used to be pretty good.”

Tina stared at me, open-mouthed.

I shrugged.  “One of Alicia’s friends was gay.  We hung out with him some and I got to meet most of the gay student alliance.  I liked them.”

“But they weren’t your roommate.”

“So?” I asked.  “Has Marcy tried to hit on you?”

Tina dismissed my suggestion with a wave of her hand.  “It’s not that.  It’s that I didn’t know.  She should have told me earlier.”

“Why?  It’s not like it was relevant until now.  And you could have figured it out, too, you know.”

Tina bit her lip.  “I still don’t like not being told.”

I shrugged.  “But she did.  Just not until now.  Now, I was thinking that we might go to the 5:30 showing of Hero and then get dinner afterward.  What do you think?”

Tina nodded half-heartedly.  We had to leave quickly, so we didn’t talk more about Marcy right then.

* * *

“You’ve got good gaydar?” Sherri asked, clearly amused.  “Really?”

“I thought I did,” I said.  “With Marcy, all the standard signs were there.  The lack of dresses, the short hair, the k.d. lang CD’s.  The way she never mentioned a boyfriend was a good giveaway.”

“Those are stereotypes.  What if she hadn’t had them?”

I shrugged.  “I probably wouldn’t have guessed she was gay.  But I didn’t guess even with those clues, so maybe my gaydar isn’t very good.”

Sherri chuckled.

“What about you?” I asked.  “Is yours good?”

“Sometimes.  I’m a little more tuned to sexual attraction than most people.  It makes it easier to put two and two together.”

“Have you ever had gay clients?”

Sherri smiled enigmatically.  “Gay men don’t call asking for my services.”

“You know what I mean.  Have you ever had women clients?”

“Solely? No.  But couples call from time to time.  Often the guy wants to watch the two of us play with each other before joining in.  Sometimes the woman’s into it.  Sometimes not.”

“How do you deal with the ‘not’?”

“It depends,” she said.  “I try to figure out whether she’s doing it to please him by choice, or she’s been pushed into it.  The two times I sensed that she was being pressured, I stopped the scene.”

“That must have pissed the guy off.”

Sherri waved her hand, as if brushing any concerns aside.  “What’s he going to do?  Complain to the police?”

“He could try to hurt you.”

“Not likely.  Besides, I can handle myself.”

I wasn’t sure I agreed, but I didn’t see any point in saying so.  So I changed the subject.

“What if she’s just doing it to please him?”

“Then I try to find something that he’ll like that she’s more comfortable with.  Like I had one client that really just wanted to see two beautiful women naked, next to each other.  So instead of fooling around together, we ended up masturbating side by side.  He loved it.”

“You’re kidding!”

Sherri shook her head.  “No.  I saw them three or four times before he was transferred.  Each time, he’d watch the two of us play with ourselves before having sex with his wife.  He even bought us matching gold vibrators once.”

“Wow.”

“It was fun.  They were good people.”

I snorted.  I didn’t quite know what to make of that characterization.

“What, you think only bad people call escorts?” she asked, with a teasing lilt in her voice.

“Obviously not,” I said.  “Since I called you.”

Sherri grinned.  “Just checking.”

I didn’t say anything, and just frowned.

“So, what else happened that fall?” she asked.

“Well… my thesis advisor didn’t like my first draft when I gave it to him in early November.  He said I wasn’t ready to defend.  As you can imagine I was upset, and ranted to both Tina and Sharon, who sympathized.  The saving grace was that he said he’d fund me for the spring semester and I could defend in February.  Not having much choice I accepted.”

“So you didn’t graduate in December.”

“No, but that turned out to not be too bad.  I hadn’t even begun to look for a job.  If I defended in February, I’d be able to spend the rest of the spring looking.

Sherri smiled.  “That’s good.”  Her eyes narrowed as she spoke, and I wasn’t sure if she was honestly happy for me, or just mouthing what was expected.

“Yeah.”

“So, what else?”

“Well, not much with Tina.  Sharon, on the other hand…”

* * *

I still talked to Sharon on Wednesdays.  She actually had a couple of dates in late September and early October, but things petered out before they got too far. At least she had a couple of second dates instead of it being over immediately, but I still wasn’t sure she was trying.  Things looked a little better in November.  She actually got to a third date with a guy and they had ended up passionately kissing before the evening was out.

“He said he’s going to take me out for a nice dinner the weekend after Thanksgiving,” she said during our next phone call.  “I can’t wait!”

“Sounds fun.”

“It’s been a while.  The last time I went out fancy it was with you, and that’s been nearly a year.”

“True.  So, what are you going to wear?”

“Hmmm.  I was thinking I might get a new black dress.”

“Long or short?”

“Why?”

“Because if it’s short,” I said, “you can wear your stockings and garter belt and show off your legs.”

Sharon laughed.

“I might just do that,” she said.  “It might be fun.”

“And it has been a while.”

Sharon chuckled again.

“True.”

“Well let me know how it goes,” I said.

“You can count on that.”

What I didn’t count on was her calling the Saturday night she had her date.  It was late.  Tina and I were already cuddled on the air mattress, drifting off to sleep when the phone rang.

“It was awful, Joe!  Just awful,” Sharon said before she’d even said hello.

“Huh?”

“First, his idea of ‘fine dining’ is the Orchid Pavilion.  I can’t believe I got dressed up for Chinese!”

The fog in my brain hadn’t quite cleared.  “You got dressed up?”

“Yes!  I wore my stockings and everything.”

“But the Orchid Pavilion is just a regular Chinese restaurant,” I said.

“I know!”  Sharon proceeded to go on a rant about how this guy clearly didn’t understand the nicer things in life.

I pulled the phone an inch away from my ear and looked over at Tina.  She was watching me, a sleepy expression on her own face.  I mouthed “Sharon” to her and she nodded.

“So, then,” Sharon continued, “I decide, against my growing better judgment, to bring have him come back to my place.  And then he comes in his pants!”

“Uh, what?”

“We started kissing and he slid his hand under my dress.  He let out a loud moan when he discovered I was wearing a garter belt—”

“So you wore it.”

“Yes, I did,” she said.  “So he was moaning about how sexy that was and how great it was and how he wanted to see me in it, and I said, ‘Do you want to see the whole thing’?  He nodded like a puppy.  So I stood up and seductively took off my dress.  I turned around to give him the full view, but then his face got red and he started gasping.  He came in his pants!”

I laughed.  “Just from looking at you?”

“Just from looking at me.  He came in his pants.”

“So then what?” I asked.

“He cleaned up in the bathroom and I suggested he leave. Then I called you.”

I chuckled.  “I’m not sure there’s much I can do for you.”

“That’s okay.  Mostly I needed to vent.”

“Well, you can vent away.”

“I can’t believe he came in his pants,” she muttered.  “And I can’t believe I got dressed up for the Orchid Pavilion.”

“I can’t believe he considered that fine dining.”

“Neither can I.  You need to take me out someplace really nice when you’re back for Christmas, Joe.  I need something to help me forget this.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” I said.

“Make sure it’s okay with Tina,” she said.

“I’ll ask her.”

Tina stirred, but didn’t say anything.

“Well it’s late, and I should go to bed,” Sharon said.

“Sounds good,” I said.  “Want me to call you tomorrow?”

“Yeah.”

We said our goodbyes and hung up.  Tina looked at me as I crawled back onto the air mattress.

 “Sharon had a crappy date,” I said.

“Sounded like it.”

“And she wants to go out fancy for dinner while I’m back in Colorado.  Do you have a problem with that?”

Tina shrugged.  “Why should I?”

“No reason.  I just wanted to check.”

Tina made a non-committal nod, which I took as an okay.

“I’ll take you out somewhere nice when I get back,” I said.  “Before the semester starts, when we have more time.”

“Sushi?”

“All the sushi you can eat.”

Tina gave me a small smile.  “I really wish we could do that now,” she said with a sigh.

“It sucks to be so busy,” I said.  “But look at it this way,” I said, “it gives you something to look forward to.”

Tina’s smile broadened.  “I’ll have a lot of things to look forward to.”  She leered to emphasize her point.

“Me too,” I said, leering back.

I pulled her close and kissed her to emphasize my point.  One kiss turned into another and we made love again before falling asleep.

--Fin--

© 2006, all rights reserved.

Read the next chapter in this story: Chapter Eighteen

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