The Bedtime Tales of Be287m

Friends and Benefits, Chapter Thirty-two

“So what now?” I asked.

Sherri looked up at me.  “What do you want?”

“Everything.  Nothing.  I don’t know.”

“So what would serve you?”

I thought about that for a while, Sherri just lying next to me, patiently waiting, as my mind raced.

“I think,” I finally said, “what would serve me is knowing I served you.”

She chuckled.  “So you do know that it’s important to know you’ve helped.”

“I guess so, but it’s not as strong for me as it is for you.”

“Maybe not.”  She sat up, and then met my eyes.  “But I think you’re right.  I need to teach as well as escort.”

“Good,” I said with a smile.

“Besides,” she said, “it’ll make it easier to see couples.”

I raised my eyebrows.

“You’re not the only guy I’ve seen who’s felt guilty about cheating, even though you weren’t cheating.  As an escort, my choice is to either take him as a client or reject him.  If I’m teaching, I can suggest he see me with his wife, and I can serve them both.”

“More threesomes?”

“If that’s the right thing to do.  But I was thinking that there would probably be other ways to serve them better, if I could work with them both.”  She paused.  “I’m thinking of one client who came to me because he wanted someone to help him crossdress.  He was afraid to tell his wife, even after he admitted she probably wouldn’t mind.  What if I helped them get past his fear, and helped her dress him?  It could become something between them, that served them both.”

I chuckled.  “Hands-on sex lessons.  Too bad I didn’t know you six months ago.  You could have given Tina’s blowjob lesson instead of Sharon.”

 “You’d like that.”

“Damn right.”

“Instead of Sharon and Tina kneeling  near your cock, it’d be Tina and me,” she teased.  “And I wouldn’t have hesitated to suck you.”

My cock twitched as it stiffened.  Sherri’s eyes darted to it and she leered at me.  She placed her hand on my thigh, lightly stroking my skin.

“And of course,” she continued.  “I wouldn’t have minded when you came.  As long as it wasn’t too quick.  I’d want to be able to suck you for a while, taking turns with Tina.”

My cock was hard now, as I imagined the scene.  Except this time it was going the way I wanted.

“It’s okay,” she said, apparently reading my mind.  “You can be turned on by the fantasy.  You can even be turned on by the memory.”

I looked a question at her.

“It may have ended badly, but there were moments before that which were very good.”

I nodded.  Taking the photos.  The start of the lesson.

“It’s okay to be turned on by them.”

I nodded, and realized my pulse was up.  Part of it was Sherri’s touch, but part of it was the memories flooding back.

I glanced at Sherri, but she just held her sphinx-smile as she continued to play with my penis.  It felt great, but….

“I know what I want,” I said.  “I want you to blow me.”

Her eyebrows shot up, but then she nodded.  She quickly hopped off the bed and snagged her purse.  She extracted a condom and tore off the wrapper.

“Is that really necessary?”

She nodded firmly.  “We’re both sleeping with other people.  Just close your eyes and you won’t even know it’s there.”

“Hmm.”

“In fact,” she said, “why don’t you close your eyes and imagine it’s Tina and me sucking you?  Or Tina and Sharon if you prefer.”

“Huh?  Why?”

She smiled again.  “You can’t erase old memories, Joe, but sometimes you can write over them.”

“Huh.”

I let my head fall back, and closed my eyes.  I felt Sherri’s hot breath on my cock a moment later.  After a moment, it was replaced with the slow, exquisite pressure of her mouth enveloping the head and then my shaft.  I couldn’t help gasping.  She’s right, I’m not going to notice the condom.

“Think of Tina and Sharon doing this,” Sherri murmured, releasing my cock for just a moment.

I let the images of that night fill my mind.  The two women posing for the photos.  The way they stood in their stockings next to each other.  Tina across Sharon’s lap.  Sharon watching as Tina slid my cock into her mouth.  Then them both kneeling, their bare breasts swaying as they moved.

My pulse raced, and the electric tingles from my cock where Sherri worked her magic made me gasp.  This felt so good, like I wished it had that night.  Except… except that the pressure below wasn’t there.  As great as this felt, I wasn’t going to come.

I cracked my eyelids open and gazed down at Sherri.  She wasn’t looking up, too engaged in her efforts.  She’d brought her hands up to cradle my balls and the base of my shaft while she bobbed her head up and down, pausing occasionally to give me long licks.

She should have been the one to give Tina lessons.

I closed my eyes again and imagined that scene, similar to the one before, but with just the single change in cast.  My cock in Sherri’s mouth, and then in Tina’s, their breasts pressed against my thighs, their smiles and even maybe a kiss.

Sherri sucked tightly around the head and I gasped.  Images of her in her garter belt flitted through my head, followed by similar images of Tina.  I felt the pressure, now, and I moaned.  Sherri took more of my cock into her mouth, not letting up on the pressure.  I gasped again, shivering with the blasts of pleasure.  I imagined Tina doing the same thing.  Sherri did something undescribable with her tongue, and pushed me over the edge.  With a final cry, I exploded—seeing white under my eyelids.  When the pleasure finally stopped washing over me, I looked down to see Sherri grinning up at me.

“Better than the real thing?”  she asked.

“You mean better than what actually happened with Sharon and Tina?”

She nodded.

“Yeah,”  I took a deep breath and motioned for her to slide up and cuddle, which she did.  “Except that’s not what I was fantasizing about when I came.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah.  I was fantasizing about you and Tina.  I wasn’t getting there, thinking about Sharon.”

She quietly chuckled.

“Yeah,” I said, “I know.  That’s a good thing.”

“It’s good not to obsess.”

I stiffened.  Any protests about me obsessing died before they reached my lips.  Damn.  When the shoe fits….

Except I wasn’t the only one.  The pictures of Sherri’s brother rose from the back of my mind.  I started to say something, but again, the words died silently.  This is not the time to bring that up.

Sherri must have sensed my mood change.  “What?” she asked.

“Nothing,” I said.  “At least nothing I want to talk about now.”

We cuddled for a while longer and then started to get cold.

“We should do something else,” I said.

“What did you  have in mind?”

“How about a movie?”

Sherri looked a question at me.

“Seriously,” I said.  “Something that friends do with each other.  Assuming you have time.”

She smiled.  “Sure.”

We slowly shifted and tracked down our clothes.  As I watched her slide her top back on, I wondered if I’d screwed up by not asking for more sex.  Except there will be other times, I reminded myself.  Sherri seemed to read my mind; she grabbed my ass as she walked by to the restroom.  When I jumped, she just leered at me, but didn’t slow down.  The implied rain check was clear.

We caught a showing of Reality Bites, and then went to the nearby Denny’s to talk about it afterward.  Sherri found the film only okay, whereas I loved Winona Ryder.  She wasn’t impressed with Denny’s cuisine, and teased me that next time I’d have to cook.  I promised I would.  When we returned to my place, we said goodbye at the door with a hug.

Even though Sherri hadn’t liked the movie, I thought Tina might.  I spent some time writing my impressions out, thinking I’d put it in my next letter.  I didn’t organize my thoughts much and wrote pretty much stream-of-consciousness, discussing the movie and my discussion with Sherri afterward.  I quickly skimmed it when I was finished and then paused.

I hadn’t told Tina about Sherri at all.  What was I supposed to say?

I didn’t exactly want to keep the nascent friendship a secret.  I suspected there’d be too many gaps I’d have to write or talk around if I did.  But I also didn’t want to tell Tina the sexual details, and in fact she’d asked that I not.

Could I legitimately just call Sherri a friend, in my letter?

And what about Lisa?

I set the letter aside, realizing I didn’t have those answers immediately.  Instead, I let them percolate for the rest of the weekend and into Monday.

Monday, when I got home, there was a letter from Tina.

With trembling fingers, I tore it open.  She’d written four pages, occasionally adding comments in the margin or running them up along the side.  I quickly skimmed it.  Her tone was friendly and happy.  Smiling, I headed for my dining room table, where I reread it slowly savoring every word.

She talked mostly about school and hanging out with Marcy.  She’d liked my comments on Belle Epoque and hoped it opened in Tucson.  She’d seen Reality Bites, and what did I think of that?

I couldn’t help smiling.  Great minds think alike, eh?  Even if they weren’t great minds, the synchronicity was delightful.

I reread her letter a third time.  She just sounded bubbly and happy to have gotten my letter.  It might only be a slice of her life, but it warmed me to think of her joking with Marcy over pizza after the movie.

I immediately started a reply, cribbing from my original letter.  I decided to tell her that I’d gone to the movie with a friend, and that we too had ended up dissecting the movie afterward.  I noted that, ironically, my friend was a lesbian like Marcy, and imagined that we must have been having the similar conversations.  I decided I needed to preempt some questions about Sherri, and so I wrote a little about Sherri’s studies, and her appreciation of good food.  That led to me sliding off into discussing cooking and by the time I’d finished, I had four pages of my own.

There was one thing missing, that Tina was sure to ask.  How had I met Sherri?

I dithered the rest of the evening, not coming up with a good explanation.  The next day didn’t provide any illumination either.  If things worked out, I’d have to introduce Sherri to Tina some day.  Did I want things to end up the same way they had with Sharon—with an ultimatum to end the friendship or else?

It wouldn’t be quite the same, I realized.  I didn’t feel any pangs with the thoughts of giving up sex with Sherri.  Or Lisa, for that matter.  When the time came, I was sure they’d understand my wanting our friendship to become purely platonic, without the benefits.

Well, I was sure Sherri would.  I’d better make sure with Lisa.

And with both of them, I’d better make sure we were on the same page.  I didn’t want them telling Tina things she didn’t want to hear, if they ever met.  I could explain Lisa, though.  We’d met through Sherri.  So once again, I only had one question to answer.  How had I met Sherri?  I still didn’t have any ideas what to say, or what to write in my letter.

Maybe Sherri would.  I picked up the phone and called her apartment.

Lisa answered.  “How are you doing?” she asked after we’d said hello.

“Pretty good,” I said.  “And you.”

“I’m doing fine.”  She paused.  “But I read a review of a new sushi restaurant in Bethesda.  Do you want to take me Saturday?”

“Take you?” I blurted, surprised.

“I’ll make it worth your while.”

I couldn’t help chuckling.  “I’m sure you will.”

“So you’ll do it?  Great!”

“Sure, why not?”

“Pick me up at seven.   And bring an overnight bag this time.”

I couldn’t help chuckling some more.  I didn’t quite know why she was so eager, but I wasn’t exactly going to turn her down.

“Will do,” I said.  “Anything else?”

“No.  Do you want to talk to Sherri?”

“Yeah.”

Sherri came on the line a few moments later.

“What’s gotten into her?” I asked.

“I don’t know.  I’ll ask when I get off the phone.  What’s up with you?”

I briefly explained my dilemma about the letter I was writing.

“The best thing to do is to stick as close to the truth as possible,” she said.  “Tell Tina that we met when you’d made a phone call, expecting to talk to someone else and ended up talking with me instead.  We hit it off, but we don’t date, since I’m gay.”

“Huh.”  Well, it was true enough.  I certainly hadn’t expected whoever I talked to that night to actually give a damn about me.

“Then,” she said, “if it’s appropriate later, you can tell her who you were trying to call.  But she may not want to know.”

“True.”  I rolled it over in my mind one more time.  “I think I’ll do that.  Thanks.”

“Anytime.”

“So how are you doing?”

We talked a little about her final days of writing her thesis, and I told her about Tina’s letter.  We didn’t talk long, and when we hung up, I knew exactly what to write.

I finished Tina’s letter, gave it another read, and put it in the envelope, but didn’t seal it.  I decided to give it one last read in the morning, before mailing it.  An extra night would help make sure it sounded friendly.

Then I sat back, content. It was good to have friends like Sherri.  I knew that any sex between us would stop the moment I asked or I became monogamous with Tina.  She understood what I was trying to build and was willing to help.

Except Sharon had been willing to help too.  She’d pushed me to start dating Tina, after all.  She’d just  drawn a different line about what was acceptable between friends.

I sighed.  I still hadn’t heard from Sharon, and I missed her.  I didn’t feel as angry toward her as I had before.  Maybe that was the passage of time, and maybe that was perspective.  I was still irritated that she blamed me for everything that went wrong, but maybe I could forgive her.  The friendship might be worth salvaging, even if we never ended up in bed together.

I snorted.  Part of me still wanted to sleep with her, to get that ‘itch’ scratched.  But it wasn’t as strong an urge as it had been a few weeks ago, and I’d certainly had trouble fantasizing about her when Sherri had been blowing me.  Unfortunately, there was no way to know which side was stronger unless I saw Sharon again.

I decided to write her another letter.  It had been long enough, that she too might have calmed down.  If I kept it light and friendly, who knew?

It took a couple of passes over the next couple of days to get a letter I was happy with.  It was light, a little conciliatory, happy, and most of all friendly.  I told Sharon about reconciling with Tina and our decision to just be friends for a while.  I talked a little about making some friends in D.C., though I didn’t name them. I closed it by saying I hoped to hear from her, and signed it “your friend.”  Once I mailed it, there was nothing more to do but wait.

Except go to dinner with Lisa, of course.  I  arrived at their apartment, precisely on time, again in my suit.  Sherri let me in.

“She’s not quite ready,” she said.

“Did you figure out what this was about?”

She nodded, with a sour frown.  “Apparently my former business partner made a pass at her.  He and I were supposed to meet tomorrow morning, and I’d talked to Lisa about him possibly coming here.  If he did, she wanted you here, having obviously spent the night, when he arrived.”

I raised my eyebrows.  “Did you say former?”

She nodded again.  “He was pretty crude about it, and I realized I didn’t want to work with him.”

“So what are you going to do?”

“Well, I’ve been thinking about your idea for a teaching and healing practice.  The more I look at it, the more it feels right.  I think my friend Susan might be willing to help me pay for an incall location for that.”

“She’d do that?”

“I think she would.  But I won’t know until I ask.”

“You should also borrow enough to buy America Online stock, if you can,” I said.  “If it’s going to take off the way that guy said, you’d be able to pay Susan back pretty quickly.”

She smiled.  “I’ll do that.”  She paused, and the tilted her head and smiled at me.  She didn’t quite bat her eyelashes, but I couldn’t help grinning anyway.

“I will need some help with the computer side,” she said.  “Would you be willing to help?”

“Anything for a friend.”

We broke off our conversation as Lisa came out.  She wore a strapless blue dress, and looked stunning.  With her hair feathered back and that million dollar smile, it wasn’t until she pirouetted that I could drop my eyes below her shoulders.  The dress ended just above her knee, but the black stockings below had seams running up the back.  My mouth was still hanging open when she finished her turn.

“You like?” she asked.

“What’s not to like?”

She shrugged, smiling in obvious agreement.

I glanced at Sherri, who just chuckled.  “You know that Joe probably wouldn’t mind if you just had dinner as friends.”

“But what fun would that be?” Lisa said with a leer.

“Somehow,” I quipped, “I don’t think we’ll be out too late.”

Sherri rolled her eyes.  “Have fun then.  Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

Lisa rolled her eyes but didn’t say anything.  She retrieved her coat from the closet and took my arm.  As we walked out the door, I leaned next to her.

“She right, you know,” I said.  “This can be just a casual night out.”

Lisa turned to me.  “Is that what you want?”

“Well, not really.  But I’m okay with it too.”

“Good.  Because if I wanted it to be ‘just friends,’ I would have worn panties.”

I managed to avoid choking in surprise.  Lisa just leered at me and kept walking.

At my car, I held the door for her and she lowered herself into the seat and then paused before putting her legs into the car.  She waited until I looked pointedly at her, and the hiked her dress up to near her waist.  Once again, I almost choked at the sight of bare flesh above her stockings, but she quickly swung her legs into the car, letting the dress fall.

“Told you,” she teased.

“Oh, I believe you.”

“Let’s go.  I’m starving.”

Driving to Bethesda turned out to be more difficult than it ever had been in the past.  Lisa kept shifting and crossing and uncrossing her legs.  At the same time, her fingers wandered to and fro over the hem of her dress, inching it up, and then sliding it back down. Fortunately, in my distracted state, I didn’t hit any other cars and only missed two turns by being in the wrong lane.  Lisa stopped teasing only when we pulled into the pay lot two blocks from the restaurant.

Dinner went by amazingly fast.  We talked a little about restaurants and food, and a little about movies.  Mostly, we told each other those getting-to-know you stories about our pasts and chatted about the general news of the day.  Well, mostly Lisa talked.  I threw in the occasional anecdote, but really just listened,  asking a question now and then.  However, the more I listened, the more I felt uncomfortable.  It wasn’t anything that she said, and so it took me a while to put my finger on it.  I just started to get the nagging sensation that she wanted more than my company.  I had to say something.

As we finished dessert, I paused and waited until I had her attention.

“As much as I enjoy spending time together,” I said, “and the teasing….”  I couldn’t help grinning, and Lisa grinned back.  “I want to be clear that we’re just friends, and that this isn’t the beginning of a romantic relationship.”

Her face fell for just a moment, but then she nodded.  “I know.  You’re in love with Tina.”

I nodded.  “And, as much as I find you incredibly attractive and like you a lot, I don’t want to lead you on.”

“You won’t.”  She managed a smile.  “I know what I’m doing.”

“Friends?”

She nodded.  “Yeah.  With benefits?”

I laughed.  “I’d be nuts to turn down benefits with you.”

She grinned.  “Yes, you would.”

“Any guy would.  You are one of the sexiest women around.  I don’t know what would have happened if I’d met you first.”  Actually it wouldn’t have worked even then, but a white lie wouldn’t hurt.

“I don’t suppose you know any great guys?”

“One,” I admitted, “but he’s married.”

“Too bad.”

“But if Sherri goes the way she’s thinking, into teaching, she’ll be meeting more quality guys.  You might hit it off with one of them.  Or one of their friends.”

She grinned.  “True.  I wouldn’t be the ‘phone girl’ then.”

I nodded.  “As just Sherri’s roommate, who knows what might happen?”

“Lots of things!”

“Absolutely.”

We both fell silent for a moment, but it was a good silence.  She didn’t seem too affronted at my directness, and I didn’t feel like I had more to say, so we just sat for a moment.

“But until I meet that great guy,” she said, breaking the quiet, “you don’t mind if I fuck you from time to time?”

I snorted.  “Hell no.”

“Good.  I hate being celibate and I’m tired of sleazy guys.”

“I don’t mind if you sleep with other guys.”

“I know,” she said, with a smile.  “I’m planning on it.  How can I know if Sherri’s students are the right guy if I don’t try them out?”

I laughed.  “And, for your final exam… ‘Here’s Lisa!’”

“Oh definitely,” she said, dropping her voice low, “to pass you have to leave Lisa a puddle of post-orgasmic goo.”

I laughed again.  She seemed to be trying a little too hard, but it was sweet and funny nonetheless.

“So what does this goo look like?” I asked.

“Oh, a puddle of happiness,” she said.  She began describing what she liked in afterglow, and some of the times she’d really enjoyed it in the past.  She only paused when the server came and I paid the check.  She didn’t avoid being explicit in her quick summaries of what had led up to her orgasms nor the way she liked her afterplay.  Probably the biggest surprise was her story of a call she’d done with Sherri, where they guy let them have the hotel room afterwards and she’d fallen asleep cuddled in Sherri’s arms.

“That’s what I want,” she said.  “A guy who can cuddle like Sherri.  After he fucks me silly of course.”

I laughed.  “We’ll see what we can find.”

“But in the meantime,” her grin grew lascivious, “I hope you can do that second thing.”

“Well then we’d better get going.”

We walked out, slowly strolling toward the car.  Despite it being a little chilly, there were handfuls of people, passing us and walking along the path.  Lisa waited until we’d turned into the parking lot and no one was in earshot before she started up again.

“I want you to fuck me more than once tonight,” she said.  “I haven’t been with anyone since our last time together and I’ve gotten worked up wanting it.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” I said with a smirk.

“Good.  I can’t wait until we get home.”

I laughed.  We’d reached the car, and I unlocked her door.  “Yeah, too bad it’s such a long drive,” I teased.

“I know.  I wish we didn’t have to wait.”

“Me too,” I said jokingly.

“You don’t want to wait?”

I shook my head.

Lisa grinned and stepped in close, pressing her body against mine, tilting her head up.  I knew immediately what she wanted.  I slid my arm around her and kissed her.  Then I leaned back against the car as we continued to kiss passionately.  While we were doing so, I felt her fingers brush up my thigh.

“You are a tease,” I said, upon breaking the kiss.

“Is anyone coming?”

I craned my neck, glancing around.  There were some people passing by on the sidewalk about fifty yards away, but no one close or headed this way.  While I was looking, Lisa slid out of my arms and dropped to a crouch.  She placed one hand on my belt.

“Give me your coat,” she said.

“What?”

“Your coat.  For my knees.”

I froze for a moment, considering the implications.  But Lisa didn’t, and undid my belt, stroking my erection through my pants as she did.

I decided in a flash to go with it.  I struggled out of my jacket and passed it down. Lisa smiled, spread it out, and knelt on it.

She looked up at me and grinned.  “Make sure no one’s coming.”

I looked around again.  More pedestrians passed on the far walk, but none looked our way.  Not that they’d be able to see Lisa anyway, kneeling between the parked cars.

Meanwhile, she lowered my pants and underwear.  I gasped as the cold air hit my cock, but it didn’t last long.  Lisa’s hot wet mouth quickly enveloped my shaft.

I glanced down, but all I could see was blonde hair, moving back and forth.  Of course what I couldn’t see felt incredible.  Tight, wet, hot, and already starting my blood to boil.

I glanced around to see if anyone was coming.  No one was, but a small group had stopped on the sidewalk, and a woman faced our way.  In the distance and the dark, I couldn’t tell if she was looking at me, but I couldn’t tell if she wasn’t either.

Lisa pulled back and sucked lightly on the head, before licking me all around.  I gasped and glanced down, but again I couldn’t see anything.  A motion out of the corner of my eye brought my head up.

The woman from the sidewalk was saying goodbye to her companions.  She took a couple of steps into the parking lot and then paused to say something more to her companions.

“There’s a woman coming!” I hissed.

“Maybe she’ll join us,” Lisa said before sucking me deep into her mouth once again.

I gasped, partially from her audacity, and partly from the bolts of pleasure firing up from my cock.  I looked back at the woman.  She was definitely approaching, but didn’t seem to have noticed.

Lisa sucked harder, causing me to moan.

The woman looked over and froze.  She still didn’t see Lisa, but she definitely saw me.

Lisa didn’t relent, and even speeded up.  It was too much.  With another groan, I exploded.  I closed my eyes, shuddering, as I pumped load after load into Lisa’s mouth.

The woman!  I quickly opened my eyes and looked her way.  She was still frozen, staring.  While we exchanged looks over the tops of a couple of cars, Lisa tucked my cock back into my pants and zipped me up.

“Let’s go,” she urged.

I quickly slipped around to the driver’s side while Lisa opened her door and slid into the passenger’s seat.  The woman moved to the driver’s door of one of the other cars while I fired up the motor.

“My jacket!” I cried.

“Got it,” Lisa said, holding it up for me to see.

I pulled out of the parking spot and hit the street as soon as I could.  It wasn’t until we several blocks away that we both started laughing, simply from the tension relief.

“Gawd, that was close,” I said, shaking my head, as my breathing started to return to normal.

“It was fun.”

I glanced at Lisa.  “You’ve, err, got a spot on your dress.”

She looked at the white spot on her blue dress and giggled.  “I guess we were in a hurry to get out of there.”

“No kidding.  I’m not sure you hooked my belt back properly.  My pants are riding funny.”

“I didn’t hook it at all.”

I glanced down and laughed myself.  I hadn’t even noticed that the buckles hung loosely against my waist.

“That was an adventure,” I said.

“Yes it was.”

We shared another chuckle and at the next stop, I fixed my belt.  Lisa, for once, was quiet, just looking at me and grinning as I drove.

Sherri was reading in the living room when we walked in.  She closed her book and looked up.

“We did something you wouldn’t do,” Lisa sang, teasing.

“She gave me a blowjob in the parking lot,” I said in response to Sherri’s looked question.

“I might have,” Sherri said, looking mildly indignant.  “If he’d been assertive in asking.  Being bold would be good for him.”

I looked at Lisa, who was chuckling, her eyes still merry.  I wonder how far she’d go….

“Really?” I said, looking at Sherri.  “I’d get rewarded for asking boldly?”  A sideways glance at Lisa confirmed she was still game.

Sherri waited.

“In that case,” I said, “I want you to join us in the bedroom.”

Her eyes shot up and Lisa laughed.

“I blew a threesome once,” I said.  “I’m not going to do it again.”

Sherri smirked, but only paused for a moment, before nodding.  “Then let’s go.”

Lisa laughed.  “I gotta pee.  Meet you in my room.”  She headed toward the hall.

I extended my hand to help Sherri up.  “You can say no,” I said.

“You asked.”

“Yes, I did.”

“Then let’s go.”  She started walking toward Lisa’s room, with me trailing in her wake.

--Fin--

© 2007, all rights reserved.

Read the next chapter in this story: Chapter Thirty-three

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