The Ugly One
by be287m

Chapter Five

I awoke early.  Summer’s breathing was still steady beside me.  After a moment, it became clear I wasn’t going to be able to get back to sleep.  I heard some soft noises from the main room.  Slowly, I edged out of the bed.  I managed to find my glasses and my bag and put on a clean pair of boxers without too much fumbling around.  My shirt didn’t seem to be in my bag though.  After poking around for it, I gave up.  Summer was still sleeping soundly as I slipped out the door.

In the main room, Tamara was drinking coffee, and reading a book.  One hand held a highlighter, which she occasionally dipped down to mark the page.  She looked up and gave me a warm smile.

“I didn’t expect to see you up this early,” she mused.  I sheepishly grinned.  “I’m surprised she didn’t wear you out.”

“Oh, she tried,” I replied.  “I think she was a little tired from the skiing though.”  Tamara chuckled at that.

“You should see her when she’s rested,” she commented.

“I’m not sure I could survive that.”

“Few people can.  She’s insatiable sometimes.”  I laughed and got my own mug, filling it with coffee.  Tamara watched me for a moment.

“So, are you glad you came?” she asked.

“Pun noted,” I replied, to which she winced.  “Yeah, I’m glad I came skiing.  I’m surprised though.  I haven’t had this good of a time in a while.”

“Even compared to playing with Billy?”

“That’s different . . .” I trailed off.  Was it really?  “Well, maybe not too different.  Though I’m not going to go to bed with Billy.”

Tamara snorted.  “I would hope not!”  I felt a little embarrassed for making the comment, but let it go.  Tamara returned to her book.  I sat nearby and watched her for a while.  When she turned the page, she noticed me and smiled inquisitively.

“Yes, John?”

“Uh, nothing really.”

“Nothing?”

“Oh, I was just thinking about last night.”

Tamara grinned.  “You sound like you’ve never had sex like that before,” she teased.

I blushed.  I hadn’t, or at least not more than one other time.  As she well knew.

“Actually, I was thinking about the bar,” I commented.

“Yeah,” she nodded.  “That was fun.”

“Fun wasn’t the word I was going to use,” I quipped.  She raised her eyebrows, looking at me.

“Exhilarating, different, surprising,” I replied.

“See, you can have fun dancing,” she joked.

“I was thinking about the kisses,” I admitted.  “Two beautiful women in five minutes.  Wow.”

Tamara nodded her head, still smiling.  Then her eyes returned to her book.

“That was fun too,” she commented as she highlighted another academic passage, never looking up.  I didn’t know what to say to that.  I just watched Tamara read for a while, slowly sipping my coffee.

Behind me, a door opened.  Summer came out.  She looked a little groggy and was completely nude.  I watched her walk over and get her own coffee.  She was neither self-conscious nor oblivious to my stares.  She turned and smiled at me, drawing my eyes up to her face.  I tried to resist the temptation to flick my eyes lower.

“So,” Tamara asked of our newcomer, “have a good evening?”

Summer grinned.  Once again there was mischief in her eyes.

“Oh yes.  John has the makings of a good lover.  You should train him, Lynn.”

Tamara/Lynn snorted.  “That’s because he’s not arrogant.”

“You think Dennis is?” Summer shot back.

“You were the one complaining about him,” Tamara replied.  Summer made a face but kept quiet.  I was totally confused.

Tamara must have noticed.  “Dennis is the one that backed out of coming out to Colorado with Summer,” she explained.  “He thought he was God’s gift to women.”

“With some cause,” Summer interjected.

“What cause?” I asked.  “If he was a bad lover, I mean.  Why would a woman want to be with him?”

“Because he’s . . .” Summer began.  She stopped short and paled.  She looked at me, really looked at me, her eyes flicking down to the scars on my abdomen and then back to my face.  I held my expression firm, but my stomach was churning and I could feel it start to wrench inside.  I could see her struggling for the words.  She was saved by Tamara.

“Why would she want to be with him?  For some of the same reasons a guy wants to walk into a bar with me or Summer on his arm.”

Ouch.  I winced at Tamara’s words, and Summer’s expression softened as she looked at me.

“John,” Summer began, “besides being a nicer guy, you are already better in bed than Dennis.  He didn’t know what to do when he got there, and he didn’t care about getting better.”

“Maybe,” I replied moodily, “but what does it matter if he’s not as good when he gets there?  He gets there a lot more often than me.

“So?” asked Tamara.  “Why does his sex life matter to you?”

“He also gets there without paying for it.”  

“You didn’t pay for it last night,” Tamara pointed out.  She looked pointedly at Summer, who nodded in confirmation and seemed to be recovering her composure.  Then Summer’s face lit up, followed by an evil grin.

“And you’re not going to pay for it now,” she purred.  She began to saunter over to me.  I couldn’t tear my eyes off the swaying of her breasts.  She stopped about a foot in front of where I was sitting.

“Ummm. . .” I started to object.

“Shhhh,” Summer replied.  She placed her finger on my lips to emphasize her shushing.  I shut my mouth and stared at her.  She began trailing her finger down my chest and then my stomach.  When she reached the top of my boxers, her hand jumped to the bottom of my crotch and slowly slipped upwards.  I was hard instantly as she gently cupped me in her fingers.  Then she knelt down.

I glanced over at Tamara.  She looked amused.  She closed her book and leaned in to get a better view.

Meanwhile, Summer has freed my cock from my shorts.  She was stroking me lightly, using one hand to caress my scrotum, while the other slid up and down my shaft.  When I looked down she grinned back at me.  Never breaking eye contact, she opened her mouth and slowly leaned forward, engulfing me.  I gasped as she sucked and swirled her tongue around the head.  Her eyes twinkled as she slowly sank down, taking my entire cock into her mouth.  Then, just as agonizingly slowly, she pulled back and let her tongue caress my shaft as it left her lips.

I glanced back at Tamara.  She was focused on Summer, her smile relaxed.

Summer took advantage of my momentary distraction to plunge down my shaft again.  I groaned as she began bobbing back and forth.  Despite her speed, her mouth was tight around my cock, sending shivers from each inch of my shaft as her lips slid past.  I started gasping for breath.  Summer paused to concentrate on the head of my cock.  First she ran her tongue all around and then she covered it with kisses, the whole time continuing to pump me with her hands.  I could feel myself beginning to boil.  With a quick smirking glance up, Summer once again lowered her head, taking in all of me.  She sucked just a little harder and it was enough.  With a strangled gasp, I began cumming. Summer never let up or slowed down.  I began bucking forward as my orgasm shook me.  Summer disengaged then, letting some of my semen dribble out of her mouth and down her breasts.  She ignored it, just smiling up at me.

“How was that?” she asked.  I gasped and shook my head, still not ready for words, though none were really necessary.  I leaned back, letting the loopy smile cover my face.  Tamara came up behind Summer with a dampened towel, smiling at me.  Summer thanked her for the towel and used it to clean me up, and then herself.  The towel was warm, I realized.

I smiled at Tamara who grinned back.  

“See what can happen when you’re not arrogant?” she commented.  I nodded my head and then looked down at Summer.

“Thank you,” I said, not knowing what else was appropriate.

“You’re welcome,” she replied.  “Call it an early Christmas present.”

Christmas.  That thought came back to me later.  Once I’d caught my breath, Tamara pointed out that we’d have to get going soon.  The three of us found our showers, packed, and made the trip back to Denver.  At Tamara’s door, Summer gave me a passionate kiss goodbye with murmured thanks, but no hint of any future encounters.  That was okay, I realized.  Tamara and I agreed to get together at the usual time the following week.  I walked away wondering what to get her for Christmas.

I was still wondering when Thursday arrived.  Billy was bouncing off the walls with excitement about Christmas.  I had to grin, wondering how much more enthusiastic he’d get in the coming weeks.  I realized that I needed to get Billy a present too.  He was rattling off all the toys he wanted over dinner.  I imagined him walking down the toy aisle, pointing at everything he saw.  That gave me an idea.

“So,” I began, once Tamara and I were settled on the couch and Billy was up to his elbows in soap suds, “how about if I take Billy Christmas shopping next Saturday?  You’ll be studying for finals and could probably use the quiet time.”

I watched Tamara consider it.  Then she smiled and nodded her head.

“That would be nice,” she replied.  “Just don’t buy him any toys to play with immediately.  He can be pretty relentless at times,” she cautioned.  I had to grin in agreement.

And of course Billy was relentless.  I did manage to haul him out of the toy store after an hour by appealing to his stomach.  I was very glad we’d made the stop before lunch.  After we’d eaten, we wandered the mall, ostensibly looking for something to get his mom.  Billy kept pointing out other stuff he liked, but slowed down as I continually drew his attention to things Tamara might enjoy.  He didn’t get enthused about any of them, even telling me “nah, Mom won’t like that” on one occasion.  We found our salvation in the book store.

I was browsing science fiction to see what new titles were out when Billy slipped away for a moment.  He came back with a hardback novel by a mystery writer I didn’t recognize.

“Mom reads these when she’s not studying,” he said.  I glanced inside at the list of other titles and saw this was the latest in a series.  It also looked like it had just been released.

“Well then let’s get it!  You can tell her you picked it out yourself!”

Billy looked pleased with that last comment and we headed up to the register.  He also insisted on paying for it himself, extracting some money I didn’t know he had from his pocket.  I stepped back and watched as he very seriously executed the transaction with the patient clerk.  Afterwards, we wandered back out into the mall, Billy constantly looking into his bag.

That’s when I saw the banners.  One of the mall jewelry stores was offering quarter carat diamond earrings for $100.  I was surprised at the price, so I steered Billy over.  They were simple studs, with a sparkling multi-faceted cut.  Of course, I had no way of estimating the quality of the stones.  Billy was starting to walk down the row of cases, looking at the other gems.  I tried to remember if Tamara’s ears were pierced.  They were.  I realized the earrings would look beautiful on her.  I reached for my wallet.

Bags in hand, we continued to wander the mall.  Outside of one of the entrances, they’d cleared part of the parking lot and made a mini ice rink.  Bales of hay lined the sides, with a simple fence of 2x4’s and a shack where skates could be rented.  Billy saw it at once and his eyes lit up.

“John!  Let’s go skating!  Let’s go skating, John!”  I smiled.  After Billy’s relentlessness in the toy store, this was something I was willing to give into.

We had some trouble finding skates that fit me even partially well.  By the time I got them on, Billy was already out, pushing tentatively across the ice.  He wobbled some, trying to find his balance.  Neither of us had been on skates often, I realized.  We pushed and shuffled our way around the outer edge in a circle.  We made two complete circuits before Billy fell.

“You hurt?” I asked, as I made a wobbly stop nearby.

“No!” he called, slowly sitting up.  I extended a hand, which he took.  Unfortunately, I wasn’t too steady on my feet and instead of me pulling him up, he pulled me down.  I managed to not land on top of him by twisting at the last minute, but the ice knocked the wind out of me.

“John!  John!  Are you hurt?” Billy called.  I managed to shake my head no.

“Then let’s get up!  Let’s go around again!”

I slowly shifted to sitting.  It felt like I’d bruised something near my hip.  Meanwhile Billy was already on his feet, pushing forward around the rink again.  I wanted to crawl to the edge and sit it out, but I realized he had the right idea.  With a groan and a lot of careful balancing, I managed to get my skates under me and get to my feet.

Billy was halfway around the rink, looking over at me.  I waved at him and he waved back.  He broke from his circle and started cutting across the middle, still waving.  I pushed towards the middle and kept waving as well.  We managed to avoid colliding by hooking elbows and swinging each other around.  A do-si-do on ice.  We probably looked silly.  When we broke apart, I looked around.

A group of teenagers were standing at one end of the rink.  They were watching and laughing at me.  No, they were watching and laughing at us.

Billy was oblivious.  “Jingle Bell Rock” had started blaring out of the speakers and he was dancing to it.  At least dancing as much as he could without moving his feet.  He didn’t look ready for another fall.

He did look like he was having fun.  Dancing.  I skated a little closer to him and managed a stop.

“Dance with me, John!” he called out.  I shook my head no and his face turned into a pout.

“Dance with me!” he called again.  Was I ready to disappoint him because of an audience?

I looked over at the teenagers.  I looked at Billy.  He was still smiling and flapping his arms.  I took a deep breath and began to dance.  As much as I could without moving my feet.

Billy laughed and I smiled.  Slowly I pried my awareness away from our observers.  I was just beginning to really relax when the song changed to “White Christmas.”  Billy and I stopped our gyrations and shuffled towards the side of the rink.  Billy was still grinning.  I was getting tired.  I sat on the side and watched as he did a couple more circuits of the rink and then waved him over.

“Ready to go?” I asked.  Instead of the expected pout, he nodded.  We shuffled over to return our skates and headed home.

Tamara met us at the door.  She looked relaxed as we tumbled in and Billy started shedding his jacket.

“Get some good studying in?” I asked.

“Yes.  Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” I replied.  Tamara’s smile was soft in response.

“While you two were out,” she began, “my classmate Barb called.  She’s having a Christmas party.  I’d like you to come with us.”

“Uhhh,” I could feel the panic starting.

“It’ll be good for you, John.  Please.”

“Well, that’s the last weekend before Christmas.  I was kind of hoping we’d exchange Christmas gifts then.”  I had a suspicion she’d be working much of the winter break after that weekend, but I didn’t want to ask.

“Sure!  We can do that before we leave for the party.”  That wasn’t what I had in mind, but I didn’t see any way to say so, so I just nodded.

Which led to me sitting on the couch the following week with a gift bag containing the small box with the earrings.  Billy had loved the new MechWarrior I’d gotten him and was already putting him together.  Tamara had insisted on going next and had given me a new shirt.  It was smooth and a deep blue.  It felt soft.

“I picked it to match your eyes,” Tamara informed me.  “Since I had your measurements from fixing your Halloween costume, I went ahead and tailored it for you.”  I looked at her, surprised.  

“Thank you.”

“Go put it on,” she urged.  I nodded and headed to the bathroom, substituting it for the old gray one I had on.  A quick glance in the mirror told me it was a good fit, but I didn’t look at myself long enough to check whether it matched my eyes.

“Looks great!” Tamara exclaimed when I returned.  Billy glanced up, but was too engrossed in his toy to say anything.  I nodded and sat down.

“My turn,” I said.  I could feel my hands start to tremble a little as I handed her the bag.  Tamara extracted the box and carefully removed the wrapping paper.  She let out a whoosh when she opened the box.

“Oh John!  You shouldn’t have!”  They’re too much!”

“They weren’t that much,” I demurred.  “They were on sale.”

“But still, this is a big gift for a friend.”  My heart sank with her words.

“Well . . . I . . .”

Tamara could see the disappointment in my eyes.

“I know you mean well,” she interrupted.  “So I’ll accept them in that spirit.”  I nodded and tried to smile, though I know it didn’t come out well.

“Thank you,” she said.  “I’m going to go put these in my room and then we’ll head over to the party.”

I was pretty silent on the trip over.  If I didn’t talk, I couldn’t get choked up.  I thought about the kiss, Thanksgiving weekend.  And the one before that.  I remembered her touching my scars.  Friends.  Why just friends?

I tried to fake my way through the party.  Billy took off immediately to the basement where the other kids were.  Once again, Tamara took me around, introducing me to people and reminding me when they were someone I’d met at Halloween.  Since she was watching, I made an effort to be involved in the conversations and to remember names.  But it was too much.  I quickly drained my drink and told Tamara I needed more.  She nodded and I escaped to the kitchen.

I was reaching into the fridge for a beer when someone came up behind me.

“Can you get one for me too, please?” a feminine voice asked.  I grabbed a second one and turned around to see smiling eyes.  Angie.

“Hi there,” I said.

“Hi John!  Good to see you again!”

“Really?” I blurted out.  Then tried to hide my wince at what I’d said.

“Well, yes.” Angie replied.  It was her turn to look embarrassed.  “It’s not every day that Little John comes to Robin Hood’s rescue by persuading all the King’s men to change sides.”

I didn’t quite follow why that meant it was good to see me, but didn’t know how to ask.  We fell into a silence.  Not too uncomfortable, actually.

As we stood, my eyes were drawn to her lips.  They were redder and fuller than I’d remembered.  Then I realized she hadn’t worn any makeup at the Halloween party.  I pulled back and looked her over, head to toe.  She was prettier than I remembered too—dressed nicely at not at all mousy like I’d tagged her earlier.  Not as beautiful as Tamara, but who was?  She caught me looking and gave a wan smile—halfway between pleased and nervous.  I met her eyes.

“You look nice,” I said.  She flushed and looked away for a moment, before looking back.  The nervousness was gone from her smile.

“Thanks.  You look pretty good too.”  I rolled my eyes.

“You’re kind for saying so,” I told her.

“You do.  That shirt goes really well with your eyes.”  Now it was my turn to flush and look away.

“So Lynn and Billy are here?” she asked.

“Yeah.  Billy’s playing somewhere and Lynn’s in the living room.”

Angie nodded.  “Ashley’s with her dad this weekend.”

“You’re divorced?” I asked.

She nodded and seemed to choke up for a moment.  “About a year and a half, now.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

“That’s okay.  It’s better this way.”  I didn’t know what to say to that and an awkward pause started to settle again.  Angie sensed it too and she shook her shoulders, as if pushing the cobwebs away.

“What about you and Lynn?  How’s that going?” she asked.  I winced.  Gritting my teeth, I forced a smile.

“We’re just friends,” I replied.  I immediately took a sip of the beer in my hands.

“Oh,” Angie said.  “Barb says you’re the only guy that Lynn’s ever mentioned, so I just kind of assumed. . .”

“That’s okay,” I said.  I needed to change the subject.

“So, you’re good friends with Barb?” I asked.

“Pretty good friends.  We’ve known each other a long time.  Though with school and such, she’s rather busy and we don’t get together much.”

I nodded.  “I know what you mean.  I probably see my college roommate three or four times a year.  As a result, we just spend the evening catching up instead of doing stuff like going to movies.”

“Tell me about it,” Angie agreed.  “I want to go see ‘The Return of the King’ but Ashley’s too young and Barb’s too busy.  I’ll probably end up going alone.”

“I know what that’s like.  Most of the movies I’ve seen have been by myself.  It’s not too bad, but sometimes it sucks.”

“Yes, sometimes it does,” she said.  We settled into another silence.  I was trying to think of other possible topics of conversation when Tamara walked into the room.

“I’d wondered where you’d gone,” she playfully admonished me, before seeing Angie.

“Angie!  How are you doing?”  Tamara asked.  Angie just shrugged her shoulders.

“Okay.  Pretty busy these days.”

“Tell me about it!  How’s the store?”

With a nod from Tamara, I reached into the fridge to get her a beer.  As I did, I listened to the women talk.  Angie was apparently the junior partner in a small clothing boutique.  It was too small for her to be a manager per se, but she did seem to be the owner’s right hand man, or woman.  I realized that I’d probably already have known this if I’d paid attention on the porch at the Halloween party.  That made my gut tighten.  Looking at Tamara standing so close made it tighten for a different reason and I started drumming my fingers on my thigh.  When I realized that, I forced myself to look at Angie instead.  She kept glancing my way while she talked.

“. . . so even though, I’m busy, I’m not as busy as you and Barb.  I was just telling John that she’s too busy to go see ‘Return of the King’ with me.”

“Really?” Tamara asked.  “That’s one that John’s been looking forward to.  He’s a big Tolkien fan.”  They both looked over at me with that.

“Well, yeah.  I read ‘The Hobbit’ when I was Billy’s age.  I’ve loved the whole series ever since.  As for the movies, I’ve really been enjoying the extended versions on DVD.”

“What do they add?” Angie asked.  She looked genuinely interested.

“Well,” I began, “they extended some scenes, which actually made some of the plot clearer.  Like with Galadriel.  You realize she’s holding one of the Elvish rings.”

“Really?  What else?” Angie asked.  With that, I just opened up, talking about Tolkien.  Angie turned out to not be a fan of fantasy so much as of movies.  She seemed to know more about cinematography than I, which led to me asking her questions about some of the shots in the earlier films.  When we wound down the discussion and hit another pause, I realized Tamara had slipped away.

“Um, I better go see how Tamara’s doing,” I said.

“Okay,” Angie nodded.  “It’s been nice talking to you, John.”  She smiled, but seemed a little sad, almost disappointed.

“It’s been nice talking with you too,” I said.  It had been, I realized.

I found Tamara sitting in the living room, a guy I didn’t recognize bending in real low to talk with her.  She saw me and made some excuse to the guy and met me in the middle of the room.

“It sounded like you were having a good time talking with Angie!” she exclaimed.  I nodded sheepishly.

“I was.  I think she’ll enjoy ‘Return of the King’.”

“So when are you taking her?” Tamara asked.

“What??” I stammered.

“Good grief, John.  She said she didn’t have anyone to go with.  You two had a great conversation.  She was practically begging you for a date.”

“No way!”

“She was, John.  Go ask her out.”  My palms started to get clammy.  I resisted drumming my fingers on my thigh, but couldn’t meet Tamara’s eyes.

“Why would she want to go out with me?”  I asked.

“Because she likes you?” Tamara replied.

“How do you know?” I retorted.

“I know.  But you won’t know until you ask.”  I nodded at that statement.  Tamara stepped in closer and dropped her voice so that no one else could hear.

“I’ll tell you what, John.  If you ask her out, and she says no, I’ll make it up to you when we get home.”  Her voice was husky with innuendo.  My nervousness fled in the face of the rising hormones.

“That makes it win-win for you, John,” Tamara purred.  “Go ask her out.”  I took a deep breath and nodded, then stepped back and turned around.  I stopped in the bathroom to give myself a chance to calm down.

I found Angie still in the kitchen talking to Barb.  They broke off their conversation as I approached.

“Uh . . . look, uh. . . Angie.  You mentioned you didn’t have anyone to go see ‘The Return of the King’ with.  Would you like to go with me?”

Angie smiled, brightening the room.  “I’d like that,” she said.  She said she’d like that!

“Next weekend?” I asked.

“Sure,” she said.  “Though I’ll need to check my calendar when I get home.”

“How about if I call you tomorrow?”

“That would be wonderful,” she replied.  Heart still pounding, we managed to exchange phone numbers.  Barb was smiling at me, no, us, the whole time.  Afterwards, I didn’t know what to say so I excused myself, with a comment that we needed to go.

When I got back to the living room, the overbearing guy was once again monopolizing Tamara’s time.  I marched straight up and he glowered at me, but backed off a step.

“She said yes!” I exclaimed.  I was still surprised and instead of a wrenching inside I felt butterflies.

“Great!” Tamara replied.  “I knew you’d be glad you asked!”

“Well,” I admitted, “you did offer a good incentive.”  She grinned back at me.  Overbearing Guy just looked confused.

“Did you get her phone number?” Tamara asked.  I nodded.  “Then I suppose it’s time for us to be going.”  I nodded again.  She said a few words to Mr. Overbearing but I didn’t hear them as I was still thinking about Angie’s words.  “Wonderful,” she had said.  

We managed to gather up Billy from his games with the other kids without too much protestation on his part.  Then we were on our way home.  For the most part, I was giddy and nervous simultaneously.  Occasionally, I wondered what would have happened with Tamara if Angie had said no.  But mostly I didn’t.  Angie gave me plenty to wonder about as it was.

--End Chapter Five--
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