Chapter 7: November 24 l

-- THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 2005, THANKSGIVING DAY --

8:13 AM

The early morning air was cold against my right cheek, the pillow reassuringly warm against my left. Instinctively, I turned my face deeper into the pillow and inched my shoulder up to carry the warm blanket higher toward my ear.

Little by little, my body came alive as sensory input crawled along my nerves. The lone exception was my left arm, slightly deadened from being trapped beneath her pillow for some time, the tips of my left fingers somewhat frozen from exposure off the edge of the twin bed we were snuggled upon. But my right hand was nice and warm, layered not only beneath the blanket but also beneath the baggy T-shirt she used for pajamas. As consciousness slowly trickled into my brain, I became more aware of the large breast I currently palmed in that right hand, and of its matching twin squished against the same hand's back side.

I squeezed, reveling in the mammary's pliant firmness, as well as the feeling of a hard nipple circled by the curvature of my thumb. I also became aware of her soft and yet heavy breathing, accompanied by a low erotic tone of pleasure. And as I listened to the sounds of each inhale/exhale pairing, I realized that their cadence matched that of another sensation coming from lower down my body.

A firm yet supple hand grip circled my cock, stroking up and down in time with her breathing. Only now did my brain fully activate and flood my consciousness with a sea of information. I now remembered where I was, who I was with, and how I had come to be here. And I now remembered everything I had done with this young woman, in this apartment, and how many times we had done it.

Having blown my wad less than two minutes after first entering her, I was a man on a mission to redeem myself. Sasha had gotten the full, unabridged Big Ben treatment, screaming more orgasms than could be counted and having all of her fantasies fulfilled. After she sucked me back to hardness, I bent her over the couch and spanked her ass, driving her to three climaxes while I squeezed her swaying tits and diddled her clit until pulling out and squirting my jizz all over her naked back. We took a shower together, kissing while I fingered her to another orgasm before hoisting her into my arms and banging her up against the shower wall until she came again.

We dried off and relocated to Sasha's bedroom, where I pinned her to the mattress with her legs in the air while I sawed my big dick in and out of her. And after she came twice more, I moved up to straddle her chest, laying my cock into the valley of her big titties and fucked those puppies until I hosed down her face.

The only fantasy we couldn't carry out was the one about fucking from suspended rings, since she didn't have them in her apartment. But I got that fourth erection and put together all of the "user manual" knowledge I'd accumulated while using my first three erections. And upon discovering Sasha's box of toys underneath the bed, I tied her to the headboard, shoved her vibrating egg up her ass, and then pounded her without mercy until she passed out drooling and leaking even more sperm from her stretched and abused vagina.

I would have thought she'd be worn out from all that fucking, and yet here we were, spooning on her bed while she actively stroked my morning wood in a way that certainly felt like a prelude to more sex, and not just idle caressing. I could see the time on the clock on the nightstand, but despite everything I'd done to her last night, somebody was up early and horny. And as I came fully awake, I leaned in toward her ear and whispered, "Again?"

She took a deep breath and sighed dreamily, murmuring, "Yeah ... Can you slip into me from behind?"

"As you wish," I replied in the same tone. Without removing my right hand from its highly desirable location, I shifted my hips while Sasha raised her right leg and tugged my cockhead into place. And once she got me properly located, I rolled my pelvis forward and slowly sank myself back inside.

Sasha was copiously wet, both from her own arousal and the load I'd dumped in there before we went to sleep. So I slid in easily and we began a gentle rhythm. I curled my left arm in and across her upper chest while keeping my right forearm across her torso, palm on her breast and elbow on her belly. This clamped her body in place, allowing me to do all the work with my hips. And in the darkness my other senses became more attuned to the sound of her breathy pants and the moist tightness of her vaginal canal surrounding my shaft.

I started off slowly, but as her pleasure built she began to undulate her ass back to meet my thrusts, speeding up the tempo. I drove myself into her harder and harder, until there was really nothing more I could do from my position. Raising her right knee up and out of the way, I twisted so that I was more or less straddling her left leg while I faced downwards, getting the leverage of my knees to really drive myself into her. She whimpered and moaned in the darkness while I rutted, bracing my left hand on the mattress and using my right to stroke her tits before sliding down and manipulating her clit. And after giving her the first orgasm of this Thanksgiving morning, I backed off enough to grab hold of her waist, rotate her body into a doggy position, and then re-enter her from behind so I could fuck her even harder.

Hugging her pillow and apparently biting down on it to stifle her screams, Sasha's entire body jerked with each jarring penetration. With her ass in the air, her baggy T-shirt slid down to expose her naked back, the bumps of her spine inviting my hands to run up and down it while I continued drilling in and out of her. Re-energized by the hours of sleep, I hammered her over and over again until even biting the pillow couldn't stop her orgasmic cry from erupting loud enough to wake the neighbors. And then it was my turn, as I pulled out of her, flipped Sasha onto her back, and then slammed myself into her once more, ending this morning much the way it had begun last night: rabbit-fucking the beautiful, busty babe for my own self-gratification until I ejected blast after blast of gooey sperm into the back of her sucking womb.

Seemingly five minutes later, I found myself slumped on top of her while she slowly rubbed my back and tried to catch her breath. At least this time I'd made sure she got her cookies before getting my own. I picked my head up to look at her, smiling to see her smiling at me. And then I bent down to seal my lips over hers in a kiss that once again took our breaths away.

The lack of oxygen made us pull apart moments later, and I rolled off her while Sasha rolled partway with me to cuddle herself against my side and use my shoulder for a pillow. I held her against me, feeling the early hour and weariness of exercise dragging down on my eyelids, along with the inevitable crash after the adrenaline rush of our morning fuck. But before I could fall back asleep, Sasha leaned over and tenderly pecked my cheek.

"In case you were wondering, you sooo lived up to even my loftiest expectations," she told me with a pat on my bare chest.

Sleepy-eyed, I still grinned quite wide.

But the uncertain tone in her voice for what came next wiped that grin off my face. "Hey Ben... ?"

"Yeah?" I asked, opening my eyelids and glancing down to find her big brown eyes staring up at me.

"Was this a one-time thing?"

Her words were asking if we could fuck again, but I sensed an undercurrent of feelings beneath it. Sasha had put up a good show last night, convincing me that all she wanted was a casual hook-up while telling me about how she was really a slut beneath her librarian veneer. It had all made a certain kind of logical sense; she WAS a stripper by profession, after all. And her admissions had made me more agreeable to the idea of actually fucking her, which I supposed was her goal all along.

But when she looked at me right now, I didn't see the stripper, the self-proclaimed slut who had hooked up with just about every dancer at Nocturne. I saw the Sasha I was used to spending time with on the project team, the studious, driven young woman who had cried on my shoulder about the rough break-up with her boyfriend and in turn let me cry on hers. To be honest, I had a hard time reconciling that the two women were indeed the same person, and I felt like I'd gone to bed with one last night only to wake up with the other. And while it had been easy to pound the former with every ounce of power I had in my hips, my heart ached to see the latter's heartfelt pain and longing etched in her eyes.

Which one was the real Sasha? Was she a studious librarian with a hidden naughty side? Or was she a sexual demonness who had done a really, really convincing acting job on me and everyone else around her? I didn't know for sure.

But whoever she really was, she had definite feelings for me. Those eyes couldn't lie, and in fact, they seemed to directly contradict what she'd told me before about being totally okay as 'just friends'.

My heart palpitated, my own uncertainty over my feelings for this beautiful young woman causing me to hesitate in my response. But then I thought of DJ, and I pushed that uncertainty away. I loved HER. I'd committed to HER. And so I replied softly, "That's really up to my girlfriend now."

"Right ... DJ..." Sasha breathed, nodding twice before putting her cheek back down on my chest.

She thought about that for a while, long enough for me to lay my head down on the pillow and close my eyes again. But eventually she picked her head back up, and I opened my eyes to look down at her once more.

"When you see her today, tell her... 'thanks', okay? I really needed this."

Nodding slowly, I replied, "I will."

And with a last, almost regretful and yet accepting smile, Sasha put her cheek back down.

9:24 AM

"And that's it?"

I shrugged, even though there was no way DJ could see me since she was at home and I was rolling down 101 in the Mustang. Knowing my Bluetooth headset would pick up my voice, I replied, "We got up, ate breakfast, talked a bit, and then I drove off."

DJ's voice sounded in my ear. "Was she glowing from the aftermath of the incredible orgasms you gave her?"

I smirked, thinking about the self-satisfied grin Sasha couldn't seem to control all throughout breakfast. It was the shit-eating grin of someone who'd nicely gotten laid, and I nodded. "Yes, she was."

I could almost picture DJ sitting cross-legged on her bed with her elbows on her knees and her chin in her hands, giving me a sly grin. "Was she dreaming wishfully that she could be your girlfriend?"

I thought back to Sasha's last question about whether or not it had been a one-time thing, and the undercurrent of emotion in her voice. And with a sigh, I replied, "I think so, yes."

"Good."

I arched an eyebrow. "You sound quite proud of that little tidbit."

"Of course. She wanted you, but -I- got you. I win!" DJ's voice was that of victory.

I rolled my eyes. "It's not a competition."

"We're girls. Everything's a competition." DJ giggled over the phone line. "Think of it this way: Whenever you and I go somewhere together, do you ever notice the envious looks guys give you when they see me on your arm? Those looks that say, 'Dayyyum! She's smokin' HOT! What did that lucky sonovabitch do to deserve that?!?'"

I chuckled and nodded. "Yes, I notice them."

"Make you proud? A little cocky even?"

I blushed but nodded. "Yeah..."

"Well, same for me. Only I don't see girls staring at you like that just walking down the street. You're cute, but not THAT cute. I get those stares from girls who've either BEEN with you or WANT to be with you because of the reputation. And I get a little power rush inside when I notice them."

I chuckled, "Glad to see you're proud of me."

"I am. And I'm horny; I did miss you last night."

"I'm hurrying home."

"Don't worry about it. Later, much later. I promised you a special reward you wouldn't believe, and I need you rested and recovered for tonight."

Both my eyebrows went up at that.

DJ giggled at the mystery she was planting in my brain, but then sighed and moaned, "I DID miss you last night, though. It will be great to have you back."

"You know, I don't ever have to spend a night away from you again. I could have come home last night. I'm sorry about that."

"No, don't be. I told you to stay overnight and I'm happier knowing you did your job right."

I shook my head in disbelief. "You're a strange girlfriend."

"Ain't I the best?"

I smiled. "Yes, you are."

Just then, I heard the telltale beep of an incoming call. "Hang on. Someone else is calling." DJ waited patiently while I fished my phone out of my pocket and glanced at the screen. And then I told her, "It's Paige."

"Go ahead and pick up. I'll see you when you get home."

"Okay."

"And hey, you should be around Atherton right about now, shouldn't you?"

On cue, a highway sign showing the next three exits approached, showing that the usual exit to Uncle Frank and Aunt Polly's house, Marsh Road, was 2 1/4 miles away. Even if I missed that, Willow was 4 miles from here. "Uh, yeah. Just about."

"Maybe you should stop by and pork her. Kind of a drive-by fucking, you know?"

"Seriously? I'm almost to your house." The incoming call beep continued.

DJ laughed. "Just pick up the phone. I'll see you when you get here, honey. Bye. Love you." She hung up before I could.

My phone gave me one last chance to answer the call, and I tapped my earpiece to pick it up. "Hey, Red. What's up?"

"Hey, I had meant to talk to you last night at the party, but I got a bit caught up."

"No problem."

"Um, I was wondering. I know DJ's house isn't too far away from here. Do you think there's some time when we could meet up in person in the next couple of days? I really do need to talk to you, and this isn't something that should be done over the phone."

I chuckled to myself, seeing the Marsh exit approach. With DJ's words ringing in my head, I started merging to the right. I wasn't actually going to do a drive-by fucking, but it seemed too much coincidence that I happened to be here.

"You'll never believe this," I told Paige. "But I'm about three minutes from your house. See you soon."

9:31 AM

I pulled the Mustang into the long Atherton driveway and parked alone just in front of the house. By the time I got out of the car, I saw that Paige was waiting for me by the open door, still dressed in her PJs and a belted bathrobe. I walked across the flagstone pavers, scuffed my shoes on the welcome mat, and then stepped inside to pick up the petite young woman in my arms for a big hug.

"Hiya, Red," I greeted warmly.

"Hiya, yourself," she greeted, buzzing my nose with an Eskimo kiss and then pecking my lips. I set her down, and with a sly grin, she asked, "Should I be wondering why you were cruising down the freeway this morning instead of holed up in DJ's bedroom?"

"Just passing by," I replied with a wave. "Pure coincidence that I was close when you called."

Paige eyed me carefully, a smirk tugging at the corners of her lips. "This wouldn't have anything to do with one Sasha Serafian living up in San Bruno, would it?"

Rather than answer, I mimed zipping my lips and stepped further into the house, closing the door behind me. Turning back to her, I asked, "So what's up? What was so important that (A) it couldn't be said over the phone and (B) it couldn't wait until we met up at school again?"

Paige sighed, gesturing me toward the hallway. Just then, Aunt Polly came out, holding little April by one hand as the toddler, well ... toddled ... toward us.

"Hiya, cutie!" I exclaimed in an overly sweet (and somewhat high-pitched) voice. Moving toward her, I bent my knees and opened my arms invitingly, and April let go of her grand-aunt's hand and wobbled toward me, diving the last foot or so and forcing me to catch her, lest she face-plant on the hardwood floor.

I picked up the little redhead, giving her the same buzzed Eskimo kiss her mother had given me, and April giggled cutely in response.

"You're a natural, Ben," Aunt Polly praised while I scooped my forearm beneath April's butt and perched her on my hip. The 1-year-old promptly began grabbing at my ear. Aunt Polly continued, "I know you'll make a great father some day."

"Someday, maybe," I agreed. "But not just yet, huh?"

Aunt Polly shrugged, and then opened her arms to take April back. "I know you two have things to... talk ... about." There was a waggle in her eyebrows. "I'll leave you two to it."

"Aunt Polly," Paige groaned at the innuendo.

I just chuckled, knowing full-well that Paige's aunt and uncle were aware of our friends with benefits relationship, though I didn't bother to tell her that this wasn't a booty call.

I handed April off to her grand-aunt, Paige cruised by to give her daughter a kiss, and then we headed down the hallway for Paige's bedroom. As I expected, Red didn't attack me the moment we got inside her room, unlike some of my prior visits. So I glanced around for a moment before deciding to sit on the desk chair while Paige closed the door behind us and then came to perch on the edge of the bed right in front of me.

"So what's up?" I repeated my prior inquiry.

Paige took a deep breath, folding her arms over her chest before picking her eyes up to mine and giving me a wary look. "There's no easy way of saying this, so I'm just gonna say it: I've met someone."

I blinked in surprise, memory flooding me with images of the last time Paige and I had fucked, less than 48 hours ago in a wild and crazy threesome with DJ. Then, yesterday evening was mostly occupied by Lynne Arian's pre-Thanksgiving party, and Paige had already informed me at the beginning of the night that she needed to talk to me. Had she "met" this someone in the short period between Tuesday's "visit" and Wednesday night's party?

"We've actually known each other for a while," she continued, unknowingly answering that particular question. "His name is Everett, and I would see him at the playground just down the road sometimes when I would take April over to get some exercise. He's got a daughter, Gabrielle, who's just a little older than April, and the two girls have been playing with each other for months."

"Oh ... okay..." I said, not sure what else to really say.

Paige continued. "Aunt Polly and Uncle Frank have both met him, since they would take April to the park as well. He's a nice guy, and sort of in the same situation as me."

I arched an eyebrow at that, inviting her to elaborate.

"He's only a couple of years older than me. Everett and his girlfriend got pregnant during their senior year at UC Davis, but Gabrielle didn't arrive until they'd graduated. After she was born, her mom just couldn't handle it and walked away from them. He got custody, but he moved back here to live with his parents, and they're helping him take care of her. He's got a decent job in Mountain View, so the commute's not too bad. And we sort of bonded over the last couple of months over that: being single parents living with family and trying to juggle the work/kid balance."

I nodded. "And you two hooked up?"

"What? No. Not yet. But..." Paige sighed, hugging herself. "But ... Well, Wednesdays I don't have classes, and his company shut down early for the Thanksgiving Break. He called me and suggested we bring the girls together at the playground, and while they were futzing around in the sandbox, he asked me out on a date. Tomorrow night, Friday."

"That's cool."

"Really?" Paige looked relieved. "You don't mind?"

"Me? Mind? Haven't I been telling you from the beginning that you need to get yourself a boyfriend?"

"I know ... And I like Everett ... But I just don't know if I can handle this. Life is complicated enough without having to worry about a relationship on top of everything."

"I'm sure you'll do fine."

"But how? I don't have time for a boyfriend!"

"From what you're telling me, he's the kind of guy who already understands. He's got his own daughter and work to deal with, which means he's not gonna give you crap about prioritizing April or your schoolwork."

"Maybe. But what about us? You and me?"

"What about us? We're friends, Red. You know it's not going to become anything more than that, don't you?"

"I do, I do. But ... are you going to cut me off if Everett and I get serious?"

I popped my eyebrows. "Uh, I rather think that sort of thing is your call. I'll be honest: I don't particularly like the idea of being 'the other man', and I've gotten burned a couple of times because of it."

"That's what I mean. I don't think I could ever tell Everett what I've been doing with you."

I shrugged. "Well, maybe you don't ever have to. I mean, if we're not having booty calls anymore, then there's nothing to tell."

"So you ARE cutting me off," she pouted.

"I didn't say that," I replied, holding my hand up. "I just meant that it's your call. If you want to continue our friendship the way it's been until you develop that kind of intimacy with Everett, IF you ever develop that kind of intimacy with Everett, then I'm not going to stop you. I've already talked it over with DJ, and you're firmly on her 'Green List' for as long as you want to be. But I do honestly believe you'll need to consider the situation again if and when you and Everett ... or any potential boyfriend ... get to that point."

Paige thought about that for a while, biting her lip and staring off at the wall. She nodded a couple of times, thought a bit more, and then finally returned her attention to me. "So you're really okay if I start a relationship with Everett?"

"Of course. Why wouldn't I be?"

"I dunno. I just ... I still remember those days when you would growl at any boy who would so much as leer at me."

I chuckled and shook my head. "That was a long time ago, and you were a very different person then."

"But I was still 'yours'..."

I furrowed my eyebrows, my mind recalling that first Valentine's Day dinner when she explained to me about being 'mine', that I 'possessed' her. But that was a long time ago. "Then, you were 'mine'. Now? Not anymore."

"Aren't I?"

"Paige ... Is that what this is about? I thought you said you weren't in love with me anymore."

"I'm not, I'm not. It's just..." she sighed. "I dunno ... I rather liked the idea that I was still 'yours', even after all these years. That you'd be jealous if I ever wanted to be with somebody else. It would mean you still cared."

"Of course I still care. I care enough to let you go."

"You mean that?"

"Of course I do. I want to see you happy; I always have. I've also always known that I'm not the right guy to do that for you. So nothing would make me happier than knowing you'd found your Mr. Right. Maybe that's Everett. Maybe not. Either way, I'd be thrilled to know you're going out there and trying."

Without a word, Paige slipped off the bed and walked into me for a hug. Still seated, I wrapped my arms around her as she turned and sat in my lap, still short enough to be able to pillow her head on my shoulder. I held her for a long time, neither of us speaking. And though I hadn't intended it, I did feel a little like she and I were "breaking up".

Eventually, Paige pulled back with tears in her eyes. Sniffling, she gripped the back of my head and tilted my face down to hers for a sweet kiss, one that slowly built as her tongue parted my lips and darted inside to begin the familiar sparring motions we'd practiced over and over and over again. But she stopped well short of starting something serious and pulled away to close her eyes and then slip off my lap.

"Thanks," she told me before turning around and wiping her eyes with both hands. "I do think I needed this ... this closure ... before I saw Everett again. I don't think I would have been capable of giving him a fair chance if I hadn't talked to you first."

"Then I'm glad I was driving by."

"You WERE at Sasha's place all night, weren't you?"

My blush, and the way I averted my gaze gave me away.

Paige giggled and shook her head. "You'll have to tell me the story of how THAT happened someday."

I shrugged.

Paige looked at the door, and then back at me. There was a subtle change in her posture, in the way she angled her neck, shifted her hips, and profiled her milk-laden bosom. I saw a smolder in her dark blue eyes as she gazed back at me. And her voice had gotten raspier as she stated coolly, "Now I'm not saying that Everett and I are ever going to sleep together. Certainly not on the first date. But if I'm reading him right - and I certainly hope I am - then it's quite possible that he and I may end up fucking. And once we do ... well ... you said you wouldn't cut me off, but you're right: still sleeping with you would technically be cheating, and I just don't think I'd be able to do that to him."

I nodded. "I understand."

"But I'm not with him YET. Today, I'm a single woman." Paige unfastened the belt to her bathrobe, letting the dark pink terrycloth puddle at her ankles, and then she began to work at her pajama top buttons. "Today there are no relationships stopping you and me from doing whatever the fuck we want to do to each other. Today..."

I sucked in my breath as Paige's dusky nipples came into view, her unfettered, still-nursing breasts swollen and bigger than ever. Her pajama pants and panties soon joined the bathrobe on the floor, and she stepped out of them to once again move to me, although this time she sank to her knees in front of the chair and reached for my jeans.

"Today ... I still need you," she finished, fishing out my cock and then swallowing it to the root, sucking experimentally and then popping off to give me a little grin. "I can still taste Sasha's pussy on your cock, by the way."

I shrugged. Guilty as charged. But as Paige lowered her head and took me into her mouth once again, I patted her on the head and explained, "Seriously though, we can only do this once today. I really SHOULD get back to my girlfriend, and since this is DJ we're talking about, I need to save a few bullets if you know what I mean."

Paige grinned around a mouthful of meat, her eyes twinkling as she nodded. She kept her word, only drawing a single ejaculation out of me. But she made it count, bringing me to the edge twice while getting herself off at least a half-dozen times.

In the end, Paige bucked and thrashed atop me cowgirl-style on her bed, her movements limited only by arms trying to hold her in place so I could suckle more milk out of her teats. The internal clenching of her latest climax milked fluids out of ME as well, as I geysered gout after gout of scalding spunk up and into her little body. And when we both were done, we stayed like that for a long time, holding each other, neither of us willing to let go.

Maybe this wasn't our last time together. Maybe it would take weeks or months for Paige and Everett to get to the point of physical intimacy, or maybe they wouldn't at all. Heck, Paige was dead set against putting out on the first date with him, and we still had next Tuesday to blow off some steam. And yet, this certainly felt like a goodbye of sorts, and both of us knew that once Paige crossed this line to start dating again, the relationship between us would never be the same.

Perhaps our new relationship would be even better. Perhaps not. Neither of us knew, so for now, neither of us let go. We held each other like that for a loooong time, until my deflating cock slipped out of her saturated pussy on its own. And even then, despite my words about caring enough to do so, I found it hard to let her go.

But I did. Scooping her light body up in my arms, I picked Paige up and then lay her on the bed beside me, leaning over her to give her one more kiss. She moaned into my mouth, and I heard her sniffle to try in vain to stop the flow of tears that were starting to leak from the corners of her eyes. But then I moved a little higher, kissing her forehead the same way I did to my little sisters so often, and the waterworks started to flow.

I held her for a few minutes while she regained her composure and then finally kissed me again. And then I rolled off the bed in search of my clothes.

When Paige walked me to the door, she shrugged and said pragmatically, "This isn't goodbye. I've still got to finish my degree, and no matter what, I'll still visit you between classes." But we both knew that the nature of her visits would likely start to change.

I nodded my agreement, and then pecked her forehead once again. "See ya later, Red."

"Goodbye, Ben."

10:52 AM

Having parallel parked on the curb, I took a deep breath as I turned the engine off. Staring out the windshield at the familiar house, I felt a wave of emotions rolling over me.

It was hard to believe after everything that had happened so far this semester, but this was my first time returning to this house since that fateful day when I threw caution to the wind, ignored Dawn's standing order to keep away from her, and marched myself up to the house to demand SOME kind of resolution with her. Then, Jack Evans sat me down and told me something that I believed I would remember for all my life: That no matter what else was going on between us, Dawn and I had twenty-one years of foundation, and that had to count for something.

Now that wasn't the last time I saw her; she'd come to the Berkeley house to tell me she was taking her sabbatical and becoming a ranch hand at Morris Camp, but the mere sight of her house still brought back a ton of memories. I remembered screeching to a halt in this very parking space on the curb after driving all night that fateful Halloween when she was drugged and raped while we were still in high school. Despite the horrific beginning, my last day in the house that trip had been quite pleasant: it was the one and only time I'd ever banged all three of the Evans girls at the same time.

I remembered taking her parents outside into their backyard during my last birthday party and formally asking their permission to marry their daughter. Jack had joked, "Which daughter?"

Shaking my head ruefully, I braced my forearms on the steering wheel and set my forehead down.

Speaking of the steering wheel, I remembered being in just about the exact same position, at Paige's house no less. I had been an emotional mess, found myself in Lynne Arian's arms, and wound up kissing her before freaking out and locking myself in the Mustang to cry. Then, I'd come to this very house, walked in, and found Dawn's 'Ben Forever' bracelet on the foyer table.

So many memories, some of them good, some of them ... not so good.

But enough of that. I popped open the door and went up the sidewalk. I'd called DJ to let her know I was leaving Paige's place, and that yes, I'd committed the drive-by fucking. She'd noticed the Mustang pull up outside and now waited for me in the doorway, looking achingly gorgeous in a sky blue tank top and teeny-tiny shorts that barely extended past her crotch.

I smiled to see my girlfriend's radiant beauty, only enhanced by the deliriously happy smile dominating her entire face. Showing off sparkling teeth, she opened her arms and literally jumped into my arms as I crossed the threshold, burying her tongue in my mouth and cinching her arms around my head like she would never, ever let me go. I grinned and gave myself over to that kiss.

Time to make some new memories.

10:56 AM

I saw that Deanna Evans had come out from the kitchen when DJ opened the door for me, and she saw the way her youngest daughter had jumped into my arms for a welcoming kiss. But she apparently thought nothing of it and had already returned to the kitchen by the time I set DJ back down on her feet.

By choice, DJ and I still hadn't announced the change in our relationship status, but I suppose even our OLD relationship status had room for those kinds of greetings. Well, it was time to make it official.

Taking me by the hand, DJ led me down the short hallway and to the side of the kitchen where it opened up into the family room. At our approach, Jack Evans turned without getting up from the couch and called, "Hey Ben, you've already missed half the game. Total snoozefest. Falcons are already up 17-zip and the Lions benched Harrington."

I chuckled and shrugged helplessly. Jack offered up his hand, so I went over to shake it before returning to DJ and slipping my fingers through hers a little nervously.

"Dad?" DJ said, drawing his attention before she turned into the kitchen and called, "Mom? We need to tell you something."

Deanna wiped her hands on a towel and looked at us, scrutinizing the way I was blushing and the particular way DJ was holding onto me. She intuitively figured it out before DJ could say anything further. "Really?" Deanna asked with raised eyebrows and a delighted grin.

DJ smiled at her mother and nodded, holding up our interlaced hands. "We're together now."

DJ's mom squealed gleefully and rushed out to us with her arms outstretched. She bear-hugged me first, finally causing me to drop DJ's hand and pat her on the back while she tried to pick me up off the floor and shake me like a rag doll. By the time she put me down, Jack Evans had gotten off the couch and come around to shake my hand once more.

"Do I need to give you the new boyfriend interrogation?" he asked with a smirk.

"I'll answer anything you put to me," I replied with a smile.

DJ's parents clucked over the two of us for a minute, but just for a minute. What else could really be said? They already knew me quite well, and were probably already aware of DJ's feelings for me. Jack gave me a stern warning to take care of his daughter, and Deanna expressed her happiness for the pair of us. And then both of them hugged me one more time before returning to where they were.

Nobody mentioned Dawn.

Deanna then asked DJ to help her out in the kitchen, and Jack gestured for me to join him on the couch. Brooke had watched the whole thing and now squeezed me tight with one arm and then patted my ass before bringing out a tray of snack food. Having burned quite a few calories porking first Sasha and then Paige this morning, my stomach was grumbling despite having breakfast with Sasha two hours ago. So I happily accepted the tray while sitting down on the couch. DJ returned shortly after with a couple of cold beers, one for me and one for her dad, before going back to the kitchen.

Halftime came soon, and Deanna took the opportunity to pry me away from the TV. She asked after my family, although she probably knew more than I did since she talked to my mom every day. Now, she finally asked me if I'd heard from their prodigal daughter. When I told her that Dawn and I had talked on the phone a couple of times, she simply nodded and shrugged, saying that was all they'd gotten either.

But rather than dwell upon Dawn, Deanna moved on to Adrienne. Apparently the busy-busy life of a jet-setting supermodel prevented Adrienne from talking to my parents very often, which meant that my mom didn't have much to share with Deanna. I explained that Adrienne was doing well, was still with her Vogue editor girlfriend, and wouldn't be back home for Thanksgiving because she was she was stuck in the Bahamas on a Sports Illustrated shoot.

Jack told his wife to lay off the interrogation when the second half began, but it was as bad as he'd told me when I'd arrived. The Lions couldn't do a damn thing, and I wound up walking away from the game to spend time with DJ and Brooke rather than get bored to death in front of the TV.

The girls pulled me into DJ's bedroom, but not to do what you'd think. Brooke hadn't heard the story about the things I'd done to Sasha, and neither of them had been told the 'details' about my encounter with Paige. That's not to say that I told them everything though. For one thing, even though DJ was my girlfriend and Brooke was my sister, I still had that reticence to ever blab about the things I'd done with another girl. True, as my girlfriend, DJ was owed some explanation lest I violate her trust. But that didn't mean I had to give her the nitty-gritty salacious particulars she was after.

Sasha and I boinked a bunch of times last night. We boinked again this morning, had breakfast, and then I left. No we didn't do anal. Yes, I fucked her titties. And yes, she has a couple of toys. That was enough detail to mollify the girls, if not completely satisfy them. And I certainly didn't talk about the undercurrent of affectionate emotion between the two of us.

Regarding Paige, neither girl was very interested in the sex details; Paige was old news by now. What was more interesting, and what got Brooke and DJ to stop grilling me about Sasha, was the story of Paige's single-dad potential boyfriend, Everett. On that subject, I was more freely willing to share what I knew. But even then, a man's recollection of a story told is never verbatim, and yet women always want the recollection to be verbatim. Oh, well.

"Hey, is that your mom calling us for lunch?"

1:28 PM

"Think this one'll be any less boring than the last one?" Jack drawled, gesturing to the big plasma TV.

I sighed, patting a full belly and reclining deeper into the sofa cushions. It was the second year in a row watching the Lions get demolished. But that's why they're the Lions. "Well Dallas and Denver are both good teams. And really, the game can't be any worse."

Jack nodded his agreement, and as Billy Cundiff kicked off, we returned our attention to the screen.

For the next couple of hours, I lost myself in the rhythms and flows of the game, getting excited when something happened and letting my attention waver toward food or something else in between. Already this game was much better than the previous one. DJ cruised by every now and again, pulling my head backward over the edge of the couch and kissing me upside-down with plenty of tongue before walking away with nary a word spoken. I don't really know what she or Brooke was doing with this time, except when one or the other of them swung by to drop off a platter of munchies, or maybe fetch me or Jack a beer. Once, I asked my girlfriend if she wanted me to do anything with her, but she patted my shoulder and told me to rest and save up my energy, whispering in my ear that I'd need it for later on.

In the second quarter, Denver was up 14-7 and Dallas was driving. We watched Drew Bledsoe sneak in a 1-yard touchdown to tie the game after a Broncos offside penalty on 4th and Goal. And conveniently right AFTER the TD, my phone rang and I smiled to see Adrienne's name on the display. Although she hadn't had much of an impact on my life in the last few months, she still liked to call me every few weeks so that we could fill each other in about our lives, which was how I'd known what to tell Deanna Evans when she'd asked me.

The last time we'd talked had been right before DJ got the flu, so I had a surprising amount of information to share with Adrienne, and she got into an excited tizzy when I told her that DJ and I were now a couple.

"I KNEW it! Congratulations!"

"Congratulations?" I queried with a smile. "The last time we talked, you were telling me to stay single and let my heart heal after everything that went on with Dawn."

"What did you expect? For me to encourage you to jump into another relationship before you were ready? Yeah, right. I always knew you'd eventually get another girlfriend, and I was equally sure it would end up being DJ. But it had to happen only when YOU finally overcame all your hang-ups and YOU decided you were ready, despite me and Kim and everyone else telling you to stay single for a while. So if you're together now, despite me telling you a few weeks ago to stay single, then it means you decided for yourself. And that's the congratulations. You've grown up, young man."

"Uh, thanks?" I chuckled while shaking my head. "So you really thought I'd end up with DJ?"

"No brainer, that one. She's been in love with you forever. It was never a question of 'if', only 'when'."

"But was it so obvious that I'd pick her?"

"Blonde, busty, a penchant for taking it up the ass ... desperately in love with YOU and quite obviously willing to show you how much she loves you? She's a Mini-Me! But she's there with you, and for bonus points, she's an Evans. Umm, correct me if I'm wrong, but she's exactly your type."

"So was Dawn. Look how that worked out."

"Dawn is ... Dawn. She's got her own issues to work out. All I'm saying is that from the moment you told me Dawn would be out at camp, leaving you in the house with Brooke and DJ ... Well, it was obvious who your next girlfriend would eventually be."

I made a sour face, even though Adrienne couldn't see. "You make it sound like I just picked her up because she was around."

"No, no. Please don't misunderstand. I'm not trying to say that your relationship with her isn't real. We've spent a lot of time talking over the last couple of months about you rebounding and about all these things you've been doing to improve yourself. I KNOW you're not getting together with DJ out of ... settling ... or just because she's convenient. I just mean that for you and her, a lot of things have been coming together at just the right time. Sometimes a relationship doesn't come out of left field on a bolt of lightning. Sometimes a relationship forms because two people are in the right place at the right time and in the right frame of mind for each other. That's you and her."

"So you think DJ and I are meant to be? Like forever?"

"I didn't say that." Adrienne took a deep breath, collecting herself while I waited patiently at my end. I'd excused myself into Jack's office for privacy, and I got up from the couch in there to pace around the room a bit.

Eventually, Adrienne's voice came back over the line. "I can't say for sure what the future holds for you and DJ. I like to claim that I know everything, but I haven't been there, been around you two for the last few months. All I've got to go on is the sound of your voice when you talk about her, and the conversations we've had every so often on the phone. I know part of you is still thinking about Dawn, and about what's going to happen whenever she eventually returns from camp. I know part of you has been lonely, despite your insistence that being single hasn't bothered you at all, and that for all your self-improvement and dedication to not being codependent, well ... you ARE happier when you're in a relationship. I do wish the best for you and DJ. I hope for your sake that she can be the LAST relationship you ever need to have. But will she? I can't answer that. Only you and she can."

I took a deep breath myself and processed that while letting out a sigh. "Fair enough."

"So does this mean Sasha's out of the picture?"

"Sasha?"

"I know from our last couple of conversations that you were wrestling a bit with your feelings for her. At one point, you actually thought about starting a relationship with her, even though you and I both agreed that it wouldn't be a good idea."

"Funny you should mention her. We actually hooked up for the first time last night."

"Really?!?" Adrienne let out a whistle. "I'm presuming you had DJ's permission."

"Of course. DJ sensed the sexual tension between me and Sasha, and for me to rock Sasha's world and then come home to her today is like some kind of victory for her."

"HA!" Adrienne laughed. "That's hilarious. But that's it. You rocked her world and came home? Nothing more than that between you two?"

I took a deep breath and thought about the undercurrent of emotions I'd felt waking up in Sasha's bed this morning. "Well, like always, sex changes people. I think we're certainly closer than we were two days ago, for example. DJ's 'victory' or not, Sasha and I have been intimate and nothing's ever going to change that. But I do think that now that we've crossed that line, we've also taken the curiosity away. I lusted for her, she lusted for me, and a lot of our tension was because we both wanted what was still unknown. Now it's known, and we can move on from there. I think that we'll be able to move on as friends, but never be anything more than that."

"Makes sense," Adrienne agreed.

"Oh, and another thing. I visited Paige this morning."

"Damn, boy. You certainly aren't wasting any time this holiday."

"No, no. I don't mean ... okay well yes I boinked her today ... But that's not the point. Paige actually met this guy..."

Adrienne whistled. "Do tell..."

3:35 PM

Having told the story once before to DJ and Brooke, I now had the explanation about single-dad Everett down pat. But like DJ and Brooke, Adrienne wanted details, and she kept me on the phone overall for more than an hour. The conversation bounced around for a bit, coming back to Sasha, getting more information about my interactions with DJ while she was sick, and even Kim's little interrogation after DJ and I got together.

It was only at the end when I finally asked about HER life for the last couple of weeks since we last spoke, and she told me about two production assistants on her shoot who were both going after her, one male and one female. Naturally, Adrienne had no interest in the dude, but she and the female PA had been flirting non-stop and after calling Caroline, her girlfriend in New York, for permission, Adrienne and the girl PA had hooked up last night.

"Speaking of which, I gotta go," Adrienne finally said, well before -I- could get any additional details out of HER. "It's after 6:30 here and we're meeting up for dinner. Catch you later, Tiger. Love you."

"Love you too. And hey. Come visit Berkeley when you can, alright?"

"I promise. It's been too long already."

"Yes it has."

"Okay then. Love you, Tiger. I mean it."

"I know you do. Have fun for the rest of your trip."

And then Adrienne hung up.

I returned to the family room to find the game starting the fourth quarter and Denver up 21-14. I was just in time to see Mike Anderson fumble the ball and have Dallas recover it on the Denver 10. Three plays later, Jason Witten caught a 4-yard touchdown pass and the game was all knotted up at 21. And that's when our older sisters arrived.

Jack and I both got up to greet Dayna and Brandi with big hugs, and then Deanna, DJ, and Brooke came out of the kitchen as well. DJ and I told our big sisters that we were now a couple, and both of them squealed gleefully almost the same way Deanna had done hours earlier, hugging us both and grinning ear-to-ear at the news. But toward the end, the last time Brandi hugged me she leaned into my ear and asked me to go chat with her when I could.

"After the game ends, okay?" I replied with one eye still on the screen. "They're in the fourth quarter now."

"Who's playing?" she asked.

"Broncos and Cowboys. Tie game."

"Broncos'll win."

"You don't even WATCH football."

"It's horses versus cowboys. Seriously, if a horse ever decided to pick a fight with a man, horse wins." Brandi mimed trampling me with her hands shaped like pretend hooves.

I chuckled. "If you say so."

Forty-five minutes later it was over. Ron Dayne reeled off a 55-yard run in overtime, and Jason Elam hit the chip-shot field goal.

Horses won.

5:17 PM

"Hey, we'll be right back," Brandi announced, grabbing my shoulder as she got up from the couch and gestured with her head toward the stairs. The entire family had been seated together, carrying on a big seven-way conversation as Dayna and Brandi filled the rest of us in on their recent activities. My poor older sister had the worst luck when it came to boyfriends, having broken up with hers just two days ago. Meanwhile, Dayna and Kevin were still going strong, something nobody would have predicted back in their early days of college.

Deanna raised her eyebrows at us as we left, reminding, "Dinner's at six. Don't dilly-dally too long..."

Deanna's words said 'dilly-dally' but the sharpness of her eyebrows suggested something else. Brandi rolled her eyes and shook her head, saying without words, 'NO, we're not going upstairs to have sex.'

Deanna shrugged and waved us off. I caught up to Brandi and murmured, "Can't blame her for thinking it. With all the sibling nookie going on in these two families, she has no way of knowing you and I aren't like that anymore."

Brandi sighed, giving me a mournful look. "Anymore..." She took me by the hand, led me into Dayna's bedroom, and then closed the door.

"So what's up?" I asked, settling onto the desk chair while Brandi hopped onto the bed, feeling a slight sense of déjà vu.

"One relationship ends ... another begins," Brandi recited to the wall before flicking her eyes to mine. "So tell me about DJ."

My eyebrows went up. "What's there to tell? We're together now, and quite happy about it."

"I can tell. This isn't your first rodeo ride together, but you still have that 'new love' air about you. Everybody noticed the way she practically sat in your lap downstairs just now."

I grinned. "Yeah, Deej can be affectionate like that sometimes."

"I know. And I really am happy for you."

"But..."

Brandi sighed. "It's just ... I want to make sure you've thought this all the way through."

"I have."

"Have you? Because believe me, I know firsthand about how relationships can implode right in your face."

"Is this because you just broke up with your boyfriend?"

"No, of course not."

I eyed her. "You sure?"

Brandi made a face and looked away from me. "Okay ... maybe a little. So I'm not in the most lovey-dovey mood with the highest opinion of romance at the moment."

"Do you want to talk about it? I'd love to know what happened and see if there's anything I can do to help you feel better."

"No ... no ... There was no spectacular failure this time. Nobody cheated." Brandi's eyes flicked to me again. "Nobody got caught with her brother's dick up her ass."

I blushed and looked down, though I was unable to keep from smiling.

Brandi noticed and reached out to punch my arm. Then she sighed and explained, "It just wasn't working out. We weren't clicking anymore and both of us wanted something better. That's that."

"I'm sorry."

"Not your fault. But back to you and DJ."

"We're fine. We've got a lot in common. We enjoy each other's company. And we're both insatiable nymphomaniacs. We're unbelievably sexually-compatible. We're open and honest with each other about everything. And we enjoy spending time together. She teaches me how to cook and shop and sneaks under the dining table to give me spontaneous blowjobs. I help her with her homework and carry heavy things for her and scratch that itch she's got almost eight inches inside her body whenever she wants. We're HAPPY. There, satisfied?"

My sister held up her hands, "Sorry. I don't mean to make you get defensive about this."

I shrugged. "Nothing to be defensive about. I love her. She loves me. So now we're together. End of story."

Somebody knocked at the door. We both looked at it, and Brandi called, "Come in."

DJ burst through first, quite literally tackling me off the desk chair and inadvertently sending us onto the floor in a heap. My shoulder banged on the floor and I grunted, "Oww!" And DJ was immediately on her knees looking apologetic and saying, "Oh, sorry! Sorry!" while trying to pick me up.

Dayna and Brooke more sedately came through the door, with Brooke closing it behind her.

DJ finally pulled me up, putting me back in the desk chair and then sitting sideways across my lap with one arm around my shoulders. "You forgot the cuddling. How we fit together so perfectly like spoons and how deliriously happy I am to wake up in your arms."

I chuckled and said, "You heard all that?"

She jerked a thumb at the door and said, "You were saying it kinda loud; probably why Brandi thought you were getting defensive."

"Ah."

The pair of us then looked over to the bed, where Brandi and Dayna were perched on the edge closest to us with Brooke reclining against the headboard behind them, almost looking disinterested.

Brandi glanced over at her sister. "This was supposed to be a private conversation."

"Hey, -I- just found out my baby sister picked herself up a new boyfriend more than a week ago and didn't even tell me." Dayna glared at DJ at the end of that, although the smile on her face belied any heat in her voice.

"So go interrogate HER somewhere else," Brandi quipped.

"This is MY bedroom," Dayna retorted. "Besides, we both want to ask the same question."

Something exchanged between Brandi's and Dayna's eyes, and Brandi sighed before nodding. "Okay, fine."

Without even looking at us, Brooke announced to the far wall, "And the million dollar question IS... !"

Brandi and Dayna both glanced back at her, smirked, and then returned to us. Brandi did the honors, saying one word and one word only: "Dawn."

I shrugged. "What about her?"

"What are you two gonna do when she comes back?"

I shrugged again. "We'll work that out when she does."

"Does she know yet?" Dayna asked.

DJ shook her head before looking at me. I answered, "No. We didn't tell anyone, not even your parents. And I haven't talked to Dawn in a while now."

"She still calls every now and again?"

"She did. But the last time was ... early October or something. How about you?"

Dayna and Brandi looked at each other glumly. "She doesn't call us. At all, really," Dayna explained. "Only info I've gotten has been from Mom. She at least calls her to tell her she's alright."

"Dawn is dealing with her own issues right now. That's her thing, and she's way up there doing it. But that really doesn't have anything to do with what DJ and I are building now."

"Doesn't it?" Brandi asked, before glancing over at DJ. "I'm sorry, Deej. I'm not trying to undermine your new relationship or anything. But the reality is that just a few months ago, we ALL thought Dawn was Ben's soulmate. For his 21st birthday party, in this very house, he asked your parents for permission to marry her. She's your big sister, and whether or not she's in a hundred-mile radius, she's still the one ex-girlfriend you need to be hyper-aware of."

"Duh. It's not like I've forgotten or anything," DJ replied hotly.

"I'm not saying you did," Brandi replied wearily. "But have you two talked about what's going to happen when she comes back?"

DJ and I looked at each other. The reality was, no, we hadn't. But DJ turned back to my sister and said, "We didn't discuss how we'd act around Josh, who's my ex-boyfriend. And we didn't talk about any of Ben's exes, either."

"None of them are your sister," Dayna replied with a sigh. "Brandi's right. You guys have to factor Dawn into your equations."

"DJ's my girlfriend. I've moved on," I stated evenly.

Brandi eyed me. "Have you?"

I stared her down. "Yes, I have."

"So what if she comes back here, swearing up and down that she's healed and she's got her head on straight and she loves you more than anything in the world and she wants you back?"

"Dawn had her chance," DJ interjected. "She blew it."

"DJ," Dayna warned. "This is serious. You can't just brush this off. What she and Ben had was ... was special."

"And what I can have with him isn't?"

"I'm not saying that." Dayna pursed her lips together and then continued, "I want to see you happy, and I'm glad you're finding that with Ben. But you can't ignore the past. You can't pretend like Dawn wasn't this big, huge influence on who Ben has become, or that she might continue to have that kind of influence over him in the future. What if Brooke decided to somehow impact your romantic relationships? Could you brush her off so easily?"

Brooke sat up straighter at the mention of her name, giving us a strange look. DJ looked right back at her, and then sighed. "Well ... maybe not."

Brandi leveled me with a hard gaze and said, "Ben, please tell me you've considered the possibilities. Because from my perspective, there are really only a couple of ways this can play out. One, maybe everything goes perfectly and Dawn happily accepts you as DJ's boyfriend, wishing you nothing but the best as she moves on with her own life as well. Two, she decides she wants you back and actually chooses to fight DJ for you, possibly creating a rift in their family that might never, ever heal."

"Or three," Brooke muttered from behind them. "Dawn decides she hates both of you and leaves for good."

"Dawn will do what Dawn needs to do. And I'm going to do what -I- need to do. I'm not sitting around anymore waiting for her to come back. I'm moving on with my life, and I'm recognizing the special people in my life who've decided to actually STAY in my life." I hugged DJ closer to me. "Dawn made her choice. She's up there. DJ made hers. She's right here. And I'm making my choice. I choose HER." And for emphasis, I kissed DJ's cheek while trapping her head against my own.

"But what happens when she comes back?" Brandi insisted.

"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it. I've thought about a million different possible scenarios over the last few months, not just two or three," I answered. "I've nearly driven myself crazy thinking about it and overthinking about it and analyzing all the various permutations and consequences and ... It's impossible to know. I used to think I knew her. I used to think I understood her. But the Dawn that took off for Morris Camp isn't the Dawn I used to know. I can't predict her any more than I can predict the weather. So I've got a choice. I can either hamstring myself and sit around twiddling my thumbs, waiting for her to come back so I can then know what she's going to do and base MY life around HER. OR ... I take charge of my life again, I move on. And I give love ... with a very, very special woman ... a chance."

DJ beamed at me, and then took my cheeks in her hands before bending and giving me a sweet kiss.

"Do you love her anymore?" Brandi asked quietly while my lips were still on DJ's. "Is there some part of you that still loves her, still misses her ... still waits for her to come home to you?"

DJ pulled away and glared at my sister. "Give it UP already. He's chosen ME."

Brandi ignored her, staring straight at me, her eyes dark and stormy. You could feel the tension in the room, and even Brooke was sitting up straight and staring over at me. I felt Dayna's eyes on us, and DJ's as well. But for a long while, all I saw was Brandi, and the intensity of her gaze.

I took a deep breath, readying my response. But before I could do so, my big sister held a hand up and shook her head. "Don't answer that. Not in front of us. You said that you two haven't really discussed Dawn, but you need to. So you're going to, right here, right now. But not with us around. This is between you and your girlfriend. Maybe you can tell us how it goes when you're done. C'mon girls."

"But ... I wanna KNOW," Dayna whined.

Brandi leveled her with a look, and sulking, Dayna got off the bed as well. Brooke shrugged at us like it didn't matter to her, and she followed Brandi and Dayna out into the hall.

Brandi was the one holding the door itself, and she gave us a serious look. "Dinner's at six, but if you need more time then take it. The parentals will understand."

And then she closed the door.