Chapter 15: The Charter l

-- FEBRUARY 2006, SENIOR YEAR --

I knocked, and after a little while the door swung open. Brooke gave me a smile and said, "Hey. It's good to see you. Feels like it's been forever."

"Seventeen days," I replied. "But yeah, it's been a while."

"We've talked on the phone," she protested, recognizing the hurt tone in my voice.

I rolled my eyes. "To scold me about the sex tape."

She frowned. "There was at least one other call before that ... like a week ago."

"When I asked to see how you both were doing. But that's it. Two calls in more than two weeks."

"Well you're here now," Brooke drawled while rolling her eyes. "What's up? You said it was important and couldn't be handled over the phone."

"It can't. DJ here?"

Brooke nodded. When I'd called to tell her I needed to come over, I'd told her explicitly that what I had to say was for both of them. But Brooke explained, "She's in the bedroom with Faye. She still doesn't want to see you."

"She has to for this."

"Tell me what it is and I'll decide if it's worth bringing her out here."

I shook my head. "I'm dead serious, Brooke. She has to hear this, and I'm not sure I can say it more than once."

"You can't win her back with some big speech. She knows you love her. She knows you'd forgive her. But she can't. She just can't go back to you right now. I know I said it feels like it's been forever since I last saw you, but it's been little more than two weeks. She needs time to heal and to get over these demons, and I'm afraid that seeing you again will only set her back."

"I'm not here to make some big speech and win her back," I sighed. "This isn't about DJ and me – well, not directly. But it's something she deserves to know. I really don't want her to end up hearing this secondhand from someone else."

"What? You're being all cloak and dagger and really hyping this up." Brooke gave me a funny look. "Wait, Dawn didn't come back and talk you into giving her another chance, did she?"

"What? No. No. This has nothing to do with Dawn."

"Well ... Does what you have to say have the potential of making DJ's depression even worse?"

I grimaced and thought about it. "Well ... yeah, actually."

"Then don't say it. Bury it inside and go home. Leave her be for now, alright? It's bad enough that she knows you came over here."

I sighed and rubbed my forehead, finally shaking my head as I said plainly, "Kim's pregnant."

Brooke's jaw dropped, and she suddenly lost her grip on the doorknob. Since she'd been leaning on it for support, she actually fell and banged her shoulder against the open door. She muttered a pained "Oww" before standing up and rubbing her injured shoulder while shooting me a baleful glare. "You're serious?"

"I wouldn't be here if I wasn't."

"So when's the wedding?"

"What? We're not getting married."

"Really? Isn't that what you always wanted? Marriage and kids?" There was quite the mocking tone in my sister's voice.

The tone irritated me. "You know what? Forget it! You're right. I should be done with both of you and move on with my life. If DJ wants to ignore me and you're just going to make fun of me, then good riddance. I've got enough shit going on in my life that I don't need this!"

"Ben, wait!" Brooke called right as I started turning around. I turned back to face her, and she bit her lip and folded her arms across her chest. "Okay ... Come in ... Let's talk."

"What? Now I've got your interest? Can't resist digging for more juicy gossip?"

"Don't be like that. You're still my big brother and I love you. I'm sorry if I came across like a brat for a minute there, and I know this can't be an easy time for you." She reached a hand out and took my forearm. "You know what? Let's go out for a bit. We'll talk."

I arched an eyebrow and gestured with my head into the apartment. "And DJ?"

She shook her head. "This will kill her. I know you think she deserves to hear something like that straight from you. But even if she doesn't, she'll know that you came here with every intention of being upfront and telling her in person. I simply can't let you say something like this to her. I don't know whether she'll get even more depressed over the idea that she gave you up and you then immediately impregnated someone else, or whether she'll feel betrayed and absolutely hate your guts for impregnating someone else. Either way, she's too emotionally fragile to hear this straight from your mouth. I'll tell her; I promise. I won't let her hear this from anyone else. But she'll take it better from me instead of you. Do you understand?"

I sighed, putting my forehead into my hand for a moment before rather wearily standing up straight and giving my sister a frustrated look. "At least tell me she's getting better."

Brooke's wince was answer enough. "She's still losing weight. Practically a skeleton now."

I grimaced and shook my head. "I wish there was something I could do."

Brooke nodded. "Me too. But you're the problem, so you can't."

"Seems like I'm everyone's problem nowadays."

Brooke didn't know what to say to that.

I sighed and then gestured for her to follow me to my car. For some reason, I hadn't been able to bring myself to ride the motorcycle, even though it was brand new. The Triumph simply reminded me of Kim too much, and I couldn't deal with that kind of pain.

"Let's find somewhere quiet to talk," I said as my little sister fell into step alongside me. "And then I can tell you not only how and why Kim is pregnant, but also why she's no longer living with me or even a Cal Berkeley student."

"Wait, WHAT?"

I shook my head ruefully. "It's a LONG story."

The best place we could think of for privacy was the Berkeley house, and I brought her back inside for the first time in seventeen days. She immediately went to her old bedroom, scoping the place out to see if I'd changed anything while also picking up a few odds and ends she wanted to bring over to Faye's apartment. Then, she went over to DJ's bedroom, glancing around before coming out and saying, "So you changed it back after filming."

I blushed and said, "That was just temporary set decoration, bringing crap from my room upstairs down here to make it look the way it did during my sophomore year."

Brooke went over to the couch in the living room and invited me to sit beside her, and we continued the conversation we'd started in the car.

A few good things came out of my discussion with Brooke. For one thing, she volunteered to call and tell my parents as well as Brandi. She recognized that while my family certainly deserved to know, I simply didn't have the energy or strength to deal with making those phone calls and enduring those conversations right now. I'd have to talk to them myself eventually, but since Kim wouldn't be delivering until early October and I was currently forbidden from having any contact with her, there wasn't really any urgency for me to do so. I told Brooke that I'd call Adrienne myself, and Brooke told me that she'd HAVE to tell Faye in order for Faye to help DJ cope. But otherwise, I stressed that this was to remain a "Family only" kind of secret; the last thing I wanted was for the rumor mill to get hold of this story.

Brooke also helped me put things in perspective. I shared with her the information I'd gotten from Bert both on last night's phone call and today's lunch when he, Paige, Sasha, and I discussed the situation. Mr. Fukuzaki had threatened a restraining order if I ever came sniffing around, which didn't come as much of a surprise given his rage when he'd ordered me out of his house. His belief was that Kim was merely infatuated with me, crushing on a boy who didn't love her back the way many young girls did sometimes. She'd made a mistake and gotten knocked up; it was a Lifetime movie, really. He hoped that in time, Kim would get over the infatuation and focus on her future and what she would need to do to continue on with her life as a single mother.

On the other hand, he'd told Bert he was pulling Kim from school not because she might run into me, but because he wanted to be super-careful about Kim's pregnancy. He wanted to monitor her food and exercise and keep her safe. He didn't want her commuting all the way to school and back or stressing herself out trying to balance her academics with morning sickness and changes to her body. But in the end, he would let her return to school, finish her degree, and probably even get her MBA as well. Sure, she would be delayed a year, but her life would get back on track eventually. Mr. Fukuzaki even seemed to be looking forward to raising a grandchild in his house.

Brooke tried to reassure me that time was actually on my side in this case, since I would have nearly nine months to figure out how to get back into Kim's life. Her father had promised that I would get the chance to be a part of my baby's life, and that was a positive sign. She hoped that meant that this restraining order threat was more of a temporary thing while Mr. Fukuzaki got his head around the idea of Kim being pregnant, and that maybe in another week or two he'd let me come visit. Then again, he might keep me away until he was certain that Kim had gotten over her infatuation or until she convinced him her feelings were real. But in the meantime, my life would go on, and maybe there would be better opportunities later.

"I know, but I still wish there was something I could do NOW," I moaned. "Kim loves me, and she needs me, and she wants me. It must be killing her to be separated from me like this, and I feel like I HAVE to go down there and protect her somehow."

"Protect her from whom? Her father? That's what HE'S trying to do by keeping her away from YOU. Let's face it: I know you'd love to have Kim here with you, but if she's going to be pregnant, there's not much safer place for her to be than home."

I sighed. "That's what Viktoriya said."

"You've talked to her, too?"

I nodded. "After class today. Went up into her office and explained everything. Took most of two hours."

"Well, she's going to give you as good advice as there is when it comes to Kim."

"I dunno. She had some crazy idea for me to march back there and order Kim to follow me and see what happened."

"So why don't you?"

"Do what?"

Brooke shrugged. "Drive back down to Sunnyvale. March into that house and command Kim to come back to Berkeley with you."

"Are you crazy?"

"She's a submissive. I know you don't want to take advantage of her but what she NEEDS is strength. And I'm sorry, but compared to Kim's father you're coming off like a whiny bitch."

"Excuse me?"

Brooke rubbed my back. "Look, I get it. Kim's father is her comfort zone and he's been in charge of her entire life for ... well ... her ENTIRE life. He's not going to hurt her. In fact, he's going to do everything in his power to do the exact OPPOSITE of hurt her. And to be perfectly honest, I think at some point he's going to realize how much you still mean to her even after all this time apart, and he's going to invite you back into their lives. So there you go: you'll get back to your son and to Kim. That's my prediction, and I want a cookie if it turns out I'm right."

"A cookie?"

"Nevermind."

"But the whiny bitch part."

Brooke shrugged. "You're not her Master; he is. Plain and simple. If you WERE her Master, you'd go back and order her to come with you. Period. She'd like that, I think."

"And seriously take her away from her father? Away from her family? I seriously think he just might disown her if I did that."

"I seriously think he wouldn't. He'd hate HER choosing to follow your commands instead of his, but he loves her more than he loves his own life. From what you've told me about the way he's reacted, especially that line about being his last memory of her mother, I think she's more precious to him than anything in the world, and it would be HIS turn to find a way to still be a part of YOUR lives. All you'd have to do is show up and command her."

"Assuming she'd listen to MY commands and not HIS."

"Why wouldn't she?"

"Because he's been her Master for more than twenty years, and I was her Master for what, two weeks? Face it, for as much as Kim is devoted to me, it can't compare to her relationship with him."

Brooke shrugged. "If that's what you really believe, then she really IS better off with him instead of you."

I rolled my eyes and ended up rolling my entire head before exhaling heavily and staring at the wall.

"Kim loves you. Kim WANTS to believe in you, but if YOU don't believe in you, then ... well..."

"I can't. I can barely get a grip on my OWN life, let alone hers. Kim made her own choice: when her dad ordered me out and I pleaded her to come with me, she told me to go away. Plain and simple."

"Okay then. Fine. It is what it is." Brooke sighed and stroked my back again.

"So I'm screwed."

"No, you're back to square one: hope that someday down the road he'll change his mind. That's your baby in her, and at some point I know you'll want to do what's best for the kid."

"I do."

"This isn't over yet. There's still time. And hey, maybe things will still work out in the long run. That was the plan anyway, right? You go out there and seek out your true love, and while you're doing so you have Kim and your child. Sure, you don't get to be with her right now, but that may still change and in the meantime, you can continue seeking out that true love. Heck, for all we know, five years from now you'll be marrying DJ and THEN starting your family with her while Kim's little boy is your ring bearer, or if she has a girl, your flower girl. I know things look bleak right now, on both fronts, but a lot can still happen down the road."

"I suppose."

"And hey. Now you've got more free time. It's not too late to join the ballroom dance class at City College again. And you should resume your Krav Maga classes. I like they way they bulked you up."

I snorted. "Maybe."

"It'll be alright, big brother. You'll see. You're a good person. I know bad shit seems to keep happening to you, but things WILL turn around. Don't give up. Keep working at it, and keep trying to make yourself a better person. And I KNOW that you'll figure out a way to make things right."

"You really think so?"

"I KNOW so. You're my big brother, and you've already been to the pits of hell AND back a few times already it seems. You'll make it work out in the end."

Her words were encouraging, and they succeeded in giving me hope. I smiled and rubbed my sister's head, saying, "Thanks, little one. If you're even half as good at cheering up DJ as you are me, I know she'll be right as rain in no time."

Brooke sighed, "If only it were this easy."

I wrapped an arm around my little sister, pulling her to me in a hug while bending over and kissing the top of her head.

She snuggled against me and sighed again, this time with a distinctly different note. "I forgot how nice this feels, wrapped up in your arms. It reminds me of a few other things I've missed since moving out."

I blinked and pulled my head back, staring at my little sister in disbelief. "You're horny? Now?"

She rolled her eyes and shook her head. "No, not horny. Not after that intense kind of conversation, which really was a mood killer. But I do miss the sex. Joel always works so hard to keep me happy, and I've needed him as my own support lately. But his moves have got nothing compared to yours."

"I'm not sure whether to feel weird about my little sister telling me about sex with her boyfriend or apologize for not taking care of you myself."

"Probably both." Brooke flashed me a little smile. "Anyways, I should probably get back to DJ. She and Faye will be wondering what you and I are talking about, and I'm going to have to figure out how to tell them all of this."

"I can still go with you and do it myself."

"You show up and tell DJ to her face that you impregnated someone else, after she JUST went through an abortion, and she's liable to kill herself."

"Please tell me you're not serious."

Brooke arched an eyebrow at me, and then shrugged and deadpanned, "Fine. I'm not serious."

I frowned. "She wouldn't actually kill herself, would she?"

Brooke gave me a worried look. "Really ... I'm not sure."

My little sister realized that she'd probably told me too much. But despite her best efforts to reassure me that DJ would be fine and that she'd take care of everything, I couldn't shake her admission that she wasn't sure DJ wouldn't harm herself. It was everything I could do to not drive over there, grab DJ, and lock her in a room with me until I could convince myself that she'd be alright, but in the end I simply drove Brooke back to Faye's apartment and then turned away.

As before in situations of extreme emotional turmoil, I found myself driving rather aimlessly. The thought of driving back to my big, empty house did NOT appeal. It was now late in the evening on a school night, and Bert, Sasha, and Paige had all gone home. Falling asleep while knowing that not a single other human being was under the same roof had been terribly difficult the past few nights, and I wasn't looking forward to doing so again. Sure, I knew I'd have to sleep eventually, but not yet, not right now.

For a moment I thought about driving across the Bay to Sasha's place. All protestations aside, the girl was still infatuated with me and would happily welcome me into her arms. She'd offered last night, when Bert had called to report on Kim's withdrawal from school. But I'd gently deflected her offers to comfort me and ultimately drove her to the BART station. Sure, she might bring me a few moments of blissful release and the momentary peace of orgasm, but I was only too aware of her feelings for me and to mess around with another woman's emotions while I was still recovering from the dramas of both DJ and Kim seemed too much like playing with fire.

I thought about driving down south to Fremont and hitting up Bert for Xbox. But I didn't think his mom would think too kindly of me showing up this late in the evening on a Wednesday.

I even thought about stopping by Paige's house in Atherton. But I didn't want to intrude on a single mother in the late evening. She'd already done enough simply by being my friend and talking about the situation with me today at lunch.

And the Stanford girls? Amber included? No. True, they would care and they would offer to help. But there was nothing they could do and the fewer people that knew about Kim's pregnancy the better, at least for now.

That only left Adrienne, but it was after midnight on the East Coast and she had enough going on with the sex tape scandal still going around. I myself had been caught up in it, with seemingly half the campus aware that my schlong was available on the internet for all to see in action. The funny thing was: it hadn't really had much of an impact. Really, my reputation around campus had already been decided long ago. Everyone had known that I was Adrienne Dennis' ex-boyfriend, which only spurred the Big Ben rep when she made it big. To have evidence of our sexual activities didn't change anything. The girls that wanted a Big Ben experience of their own before still wanted one. The girls that would run screaming in the other direction if I so much as winked at them still didn't. And pretty much every male on campus didn't want to have anything to do with me while secretly wishing they were in my shoes. My life went on.

I'd call Adrienne tomorrow.

In the meantime, I thought about stopping off at a bar. There were certainly plenty of them in Berkeley, and the idea of drowning myself in alcohol held a certain appeal. Drinking would numb my senses, numb my pain. But then again, I wasn't a really big drinker. Sure, I could handle my liquor at a party, but I didn't go out of my way to get loaded. No, my drug of choice had always been sex, and if I wanted to numb my senses, numb my pain, there were other sources for getting what I needed.

Blissful release. The momentary peace of orgasm. But not with Sasha. Not with anybody else who might complicate my emotions or romantic ideas of attachment. Given my recent history, there really were only two places I could have gone, and while Casey and Carolyn would certainly be willing, I had no way of knowing whether or not they'd be available.

That's why I found myself on Warring Street. That's why my Mustang ended up parked outside a familiar house with three isosceles triangles emblazoned above the main entrance.

But I didn't get out of the car yet. Something was holding me back, and once I realized what it was, I pulled out my cell phone. I held down the number two speed dial, saw the name flash on screen, and then I waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Kim wasn't picking up her phone. I'd changed DJ over to the number 2 when we were together, and after DJ left me I'd changed it to Kim. Even now, miles and miles away and under the lock and key of her father, she was still the most important woman in my life. Hell, even if I fell in love again, unless Kim somehow lost this baby she would remain the most important woman in my life. In this day and age of caller ID, I really hoped she would see her phone ringing, would see my name on the display, and despite whatever standing orders she had from her father, I hoped she would just talk to me for two minutes and let me know that she was okay.

But she didn't. She didn't pick up the phone. So I got out of my car.

After locking my car, I walked up to the entry way and rang the doorbell. A few moments later, the door opened and a pretty bottle-blonde smiled up at me.

"Ohmigawd, Ben!" Andie Holland greeted perkily as she launched herself forward and hugged me. "What are you doing here?"

I hugged her back and shrugged. "I've been feeling a little bit down and could use some cheering up. You know anybody who might be interested in keeping me company tonight?"

Andie's eyes sparkled, and as she backed up, she took me by the hand.

Three days later, I awoke on Saturday morning beneath a pile of naked limbs, feeling quite satisfied with myself. Spectacular orgasms have a way of doing that to a guy, propping up his ego and making him feel ... alive. I found that I rather liked this feeling, and even though some part of me figured I should be shutting myself in like a hermit to really ponder and dwell upon everything that had been happening to me lately, a greater part of myself rationalized that I hadn't actually done anything wrong.

So what if I wanted to get laid? Was there supposed to be something wrong with that? I got to feel better, the girls got to feel better, and everybody wins. Where's the harm in that?

I'd first woken up in Andie's bedroom on Thursday morning feeling a little guilty. After all, it had been less than three weeks since my fiancée left me. I should be torn about that, in mourning or something, right? To just climb back into the saddle would like dishonor her memory or some such nonsense.

Thing is, I'd ALREADY climbed back into the saddle and moved on. I'd impregnated Kim, put my hopes and faith in family and future into her, and then went about "dating" Casey McCahill while simultaneously hooking up with Carolyn, Chevelle, Andie, Lakhi, and Tonya. Heck, throw in making a sex tape with Adrienne and Sasha, and you can't really say I ever went into a mourning period over DJ.

Did that mean I never truly cared about her? I didn't think so. I knew what my feelings had been for her, and I would never have regretted living the rest of my life with her as my wife and the mother of my kids. It had been HER decision to leave, and I had simply decided not to be a wimp about moving on from that.

And sure, now KIM had left me, too. Well, she hadn't LEFT me so much as her father ordered her to move home and drop out of school and have nothing to do with me until the baby was born. But if I hadn't gotten all mushy and contemplative in the aftermath of DJ's leaving, I wasn't about to do so now that Kim was gone as well.

Get up off the ground. Move on. Stop whining and DO something, right? Well I had been doing something. No, I hadn't resumed my ballroom dance and Krav Maga classes like Brooke suggested, but I HAD been doing ... things...

Thursday morning I'd left the Tri-Delt house with a kiss for Andie and a promise that I wouldn't lose her number if I ever found myself needing additional relief. I'd gone to class and paid attention to my lectures and endured the well-meaning but ultimately pointless "cheering up" Bert and Sasha continued to try and give me. Bert wanted to play Xbox, so I played Xbox. Sasha wanted to fuck my brains out, but I didn't let her. Hey, it just goes to show I'm still a rational, considerate human being, right? I'd move on and masturbate myself by using a Tri-Delt's lithe, toned body instead of my right hand, but I wouldn't abuse Sasha's feelings for me. That was the right thing to do, right?

But doing the right thing doesn't mean I HAVE to be alone. No, I wasn't going to get clingy or co-dependent on anyone, but really that just means not becoming excess baggage on any ONE person in particular. After leaving the Tri-Delt Chapter House on Thursday, I didn't call Andie back asking for a repeat booty call. Instead, I called Adrienne, just like I was supposed to.

She'd actually already heard about Kim from my parents, but had been waiting for me to call and tell her myself. She basically said the same things Brooke had, that there was still lots of time before Kim gave birth and that everything would be alright and that I didn't need to get depressed over the SECOND time my baby mama had been taken away from me. Adrienne offered to fly back and keep me company, but I of course insisted that she stay in New York. Sports Illustrated and Fashion Week weren't going to wait for her. Besides, I wasn't going to be selfish and become an attention-whore. I didn't need anybody listening to me whine, and I certainly wasn't going to whine to myself.

No, I assured Adrienne that I'd be just fine on my own and that I'd get some therapeutic physical distractions, of which Adrienne approved. So I called up Casey and asked if she was busy. She wasn't, so I invited her over to the house.

I woke up on Friday morning to find Casey's nice tits in my face while Carolyn deep-throated my cock. I sent them both off to school with a load of cum in each of their cunts, and then puttered around the house tidying up and doing some actual studying. Bert dropped by before lunch, ostensibly to play video games even though I knew he was checking up on my emotional condition, quite possibly at Lynne's direction. I assured him I was fine, and then we met up with Sasha and Paige for lunch as usual.

I flirted some, including a couple of Chi Omegas who had been friends with Steph Brajkovich from last year. Word had been spreading around campus of my single status, and the sex tape had put me back on everyone's radar. I could feel the wolves beginning to circle, and I actually thought I'd let a few of them get a bite. After all, my social calendar was still empty for Friday night.

But then busty brunette Tri-Delt Jamie Miano had swung by and quite literally taken my hand and dragged me away from the Chi Omegas. She preempted any further arguments by asking ME out on a date, and hey ... my social calendar was still empty for Friday night.

So we went out. We enjoyed dinner. Jamie even paid. We started making out in the Mustang, and when Jamie asked me to take her to my house, I readily agreed. We pulled up to find a familiar black Lexus ES already parallel parked on the curb, and Andie Holland and Filipina babe Jocelyn Canilao both got out of it as the Mustang pulled in.

Wordlessly, I'd arched an eyebrow at Jamie. She shrugged, smiled, and explained, "Texted them before we left the restaurant."

Worked for me. As great as Jamie was in the sack, everyone knew that no single Tri-Delt could completely tame the beast. The three of them sure gave it their best shot, though. And in the end, I was so exhausted that I'd simply lain wherever I found myself when the last shred of energy left my body. I wasn't cuddling per se. If it so happened that my head was pillowed on the bosom of a naked girl, so much the better, but it wasn't about my co-dependency.

So now it was Saturday morning, and I'd awoken beneath a pile of naked limbs, quite happy to be in this position. The best part about waking up amongst a pile of limbs was the simple fact that those limbs belonged to naked females, and specifically naked females who had already proven their willingness to let me have sex with them. This proved exceedingly convenient given that the seven or so hours of sleep I'd just had provided me with new reserves of energy to fuel my body's motion, and that the seven or so hours since my last ejaculation had provided me with more than ample enough time to develop a brand new erection.

Now since the little head on my erection awoke before my big head did, that little head was doing my thinking for me. Like a homing missile, its acute senses sniffed out the nearest wet pussy. And almost on instinct, I found myself rolling atop a busty, lush feminine body.

Jamie inhaled sharply as my cock pushed three inches into her snatch. Her folds were still quite moist from the copious amounts of her girlcum and my man spunk deposited in there the night before. The Italian girl's dark brown eyes fluttered as I pushed myself in deeper, and by the time my short and curlies were pressed up against her trimmed beaver, she was fully awake and giving me a sideways smirk. "Um ... good morning..." she drawled.

"Morning," I mumbled around a mouthful of boob. Jamie's D-cup melons sagged noticeably beneath their heavy weight. But there was nothing saggy about her nipples, which were hard bullets at the center of fat areolas straining in vain to puncture the ceiling far above.

"Ohhh..." Jamie moaned as I withdrew most of the way out and then swiftly pushed into her once again. Her arms came up to cradle my head to her breast before I kissed my way higher and impulsively decided to give her a hickey on her creamy-white neck.

Jocelyn awoke sometime during my fuck with Jamie. When I realized that the Filipina babe's eyes were open as she smiled at us, I focused on getting my current Italian amante a nice orgasm, and once I did, I pecked Jamie on her lips and then moved over to mount Jocelyn instead.

The tan, Asian brunette had been sleeping face-down, and she remained that way as I drilled her from behind. Being somewhat more petite than Jamie, her snug pussy clutched at me nicely and it was easy to hold her breasts in my hands without needing to hunch over very far. She crooned out her morning climax as I gave her a hickey to match Jamie's, and just then I glanced over to see Andie grinning at us.

I pulled out of Jocelyn and moved over. Having had plenty of time to wake herself up, Andie took charge by grabbing my shoulders and rolling me onto my back. The bottle-blonde was built about the same as Jocelyn, so once again I sighed happily at the snug tightness of her pussy. I played with her perky titties while she humped up and down in my lap. I then sat up to give the cute Tri-Delt her own hickey before she squealed out a climax. And when my third lover of the morning clenched her inner muscles around my invading prod, she sucked out my spunk along with her.

"Ahhh..." Andie sighed as she felt me squirting inside her. As we both came down from our orgasmic peaks, she took a deep breath and then grinned. "That's a helluva way to wake up."

"We should do it every morning," I agreed, a goofy grin on my face post-ejaculation.

Andie blinked in surprise, her body going still atop me as her eyes widened.

Jamie giggled beside us. "Is that an invitation?"

Now it was my turn to blink in surprise. "Uh..." I fumbled for a moment. "I hadn't really thought about it."

"Girls, girls," Jocelyn said calmingly. "Don't we know better than to accept promises from a guy right after he's busted his nut? Especially while he's still buried inside one of us?"

Andie giggled and clenched her pussy muscles again, giving my slowly-deflating cock a little massage. "Aww..." she pouted. "But it sounds like a really good idea."

"Andie..." I began gently, not wanting to bite the hand that just fed me. "We're friends, and this has really been fantastic. But I don't want you to get the wrong idea that-"

"Hey, hey, relax," Jocelyn soothed, reaching out and rubbing my chest. "None of us has any designs on trying to make you settle down, especially after what you've just been through, right?"

Jamie nodded agreeably. Andie winced for a moment, but nodded as well. She also climbed off me, sliding across the bed for a tissue to blot up her leakage.

"After all the shit that's just happened to me over the last few weeks, the LAST thing I want is any kind of serious relationship," I explained apologetically, looking at each of them in turn. "Honestly, I would love to be able to wake up every morning with any one of you, much less all three of you. But suggesting that anything like that actually happen is dangerously close to commitment, and I have no intention of leading any of you on."

"Hey ... we get it," Jocelyn replied firmly. "This is all for fun. We have a good time, you have a good time – everybody wins."

"But hey, why not?" Jamie chirped. When all three of us looked at her, she immediately held her hands up. "I don't mean trying to trap Ben into a relationship or anything. I meant the idea of waking up every morning with one of us. He IS single now. And by keeping a girl stationed here at all times, the sorority can establish a little territory."

Jocelyn's jaw dropped. "What, like this house is a beachhead and we're gaining a foothold onto enemy grounds?"

"Ben's house is not enemy grounds. More like we Tri-Delts can establish our claim on him; keep some of those other predatory bitches away," Jamie said haughtily. "You already know the Chi Omegas want to steal him."

I blushed.

"Hey, we can't do that," Andie interrupted. "It's not fair to Ben. However much history we've had together, Ben is not a Tri-Delt and he's not our property to be defended. Ben can date and see whomever he chooses, and for us to 'keep a girl stationed here at all times' sounds like an extreme invasion of privacy."

"Andie's right," Jocelyn sighed.

Jamie pouted.

And then all three girls were suddenly looking at me.

I had been sitting up this whole time, leaning back on my arms while watching in amusement as the girls bantered back and forth. It was quite distracting that all three of them were still fully naked, and in these first few minutes after my ejaculation I was still feeling pretty mellow.

Realizing that the girls were waiting for me to say something, I shrugged and smirked. "Actually, I rather liked the idea of having some casual company around. You're right: I don't really like the notion of 'keeping someone stationed here'; it smacks of obligation and commitment on both sides. But that said, what single guy in his right mind wouldn't like to have a horny girl or two around at all times?"

The girls giggled. Jocelyn put in: "You'd love that, wouldn't you? A willing Tri-Delt always at your beck and call?"

Jamie laughed. "We should have a hotline installed, like the President. Any time the red phone rings in the house, whichever girl wants to answer it hustles over and fucks Ben's brains out."

All three girls giggled again, but I held my hands up. "Hey, let's not get carried away. As appealing as that idea sounds, you all mean more to me than that. I've slept with a lot of the sisters, but I've tried to always establish those relationships as mutual. I'm not the sorority cock at your beck and call, and I respect each of you too much as individuals to ever expect you to just drop everything and rush over here to ... service me ... or something."

"But we like servicing you," Jamie leered.

I blushed and looked down in embarrassment, but replied with a smile, "I rather enjoy being serviced too."

"So let's think about this for a minute," Jocelyn began. "Ben is single, and he enjoys having sex with us. There are a good number of Tri-Delts who like having sex with Ben. Surely we can work something out."

"But it has to be an arrangement that doesn't obligate Ben, OR us," Andie put in. "No Tri-Delt can be compelled to be with him, and he has to be free to pursue a relationship – a real relationship – with someone if he so chooses."

"Simple," I stated with a shrug and a smile. "Mi casa es su casa. My door is open to any of you should you want to come visit. We're all friends – and let's be plain: we're fuck-buddies too – and I'd be happy at any time to have you here.'

"You mean have us here," Jamie intoned, patting the bed and giving me a seductive smile.

I shook my head. "Like Andie said: no obligations. If you want to visit just for the sheer enjoyment of my company, I'd love that; quite honestly, I don't have that many real friends right now. If we mutually want to have a little physical pleasure, that works too. But no girl is 'stationed' here and no one is at my beck and call."

"And if you end up finding a new girlfriend?" Andie asked hesitantly.

I took a deep breath. "Well, depending on the girl, the situation then might change. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. But I'll tell you all right now that my pursuing a serious relationship is NOT going to happen anytime soon. After all the ups and downs in my romantic life these last few years, I'm taking a break from the serious commitment scene. My head hurts just trying to think about it. I'm a Senior and graduation is in only a few more months. Right now, I really just want to survive the remainder of my academic career, and at the same time, I'm a horny 21-year-old who wants to enjoy his life ... and the friends in it."

"So we're just friends ... fuck-buddies," Jocelyn said while nodding. "We can visit if we want; we don't have to if we don't. Whichever girl or girls end up hanging out here can self-organize to hook up with you or not. And there are no obligations for anyone. That about sum it up?"

I nodded. "Sounds about right."

Jamie and Andie grinned. Jamie giggled, "So how about tonight?"

I gestured across my room. "Mi casa es su casa."

It was still Saturday afternoon when I burped as I closed up the paper carton that had contained my recently-devoured Six Dollar Burger. The commercials claimed that without them, some guys would starve. In my case, that was no longer true. I could certainly fend for myself in the kitchen...

... but dammit, sometimes a guy just wants a burger.

Hey, a little fast food wouldn't kill me. I was still young and healthy. Besides, it wasn't like I would be lacking for cardio exercise.

Speaking of which, I was just tossing the burger carton into the trash when my cell phone went off. I checked the display and smirked as I read the name: Jamie Miano.

"Hello, lovely," I greeted.

"Ooh, I like that. Say it again."

"Hello... lovely."

Jamie giggled cutely over the line. "Is it alright if we come over?"

"Anytime," I replied.

"Any time?" she queried. "You mean we can just drop by unannounced?"

"Sure, really. Other than classes during the weekdays, I don't really have anywhere else to go."

"I'm not sure whether to pity your pathetic-ness or be pleased by your availability."

"Be pleased, please."

"Okay." Jamie giggled again. "We'll be over in ten minutes."

We hung up, and then I glanced around the house. Despite my resolve to be casual about this, to treat these Tri-Delt booty calls as if they were just any other day, I found myself feeling the butterflies of anxiety as if I were waiting for a date. I couldn't help but putter around the living room, tidying up things just a bit. And after smell-checking my own breath, I even swished some Coke around my mouth just to help with my burger/onion breath.

ReLAX, man. This isn't a date. There's no need to impress anybody. Jamie, Andie, and Jocelyn are a sure thing, and even if they weren't, you're still going to enjoy their non-sexual company. Anything will be better than being friendless and alone.

Still, it couldn't hurt to not be physically unappealing.

Taking a deep breath, I wondered if I had enough time to change clothes. Having stayed in the house all day, I wasn't stinky or anything. But maybe some fresh deodorant or maybe even a splash of cologne or...

The doorbell rang.

Shrugging, I felt my sense of nervousness fade away. They were here now, and whatever happened, happened. I took a deep breath and headed for the front door. I had to admit: I was curious as to how Jamie, Andie, and Jocelyn would now look, having returned to the Sorority House for fresh clothes and makeup after departing this morning.

Opening the door, I soon had my answer. Jamie had dressed comfortably, with a white spaghetti-strap tank top that put her big hooters on full display and a summer skirt. But my eyes bugged out in surprise to see the two girls immediately behind her.

More specifically, I was surprised to see which two girls were behind her. I'd been expecting to see Andie Holland and Jocelyn Canilao. After all, it was those two plus Jamie who had discussed our fuck-buddy "mi casa es su casa" arrangement. But instead of Andie and Jocelyn, I found myself gawking at super-curvaceous Latina Lupe Gutierrez and Nordic blonde Whitney Arvidsson.

"Heyyy, Ben," Whitney greeted me coyly, bringing a hand up to her jaw line and biting on her pinky nail.

"Buenas tardes, Ben-ha-meen," Lupe enthused.

"Um, hi ladies," I stammered in surprise.

"Have you already eaten?" Jamie inquired, gesturing to Lupe who carried a wicker picnic basket. "If not, Lupe brought us some snacks."

"Um, yeah ... I already ate," I stuttered, still recovering from the surprise.

"Oh goody!" Whitney giggled. "Then we can go straight to the sex!"

I yawned as I entered the kitchen on Sunday morning, and then smiled to see the half-naked female with her back to me. Jamie stood before the cooking range, frying up eggs in a wide sauté pan. Her long dark hair was pulled up into a high ponytail, and she'd rolled up the sleeves of her oversized white men's button-down dress shirt (my button-down dress shirt). And when I sidled up behind her and slid my hand up her thigh, I quickly found that the dress shirt was her only article of clothing.

"Stop that," she laughed, tugging on my wrist and extracting my fingers from her still-wet pussy.

"Mmm ... Breakfast..." I intoned as I popped those fingers into my mouth to suck off her juices.

"Gimme a taste."

Shrugging, I slid my hand underneath the shirt and shoved two fingers into her snatch again, making Jamie double over and laugh. But once properly coated, I pulled my fingers out and fed them to the busty Italian babe.

"So why'd you leave early?" I asked, heading for the fridge to get some orange juice. "Whitney wanted you to suck out the creampie."

Jamie shrugged with her back to me, focusing on the eggs. "Two nights in a row with you ... plus mornings ... have worn me out. I felt satisfied enough to stop. Figured Lupe and Whitney could use the extra attention. Besides, I'll bet Lupe was happy to slurp up the creampie.

I nodded. "She was. She's out cold now. So's Whitney, for that matter."

Jamie laughed. "I'll bet."

Sidling back up behind Jamie, I slid my hand down to cup her bare ass and rubbed it gently. "Sure you don't want one more turn? Bend you over right here against the counter? Reach underneath that shirt to fondle your tits before grabbing onto them as leverage while I thrust into you from behind?"

Jamie inhaled sharply as my fingers ran down the crack of her ass. She stiffened and looked back at me with thinly disguised lust in her eyes. But before she could respond, a new voice cut in.

"Ben?" Brooke called brightly.

I turned around just in time to see my little sister enter the kitchen, with Sasha right behind her. When I moved, my body revealed Jamie in front of me, which stopped both newcomers in their tracks.

"Oops," Brooke grunted. "Sorry, I didn't realize you had company."

"It's your brother. Surely you can't be that surprised," Sasha commented dryly.

Jamie and I shared a look. She was wondering why my sister and another girl were here when I had specifically told her before that all my roommates had moved out, and I shrugged at her helplessly. But smoothly, Jamie blushed before giving the girls a short wave. "Hi, I'm Jamie."

Brooke nodded as she headed for the fridge. "Brooke. I'm Ben's sister."

"Pleased to meet you."

"I'm Sasha."

Jamie blushed again. "Hope you girls don't mind me using your cookware."

"Not mine," Sasha replied with her hands up. "I don't live here."

"Don't worry about it," Brooke replied, pulling her head out of the fridge with a carton of orange juice in her hand. "We've got plenty."

I stepped up, gesturing Jamie to the cabinets. "If you're going to make a habit of cooking here, I'd better show you where everything is."

"Habit?" Sasha gave Jamie a strange look before raising her eyebrows at me. And in a slightly worried voice, she asked, "So are you two seeing each other?"

Jamie quickly held her hands up. "No, no. Ben and I are just friends. Nothing serious, otherwise the other Tri-Delts would try to lynch me."

"Oh, okay," Sasha chirped in obvious relief. "You're from the Sorority?"

Jamie nodded before turning back to me. "But yeah, you'd better show me where everything is so I can tell the other girls who'll be coming by here."

Brooke closed the refrigerator and arched an eyebrow. "Other girls?"

Jamie glanced at me and smirked. "Guess Ben shoulda cleared it with you girls first, but he sorta offered an open door to the Sorority. He said we could come hang out here whenever we wanted."

I pulled my head back. "Wait, to the whole Sorority?"

"'Mi casa es su casa'. Remember that whole thing about keeping a girl stationed here at all times?"

I blinked twice. "I thought you just meant you, Andie, and Jocelyn!"

"Really?" Jamie's eyes widened. "Oh, oops."

"What do you mean, 'oops'?"

"Nothing. I mean, we can totally fix this."

"Fix what?"

Jamie blushed. "Well ... uh ... we kinda told the whole Sorority that you were up for grabs. Oh, we meant what we said about obligation. You don't have to nail any of us if you don't want to or aren't in the mood or whatever, and we can stop the arrangement at any time you feel we should. And we agreed that there should never be more than three of us here at any time. But ... uh ... yeah ... We kinda worked it out that every night for the foreseeable future, you'll have up to three Tri-Delts coming by here to hang out."

"Three?" Sasha's jaw dropped.

Just then, Whitney and Lupe arrived downstairs. Having taken their cue from Jamie earlier, they too arrived wearing nothing but my button-down dress shirts. "Hey y'all!" Whitney greeted perkily before sensing the momentary awkwardness in the room. "Uh ... are we interrupting something?"

Brooke was already laughing as she looked over the newcomers. "No, I think you two are right on time." Reaching into the cabinet and pulling out a large, oversized wok, she said, "Hi girls. I'm Brooke, Ben's sister. How would you like your eggs?"

The six of us settled in for breakfast, and although I kept shooting Brooke and Sasha questioning glances, their responding looks told me to save it until after the Tri-Delts were gone. We all engaged in pleasant conversation, and Sasha explained that she was just a friend, but not an ex-roommate. Although she added a somewhat curious "yet" in there.

In the meantime, Brooke extracted out the "mi casa es su casa" story about Jamie, Andie, and Jocelyn coming up with the plan to have at least one but no more than three Tri-Delts visiting each night to keep Big Ben polished and my balls drained dry.

"We're not trying to tie him down or anything, honestly," Jamie assured them. "It's really just sex. We want it. He wants it. Ben gets laid, the girls get laid, and hey, the girls don't have to add to their 'number'. Everybody gets what they want, for as long as this lasts. And if he ever wants to get serious with somebody, like romantically, we can all walk away. No pressure."

Sasha looked like her head was about to explode, but Brooke punched me in the shoulder. "You lucky dog, you. Enjoy this while it lasts," she encouraged. "Think of it as karma trying to be nice after everything you've just been through."

I shrugged and nodded. "I do. I will."

In the end, Jamie, Lupe, and Whitney returned upstairs to exchange my dress shirts for their own clothing. I smirked to see all three of them lift the tails of the shirts on their way up the stairs, giving Brooke, Sasha, and me three perky full moons to whistle over.

When they were gone, I finally cornered my little sister and classmate/teammate/lover and asked why the hell they were here, and together of all things. Sure, Brooke and Sasha had met up plenty of times for Project Ben dinners during first semester, but it wasn't like they'd become pals or anything.

"First of all, it's pure coincidence that we were here at the same time," Brooke explained. "I actually came by to collect a few more things from DJ's room and mine. Clothes, school supplies, decorations ... stuff."

"And I was just coming up the sidewalk when Brooke pulled into the driveway," Sasha said. "There's something I wanted to ask you last night, but your phone hasn't been picking up."

"Oh. I probably turned it off when the girls came by." I shrugged. "I was kinda busy, you know?"

"I'll bet." Sasha laughed. "Anyway, I didn't have anything better to do today, and Paige is taking April to the zoo with her Aunt and Uncle, so I thought I'd just drop by and see if you were home."

I nodded. "So what did you want to ask me?"

"Uh ... well..." The brunette blushed and glanced at my sister.

Brooke caught the look and jerked a thumb. "Should I leave? I can totally go start packing up and leave you two alone."

"No, no." Sasha waved her off. "Moved out or not, this is as much your home as his. I really should ask this of you, too."

I shrugged. "Ask what?"

"Well ... I'm on a month-to-month lease, and while San Bruno rent isn't as bad as in the City, it isn't cheap, either. Well I started thinking that with Brooke and DJ and Kim all moved out, you've kinda got a lot of room here. And I know Brooke and DJ could move back in at any time, but with Kim's father already withdrawing her from school, I figured there's at least one bedroom that isn't spoken for."

"Oh, you want to move in?" Brooke asked, more for confirmation than anything.

Sasha nodded. "If that's okay. I could put my notice in now and then move in thirty days. That is, if the rent you'd charge me would be less than what I'm paying for my apartment, which I'm pretty sure it would be. It would just be for a few months until graduation, and then I know we'll all go our separate ways. But if I could save even a couple of hundred dollars a month ... Plus, I wouldn't have to commute five days a week for class; I'd just have to head into the City three nights a week for work. The time savings, plus the money, well ... I don't want to impose on you, especially if you're going to be having company ... but..."

I frowned. "Even knowing about the Tri-Delts, you wouldn't mind? Having three scantily-clad sorority girls hanging around trying to fuck my brains out? Granted, you didn't know about any of that before you had this idea, but now that you do, you still would want to move in?"

Sasha shrugged. "I'm a stripper; I'm kinda used to scantily-clad girls. As for them hanging around trying to fuck your brains out ... yeah, I can handle it. As long as you don't mind me masturbating in my room while I listen in."

I rolled my eyes and shook my head. If you had told me at the beginning of Junior year that buttoned-up Sasha Serafian would be masturbating in the next room while I banged up to three naked sorority chicks, I would have checked you into a mental health institution myself.

Sighing in disbelief at the latest twist my life had taken, I dropped my chin into an open palm and shrugged at my little sister. "What do YOU think?"

Brooke shrugged. "If she's fine with it, she's fine with it. She can take Kim's room and pay the same rent. Mom and Dad get a wash on rental income, and life goes on."

"So it's okay with you?" Sasha asked brightly.

Brooke smiled and nodded.

"And you, Ben?" Sasha asked, a little more nervously.

I took a deep breath and sighed. "Sure. Why the hell not?"

"Really!" Excitedly, Sasha pushed back her chair and jumped around the dining table to bear hug me. "Thank you!"

"You're welcome," I wheezed, since she squeezed me hard enough to nearly crush my lungs. "As long as you know what you're getting yourself into."

"Oh, I do. You don't know what this means to me. I'll finally be able to put a few dollars into savings and being this close to campus and not having to commute back and forth to school ... It'll be incredible! I almost can't wait another 30 days!"

I sighed, thinking about a new idea before once again throwing caution to the wind and saying, "Don't worry about the 30 days. Sure, you'll have to keep paying rent on your apartment, but you can go ahead and move in as soon as you want. I won't charge you until your apartment lease is up."

"REALLY?!?" The strength in Sasha's second hug made the first seem tame.

"Why not? It's not like my life can get any crazier."

It was really, really late Sunday night when I heard a key jiggle in the front door. A few seconds later, dressed in the shapeless, baggy clothes she often wore for the BART ride after a shift at the club, Sasha walked through the hallway and offered a weary "Hello" to everyone in the living room.

"Hey, Sasha," I replied before returning my attention to the girl currently giving me a blowjob.

"Hey," Lakhi Sharma greeted, looking up from her textbook.

"Hi," Tonya Brackett said politely, still leaning against my shoulder with her lips moist from our recent makeout session.

"Um, hi?" petite little Misa Ng added belatedly, lifting her mouth off my cock and glancing down the hallway, not sure what to make of the pretty brunette she didn't recognize heading up the stairs.

After agreeing to let Sasha move in right away, we'd driven to her apartment in San Bruno to collect most of her necessities. Kim's old bedroom was fully furnished, so she really just needed bedding, clothes, and toiletries. So we filled the Mustang to the brim with whatever would fit and then returned to Berkeley to get her settled in.

Bert had brought back Kim's house key, which I then gave to Sasha, so she had free rein to come and go as she needed. She'd left the house before dinner, needing to get to her shift at Nocturne, so she'd already been gone before Lakhi, Tonya, and Misa arrived. Since the three Tri-Delts had been in quite the hurry to get down to the fucking, I'd never had the chance to warn them that I'd added a roommate, and I'd forgotten about Sasha entirely until she walked right through the door.

But now I remembered, and now the Tri-Delts were quite curious. Jamie certainly hadn't told them anything about a roommate. Misa sat up completely and the three girls grilled me for two minutes while I tried to explain the somewhat complicated story about letting my project teammate move into an unoccupied bedroom. They were less concerned with the back-story than with whether or not this would impede their Tri-Delt visitation plan, and I spent the remainder of the time reassuring them that this wouldn't.

Eventually, Sasha returned downstairs, dressed in casual, long-sleeved pajamas. "Hey, girls. I'm Sasha," she introduced herself. "I understand we may be seeing a lot of each other. Sorry if I interrupted you." That last bit was directed at Misa, who blushed prettily.

"No problem," Lakhi replied for all of us. "Ben just explained. I'm Lakhi."

"I'm Tonya. Pleased to meet you."

"Misa," the petite Vietnamese Junior said while bashfully burying her face into my neck while I wrapped an arm around her.

"Really, you guys can carry on," Sasha said, again looking apologetic. "I'm just going to head to bed. It's late and tomorrow's a school day."

"Good night," I said warmly before turning and pecking Misa on the forehead for reassurance.

Sasha's eyes twinkled, and she cracked a smile. She knew that the instant she was gone, I'd be nudging Misa's head back down toward my crotch. And then she turned and headed up to her own room.