I made the mistake of calculating the flight time from Knoxville to South Carolina: less than two hours. I wanted to grumble about Kendall’s fear of flying, but it wouldn’t do any good.

Still, I felt the need to vent, so I took out my frustrations with my weights. When I finished, I toweled off and tried to look on the bright side—we’d have six or seven hours to enjoy each other’s company, without distractions.

We loaded the Cruiser and left on Wednesday afternoon. I glanced at my watch and silently figured our arrival time. I thought I hid my frustration, but Kendall read me perfectly, so I braced for an argument. She surprised me when she smiled apologetically.

“Thank you for driving,” she said.

I didn’t want to let go of my anger, so I merely nodded.

“I know it’ll take longer than flying, but I’ll make it worth your while.” She trailed a finger over her breast and circled a nipple.

I wasn’t going to give in that easily, although I watched her out of the corner of my eye.

“For instance, we can’t pull over to the side of the road in an airplane.”

“So?”

“How else are you going to slide your long, hard cock into me?” She even managed to look ingenuous.

Uh-uh. It’s not going to be that easy. “You can have sex in an airplane,” I said aloud. “It’s called the Mile High Club.”

“Can you bend me over and fuck me from behind?”

“Of course,” I lied. In reality, it would be a good way to get killed, but I wasn’t going to tell her that.

“Can you throw my legs over your shoulders and fuck me deep?”

“Yeah, sure.” Um, no, not really.

“Can I kneel in front of you as you hold my head and fuck my face?”

“Except for the kneeling.” And the control yoke. And the instrument panel. And the…

“Can you tie me spread-eagle and fuck me till I beg for mercy?”

“I can’t tie you, but the rest is doable.” If I want to end my life in a fiery, orgasmic crash.

“Can we sixty-nine?”

I started to answer, but then gave up. “Okay, you got me there.”

“See?” she said. “Driving is much better than flying.”

“If you say so.”

“Here, I’ll show you.” Without taking off her blouse, she unfastened her bra, wriggled out of it, and tossed it to the back seat.

“I won’t be needing that,” she said, and began teasing her nipples again. They quickly stiffened under the thin cotton of her shirt. A minute later she raised her skirt and slid her panties over her long legs. “I won’t be needing those either.”

I knew what she was trying to do—distract me with sex—and it was beginning to work. Worse, she knew me well enough to realize it.

“Have you ever thought about being a truck driver?” she said out of the blue.

My brow creased.

“You know,” she said, “driving along, with nothing but your thoughts for company.”

I still didn’t get it.

“Would you look at the women you passed? Think about having sex with them?”

Ah, it’s a fantasy. “Sure, I guess,” I said.

“Would you pick up hitchhikers?”

And that’s my cue. “If they were sexy enough… like you.”

She smiled eagerly, but then got a far-away look. “You could make me earn my ride.”

“Yeah,” I said, “that’s not a bad idea. But what could you do?” I pretended to think. “Sing? Nah, I’ve got the radio. Tell me a story? No.” I shrugged. “So, what can a pretty girl do to earn her ride?” I paused and considered. “I know!”

“What?”

“Show me some skin,” I said.

“Some skin?”

“Yeah. Show me your tits.”

“Do I have to?”

“You want a ride, don’t you?”

She played at being reluctant, but her breathing quickened as she unbuttoned her blouse.

“Your pussy, too,” I said.

She lifted her skirt.

“Spread your legs.” I glanced over. “Now play with yourself.”

She moved the waist chain’s pendant aside, revealing her smooth slit. I watched out of the corner of my eye as she began teasing her clit in small circles. She closed her eyes and moaned softly as she slid a finger into her slippery opening.

I shifted in my seat to relieve the pressure on my dick, and mentally kicked myself for being such a pushover. Her fantasies were too hot to pass up, but I still felt manipulated.

She moaned again and buried her finger to the knuckle. I forgot about my quibbles as she slowly raised the finger and tasted her juices. She continued teasing me for a couple of miles, until I unzipped my pants.

“Time to earn your ride.”

“Oh, no! I couldn’t possibly—”

“Put out or get out,” I said. “C’mon, get a move on. I haven’t got all day.”

She protested a bit more, but I wouldn’t take no for an answer. Finally, she bent over me with perfectly feigned reluctance. I put my hand on the back of her head and held her down.

“Yeah, that’s right,” I said gruffly.

She moaned and tried to swallow me whole. We passed a truck driver who glanced over and saw her head in my lap. He honked his air horn, and Kendall’s mouth went from hot to molten.

“You like that?” I said.

She nodded, her lips still tight around my shaft.

The next trucker didn’t notice, so I sped up and approached a third. Kendall shifted her hips and began playing with her pussy. The truck driver honked, and Kendall’s mouth went into overdrive, hot and wet as she bobbed in my lap. I let him watch for a few minutes, but then mashed the accelerator.

The fourth trucker was talking on the CB as we approached, and he turned to leer before we even pulled up to his cab. He blew his air horn, a long blast followed by a couple of short ones.

Kendall plunged her lips over my cock and moaned. The vibrations made my head swim, and I tried not to swerve off the road. The trucker honked again, and Kendall rammed her mouth down. Searing pleasure exploded deep within me, and I spewed down her throat. She went rigid a moment later, her fingers vibrating over her clit.

I wanted to close my eyes and enjoy the sensations as she swallowed the last of my load, but I didn’t want to end my life in a fiery, orgasmic crash. I actually chuckled at the thought, but Kendall ignored me, lost in her own post-orgasmic stupor.

When she recovered enough to move, she pulled her fingers from her pussy and closed her legs. The trucker blew his horn in protest. I felt like flipping him the bird—Who did he think he was, complaining that his free sex show wasn’t available when he wanted it?—but I stomped on the gas instead. When I finally slowed down, Kendall sat up, beautifully disheveled.

“Oh my goodness… that was amazing! I got so hot when that truck driver honked.” She flashed a smile. “See why driving is so much better than flying?”

She wasn’t going to convince me anytime soon, but I didn’t mind her trying.

The trip seemed quicker than it really was, especially since Kendall was horny for most of it. Her road trips in the RV with her family had inspired a lot of fantasies. In addition to her “earn her ride” one, another involved truckers fucking her in a dive bar. In yet another, she had to suck their dicks through a “glory hole,” whatever that was.

In others she was a biker’s girlfriend, a hitchhiker, a woman with car trouble, or some other damsel in distress. She even had one where she was stopped by the police, who took turns fucking her at the station.

After sunset, she took off her clothes and left them off, even when we stopped for gas. Not surprisingly, we pulled over to have sex three times, so I was pretty worn-out by the time we arrived at camp.

Most of the buildings were dark, but a light glowed in the clubhouse. Susan had left a note on the pool table—Stacy and Jason were still in Columbia, and we were the first to arrive.

Susan had made up our room, so Kendall and I unloaded the Cruiser, took a shower, and finally climbed into bed. I think I fell asleep the minute my head hit the pillow.

We ate breakfast with Susan, but she had errands in town, so we made small talk until she was ready to leave. We had our own errands, but Kendall volunteered us to make up the other guest rooms. We spent an hour making beds and tidying up the rooms before heading to town ourselves.

At the dressmaker’s shop, a short, round, cheerful woman pinned Kendall into a strapless crimson dress. I wasn’t very impressed, but then the woman began making adjustments to fit the dress to Kendall’s full figure. By the time she was done, Kendall looked fantastic. She glanced at me to gauge my reaction, and I was happy to leer my approval.

We ate a quick lunch before my tux fitting, but we still had to rush to get to the shop. The man who did the fitting was glacially slow. What should have taken thirty minutes took almost an hour and a half. I was ready to pull my hair out, but I kept my cool.

Finally, he bagged the tux and added the matching cummerbund from the dressmaker. We made it back to the Pines with just enough time to shower and get dressed for the rehearsal. I drove like a madman, but we were the last ones to arrive at the church.

Stacy moved to greet us, but the wedding coordinator snapped, “Oh, no, dear! You mustn’t move.” She shook her head and muttered about “the dignity of the ceremony.”

Stacy just rolled her eyes, although she held her position by the altar. She looked as pretty as ever, and I let my eyes roam over her lithe figure. Her fiancé, Jason, was just as I remembered: tall and soft-looking, not quite pudgy, but close.

The rehearsal itself was simple, but that was a good thing, since I spent most of the time trying to pick out who would be at the swingers’ party later.

I was sure about the maid of honor, Sydney, a petite brunette with big brown eyes and a wry smile. Her fiancé, a tall, regular-looking guy named Woody, was the best man. He started to walk back with us to practice the processional, but the coordinator told him to stand by the altar with Jason and the minister.

The third groomsman cracked a joke about the coordinator, and then silently mocked her when she huffed peevishly.

“Steve,” his girlfriend whispered, “be nice.”

“Lighten up, Charlene. I’m just havin’ fun.”

Charlene was standing in for Kara Coulter, and I studied her out of the corner of my eye. She had short blonde hair and a lush figure, with full breasts and curvy hips, all squeezed into a tight blouse and painted-on Jordache jeans.

Steve and Charlene walked down the aisle, and then I offered my arm to Kendall. We shared a look, and I understood hers immediately: when would we walk down the aisle as bride and groom? I didn’t have an immediate answer, which was more of an answer than I was willing to admit.

Sydney walked down the aisle alone. When she reached her position, Susan paused for several seconds and then stood gracefully. As the de facto mother of the bride, the congregation would rise when she did, so the organist began the wedding march, and Stacy emerged on Gunny’s arm. He looked older than I remembered, but his eyes shone with pride.

The minister coached us through the ceremony and we practiced the recessional. We did the whole thing again, and then stood in a group as the wedding coordinator gave us final instructions about “the blessed day.”

When it was over, Stacy finally had a chance to greet us. We joined the rest of the wedding party, and she made introductions.

“Sydney’s my best friend,” she said. “We started the MBA program at the same time, and we’ve been inseparable ever since. Even better, Woody’s an accountant, so he and Jason have a lot in common.”

“Nice to meet you,” I said as we shook hands.

“This is Steve,” Stacy said, “and his girlfriend, Charlene. Steve and Jason are both car nuts, so that’s how we met them. Steve owns a garage and custom shop.”

I faked a smile and we shook hands.

“Dave’s another car guy,” Stacy said as she introduced one of the ushers, a handsome guy with a smile like Elvis. “He and Steve race at Concord every weekend. Except this weekend, of course.”

“Nice to meet you, Dave,” I said.

“And this is Dave’s girlfriend, Maddy,” Stacy said, introducing a dark-haired girl with striking, almost exotic features. “She’s part Catawba. Isn’t she beautiful?”

“Absolutely,” I said as I shook her hand.

Stacy introduced us to the rest of the people—Jason’s family, mostly—and then we headed to the restaurant, where Kendall and I sat with the rest of the wedding party.

After a couple of beers, Steve and Dave started telling stories from their frat days at South Carolina. I thought Kendall would snub them immediately, but she laughed as much as Charlene and Maddy.

The Frat Boys quickly got on my nerves, so I started a conversation with Sydney and Woody. He was the quiet type, so she did all the talking. They didn’t seem to have much in common, but their expressions held an easy familiarity when they looked at each other. It was the same look I saw in my parents’ eyes. Stacy and Jason had it too, and I wondered if Kendall and I did.

Hell, I thought with a mental snort, we’re not even talking to each other at the moment.

When dinner wound down, we said goodbye to Jason’s family and the others who lived in town. Susan, Gunny, and Lenore headed back to camp, and Stacy and Jason joined us by Steve’s car, a souped-up Barracuda.

Our voices trailed off, and anticipation crackled in the air. When Stacy finally grinned, it spread like wildfire around the circle.

“Are we ready?” she said at last.

“Hell yeah!” Steve whooped, louder than anyone else.

Back at camp, we unloaded two coolers of beer from Steve’s trunk, as well as a boom box from Dave’s. Once we set up in the clubhouse, I thought things would get going pretty quickly, but we stood around drinking and talking for nearly thirty minutes.

Finally, Charlene drained her beer and began dancing to Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Gimme Three Steps.” She backed away from the group, her hips swaying to the beat as she made a show of unbuttoning her blouse.

Steve and Dave hooted and cheered her on, and I hid a frown at their antics. They were probably nice enough guys when they hadn’t been drinking, but I couldn’t shake my dislike.

Charlene pulled open her blouse with the flair of a stripper. She was wearing a white lace bra, which barely held her breasts. They weren’t quite as big as Kendall’s, but that didn’t stop me from admiring them.

When she shucked her skintight jeans and kicked them aside, the Frat Boys hooted even louder. Without warning, Kendall handed me her beer and joined Charlene. The Frat Boys went wild, and even Jason and Woody cheered.

Sydney leaned close to talk over the music and cheers. “Aren’t you having fun?”

I shrugged. “Yeah, I guess.”

Her eyes flashed and she pulled me onto the improvised dance floor. Beside us, Kendall was down to her bra and panties, and Charlene was playing with her waist chain. The Frat Boys cheered them on, of course.

Sydney drew my attention with a laugh. “I thought you’ve done this before.”

“I have,” I said tersely. But not with frat rats hooting at my girlfriend.

Jason and Stacy joined us on the dance floor, and he twirled her like a square dancer. He was surprisingly light on his feet, especially for a big guy. Sydney danced into my arms, her slender body pressed against me. I felt nervous dancing with her as her fiancé watched, but she followed my gaze and smiled.

“Don’t worry about Woody. We have an open relationship.”

I arched an eyebrow in question.

“He’s one of those guys who likes sex a couple of times a week,” she said as she turned and pressed her ass against my crotch.

“And what about you?”

“Me?” she said, all innocence. “I like sex a couple of times a day.”

I tried not to grin, but I couldn’t help myself. She turned away with a smirk, so I held her hips and gyrated against her.

On the other side of the dance floor, Kendall and Charlene were down to their panties. They rubbed their breasts together as the Frat Boys leered and sang along—badly—with Steve Miller Band’s “Jungle Love.”

Woody and Maddy leaned against a couch, although he was massaging her shoulders instead of dancing. Her eyes were closed in pleasure as she swayed in front of him. Sydney tickled my crotch again, and tugged my hands to her small breasts. We danced (groped) for another song or two, but then Stacy tapped her shoulder.

“Trade with me, Syd.”

Sydney flashed me an amused grin and headed for Jason.

Stacy glided into my arms, and I pulled her close, even though it wasn’t a slow song. She’d filled out since I’d seen her last, and her body felt good under my hands. She was still slender, but less boyish than I remembered.

We danced for a few minutes, but then the Frat Boys whooped as Kendall revealed her shaved pussy.

“What’s the matter?” Stacy said, but then she followed my glance. “Oh, don’t worry about them. They’re a little immature sometimes, but they’re good guys. Besides, Kendall’s a grown woman. She can handle herself.”

I had my doubts, especially with dipshits like the Frat Boys to encourage her.

“Relax,” Stacy said. “They’re Jason’s friends. They wouldn’t be here if we didn’t trust them.”

I shrugged, but didn’t argue.

“Besides,” Stacy said, leaning close, “I have a treat for you.” She gnawed her lip and gazed up at me.

“What kind of treat?” I said at last.

“A good one.” She grinned. “Well, good for me, too, but you never complained.”

I laughed, at ease for the first time since we’d returned from town.

“I also have a surprise,” Stacy said.

“What kind of surprise?”

“A good one. But first,” she said, “you need to help me out of this dress.” She turned so I could undo the buttons down her back. She shrugged out of the dress and folded it over a chair. Then she took off her bra and panties.

I admired her smooth back for a moment, but then my gaze fell to the curves of her ass. She turned and caught me staring. My face heated as I blushed, but she merely smiled and walked toward me. Her pubic hair was trimmed into a wide strip, and my dick stiffened at the thought of fucking her.

She smiled and began unbuttoning my shirt, so I snuck a quick look at the others. Woody and Maddy were making out by the couches. Her top was unbuttoned, but I couldn’t see more. Kendall and Charlene were still dancing for the Frat Boys, who were down to their underwear.

Sydney had shed her clothes—I kicked myself for not paying attention—and I paused to admire her slender body. Jason was tweaking her nipples as she tried to unbuckle his pants. She fumbled as jolts of pleasure made her shudder. He saw me watching and grinned like an idiot. I couldn’t help but laugh, which made Stacy turn and look.

“He always does that,” she said with a laugh. “She can almost come from playing with them.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Oh, you’ll get your chance,” Stacy said, “but not till you’re done with me.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

She play-glared and then unbuckled my belt. She tugged at my zipper and I helped her finish undressing me. Then, almost absurdly, we started dancing again, to AC/DC’s “You Shook Me All Night Long.” I felt like an idiot, but I decided to have fun in spite of myself (although I wanted to put a sock in Steve’s mouth every time he shouted “Whoo-hoo, yeah!”).

After fifteen or twenty minutes of dancing and drinking—punctuated by a lot of flirting—Stacy made eye contact with Jason. They had a silent conversation and he nodded. Sydney winked at me.

“Hey,” Jason said, raising his voice over the music, “let’s head down to the hot tub.”

“Whoo-hoo, yeah!”

I gritted my teeth.

Woody and Maddy rose from the couch, and I got my first look at her body. She had firm breasts with puffy reddish nipples, and her dark pubic hair was trimmed into a wide wedge. I smiled when our eyes met. Her answering smile held a trace of shyness, so I let my eyes slide away as she picked up her towel.

“I think she’s so beautiful,” Stacy said quietly.

“Yeah, she is.” I said.

“Too bad she doesn’t like women.”

“You can’t have everything,” I teased. I went to pick up my own towel, but Stacy stopped me with a gesture.

Sydney gave me a smug look as she led Jason away. Steve threw his leather jacket onto a cooler and then hefted it, and Dave grabbed the boom box. I tried to catch Kendall’s eye, but she followed Charlene out the door without a backward glance.

Stacy frowned. “What was that about?”

“You don’t wanna know.”

“Is everything okay between you? Do you need to go with her?”

“No and no.”

She raised an eyebrow.

“‘She’s a grown woman,’” I quoted. “‘She can handle herself.’” I sounded bitter and mocking, even to myself. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to sound so mean.”

“You sound upset,” Stacy said.

“Frustrated, mostly. But it’s nothing new.”

“Oh?”

“I really don’t wanna talk about it,” I said. “Not now, at least. Maybe some other time.”

“Are you sure?”

I nodded.

“Okay, some other time.”

I took the opportunity to change the subject. “Where are you going for your honeymoon?”

Stacy knew what I’d done, but she didn’t call me on it. “A sailboat cruise in the Caribbean,” she said at last, brightening. “Courtesy of Susan.”

“Wow. That sounds like fun.”

“I hope so. We’ve never been sailing before, but we love the water.”

We moved to the couches as she told me about the cruise. She and Jason would be the only couple aboard, aside from the owner and his wife.

“They specialize in romantic cruises,” Stacy finished. “Candle-lit dinners, champagne, romantic ports of call…”

“Sounds like fun.” We fell silent for a moment before I grinned at her. “Is that why you held me back? To talk about your honeymoon?”

Her cheeks turned pink. “No. Besides, you asked me about it. I held you back ’cause I have a surprise for you. Remember?”

“A surprise and a treat.”

“And a treat,” she agreed.

“So, what do I do? Just sit here and let you indulge my every whim? Or do I have to do jumping jacks or something?”

“No,” she laughed, but then pretended to reconsider.

I smirked and made to stand up. “Well, if I gotta…”

“No, no jumping jacks,” she said quickly, and held me down. “Just sit back and relax.” She slid off the couch and knelt between my legs. “There,” she said. “That’s better.”

I grinned as she began playing with my dick.

“My surprise is a blowjob?” I teased.

“No, smarty pants. You’ll see.”

I quit talking when she planted a line of soft kisses down my semi-hard shaft. She nuzzled my balls, but then kissed her way back up. I closed my eyes and felt my nostrils flare as I sucked in a deep breath.

She moaned softly as she wrapped her lips around my glans. She actually liked giving head, even if she didn’t like the taste of come. She’d tried to swallow before, but she always ended up gagging, so I reminded myself to warn her before I came.

In the meantime, I was more than happy to enjoy myself. She really did like giving head, and she moaned softly each time she swallowed me. When she pulled back at last, she smiled, her lips shiny with saliva.

“I forgot how big you are,” she said. “I don’t know if I can do this.”

“Do what?”

She ignored me and swallowed half my length in one lunge. She moaned when she closed her lips around my shaft, and I felt light-headed as she gripped my thighs and worked my cock into her throat. She held me there for a long moment and then came up with a deep breath.

“Oh, yeah,” she said, staring at my saliva-coated dick, “this is gonna work.”

“What is gonna—?” I groaned as she swallowed me deep again. She couldn’t take more than four or five inches, but it was enough to make my head swim.

She began sucking in earnest, and I knew I wouldn’t last long.

“Get ready,” I said.

Her lips caressed the length of my shaft as she pulled back, but then she plunged down again, her mouth smooth and tight around my cock.

“I’m gonna come,” I grunted. She kept sucking. “Stacy,” I said, my voice rising, “I’m gonna come.”

I bucked my hips and tried to push her away, but she held on. The pressure in my balls grew almost painful, but I tried to will myself not to explode.

She plunged again, her lips halfway down my shaft. Then, incredibly, she took me deeper.

“Stacy! I’m gonna come!”

The ring of muscles in her throat contracted around my glans, and she began stroking the base of my shaft. I tried again to push her away, but I didn’t want to hurt her. Then I felt the rush of semen flowing up my shaft.

I expected her to pull away, choking and gagging. Instead, she tightened her lips as the second spurt gushed down her throat. I closed my eyes and groaned as pleasure suffused my senses.

Stacy pulled back when I finally stopped shooting. She gasped for breath, but then wiped her lips and looked at me with a drunken smile.

“Holy shit,” I panted. “That was incredible. But… are you okay?”

She nodded. Then she swallowed and made a face. “Residue.”

I shook my head in confusion. “I thought…,” I said at last, “I mean… you don’t like…”

“Surprise.”

“But how…?”

“Susan suggested it. It’s easier with Jason—he’s not as thick—but I still got you into my throat. Your dick is past my tongue, so I don’t taste it when you come.” She grimaced and wiped her mouth again. “I always taste it on the way out, though.”

“But… I mean… do you actually enjoy it?”

She shrugged. “Jason enjoys it, and so do you, so…” She shrugged again. “It’s okay. A bit weird, feeling you spurt in my throat. It takes a lot of control not to gag, but I’m getting better. I’m used to Jason, who’s not as big—”

“Hold on,” I interrupted, “I thought he was… you know… well-hung.” I hadn’t actually seen him hard yet, but I vaguely remembered Stacy talking about him.

“He is, but he’s long. You’re thicker.” She glanced at my half-hard dick. “A lot thicker.”

“You never complained before.”

Her expression warmed, and she caressed my thighs. “I’m not complaining now. It’s just that I’m not used to you. In a way, it’s like the first time all over again.” She got to her feet and curled up next to me on the couch. Then she laughed nostalgically. “Do you remember our first time?”

“In your trailer, way back when?”

“Mmm hmm.”

“Oh yeah, I remember. That was the first time I ever had anal sex.”

Her eyes grew distant as she remembered. “Wow, that seems like so long ago, but it was only… what? Four years?”

“Yeah.”

“A lot of things have changed since then.”

“No kidding. You’re about to get married!”

Her smile turned girlish as her cheeks flushed. “And you’re in college. What did I call you back then? ‘Mr. Fifteen’?”

“Yeah.” I chuckled at the memory, but then another one struck me. “What ever happened to Randy?”

“Killed in a bar fight,” she said flatly. “In Alaska.”

“In Alaska? What the hell was he doing there?”

“I don’t know, and I don’t care. Jason’s private investigator located the death certificate. We had to find out if I was still married.” She tried to look bleak. “Now I’m a widow.”

I snorted. “The happiest widow I know!”

“Yeah. Isn’t it great?” She smiled giddily, but then got a faraway look.

“What?”

“In a way, a part of me still loved Randy. I mean, he was my first…”

“But he did some pretty awful things.”

“Yeah. The asshole.” But she said it without heat. She took a deep breath and forced a happy face. “I’m much better off without him.”

“The whole world is better off without him.”

“Yeah, but… he didn’t deserve to die like that.”

He deserved to be gang-raped in prison.

“Still, I’m much better off without him.”

“You’re much better off with Jason,” I said.

“Not to mention you… and Susan… and Sydney… and a lot of other people.”

I put my arm around her and held her close. I still loved her, even if I wasn’t in love with her.

“You were the first guy who ever treated me like I was worth something.”

“You are worth something,” I said. “Quite a bit, actually.”

She laughed, but it was tinged with sadness. We sat in silence for a while, lost in thought.

“I still love you, you know,” I said at last. “I always will.”

“I love you too,” she said softly. “But it’s weird, isn’t it?”

“What?”

“How we were right for each other at the time, but not forever.” She sat up and looked at me. “I mean, I do love you, but it’s different. With Jason…” Her expression turned soft. “He’s my life, my soul mate.”

The silence stretched out, and she leaned against me again. I put my arm around her, her body warm next to mine.

“Are you ready for your treat?” she said at last. “Or my treat, I guess.”

“Sure!”

She tucked her legs beneath her and sat up. Her eyes were a bit red, but she still looked beautiful.

“Okay,” she said, “we have this little swinging group, right?”

I nodded.

“Well, Jason and I don’t do everything with them. I don’t, at least.”

I raised an eyebrow.

“I don’t do anal with anyone but Jason. I save that for him.”

I felt a surge of disappointment, but I didn’t let it reach my face. “I understand.”

“But we talked it over, and he knows how much I care for you, so… I thought maybe you could… you know… if you want…”

I actually smiled as a trace of her old insecurity crept in.

“What’s so funny?”

I tried to wipe the smile from my face. Unsuccessfully. “Nothing.”

“No, tell me.”

“You,” I said at last. “You’re cute when you’re nervous.”

“Well, how should I know if you want to fuck me in the ass or not?”

I laughed, and she waved a fist at me.

I pulled her toward me with a perfect arm drag. (Wrestling reflexes die hard, I guess.) She struggled until I kissed her, and then she sighed as the kiss deepened.

I walked my fingers down her stomach to her pussy. Her wiry pubic hair brushed my palm as I teased her slit. She wasn’t very wet, but heat radiated from between her legs.

She moaned against me as I parted her pussy lips and spread her growing moisture. She opened her legs, although her mouth never left mine. My tongue danced with hers, our breath coming heavy, and she arched her back as I pressed the hidden button of her clit.

We kissed and caressed for several minutes, the heat growing between us. At some unspoken signal, I lifted her to my lap. She straddled my hips and sank onto my erection with a soft moan. Our lips found each other again as she began moving her hips.

We fucked like that for a long time, but then I rolled her to her back and began pounding into her. Her small breasts bounced with each thrust, her face a mask of ecstasy.

“Do me… from… behind…,” she panted at last.

I pulled out and she flipped to her hands and knees. Then I scooted forward and slid into her pussy. After several minutes of rapid thrusts, I slowed down and spread her cheeks. The pink rosette of her anus winked at me, and she turned to look over her shoulder.

“Go easy,” she said. “Remember, you’re thicker than I’m used to.”

I pulled my dick from her pussy, shiny with her juices. She shuddered in anticipation as I rubbed the head over her ass. Then I eased forward, and the tip entered her.

“Oh, yes,” she hissed.

I pulled back after a moment, my glans barely inside her. Then I pushed forward again, sinking another inch. She moaned softly as I worked myself into her.

After nearly a minute of back and forth, I finally buried the last inch. Her sphincter gripped me as a wave of pleasure washed over her.

“Go slow at first,” she said. She hung her head, and her shoulders heaved with her breathing as I pulled back for the first thrust.

I took my time and fucked her with steady strokes. She cried out each time I sank into her, and I marveled that anything the size of my dick could fit in her ass.

“A little faster,” she said at last.

I obliged her, and she reached between her legs to caress my balls with each thrust. Then she groaned, and I felt another spasm in her sphincter.

“Oh, yeah, that’s it,” she hissed. “Faster.”

I rammed into her. She gasped from the force of it, but didn’t complain. We fucked like that for several minutes, groaning from the intense pleasure.

“Come in my ass,” she gasped. “I wanna feel it.”

I was close, but I wanted her to come first, so I tried to hold back. I thought of anything but sex, even as I pounded into her.

She came with an explosive cry, but I barely noticed. My own orgasm welled deep within me, my balls tight and primed for release. I thrust hard, and jerked at the live-wire sensation of semen coursing up my shaft.

Stacy moaned when she felt my come bathe her insides. Her muscles tensed as another wave of pleasure washed over her, and my mind reeled at the sensations in my cock.

When our orgasms finally subsided, we collapsed forward, my dick still buried deep within her. I don’t know how long we lay like that, but it felt so good that I didn’t want to move. Stacy smiled beneath me as our breathing slowly returned to normal.

“You fuck pretty good, Mr. Fifteen,” she said, her voice husky with lingering pleasure.

“You fuck pretty good too, Miss Bride-to-be.”

She laughed. “If my future husband could see me now…”

I kissed her lightly on the cheek.

She smiled and closed her eyes as she savored the moment.

“So, what’s up with you and Kendall?” Stacy said as we took turns lathering under the spray of the shower. “Problems, obviously.”

“Nothing a long weekend at a friend’s wedding won’t cure.” I was being sarcastic, and Stacy frowned.

“Seriously,” she said. “What’s the matter?”

I started to tell her, but then Sydney rounded the corner.

“Hi,” she said cheerfully. “Mind if I join you?”

Stacy started to ask her to give us a minute, but I caught her eye and shook my head. She raised an eyebrow, but I merely shook my head again.

Oblivious, Sydney took the soap from my hand. “You didn’t wear him out, did you, Stace?”

I forced a laugh. “No.”

“Good,” she said, “’cause I have big plans for you two.”

Stacy smiled apologetically, and I mouthed “Later.” She nodded.

“I had to come up here to escape the ‘full rack club’ down at the hot tub,” Sydney continued, still clueless. She grinned at Stacy. “Us small-chested girls have to stick together. Besides,” she added, “Charlene and Kendall had the guys pretty much wrapped up.”

“Oh?” I said, feeling her out. “What’s going on?”

“Kendall wants to pull a train, and Charlene is getting the guys warmed up for her.”

I had a sudden flashback to Kendall’s fantasy of getting fucked by the men of camp while she lay spread-eagle on the lawn.

“What’s Maddy doing?” Stacy asked.

“Just watching. She has a headache.”

“Oh, bless her heart,” Stacy said. “I hope she gets to feeling better.”

I ignored the girls and imagined Kendall on her back. Shadowy men stood over her, waiting their turn to climb between her legs. I didn’t mind her having sex with other men, but four at a time seemed… excessive. Still, it wasn’t very different from things I’d done, so I couldn’t really object.

But… four guys at a time?

Stacy frowned at my expression.

I tried to deflect her attention by ogling Sydney, but I couldn’t fool her. She started to say something, but then Sydney caught me looking and pressed her ass against my flaccid cock. I gripped her hips and play-humped. Stacy merely arched an eyebrow, and Sydney finally caught on.

“Did I interrupt something serious?” she asked.

“Yes.” “No.”

“Sounds like I did,” she said, and turned off the water. “I’ll be heading back to the big-boob train.”

“Syd, wait.” “No, don’t go.”

“It sounds like you two have something serious to talk about,” Sydney said. She didn’t seem hurt, but she was determined to leave us alone.

“Please stay, Syd,” Stacy said.

Sydney looked at me, and I nodded. “Stay.”

“I don’t like it,” she said at last. “If you two need to work something out, then—”

Stacy laughed with relief. “No, you don’t understand,” she said. “It’s not about Paul and me.”

“It’s about Kendall,” I explained.

“She seemed fine when I left her,” Sydney said, a little confused.

“About me and Kendall,” I said.

“Ah, I get it.” Her expression changed. “Do you want to go down to the hot tub? Kendall said you have an open relationship, but…”

Something snapped within me. “She said what?”

“Um… She said you have an open relationship?”

I laughed, albeit with a hysterical edge.

“What did I say?” Sydney asked Stacy, more confused than ever.

“Kendall and I don’t have an ‘open relationship,’” I said. “At least, not like you’re talking about. We only have an ‘open relationship’”—I practically spat the words—“when she feels like it. I couldn’t get her to talk about the rules to save my life, but now that she wants to fuck the Frat Boys, she decides we have an open fucking relationship?”

“You really don’t?” Sydney said.

“I guess we do now!”

“Did I say something wrong?” Sydney asked Stacy.

With an effort of will, I forced a calm expression. “No,” I said at last. “You didn’t say anything wrong. I’m not angry with you. I’m sorry I lost my temper.” I snatched my towel and began drying off, using it as an excuse to seethe in silence.

I wanted to rant and rave, to storm down the hill and tell Kendall what I thought of our “open relationship,” but that would ruin everyone’s evening. Worse, the Frat Boys were drunk enough that they might even try to defend her, and I knew exactly what I’d do if they did. That wouldn’t be good for anyone, so I clamped a firm grip on my temper.

Another part of me snarled in frustration at the irony—my sudden attacks of maturity were really starting to put a damper on my tirades.

Oh, the humanity.

Kendall and I needed to talk, and soon. I wanted to let my anger take over, but it wouldn’t solve anything. In fact, it would only make things worse. So I took another deep breath and stared into space for a moment.

“Do you want to go down to the hot tub?” Stacy asked quietly.

I shook my head. “Maybe later.”

She nodded.

I blew out my breath and felt the anger drain away. I was still frustrated with Kendall, but at least I didn’t want to yell at her anymore.

Once Stacy and Sydney realized I wasn’t going to explode, we finished drying off and headed for the couches. The girls were still leery of my temper, but they acted like they weren’t. They talked about everyday things, and I did my best not to sink into a funk. Sydney even teased me about being preoccupied, but that didn’t work either.

“How about distraction sex?” she said at last.

“Huh?”

“Distraction sex,” she said matter-of-factly. “You know, like make-up sex, or revenge sex, or—”

I held up a hand. “I get it.” Her attitude was so cheerful that I let a grin slip through my dark mood.

“Uh-oh,” she said to Stacy. “He smiled.”

“I think you’re right,” Stacy said.

“Do it again,” Sydney said, play-eager. “You’re cute when you smile.”

I rolled my eyes, but she wasn’t buying it.

“Really, you are. Isn’t he, Stace?”

“I’ve always thought he was cute,” Stacy said, more sedately. Then she actually blushed. “At one point, I thought he was the man I wanted to marry.” She laughed. “He was too young at the time, but that never stopped true love.”

I held her eyes for a moment, and she smiled tentatively.

The mood threatened to turn heavy again, but Sydney saved it with a melodramatic sigh. “Ah, true love.” She clasped her hands to her heart and fluttered her eyelashes. “O Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo? Deny thy horniness and refuse thy distraction sex!”

Stacy snickered. “That’s not how it goes, Syd.”

Sydney blinked, the picture of innocence. “It’s not?” She made a show of thinking about it, ticking the words on her fingers as she silently repeated the quote. “No, I think that’s right. ‘Deny thy horniness and refuse thy distraction sex!’ I distinctly recall the line about distraction sex.”

I laughed at that point, and Sydney was about to say something else when the back door creaked open. Maddy came in, holding her head.

“I’m sorry, Stacy,” she said as she approached. “My head is killing me. I’m gonna take some Tylenol and lay down.”

“Oh, bless your heart,” Stacy said, “I’ll walk you to your room.” She returned a minute later. “I hate that she’s not feeling well,” she said. “Besides…”

We glanced toward the back door and thought the same thing: Kendall and Charlene with four guys. I trusted Jason and Woody not to let things go too far, but I didn’t have the same confidence in Steve and Dave.

Without a word, we headed toward the back door. Music still drifted up from the boom box, but the volume wasn’t as loud as it had been in the clubhouse. We started down the steps, and two figures came into view by the hot tub.

“…yeah, she’s hot, all right,” Steve said.

“Totally bodacious,” Dave said.

I stopped above them in the dark, and Stacy and Sydney almost ran into me.

“You gonna fuck her again?” Dave asked.

“Hell yeah,” Steve said. “After Charlene gets me ready.”

I suddenly realized that the blonde was on her knees in front of him.

“She’s totally hot,” Dave said again. “And those titties…?”

“Yeah, and she’s tight, too. Did you feel that pussy? Whoo-hoo, yeah, she’s a total slut, just like I like. Ain’t that right, Charlene?”

I clenched my fists so hard that my knuckles cracked. The guys couldn’t hear over the music, so I started to clear my throat to get their attention. I didn’t know what I was going to say—or do—but adrenaline was already making my skin prickle.

I drew breath to speak, but Dave said, “Hey, lemme have a bump.”

Steve reached down to the bench and pulled something small from his jacket pocket. He did something—I couldn’t see what—and sniffed. Then he offered the small object to Dave, who tapped and sniffed hard.

“You want a bump, Charlene?” Steve asked. She stopped sucking his dick long enough to inhale what he offered.

I watched in confusion for a moment, but then it hit me. Before I could say anything, Stacy brushed past me and stormed down the steps.

“Steve,” she hissed, “I told you to keep that crap away from here.”

He turned in surprise. “Oh, hi, Stace,” he said. He tried to look innocent. “What crap?”

“You know,” she said as Sydney and I joined her. “Coke.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said.

“Don’t lie to me, Steve.”

He knew he’d been caught red-handed, so he shrugged. “Jesus, Stacy, it’s no big deal. It’s only a little coke.” He held up a small vial and shook it to make his point. “Barely an eight ball.”

“I don’t care,” she said. “I told you not to bring it here.”

“Sure, fine, whatever,” he said. He palmed the vial with a practiced gesture. “It’s gone. You won’t see it again.”

I felt her bristle. She obviously wanted to say something else, but she didn’t want to make a scene. I almost laughed in sympathy at her dilemma.

“You shouldn’t’ve brought it in the first place,” she said at last.

“Hey, I’m sorry,” he said. “It was in my jacket pocket. I completely forgot about it until we got here.” That was a bald-faced lie, and we all knew it. “It won’t happen again.”

My anger became a cold fury. “Make sure it doesn’t,” I said.

“Dude, what’s your problem?” Steve snapped at me. “This isn’t even your party.”

Sydney put her hand on my arm, but I shrugged it off. “It’s my camp, asshole,” I said. “So if you wanna put that shit up your nose, do it somewhere else.”

“Your girlfriend didn’t seem to mind,” he taunted.

My temper flared, and I flexed my hands. With a supreme effort of will, I took a deep breath and fought down the urge to deck him.

“Yeah, that’s right,” Steve mocked. “You’d better back down. Somebody’ll get their ass whooped if you don’t watch out.”

“Steve,” I said, without a trace of fear, “you couldn’t kick my ass on your best day, and you know it. Your buddy does too,” I said, nodding to Dave, who looked ready to back his friend, however reluctantly.

Steve looked into my eyes and saw the truth. A glimmer of fear flashed across his face, but he didn’t back down.

I gazed at him, cold and contemptuous. “Gimme the coke.”

He scowled, since my “request” was more like a demand. He tried to stare me down, but I didn’t bat an eye. I knew I’d won, without throwing a punch.

“Give. Me. The. Coke,” I said again, my hand out.

He hesitated a moment longer, and then snarled, “Fine! Whatever. Jesus, it’s only a little coke.”

He handed it over, and I wrapped my fingers around the sweaty glass. As he watched, I unscrewed the cap and upended the little vial, dumping at least a hundred dollars onto the ground.

“Aw, fuck, man,” he practically groaned, “whadja have to do that for?”

I didn’t answer. Instead, I re-capped the vial and returned it to him.

“Aw, fuck it,” he said after a tense moment. Behind him, Jason materialized out of the shadows.

“Hey, y’all,” he said. “What’s going on?”

Everyone held their breath. I started to say something, but then I deferred to Stacy.

“Nothing,” she said quickly. She didn’t like lying to her fiancé, but she obviously didn’t want to make things worse.

Jason’s expression went through a range of emotions, and my respect for him rose a notch or two. He probably understood what had just happened, but he was willing to follow Stacy’s lead.

“Hey, Dave,” he said, with a nod at the boom box, “you got any .38 Special?”

“Um… yeah, sure.”

As soon as Dave started the new tape, Steve seemed to snap out of his trance. He reached into the cooler and began passing out cold beers. He even handed one to me, although he wouldn’t meet my gaze.

“Whoo-hoo, yeah!” he fake-whooped at last. He popped the top on his beer and kicked the cooler closed. “This is what I call a party!”

Charlene giggled vacuously.

“I’m gonna find Kendall,” I whispered to Stacy, who nodded.

She wasn’t hard to find. The blanket was about thirty feet away, and Kendall lay spread-eagle atop it, just as I’d expected. Woody was fucking her with long, deliberate strokes. He looked up as my body cast a shadow across him. We made eye contact, and he nodded.

Kendall was in her own little world, so she didn’t notice me for several moments. She smiled when she did, but then closed her eyes as Woody thrust deep. She gestured for me to come closer, but I shook my head. I was trying to decide what Steve had meant when he’d said, “Your girlfriend didn’t seem to mind.”

Did she not mind the cocaine being at the party? Or did she not mind putting it up her nose? She moaned under Woody, and my eyes darted to her face.

I didn’t mind her having sex with four guys in a row. I thought it was a bit extreme, but it was her fantasy, not mine. The cocaine bothered me, though. I couldn’t tell if she’d done it or not, and Steve’s taunt left a lot of doubt. Had she, or hadn’t she?

Could I even tell if she had? I had missed the signs in Gina for who knows how many months. Then again, I hadn’t known what the signs were back then. Now I knew, and I couldn’t help but stare at Kendall in the hopes that intensity might somehow become insight.

It didn’t, of course, and she grew silent with an approaching orgasm. I watched her writhe in ecstasy as Woody drove her toward release. I took another swig of beer and watched as pleasure mounted within her. Someone moved beside me, and I turned in surprise to see Steve. I tensed for a fight, but he raised a hand.

“Sorry about… you know,” he said. “I was out of line.”

I stared at him for a moment, speechless.

“I was just holdin’ that stuff for a friend. I normally don’t do that, but… you know.” He shrugged. “We were just havin’ fun.”

“It’s cool,” I lied. I didn’t believe a word he’d said, but I wasn’t going to call him a liar to his face.

He gestured toward Kendall. “You’re a lucky guy.”

“I guess.”

“No, I really mean that,” he said. “She’s totally cool. And totally into sex.”

I simply nodded.

Steve jerked his thumb over his shoulder. “You wanna give Charlene a try?”

I blinked hard and wondered what Stacy and Jason had been thinking when they started swinging with meat-market idiots like Steve. “Maybe later,” I said aloud. I didn’t want to insult him, especially since he was trying to extend an olive branch, so I lied: “Stacy kinda wore me out up at the clubhouse.”

He nodded in sympathy. Then he looked nervous and gestured toward Kendall. “D’you mind…?”

She smiled when she saw me looking at her. Her eyes held the gleam of arousal, and I thought I saw more than just pleasure, but I couldn’t be sure.

Woody was still fucking her slowly, but she gestured for me to join her. I shook my head, glad that my face was hidden in shadow. Instead, I clapped Steve on the shoulder with feigned enthusiasm.

“Steve’ll take care of you,” I said to her, and propelled him forward with a half-shove.

Woody changed places, and Kendall began sucking her juices from his dick as Steve knelt between her legs.

I turned away without a backward glance.

I walked back to the hot tub, but I wasn’t in the mood for sex. Jason and Charlene were making out on the bench, so they didn’t even notice me. On the edge of the tub itself, Stacy was giving Dave a blowjob.

Sydney watched from the side, but glanced back when I loomed out of the darkness. She slid into the water and gestured for me to sit on the side. She started sucking my dick, but I was too preoccupied to get hard, so I lifted her to the side and went down on her. She came at least once, with several strong aftershocks, but I wasn’t really paying attention.

She finally pushed me away when she became too sensitive. Then she sank into the water and wrapped her legs around me. I blinked to clear my thoughts, but she sensed them anyway, and her smile held a touch of sadness.

Dave and Stacy had moved to a nearby towel, where he was fucking her from behind. Jason and Charlene were still on the bench, frantically rocking together.

Sydney sat on my lap and wrapped her arm around my neck. We talked for a while, and she even got me to laugh. She had a wry, light-hearted sense of humor, and she didn’t let my mood faze her.

Dave eventually came on Stacy’s back, and they returned to the tub to relax and catch their breath. Jason cried out as he emptied his balls onto Charlene’s chest, and they joined us a few minutes later.

Kendall, Woody, and Steve returned shortly after that. Woody gave me a quiet nod when he saw Sydney in my lap. Steve flashed me a thumbs-up, and I managed to keep from scowling. Kendall looked exhausted, although her eyes hadn’t lost the glow of arousal.

We soaked and talked for a while, but it was after two o’clock, and we were all tired. So we picked up the area and shut down the hot tub.

Stacy shot me a look as we said goodnight outside our rooms, but I merely shrugged. Too much had happened, and I simply didn’t care anymore.

Kendall was still asleep when I woke up. Worse, she was snoring softly, her mouth hanging open. Unless she had somehow caught a cold in the night, she was stuffed up because of the cocaine. What had Felicia called it? Coke nose?

I frowned and practically leapt out of bed. My dick hadn’t gotten the message that I was upset—it was as hard as ever, without a care in the world—but I ignored it and stalked across the road to the clubhouse.

The bathroom floor was cold as I stood over the toilet and tried to will my hard-on to subside. My bladder was almost painfully full, but I stood there for nearly a minute before someone spoke from the next stall.

“Morning wood?” Sydney said. I hadn’t even noticed her there.

“Yeah, something like that.”

She finished in the stall and then washed her hands. A moment later she knocked gently on my door. “You want some help?”

“Um… what kind of help?”

“Let me in and I’ll show you.” I opened the door, and she squeezed past me. “I know a trick,” she said as she lowered the toilet seat and sat before me. She was nude, of course, and my eyes wandered to her pink-capped breasts.

I immediately regretted it. Looking at breasts—no matter how pretty—wasn’t going to help my hard-on.

“Okay,” I said tensely. “What’s the trick?”

“The trick is to relax,” she said as she gripped my shaft. “Just let me do my thing, and you’ll be able to pee in no time.”

I almost laughed at her calm audacity.

She sucked gently, and my pulse quickened as I watched. Her warm lips glided over my shaft, soft and sensuous. I knew I wouldn’t last long, so I warned her when I was about to come. She merely nodded and kept sucking.

I exploded a moment later, and she moaned softly as the first spurt hit the back of her throat. Then she pumped and swallowed until the spurts turned to gushes.

I wasn’t entirely soft when she pulled back and wiped the corners of her mouth, but I was soft enough. She stood, lifted the toilet seat, and held my semi-hard penis.

“There,” she said, “that’s better.”

I waited for her to release me, but she didn’t, so I closed my eyes and let loose. Her grip was soft and firm, her body warm next to mine.

My head suddenly felt light at the double release, and I braced myself against the stall. She put her arm around my waist. She was slight, even thinner than Stacy, but surprisingly strong. When I finished peeing, she tapped the head and cleaned me with toilet paper.

“Better?”

I nodded gratefully.

“You weren’t really in the mood last night,” she said, “so I thought I’d return the favor this morning.”

“Um… thanks.” If only I hadn’t been so preoccupied last night, I thought. I silently cursed Kendall, along with the Frat Boys and their stupid cocaine.

“My pleasure,” Sydney said, breaking my train of thought. “Are you going back to bed, or…”

“Or… what?”

She laughed, light and musical. “I was thinking of breakfast,” she said, “but we can do more if you want.”

I thought about it for less than a second. She was easy to talk to and even easier to be around. She was also wry and witty, and I needed laughter more than sex.

“Breakfast sounds good,” I said.

She smiled. “I was hoping you’d say that.”

Stacy and Jason had plenty to do before the wedding, and they left after breakfast. Woody had to work, and Sydney had her own pre-wedding errands to run, so they left a little while later.

The other couples were still asleep in their rooms as I returned to ours. Kendall was still asleep, so I left a glass of water and bottle of aspirin on the bedside table. Then I walked down to the lake.

The water was as cold as ever, but it felt good to rinse the night away. My poor testicles shrank to the size of raisins, but I didn’t care. I swam a couple of laps and then floated on my back, simply staring at the sky. When I finally hauled myself out, I headed up the hill toward Susan’s house.

“Good morning,” she said when she answered my knock. “C’mon in.”

She offered to fix breakfast, but I told her I’d already eaten. We made small talk over orange juice, but she could tell that something was bothering me.

“When did you know that Greg wasn’t the right guy for you?” I finally asked.

“When I met Jack.”

“Did you have any… hints… before that?”

“You mean, did I have my doubts about Greg?”

I nodded.

She sighed and stared into space. “Yes,” she said softly. Then she shrugged, as though she couldn’t find the words. “Things didn’t feel… right.”

“That’s how I feel with Kendall,” I said. “A part of me loves her, but I don’t remember why. Does that make sense?”

She nodded.

We fell silent for a moment, but then I said, “I’m pretty sure she did coke last night.”

“Cocaine? At the party?”

I nodded. “One of the guys brought it. He said it was an accident, but that’s bullshit.”

“Do I need to do anything about it?”

“No. I took care of it.”

“You didn’t do anything drastic did you?”

I shook my head. Then I laughed, short and sharp. “Believe it or not, I was pretty mature about it. For a change.”

“What makes you think that Kendall…?”

“Little things. I don’t have any proof, but I’m sure.”

Susan merely nodded, and we fell silent. After a moment, she said, “Are you going to talk to her about it?”

“I don’t know if it would do any good.”

“Oh?”

I struggled to put my thoughts into words. “Kendall…,” I began at last. “Kendall… um… has her own version of the truth. I mean, I could confront her about it, but she’d deny it. Worse, it wouldn’t be the first time.”

“Oh?”

“She lied about being a virgin—she told me she wasn’t, but she was. She’s lied about other things, too. Mostly little things, but some big ones. I haven’t called her on it because it’s not worth it… but I know.” I turned silent for a moment.

“Gina never lied to me,” I said at last, but softly. “She hid things from me, but she always told me the truth.”

“Does Kendall hide things from you?”

“Yes and no. I mean, she drove a wedge between Gina and me. Oh, I’m definitely the one to blame, but Kendall did her part. She didn’t hide it, per se, but she was pretty manipulative and sneaky about it. I didn’t realize what she was doing at the time, but it’s pretty clear in hindsight.”

Susan merely nodded.

“There are other things that bother me more, though. I mean, this weekend was supposed to ‘rekindle our relationship,’ but it’s been non-stop sex the whole time. Well, not the whole time, but enough of it.”

“You knew about the party before you came, didn’t you?”

“Yeah, but that’s not what I’m talking about.” I told her about the drive from Knoxville. Then I jerked a thumb toward the room where Kendall was probably still asleep. “And we won’t get to do much ‘rekindling’ today, because she’s hung over. She’s probably sore, too… especially after last night.”

“What happened last night?”

I told her about Kendall’s fantasy of multiple men.

Much to my surprise, Susan laughed. “Oh, that’s a fairly common fantasy.”

“It is?”

“Yes.”

“Have you ever done it? With four guys, I mean.”

“Not that many, but I’ve thought about it. Still, that’s not the point. I’m not Kendall, and she’s not me.”

“Tell me something I don’t know,” I muttered, which made her frown.

“You sound like you’re not happy in general, and you’re trying to find tangible reasons to explain it.”

“I guess.”

“If you’re not happy, why don’t you do something about it?”

“Like what?” I didn’t really expect a straight answer—Susan had never told me what to do—and she didn’t disappoint me.

“What are your options?”

I ticked them off on my fingers: “Fix it, forget about it, or find someone else.”

She laughed darkly at my succinct alliteration.

“The problem is,” I said, “I’ve tried to fix it. Things might change for a while, but we always go back to the way things were, the status quo. I can’t really forget about it, because I’m miserable. And I don’t want to find someone else because… well… because I don’t. I mean, I still love Kendall. I… I just don’t like her very much right now.”

I blinked in surprise at a sudden memory. Gina had told me the same thing, right before she broke up with me. I couldn’t help but compare then and now.

“What were you just thinking?” Susan asked quietly.

“You probably know,” I said.

“Perhaps. But do you know?”

“That’s the million-dollar question, isn’t it?” We sat in silence for a long time. She’d always been good at letting me think things through for myself. “The thing is,” I said at last, “I don’t want to break up with her.”

“Why not?”

I shrugged. “I don’t want to hurt her, for one. I mean, she really loves me. She thinks we’re going to get married. I love her too, but…”

“Did you ever have a chance to talk about your future together?”

“Ha! She basically told me that her career was more important, that any clown can become an architect.”

“Oh, dear.”

“Yeah,” I said heavily. “Not a great way to start a discussion about our future. Oh, she apologized, but the fact that she said it in the first place kinda speaks volumes.”

Susan nodded. “Why else don’t you want to break up with her?”

“I like the sex,” I said honestly. “I don’t like the rest of our relationship, but the sex is… really good. I mean, I complained about the trip down here being all sex, but I obviously enjoyed it, didn’t I?”

She nodded.

“Heck, I probably would’ve enjoyed last night if it weren’t for the Frat Boys and their cocaine.” I fell silent for a moment, thinking back through the evening. “Well, that and Kendall’s dumbass comment about us having an open relationship. I mean, when I tried to talk to her about the rules, she turned it into some big argument where I compared her to Gina.”

“Did you?”

“No, but I made the mistake of mentioning Gina in the first place. Kendall just used it as an excuse to avoid the real discussion. That’s what I mean when I say she hides things. She didn’t ‘hide’ the discussion, but she certainly dodged it.”

“With remarkable skill, it sounds like.”

“She’s good at that,” I said sourly. “She turns things around and makes them seem like my problems. I mean, she’s a Psych major! I’m just a lowly Architecture student. What do I know?”

Susan fell silent in the face of my sarcasm.

“Hell,” I said at last. “I don’t know what to do. Do you have any suggestions?”

“Yes, but I can’t live your life for you. I wish I could, but… I’ve made my mistakes. I’m the woman I am because I made them myself, and I learned from them.”

“So how about helping me out with the benefit of your experience?”

She shook her head. “I can’t do that. Not this time.”

“But… why not?”

Her eyes filled with unshed tears. “Because you trust me, and you’d do what I say.”

“So you won’t tell me what to do?”

“Have I ever?”

“Sometimes,” I said, with plaintive bitterness.

“But I can’t now.” She wiped her eyes. “Do you understand why?”

“Because I need to make this decision myself.”

She nodded, silent and clearly miserable.

I snorted softly and wiped my own eyes. “This really sucks, you know?”

“Yes,” she said softly, “I do know.”

“Yeah, I almost forgot. Greg.”

She nodded.

“Was it hard?”

“The hardest thing I’ve ever done.”

“Sucks, don’t it?” I said.

“Yes, it does.”

I was in my own little world the rest of the day, thinking about what I wanted to do with my life. I was glad to see Kara and Victor when they arrived, but they couldn’t drag me out of my funk for long.

That night, Kendall was more interested in sex than a discussion. As usual. She was still sore from the party, but she gave me a long, two-orgasm blowjob. I enjoyed it at the time, but I also hated that I didn’t have the willpower to insist on talking instead.

We had regular sex the next morning, although my heart wasn’t really in it. My dick didn’t get the message, though, and sprang to life a second time when she started playing with it. She collapsed against me after she came, and I was glad she couldn’t see my face.

That didn’t stop me from fucking her, though. Oh, no. I was too horny to care about long-term problems. Besides, I didn’t want to suffer through the wedding with a case of blue balls. So I rolled her to her back and fucked her until I shot my load deep inside her. I was disgusted with myself, but Kendall couldn’t see through the afterglow.

She didn’t notice my growing dissatisfaction, and I did my best to hide it. My attitude was my own problem—my own fault, really—and I didn’t want to put a damper on Stacy’s happy day.

The wedding came off without a hitch. Susan was a calm presence throughout, and Gunny looked as proud as ever when he walked down the aisle with Stacy on his arm. She looked beautiful in a hand-beaded dress the color of pale turquoise, with a bouquet of white roses.

I actually had fun at the reception. I managed to forget about my problems, if only for a while. I danced with Stacy, and she looked happier than I’d ever seen her. I danced with Sydney a couple of times as well. She was so petite that I could have carried her around the dance floor without her feet touching the ground.

Steve and Dave turned out to be okay guys. Steve was still loud and obnoxious, but he was nice enough when he wasn’t high on cocaine. Dave even had a clever sense of humor, especially when Steve wasn’t around to hog the spotlight. We’d never be bosom buddies, but at least they weren’t the assholes I’d thought they were.

Not surprisingly, Kendall was horny after the reception. I didn’t think she was cocaine-horny, but she still managed to wear me out before she was ready to go to sleep. Part of my problem was that I just didn’t care anymore. I did my best, though, and I don’t think she noticed my lack of enthusiasm.

We packed our things after lunch on Sunday. Steve, Dave, and their girlfriends had spent the night in town (they were too drunk after the reception), but Susan, Gunny, and Lenore came to see us off.

Sydney and Woody were leaving at the same time, bound for Columbia, so we said goodbye to them as well. After hugs and promises to keep in touch, Kendall and I climbed into the Cruiser.

I spent the next several hours lost in thought. I didn’t actually ignore Kendall, but I didn’t keep up my side of the conversation. She tried to draw me out, but I wasn’t in the mood to share my thoughts. I didn’t even know what they were, so how could I share them? She finally lost her temper about thirty minutes from Knoxville.

“Okay, what is the matter?”

I thought about lying, or changing the subject, or even playing dumb, but she made my decision for me.

“Is it about having to drive? I thought we settled this. Flying isn’t safe.”

I gave her a “What the hell are you talking about?” look—flying had been the last thing on my mind—and she frowned.

“Is it about the party?” she asked. “So what if I had sex with four men? It was a fantasy, Paul.”

The sex didn’t really bother me either, although I still didn’t answer.

“Is it the cocaine? If you must know, I didn’t do any.” She was too quick, too casual, and I didn’t believe her. She was a great actress when she played a fantasy role, but she wasn’t a good liar when she was upset. “I didn’t,” she insisted. “Not that it’s any of your business. It’s my body, and I don’t need your permission.”

I finally said, “Is that what you think this is about?”

“Then what is it about? Your precious Gina did coke all the time, and you didn’t even know about it. But I do it once and you think I’m some dope addict! You’re always comparing me to Gina, and I’m sick of it.”

“I haven’t said a thing about Gina.” I wasn’t even angry when I said it—I just felt… nothing.

“If she were so perfect, then why did she cheat on you?”

“She didn’t cheat on me.”

“What about that trip to Vermont? I heard she fucked half the guys there.”

“Yeah, I heard the same thing,” I said, “but not from Gina. She said she didn’t, and I believe her.”

“Oh, fine,” Kendall spat. “You believe Gina, but you won’t believe me?”

“Gina never lied to me.”

“And I have?” she practically shrieked.

I didn’t answer, because it would simply make things worse.

“When have I ever lied to you, Paul? When? Tell me!”

“Kendall, I’m not—”

“Oh, fine,” she said. “Avoid the issue. That’s just like you to make this seem like my fault.”

“No, it’s my fault,” I said, quiet and sincere.

“You’re right about that!”

We drove in silence for a while, but she couldn’t let it go.

“This is about Gina, isn’t it? She could fuck half a frat house, but you get upset when I have sex with four men. Four, Paul. Four. Not a dozen.”

I finally lost it. “Why do you think this is about Gina?”

“Because it’s always about Gina. She was your precious first love, and I’m sick of being compared to her.”

“I don’t compare you to her. I didn’t even bring her up! You did!”

“She’s a narcissistic slut, Paul. She screwed everything that moved, including her sisters.”

“So? You have fantasies about your father,” I said. “And your brother, too.”

“I do not! That’s disgusting!”

“No, it’s not. It’s natural. Everybody—”

“It is not natural, Paul. It’s incest, and it’s disgusting. But you’re too busy defending her to admit it. Well, I know what she did. She didn’t fool me for a minute.”

That was a preview of Wanderlust - Summer Camp Swingers: Wren Series Book 2. To read the rest purchase the book.

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