When I returned to my room after wrestling practice, I found a note from T.J. taped to my door: Loverboy, call your girlfriend!

I picked up the phone and dialed Kendall’s number.

“Hi,” I said. “You called?”

“No.” She sounded perplexed.

I stared at T.J.’s note. “You didn’t?”

“Uh-uh. Why?”

Then it hit me: Gina! “Oh, sorry,” I said, wincing sheepishly. “T.J. left me a note to call my girlfriend—”

“And you called me first?” I could hear the elation in her voice, although she quickly composed herself and continued. “He probably meant Gina.”

“Yeah, I’d better call her.” After I told her I loved her and hung up, I dialed Gina’s number.

“What happened yesterday?” she asked. “I tried calling you, but…”

“Yesterday?” What was I doing yesterday? Kendall and I went to the movies with—

“Duh, silly, we were supposed to get together with Kendall. What happened? Is everything okay?”

“Sorry,” I said, my face heating. “I… um… I forgot to tell you… I had to work on a Design project, and I spent most of the day at the World’s Fair site, making sketches.” It was a bald-faced lie, and I mentally kicked myself. Then, for good measure, I did it again. I hated lying, and I’d just panicked and done it without a second thought.

“Oh, okay,” Gina said, obviously disappointed.

“I’m sorry I didn’t call you, sweetie.”

“That’s okay. I’m just glad you’re okay.”

“Yeah, sorry,” I added lamely.

“Do you want to get together tonight? Maybe Kendall too?”

“I’ve got an Art History exam tomorrow,” I said, “and a bunch of us are getting together to study.”

“Oh, okay. I probably need to study Chemistry anyway. I’ve got a big lab tomorrow, and I haven’t even read the write-up yet.”

“Maybe some other time?”

“How about tomorrow night?” she suggested.

“I can’t. I’ve got a basketball game. And Kendall and Abby are fixing dinner for Trip and me. Maybe Wednesday? I’ve got my instrument class till nine, but afterward…”

“We’ve got a mixer for the new pledges.”

“How about Thursday sometime?” I suggested. “Maybe during the day?”

“Uh-uh. I’ve got class, then I volunteer at the hospital from twelve till three.”

“How about after that?”

“I’m in class till four thirty. But then I’ve got work to do for the Winter Formal. You remember, right?”

Winter Formal? “Um… yeah, sure,” I bluffed. Then I wracked my brain, trying to remember what she was talking about.

“You don’t remember,” she said, an unvoiced sigh in her tone.

“Yeah, of course I remember,” I said, trying not to sound testy. Then I mentally repeated the conversation, searching for clues. “Your Winter Formal is… Friday… and, um”—I remembered!—“it’s with the ΑΤΩs. It starts at seven, at the Hilton. Of course I remember.”

“I’m sorry, I thought you’d forgotten.” She sounded tremendously relieved. “I’m wearing a green dress, and I’ve got a matching cummerbund for you. Have you made a reservation for a tux?”

“Uh, no,” I said absently, silently scolding myself for not remembering her dance.

At that, she did sigh. “Do you want me to do it?”

“No, I can do it. Besides, my schedule’s pretty full, so I’ll need to figure out when I’ve got time.”

“Okay.”

“So, what’s the plan for Friday night?” I asked, changing the subject to cover my brusque reply about the tuxedo.

“Jess’s father reserved a bunch of rooms for us, so I thought we’d spend the night at the hotel. Is that okay?”

“Sure.”

“The dance should last till one or two, but afterward, the party will probably move upstairs.”

“Whatever,” I agreed.

“Oh, Paul, I’m really looking forward to it. It’s going to be so much fun! Don’t you think? And maybe this weekend, we can get together with Kendall.”

“Yeah, that sounds good.”

“Okay. I need to read my lab write-up, so I’d better go,” she said. “Don’t forget to reserve your tux. I love you.”

“I love you too. Bye.”

After two weeks of modeling separately, Kendall and I were excited about finally posing together. Consequently, I found myself daydreaming instead of paying attention to my Art History exam.

As usual, Christy finished quickly. And since I was fantasizing, even Wren turned in her test before I did.

“So, Mysterious,” she said as I joined the two of them in the hallway, “I bet I know what you’re thinking. Judging by how many times you had to, ahem, make an adjustment during class, I guess it’s not so ‘mysterious,’ is it?”

I blushed suitably.

“And Kendall sure was excited this morning at breakfast. I’ll have to call and ask her about it. Afterward, I mean.”

“Be nice, Wren,” Christy chided.

“I am being nice.”

Christy scoffed politely.

“Fine, take his side,” Wren said. She tried to sound indignant, but she couldn’t pull it off.

“You’d better not tease him,” Christy continued. “After all, you have to model with him too.”

“Exactly,” I said. “And I’m pretty good at teasing.”

“You’re not half as good as I am,” Wren shot back.

I arched a skeptical eyebrow.

“You’re not,” she said defensively.

Christy turned mischievous. “Is that why you take a cold shower afterward?”

Wren’s jaw dropped, and Christy smiled smugly.

“So you take a cold shower after Siobhan’s class?” I asked.

“That’s none of your business,” Wren sputtered.

I held up my hands, silently conceding the point. But then I couldn’t resist needling her: I chuckled.

She stopped walking. When Christy and I turned, she stomped her foot and huffed. “You,” she said, glaring at me, “are impossible.”

Christy and I broke into snickers that quickly turned into full-fledged laughter.

Wren huffed again. “I’ve got to get to class.”

“Bye, Beautiful,” I said through laugh-teary eyes.

“Impossible!” she threw over her shoulder.

When Christy and I calmed down, we shared a guilty smile.

“I shouldn’t do that,” she said, “but she’s so much fun to tease. She’ll probably be upset about the cold shower thing, but I couldn’t resist.”

“Does she really take cold showers?”

“I’m sorry,” Christy demurred, “I really shouldn’t have said that. She doesn’t want you to know how attracted she is to you.”

“As if I couldn’t tell?”

“I tried to tell her that,” Christy said, “but she still thinks she’s got you fooled. Well, she wants to think she’s got you fooled. She’s not stupid, though; deep down, she knows that you know. Besides, she told me about your no-kissing rule. And I’m sure you’ve got an unwritten no-sex rule, too.”

I nodded vigorously. I liked Wren—and I wanted to have sex with her—but I didn’t need that kind of complication in my already complicated life.

“She likes Kendall, and she really likes you too. As a friend, I mean. Yeah, she wants to have sex with you, but she respects you, too. She’s never met a guy who could resist her, so I think she sees you as more than just a challenge.”

I raised my eyebrows in question.

“Trust me, guys fall all over themselves for Wren. She likes you even more because you obviously want to, but don’t. Does that make sense?”

“I guess.”

“So Wren wants to get to know you better. For instance, do you remember when you gave her that ‘high school prick-tease’ speech?”

I nodded.

“I think that really got through to her. Yeah, she still flirts with you, but I think she’s also having fun getting to know you. So you see, you’ve already made her life better. Just don’t break any of your rules, even the unwritten ones.”

“No kidding,” I said softly.

“Anyway, I’d better let you get to Siobhan’s class. I want to sit in on it sometime, if Kendall doesn’t mind. Maybe next week?”

“I’ll ask her, but I think that’d be all right. Do you mind if I ask why, though?”

“Kendall’s very pretty. And you make an attractive couple, so I want to sketch you together. Besides, you’re hard and muscular, while she’s soft and curvy, and I like the contrast. Anyway, I’m turning into a chatterbox again, so I’d better let you go. I’ll see you tomorrow. Bye.”

For a moment, I watched her walk away, a petite bundle of energy and mystery. Then I glanced at my watch and hurried toward Siobhan’s studio. Kendall was waiting for me when I arrived. She threw her arms around my neck and kissed me soundly.

“Hi,” she said after we broke the kiss.

“Hi yourself.”

“I can’t wait for class to start! This is so exciting.”

I pulled her close, enjoying the curves of her body as she pressed against me. “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

“Probably,” she said, her eyes glittering. Then she held her lips to my ear and continued. “I’m thinking about what I want you to do to me when we get back to the apartment.”

My dick twitched.

“And I have to make a confession. After breakfast, I went back to the apartment and… I used my vibrator a little.”

I pulled back in surprise.

She blushed.

“Did you get off?” I asked quietly.

She shook her head. “I like it better when you do it. But I wanted to try it again. Oh, Paul, I came so hard the other day. I had no idea…”

I smiled smugly.

She rolled her eyes. “Okay, you were right.”

Before I could gloat, the bell to end classes rang and students began streaming into the hallway. Kendall and I slipped into Siobhan’s studio after the first rush, and headed straight for the office.

Once inside, I shut the door and pulled Kendall into my arms. As we kissed, I lifted the back of her skirt and cupped her panty-clad ass. She tugged my shirt out of my pants and began unbuttoning it. In less time than it had taken us to walk across the main studio, we stripped each other.

“How much time do we have?” she asked breathlessly, gripping my erection and squeezing gently.

“Not enough. Five minutes, maybe less.”

“Are you sure it’s not enough time?”

I nodded, the big head firmly in control. Then I steeled my resolve and pulled her hand from my manhood. “This isn’t going away by itself,” I said, “and unless you can get me off really quick, we’d better cut it out.”

“I think I can do it,” she said, already sinking to her knees.

I caught her and shook my head. “Uh-uh,” I added for emphasis. “We can’t.”

With a reluctant sigh, she took a half-step back. Then her eyes darted to my jutting hard-on. “What do you want me to do? Can I help?”

“Just give me a minute,” I said. Then I closed my eyes and started thinking about the most un-sexy things I could.

When Siobhan finally knocked on the door—it felt like an eternity later, but was probably a few minutes—I wasn’t exactly soft, but I wasn’t ramrod straight either. My cock was in that semi-hard state where it was as long as it was going to get, but not fully erect. When I looked at it, I had to suppress a chuckle: it looked like a sullen sausage, hanging its head in frustration.

Kendall sensed my mood and laughed softly.

“Don’t do that,” I said, my voice tight.

“What?”

“Don’t laugh. When you do, your breasts shake, and I think about how they bounce when I’m fucking you.”

As if on cue, my dick twitched and started to rise. I clamped my eyes shut and imagined Rod getting fucked from behind by Regan and her strap-on. That did the trick. I took a deep breath and gestured toward the door.

“Oops,” Kendall said all of a sudden. “I almost forgot my bottoms.”

I rolled my eyes—we’d both forgotten our robes as well. I donned mine and held hers as she slipped into her cream-colored bikini bottoms. A moment later we opened the door and walked to the middle of the semicircle of easels. Siobhan posed us about three feet apart and then waited as we removed our robes. My cock hadn’t softened a bit, but it still hung “limp,” pointed at the ground.

“Just sit naturally,” the auburn-haired professor said. “I don’t need a specific pose.”

Kendall and I nodded.

With that, Siobhan began giving instructions to her class. I looked at Kendall and sighed in relief. For the moment, I had things under control.

I spent the next forty-five minutes in a minor hell of arousal. Twice, I happened to glance at Kendall at the wrong time, and my dick predictably jerked to attention. Each time, I gritted my teeth and imagined something sure to turn me off.

By the time Siobhan brought our robes, my nerves were thrumming with pent-up sexual energy, and I was ready to explode.

“Are you okay?” she asked quietly. “Are you sure you’ll be able to pose with your girlfriend?”

“It’s harder than I thought it’d be,” I said.

She laughed at my gaffe.

I’m sure I turned six shades of purple. Even Kendall had to suppress a chuckle.

“You did fine,” Siobhan said, smiling at my predicament. After a moment, she shook her head semi-wistfully. “Oh, to be young again.” Still grinning, she turned to talk to a waiting student.

I practically bolted for the office. When Kendall shut the door behind us, I didn’t bother with preliminaries; I simply pulled her robe open and pinned her against the door with my body. Then I kissed her, my tongue forcing her lips open.

She was as horny as I was, and clutched me passionately. I broke the kiss a moment later and picked her up. Her legs automatically circled my waist as I started sucking her nipples. She gasped when I gently bit one of them. Then she ran her fingers through my hair and held me close.

“I want you inside me,” she said, her voice low and husky with desire. “Fuck me, Paul.”

I thought about it for a moment but reluctantly shook my head. I didn’t want Siobhan or any of her students interrupting us. “Let’s go back to your apartment,” I said at last. “Don’t worry about getting dressed, though. Just put on your skirt and coat.”

She nodded and I lowered her to her feet. Then she sank to her knees before I could stop her. When she wrapped her lips around my erection, I didn’t want to stop her. But she pulled back on her own a minute later, my dick shiny with her saliva.

With that, we hurriedly dressed. I didn’t bother with underwear, simply stuffing my erection into my khakis. I had a noticeable bulge, but I didn’t care. Kendall tossed her un-donned clothing into my backpack and then we made sure we were presentable before heading out.

Halfway to the apartment, I pulled her aside and unzipped her coat. Her nipples hardened in the January air as she looked around nervously. I’d deliberately chosen a spot that was fairly secluded, though, so no one was near enough to tell what we were doing. I teased her nipples for a moment and then grinned at a sudden thought.

“Don’t zip your coat,” I said.

Her eyes widened.

“No one’ll be able to see anything,” I said. “It mostly hangs closed, even without the zipper.”

“I don’t know…”

“Trust me. Besides, it’ll be sexy walking along knowing that anyone who’s paying attention will catch a glimpse.”

She looked dubious for a moment, but then nodded.

Surprisingly, few people even noticed that she was exposed. Those who did notice were past us before they could get a second look. When we reached the elevator lobby of her building, we were alone, so I opened her coat and cupped her breasts.

I suppressed a chuckle when she jumped as the elevator sounded its arrival, but the car was empty, so I didn’t bother closing her coat. Once in the car itself, I lifted her skirt and cupped her ass.

“Paul, what’re you doing?” she hissed when I reached for her skirt’s zipper. She tried to fend me off.

I continued implacably and hooked my thumbs under her waistband.

She gasped when she felt her skirt and bikini bottoms sliding downward.

“Your coat comes to the top of your thighs,” I said. “Besides, we just have to make it from the elevator to your apartment. And I’m sure no one will be in the hallway.”

“But what if someone is?”

“They probably won’t even notice.”

“But, Paul…”

“Trust me,” I said, directing her to step out of her skirt. Clad only in her winter coat, she shivered.

I smiled to myself; her shiver was from more than just the chill.

True to my prediction, the hall was empty. Kendall tried to quicken our pace, but my hand on the small of her back kept her in check. When we were about thirty feet from her door, I tugged her to a stop.

“Take off your coat,” I directed.

She looked at me, eyes wide.

“Take it off.”

She trembled with a combination of fear and desire as she let the coat slip from her shoulders. When I held out my hand, she gave it to me, along with her purse. Then she stood straight, on display. Wearing only a pair of shoes, she walked the remaining distance to her apartment. After a moment of panic, she reached for her purse to retrieve her keys.

Before she could open the door, however, I put my hand on hers. Then I turned her to face me and pressed her back against the door with my body. We kissed for nearly a minute, heedless of who might see us. Fortunately, no one entered the hallway, so I grew bolder.

“Take out my cock,” I said.

She hesitated for a moment but then reached for my zipper.

“Now get on your knees and suck me.”

Fully under my spell, she sank to her knees and wrapped her lips around my swollen shaft.

I let her suck me for several minutes, my hands braced on the door. In truth, my own coat hung down as I bent over; it hid her bobbing head. The hallway was dim enough that anyone coming down it wouldn’t immediately realize what Kendall was doing.

Despite that, I still felt a surge of panic when I heard a door open. It was between us and the elevator, though, and the two girls who emerged never looked toward us. I sighed in relief and looked down at Kendall, who was staring up at me with wide, anxious eyes.

“Let’s get inside,” I said, chuckling.

Surprisingly, she shook her head and resumed sucking, her tongue forestalling any objection on my part. Unfortunately, I heard the elevator ding in the distance. A moment later I heard the sound of someone coming toward us. At that point I pulled my slippery manhood from Kendall’s lips and turned the key in the lock.

“Get inside,” I hissed. “Quick.”

She looked up at me for a heartbeat, confused.

“Someone’s coming!” Out of my peripheral vision, I saw two figures round the corner, headed our way. “Get inside!”

For precious seconds, Kendall hesitated. Then my words registered and she scampered inside.

I turned and looked down the hallway. The two girls had just noticed us. They were sixty or seventy feet away, but I think they’d figured out what we were up to. I scooped up my backpack and Kendall’s things.

With my erection pointing at the open doorway, I took one last look at the girls. They were standing wide-eyed in shock. Inexplicably, I waved at them. Without thinking, they waved in reply. I laughed at the absurdity of it all and then calmly walked into Kendall’s apartment.

“Oh my goodness,” Kendall said as I shut the door behind me, “do you think they know what we were doing?”

I nodded, grinning lecherously.

“What if they call the police?”

“They won’t,” I said, with more assurance than I truly felt.

Before Kendall could raise another objection, I kissed her, hard. My erection bumped against her thigh, reminding her of its presence.

“Oh, Paul,” she breathed, “you make me so hot. I don’t care if they call the police.”

“Me either.”

With that, I began tugging off my own clothing.

We didn’t even make it to the bedroom. Instead, I pressed her against the wall and fucked her from behind. When I felt my orgasm approaching, I told her to turn around and kneel in front of me. I quickly reached the point of no return and erupted in her mouth.

She nuzzled my shrinking cock while I recovered. After a minute or two, I lifted her to her feet and nudged her toward her bedroom.

There, I merely admired her as she lay on her bed, her breasts flattened, nipples stiff with desire. Then I grinned down at her and stroked her silken thigh. I nudged her legs apart and lay between them.

Her pussy was slippery with arousal. When I gently blew cool air over her slit, she quivered with anticipation. Then I began licking her in earnest, my tongue on overdrive.

By the time she was ready to come, I was hard again, so I sat up and scooted forward. She gazed up at me as my erection probed her opening. Then she closed her eyes as I sank into her. Once I settled myself above her, she wrapped her legs around my thighs, her arms hooking under mine at the same time.

“Fuck me,” she whispered. “Fuck me hard.”

Who was I to refuse?

With my cock pounding into her, she quickly reached the edge of orgasm. When I started playing with her clit, she crashed over, her pussy contracting with the force of her climax. I struggled to enter her, but a gush of heat and moisture eased my passage.

As another wave of pleasure took her, I felt my own orgasm boiling up. With a grunt, I buried myself as deep as I could. My cock swelled within her and then loosed a torrent of semen to bathe her inner walls.

Pleasure assaulted us as our orgasms mingled and fed each other. Her pussy clamped around me, milking my spurting shaft. The pleasure was so intense that I had to concentrate to keep from passing out.

Finally, panting, I collapsed against her and she held me close, her breathing in sync with my own.

“Wow,” she said at last. “Wow.”

I swallowed to clear my cottony mouth. Then I pulled back and gazed down at her. “I love you,” I said.

Instead of answering with words, she simply pulled me down for a kiss.

“How was modeling yesterday?” Christy asked as we walked toward her apartment after lunch.

I felt my face turning red.

“That good, huh?”

“Is it that obvious?”

She nodded, grinning. “You and Kendall couldn’t keep your hands off each other at breakfast.”

I’m sure my blush only deepened.

“How’re things with you and Gina?” she asked, tactfully changing the subject.

“Better,” I said. “We’ve got her sorority’s Winter Formal this Friday.”

“Oh, that should be fun. I love formal dances. That’s one of the things I miss most about high school.”

“Yeah,” I said, chuckling, “it seems like fraternities and sororities are just extensions of high school. They drink more beer, but…” I shrugged meaningfully.

“How come you didn’t join a fraternity?”

“I thought about it,” I half-lied, “but decided that I probably needed to concentrate on school. I mean, my parents are spending a lot of money to send me here, especially with out-of-state tuition and all.”

“Tell me about it,” she agreed ruefully.

“Besides, my schedule’s pretty full without a fraternity. How come you didn’t join a sorority?”

“I was never really interested,” she said. “Working with Siobhan keeps me busy, and it’s easy for me to meet people. I’ve got my mother’s personality—she’s so friendly and outgoing. At least I hope I’ve got my mother’s personality.”

“You do,” I said, laughing.

“Anyway, I guess I never really thought about joining a sorority.”

“Ah, okay.”

“So, what do you want for a snack today? We need to finish the bananas. And I can make you some peanut butter and graham crackers. Or, I could put peanut butter on some celery for you— But you’re not a fan of celery… hmm… how about peanut butter on an apple? Would you like that? I remember when I was a little girl, my mother used to cut an apple in half and spread peanut butter on it. Crunchy peanut butter, not smooth—”

I nodded in agreement and then smiled as she chattered happily. I felt like I didn’t have a care in the world; for some reason, being around Christy was relaxing.

“—Nobu liked apples too. Mariko and I used to get them at the Base Exchange and take them to the temple for the monks. Did I ever show you my sketches of Mariko? She’s very pretty. And exotic. Her mother’s Japanese and her father’s American, and she’s got the most exquisite bone structure. I really miss her. Which reminds me, I’ll have to write a letter to her after I finish my current one to Simon. And then I was thinking about starting a new sculpture of you, if you don’t mind. I want to do something like Michelangelo’s David, but with a modern feel. Still realistic, mind you, I don’t much care for abstract sculpture, but—”

Once again, I found myself smiling.

After wrestling practice, I rushed back to my room to shower before my instrument class. I was just about to step into the stall when the phone rang.

“Hello?”

“Howdy, stranger,” a female voice said.

I furrowed my brow. From some dark corner of my brain, warning bells were going off, but I couldn’t place the voice.

“Do you know who this is?”

I scratched my head, still wracking my brain.

“It’s Felicia,” she said at my awkward pause.

My skin prickled icily. “Oh… um… hi.”

“So, what’re you doing?”

“I was just about to get into the shower. I’ve got a class in a few minutes.”

“Ooh, a shower,” she said. “That sounds like fun. I wish I could join you.”

I had to steer the conversation to safer ground, so I ignored her comment. “So, what’re you up to?” I asked instead.

“I just got home from work. And I was wondering why you hadn’t called me. Did you lose my number or something?”

“Actually,” I said, as sheepishly as I could, “I did.” In reality, I’d deliberately thrown it away. I felt guilty enough about what I’d done; I didn’t need the reminder of a scrap of paper with her phone number on it.

“Oh. Let me give it to you again. Do you have a pen?”

“Um… not really,” I said. “I’m standing here in just a towel.”

“Oh, yeah, you were about to shower.”

“Mmm hmm.”

“I wish I was there with you. I could wash your back.”

“I guess,” I said, my eyes darting about nervously.

“I could wash more than that, too.”

I silently cursed as her words battered through my resistance and my dick twitched in response.

“I could wash your big, hard cock.”

I swallowed hard. The conversation was not going well. I decided to cut her off before I lost control completely. What is it about this girl?! I silently railed. Full lips, perfect breasts, clenching muscles— Stop it! “Um… yeah,” I said. “I can probably take care of that myself, though.”

“Since you’re there and I’m here,” she said, laughing, “you’ll have to.” She turned serious, and sultry. “When’re you coming back to Atlanta?”

“Um…”

“Or I could drive up to Knoxville.”

“I dunno,” I hedged.

“I could take a couple of days off and drive up there. We could get a cabin in the mountains or something. I hear they’ve got mountains in Knoxville.”

“They’re not very big mountains,” I said. “Not like Utah, at least. Anyway, I’ve got to go. I’m running late already.”

“Oh. Okay.”

I felt bad when I heard the disappointment in her voice, but I mustered my resolve. “Yeah. Sorry. Maybe you could call me some other time. Tomorrow.” Why did I say tomorrow?!

“Yeah, I guess I could.”

“Okay. Well… it was good talking to you. Bye.”

“Bye.”

I hung up and took a deep breath. Then I looked down at the towel-covered bulge of my erection.

“What is it with this girl?” I asked aloud.

Not surprisingly, my hard-on didn’t have any answers.

I hate to admit it, but I ended up jerking off in the shower with visions of a big-breasted blonde bouncing through my imagination.

Felicia called again on Thursday. I was working on my Sunsphere sketches when the phone rang. T.J. answered and then hollered for me.

“Another girlfriend, Loverboy?” he asked as he held out the phone, his hand thankfully covering the mouthpiece.

“T.J., would you like it if I called you ‘Weasel’?”

He shrugged indifferently. “Why should I care? Besides, I’m just kidding.”

“Well, why don’t you give it a break. I mean, you don’t have a nickname for Glen.”

“Because I like Glen,” he said, grinning.

“Whatever.” I took the phone as he chuckled and returned to his room. “Hello?”

“Howdy,” Felicia said. “What’re you doing? I didn’t catch you at a bad time, did I?”

“I was working on some sketches for a project,” I said, the long phone cord trailing behind me as I headed back to my room. Unfortunately, Felicia was in a talkative mood, and started telling me about her day at work. Worse, I was too polite to interrupt.

“So,” she asked at last, “when’re you coming to Atlanta?”

“Maybe Spring Break,” I said vaguely.

“When’s that?”

“The end of March.”

“That long?” she said. “Aren’t you coming home before then?”

“Probably not. Why?” As if I didn’t know.

“I want to see you. I owe you a T-bone dinner. And you’re welcome to anything else you want.”

Once again, it didn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out what “anything” meant.

“I bought some new lingerie I want to show you, too. I got a sheer silk camisole, with a little pair of g-string panties. The panties are sheer too, so you can see my pubes. I also got a slinky nightgown. My tits barely fit, so they might pop out. But you’d like that, wouldn’t you.”

I took a deep breath and tried to will my erection to subside.

“And I’ve still got my Marilyn Monroe gloves. You really liked those, didn’t you?”

“Yeah,” I said, as noncommittally as I could, “those were pretty cool. I’d love to see ’em again some time.” What was I saying?! “But right now, I really need to work on this design project. I’ve got to give the sketches to my teammates tomorrow, and I still need to finish them. So I’d better go.”

“Oh, okay. Are you sure you can’t talk longer?”

“I really should get back to work.”

“Well, it was nice talking to you,” she said, disappointed.

“It was nice talking to you too. Bye.”

“Bye.”

I was just about to hang up when I heard her call my name. I returned the phone to my ear. “Yeah?”

“You forgot to write down my number.”

“Oh, yeah,” I said, my heart sinking. I hadn’t forgotten. With an inner sigh, I grabbed a pencil from my desk. Unfortunately, the desk itself was littered with drawings.

I probably should have simply pretended to take down her number, but some honest corner of my brain refused to go along with the subterfuge. So I actually wrote her number on the corner of one of my Sunsphere sketches.

“Okay,” I said, “I’ve got it. I’ll call you sometime.”

“Well, I guess I’d better let you get back to your project.”

After I hung up, I thought about jerking off. I could easily picture Felicia in a skimpy camisole, her pink nipples straining at the fabric, her dark pubic hair inviting me to experience her clenching muscles.

Instead, I decided to call Kendall. I felt guilty—as if I were simply using her to satisfy my own desires—but I made the call anyway.

“Hi,” I said when Phoebe handed Kendall the phone.

“Hi yourself.”

“What’re you up to?”

“O. Chem. I’ve got to write up a lab report. The clothes I was wearing still stink, so I thought I’d do some laundry too. Why?”

“Do you wanna get together? Billy’s working on his play, or over at Jamie’s apartment, or… wherever. We could fool around.”

“Paul, I really need to work on this lab report. I can’t do what I did last quarter.” She had come to the conclusion—probably correct—that she’d spent too much time with me the previous quarter, and her grades had suffered accordingly.

“You can work on your lab report after… you know.” I squeezed my erection through my pants. “Besides,” I added, “I’ve got to work on drawings for Design class. So we can’t fool around long.”

She could obviously hear the desire in my voice, but she remained steadfast. “I’m sorry, Paul. I’ve got to get this lab report done.”

“Are you sure?” I asked, trying not to wheedle.

“It’s not that I don’t want to come over,” she said, “but I need to finish this report.”

“Yeah, all right. I should probably work on my drawings anyway. Joska’s being an absolute stickler, and I guess I need to go over my site sketches again.”

We talked for another minute or two and then hung up. I wasn’t very happy, but I wasn’t upset either. I was just horny, although I couldn’t expect Kendall to jump every time I called.

Unfortunately, my erection didn’t go away, no matter how hard I stared at my drawings. So I changed into my workout shorts and grabbed my barbell. Thirty minutes of curls and presses didn’t take the edge off my ardor, and I thought about calling Kendall again.

In the end, I decided to take a shower, where—not surprisingly—I jerked off. I tried not to think about Felicia, but I couldn’t help myself. When I came, I nearly collapsed from the sensation, my erection throbbing long after I stopped spurting.

I shook my head to rid myself of images of Felicia bouncing, squeezing—

I reached for the soap and began to lather my chest. “Thank God for an endless supply of hot water,” I muttered, angry with myself.

Rod and Neil hadn’t shown up to Calculus class all week. When I noticed a girl in the front row turn in three pages of homework—Rod and Neil’s, in addition to her own, I guessed—I gritted my teeth.

I was tempted to tell Professor Vajpayee about their scam, but decided against it. Glen’s words echoed in my mind: “For everything you do to him, he’ll do something worse in return.” Besides, I wasn’t a snitch.

After lunch, Christy and I headed upstairs to her room for snacks. She could tell that something was eating at me, but she didn’t pry.

I hated the idea that Rod and Neil were getting away with cheating. After all, I had to actually go to class and do the homework. So did the other students. What made Rod and Neil special?

One word: money.

They were probably paying the girl to turn in their homework, if she wasn’t doing it for them in the first place as well. Worse, they had somehow managed to cheat on the first test. (Neither of them seemed like math geniuses, so I doubted they’d aced the test on their own.)

What they were doing was wrong, plain and simple, and it grated on me. But unless I wanted to make an issue about it with the professor, I couldn’t do anything to stop them. Still, it made me angry.

“Do you want some macadamia nuts?” Christy asked, shaking me out of my sullen reverie.

“Huh?”

“Macadamia nuts. My sister-in-law sent them to me,” she said, holding up a blue can of Mauna Loa nuts. “Here, I’ll make us a bag for later.”

I nodded absently.

“Are you upset about tonight?”

“What?”

“Are you upset about tonight?” she repeated. “About the formal, I mean.”

I shook my head. “Why?”

“You brood when you’re upset about something. Did you and Gina have a fight?”

“No, it’s nothing like that,” I said. “I haven’t even seen Gina in a week. She’s been busy with school, or her sorority, or volunteering at the hospital, or… something. I guess I’ve been busy too, but still…”

“Then what’re you upset about? Do you want to talk about it?”

I quickly explained about Rod and Calculus.

“Yeah, that’d make me angry too,” she said. “That’s just wrong.”

“But there’s nothing I can really do,” I said, “short of making a big deal about it, and I’m not a snitch.”

She nodded in understanding. She’d grown up with older brothers, so she undoubtedly knew about unwritten codes among guys.

“It just bugs me is all,” I said.

“But if there’s nothing you can do about it…”

“Yeah,” I said, agreeing with her unspoken advice, “let it go.”

“C’mon,” she said. “I’ve got macadamia nuts, granola, carrots, and celery for us. Well, the celery’s for me, but you can have some if you want.”

“I’ll pass,” I said.

“I thought you would, but I’m gonna keep trying. Anyway, I wanted to work on my sculpture, if you don’t mind. So let’s go somewhere I can get your clothes off,” she added, flashing me her bright, irrepressible grin. “Well, your shirt, at least. And then when I finish this sculpture, I think I’m going to use it in my mold-making class.

“We’re learning about the lost-wax method,” she continued, unabated, “and I think you’d make an excellent bronze, if you don’t mind me saying so. For my next sculpture, though, I think I want to do something a bit less realistic, but still not abstract. I mean, I can do nudes all day long, but I have trouble with geometric shapes. Not that I don’t like sculpting nudes, I do, but I’ve got to be well-rounded if I want to succeed as an artist. Critics are fond of abstract these days, and I’m not one to cater to the critics, but…”

I smiled and hefted my backpack, happy to listen to her talk.

After wrestling practice, I headed to meet Gina. She was waiting for me in the Carrick breezeway. Her dark eyes lit up when she saw me, and she stood on tiptoe to give me a kiss.

“Did you remember to get your tux?” she asked.

“Yep. It’s upstairs. I’ve already packed a bag and I’m more or less ready to go. I want to take a quick shower first, though, if you don’t mind.” For emphasis I plucked at the sweaty shirt under my warm-up jacket.

“No problem, pitter-pat man,” she said.

With that, I reached for her familiar overnight bag while she protectively carried the hanging bag with her dress.

Upstairs, I stripped off my workout clothes and jumped into the shower. A minute later, however, the phone rang.

“Do you want me to get it?” Gina called over the noise of the shower.

“If you don’t mind.”

I could hear her talking, but I couldn’t make out the conversation, short as it was.

“Who was it?” I asked when she hung up.

“Felicia,” she said.

My skin prickled and I froze mid-lather.

“She didn’t leave a message,” Gina continued.

What had Felicia said?! A thousand questions ran through my mind, all of them with messy answers. I didn’t want to say anything, though, for fear that Gina would know a lie for what it was. But saying nothing would be just as telling, and I—

“I told her you were going out tonight and wouldn’t be back till tomorrow,” Gina said, her voice devoid of suspicion. “I hope that was okay. She said she’d try back then.”

“O-oh, okay. Thanks.”

I couldn’t tell if Gina suspected the truth—especially without seeing her expression—so I quickly rinsed off. I didn’t even finish drying off before I thrust the shower curtains aside and hurried toward my room, leaving a trail of wet footprints as I went.

Gina was sitting at my desk, looking at my Sunsphere sketches.

“Wow,” she said as I entered the room, “these’re really good.”

“Um… thanks.”

She turned to face me. With a smile, she crossed her legs and smoothed her skirt.

I studied her face for a moment, searching for signs that she was angry. She cocked her head to the side in question, so I smiled nervously, hoping to put her off. When she started talking about the dance, I relaxed a bit.

But I was still on edge, so I hid my nervousness with action; I stuffed my toiletry kit into my bag and got dressed. I barely remembered to comb my hair and I completely forgot to shave, but Gina didn’t seem to notice.

“I thought I’d shower and do my hair at the hotel,” she said. “Even though you’ve already had a shower, maybe you could join me. I might need some help washing my hair,” she added, her eyes glittering suggestively.

“Um, yeah, that sounds good,” I said, even though sex was the furthest thing from my mind.

“And you’d better get one of my razors.”

I looked at her, my brow beetling with confusion.

“One of my razors,” she repeated with mild amusement, pointing at my medicine cabinet. “You know, so I can shave.”

I still didn’t Get It, and my expression advertised the fact.

“Duh, silly,” she said with mock exasperation, “so I can shave for you. You know, my pubic hair. I realize it’s been a while since we slept together, but you do still like me to shave, right?”

The thought of Gina’s smooth, dark vulva pierced my guilt-induced confusion. “Oh, jeez, yeah, now I get it. Sorry, I guess I was preoccupied.” Don’t ask about what! “Yeah… a razor… that’s a good idea.” I hurriedly tossed one of her pink disposable razors into my bag.

She flashed me a quizzical look, but didn’t press the issue, so I shouldered my bag and reached for hers. Then I stood, waiting as she gathered her dress bag. When she didn’t move toward the door, I furrowed my brow, worried that she might be suspicious about the phone call after all. My eyes flicked toward the door in an unspoken suggestion.

“Aren’t you forgetting something?” Gina asked.

I almost broke down and confessed about Felicia, but I kept my mouth shut. Instead, I merely looked at her, my expression as blank as I could make it.

“Your tux…,” Gina prompted.

“Oh, yeah! Jeez, I don’t know where my mind is.”

I shifted her overnight bag and reached for the hanging tuxedo bag. I grabbed the box with my polished dress shoes almost as an afterthought.

“You’re such a goof,” Gina said, shaking her head in amusement. “But you’re my goof.”

The drive to the hotel took less than ten minutes, but it felt like an eternity. By the time we arrived, however, I had convinced myself that Gina didn’t suspect a thing.

The Hilton was a modern hotel, complete with a computer system for guest registration. The manager printed our reservation and I signed the form. Then he handed me the key and wished us a pleasant stay.

Upstairs, Gina opened the room’s curtains and looked out upon the city. Knoxville didn’t have a large downtown, especially compared to Atlanta, but it was nice at night. Well, it was as nice as possible with the World’s Fair construction site still gaping on its periphery.

“It’s not the Peachtree,” Gina said, nearly echoing my thoughts.

For our high school proms, we had always stayed at the Peachtree Plaza, one of the nicer hotels in downtown Atlanta. It had a nice view. A really nice view.

“But I suppose it’ll have to do,” she continued. Then she turned to me and her expression brightened. “The dance technically starts at seven, but no one will be there before nine. Well, the pledges and their dates will be there—they have to be—but most of the cool people won’t show up till nine or ten. Some people are having parties in their rooms, but I told Regan and Margot that I’d probably skip them. You know, since it’s been a while since you and I had some time alone.”

I nodded.

“So… we’ve got a couple of hours to kill.”

“What did you have in mind?” I asked, as if I didn’t already know.

“I was thinking we could make up for lost time.”

I felt my dick twitch in response.

“You know, screw each other silly.” She giggled, but her eyes shone with lust.

“That sounds good to me.”

With that, she walked toward me, her eyes never leaving mine. We held each other for several quiet minutes, until she tilted her head up for a kiss. Instead of heating up, our kiss was lingering and passionate, full of promise and comfort and familiarity.

“I believe you mentioned something about a shower,” I said when we finally pulled apart to catch our breath.

To my surprise, she shook her head. “I want to take a bath instead. That’s one of the things I miss about living at home.”

Hand-in-hand, we headed toward the bathroom. While Gina tested the water, I undressed.

“Don’t forget my razor,” she said.

I waggled my eyebrows at her as she began unbuttoning her blouse. I returned a moment later, razor in hand, erection leading the way, and she smiled at me.

“Does someone need some attention?” she asked, eyeing my manhood.

I nodded goofily and looked down at my hard-on. “He says ‘yes’ too.”

“He does, does he?” she asked, laughing. “Well, we’ll just have to see what we can do.”

“He was thinking about a blowjob.”

She arched a dark eyebrow.

I nodded, still grinning like an idiot.

“I think we can arrange that,” she said. She stepped into the tub and sighed as the hot water swirled around her calves. Then she extended her hand in invitation.

The back of the tub was cold on my skin as I settled into the water, but it quickly warmed. Gina sat between my legs, her back toward me. My erection was trapped between us, but I wasn’t in a hurry. She sighed again as she rested her arms on my knees. The water had risen to her chest, and I took the opportunity to cup her breasts.

“Mmmmm, that feels nice,” she said. She leaned her head against my chest, her lustrous black hair silky against my skin.

We relaxed in the tub for fifteen or twenty minutes. When the water began to cool, Gina sat forward and turned on the tap, adjusting the temperature. Once she had it warm enough, she flipped the drain lever to keep the water level constant. After several minutes, the tub was steaming hot again, so she closed the drain, turned off the tap, and sat back.

“I just want to relax for a while,” she said. “Do you mind?”

“Nope.” In reality, I was sinfully comfortable. My erection had softened to the point where it was no longer a throbbing distraction, and I was enjoying the feel of Gina’s body against mine.

We lapsed into companionable silence again. After several minutes, I let my hands idly roam over her water-slick skin. She sat forward just enough to snake a hand behind her, where she captured my dick and squeezed it gently. Then she turned her head and tilted it up for a kiss.

Our kisses heated as the water cooled, and by the time we needed to re-warm the bath, Gina had turned and was stroking my erection, her eyes smoldering with desire.

“Do you want me to shave you?” she asked, her eyebrows arched in challenge. She cupped my balls for emphasis.

I nodded.

Unfortunately, I had left the razor and shaving cream on the counter. Gina rolled her eyes, but quickly retrieved them. Then she turned and opened the drain, lowering the water level. When it was low enough, she grinned at me.

With that, she gently spread shaving cream over my cock and balls. Neither of us liked the completely shaved look for me, so she made sure to leave a patch of hair above my dick. Then she began running the razor along my skin, taking care not to nick me. When she finished, my balls and the base of my cock were smooth and tingling.

“There,” she said, admiring her handiwork. My dick was rock hard, so she stroked it for a moment, her eyes glittering with anticipation. “Now, do you want to do me?”

I eagerly nodded as she handed over the razor. With a little contortion on her part, she was able to situate her hips in my lap, her legs spread around me.

I took my time shaving her, taking care to remove any trace of hair or stubble. When I was done, she ran her hand over her smooth mons. With a sly grin, she eased her hips back, and my hard-on sprang up.

“Oh, my,” she said theatrically, “what do we have here?” With that, she gripped my shaft firmly and aimed it at her hairless sex.

Fascinated, I watched her rub the bulbous glans along her dark slit. Then she set the tip at her opening and eased toward me. I watched, enthralled, as her dark vulva spread to accommodate my lighter shaft. When her hips met mine, she glanced up and moistened her lips in anticipation.

We rocked against each other, my cock sliding in and out of her slick recess. Since she was holding herself up on the sides of the tub, her arms eventually got tired. With a guilty smile, she pulled back and my cock bobbed free.

When she stood and turned on the tap, I took the opportunity to tease her pussy from behind, my fingers caressing the slippery pearl of her clit. Then, still facing away from me, she got down on her hands and knees, her round ass aimed at my manhood. Her hand appeared from between her legs and she quickly found my cock. Her velvety pussy surrounded me with heat and moisture as she sat back.

I put my hands on her flanks as she rocked back and forth, impaled on my erection. The soapy water sloshed around us, adding to the sounds of our sex. Each time she backed onto my length, she rocked her hips. The crown of my cock was hitting her G-spot, and she began to mewl with pleasure. Before she reached her climax, however, she pulled off me again and looked over her shoulder.

“Come in my mouth,” she said simply.

I stood, splashing water onto the floor in my fervor.

She chuckled, but quickly knelt at my feet. When she captured the tip of my dick, I groaned. Her smooth, strong lips caressed me as her tongue flicked against the underside of my glans. I held her head and began fucking her mouth. She reached between her legs and played with her freshly shaved pussy.

I came before she did, but she wasn’t far behind. As I flooded her mouth, she stiffened and her fingers went into overdrive. When my spurts gushed to a stop, she let my dick slip from her lips. Still hard, it rubbed against her cheek as she worked herself toward orgasm.

I watched her face contort in ecstasy until she finally groaned and let out a soft cry. She cried out again as her orgasm assaulted her. Her cries rose in volume until she abruptly went silent, panting from the aftershocks coursing through her body. Then she sagged onto her heels, her hand motionless between her legs.

“God, I miss that,” she said softly.

“Do you want to order room service?” Gina asked. “I haven’t had anything to eat since breakfast, and I’m starving. Besides,” she added, reaching into her overnight bag, “I don’t want to drink on an empty stomach.” She held up a bottle of rum and grinned. “I thought we could get a nice buzz before going to the dance.”

I grinned in agreement. “Do you have any Cokes in there too?”

“No, silly, we need to order them from room service.”

Thirty minutes later, a waiter delivered a tray of food, along with a six-pack of Cokes.

“You don’t mind that we’re not at a fancy restaurant?” Gina asked as she lifted the cover from her dinner.

I shook my head and surveyed my own plate. The room service bill alone was enough to wipe out half of my bank account, but I reasoned that Gina didn’t have formal dances every week. Besides, Jessica’s father was paying for the room itself, so I didn’t have that expense to deal with.

“Thank Mr. Roedeffer for me,” I said. “For the room, I mean. I’m having to watch my budget.”

“With tuition, books, and sorority dues, my parents put me on a budget too.”

“Christmas cleaned out my bank account,” I said. “But it was worth it.”

“My earrings and necklace are beautiful,” she said by way of thanks. “I picked out a dress to match the emeralds. Oh, Paul, it’s so beautiful. And I think I look good in it, if I do say so myself.”

I grinned. “I can’t wait to see.”

“What? You don’t like me like this?” she asked, gesturing at her body. Like me, she had slipped out of her bathrobe after the waiter left.

“’Course I like you like that,” I said. Then I smiled roguishly. “But if you don’t wear your dress, I won’t have the pleasure of charming you out of it.”

“Ha! You just want to get me liquored up and take advantage of me.”

“Actually, I was planning to take advantage of you before I got you liquored up.”

She arched an eyebrow in challenge.

I play-lunged at her.

She squealed and jumped back, but I easily caught her. When I pinned her to the bed with my body, she wrapped her legs around me. I reacted predictably, my erection bumping her inner thigh. As we kissed, she reached down and guided my shaft to her opening. I eased into her, the warm wetness of her pussy sending a surge of pleasure through my loins.

We made love slowly, our lips locked together and our bodies pressed against one another. It felt so good that I reached the point of no return a lot sooner than I thought I would.

Gina sensed my impending orgasm. “Don’t come inside me,” she whispered. “Come in my mouth.”

I withdrew from her pussy and straddled her chest. She wrapped her fingers around my slick manhood and then sucked the tip.

“Oh, God,” she groaned, “I love the taste of us together.” She groaned again as I flooded her mouth, and continued sucking gently until my orgasm subsided.

I let her suck me for a few more minutes, until I was too soft to continue. After years of experience with her moods, I could sense that she didn’t need to get off, so I rolled to the bed beside her. She snuggled against my side and idly ran a finger over my chest.

“Why didn’t you want me to come inside you?” I asked a minute later.

She answered immediately: “Because I don’t want to wear panties with my dress, and I don’t want your come running down my leg at an inopportune moment. Besides, why let all that tasty semen go to waste?” She raised her head and grinned down at me. “Now, I’d love to snuggle and all, but I’m still hungry. Semen makes a wonderful meal,” she said, grinning in satisfaction, “but it’s not very filling.”

I laughed.

“Unfortunately, I think our dinner’s probably cold by now.”

I grimaced in apology.

“Don’t worry about it,” she said, caressing my face. “You’re more important than food.” Her eyes grew soft and round. “You’re more important than oxygen.”

I felt a rush of love and pressed her hand to my cheek. Then I kissed her palm. “So are you,” I said, my voice tight with emotion.

Gina and I had years of experience getting ready together, and we did it with practiced ease. After a quick shower, we moved smoothly around each other in front of the bathroom mirror. When I was done, I playfully swatted her bare ass and headed to fetch my tuxedo. She emerged from the bathroom a few minutes later, her raven hair in curlers.

I paused to watch her shimmy into her dress. The halter-style bodice had a teardrop opening between her breasts, exposing their inner curves. The fabric accentuated their shape—lifting without concealing—and the sides ended a few inches from her nipples. The dress was completely backless, and when she saw me watching, she posed for me.

“I could wear panties,” she said, smoothing the dress over her hips, “since the fabric doesn’t show lines, but it’s so much sexier knowing I’m not wearing them, isn’t it?”

I nodded enthusiastically.

“You’re such a goof,” she said, rolling her eyes affectionately. “Let me brush out my hair and I’ll be ready. A few minutes, okay?”

I nodded again. “Do you want me to fix us another rum and Coke?”

“That sounds good,” she said as she disappeared into the bathroom.

Ten minutes later, we downed the last of our drinks.

“I guess I’m as ready as I’ll ever be,” I said. When she nodded, I pocketed the room key and we headed out.

On the elevator, I took a deep, calming breath. I wasn’t particularly looking forward to seeing Rod, Neil, or Hayley, but I could control my emotions for one night. Fortunately, I already had a good buzz, so I wasn’t feeling very confrontational.

Downstairs, a large banner hung over the ballroom’s entrance: An Affair to Remember, Chi Omega & Alpha Tau Omega Winter Formal. Inside the ballroom itself, colored bunting hung from the ceiling, radiating from the chandeliers to the edges of the room; red and yellow on one side, blue and gold on the other.

“Cardinal and Straw are the Chi O colors,” Gina explained.

Not “red” and “yellow,” I admonished myself wryly, it’s “cardinal” and “straw.” Then I silently chuckled at the sorority’s pretentiousness. When Gina pointed to the centerpiece decorations on each of the tables, I schooled my expression and paid attention.

“White carnations are the Chi O flower,” she said, “and the owl is our mascot.”

“For Athena, right?”

“Exactly!” She discreetly pointed to other couples in the room. “The pledges have to wear red dresses, with a white carnation corsage.” A giggle: “They also have to wear these funny Chi O granny-panties.”

“Chi O panties?”

She nodded. “They’re actually cute, in a granny-panty sort of way. I’ll show you sometime. I had to wear ’em when I was a pledge.”

“You did? I don’t remember them.”

“You didn’t see me that often when I was pledging,” she said without recrimination. “Besides, we only had to wear them for mixers and parties, and you didn’t come to any of those.”

“I guess that’s because I wasn’t invited,” I said, testiness running roughshod over my buzz.

She soothed me with a gesture. “I know. I’m sorry. Most of them were Greek-only anyway. And since I was a pledge, I had to do all sorts of stupid things, so I don’t think you’d’ve had much fun.” She smiled, a little sadly. Then she pasted on a happier smile and indicated several of the girls in the red dresses, pledges. “I just thought you’d think it was funny that all those girls are wearing goofy panties.”

I shrugged.

“I heard that the ΑΤΩ pledges have to wear their underwear backwards.”

“That sounds uncomfortable.”

She nodded.

“Gina!” a girl called from behind us.

I turned. It was Regan.

And Rod.

Gina greeted her friend, who was wearing a clingy gold dress. Rod smirked and made a show of not shaking my proffered hand. Regan frowned at his pettiness.

“Nice tux,” he said, ignoring her. “Where’d you rent it?”

I started to answer, but bit off my reply. He was baiting me—his tuxedo definitely wasn’t a rental, and the question was his way of rubbing my nose in his wealth.

Regan rolled her eyes and glared at him. After a moment she shook her head in reproof and turned Gina toward a group of other girls.

Rod and I followed.

Neither of us spoke.

Except for Gina and a few of her sorority sisters—and Rod and Neil, of course—I didn’t know a single person at the dance. Unfortunately, Gina spent the first hour with Regan, Margot, and several other girls. The other girls’ boyfriends were also Greeks, although they weren’t nearly as irritating as Rod and Neil.

“Let’s have our picture made,” Regan said at last. She was the undisputed ringleader of her little circle of friends, and everyone else nodded. “But first, let’s freshen our makeup.”

With that, the gaggle of girls headed toward the restroom. Rod and Neil pointedly ignored me, which suited me fine. When the girls returned, Gina flashed her eyes at me and then smiled.

“Are you ready for your close-up, pitter-pat man?” she asked, her body pressed against mine. Then she sniffed and delicately dabbed at her nose. When that didn’t work, she sniffed again, harder.

“Are you okay?” I asked, worried that she might be coming down with a cold. (If she felt sick, we could leave the dance early, and I wouldn’t have to deal with Rod and Neil.)

“What? Why?”

“You sniffled,” I said. “You’re not coming down with a cold or something, are you?” I tried not to sound hopeful, and felt bad for having to make the effort.

“I’m fine,” she said, shaking her head. Then she had to sniff again and her eyes darted side-to-side quickly. “There were some fresh-cut flowers in the ladies’ room. It must be those.”

Regan tugged us toward the photographer’s line, cutting off any further explanation. After standing in line for thirty minutes, we reached the photographer himself. He took a series of pictures: our entire group, the girls by themselves, and then individual couples.

The girls were in high spirits and seemed to be having fun. To my surprise, the next two hours passed quickly. Gina and I had several more drinks, but while I was beginning to feel their effect, she seemed as sober as ever.

“C’mon, Paul,” she urged, “I love Hall and Oates. Let’s dance some more.”

She was so full of energy that I didn’t have the heart to decline. I’m not the best dancer in the world, but I didn’t make a fool of myself either.

When the DJ played Journey’s “Open Arms,” I was happy to quit flailing my arms and hopping around like an idiot. I pulled Gina close, and she gazed up at me with That Look in her eye. She’d been playful and horny all night, and I felt my dick stir in response to her smoldering expression.

“I’m looking forward to spending the night with you,” she said. “It’ll be just like old times.”

I pulled her closer still and enjoyed the feeling of her body against mine as I rested my cheek on the top of her head.

Unfortunately, Regan and Margot pulled Gina toward the restroom after the song finished.

“I guess women just have smaller bladders,” I said to one of the guys whose date had just left with Gina and the other girls. He and his date had arrived late, and were recent additions to Regan’s coterie. He was a Pike, but he seemed nice enough. “I’m Paul,” I said, holding out my hand.

“Rusty,” he said, shaking my hand. We exchanged a few pleasantries and then he looked around to make sure no one was paying attention to us. “You’re the guy who broke Neil’s hand, right?”

I felt my expression harden.

“Hey, take it easy. I don’t like Neil either. He’s Rod’s lapdog, and he’s a spineless twit.”

My eyes widened in shock. “But you’re a Pike…”

“Man, don’t lump me in with them just because I wear the same letters.” He looked around again, his eyes locking on Rod and Neil, who were twenty feet away.

They might have been on the other side of the room for all their chances of hearing us over the music.

“Rod’s a spoiled rich brat,” Rusty continued, “and he gives the rest of us a bad name. Him and his trust fund cronies. But that’s not what I wanted to tell you. You need to watch your back, man. Rod and some of the other guys are planning something tonight. I don’t know what, but if I know Rod, it’ll be nasty.” He shrugged, almost indifferently, but then continued. “You seem like a nice guy. And after Rod tried to blackball Gina—”

“Rod tried to what?”

“Didn’t you know?”

I shook my head. Then I automatically suppressed my peevish reaction to the news, since Gina hadn’t seen fit to share it with me herself.

Surprisingly, Rusty chuckled. “I don’t know who told Regan about it, but since she’s a legacy, she has a lot of friends. Not to mention influence, even as a pledge. So she jerked his leash,” he said, smiling at the memory. “She told him to keep his nose out of sorority business… unless he wanted to have an operation so he could join the sorority.”

“Ha!”

Rusty silently agreed, still smiling. “Gina seems like a nice girl, and Rod didn’t have any cause to try to blackball her.” He looked like he wanted to say something else, but he didn’t. “If he’s got a problem, it’s with you, and you look like you can hold your own. But don’t let him catch you alone. Rod won’t be alone, and I don’t think you’ll like whatever he’s planning to do.”

I nodded gravely.

“And if it comes to it, I didn’t tell you a thing. I might not like Rod, but he can still make my life a living hell. You got that?”

“Yeah. And thanks.”

“Don’t mention it.” After another look to see who might overhear, he discreetly brushed his nose. “You seem like a cool guy… d’you wanna do a line?”

I might’ve been a little slow on the uptake, but I wasn’t an idiot: he was talking about cocaine.

Rusty shrugged when I didn’t answer immediately. “Rod may be an asshole, but he’s got the best blow around. So… do you want a snort?”

“No thanks,” I said, still a bit flabbergasted.

“All right, man. The girls are coming back anyway. Watch out for Rod, and remember what I said—we didn’t have this conversation.”

I nodded. When he turned to face the returning girls, his demeanor changed completely, and he seemed to distance himself from me.

Gina nearly crashed into me. “Hey!” she exclaimed, smiling and boisterous.

“Hey yourself,” I said, a bit bewildered at her newfound energy. All of a sudden, a thought occurred to me: was Gina—

“Ooh, the Go-Go’s!” she cried. “I love this song. C’mon, Paul, let’s dance. Please.”

I scrutinized Gina as she dragged me onto the dance floor. She turned and started dancing, her eyes aglow. I was feeling the effects of all the alcohol I’d drunk, but she seemed fine. I also wondered at her trips to the bathroom with Regan and friends. My mind raced, and I barely listened as we danced to songs from Soft Cell and A Flock of Seagulls.

Several songs later, I convinced myself that Gina had been drinking a lot, but her drinks probably hadn’t been as strong as mine. That explained why she wasn’t drunk, as well as her more-frequent trips to the ladies’ room. And since she and her friends tended to go to the bathroom in groups, she’d probably gone just to keep the others company.

By the time the DJ switched from New Wave to disco, I decided that Gina had too much ambition to screw up her life with drugs. She might have tried cocaine—Kendall had, after all—but I had a logical explanation for all of her behavior.

So when the first strains of Chic, “Le Freak,” sizzled over the dance floor, I extinguished my lingering suspicions and decided to take a break. I tried to get Gina to join me, but she simply gave me a kiss and gently propelled me toward the edge of the dance floor. As I looked back, she joined Regan and Margot, who were dancing with a group of their friends.

“Can I have the room key?” Gina asked a little later.

I automatically fished it out of my pocket. “What’s up?”

“Regan and I are heading upstairs for a few minutes,” she said smoothly, “and I wanted to check my makeup. We’ll be back in a few minutes.”

She blew me a kiss and rejoined Regan. I headed toward the bar, where I decided that I’d already had enough alcohol; I ordered a Coke instead.

I enjoyed a bubble of solitude for a few minutes, until a group of ΑΤΩ guys clustered around the bar. Their dates were on the dance floor, laughing at their own antics as they did disco dances like the Rollercoaster and the Bump (the DJ was encouraging them by playing the Trammps, “Disco Inferno”).

“Your girlfriend is the Chi O in the green dress?” one of the ΑΤΩs said to me.

I nodded.

“She’s not black, is she?” His tone was curious, rather than disapproving.

“She’s half Indian,” I explained.

“Indian? Like Gandhi?”

I nodded.

“No offense, man, but she’s really hot.”

“Um… thanks.”

“You’re not a Pike, are you?” he asked.

“God, no!”

That seemed to break the ice, much to our shared amusement, and we struck up a conversation. One of the other ΑΤΩs even recognized me.

“You’re in my English class,” he said.

He looked vaguely familiar, but…

“I sit in the back row, dude,” he explained.

“Oh, yeah, now I remember!”

After a round of introductions, he began to regale his fraternity brothers with tales of Professor Feller’s more outrageous hippy moments. I nodded and played the straight man, interjecting comments when the guys looked to me for confirmation. The stories were a little embellished, but only a little, and the other guys were soon in tears with laughter.

When the DJ announced his final song of the evening, I looked up in surprise. Then I glanced at my watch; it was two o’clock and Gina had been gone for more than half an hour.

I took my leave of the ΑΤΩs and went looking for her. She was nowhere to be found. Neither were Regan and Margot, or Rod and Neil for that matter. Finally, I spotted Jessica and her boyfriend.

“Hey, Jess,” I said, “sorry to interrupt, but have you seen Gina?”

“She an’ Regan headed upstairs a while ago,” Jessica said, obviously drunk. “Probably t’ powder their noses, if you know what I mean.”

Jessica’s boyfriend, the Beta, frowned.

“Oh, honey, ’s not so bad,” she chided him. “You should try it sometime. Maybe it’d loosen you up. I know I could def’nitely stand some loosening up.”

The Beta’s frown turned into a scowl.

“I could also stand to get laid,” Jessica mumbled sullenly.

I took that as my cue and beat a hasty retreat.

I got all the way to our floor before I realized that I’d given the room key to Gina. When I knocked on the door, no one answered. A minute later, I knocked again, harder. Frustrated, I headed down to the lobby.

At the front desk, I asked the night manager for a spare room key. I had to explain why I needed one, but with so many drunk college students staying at the hotel, I probably wasn’t the first to make the request. After he checked the computer, he verified my ID and gave me a key.

Upstairs, I paused at the door—I could hear music from within. Ten minutes earlier, it had been silent. I opened the door quietly. Inside, music blared from the TV, and the lights were off. The flashing video on MTV was the room’s only illumination, a strobe of images casting eerie patterns on the walls.

For a moment I stood there in confusion, my eyes adjusting. Then I noticed Gina’s dress on the floor by the bed. It lay atop another dress, and when the music video flashed to a bright scene, I caught a glint of gold fabric.

Regan! “Powder their noses,” my ass, I thought. They probably came up here to fool around.

As if to confirm my suspicions, I heard one of them moan. When I peeked around the entryway corner, they were on the bed in a sixty-nine, with Regan on top. The two girls were too busy to notice me, and with MTV blaring, they hadn’t heard me enter.

That was a preview of Spark to Flame - Summer Camp Swingers: Kendall Series Book 5. To read the rest purchase the book.

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