Old Friends ll

"Just the two of us," Dawn sighed at the end of the night as she raised the bedcovers and slipped in.

"Disappointed?" I asked as I slid into bed on my side, keeping my torso elevated on a couple of pillows and extending my arm so that Dawn could cuddle up beside me.

"Well, I rather DID like that idea of bringing a bridesmaid home with us."

I snorted. "Given that Megan and Cassidy were the ONLY two bridesmaids, I wasn't really banking on that happening."

Dawn sighed and slid a hand beneath my T-shirt, rubbing my bare chest. "I still had my hopes. Cassidy is beautiful. You didn't tell me she was that pretty."

I shrugged. "She's grown up a bit, really learned how to dress and do her makeup. She was always cute, and I told you I loved her freckles, but she wasn't the heart-stopper she is now back then."

Dawn shrugged, laying her cheek down against me. "But you were right about one thing: both of them are 100% straight."

"Told ya."

"How'd things work when you were dating them both at the same time?"

I shrugged. "One at a time."

"Sounds boring," Dawn drawled. "Sitting around waiting for your turn? That's why I love it when we do two girls at once. That way we both have someone to play with."

I shook my head. "Nah. I'd rather have you and a playmate focusing your attention on me at the same time."

"Or YOU and our playmate focusing your attention on ME at the same time," Dawn giggled.

"Brooke IS just next door."

"Mm, good idea." Dawn picked her head up from my chest and reached above the headboard, knocking quite loudly on the wall. "BROOKE!" she yelled loud enough to be heard even over the insulation.

My eyes popped open. "I was joking!"

Dawn grinned at me mirthfully. "I wasn't. Whether the wedding happened or not, I told you I'd be feeling frisky tonight. Maybe it's that time of the month." With that, she slipped a hand beneath the waistband of my pajama pants, wrapping her fingers around my penis and stroking slowly.

"Time of the month? You're frisky almost every day!" I gasped.

Dawn's smile got even bigger. "I know. Lucky you, huh?"

Just then, the door opened and a little sprite in a baggy T-shirt poked her head in. "You called?"

Dawn smirked, ripping the bedcovers away and then jerking my pajama pants down to fully expose my growing erection. "Can you give me a hand with this? I need to shove my tongue into your brother's throat."

Brooke grinned and slipped into the room. "I'm on it."

-- THURSDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2004, WINTER BREAK --

"You serious?" I sighed mournfully, pressing my cell phone a little tighter against my ear, enough to tip my head to the side as I turned and laid it down on the backrest of the couch.

"As a heart attack," Megan answered on the other end of the line. "I'm going over to Elaine's place right now."

"Man ... that sucks."

"It doesn't mean that they're over. It's just ... a break."

"A break-UP," I corrected.

"For now. They might still get back together after they've both had some time to gain some independent experiences. You of all people should know that it's possible."

"Yeah." I glanced over to Dawn, who was staring over the chess board between her and Brooke, but looked up at me when she felt my gaze.

"I think this is good for both of them. I know both of them, and they still love each other dearly. But this really is something they HAVE to do. They can't commit for life to each other until they know what it's like to be with someone else."

I chuckled. "Never would have picked you for a commitment-phobe."

"I'm not commitment-phobic," Megan replied. "But rationally, I agree that if they'd already gotten married, they'd wonder for the rest of their lives about how things might've been different being with someone else. And that little niggling wonder would grow and grow until it cracked their relationship."

"I guess."

"You wouldn't know. You've already seen the other side – many, MANY other sides – if the rumors are true."

"Hey, hey, this isn't about my history."

Megan giggled. "Sorry."

"So your New Year's thing is still going on tomorrow night?"

"Yeah," Megan confirmed. "Be at my place after 9."

"Uh, do you know if Daniel or Elaine is coming?"

"Just Elaine. Daniel opted to do something else with his UCLA friends."

I sighed, resolving to find some way to talk to Daniel before the end of winter break. The last time we'd chatted was in the groom's room right before he cancelled the wedding, and a part of me felt like it was my fault. "Okay, then. See you tomorrow night," I said.

"See you tomorrow," Megan replied.

-- FRIDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2004, NEW YEAR'S EVE --

"Don't you know where we're going?" Dawn asked with a teasing lilt in her voice.

"Just gimme a second," I said with a frown, tapping my fingers on the steering wheel. I'd come to a stop a full car length in front of the crosswalk, my left pinky just itching to twitch the Mustang's turn signal bar up or down. The problem was: I didn't remember which way to do it.

Dawn giggled and sat back in her seat with a smile. But even if she was going to give me the extra second to remember the way to Megan's house, the car behind me wasn't. The guy in the big black Hummer H2 behind me leaned on his car horn none too gently. And when that failed to immediately dislodge me, he honked even louder, accompanied by his high beams flooding the interior cabin of my car.

Sighing, I just clicked my blinker to turn right and made the turn. Behind me, the Hummer's engine roared as he blitzed into the intersection and turned left. Thankfully, the route to Megan's house finally popped into my head, and I sped up with confidence.

"I still can't believe the speed limit is 50mph on these side-streets," Dawn marveled, not for the first time.

"Welcome to Orange County," I replied with a chuckle. "In some places, it's 55."

"So your friend Elaine will be there tonight?"

I nodded. "That's what Megan said."

"I hope things won't be weird for her. She was supposed to be on her honeymoon by now." Dawn's voice was tinged with sympathetic sadness.

"Guess it just wasn't meant to be."

"Yeah..." Dawn sighed. "I hope they work out. I mean, I don't know either of them very well. The whole situation is just ... sad."

"It is." I thought of just how inseparable Daniel and Elaine had been for practically the entire time that I'd known them. In a way, they weren't so different from Dawn and me.

"But maybe it's better this way. Maybe they're right, and they settled down too fast. Neither of them knew what life could be like without the other, and if they'd gone through with it, their marriage would have suffered."

"Possibly. Megan certainly seems to think so."

"So things could work out. They can see other people, live the single life a little bit. And through that, they'll realize what they were missing and come back together that much stronger. Kind of like us."

I smiled, feeling that once again, Dawn and I were on the same wavelength. "Like us?"

"You went and had your relationship ups and downs. I was with Ryan. But now we have each other again."

"We do."

Dawn went quiet after that. I had to pay attention to the road, merging across three lanes to make a right at the next major intersection. But she stayed quiet, looking contemplatively out the window even after I'd made the turn.

There was something about her expression that worried me. I would have thought she'd be smiling after that verbal confirmation that we'd come back to have each other again, the way I felt inside. But she wasn't smiling. If anything, she looked ... regretful.

My head popped up as a stray thought entered my head. It was enough for Dawn to notice out of the corner of her eye, and she turned her head to look at me. "What?"

I furrowed my eyebrows as the thought floated across my brain. With Dawn looking at me, I didn't have time to really process it, so I just let it pass through my lips immediately. "What about you?"

"What about me?"

I frowned. "Have ... have YOU had enough experiences outside of me?"

"What do you mean?"

I sighed, now pausing to really consider my train of thought. My mind raced to a conversation we'd had back in June. Really, it had been a conversation we'd been having all semester. Way back in the beginning, even before Kim had moved in with us and before I'd started fucking Viktoriya, I'd first broached the subject of settling down into a monogamous relationship with my soulmate. It wasn't like getting married or anything, but the direction I'd been headed in was clear.

But Dawn had quickly brushed aside my declarations. 'Fun', she'd said. 'Remember fun? After everything we've been through – all the melodrama and angst – don't we deserve some fun?'

At the time, I'd thought the discussion had been more about her willingness to let me play around with other girls, and by extension, let her play around with other girls. Emotionally, we would be as closely connected as any married couple. But from a purely physical standpoint, we could enjoy ourselves in the sexual playground of a college campus for a little while at least before truly settling down.

But maybe that wasn't all there was to her declaration. Certainly, Dawn had continued to reinforce the notion of 'having fun' throughout the following months, from Nora and Whitney to the Chi Omegas to Chevelle and even to her subtle pursuit of Cassidy only two days ago. Maybe I had been too self-centered, and hadn't realized that Dawn's declaration to have 'fun' wasn't just about giving me my freedom, but an indication that SHE wanted a little freedom herself.

"You're not ready to settle down yet, are you?" I asked finally.

Dawn frowned. "Settle down?"

"Marriage. Kids. All that. We're too young, right?"

"Ben, what are you getting at?"

I exhaled. "I feel like I've gone out and had a pretty wild and crazy life. I've dated around, I've been with other girls, and I've had some intense experiences. You've only dated two guys in your entire life, just like Megan. She broke up with Kaito because she felt like she hadn't experienced enough yet. She wasn't ready to think about living the rest of her life with only him."

"I'm not Megan," Dawn chuckled. "And I'm not worried about living the rest of my life with 'only' you. I love you. You're my soulmate. And someday, we WILL be married with kids and all that."

"Someday," I agreed. "But not now."

"What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that I don't want to be an impediment to you getting all the unique and varied experiences that you might want. I don't want us to ever break up because you feel like I'm trapping you, or restricting you from trying the things you really want to try. You know Daniel told me one of the reasons why he couldn't get married yet was because Elaine wouldn't let him skydive just once?"

"I don't want to go skydiving."

"But if you did ... I would want you to."

Dawn laughed. "It's like you think I have a problem with our current relationship; I don't. I'm happy."

"And I want to make sure you stay that way," I stated firmly. I took a deep breath and thought about my past failures. Megan, Cassidy, and Adrienne had broken up with me because I'd cheated on them. I'd resolved to never make that mistake again. But Adrienne had broken up with me the second time over the promise ring, and the leash it represented. Cadence Carmichael had dumped me because I'd gotten clingy and too serious for her. I didn't want to repeat those mistakes again.

"I lost Adrienne and Cadence because they felt like I was taking away their freedom," I said quietly, staring straight ahead the road. But then we came to a red light and I was able to stop the car and look over at Dawn. "I want you to know that you have every freedom you've given me. And I promise I'll stand by you no matter what."

Dawn didn't seem sure what to do with that, not speaking for a long while. Her eyes softened and she gave me a warm look. But then the light turned green and I had to return my attention to the road.

"Thank you," Dawn said, reaching over to put a hand on my thigh. And then even though we were cruising along at 50mph, she stretched her seatbelt enough to lean over and tenderly kiss my cheek. "I love you, Ben."

I smiled and reached a hand up to caress her face. "I love you, too."

"Good evening, Mrs. Kwan."

Megan's mom stood in the doorway and smiled up on me. "Ben! So good to see you!" She opened her arms to me for a hug, and I went over and leaned into it.

After patting my back, the older woman greeted Dawn as well and then commented, "You're early."

I shrugged. "I thought we could come and help set up. I don't want you and Mr. Kwan to be late for your party."

"Pssht. Everything is already taken care of." She dismissed me with a wave. But then her face turned grave. "Elaine has been here most of the day. I think the girls have been focused on setting up for this party so they wouldn't have to think about ... well..."

I nodded. "I know."

"It's very sad. Elaine is a really good girl, one of the best."

"She is."

"She needs something good in her life right now. I hope you and her other friends can really support her for the next few days, to give her what she needs."

"We will," I agreed, smiling a little awkwardly. I wasn't sure how to discuss this sort of thing with a friend's parent.

Mrs. Kwan then took a deep breath and waved us into the house. "Well, let me find my husband. And then we old people will get out of your way."

" ... and what's with the whole 'Ursher' thing? Doesn't Ludacris know how to pronounce Usher's name?" Cassidy splayed her right hand out to the side, palm up, with a look of complete perplexion across her pretty face. She mimed to do the same with her left hand, but caught herself at the last minute, lest she spill her Bacardi Silver bottle.

I chuckled and downed the last of my Smirnoff Ice Triple Black. After making a short gasp to re-fill my lungs with oxygen, I chuckled and shook my head. "Don't ask me."

"You want another one?" Elaine asked helpfully from the seat on the couch beside me.

"Uh, sure," I replied while nodding. Elaine took my empty bottle and got up, patting my shoulder as she headed for the kitchen.

"You'd better watch that one," Cassidy said quietly with a smirk from the chair to my left. She still had the bemused smile as she took another drink from her bottle.

"What one?" I asked, not understanding.

Cassidy's smirk only widened. "Seriously? You don't notice what Elaine's doing?"

I frowned and glanced in the direction of the kitchen. Just then, I heard the glass [clink] of the bottle being dropped into the recycling bin amongst other bottles and cans, even above the music floating through the room.

// Take that and rewind it back, Lil' Jon got the beat to make ya booty go (clap)

I returned to Cassidy and shook my head. "You're imagining things, Freckles. No way in hell. This is Elaine we're talking about."

"I'm telling you. That girl is buttering you up."

I shook my head. "I know flirting, and Elaine's not flirting. She's just being nice. She was always like that."

"If you say so. But the Elaine I remember wouldn't have ever touched you." Cassidy mimed patting her own shoulder.

I arched an eyebrow. "The shoulder pat? That wasn't anything."

"For Elaine it is."

"She's not sixteen anymore. We aren't kids getting all goofy around cooties."

"Believe what you want," Cassidy chuckled.

Just then, Elaine returned with two freshly-opened bottles, one for her and one for me. She put her hand on my shoulder again as she dropped down onto the seat beside me, sitting a little closer than she had before. And after handing me my bottle, she raised hers to 'toast'. "Cheers," she offered.

Without hesitation I clinked bottles with her and took a sip. But I was paying attention this time as I noticed Elaine's eyes were pretty intently focused on mine. The three of us chatted collectively for another ten minutes while I analyzed the situation. And by the end of those ten minutes, I had to agree with Cassidy: Elaine was actually flirting with me.

Where's my girlfriend at a moment like this? I wondered.

I scanned the room for a moment before spotting Dawn. She was over by the archway between the living room (my current location) and the TV room, where some of our friends were playing Xbox games. I thought I heard the sounds of Dead or Alive Ultimate. Kenny was one of the players, fighting Megan of all people. Meanwhile, my girlfriend was chatting up Kenny's date, Heidi.

That's right: Heidi. Sung's jaw had dropped when Kenny showed up with a stripper from Bliss. I don't think he was quite capable of NOT remembering what the busty blonde had looked like naked. But to his credit, he got his head screwed on straight pretty fast, and neither he nor I made any reference to Daniel's bachelor party. For all anyone else knew, Heidi was just a pretty bombshell that Kenny had brought to a New Year's Eve party. Dressed in normal clothes, she certainly looked the part.

The realization that Elaine was actually flirting with me – two days after Daniel left her at the altar – was quite unnerving. Looking for an escape, I kept my gaze on Dawn until she felt my attention. And after she looked over at me, I nodded and got up. "Excuse me ladies," I said to Cassidy and Elaine while I headed over to my girlfriend.

"What's up?" Dawn asked as I approached.

"I'm pretending that you called me over," I said a little nervously.

Dawn frowned, looking adorable even when puzzled.

"Nothing important," I sighed before smiling at Heidi in greeting. "Hi. I'm Ben," I said, offering my hand and pretending to meet her for the very first time.

"Hello again," Heidi replied warmly as she shook it and then head-nodded to Dawn. "She already knows."

"Ah." I shrugged. "I didn't know if you wanted to keep things on the down low."

Heidi smiled. "Thank you for the consideration. In general, it's probably a good idea. But you don't keep secrets from a girlfriend."

"Right," I agreed, wrapping an arm around Dawn and hugging her against my side.

"Sooo," Dawn began, leading us toward a more private corner. "Heidi was just telling me a very interesting story about Tuesday night."

I blushed slightly, feeling my ears warm. "Uh, I didn't do it," I stated quickly, feigning innocence.

The girls both laughed. And then Heidi picked up the conversation. "Sydney is my roommate."

My eyebrows popped immediately. "Really?"

"Mm-hmm. She was a dancer before we moved in together. She kind of got me into the business. It's good money."

"Okay," I nodded.

Heidi grinned. "And she had some very complimentary things to say about you."

I blushed again, glancing down at my feet. "Oh, I'm sure I didn't make that much of an impression. We only talked for a few minutes."

"Apparently a few minutes were all you needed," Heidi said dryly.

"No, no," Dawn interrupted. "You get this one started, you'd better hope your schedule is cleared for at least an hour. Two, if you don't want him to rush things."

Heidi giggled and flashed me a perfect smile.

"So how do you know Kenny?" I asked, changing the subject.

"That's a rather complicated story," Heidi said a little sadly, a shadow passing over her face.

I frowned, feeling bad. "I'm sorry."

"No, don't be," Heidi shook her head quickly. She glanced inside the TV room, checking out Kenny as he threw down his controller in victory and promptly posed by flexing his biceps.

"Boo-yah!" Kenny cheered.

"He's a dork," I commented.

"That he is," Heidi agreed, then looked over to me with a very warm smile. "But he's a sweet dork."

Just then, I felt a tap on my shoulder. All three of us turned to see that Elaine was standing just behind me, biting her lower lip a little nervously. "Ben? Uh..." she began before taking a deep breath to calm her own nerves. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

My brain waged a war inside my head as Elaine led the way up the stairs. Little warning alarms were going off in my head that a pretty girl was going to initiate something sexual with me. But at the same time, my rational brain reminded me that this was Elaine, not some horny Tri-Delt, and that it was far more likely she wanted to pick my brain about what Daniel and I had discussed in the groom's room just before the wedding.

I just knew I was half-right. The question was: Which half?

Mentally paralyzed by this indecision, I simply followed her up the stairs in silence, not willing to venture a statement either way. My nervousness was amplified when we entered into Megan's bedroom and Elaine closed the door behind me. I worried that she was going to jump me or something, and had opened my mouth to raise a protest when my rational brain once again reminded me that a closed, private room could ALSO be used for a very sensitive conversation.

Perhaps I should have gone with my first instinct. Demure Elaine or not, she was still a young woman. And this particular young woman promptly threw herself at me, wrapping her arms around the back of my neck and shoving her tongue through my open lips.

I never even dreamed of kissing back. Tugging on her shoulders, I pulled the much smaller girl off me and held her at arms length. "Elaine! Elaine!" I stammered quickly.

"Kiss me!" she pleaded, throwing herself at me once again.

But I held firm with my hands against her shoulders, keeping her at bay. "Wait-wait-wait!"

"Bennn!" She whimpered. "Please!"

"What are you doing?"

"Don't you want me?" she complained. "Am I not sexy? Is that why Daniel left me?"

I took a deep breath. "Elaine. It's not about that. It-"

She cut me off by breaking into heaving sobs, streams of tears rolling down her cheeks. She threw herself at me again, this time diving her face at my chest. I didn't stop her, just catching her and holding the diminutive Japanese girl in my arms. And surrendering to instinct, I rocked back on my heels to support her weight, stroking her back and whispering soothing sounds to try and calm her down.

It took two minutes of uncontrolled bawling before she regained enough control to sniffle and moan, "Why did he leave me? Why didn't he want to marry me?"

I took a deep breath, certain that I couldn't answer that question in any way that would be meaningful. I started to come up with some lame response, but after a moment I remembered that a girl in Elaine's emotional state didn't need answers; she needed support. "I'm sorry," I said. "I do wish things could have been different."

"He told me he talked to you in the groom's room just before deciding to cancel the wedding. What did you talk about? Did YOU tell him to cancel it?"

"What? No. Of course not."

Elaine shook her head sadly, and then pushed her face into my chest again. The petite Asian girl sobbed in my arms for another few minutes, shuddering every so often and clutching herself to my shoulders. Eventually, she got her crying under control and I spotted a tissue box. Releasing her so that she could stand back on her heels, I darted over and retrieved the box, holding it out to her.

Still trembling, Elaine dabbed at her eyes and blew her nose, wadding up two tissues before dropping the box to the ground next to her. And then she turned and sat down on the edge of the bed, hanging her head, which also let her long, dark bangs swing forward and into her eyes.

Instinctively, I reached forward to brush her hair out of her face, feeling a strange sense of déjà vu. Perhaps it was because we were in Megan's bedroom, but I felt like I'd been in this same kind of situation before.

Elaine looked up at me as I brushed her bangs back and tucked them behind her ear, her dark eyes brilliant in their intensity. She blinked a few times as her irises went wider. Her chest heaved as she took a deep breath. And then she pounced again.

I saw the look in Elaine's eyes just before she tackled me again. I got my hands up and gripped her shoulders just in time, pulling her away from me. "Elaine! Elaine!"

"Bennn!" she whined. "Please? You're good at this. I KNOW you are. Can't you just do this for me? Make me feel good. Make me feel wanted."

"Elaine..." I sighed. "I'm not like that anymore."

"Please, Ben! Dawn, Megan, Cassidy, Abbie, Allie ... even Stephanie: I'm the only woman in this whole fucking house you haven't fucked!"

Well, not Heidi. But that wasn't the point. I took a deep breath and pushed Elaine away, spinning myself and walking away.

"Please," she wheedled, coming after me and grabbing my hand to turn me back around and face her. "Just fuck the motherfucking shit out of me and make this fucking pain go away. I'm not expecting miracles. Just give me one moment of bliss so I can stop thinking about this fucked-up situation for two fucking minutes!"

I winced. A part of me wanted to. After all: sex WAS my thing. It would be so easy. Tab A goes into Slot B and fireworks go off behind Elaine's eyes. Ecstatic pleasure drowns away her sorrows. She feels better. I get strange pussy. Everyone wins, right? And if I was capable of giving her just a few moments of happiness, shouldn't I? Wasn't it what she wanted?

But I couldn't. The thing with Chevelle taught me that I couldn't perform unless I was really in it, and I could feel the hesitation inside myself. "I can't," I said weakly.

"FUCK, Ben!" she shouted. "Why the fuck not?"

I'd already heard Elaine drop more F-bombs in the last ten seconds than in my entire life beforehand. That alone told me that this wasn't a situation between two rational adults. She was half out of her mind, and even if she DID want this, to do what she asked would be like taking advantage of a drunk girl. I reached down and grabbed her wrist, pulling her hand off me firmly but gently. "Elaine, no."

Hysterical or not, she read the seriousness in my eyes and in my voice. Her jaw started to quiver, and she turned away from me.

There. Was that so hard? I asked myself. I should never have let things even get that close. I should never have even considered doing what she had asked. It just wouldn't be right.

At least Elaine had been easier than turning down Eden and Emma. It was certainly easier than turning down Elyse. Heck, I'd turned down Emily Anderson in High School. It was a strange set of coincidences. I need to find a girl whose name starts with "E" that I don't have any hang-ups about before I develop a complex.

Man, my head was spinning. E-complexes? Whether Elaine needed support right now or not, it couldn't be coming from me. Right now, I was part of the problem, and I knew just the person she needed to talk to.

I went to the door, popping it open, ready to scour the house for Megan. But she was pretty easy to find. After all, Megan and Cassidy were standing just outside the door.

"Oh, you're here," I chirped in surprise.

Megan nodded, looking past me. "You didn't do anything stupid, did you?"

I rolled my eyes. "Of course not."

Megan gave me a curious look. "16-year-old Ben would have."

"Good thing I'm not him anymore."

Megan nodded and patted my shoulder. "Good thing." And then she pushed past me, going straight for Elaine.

Cassidy sidled up to me, glancing down before throwing me a wink while reaching her hand to my crotch. My erection was obvious, despite the constriction of my jeans. And she patted it with a smirk.

"I'm still a guy, Freckles," I said apologetically.

"But at least now you've got a brain to go with the big package." Cassidy shrugged, taking her hand off my bulge and then tapping my forehead. She sighed mournfully. "If only I'd met you NOW instead of then."

I bit my lip, not sure how to respond to that. But before I could say anything, Cassidy sighed again and went into the room. And she closed the door in my face.

I returned downstairs to see absolutely everyone present turn and gawk at me. My reputation preceded me, and my friends stared with a mixture of curiosity and outright disgust. Kenny walked up and none-too-quietly asked if Elaine had dragged me upstairs for a quickie.

"Dude, no. Nothing happened," I stated firmly, loud enough for everyone to hear.

Kenny stared into my eyes, looking for the telltale signs that I was making a pathetic attempt at lying. I think he believed my denial about as much as he believed that I hadn't fucked Sydney at the strip club.

The rest of the crew was more understanding when I explained that Elaine just wanted to ask me about the conversation I'd had with Daniel in the groom's room. I was still a horrible liar, but that part DID actually happen (even if only for a couple of seconds), and the truth of it was enough to get me by.

The looks of disgust disappeared, and we all tried to focus on having a good time for the rest of the evening. The Xbox was un-paused. More drinks were poured. And I found Dawn to help her continue to get to know my friends.

Elaine put herself back together before the ball dropped (well, dropped on TV. It had already dropped nearly three hours earlier in New York). She, Megan, and Cassidy came back downstairs about thirty minutes before midnight, with Elaine having put on fresh makeup. And as things went into the final countdown, we all assembled in the TV room to toast the New Year.

Every available chair was taken, with others standing and still more seated on the floor. In unison, we chanted, "10... 9... 8... 7... 6... 5... 4... 3... 2... 1 ... Happy New Year!" And there were kisses all around.

Dawn got the 12:00.01 volcanic lip-lock, of course. Elaine and Megan both got chaste kisses on the cheek. Cassidy turned her head at the last second and stole one from my lips, her eyebrows dancing.

About ten minutes later, the party began to break up as guests took their leave. The Sanders twins and their boyfriends were the first to go, Kenny chiding the girls that it was past their bedtime. Sung and his girlfriend went next. And then Kenny and Heidi got their things, preparing to leave.

Dawn pulled me aside, turning me so that I could watch as Heidi crouched down next to the sofa, retrieving her purse from beneath the end table. The beautiful blonde was bent forward enough so that I could see her butterfly tattoo at the base of her spine. And my girlfriend leaned into my ear, whispering, "She invited us to her place tonight."

I blinked in surprise, turning to gawk at my girlfriend. "Excuse me?"

Dawn smirked, and then held up a familiar twenty dollar bill, folded so that I could see the name and phone number scrawled across it. "More to the point: Heidi's roommate wants us to visit."

My jaw dropped.

"We were exchanging phone numbers a minute ago when she got a text message," Dawn explained. "Apparently Heidi had texted Sydney that she was here with you and me. And Sydney texted back with: OMG, bring him home 2NITE!!!"

My mind immediately began percolating with the possibilities.

Dawn's smirk widened to a full-on grin. "C'mon, babe. Remember 'fun'? Besides, I've been hot and horny for a redhead, and Cassidy is out of the question. So whaddaya say?"

This was going to be interesting.

Kenny drove Heidi back to her apartment with Dawn and me following. There were introductions around upon arrival, and Sydney rather obviously evaluated Dawn up and down before smiling in satisfaction. The five of us made flirtatious small talk for a couple of minutes before Heidi declared that she was horny and led Kenny by the hand into her bedroom.

The instant Heidi's bedroom door closed, Sydney got up off her spot on the couch and approached me. The saucy redhead had apparently been thinking about this for the past three nights. She was dressed in the exact same black cocktail dress she'd worn at the club, and I got the impression she'd put it on within the last twenty minutes just for me.

I took that cue to mean that she wanted me to finish what we'd started that night. After slouching a bit in my seat and opening my arms, I looked up at her and stated confidently, "I want that lapdance now."

"Shouldn't we take this into my room?" she asked.

I grinned and glanced at Heidi's bedroom door. "I'm sure those two lovers will be occupied for a little while."

With no cameras or burly bouncers to interrupt, Sydney went into her routine. Dawn even got up and turned off the main room lights, leaving us in the semi-dark living room with the only illumination coming from the hallway and a single table lamp in the corner.

Eventually, the busty stripper straddled my lap, stripping the wispy little dress down to her waist and then cupping her supple Double-D breasts together. She fed her nipples to my lips and ground her soaking wet crotch against my crotch. From the feel of things, she wasn't wearing any panties and her mound was shaven bare. And that's when I took over.

Without warning, I flipped her over so that she was facedown across her couch. Sydney was not a small girl, fully as tall as Dawn and with an even more voluptuous figure. But despite her initial struggles, I clamped a hand over her mouth and pinned her down with a knee to the small of her back. Holding her there, I leaned down and growled about how I was going to use and abuse her body. And then I shoved my fingers beneath the hem of her dress, confirming that she was without panties, and simply stroked her already hyper-sensitive clit to a quick climax in two minutes flat.

Sydney had told me that she didn't kiss customers. But I wasn't a customer now, and she didn't resist when I flipped her onto her back and shoved my tongue down her throat. She growled and pawed at the back of my head. And that's when Dawn couldn't resist joining in.

Sydney was still kissing me when Dawn wrapped her lips around the redhead's prominent love button. Her eyes bugged out as she felt Dawn's tongue snake into her pussy, and she practically inhaled my tongue.

Two minutes after that, Sydney shrieked at the unexpected intrusion of my cock into her cunt from behind. Her orgasmic scream was loud enough to wake the neighbors.

The Big Ben AND Dawn experience had just begun.

"Motherfucking-shit-shit-shit-MMPH!"

Sydney's curse-laden invective was cut off when Dawn unceremoniously dropped her crotch over the redhead's face. Squatting upright, my girlfriend's blue eyes glittered in the dim lighting as she smiled and reclined her head back, focusing inward on the tongue spearing deep into her vaginal canal.

Sydney's body draped lengthwise across the couch, her ass up on the relatively low, padded armrest and her ankles crossed behind my neck. Dawn was at the far end facing me while I stood next to the couch, rhythmically pounding my prick into Sydney's well-oiled cunt while palming those big Double-D mounds as handholds. Without missing a metronomic beat, I released the redhead's tits and flipped my hands to cup Dawn's breasts instead. And my girlfriend smiled as she leaned forward to let me really squeeze her swaying mounds.

"C'mere, babe," Dawn beckoned to me, puckering her lips.

I grinned and leaned forward, sealing my mouth over Dawn's for one of our explosive volcanic kisses. She wriggled her hips over Sydney's face as if she were riding an unstable medicine ball. And I continued pumping myself through the poor girl's snug pussy at a pace perfectly suited for my own pleasure. Together, we used and abused the redhead. Not that Sydney minded.

Already Sydney had come to four screaming orgasms: the first one on my fingers, the second on Dawn's tongue, and the third and fourth both while my thick man meat filled up her cunt. We'd only been going for twenty minutes or so, but she'd experienced a full night's worth of pleasure. And I found that it was time to blow my first load.

Breaking my liplock with Dawn, I planted my hands on the armrest to either side of Sydney's supine body. I focused my energy on my ab muscles, ramping up the speed of my powerful thrusts so that every impact jarred the redhead's body with an audible smacking sound.

Dawn dismounted Sydney's face, leaving a fine sheen of wet honey all over the redhead's cheeks, mouth, and chin. That left me plenty of room to bend down and fasten my lips to Sydney's neck, sucking forcefully to leave my mark on her. At the same time, Dawn was using what I'd taught her about unconventional erogenous zones, tickling Sydney's ribs along with the more obvious sensitive spots like the busty redhead's erect nipples.

"The fuck are you two doing to me?" Sydney groaned, her electric blue eyes sparkling as she stared into the heavens. "Oh, shit! Motherfucking-shit!"

I grinned as I saw the telltale tension in the redhead's neck. Speeding up even faster, I pummeled the poor girl's pussy at a breakneck pace, slamming my thick meat into her over and over and over again. Dawn pinched down on Sydney's right nipple while she simultaneously popped a finger into the girl's anus. And I clamped my hand over the redhead's nose and mouth both, stopping her from receiving any oxygen.

"Nighty-night," I chuckled. And then I let myself go, spewing like a fire house into the busty stripper's cunt while her body jerked and twitched in spastic convulsions.

She was unconscious even before her body stopped quivering.

I stood there for a minute or so, tightening my kegels to squeeze out the last few drops of spunk into Sydney's tight snatch. Dawn giggled and looked over at me with a proud smile. And I paused for an extra moment to rub one of Sydney's big, beautiful boobs.

"Holy shit," Heidi gasped from behind me. I turned to see that she and Kenny had emerged at some point. And when I pulled out and backed away, the curly blonde moved forward and knelt beside the couch, checking to make sure her roommate was still breathing.

Sydney was obviously okay. Her naked tits rose and fell with each deep breath. And there was a silly grin plastered across her sleeping face, a trickle of drool leaking out the corner of her mouth.

"Excuse me," Dawn said apologetically, pointing at the redhead's glistening pussy. "My man left me a present in there."

Blinking, Heidi nodded and backed away, giving Dawn room to kneel next to the armrest, hoist one of Sydney's legs over her shoulder, and begin noisily slurping out my cum.

"Shit, man..." Kenny drawled.

I stood up and shrugged, oblivious to my nudity. Technically, Kenny had already seen me anyway. We'd had the foursome with the Sanders twins once before. "What are you guys doing out here? It's only been twenty minutes. You're not done already, are you?"

"Uh ... not exactly..." he said, distracted by watching my fully naked girlfriend eating the creampie I'd left inside the equally naked redhead. Kenny himself was wearing his jeans, and Heidi wore an Usher concert T-shirt. "We were kinda in the middle of things when Heidi heard Sydney suddenly go quiet. She got worried and wanted to come out here."

Just then, Sydney started to stir awake. She moaned at first, tightening her thighs around Dawn's head while my girlfriend continued to eat her out. Her blue eyes then fluttered open, blinking a few times before she was able to focus on Heidi standing above her.

"Oh, fuuuck," Sydney moaned, pushing Dawn's face even closer. Her eyes continued to flutter, and she seemed on the verge of cumming again. About thirty seconds later, she did, tensing up and squeaking beautifully. Her back arched up off the couch and she held that position for close to a minute. And when she finally collapsed back down, she had an expression of perfect serenity. With blue eyes wide open, she stared right at her roommate and said, "Fuck ... That was the most motherfucking-wonderful thing that's ever happened to me."

Heidi then turned around, staring straight at me with intense brown eyes. Her curly blonde hair hung in ringlets down to her shoulders and spilled over the T-shirt. And even though the material was thick cotton, her rock-hard nipples quite obviously still poked through. "Can you two do that to me?" she asked, her throat sounding raw.

My eyebrows rose, and I quickly looked at Kenny. I didn't know the exact nature of my buddy's relationship with this girl, but I understood there might be some jealousy.

"It's her call, man," Kenny shrugged. "We're not exclusive or anything."

"Please?" Heidi asked in a cute voice, already quivering in anticipation.

Like a shadow, Dawn rose up behind Heidi and slid her hands around the curly blonde's thigh and shoulder, startling her. My girlfriend locked eyes with me, a predatory grin on her face. And dipping her lips to Heidi's ear, she purred, "We're going to rock your world."

"Ungh ... ungh... yesss..." Dawn hissed as she quivered in orgasm. My gorgeous girlfriend let her head fall down against the backrest as she pressed Heidi's face a little deeper into her neatly-trimmed muff. And when the climactic moment had passed, her entire body sunk limply into the couch cushions as a deeply satisfied smirk spread across her face.

Taking that as my cue, I reached forward and palmed Heidi's tits from behind, speeding up my thrusts into her juicing snatch doggy-style. The blonde stripper hung her head down, letting her whole body sway back and forth with each pistoning lunge. And soon she gritted her teeth and groaned her umpteenth orgasm. "Oh, fucking gawwwwwwwd..."

I felt her cuntal muscles rhythmically clamp around my invading rod as she climaxed, spasms of inner bliss that massaged me like a third hand. It was gloriously pleasurable, but still I held my orgasm at bay. And when the poor girl came down from her high, she seemed astonished to find that she was still being fucked.

"No more ... No more..." Heidi pleaded. The busty blonde's entire body was soaked in sweat. She wobbled uneasily on the floor, with all four limbs threatening to buckle. Indeed, if I didn't have my cock holding up her cunt from behind, I think she would have already collapsed.

"Just one more," Dawn laughed happily and then glanced over to the equally sweaty girl sitting beside her. "Want another turn?"

Panting softly, Sydney shook her head in the negative. The redhead was completely exhausted by this point. So with a shrug, Dawn raised her heels up onto the couch cushions, idly stirring the fluids in her own pussy while watching me ravage the busty blonde.

In the last ninety minutes or so, the five of us had fucked in a variety of combinations. We'd started with Dawn and me double-teaming Heidi to a series of screaming orgasms while Sydney got Kenny worked up to a new erection and then mounted him. We rotated around a bit as well, with my favorite being Kenny and me doggy-fucking Heidi and Sydney side-by-side, switching girls every few minutes or so while Dawn similarly went back and forth to suck tits, finger clits, and park her own pussy in front of a hot stripper's tongue.

It was after 2am, and everyone was pretty exhausted, even me. I'd cum three times tonight: the first in Sydney, the second in Heidi, and the third over both girls' faces. I figured this fourth would be my last, and I had yet to actually knock Heidi unconscious.

No worries. I'd long ago figured out Heidi's trigger points, and I had easy access to them as I fucked her from behind. One, two, and three ... touchdown. Heidi's eyes rolled up into her head while I jettisoned my final load of cream into her twitching body. And when I was done spunking her, I caught her collapsing body by holding up her tits, lowering her gently to the floor before gingerly extracting my deflating cock from her cunt.

"Whoa, dude," Kenny marveled.

"Is THAT what I looked like?" Sydney exclaimed in awe.

I glanced down at the slumbering blonde, a beatific smile of utterly rapturous peace on her face. I shrugged, and Dawn replied for me, "Pretty much."

"Wow..." Sydney breathed. And then she flopped against the couch's backrest, completely worn out for the night.

But Dawn leaned forward, her blue eyes glittering. "Okay," she began, an electric energy in her limbs. "My turn."

"Your turn?" I asked, arching an eyebrow. I was pretty wiped out.

Dawn pouted. "Two hours, babe. We've been going for two hours and I've barely felt a dick inside me this entire time."

I frowned. I'd certainly fucked my girlfriend in our partner swapping, including one quite memorable position as I stood behind the couch to pump her pussy while Dawn slumped over the backrest with her legs in the air, the back of her head and shoulders on the couch cushions while Sydney squatted on her face.

But that wasn't enough for her. Taking a deep breath, Dawn stared quite seriously into my eyes and stated in a husky voice, "I want you and Kenny to fuck me at the same time."

My eyebrows popped. Throughout our entire "new" relationship, Dawn had never once showed any inclination to have sex with another man. If anything, she'd gone out of her way to ensure that I was the only male present for our sex games. She'd immediately turned down Tito at Chevelle's place in September. And we'd hunted girls like the Tri-Delts and Chi Omegas without a single indication that she'd want to bring a guy home as well. Heck, in October she'd even explicitly stated that she no longer had any curiosities about fucking other guys, knowing that there was no other male on the planet who could make her feel the way I did.

And yet here she was, telling me she wanted Kenny. I liked my old high school friend, and fair was fair since I'd nailed his girlfriend (or whatever Heidi was to him). But could I really watch my Dawn sleep with him?

My girlfriend read the hesitation in my eyes. So did Kenny. I knew he had to be terribly excited at the prospect of boning the supremely gorgeous blonde, but he raised his hands and said, "I'm flattered. But I'm seriously done for the night."

"You let me worry about that," Dawn stated with a seductive purr in her voice that sent lightning bolts up my spine, and I'm sure Kenny's as well. Returning her attention to me, she then got up off the couch, took my hand, and led me away from the others. We didn't move out of sight but just into the adjacent kitchen. And in a quiet voice so that she couldn't be heard, she whispered, "Please. I want this."

"Why him?"

Dawn shook her head. "This has nothing to do with him. I have no misconceptions that Kenny would be even half the lover you are. But I told you: I've barely felt a dick inside me for the last two hours; now I want two. This isn't about me wanting any particular man. I just want to feel two dicks being shoved inside my body. I want to feel stuffed full of man meat – live, throbbing cock – not just you and a girl's strap-on."

I heard what she was asking, but I still hesitated. It was one thing to know that Dawn was fucking other guys when she wasn't my girlfriend. It was quite another to know that she was mine, and to consider sharing her. Perhaps I was being selfish, having fucked a dozen other women since we'd gotten together. But then again, Dawn had fucked those same women, so we were all even, weren't we?

"Please..." Dawn whispered, holding my sides and looking up at me with soft blue eyes that nevertheless crackled with intense electricity. "You said you wanted to give me my freedom."

I still felt tension in my throat, preventing me from speaking. But whether I really liked it or not, Dawn was right. I HAD promised her freedom. I'd spoken the words, and now it was time to put my money where my mouth was. I might be uncomfortable with the concept right now, but I was convinced that this was best for the long run.

"Please?"

Even though I couldn't bring myself to say the words, I nodded my head affirmative. I had to let her skydive.

Lubed up and rock hard, I held my dick straight out like an anti-air missile, keeping it steady for Dawn's approach. With her hands on my knees, she slowly backed herself onto me, pausing as my thick mushroom head first began to stretch out her slippery anus.

"Unnnnnnnghhh," Dawn hung her head and groaned as she backed herself up a couple of inches. I switched my hands to holding her hips steady. And after another minute, my girlfriend dropped her full weight onto my lap, breathing shallowly while absorbing the sensations of having nearly eight inches of cock imbedded in her colon.

From behind, I gently kissed the back of her neck.

From her left side, Sydney kissed her cheek.

From her right side, Heidi caressed her breast.

And from in front, Kenny bent his knees and pushed his re-hardened cock into my girlfriend's soaking wet snatch.

Strangely, I didn't feel any more apprehension. Sure, I'd felt a twinge of pain in my heart when Dawn first knelt in front of my high school buddy, taking his limp dick in her fingers and lowering her head to slurp him into her mouth. But the longer she bobbed her head up and down in his lap, gradually pulling farther and farther away as his prick elongated, I started to get used to the idea. This wasn't about love or loyalty or devotion. This was just sex. This was a fantasy that my girlfriend wanted to come true. And I could do that for her.

It didn't hurt that I had TWO mouths doing the same to me. Sydney was kissing her way up the left side of my cock while a re-awakened Heidi did the same from the right. Their lips met at the top, and the two achingly beautiful young women exchanged a sloppy, pre-cum filled kiss with my mushroom head between them. Despite having cum four times tonight, I'd managed the miracle fifth erection. And shortly after, the girls lubed me up and then got out of the way.

Still, the twinge of pain in my heart flared up again when Kenny groaned, feeling the blissful ecstasy of being inside Dawn's heavenly pussy. But Dawn moaned as well, letting her weight fall back against my chest. I reached my hands up to cup her breasts, massaging her pleasure points and thumbing her nipples while she tilted her head to the side and let me nibble on the side of her neck. I focused on the joyous note of satisfaction in my soulmate's voice, which strengthened my resolve to give her every freedom she desired.

When we finally got married, I knew that Dawn would have absolutely zero reasons to regret not trying something she wished she would have tried. When we finally got married, it would truly be forever.

The rest of the fuck went by in a blur. With the number of previous ejaculations we'd both already gone through, I knew Kenny and I would both last for a practical eternity. I didn't worry about my orgasm, instead focusing on the intense emotions roiling through my brain along with the exquisite pleasures spreading all over my body. The thrill of buggering a beautiful girl's asshole, and Dawn's specifically, set my spine on fire. The supple texture and weight of her breasts in my hands only added to the sensation of her anal chute clamping around my cock. Every thrust from Kenny on the opposite side pushed her ass down even deeper onto my prick, and every retraction he made allowed the couch's natural springiness to push her back up.

"So full..." Dawn groaned.

"So tight..." Kenny moaned.

"Fuck my holes..."

"Fuck-fuck..."

"Yes, yes, yes!"

"Ungh, ungh, ungh!"

My nostrils were filled with the scents of Dawn's arousal and the sweat of her back. My cock was squeezed from all sides by her anal muscles, stronger than anything in her pussy. And I even found my head being turned to the side, Sydney moaning, "Fuck this is hot!" before sealing her mouth over mine in an ecstatic open-mouthed kiss.

"Fuck yeah!" Heidi crowed as she joined in as well, kissing Dawn before standing up atop the couch cushions and leaning forward to shove her crotch into my girlfriend's face.

"Mmph!" Dawn moaned, grabbing the other blonde's ass and digging her nails into it as she frantically ate out Heidi's snatch.

"Fuck-fuck," Kenny grunted as he sped up his thrusts, holding Dawn's hips for guidance while taking a bite out of Heidi's naked buttcheeks.

"Me, too!" Sydney whimpered, looking for somewhere to join in before grabbing my hand and shoving three fingers into her cunt. At the same time, she ducked her head in under Heidi's belly and sucked at Dawn's heaving tits.

Together, the five of us rocked the entire three-person sofa down to its supports. Kenny was slam-fucking Dawn, spreading her knees to the sides as he used every last ounce of his energy to really ram his cock as deep as possible into her body. Heidi was bucking her hips back and forth, threatening to snap Dawn's neck with her urgent undulations. And despite squeaking out one very small climax on my fingers, Sydney just couldn't handle being left out anymore as she broke away, grabbed Kenny's shoulders, and physically yanked him out of my girlfriend's pussy.

"Wha-?" Kenny gasped as his cock left the roiling inferno of Dawn's cunt and was exposed to the cooler winter air. But he had no time to say anything further as Sydney dropped him flat on his back and then quickly mounted his dick, riding him like a spastic cowgirl and shoving her big Double-D tits in his face.

"No!" Dawn screeched, in anguish over the sudden loss of fullness. She grabbed Heidi's hips and moved the blonde aside, digging her heels down to lift herself off my dick and off the couch. And then she promptly shoved poor Sydney aside and took the redhead's place by dropping her juicing cunt down onto Kenny's pole.

"BEN!" Dawn screamed, her voice filled with need. I was quickly off the couch, and she stopped her frantic humping the moment I grabbed her hips. She held still just long enough for me to ram my cock through her distended anus. And then it was my turn to drive as my rapid pumping motions in Dawn's ass pushed her pussy up and down Kenny's rod.

"Motherfucking-FUCK!" Sydney yelled as she scrambled back to her feet. But rather than fight for Dawn's position, she simply spun back and dropped to her knees over Kenny's face. My buddy quickly reached up to hold her hips as he speared his tongue upward into the redhead's snatch. And as if to make it up to her, Dawn leaned forward, french kissing Sydney madly while reaching out and squeezing the busty redhead's big tits.

That meant that Heidi was now left out. But she was a little more calm, having managed one fantastic orgasm on Dawn's mouth while we'd still been on the couch. Still, she came to me, taking my head in her hands while I continued pumping in and out of Dawn's ass. We kissed hotly and wetly while I raised my own hands to fondle her boobs and cup her buttcheeks.

With every mouth occupied either by another mouth or a wet pussy, there were no further words. Instead, a cacophony of sexual slapping noises mixed with moans and grunts. But then one-by-one, we each hit a final sexual peak and pulled our mouths away to announce it.

Sydney was the closest to the edge, throwing her head back as the orgasm detonated and howling her pleasure to the moon with the now familiar curse-laden invectives. "FUUUUUCK!" she screamed. "MOTHER-SHITTY-FUCKING-FUCK!"

Her voice died out after thirty seconds or so, and she collapsed straight back, falling to the floor with an audible [thump].

Heidi was next, triggered by my nimble fingers as I went after her erogenous zones, the coup de grâce being when I slipped a finger into her ass and managed four more in her pussy while I bit down on her neck. She squealed in a muffled, "Eeep!" And then she fell to floor as well, twitching from the mild aftershocks.

And then Mount Dawn began to erupt. Her mouth free of Sydney's, my girlfriend bellowed her approach, screaming, "I'm cumming! I'm cumming! I'M CUMMING!"

Kenny and I both certainly felt the earthquakes, her cuntal and anal muscles going into erratic spasms that felt unholy in their pleasure as our dicks sawed in and out of both her holes. When she finally blew her top, screaming, "CUMMING!!!" while her body gave two powerful jerks, those inner muscles set off Kenny and me as well. And as her entire being trembled in orgasmic ecstasy, she also felt two fireballs of hot, wet lava exploding through her tubes.

"Fuck!" Kenny groaned as he released all his pent up pleasure, dropping his head back onto the floor and closing his eyes as he spewed out every drop of fluid remaining in his body.

"Nnn-gahh!" I gasped as I too fired away, wad after wad flying out of my body and into Dawn's.

We then collapsed. My body landed atop Dawn's, which landed atop Kenny's. My poor buddy was crushed beneath a gorgeous blonde, with his dick slowly deflating inside her saturated snatch and her big tits pressed up against his cheeks. Even though my weight on top of hers pressed her even tighter against him, I'm sure he wouldn't have it any other way.

And neither would Dawn. Eventually, we rolled off poor Kenny and gave him the chance to breathe. Naked, sweaty, and dribbling cum out of both of her abused holes, my girlfriend had the silliest grin on her face as she rolled over to me and lay her head down on my chest. "I love you, Ben," she sighed happily, although her voice was the definition of exhaustion.

Cinching my arm more tightly around her body, I hugged my girlfriend to my side and picked my head up enough to kiss her forehead. "I love you, too."