The Party l

DECEMBER 2003, SOPHOMORE YEAR

"You still going to try your little stunt in messing with Leighton's bounty?" Dawn hugged my arm while we headed up the hill. She was adorably cute in a college girl kind of way. Her sunny blonde hair was pulled into a ponytail that poked through the back of her navy blue Cal baseball cap. She also wore a zip-up hoodie and well-fitting jeans as we cruised along the pathway, roaming around the verdant greenscapes of the campus.

I arched an eyebrow and chuckled to myself. We'd always talked about the things going on in our lives, but it was only since that Thanksgiving agreement for complete and total transparency with each other that I really shared with Dawn all the naughty, hormonal impulses running through my head. She'd surprisingly shown absolutely no jealousy and in fact, had given me some helpful ideas on making my little fantasies into reality.

One of her best ideas was to let more than one of the pledges seduce me. 250 points was enough to push any of the girls in the top eight to Number 1, and those eight had been particularly aggressive during this last week before getting their formal invitations. If I could work out the timing just right, I could theoretically nail all of them before the others realized it, and then let Pledge Mistress Leighton Barrister try to figure out what the hell to do.

Sure, the whole thing could blow up in my face if the girls got upset. I mean, nobody likes a two-timer. A girl might very well KILL me if I eight-timed them, especially if they wound up getting zero points for their efforts. But I found that unlikely since all eight girls were pretty desperate by now after more than a month of constant pursuit, and as long as I left them all satisfied, I was sure they'd be happy enough with the outcome. And more to the point, over the course of their seductions I'd asked each of them point blank if they would still want me even if they weren't first, getting affirmative answers from all.

Still, I was a bit in shock that it was Dawn's idea to even try it. She'd come a long way from, 'If I was still his girlfriend, I don't think I could let him out quite that much.'

Then again, I wasn't HER boyfriend.

In any case, I just smirked and didn't answer Dawn's question. She knew I'd heard her and for a few seconds, she just waited me out. But after those few seconds, she looked back at my face and saw the self-satisfied smirk. And a second later, she hauled off and smacked my arm. "Ben! You DIDN'T!"

I struggled to regain my balance as Dawn had shoved me a couple of feet away along with the smack. I was chuckling and Dawn was laughing and then she almost immediately yanked me back to her side, wrapping herself around my arm again. "I want details!" she insisted.

I managed to get my laughing under control and took a deep breath to settle myself. "Your plan wouldn't have worked anyways. The whole point was to mess with Leighton's bounty, but if the girls stopped and compared notes, they could still figure out who was first."

"So what did you do? And why didn't you TELL me?"

I shrugged. "I called you as soon as the idea hit. You were out with Ryan. I forgot it was your anniversary."

Dawn shrugged. Two years ago to the day Dawn and Ryan had decided that yes, they were a couple. Yeah, they'd been out alone together while she was technically still with me. And of course, they'd had sex that Thanksgiving weekend after the Stanford-Notre Dame game. But it wasn't for another week that they agreed they could handle the situation and truly became a couple.

In any case, Dawn was out of reach when I decided to go ahead with my plan. Fact was, I'd culled my favorites from the bunch and being greedy, I decided to just invite them all. If the whole thing blew up in my face, it wasn't like I was lacking for sex anyways. Rather than waiting to see which girl would step to the front and come to me, I decided take charge of my life, make things happen for myself, and deal with the consequences as they came. "I called up three of the girls and invited them to come to the house at 7pm sharp."

"Which three?" Dawn interrupted. "Wait, don't tell me. Let me guess: Jocelyn, Andie, and Tonya."

I grinned. "Exactly."

"So no Cadence Carmichael?"

I shook my head and sighed in resignation. "You know why."

Dawn nodded. "What happened then?"

I shrugged. "Jocelyn and Andie came early. They bickered for a couple of minutes outside the house before they figured it out. They got their confirmation when Tonya arrived as well. And after enough rum and cokes and a few hands of strip poker, everything had smoothened out."

"No problems?"

"Nope. I kinda figured those girls would roll with it. You KNOW I wanted Cadence, but she's too hetero for this and I just got the feeling she wouldn't react very well. The three that came worked together pretty well."

Dawn grinned salaciously. "I'll bet they did. What about Adrienne?"

I shook my head. "Modeling gig."

"Another one? Didn't know she'd get two so fast."

I nodded. "Felicia's been setting these up for a while. Adrienne had her test shots done last month and now with the Christmas catalogs coming up, it's a bit of a busy season."

Dawn whistled.

I nudged her and leaned in, saying, "Maybe we should get you some test shots..."

"Oh, no. Not me. I'd be too scared in front of a camera like that. DJ, maybe. But no, I'll never be a model."

"Aww..." I groaned.

"Stop changing the subject. I still want details about last night."

I shrugged. "What is there to say? The four of us played strip poker until some people were totally naked."

"Some people? Or you?" Dawn smirked. "I'll bet with three soon-to-be sorority sisters working together, they MUST have ganged up on you."

I chuckled. "True. They did, and I got naked first. But they did enough to each other to keep me interested. And then of course there were the dares I had to do to stay in the game after I lost all of my clothes."

Dawn was giggling again, her face flushed pink with arousal. "I'll bet the dares got out of hand pretty quick."

"Right they did."

"So who did end up being first? I mean, as much as we girls might wish otherwise sometimes, you only have one cock."

I shrugged. "Jocelyn. Man that girl has a tight pussy. But that only came after all three girls swore not to publicly announce who was first. All three of them are going to Leighton today to take credit."

"So you fucked all three of them?"

I snorted. "Of course."

"Your first black girl?"

I nodded. "All girls are the same on the inside," I drawled with waggling eyebrows.

"And was Andie as big of a freak as you thought?" Dawn's breath was getting shallow.

"Freakier." I chuckled while shaking my head in memory at the antics the freshman girl had gotten into last night.

Dawn then leaned in closer and rubbed her nose against my ear, panting lightly. "Make any of them pass out?"

I grinned. "All three of them," I intoned in a low, smug voice.

"Ohhh..." Dawn moaned, her jaw quivering. She leaned against me as well, her legs a little shaky. My Dawn was clearly turned on, and seeing her turned on got ME turned on. And if she weren't Ryan's girlfriend, I would have dragged her off into a dark corner and fucked her right then and there. "Fuck, I wish I was there to see it," she exhaled.

"I would have liked to have you there," I said quietly, holding her firmly against my side.

Dawn looked up at me, her eyes shining. "I think you'd like to 'have' me, period."

I blinked and stared right back. "You know I would."

Dawn took a deep breath and sighed, exhaling very, very slowly as a way of letting out her sexual tension. When she was done, the fire in her eyes had dimmed and she seemed to once again have completely control of her limbs. In the end, she merely went up on her tiptoes and pecked me lightly on the lips, then looked back down and resumed walking.

"Come on," she said. "I want to get to Professor Ice before her office hours get too crowded."

"The four theories of utility are..."

"Von Neumann-Morgenstern expected utility, rank dependent utility, weighted linear utility, and ... ah ... SHIT. SSBU ... Symmetric..."

"Come on, you got this," I encouraged.

"Bilinear..."

"Right, right..."

"FUCK!" Dawn cursed and planted her face into her palms. "What's the fucking first word?"

"'Skew'," I sighed. "Skew-symmetric bilinear utility."

"FUCK!"

"Hey, hey. Relax..." I rubbed Dawn's back. "You're on top of this."

"You're on top of this. You're great at this memorization shit," she spat at me.

"Dawn ... calm down. It's not like you to curse this much."

Dawn rolled her eyes and smirked at me. "Not true." The waggle in her eyebrows made the sexual innuendo clear.

"Well I'm not around to hear those much anymore," I drawled.

Dawn giggled and I chuckled. And then Dawn sighed and hung her head forward, reaching back with her right hand to rub the sore muscles in her neck.

"I got that," I said and moved her hands away, placing the fingers of both my hands against the base of her neck and stroking outwards before settling into a more traditional neck massage.

"Mmm..." Dawn moaned, the vocal note not so different from something more erotic.

"Hey, get a room," Robin snarked from the next chair over.

I darted a glance at her and then immediately looked over at Ryan, who was sitting at the dining table. He also looked over to see me giving a neck massage to his girlfriend, and the cold flint in his eyes was anything but friendly.

I was about to stop but Dawn sighed and dropped her hands on top of both of mine. "No, don't stop," she groaned. "Just a little longer."

Focusing on the task before me, I worked her neck and shoulder muscles with expert skill, using the same techniques as when I was making love to a girl. With an audience around us, I decided to skip all the little pleasure-inducing flourishes and concentrated on working her knots out as quickly as possible; and inside two minutes I backed away while Dawn rolled her head around her neck and sighed happily. "SO much better. Thanks, Ben."

"Anytime," I replied easily. And then I glanced over at Ryan again.

Yeah, he was still giving me the evil eye.

"Okay, I need to get some sleep," I leaned back and stretched. "I HATE morning finals."

"Oh, wait up," Gwen looked up and reached for her bag. "I'll head out with you. Walk me back to my place?"

I nodded and packed up my study materials. While packing, I noticed that I'd lost track of my spiral-bound notebook. Spying it over on the sofa table behind the couch, I looked up and then over to Dawn, who was sitting on that couch.

Even though she wasn't looking at me, she sensed my gaze and glanced over. I didn't say a word before she just raised her eyebrows and turned around, spotting my notebook on the table behind her. She turned around and picked it up, then stood and walked it over to me.

I smirked, realizing that Dawn had somehow figured out what I needed without us needing to even speak. She smiled right back, mentally sharing the amusement of the moment.

Now set, I hugged Dawn and pecked her cheek. I nodded a goodbye to Ryan, Bert, and Robin. And then I headed to the front door.

Gwen was just steps behind me, looking pretty with her mane of dirty-blonde hair hanging out from beneath a navy blue Cal beanie. I opened the door for her and let her outside before joining her on the sidewalk. This close to campus was typically a pretty safe neighborhood, but we still made it a point not to let any of the girls walk around at night unescorted.

As we headed off for the apartment she shared with Robin, Gwen didn't waste any time before starting her inquisition. "What's going on with you and Dawn?"

I looked over at her and replied a confused, "Huh?"

"Are you sleeping with her?"

"Wait, what? No!"

"You sure?"

I snorted. "Yeah, I think I would remember if I was. Did you ask Dawn first?"

"Of course. But I wasn't totally sure she wasn't hiding it from me."

I shook my head, not quite believing Gwen had just asked me that. "What makes you think we are?"

Gwen sighed. "I dunno. You two have just been different lately. Ever since Thanksgiving, you two have been so... close."

I rolled my eyes. "We've always been close. She's my best friend."

"Not THIS close. Something happened that weekend. Everyone can see it."

I sighed and stopped walking. "No, we did NOT sleep together. But we did get to talking. We felt like our relationship had been drifting a bit. And we promised each other we would fix it."

"Fix it? What was wrong?"

"Nothing specific," I shrugged. "The details are all between me and her, but basically we realized that after a lifetime of never holding anything back from each other, we'd started to hold back."

"Huh?"

I gestured back toward the house. "Dawn didn't want to talk much about Ryan. She thought I'd be all weird about discussing her boyfriend. I didn't talk much about my sex life. I thought she might not approve about ... well ... how much of a slut I've been lately."

"You HAVE been a slut, Ben."

"I know." I grinned as I started walking again. "It's not something I'm embarrassed about."

"Men." Gwen sighed and followed after me. "If I did half of what- No, if I did a TENTH of what you do, people would call me a slut. It's not fair."

"No, it isn't," I agreed.

Gwen shook her head. "But that's not the point. So you're really not sleeping with her?"

"I'm not. Again, what makes you think we are?"

"You're just so ... touchy-feely now. Like that neck rub you gave her a half-hour ago."

I shrugged. "It's just a neck rub. It's not like I was copping a feel."

"It was still right in front of her boyfriend."

"We've done a lot of touchy-feely things in front of her boyfriend. He knows we're not going to cross that line."

"Does he?"

I sighed. "I dunno. I'm not Ryan. But we set ground rules a long time ago and Dawn and I aren't going to change the way we act around each other. He's been pretty cool with it up until now."

Gwen sighed and shook her head. "You always had another girlfriend up until now."

I frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Gwen raised her eyebrows and looked over at me. "Ryan always knew you weren't a threat to him because you were in love with someone else. That isn't the case anymore."

"So?"

"So ... A handsome, single guy spending a lot of time with his girlfriend ... touching her ... giving her neck rubs..."

"I'm not just any guy."

"No, you're worse. You're the ex."

I sighed. "So what do you want me to do about it? Not sit next to her while we're studying the exact same material? We share most of our classes."

Gwen shook her head. "I'm not telling you to do anything. It's not my place. I'm just explaining to you what I see."

I shrugged. "Dawn and I are just friends."

Gwen stopped and looked me in the eye, trying to peer back into my soul. I stood there and let her look all she wanted. And in the end, she just scowled and kept on walking.

We were silent for a bit before I finally said, "Anyways, you called it; I've been a slut lately. So it's not like I'm desperate to get laid. Especially not with a girl who's taken."

Gwen giggled and then glanced sidelong at me. "What about a girl who isn't taken?"

There was a definite innuendo in Gwen's voice, and I looked over at her curiously. "Thought you were giving Rick another chance."

She sighed and exhaled a big puff that steamed in the cold December air. "I DID give Rick another chance. But the same problems I had with him when we were dating are still there."

I winced. "Ooh. Still pathetic in bed?"

Gwen shrugged. "Nice guy. Clearly adores me. But just can't figure out how to push my buttons," she sighed forlornly.

"Sorry."

Gwen sidled up next to me, gliding a hand along my back and down to my butt, cupping a cheek in her palm. "Sorry enough to do something about it?"

I stopped walking and arched an eyebrow over at the dirty-blonde. "You serious?"

Gwen sighed and looked up at me. "It's Finals. I'm stressed. And you NEVER had any problem finding my buttons. C'mon, you think a pair of sluts like us can find some way to unwind?"

I glanced back over my shoulder. My house was less than a block behind us. Then I looked back at Gwen and grinned.

I awoke to a familiar sensation, albeit one I hadn't felt in quite a while. Most of my recent conquests didn't involve overnights. And even the ones that did often involved a semi-panicked sorority girl trying to sneak me out of her room first thing in the morning even though the entire house already knew I was there.

So now that I got to feel this wonderful sensation, I wasn't going to do anything that might cause it to end. My eyes cracked open just to make sure she was who I thought she was (past experience having surprised me a time or two), and then lay my head back to enjoy Gwen almost lazily sucking on my dick.

After a few minutes, I decided I wanted a little firmer pressure and reached my hand up into her thick mane of dirty-blonde hair, guiding her to slower but more forceful strokes as her head bobbed up and down the length of my erection. Gwen's light brown eyes rolled up to look at me as she realized that I was awake, and that realization made her put some more energy into the blowjob as well.

Eventually, she popped off and smiled at me, saying brightly, "Good morning!"

I grinned. "Morning."

She grinned and went back to licking the underside of my cock with long, deliberate strokes. And then she popped up again. "Do you realize that after everything we've done, I only ever sucked your dick once? That very, very first time, at Ryan's house? And even then it was only for a couple of minutes."

"Really?"

She nodded. "Ever since then it's just been wham, bam, goodnight ma'am."

I arched an eyebrow. "Disappointed?"

Gwen shook her head. "Not at all. I'd never cum that hard before or since. Right before you made me pass out last night, all I could think was 'Finally. The monster orgasm I've been craving.' And I slept better than I have in MONTHS."

I chuckled and watched her resume sucking me for another few strokes.

But then she popped off with one more giggle. "Still, I want to do this one for you. And then for the very first time, I want to end a sex session with me awake and able to walk."

I just grinned and let Gwen go to work. My pretty friend smiled around my meat and then closed her eyes, breathing deeply before pressing forward. I felt the telltale relaxation in her neck, and with her hands gripping my thighs she started pushing me into her throat.

"Ohhh ... Gwen..." I groaned. With her mass of dirty-blonde curls and long waves, and her pretty face dominated by expressive eyes that watched me watching her deep-throat me, she looked REALLY good while sucking my cock. I remembered that when I first met her, I'd thought she was a little bit skanky. Now that I'd come to know her, I realized that she was just like a lot of other people I knew. She liked to have fun, she liked to party, and she liked to feel good sexually. It just so happened that she was a girl; and people gave her the negative label because of it.

So fine, she was a bit of a slut. She was still far less of a slut than me. And whatever her sexual impulses, she had always been a loyal friend to Dawn, Robin, and everyone else in our crew, including me.

And more. I remembered how I'd taken advantage of Gwen's sexual desire for me — I'd used her, really. But instead of letting it negatively affect our relationship, she'd taken things in stride and accepted the pleasurable parts while coping with the consequences. In the end, she'd given me what I needed at the time, and I never really thanked her for it.

"Gwen, thank you," I said softly.

Still sucking on my knob, she rolled her eyes up to me questioningly. My statement had come out of left field.

I rubbed her cheeks. "Thank you, for everything since last May. And I'm sorry."

She frowned and pulled off my cock, still jacking me slowly in her right hand. "No need. I enjoyed everything."

"Still, I made things complicated for you."

She shrugged. "Complications happen all the time." She giggled. "Besides, I seem to remember Rick showed up and gave you a wicked right 'complication' to the cheek."

My cheek actually ached at the memory. "'Left' complication," I corrected. Then I shook it off and looked down tenderly at the pretty blonde. I caressed her cheek and nodded my head back. "Come up here."

She blinked. "I'm not done with you yet."

"And I'm not done with you. Come on Gwen; let me make you feel good."

She shook her head. "I just wanted to give you a blowjob. I want to feel you cumming in my mouth."

"And you will. Come on."

She sighed. "I don't have time to pass out again. I've got a final and fucking my brains out would NOT be helpful for academic reasons."

I chuckled and then reached down, hauling her up to me and then rolling us over so that she was flat on her back as I leaned down and kissed her tenderly. "I can do soft, too."

Gwen smirked. "Thought your shtick was making girls pass out."

I chuckled. "YOU started me. It's sorta been my theme this semester, I know. But I promise you'll be awake and energized when I'm done with you. I know your buttons, Gwen. I know how to put you to sleep AND get you wired."

She held my face in her hands and stretched up to kiss me. Our liplock rapidly built in passion and intensity, and soon I was cupping her nicely-sized tits and bringing my cock in-line with her moist snatch. And with a steady thrust, I pushed my way back inside her.

I kept my word. We fucked rhythmically and smoothly, without the jerkiness or forcefully pounding thrusts that characterized our previous sex sessions. Her ankles were hooked through mine, leveraging our legs to keep our bodies rolling together. My hands continually roved across her body, caressing her various erogenous zones from butt to tits and everything in-between. In the end, Gwen had only one orgasm. But it was a good one that left her satisfied without feeling tired.

She also got to feel me cumming in her mouth. I let her know when I was about to pop and Gwen rolled us over, fucking me with her tits for a minute before inhaling my prick and taking my creamy load down her throat and into her belly. And after I finished feeding her my sperm, she moaned and stroked my slowly- softening cock. "Mmm. That was really ... pleasant," she said in mild amazement.

I smiled back and was just about to reply when a knock sounded at the door. A second later it swung open. And surprised into a panic, Gwen turned and tried to jerk the covers over her while I frowned and looked to the doorway.

Surprised herself, Adrienne came to a dead stop and her eyes went open. "Gwen!"

"Adrienne?" I asked quizzically.

"Oops! I'm sorry, Ben!" Adrienne stammered. "It was so quiet I didn't realize you had company!"

Relaxing noticeably, Gwen snorted. "Yeah, I didn't know he could do 'soft', either," she giggled.

Adrienne smirked as well and then tapped her chin. "Uh, Gwen. You got a bit of- yeah, right there," she trailed off as Gwen licked up the glob of cum she'd missed.

And then Adrienne smiled at me, crossing her arms beneath her breasts as she leaned against the door jamb. "Well, I just wanted to let you know that breakfast is getting cold. You're behind schedule, Tiger."

I checked the clock. "Right. Time for Finals."

"So who was it last night?" Dawn asked as she slipped her hand into mine. We were leaving our morning final and heading off to grab some lunch. We'd both been in prep-for-test mode before the exam, so I'd never had the chance to tell her before.

Still, I wanted to test her. "What makes you think I got laid last night?" I arched an eyebrow.

"Ben," Dawn drawled. "This is me. I can tell. And it wasn't Adrienne; you have a completely different kind of look when she spends the night with you."

I chuckled and squeezed her hand. "Well let's just say I didn't walk Gwen all the way home last night."

Dawn turned and arched an eyebrow at me. "Really?"

I nodded. "She said it was Finals. Said she was stressed. I wasn't about to complain."

"You gonna make this a habit? Fucking Gwen's brains out every Finals Week?"

I chuckled, remembering that it HAD been Finals Week the last time Gwen and I went through our series of blitz-fucks. "I don't know about that. I think that's just coincidence."

"Guess we'll know come May."

I chuckled again and shook my head. "Thing is, Gwen and I talked quite a bit about you and me before we got to my place."

"Oh?"

I nodded. "She said that the others think we're sleeping together again."

Dawn sighed. "I know. She asked me the other day, too. You told her that we're not, right?"

"Of course. But she's right about one thing, we ARE more touchy-feely than we've been the last couple of years."

Dawn shrugged. "So? You're my Ben. I LIKE touching you." For emphasis, she hugged herself against my side.

I felt a pleasant little thrill shoot down my spine. I sighed happily and replied, "Me, too." Then I took a breath. "But I wonder if I'm not causing problems for you and Ryan."

She shook her head. "Don't worry about us." She grinned and looked up at me. "My boyfriend and I know how to de-stress for finals too you know."

I chuckled at the self-satisfied smirk on Dawn's face and hugged her back. "So there's no problem?"

"Nah. Ryan's fine."

"I'm not fine," Ryan growled at me.

I sighed. Dawn had an afternoon final for one of the few classes we didn't share, and I had returned to Dawn's and Ryan's apartment to hang out with the crew. When I arrived, Robin was studying, Bert was de-stressing with a video game, and Ryan was sitting at the dining table with his own books spread out in front of him.

A half-hour later, we all looked up when the sound of a book being slammed shut got our attention. Robin, Bert, and I looked at each other for a second before we all turned to Ryan, who had steam blasting out of his ears as he glared at me. "We need to talk, Ben. Right now," he'd stated flatly, and that's how we ended up in the bedroom with the bigger guy looking down at me with his arms folded across his wide chest.

"I'm not fine," he repeated, the muscles in his arms tensing even more. "I need you to look me in the eye and tell me that nothing funny is happening between you and Dawn."

I did my best to look earnest as I stared straight into his blue eyes and said, "There's nothing happening between me and Dawn. We're just friends."

"BEST friends," Ryan corrected. "Best friends who spend all freaking day together. Best friends who share meals and hold hands and give each other backrubs and ... and ... KISS ... in public!"

"Ry-"

"I'm talking here!" he yelled. "You stand there and tell me to my face that nothing's happening when I KNOW something's happening!"

I held my hands up defensively, not just because I wanted to placate him, but because I seriously thought for a moment the guy might take a swing at me. And unfortunately, I knew with dead certainty that Ryan could kick my ass in a fight. "Nothing's happening."

"When was the last time you kissed her?"

I sighed. We both knew he didn't mean some small peck. "Thanksgiving."

"I KNEW it."

"It didn't mean anything."

He rolled his eyes. "Of COURSE it did."

"That's just the way we are, Ryan. We're friends. Close friends. But she loves you. She tells me almost every other day."

"You ever wonder why she feels the need to tell you that? Like maybe she's trying to convince herself? That really she's in love with you but she's trying to keep herself in check and-"

"Ryan, you're being paranoid," I cut him off, not wanting him to get rolling on that negative train of thought.

"I SAID I'm talking here!" he thundered.

I held my hands up and shut my mouth.

"I don't want you touching her, understand?" he growled.

"Ryan. Seriously, man."

"I'm dead serious!"

I shook my head. "Don't do this. Think about it. You want me to stop touching her, maybe I can do it. Maybe. I'm sorry; it just comes so naturally to us. But what are you gonna do about Dawn? I'm sure you're gonna have to make her do the same. And if you start giving her all these rules and limits and telling her what she can or can't do with me, she's gonna resent you for it. You push hard enough, and you're going to make her have to choose between you and me."

"Well maybe that's what needs to happen."

"You'll lose, man," I said quietly.

Ryan's nostrils flared and for a second, I thought he really was about to hit me. But he controlled himself and turned around, stomping away.

I waited for him to calm down while he stared at the far wall. And when I thought the coast was clear, I began gently, "C'mon, man. I'm not trying to interfere. Really, I'm not. But Dawn and I have been best friends since the beginning of time. You ask her to cut me out of her life and she'll hate you for it. You'd lose if you forced her into that choice. Then you wouldn't be happy, but also Dawn wouldn't be happy. And I don't want that to happen to HER."

He spun and glared at me. "Figured you'd be thrilled if I was out of the picture."

I sighed and shook my head. "I won't lie to you. I love her. I always will. But she wants you. She CHOSE you, remember? You've been there for her since High School, especially when I couldn't. You've been steady and affectionate and supportive all this time while I was running around like an uncontrolled walking hormone. She wants to be with you. She moved OUT of my house and into yours. Don't you get it?"

"Then why does she need to be all over you every time you're around? Huh?"

"She's not all over me. We're ... affectionate. She's like my sisters, dammit. You've seen the way I am with Brandi. It's the same thing."

"I still don't like it."

"That's the way we are. It's not a threat to you. And it didn't seem to bother you much before."

"That was before; this is now," he growled. "Can't you tone it down a bit?"

I sighed. "Maybe. I'm sorry. I don't mean to upset you. I want what's best for Dawn and if it really bothers you, I'll see if we can't tone some things down."

His nostrils flared and he growled while turning away.

"C'mon, Ryan. In two more days I'll be back in Orange County and you'll have three straight weeks with just you, your girlfriend, and no more school. Let's just get through Finals, okay?"

He sighed and scowled. He still didn't look happy, but at least he didn't look like he was seconds away from clocking me either. "Sometimes I wish you would just disappear again," he exhaled. "You gotta find yourself a new girlfriend and get outta my hair, man."

I chuckled and shrugged helplessly. "Maybe. We'll see. But tonight at least, I'll be gone. The Tri-Delts are inviting me to a 'study break'." I smirked. "Wanna come? Lots of hot chicks there..."

He managed a smile and shook his head. "Hell, no. Dawn's more woman than I can handle as it is."

I gave him a bashful smile and then slowly backed away to the door, making sure to face him at all times. Yeah, I still wanted to make sure he wasn't going to punch me.

I was a little late scampering out to my last final this morning. Being buried beneath a sea of naked bodies can do that. Last night, some of the Tri-Delts were already done with all their finals and decided to drag me away from the 'study break' to a more private celebration. When all was said and done, I passed out on top of Bridget Marks' bounteous bosom with my cock still buried in Kelly Park's tight snatch. And even though freshman Andie Holland had a final in the morning as well, she couldn't resist joining the party and she was still busy sucking my previous load of cum out of Carli Singer's sodden cunt.

I actually wouldn't have been too rushed getting to my final, except that on my way out in the morning, Leighton Barrister reached out from her bedroom and literally dragged me inside as I walked down the hallway. I hadn't seen the elegant, prissy-looking brunette since the pledges had been initiated the previous week, but she wasn't interested in catching up. The beautiful Senior babe simply bent herself over her desk and pleaded with me to fuck her tight little asshole before she had to go back home for the Winter Break.

We did our thing and she started to wake back up as I was gently lying her down in her own bed. With a deeply-satisfied smile on her face, Leighton sighed and told me she was thinking to hold an advanced blowjob class in the Spring for any sisters who wanted to learn. And she thought I would be the perfect candidate for a hands-on practice dummy.

For some reason I immediately pictured a dozen hot young sorority girls kneeling in a row, taking turns sucking my dick. And at the end of the line would be regal Mistress Leighton, with her dark hair pulled into a too-tight bun, slapping a riding crop against her open left palm while sternly barking directions at her compliant little charges. Smirking, I told her to give me a call and I'd be there.

And then I finally ran off to my last test.

"So who's it gonna be tonight?"

"Hmm?" I looked up from the bottles in front of me. It was the Friday night after the end of finals, and as usual, my house was about to become party central. Dawn and I were setting up the temporary bar and getting everything organized.

Dawn nudged me with her hip. "You know. Who's gonna be the lucky girl ... or girls ... that are going to share your bed on the last night of the semester? I was talking guest list with Dayna and I seems like every girl you're sleeping with is gonna be here. So which ones?"

I snorted. "How the hell should I know? If it's really up to me, I'll grab a blue pill from Adrienne and bring 'em ALL into my bedroom."

Dawn smirked at me and on impulse, reached forward and tousled my hair. I smiled at the touch but immediately raised my eyes and darted them to the left, where Ryan was helping Kevin Weiss move the furniture back in preparation for tonight's End of the Year party.

Ryan hadn't seen Dawn play with my hair, but I wasn't totally comfortable with Dawn's continued affectionate gestures and I warded her hand away.

Dawn sighed and said, "This is ridiculous, Ben. I'm not going to start second- guessing myself every time I want to reach out and touch you."

"I don't like it either, but I don't want to piss off your boyfriend."

"He's a big boy. He can handle it. He's BEEN handling it."

I sighed. "Every man has his limits. And I'm sure he's been particularly stressed this last semester. You said his grades weren't what he'd hoped."

Dawn sighed. "He's working hard, but this stuff just doesn't come as naturally to him as us. It's why he ended up at Junior College first. But he's still going to graduate on time and as long as he gets his diploma, he'll be able to get a job."

I shrugged. "I dunno. Now's not exactly a good time to go into the Telecom industry. Especially around here."

"He'll be fine," Dawn said stubbornly. "But you're right. It's just a momentary thing. Come next semester I'm sure everything'll go back to normal."

"I hope," I said, sliding my hand across the countertop to cover Dawn's. I interlaced my fingers over hers and squeezed gently. "It's only been a day and I already miss these little touches."

Dawn squeezed back and set the last bottle with her other hand. "I know. Me, too." Then she stepped behind me to exit the enclosed temporary bar. But on the way, she stopped and checked to see if her boyfriend was looking in our direction. And when she was sure the coast was clear, she leaned down to the back of my neck and kissed it tenderly.

"Promise you'll find me tonight, Ben," Dawn whispered into my ear. "At least hold me in your arms for one dance so I can fantasize about you for a little while."

"Prost!" I yelled then downed the shot. It seemed appropriate, since my glass was filled with Jägermeister. The bitter taste immediately hit my taste buds and I turned around, scowling, "Scheisse!"

Kerri Trainor just laughed and patted my back. Next to her, Jocelyn Canilao was looking green around the gills and wincing at the nasty taste of the foul liquid. And next to HER was Gwen Tannenbaum, giggling at the look on the Filipina girl's face before wrapping an arm around the unsteady girl and guiding her away from the bar and in the general direction of the bathroom.

I smirked to myself while looking around at this eclectic mix of girls, most of whom I'd boinked at some point in the past year and a half. There were Dayna's and Brandi's Senior friends, my crew of Sophomores, and several Tri-Delts all mingling together. Angela Chan was chatting with Kelly Park. Bert and Robin were talking with Lakhi Sharma. And Erica Jackson and Tonya Brackett were huddled in some kind of conversation, with Erica sneaking strange glances at me every now and again. And that's not to mention the other male friends practically swarming around the other Tri-Delts.

As it was, Kerri was trying to say something to me over the loud noise in the house. I couldn't even really hear the music there were so many people talking at once. I leaned forward and got the gist that she wanted to switch drinks, and she pointed Kevin (our current bartender) to the sake.

Moments later, Kerri and I clinked shot glasses as I yelled at the top of my lungs, "Kampai!"

Kerri was giggling again and started to say something else, but as I leaned forward to try and hear her, I felt a tug on my hand from behind. I turned to look and there was Cadence Carmichael, the strawberry-blonde, green-eyed freshman Tri-Delt who had been one of the pledges actively flirting with me the past couple of months. Unfortunately, when it came down to finally settling the bounty, her straight-hetero orientation and unwillingness to play with others had ultimately led me to the Jocelyn-Andie-Tonya foursome instead. Why have one when you can have three, right? And ever since then, we'd never had the chance to actually get jiggy.

"Dance with me?" Cadence shouted over the din. I didn't quite hear her, but her pouty lips were expressive enough for me to understand. I glanced back at Kerri, who just shrugged and waved me onward. And I let the pretty 18-year-old Tri- Delt drag me out onto the dance floor.

In the middle of the living room, the music was easier to hear and I was soon bumping and grinding away with a young strawberry-blonde doll straddling my thigh. She stared right at me as if I were the only man in the room, undulating her body for maximum sexual appeal. The girl really knew how to dance, and I could feel my temperature rising as we twirled around the floor.

There was just one awkward moment. Some guy's elbow ended up in the middle of my back unintentionally. It was my fault, really. Cadence and I had been moving around a little too much while dancing and I'd caused the contact. I wound up holding my back while standing stiffly and trying to say an apology at the same time. I didn't recognize the guy — there were quite a few people at the party who were friends of friends — but he just gave my thumbs up and we went on our own ways.

Cadence was quick to draw me back into her spider-web of seduction, moving closer and closer to me. Despite the December chill, there were enough people in the house to get the temperature up toward 80 and she was wearing only a thin pastel green top with spaghetti straps that dipped low enough to let me glimpse her BIG tits.

And then the perfect song came on.

I'm a Barbie Girl, in the Barbie World // Life in plastic, it's fantastic // You can brush my hair, undress me everywhere // Imagination, life is your creation.

Cadence's eyes lit up as the song blared out and her energy level kicked up another two notches. She was suddenly bouncing and giggling and writhing against me. Her silky strawberry-blonde hair went flying in every direction and while holding my hands, she took a step back and stared intensely into my eyes while audibly singing along with the rest of the song.

"I'm a blonde single girl in the fantasy world. Dress me up, make your time, I'm your dolly!" she cheered happily and ran her hands up and down her own body. She wore some sort of tight white shorts that barely extended past her crotch to show off her long, lithe legs. With the strawberry-blonde hair, seductive bedroom eyes, big tits, and thin waist, Cadence was VERY much my type. Combined with her energy and enthusiasm, it was no wonder she ended up at the top of my pledge "To Do" list.

And "doing" her tonight was looking more and more likely.

"You can touch ... you can play ... if you say, I'm always yours, ooh-oh-ooh!" Cadence bounced up and down in rhythm to the beat, her big tits bouncing right along with her. I tugged on our still-joined hands to bring her up close to me and right there in the middle of the room, I let my fingers out to touch and play.

My hands were on her ass, rubbing her crotch against the prominent bulge in my shorts when her face came up right in front of me. Her lips were just an inch away from mine, pouted perfectly in an invitation for a sweet kiss. And from up close and personal, she kept on singing. "Make me walk, make me talk, do whatever you please. I can act like a star, I can beg on my knees."

When she said "beg", her eyebrows jumped up, making me think of something else she could be doing on her knees, something along the lines of that class Leighton had mentioned a few days ago. This was it; my butterfly was landing on me. And as the adrenaline built in me, I half-thought about screwing the rest of the party and dragging Cadence into my bedroom for a private party screwing of our own.

But just as I was about to grab her head and plant my own volcanic kiss on her, something to my left caught my attention.

A petite girl with dark auburn hair and a scandalously short Catholic schoolgirl uniform was giggling uproariously. She was suspended in the air with her pale legs wrapped around the waist of a muscular black guy who had to be at least a foot taller than her. And she was obviously humping her crotch into him before tilting her head and doing her best to shove her tongue down his throat.

The room was suddenly spinning and Cadence was completely forgotten. I turned and took a step forward, feeling the bile rising up in my throat. I have nothing against black guys and I had no idea who he was; but for some reason, watching my little Paige doing her best to mime having sex right in front of me made me want to throw up. And feeling a wave of protective big brother sensibilities flooding through me, I yelled threateningly, "PAIGE!!!"

The petite redhead immediately pulled her mouth off the guy and turned to me, taking a second for her glassy eyes to focus and recognize who I was. Immediately, she paled and looked contrite, as if I'd caught her stealing from the cookie jar or something. And she groaned wearily, "Oh, poo."

I held no authority over the young girl. Technically, she was older than me and we were just classmates, not even really friends anymore. But when I emphatically gestured with both hands for her to climb down and come with me, the petite redhead automatically dropped to the floor and then came up to me. I grabbed her by the elbow and practically frogmarched her over to my bedroom. We were in the room and the door was slammed shut moments later.

"Paige, what the hell are you doing here?" I barked.

"What? It's a party! Robin invited me. Am I not welcome?" she protested while throwing her hands up.

"Of course you're welcome! You're always welcome!" I insisted. "I wish you'd come around more often! But ... but..." I pointed out to the living room. "Who IS that guy?"

"I dunno," she shrugged. "Never met him before."

"And you're shoving your tongue down his throat already?"

"Pssht. Like you weren't about to do the same with that blonde chick. Who is she, anyways?"

"A friend."

"Riiight. I know you and your friends." Paige gave me a withering look.

I sighed and looked for a change in subject. Recognizing her state of dress, I walked up to her, grabbed her waist, and checked around her clothes. Like the last time I'd seen her, the white button-down shirt was tied off beneath her breasts, and she clearly wasn't wearing a bra. She'd rolled the waistband on the already shortened skirt so that her white cotton panties were actually exposed at all times. And she was wearing more makeup than I'd ever seen on her. She looked like a two-bit tramp. "What the hell are you wearing? Don't you own any bras anymore?"

"Don't need 'em," she spat, a challenging fire in her eyes. "Don't want 'em. Why? You gettin' hard checking out my titties?" Paige actually yanked open her blouse, exposing her naked breasts to me, capped with erect pink nipples.

"Paige!" I barked sternly, "Button that damn thing back up, young lady!" I reached forward myself and started re-buttoning the top.

"I'm not a young lady! I'm not a fucking little girl anymore!" she whined. She was up close to me now and I could smell her perfume, the same scent that used to fill my nostrils when we were lying naked in my bed together. For a moment, I was transported away to another time when life seemed so different, even though it was barely more than seven months ago.

And then I caught the further scent of marijuana. "Paige! Are you fucking high again?"

Her glassy eyes wobbled a bit as she tried to focus up at me. "None of your fucking business!"

"Paige! What's happening to you? Drugs. Dressing all slutty. What's going on?"

"I'm having FUN! I'm living my LIFE! And I'll thank you to fucking butt out of it!" she sniped back at me. "I'm not your girlfriend anymore. I was never your little sister. You've no right to criticize me!"

"Paige, I just want what's best for you."

"And how the fuck would you know what's best for me?"

I looked heartbroken at her. "I just care about you!"

"Care? You fucking CARE? I don't want you to fucking CARE. I wanted you to LOVE me! But you couldn't DO that!"

"Paige..."

"No! I'm outta here. I thought I could just come and have a good time and see some of my old friends. But NO! You have to go and pull the fucking INQUISITION on me! 'Who's that guy?' 'Where's your bra?' 'Are you high?' FUCK!" She turned and started back to the bedroom door.

"Paige, wait!" I reached forward and grabbed her arm.

She turned and tried to wriggle free. "Let go of me, Ben," she snapped in a vicious tone I would never have thought her capable of.

"Paige, please," I squeezed tighter.

She whimpered and looked at me with big doe eyes, the same way my baby sisters did when they wanted to get their way. My heart melted and Paige bit her lip while wincing. "Ben, please," she said almost quietly. "You're hurting me."

I blinked twice and looked down to see that yes, I was squeezing her WAY too tight. I hadn't even realized how tightly I was holding onto her, and I very likely had just given her some bruises. In horror, I pulled my arms away and stared in disbelief at what I'd done. What was it about this kid that affected me so much?

As soon as she was free, Paige flung open the door and went outside. From my doorway, I saw her go straight to the tall black guy and jump into his arms. She kissed him and turned her lips to his ear, clearly saying something. His eyebrows went up but he was soon smiling and he gently set her down.

Some people walked through my line of sight just then and when they moved, I couldn't see Paige or the black guy anymore. Quickly, I darted out of my bedroom and went to the living room, my head whipping around as I tried to reacquire them.

I finally saw them by the front door, just as they were about to go through. At the very last second, Paige turned around and saw me. She looked straight at me and when she realized she had my full attention, she actually winked. And then squeezing the guy's arm, she was gone.

It was a strange sense of déjà vu to go into a cold shut-down. Just last semester, at a party just like this one, I'd felt like my world had been torn apart. And unable to deal with the ensuing emotions, I'd gone into robot mode. It had happened a few times that week, actually. One time, it had even been specifically because of Paige. But things snowballed so fast back then that I never was able to stop and realize, 'Oh, this is happening to me again.'

This time, I was acutely aware of the rage burning inside of me. I was PISSED OFF, only it didn't really show outside. It was as if I had become so angry that I couldn't even express a single emotion.

Like a robot, I stepped out through the hallway and mechanically strode into the living room. The sounds of partying and thudding music faded to the background as I scanned the room, working entirely on instinct. I knew what I wanted to do. And then I saw HER. It all felt so familiar.

The pretty blonde was dancing happily. Her long, long hair was a thick mass of curls and waves, interspersed with dark strands. Gwen had been my solution before. She had endured and even enjoyed what followed, allowing me to quite literally fuck my demons out of my body with an orgasmic explosion into hers. And if it worked, why do anything different?

But then a different person crossed in front of Gwen, and my mind audibly [clicked]. It all just made sense.

I gave her no warning. She already knew I would come for her eventually. We'd talked about it right before the party had begun. She'd asked me to come hold her in my arms at least once so that she could fantasize about being with me. Well, no fantasy would be needed. She could be with me just like she'd wanted.

"Ben!" Dawn squeaked as I grabbed her arm and hustled her back into my bedroom so fast she barely even had time to breathe. I slammed and locked the door before propelling the sunny blonde babe over to my bed. With a simple push, she flopped onto her back with her legs up in the air, her baby blue thong panties on full display as the hem of her party dress flew up to her waist.

I wasted no time. With a sharp tug, the thong broke and ripped away from her crotch, leaving her freshly-shaven pussy naked in front of me. She was already moist, although from what I wasn't sure. But it was clear to me that no foreplay would be needed to allow the smooth entry of my cock into her warm, inviting receptacle.

Shouts and the sounds of a doorknob being twisted were accompanied by banging on the door. I casually ignored them as I crawled up Dawn's body and simultaneously started to work off my jeans. And then there was the sound of the hinges straining as someone physically put their shoulder into the door as well.

"BEN!" Dawn screamed and slapped my cheek. My head felt like it rotated completely around with the impact. And just like that, my mind cleared.

My eyelids flew up into my head and I felt like my pupils actually dilated. I suddenly realized my position, pinning my Dawn beneath me with the bulge in my jeans on top of her naked pussy. Instantly I rolled away from her and sat up on the edge of the bed, my heels perched on the bed frame while I buried my face in my hands. "Oh, SHIT!" I gasped in shock at what I'd just nearly done.

Dawn was already moving. Now that I was no longer pinning her down, she raced to the bedroom door, tore open the lock, and flung the door open. Ryan was panting in the doorway with Adrienne right behind him. And the guy looked ready to tear someone's arms off. I simply groaned and buried my face a little deeper into my hands.

"No! I'm fine! I'm fine!" Dawn was saying excitedly, running her right hand through her hair and smoothening the hem of her dress with her left, covering her thighs and hiding the fact that she no longer had her panties on. "I didn't realize we'd locked the door. It's okay. Nothing's happening. Ben's just really upset right now and he needed to talk to me."

"About what?" Ryan barked, seething through clenched teeth.

"Paige just left with some random guy," Adrienne put in quickly. "Ben had pulled her into his room, no doubt to try and talk some sense into her. You've seen her lately, Ry. The girl's pretty fucked up right now. I guess Ben didn't get through to her and as you can see, he's pretty shaken." Adrienne was gesturing to me now, where I was almost shivering and staring wild-eyed.

Dawn sighed and looked back at me with concern.

"I thought..." Ryan began. "I thought..."

Dawn shook her head. "No. Nothing like that. Look, I still need to talk to him. He's my best friend and he's hurting right now. But if it'll make you feel better, we'll leave the door wide open, okay? It's loud enough out there that I think we'll still have enough privacy. You can look in whenever you want, okay?"

Ryan scowled and didn't look too happy, but with the door open he didn't really have anything to complain about. He exhaled slowly and then nodded. "Fine, fine." Then he pointed at the door. "Just don't ever do... this ... to me again."

Dawn sighed and shook her head. "Ryan, if we were going to sleep together, we've had a zillion opportunities already. It's not going to happen. ReLAX."

Ryan pouted but in the end he simply hugged his girlfriend and gave her a firm kiss. Then he released Dawn, who very deliberately went and opened my bedroom door completely wide open. Adrienne then hooked her arm through Ryan's elbow and guided the big guy back into the party. The sound of girls whooping soon filled the air.

Lifting my face out of my hands, I breathed a huge sigh of relief and then let my head fall back. That was fucking CLOSE.

When Dawn returned to the bed, she first glanced back at the open doorway and then squatted, using her body to shield the sight of her snatching her torn panties off the floor and then quickly walking over to my dresser. Still using her body to block the view, she pulled open the top drawer and dropped the panties in. And then she exhaled and looked at me sternly. "I hope to HELL he didn't see THOSE."

I winced and looked down between my feet.

Her face softened and she moved to join me on top of the bed, sitting upright with her legs folded beneath her and to the right, so that her dress covered her naked crotch and upper thighs. Dawn then reached over and touched my shoulder. "Ben? Are you okay?"

I grimaced and looked forlornly back at my best friend. "Clearly not. I just tried to rape you."

"No you didn't," she shook her head.

"You had to slap me to get me to stop."

She bit her lip. "Well, there was that. But you weren't forcing me. You weren't holding my wrists down or anything like that. You were just ... getting ready to fuck me."

"I'm so sorry," I whimpered.

"Shh ... It's okay," she soothed while stroking my head. "I've seen how you can get. It's not like this is the first time you've just sorta ... snapped."

I squeezed my eyes shut and hunched back over.

Dawn sighed and kept rubbing my shoulder. "Was Adrienne right? Were you just in here with Paige?"

I moaned and nodded, a mournful tone in my voice.

"What's going on with her?"

I shrugged. "Same story. Different guy."

Dawn scowled and a glint of anger flashed through her eyes. "Ben, you KNOW she's not your responsibility, right?"

I barked a laugh, sounding just a little crazy while I did it. "That's what Paige told me."

"Well, for once I agree with her."

I let my head fall back and I groaned while staring at the ceiling. "What can I do?"

"You can't DO anything, Ben," Dawn sighed. "It's not your job to do anything."

"Yeah, well I WANT to do something."

"Ben, be reasonable. It's the last day of school and you're driving home tomorrow. For Winter Break at least, let her go. It's not like she can get herself into any more trouble than she already has this semester."

I arched an eyebrow and felt fresh concern. "You sure about that?"

Dawn sighed and shook her head. "No ... This really bugs you, doesn't it?"

I nodded.

"What makes her so special, anyways? You've been with a dozen girls, younger than Paige even, and you don't seem to have half the interest in what's going on in their lives. For all you know, half of those sorority pledges could be into worse shit than she is."

I shrugged. "I dunno. Maybe it's because I never called any of them my girlfriend. Once I hit that point of really caring about someone, I'll always care about them."

"You 'care', but not as badly as this thing with Paige ended up."

"None of them ever ended up as fucked up as Paige." I took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "And you're right; it's more than just that. From the very beginning, I thought of her like a little sister. She seemed so young and innocent and naïve, and so vulnerable to this crazy world. Ever since the day of the fight, I've felt like I needed to protect her. Still do. And I feel like such a failure for how things turned out."

Dawn squeezed my shoulder and put her head against it. She said nothing for a long while and I just clenched my hands, squeezing the tension out of my body. But eventually she picked her head up and looked me square in the eye. "Okay, here's the plan: We're just going to get through tomorrow. It's your last night and there're a couple dozen girls out there who want to show you a good time. Just enjoy this and forget about Paige for one night. Then you'll go home and live your life. And when we come back to school, I promise I'll do whatever I can to help you make things right."

I sat up straight and looked at Dawn in surprise. "Really?"

She smiled and nodded. "Really."

Chewing on that for a few seconds, I eventually took a deep breath and said, "I must say I'm surprised. You've always said she was just a little bitch asking for trouble and not worth my time."

Dawn shrugged. "Maybe she still is. But what matters is that you're not happy. And I HATE seeing you not happy. This isn't about getting you laid or some romantic complication. This is just something else causing you grief and if I can help, I will. That's what best friends do."

I smiled. "You mean it?"

She smiled right back and nodded. And then I just had to lean forward and wrap her up in a big hug. "Thank you, Dawn. Thank you."

"Always, my Ben," she said softly.

Dawn and I finally emerged, just in time for a sweet slow dance. The party had been running full tilt for a couple of hours, and everyone seemed to need the momentary break from the loud noise and screaming. Quickly, couples paired off and started undulating to the music like long grass in the wind. And smiling, I held my arms open to my beautiful best friend.

I held her close, Dawn resting her cheek against my shoulder while I wrapped my arms around her waist, careful to keep my hands north of the equator in case Ryan was watching. Together, we swayed back and forth, remembering the old days when holding each other so intimately was a commonplace event.

One song gave way to two. And midway through the second, I felt a tap on my shoulder.

"Mind if I cut in?" Ryan asked neutrally, his face guarded. I simply nodded and handed Dawn off, letting our fingers linger for just a second longer than necessary.

Almost instantaneously, Adrienne slid up and wrapped herself around me. And with a happy smile from each of us, we finished out the rest of the dance.

The tempo picked up as a fast song took over; and almost instantly the volume in the room picked up as well. Adrienne let me go when Gwen cut in. The pretty dirty-blonde with the mane of ringlets bounced and jiggled enticingly with me, a wide smile on her face. The three of us danced together and with a challenging look, Gwen started bumping her way closer to me while making some erotic hip thrusts in perfect rhythm to the music. There was an obviously sexual undertone in the way Gwen was dancing with me, and she fixed her light brown eyes on me while moving up and into my personal space, matching my hip movements with her own so that we were dancing very, VERY close together.

"I know your dance card has a lot of options, Ben," Gwen whispered in my ear. You think that maybe you can fit me in tonight?"

I smiled right back. "Thought we were already dancing..." I checked my bulge against her belly for emphasis.

"I didn't mean that kind of dancing..." Gwen's eyes glittered with the innuendo in her voice. "C'mon, shouldn't good friends have some priority on your, what do you call it, 'To Do' list?"

"Hmm..." I pondered that idea. I also pondered whether I should have just snatched Gwen off the dance floor and fucked her brains out to purge my Paige- demons earlier. But before I could come up with a response, a new body flew in amongst us.

"Woooo!!!" Robin threw her hands in the air, sounding as giggly as any Tri-Delt. The pretty brunette's long brown hair was flying everywhere as she twirled about, dancing 'mostly' in time with the music but more to an enthusiastic beat in her own head. In fact, she was spinning so fast I'm surprised her glasses didn't fly off.

Robin practically made Adrienne catch her as she danced in among us, eagerly boogying up to the stacked blonde bombshell then over to Gwen and finally to me. To my surprise, the normally aloof brunette wrapped her arms around my neck and brought her face up close and personal to mine, her dark brown eyes open wide as she stared right at my face. "You know, Ben, I've always been curious as to what makes you sooo damn special."

I arched an eyebrow and screwed up my nose at her noxious breath. "Excuse me?" I chuckled at how drunk Robin appeared to be. Normally something of a morose drunk, she was quite blitzed and quite carefree at the moment.

"You're good-looking, Ben. I won't deny that." Robin actually tapped my nose with her right index finger. "You're intelligent and pretty funny and you're a nice guy when you're not busy being a horny bastard. But I simply do NOT get what makes you sooo damn attractive to sooo many girls."

I chuckled and kept dancing while Robin continued to hang around my neck. "Beats me."

"What kind of ANIMAL are you in bed?" she breathed, making me scrunch my nose again. "I'd have thought the whole thing was just bullshit, tall tale built on top of tall tale. It just seems too far-fetched that anyone on the planet can be THAT good, unless you're some sort of mythical prodigy."

"I vote 'prodigy'!" Gwen cheered from behind Robin.

"What do I gotta do, Ben?" Robin sighed. "Do you and me gotta go for a ride? Just so I can find out whether the whole thing is bullshit or for real?"

I arched an eyebrow and stopped dancing. This whole thing was WAY out of character for Robin and I started to pull her hands off my shoulders. "You're drunk, Robin."

"Yesh I am..." she lisped. "But that doesn't mean I'm not horny. Sometimes I don't get this whole sex thing. I've never even orgasmed from intercourse. But if you're THAT good, maybe you can figure out how to turn the trick."

My eyebrows popped up as Robin tried to wrap herself around my neck again. I warded away her hands and directed her back to Gwen, who now realized her best friend was a little too blitzed out of her mind. "Maybe some other time," I said gently.

"Maybe tonight," Robin sighed and grinned goofily. "It's the last night of the year and we all go home tomorrow. No better time to do something stupid."

Just then, Bert finally ran into sight and I gestured him over. "I think your girlfriend's had a little too much to drink," I said and handed Robin over to him and Gwen. Together, the two of them took her away to get sobered up a bit.

Adrienne came up beside me to watch them going away and nudged me in the side. "C'mon, Tiger. Weren't you the least bit tempted?"

I arched an eyebrow. "It's Robin, A.D. She's in the crew."

"Gwen, Paige, Megan, Cassidy, Stephanie, Abbie, Al-"

"Okay, okay." I waved her off. "Robin's different. She's never shown an interest before and she's too drunk to know what she's saying right now."

"Wrong," Adrienne grinned. "You're too busy flirting with Dawn every day to notice, but that girl's been getting curious about you. More than once, I've caught her rubbing her thighs together while staring at you, her eyes a little glassy.

"We talking about the same Robin?" I wondered. "Dark hair. Retro glasses. Librarian-look about her?"

"Pretty face. Great complexion. Trim body. Better boobs than you'd think hidden underneath her sweaters..." Adrienne drawled.

I snorted. "What's it matter to you?"

"Haven't you figured it out yet? I want you to nail every piece of ass you can get your hands on. I get a little vicarious thrill whenever my big brother notches another one on his belt. And maybe after you've scrambled their pretty little brains, you'll find a way to get them into MY bed as well." Adrienne cackled and sipped her drink.

I rolled my eyes but glanced over to where Robin was still hopping up and down, dancing gaily while Bert and Gwen did their best to calm her down. I had to admit, the pretty brunette looked more vibrant and energetic and dare I say it... sexy ... bouncing around in a tight-fitting maroon top with three-quarter sleeves and a pleated skirt that showed off her toned, creamy legs.

I'd never seriously considered Robin as a sexual target before, what with the big "Fuck Off!" billboard across her forehead most days.

But I was considering her now...