Chapter 23: Tempted

SEPTEMBER 2001, SENIOR YEAR

"Hey there, boyfriend!" Megan called as she sidled up to Kaito and wrapped her arm around his waist. I grinned as I watched him stiffen and look around the hallway sheepishly, as if embarrassed by her public display of affection. But after another second he smiled happily and let his girlfriend hug him.

The couple started down the hallway towards me. When they arrived, Megan smiled and punched my shoulder lightly with her free hand. "Hey, Ben."

"Hey, Ben," Kaito nodded as well.

"Hey, Ben. Feel weird to be back?" Cassidy remarked as she moved alongside us, her ubiquitous headphones wrapped around her neck. I wasn't sure which one of us she was asking, but both Megan and I nodded.

"Feel weird not having Cameron by your side?" I asked right back. "The two of you were pretty inseparable the past few weeks."

Cassidy pouted but nodded. "I'll manage."

"Hi, Ben!" A petite brunette bounced over and a wide smile crossed my face.

"Lynne!" I said brightly and automatically opened my arms. The perky now-senior cheerleader hugged me quickly and then stepped back. "Good to see you! How was your summer?"

Lynne Arian shrugged. "Most of it was boring. But the three weeks we spent in Europe were so cool. There's too much to tell right now. But the things I saw were INCREDIBLE."

"What's incredible?" came a sweet voice from my left. Adrienne sidled up to our group, holding her books over her prodigious chest but low enough that they didn't block one's view of her cleavage. "Hey, Lynne, Ben."

"Hey, Adrienne," I nodded.

"Hey, A.D.," Lynne chirped.

The gorgeous blonde smiled and glanced over at everyone else. "Hey guys," she said, looking pointedly at Megan and Cassidy. The girls nodded and smiled back genially. After Cassidy's apology to Adrienne for seducing me, and Adrienne subsequently going to my ex-girlfriends for support after breaking up with me, there was no longer any bad blood between them. I wouldn't say they'd ever be close friends, but at least they were on good terms, something I wouldn't have predicted last year.

We teenagers are just resilient that way.

Adding to the "fresh start" feeling of the new school year, after a few minutes of conversation, Drew Walker cruised by with some of his basketball teammates. But while his greeting to me last year was a hip-check into the nearest lockers while he pawed at Megan, this year he just head-nodded to me and offered a casual greeting of, "Sup."

I nodded and greeted him back.

What a difference a year makes.

"Who'd you get for Physics?"

"Hammond."

"Ouch. Sorry, man."

"Heyyy, Ben."

"Oh, hey Chelsie."

"Mm ... she definitely grew up over the summer."

"Focus, Kenny. You're going to go meet your girlfriend in about thirty seconds."

"I am. You're not. And you could do a lot worse than Chelsie Lennis."

"Hey, Ben!"

"Hi, Maddie."

"Madeline Chung coming on to you? Dude, you're going to have SUCH an awesome time this year."

"She just said 'hi', Kenny. Besides, I've got a girlfriend, remember?"

"A girlfriend who's a million miles away! Doesn't count, dude. More than a hundred miles doesn't count."

I stopped dead in my tracks, giving my friend a weird look. "Where do you come up with that?"

Kenny shrugged, "Everybody knows."

A couple of Junior girls walked by just then, giggling like they were three years younger. One of them pointed at me and when I turned my head to look, she turned her point into a little hand wave hello.

Kenny's head was suddenly next to my ear. "C'mon, Ben. Aren't you the least bit tempted?"

"NO," I shook my head. "I love my girlfriend and I'm going to stay loyal to her, got it? It's just a year. I can handle just a year."

"Very noble, sir," Kenny leaned in, patting my shoulder and nodding sagely. "But just you see, Ben. This year is going to be the year that changes your life."

It was just after 6pm when the doorbell rang on Wednesday. Choosing to be responsible, I got up from the TV and went to the front door.

"Hey, Ben!" Adrienne stood there, looking absolutely radiant in the late afternoon light. The sun was coming down from the horizon, basking everything in an orange glow. Butterflies leaped to action in my stomach and I felt my heart speed up. And I felt a twitch in my groin.

"Hey, Adrienne," I smiled and stood in the doorway, momentarily smothering my lustful urges. "I haven't seen you here in a while."

"Well," she waggled a leg while looking at the floor, blushing cutely. "I felt a little guilty for imposing after Brandi went back to school."

"Nonsense!" My mom called from somewhere behind me. She was standing by the entryway to the kitchen, wiping her hands on a dishtowel. "Dear, you are welcome anytime you want, understand? Especially with everything that's going on in the world. We need to stick together and you need friends around you."

I frowned. The whole plane hijacking/building crashing thing on the East Coast had just happened yesterday and I still didn't understand what it all meant.

"Yes, ma'am," Adrienne grinned while offering an exaggerated military salute.

I stepped back and swept my hands to gesture her inside. She stepped past me and I felt my knees go weak. Damn she smelled good.

"Smells good, doesn't it?" Adrienne turned and grinned at me knowingly.

"Huh?"

"Dinner!" Adrienne waved towards the kitchen. "I think I'll go give your mom a hand."

"Riiight," I nodded as Adrienne sashayed away, her asscheeks literally winking at me. Breathe, Ben. Calm your heart rate...

Where the hell was Brooke when I needed her?

Flwrgrl1987: That bored, huh?

BigBen69: I dunno. I just thought I would be more excited about being back at school.

Flwrgrl1987: Why would anyone be excited about being back at school? Didn't your sisters keep you entertained enough over the summer? ;-)

BigBen69: Of course, but the routine of just killing time hanging out with friends does get old after a while.

BigBen69: And it doesn't help that everywhere I looked were happy couples wrapped around each other. I miss you, Dawn. =(

Flwrgrl1987: I miss you too, Ben.

Flwrgrl1987: Probably more than you realize.

Flwrgrl1987: Tricia's getting all lovey-dovey with Stephen and the two of them are always in my face. I feel like such a third wheel. :-(

BigBen69: We'll find a way to visit. Maybe my parents will let me fly up and stay with you guys for a weekend or something.

Flwrgrl1987: That'd be great! Please?

BigBen69: I'll do what I have to. I love you, Dawn. =)

Flwrgrl1987: I love you too...

BigBen69: Ah, gotta go now. Brooke's home.

Flwrgrl1987: Just now? I thought you drove her home.

BigBen69: Not today. She had cheerleader tryouts this afternoon.

Flwrgrl1987: OK. Call me tonight, promise?

BigBen69: I promise. =)

BigBen69: Love you.

Flwrgrl1987: Love you too. Bye.

I started signing off with Dawn when I heard a key jiggle in the front door lock. I was expecting Brooke to stomp in like she normally did; but I wasn't expecting three sweaty girls to tumble through the door and make a mad dash for the kitchen. I saw them hurtle by and furrowing my eyebrows, I got up to follow after.

When I turned the corner I saw Brooke by the fridge, handing out a final water bottle to a tall, slightly unknown girl. She was quite pretty, with a slender face, dainty features, and almost elfin-pointed ears. Her eyes were a shimmering deep blue, startling against the backdrop of her dark red hair. And for some reason, it was incredibly sexy the way her neck arched as she tilted her head back to drink from the bottle.

"Uh, hi," I frowned. Jennifer Vo — Brooke's friend and Stephanie Vo's little sister — was at least familiar to me. She was sitting on a stool at the counter chugging her own water bottle. But I didn't recognize the redhead.

"Mm," Brooke suddenly pulled her water bottle out of her mouth and gulped. Then she gasped for a breath and looked at me. "Hey, Ben. Practice was exhausting. Something lit a bug under Adrienne's ass because she was pissed. And her pissiness got down to Debbie and trickled down to us."

I looked around at the three panting girls, all of whom were sagging where they sat or stood.

"Okay," I shrugged. "Hey Jennifer," I nodded to the familiar girl. But then I turned to the dark auburn redhead with my most charming smile on my face. "Hi, I'm Ben."

She gulped another swallow of water and reached her hand out to me. "Hi. Kady Jacobsen," she said in a voice slightly deeper than I would have expected from such a delicate-looking girl. Her handshake was firm, like a guy's.

"Kady gave us a ride home today," Brooke explained. "She's a Junior and she's also trying out for the squad."

I inspected Kady's face. "I thought I knew most of the pretty girls at school, but I don't remember you."

"Bennn..." Brooke drawled with just a bit of a warning tone in her voice.

Kady just smiled. "I'm new. My dad just got relocated this summer. We live just around the block so I offered to take the girls home."

"Thanks." I smiled broadly while my eyes did their yo-yo thing. Kady didn't have big tits or anything, but she had a firm and fit body with the natural slenderness of a model, which was wonderfully shown off by a form-fitting maroon exercise shirt and skintight black cotton shorts.

"Don't even think about it, Ben," Kady drawled in that deep tone.

"Huh?" My eyes darted back up as I realized I'd gotten caught checking her out.

She smirked at me. "You're cute, but don't even think about it. You're not my type."

My eyebrows went up as I gave her the innocent look. "No, no. I didn't mean-"

"Uh-huh," Kady cut me off, turning back towards Brooke and wiggling her empty water bottle. "You guys recycle?"

"Yeah," Brooke smiled and pointed to the corner of the kitchen where we had a blue bin.

Kady sidled over, dumping her bottle, and then turned around. She then pointed back to the counter in front of Jennifer where her car keys were sitting. "Hey Jennifer, can you key me?" she asked.

Easily, Jennifer picked up the keys and tossed them over to Kady, who caught them with ease.

"Need a ride to your place?" the redhead asked.

"Nah," Jennifer replied. "I'm just around the corner. I'm gonna hang with Brooke for a bit."

"Okay, see you ladies at school tomorrow," Kady nodded to the girls. And then she fixed her intense blue gaze on me. "Laters Ben. Try not to stare too hard at my ass as I leave."

Well ... I didn't stare too hard.

Another day, another lonely jack-off session. At least, that was what I'd been expecting when I got home. Brooke was at cheer practice. The twins were at soccer practice. Dawn was working on some class project with Mark, her ex- boyfriend of all people. And I was home alone.

I hadn't helped that yesterday, Adrienne had been a little teasing with me when she caught me staring down the front of her blouse when she visited for dinner. It didn't help that the day before that, Kady had come into the house and made several comments about how I seemed to want to devour her ass, and then promptly wriggled the nice, tight thing in my face just to get a reaction out of me. And it didn't help that tomorrow, Friday night, Brooke had an actual DATE with another boy. If things worked out for her, I didn't know WHEN I was going to get laid again.

Just as I resigned myself to surfing for internet porn and jacking off into a wad of tissues this afternoon, my cell phone rang. I looked at the I.D. and saw that it was Kenny. Maybe the boys wanted to play some midweek b-ball?

"What's up?" I answered.

"Dude-dude-dude-dude- dude. The house clear? I'm coming over."

"What?"

Kenny chuckled on the other end of the line. "You HAVE to see this."

I rolled my eyes.

Ten minutes later, Kenny screeched into the driveway and tried to bang the door down with his fist. I let him in and the guy raced straight for the family room TV, knelt down, and flipped a DVD out. "You are NOT gonna believe this."

I quickly figured out from the logo and initial scenes that Kenny had brought me a porn movie. He grabbed the remote and skipped a few chapters before coming to a scene where a familiar-looking girl with nearly-white blonde hair was lying flat on her back, her obviously fake and obviously huge tits pointed skyward as she moaned in passionate ecstasy. The camera tracked away from her heavily made-up face and her gaping, moaning mouth down across the valley of her cleavage and down to a very cute, shaven pussy. She reached her legs back and gripped the stilettos of her see-through platform stripper heels, spreading her thighs even wider. And then a curly-blonde girl's head descended downwards to start taking long licks at the proffered shaven snatch.

"What?" I looked at Kenny. "You brought me a porn? Not that I mind; the girl is pretty hot. But what? You expecting me to whip it out and start jacking myself in front of you?"

"Dude, no. Just wait and watch," Kenny pointed. As we watched, a thickly- muscled man walked naked into the scene, standing behind the curly-blonde who's face I still couldn't see. And while jacking his impossibly long dick, he bent at the knees and then powerfully thrust himself into the curly-blonde's sopping wet cunt.

"Now!" Kenny pointed.

The camera angle changed as we saw the curly-blonde lift her head out of the white-blonde's crotch to wail at the penetration. And then I saw the face. "Holy, SHIT!" I exclaimed. "That's Donna Kincaid!"

"Yeah," Kenny announced proudly. "But she's going by the name Donna Martin now. Get it? Donna Martin graduated."

"She's a fucking porn star!"

"Yeah."

And then I recognized the white-blonde. When I'd last seen Donna Kincaid, she was with a very slutty white-blonde named Jenna. "And that's Jenna!"

"Huh? You know Jenna Sixx?"

"Holy shit! I ran into them at South Coast like in August or something," I said in amazement. "Donna was inviting me back to play with the two of them."

"You're shitting me," Kenny breathed, stupefied.

"No, I'm serious."

"Motherfucker! You turned down sex with BOTH of them?"

I rolled my eyes and looked over to Kenny. "I love my girlfriend, man."

"I love Rachel too but FUCK! If those two had asked me for a threesome I would have been all over that!"

I shook my head in disbelief, I watched the next ten minutes of Mr. 12-inch-dick plowing the two slutty blondes while they got into all sorts of awkward gymnastic positions.

And when the guy pulled out and hosed down the two girls' faces, Kenny just nudged me in the ribs and sighed, "Man ... That coulda been you."

I scowled. I couldn't WAIT for Dawn to get home and call me.

OCTOBER 2001, SENIOR YEAR

It was just after 6pm when the doorbell rang on Wednesday. Per routine, I went over to the front door and opened it for Adrienne. She'd been coming by for dinner every Wednesday since Brandi had left, and Mom even set out her place setting ahead of time in anticipation of our beautiful neighbor's arrival.

"Hey, Ben!" Adrienne stood there, looking absolutely radiant in the late afternoon light. The sun was coming down from the horizon, basking everything in an orange glow. Butterflies leaped to action in my stomach and I felt my heart speed up. She'd just always had that effect on me.

Eden and Emma came running when they heard the bell. While the twins weren't little kids anymore, sometimes we older siblings treated them as such and the girls adored that Adrienne talked to them like they were older teens. "Adrienne!" "Adrienne" they said in stereo.

"Hey, girls!" The stunning blonde brightened as she saw my little sisters. "How was soccer practice?"

"Great!" Emma grinned. "Coach is making me a starter!"

"Coach gives everyone a turn at being starter," Eden deadpanned.

The twins then devolved into a mild bickering argument while Adrienne just rolled her eyes at me. I shook my head and waved my ex-girlfriend towards the living room where we normally hung out and chatted for a few minutes.

"Ooh, Adrienne!" Eden interrupted, suddenly realizing she was losing her audience. "We need your help picking out these outfits," she gushed as she latched onto Adrienne's hand.

"Our friend Michelle has a birthday party this Saturday and there's gonna be boys there," Emma explained.

"We asked Ben for advice and he helped us a bit. But you've got a better fashion sense than he does," Eden grinned at me.

A wry grin spread across Adrienne's face as her eyes twinkled at me. "Sure, ladies. Lead the way."

The twins hopped off but Adrienne turned back to me one last time. "Oh, don't go anywhere, Ben. I need to get your advice about Tommy Castrale."

"Advice?"

"Well, I've been dating him a couple of weeks now but I was hoping you could give me the 411 on him."

"Uh, sure," I stammered, arching my eyebrow. Adrienne Dennis asking me for advice about guys? Well, what were friends for?

"Yeah, yeah, I get derivatives," Lynne Arian wrinkled her nose while frowning. "But integrals might as well be Martian."

"They're just derivatives, backwards," I said while trying to wave my hands around to show my point.

The petite brunette just looked at my hand motions and started giggling. "Did you just tell me to steal second or something?"

My arms froze and I looked at my hands for a moment, seeing just how silly I looked. I started chuckling and dropped my hands to my sides. "Well, it looks a lot better on a whiteboard," I tried to explain.

"Got one in your shorts?" Lynne folded her arms and grinned at me.

I looked down at my crotch and smiled. "Nah, I'm just happy to see you."

Lynne's mouth gaped open as she realized what I'd just said, looking positively scandalized. "Ben!" She giggled and slapped me on the shoulder.

"Sorry, couldn't help it," I shrugged.

"Well we may not have a whiteboard, but if a piece of paper will do, I could sure use your help," Lynne sighed.

With my jaw thrust out, I thought about it and asked, "Want me to come help you study?" Immediately, I held my hands up defensively and clarified, "Just study. I have no further intentions."

Lynne folded her arms again and humphed. "That's what you told Summer, if I remember."

My eyes went wide and I started flustering, "Oh, well, I mean, that was a different-"

"ReLAX, Ben," Lynne giggled. "I'm just messing with you."

"Whew," I sighed with obvious relief.

"How about Thursday? We have that quiz on Friday. You can come to my place." Lynne nodded. "And don't worry. My parents will be coming home so there'll be no hanky-panky."

I smiled, for some reason feeling relieved that we would be chaperoned. "Sure, sounds great."

It was just after 4pm when the doorbell rang on Wednesday. Slightly confused by who would be visiting in the early afternoon, I went to the door.

"Hey, Ben!" Adrienne stood there, looking absolutely radiant in the bright afternoon light. The sun was still high over the horizon, basking everything in an golden glow. Butterflies leaped to action in my stomach and I felt my heart speed up. She was simply gorgeous enough to instantly brighten the mood of any man.

"You're here pretty early," I smiled as I waved her in. Early or not, I wasn't going to turn Adrienne away.

"Got a little bored. There's no practice today and I'm done with my homework. I thought you wouldn't mind if I came over to chat."

I shrugged. "Sure, sure."

Adrienne preceded me into the family room, letting me stare at her fiiine ass as her hips swayed naturally with every step. It was a moderately warm day and she was wearing a skimpy halter top that showed off her entire upper back. The nude-colored bra strap was sticking just a half-inch above the back of the shirt, the obvious eye-hooks almost begging me to set them free. Also, the white tag of her top was poking out and without thinking about it, I reached over and tucked the tag back in.

Adrienne felt my momentary touch against the small of her back and abruptly turned. "What?"

"Oh, uh," I stammered. "Your tag was sticking out."

Adrienne's hand immediately went up behind her to feel that the tag had been tucked away, and a little smile came to her face. "Thanks, Ben."

I blushed slightly. "Anytime."

She turned around and flopped onto the couch, the impact sending her big tits wobbling enticingly, drawing my momentary attention. Adrienne noticed but didn't comment as I brought my gaze up to her eyes and asked, "Want something to drink?"

"Nah, I'm fine. I'll wait for dinner," Adrienne waved as I took a seat at the opposite corner of the couch. "So where are the rugrats?"

"The twins are still at soccer practice. And Brooke is visiting with other friends." I waved my hands theatrically. "We have the house all to ourselves."

Adrienne smiled and looked thoughtful. "You know, I don't think I've ever been in your house alone with you, Ben."

"Really?" I arched an eyebrow. "That doesn't seem possible."

"Really. We always used my place," Adrienne shrugged.

"Well," I said off-hand in a light voice. "If you want, I can show you what my bed feels like."

"Don't joke about that, Ben," Adrienne said very quickly in a tense voice.

Taken aback by her abrupt response, I held my hand up apologetically and said, "Sorry, sorry." Then looking to change the subject, I asked, "So how's Tommy?"

Adrienne rolled her eyes. "History. Turned out to be a jerk."

"I warned you he had a temper," I said reproachfully.

"Yeah, he did." Adrienne pulled her knees up to her chest, hugging her legs. "But it's okay. I'm dating Kyle McGinley now."

I arched an eyebrow, thinking of the big, muscled Senior. "Already?"

She looked away and shrugged. And then frowning, with a heavy voice she said, "I don't want to be alone, Ben. It's nice having a guy doting on me, you know?"

I sighed, thinking of how much I enjoyed having Dawn just being around me. "Yeah..."

Adrienne was silent and introspective for a few extra seconds. And then re- entering the conversation as if she hadn't missed a beat, she continued, "Kyle's nice enough. No temper. He lets me take charge."

I shrugged. "Don't know him that well. Can't give you much advice on him."

"That's okay," Adrienne's smile turned mischievous. "I've got lots of other stuff I can talk to you about. Like I hear you're going over to Lynne's place tomorrow afternoon."

I rolled my eyes. "To help her with Calculus. Calculus, Adrienne. Probably the least sexy subject on the planet. Nothing's gonna happen."

"If you say so."

"Lynne and I are just friends and besides, her parents are gonna be there."

"Too bad," Adrienne shook her head. "Lynne hasn't gotten laid since Trevor last spring. She could use a good shagging." The gorgeous blonde nodded her head agreeably as if suggesting I should be the one to rectify that particular problem.

Of course, her words immediately put the image of me and Lynne entwined together beneath her sheets into my mind, and I frowned as I shook away the image. Lynne was certainly cute and 'do-able', but I was steadfast in my loyalty to Dawn and resolute in my desire to maintain some non-physical female friendships. "Not gonna happen, Adrienne. I'm the New Ben."

"Well, if he's anything like the old Ben, I'm sure I'll like the new one just fine." Adrienne smiled warmly and patted my leg. Her eyes softened as she gazed adoringly at me. And I felt a tug of desire to lean forward and kiss her. Time seemed to stretch out as seconds elongated and world went silent around us.

"Oh, hey guys!" A girlish voice cracked in the air like a gunshot, causing Adrienne and I to jerk away from each other, startled into thinking we'd been caught doing something wrong.

Adrienne recovered quickly. "Oh, Brooke, you startled us."

My little sister shrugged. "Why? You two weren't doing anything naughty, were you?"

I started to stammer a weak defense but Adrienne waved her hand. "Nah. Your brother and I are just friends now. He's got Dawn and I've moved on. Right, Ben?"

"Uh, right."

"Whatever." Brooke shrugged. "Oh, you know a funny thing has been happening at the last couple cheer practices. You know how I told you Debbie Katsopolis was being really mean to me and a couple of the other rookies on the JV team? She's been really sweet to me this week."

Adrienne broke out in a wide grin. "Yeah. I took care of it."

"Really?" Brooke broke out into an even wider grin. Then giggling, she hopped forward and gave Adrienne a big hug. "Thanks ... You're the best!"

Adrienne was almost misty-eyed when Brooke stood up again. "No problem."

Brooke just beamed and then bounced out the room. Adrienne looked after her with a little smile for a minute and then eventually turned back to me. "Now, where were we?"

"Ooh, you looking to score tonight, Ben?" Cassidy grinned while reaching over and pinching my shirt at the shoulder.

I arched an eyebrow as she hopped the bench seat and set her lunch onto the tabletop beside me. "Huh?"

"You got a date tonight or something?" Cassidy continued, shooting a glance over to Megan.

My Chinese ex-girlfriend looked me up and down for a second before a knowing look came into her eye and she nodded in realization, "Ohhh."

My eyebrows furrowed. Were they messing with me? Unsure, I wondered in an exasperated, loud voice, "What?"

That got the attention of everyone. The Sanders twins looked confused. Daniel looked as bewildered as I did. And then finally Cassidy explained. "You shaved. No biggie, but you usually shave Monday, Wednesday, Friday and just let it scruff just a bit in between. Today is a Thursday."

"So?"

Cassidy leaned forward and sniffed me obviously. "You took a morning shower. Usually you just shower at night but on days when you want to smell good, you also at least rinse or something in the mornings. Today you shampooed, soaped, the whole nine yards in the morning"

"So maybe I just felt like being a little cleaner today," I shrugged.

"And then there's the clincher," Cassidy pointed at my chest and looked over to Megan.

Megan smiled and continued, "The shirt."

"What about the shirt?" I was thoroughly confused now and everyone at the table was staring at me. It was just one of my short-sleeve jersey cotton polos from Banana Republic. I'd had it for a year. Nothing new or special.

Cassidy giggled and started tugging at the collar, stretching it beyond what it was meant to do.

"Hey, hey!" I batted her hand away. "Don't stretch it!"

"See ... the shirt!" Cassidy exclaimed as if that answered everything. "It's your favorite."

"Is not." I scrunched up my face.

"Is too," Megan raised her eyebrows. You only wore it on Fridays when you had a date with one of us. You like how you look in it. You like how it accentuates your shoulders and trims your waist. Haven't seen you wear it in a month now and all of a sudden it comes out on a Thursday?"

"Doesn't mean anything," I protested. "Maybe I just wanted to wear it because I haven't in a while."

"Riiight." Now it was Cassidy's turn to raise her eyebrows at me. "Go on, Ben. Tell us you're NOT meeting a girl later today."

"I-" I started, then felt all the air deflating out of me. Frowning, I grumped, "It's not a date or anything."

"But you ARE meeting a girl and you want to look good for her," Megan said with more than a hint of a smile in her voice.

I rolled my eyes. "It's just Lynne Arian. We're studying for Calculus. We're friends."

"But you're getting all dressed up for her?"

"No!" I frowned. But then again, it made a little sense. "Well ... maybe..."

Cassidy and Megan looked at each other smugly.

"It's not like I'm trying to get dressed up for a date. It's just ... I ... I haven't visited anyone in a long time. Maybe subconsciously I grabbed the shirt. I mean, it's not like I'm dating anyone around here and I don't have anyone to dress up for. Haven't you girls ever put on a matching pair of underwear just because you were going out somewhere, even if not romantically? You're not planning to let anyone see them, but since it's something different from your daily routine you just dress a little nicer?"

Cassidy thought about that and nodded slightly.

"Seriously," I continued. "I have zero romantic intentions towards Lynne. You guys know her. She's just a friend and I've got Dawn. Okay?"

Kenny then leaned in from my other side. "So ... you took a shower and shaved and put on your favorite shirt to meet a girl you're NOT going to seduce ... all to study Calculus?"

I shrugged.

Kenny grinned. "You sure you're not gay?"

He already had his arms up to ward away my annoyed smacks.

"Hi, Ben!" Lynne met me at the door. Barefoot and clad in cotton shorts and a baby T-shirt, the cute brunette looked even smaller and younger than usual. And my heart skipped a beat when I realized I couldn't detect a bra strap. She looked pretty good.

But she beat me to the compliment, saying, "You look good!"

I arched an eyebrow and feigned ignorance while puffing out my chest. "Same thing I wore in class today."

"Yeah, but I didn't mention it earlier. Come on in." She smiled and waved towards the stairs.

"Uh, should I introduce myself to your parents?"

"Oh, they're not home yet. Mom doesn't get back until after four, and Dad after five. I'll introduce you when they get here."

"Oh, uh, okay." I followed Lynne into the house, feeling my heartbeat speed up just a bit. Lynne preceded me up the stairs, and I couldn't help but feel the saliva wetting my mouth as I stared at her tight ass nestled softly in the cotton shorts.

Breathe, Ben. Calm your heart rate ... It wasn't easy since I hadn't hooked up with Brooke since Monday night and I was feeling mild withdrawal pangs. But I was pretty sure I could calm myself.

Lynne then turned the corner into her bedroom and all of a sudden, keeping myself calm had become a LOT harder. There, belly-first on the bed and propped up on her elbows to show me a TON of cleavage, was Heather Wilkinson.

"Hope you don't mind," Lynne twisted her head back to me for a moment, sending her dark bangs bouncing. "Heather's in the same Calculus class but a period before us. They've got the same quiz tomorrow and I invited her to come study with us."

My eyes went wide for a moment. Heather was wearing some scoop-top that was loose enough to pretty much hang on the mattress and leave her deep, tanned D-cup breasts exposed almost to the nipples. The dark-haired cheerleader flashed her aqua-colored eyes at me and smiled, "Hey, Ben."

"Hey, Heather," I replied casually. And when I watched Heather's aqua eyes drop to my crotch, I nervously looked down also and groaned inwardly at the erection tenting my shorts. My eyes flicked back up to Heather's and she just grinned mischievously.

"Ooh, Lynne," Heather began in a sultry voice. "Do you think he can fuck us both before your parents get home?"

"Heather..." Lynne glared. "This is about Calculus, not sex."

"C'mon. I already talked to Adrienne and she said she's got no restrictions on him."

"Heather..."

"Fine."

I sighed. Calm down, Ben. Heather's just a flirt and she's not going to try anything, not with Lynne around. Soon, Lynne's parents will be home and everything will be fine.

Everything will be fine.

"Thanks Ben," Lynne hugged me firmly. "I think I'll be okay tomorrow."

"It was my pleasure," I said graciously with a half-bow.

"Not yet, it hasn't," Heather giggled as she too hugged me, this time pressing her tits rather obviously into my chest.

"Cool it, Heather," Lynne rolled her eyes. "It's a wonder Ben was able to focus at all with you doing that all day."

"Doing what?" Heather giggled impishly and ground her crotch against me. So far, I'd retained enough self-control not to respond to Heather's constant teases save for the occasional whimper of unfulfilled desire. But I hadn't been able to bring myself to push her away or convince her to stop. Fact was, I MISSED that kind of attention, attention I couldn't get while Dawn was in NorCal. Frankly, it felt GOOD to be wanted. And my occasional whimpers were enough to keep Heather going for the past two hours.

Lynne actually moved up behind Heather, took a big windup, and then spanked her cheerleading friend on the ass.

"Hey!" Heather released her grip around my neck and turned to protest.

Lynne just rolled her eyes.

"Come ON, Lynne," Heather protested. "Aren't you the least bit curious? So many rumors about this stud going around campus and we had him alone in a bedroom for two hours!"

My eyes met Lynne's for a moment. There had been one brief time during the last Spring Break where we'd mutually brought each other to oral orgasms. I'd never forget that sixty-nine with the cute brunette, but it was just in good fun and clearly a one-time thing after a weekend spent getting high on weed and getting intimate with sexual games.

But Heather didn't know that. The Spring Break participants had kept a lid on that particular can of worms.

"Cool it, Heather," Lynne reiterated. "This is about Calculus and besides, my parents are in the other room."

"Fine, fine," Heather sighed, the pretty girl looking at me lustfully one last time with flashing eyes. "At least you can masturbate or something to fantasies of me tonight, Ben. I won't be offended," she smiled. "Or, you can come to my place and it won't have to only be a fantasy."

"Heather!"

"Alright, alright." Heather pecked my cheek and stepped back. "Sorry Ben. I know it's mean to tease and that you've got a girlfriend. But I haven't gotten laid in way too long; and you should know I'd let you do anything you wanted to me for a night. No strings attached."

"Heather!"

The dark-haired girl giggled. "Bye, bye." And then she whirled out the door.

Lynne sighed and shrugged. "Sorry about that. She broke up with her boyfriend a few weeks ago but I didn't think she'd be so ... blatant."

"It's okay, no harm done," I waved her off while simultaneously ordering my cock, 'Down boy.' I hugged Lynne one last time with a chaste pat on the back, and then I left as well.

On the drive back home, I exhaled slowly and thought of Dawn. I missed her terribly and I really, really wanted her with me right now. In fact, in my current mental state after having been not-so-subtly teased by Heather for a couple of hours, I wanted Dawn NAKED with me right now.

THAT was a pleasant thought, Dawn naked. My girlfriend and lifelong best friend had grown up into such an incredibly beautiful young woman. I'd always known she had a cute face, and perhaps I should have gotten some inkling of her potential once Dayna started developing her curves; but I never had dreamed that Dawn at 16/17 would become such an incredible babe.

Of course, given my recent proximity to Heather, my mind kept trying to paste Heather's face and tits and body and skin and whatever else on top of the mental image of Dawn I was creating. It wasn't that I loved Dawn any less. It was just that Heather was my most recent live woman and my memory of Dawn was a bit hazy at the moment.

My dick didn't care which girl I was picturing. It was ramrod hard and throbbing with urgent need. It was a good thing I'd been able to focus on Calculus to keep my lust at bay. Two hours of Heather's teasing without something like Calculus would have crumbled my resolve, no matter what Lynne or her parents might do. I was THAT horny.

I needed to FUCK. I realized then that if I'd had Heather's cell phone number, I'd be calling her right now, Dawn be damned. I'd call her and ask if her offer was still on the table and then I'd throw her on the floor of her living room and fuck her pretty brains out.

I needed to FUCK. I needed to CUM. My jaw quivered and I fought down the urge to literally BITE my STEERING WHEEL. My arms were starting to get shaky and my breathing was getting ragged. Where was Donna Kincaid's phone number? Did I still have that piece of paper somewhere? Had I ever saved it into my new cell phone? How long would it take me to find that old email message?

With shaking limbs, I parked rather crookedly on the curb and staggered up to the house. Eden saw me when I came through the door and said, "Hey, Ben."

"Not now, Eden," I brushed her off, walking a little stiffly and with the urgency of a man who desperately has to pee.

Awkwardly, I hustled up the stairs, turned in the hallway, and headed for my target bedroom. It was 5:30 and both my parents were probably home. But it didn't matter. I had to GO.

Without knocking, I burst through the door, my whole body shaking. Brooke, sitting on her bed, looked up from her book and was clearly startled by my abrupt intrusion. She took in the crazed look in my eye and twitchy demeanor.

Never before in our entire relationship had I ever asked my little sister for sex. At camp our morning routines were just "understood". And ever since our return, she'd periodically come to me of her own accord whenever she got the urge. On rare occasion, I'd mention that it had been a while since we "played" together, but I always left it at that.

But this afternoon, with our parents and younger siblings in the house, I whimpered in a quivering voice, "Brooke, please..."

Thankfully, my little sister was amused by my desperate need. She smirked and nodded to the door, which I closed and locked with finality. And still with a wide smile, she began to pull off her clothes. And in a husky, sensuous voice that belied her young age, she asked, "You need me, big brother?

Almost twitching, I managed to nod my head. "Brooke, please," I repeated.

There was minimal foreplay. I kissed my sister with a desperate frenzy I could barely control until the rest of our clothes came off. Fortunately, the young teen was quite aroused by my obvious lust for her; and she was just wet enough to accept my entry without pain or difficulty. She was so tight. So compliant beneath my body. I felt a world of relief as my cock pushed deeper and deeper into her wonderful pussy.

"Ohhh ... Brooke, baby..." I sighed happily.

"Fuck me, big brother," she cooed beneath me.

And then I was gasping repeatedly as I lifted and lowered atop my little sister's body, pressing my hardness into her tightness over and again. "Oh, fuck ... oh, fuck ... oh, fuck..." I grunted while she whimpered softly beneath me.

A few short minutes later, I thrust myself completely into her depths and let loose with all my pent-up liquid need, pouring wave after wave of thick, viscous cream into Brooke's inviting body. She patted my back softly as if proud of my orgasm, feeling the moist heat invading every nook and cranny of her vaginal cavity. And when the flood subsided, I collapsed my heavy weight straight onto her chest, crushing her petite body into the mattress.

"Ohhh..." I groaned in absolute relief, my brain an empty slate of inky blackness. And for a few precious seconds, I had peace.

Some minutes later, Brooke tapped me on the shoulder and as if awakening from a deep slumber, I roused myself and rolled off of her. My little sister breathed deeply for another minute, finally able to fill her lungs to the fullest. And then she exhaled slowly. "We'd better clean up. Mom would kill us if we went to dinner smelling like sex."

I could only manage to groan in response.

"And Ben?" Brooke added with a hopeful note in her voice. "Come to me tonight. I want to feel you do that again."

Once dinner was done, I followed my mom into the kitchen to help her with the dishes. I knew what I had to do.

"Mom, I'd like to visit Dawn for Thanksgiving Weekend."

Mom blinked twice and then without taking her eyes off me, called out for my dad. "Michael!"

A minute later, my dad walked in and looked back and forth between us. "What's up?"

Mom smiled. "Our son is asking permission to go stay with the Evanses for Thanksgiving Weekend."

My dad arched his eyebrow in the traditional family expression of inquisitiveness. "From Thursday on? Or just the weekend?"

I felt a little bounce of joy in my heart that he was asking about days, apparently having skipped the 'yes-go/no-go' decision. "As much as you'll let me, honestly."

Dad looked like he was going to give me a day and a reason but I stood up straight and beat him to it. "I think it would be best if I left on Friday morning, Dad. That way, I can still spend Thanksgiving home with my own family and leave Dawn to hers. But then Friday through Sunday gives us almost three full days together."

Mom smiled and a look of pride came across Dad's face as he nodded agreeably. "Very reasonable, Ben. But ... plane tickets aren't cheap, especially around Thanksgiving. This whole 9/11 thing might change that but I still don't know how-"

"I have some money saved up," I interrupted. "I understand this would be a personal trip and I'm not asking you to pay my costs." My shoulders sagged as I thought about how desperate I'd felt after only a few hours of Heather teasing me. I wasn't sure what I'd have done if Brooke hadn't been available when I got home. "I miss her, Dad. I really, really miss her."

"Has Dawn spoken with her parents about this yet?" Dad asked.

"I doubt it. I haven't even talked to Dawn yet. But I know she'll make the time for me. I need this. I need her."

Mom beamed at me and Dad nodded. "Okay. But I'll make you a deal. We'll pay for the flight, but you've got to spend next weekend clearing out the yard and fixing up the fence if you find anything. Deal?"

I blinked rapidly. The flight from Orange County to San Jose airport was about $150 round-trip. I could clear the yard in under two hours. For seventy-five bucks an hour, yeah, I could handle it. "Uh, sure! Deal!"

Mom noted how I was suddenly hopping from foot to foot, nervously excited. "Okay, go on and call her. And then bring me the phone. I'll want to talk to her mom."

"Okay!" I had to reply over my shoulder, because I was already racing for my bedroom to get my cell phone. I couldn't WAIT.

And when I got ahold of her, Dawn was just as excited as I was. This was going to be the BEST Thanksgiving EVER!

It was just after 4pm when the doorbell rang on Wednesday. Per routine, I went over to the front door and opened it for Adrienne.

"Hey, Ben!" Adrienne stood there, looking absolutely radiant in the bright afternoon light. The sun was still high over the horizon, basking everything in an golden glow. Butterflies leaped to action in my stomach and I felt my heart speed up.

"How's Kyle?"

Adrienne rolled her eyes. "History. But I've got a date with Dexter Haig on Friday."

"What went wrong with Kyle?"

Adrienne just shook her head. "I don't want to talk about it right now, okay?"

I held my hands up. "Sure, sure. What do you want to talk about?"

"Ooh! I've got the latest gossip on Chelsie Lennis. She..."

I smiled and propped my head on one elbow against the backrest as Adrienne zipped into her spiel. I wasn't one to spread gossip or anything. But I didn't mind being informed about the latest musings on the rumor mill.

Gossip turned into a discussion of college majors, since both of us were in the middle of our applications. Adrienne was flip-flopping between Poli Sci and Business and she wanted to use me as a sounding board for the pros and cons of each. I was probably her only friend who would take it seriously, listen patiently, and give her my honest opinions.

Brooke and the twins eventually returned home and edged into the conversation. And before we knew it, it was dinner time.

"C'mon, Ben. Turn off the game. We're watching a movie," Mom walked in with a big bowl of popcorn.

I sighed and did as she asked. It was a Friday night and I was home alone, dateless, but I hadn't minded too much. Grand Theft Auto III had come out that Monday and not having a local girlfriend had given me lots of extra time to play, something that made Kenny a bit jealous for once.

Eden and Emma were on the couch with me as I'd been playing. I was seated at one end while Eden reclined against me, reading a book while using me as a backrest. Emma was snuggled into the opposite corner. And as my dad set the DVD player and loaded in The Mummy Returns, we all got into our usual movie- watching positions.

My parents took the two-person loveseat, Mom reclining against Dad's chest. Brooke smiled at me before flopping across the wing chair, draping her legs together over one armrest. Emma stayed where she was, but as I turned sideways, Eden spooned herself in front of me with her head on my bicep as she pulled my arm around her waist.

Of all the things about Dawn I missed, it was cuddling I missed the most. I had friends for conversation. I even had Adrienne for philosophical musings. And Brooke was quite the satisfactory bed partner. But for the most part, I had no one to cuddle with.

With Brooke, we usually got our orgasms out of the way and then snuck back to our own places to avoid being caught. I couldn't fall asleep with her in my arms to enjoy the pleasant post-coital afterglow. And the one time I felt like cuddling with her on the couch, Mom had shot us a stern look since the twins were still home and just might read something into it that they shouldn't.

But I had absolutely NO sexual feelings for the 11-year-old twins and there was nothing between us but sibling affection. And I relished every chance to just hold Eden or Emma and let my muscles feel that simple pleasure. I felt a little spark of delight when Eden quivered at a cartoonishly scary part of the movie and had me hold her just a little tighter.

I loved holding my little sisters, but they were a poor substitute for a permanent girlfriend.

I couldn't wait for Thanksgiving.

OCTOBER 31, 2001, SENIOR YEAR

It was just after 6pm when the doorbell rang on Halloween Wednesday. Per routine, I went over to the front door and opened it for Adrienne. It was still WAY too early for any trick-or-treaters.

"Hey, Ben," Adrienne sighed in a weary voice, her arms tightly crossed over her body. The sun was blocked by a thick layer of clouds, casting a grayish pall over everything. And there was an extra chill in the air. The mood suited Halloween, but for the kids' sake I hoped it warmed up a tad.

"Hey. Come on in," I gestured and rather sluggishly, Adrienne trudged into the house. "You alright?" I asked.

"Yeah, yeah," she said distractedly. "Haven't been getting much sleep lately."

"How's Dexter?"

"Who cares?" She shrugged. "Dexter's history."

"Already?" I arched an eyebrow. I wasn't completely surprised; Adrienne had been going through boyfriends like water bottles, but that was pretty fast. "What was that, five days?"

Adrienne shrugged and headed into the living room.

I followed after, thinking about how Dexter had been doting on her like a queen for past three days at school. "Why even bother calling him your boyfriend and inviting him to your lunch table?"

Adrienne shrugged dismissively and turned away, holding her forehead with long, stiff fingers.

I moved to sit beside her on the couch. Our very brief dating relationship had given us some history and our weekly conversations for the past couple of months had given us the chance to get to know each other better as friends. With some concern, I gently set my hand on her shoulder and asked softly, "Adrienne, what's wrong?"

"Nothing. I'm fine," she sighed heavily. She turned her head away and started playing with her hair, absent-mindedly straightening it and clearing any tangles in a jerky, rapid movement that felt more nervous tic than casual grooming.

"Dexter was the third boyfriend you've had in two months, Adrienne," I said gently and with clear worry. "Something's wrong."

With a suddenness that took me completely by surprise, Adrienne wheeled on me with a look of mixed anger and frustration. "Why does every guy I go out with assume I'm gonna put out on a first date?" she practically yelled into my face.

"Sex, sex, nothing but sex!" she screeched. "Every guy in the world looks at me and starts thinking sex! It's not like that's been my history with past boyfriends. I made Robbie Pederson wait a whole month. I wouldn't even let Jake Harbor touch my tits until the second date!"

"Guys don't assume, Adrienne. They hope, sure; that's just being a teenage guy." I rubbed her shoulder soothingly. "And they hope that if you like them enough and they stick around long enough that things will progress."

"Yeah, well what if I want a more stringent criteria than 'time of service'?" Adrienne went back to playing with her hair and staring off at nothing. "Seriously, Dexter pulled me aside after lunch today and asked, 'How long do we have to be together before you'll let me do stuff?' How long? How LONG? Like I'm just an egg-timer that when the sand stops the panties come off? The FUCK?"

"Everything alright in here?" Mom poked her head in with a look of concern on her face.

Immediately, Adrienne clammed up. "Sorry, sorry. I didn't mean to yell."

"It's okay," Mom replied. "Just please watch your language when the twins are in the house."

"Of course," Adrienne nodded, looking penitent.

Mom gave me a stern look that clearly said, 'Take care of this.' I nodded in agreement.

I screwed my face up as I evaluated Adrienne. Then sliding my hand down from her shoulder, I touched her knee and looked a little more intensely into her stormy, hazel eyes. "Adrienne, we've got some time before dinner's ready. Want to go for a walk?"

The gorgeous blonde tilted her head back, fighting away tears as she stared at the ceiling. After a deep breath, she nodded and said, "Sure."

A minute later we were out on the sidewalk. At first, I made to turn to the right, which was in the direction of her house. But Adrienne grabbed my hand and tugged me left, indicating with a head nod that she wanted to go in that direction. It didn't make a difference to me so we started walking together, and Adrienne didn't let go of my hand.

Without any prompting from me, Adrienne began, "I suppose I don't get it myself. I mean, I LIKE sex. I get turned on pretty easily and I always WANT to take things to the next level. I mean, I've had a pretty good variety of boys, but I'm not a slut or anything. I don't sleep with just anyone. But once I decide there's a guy I want, I don't hesitate to go after him."

I bit my lip from saying something. After all, I was one of those guys she hadn't hesitated to pursue, nevermind that I was already taken.

"But it's been weird this past month." She exhaled and squeezed my hand. "You're right; I've had three boyfriends since school started. But I didn't put out for any of them. I mean, they were cute guys and all, and I got horny, but ... but..." she sighed. "I just ... I couldn't do it."

"You didn't want to?"

"No, I wanted to. I wanted to." Adrienne shook her head mournfully and then turned to me, her hair falling in front of her face so that her eyes were half- obscured by the golden strands. "You know me, Ben. When I get turned on I'm insatiable."

My eyebrows popped up and my dick tried to pop up as well. Yeah, I remembered. But this wasn't the time or place.

"I..." Adrienne stopped in front of a quiet house, all it's lights off. She turned in a slow circle, spinning on her heels as she did almost a full 360 and switched the hand she was holding me with before slowly swinging back towards me. "I just couldn't. With Tommy, he lasted two weeks and he ate me out and I gave him blowjobs. But when he got on top of me, I just panicked and pushed him off. I HATED feeling his weight settling onto me. I felt trapped. He called me a prick- tease and when he said he wanted to walk away, I said good-riddance. It was almost the same with Kyle."

Adrienne hugged herself and stared off into the distance, clearly looking into her memory and not at me or anything around us. I wasn't particularly thrilled hearing what she'd done with another guy, but it didn't really bother me either for some reason.

"Kyle was pretty good at eating me out," she continued. "So I got off that way. And I rather liked blowing him. He's such a big guy and I felt a rush of power pinning him down and playing with him like a toy. Stroke this and he twitches one way. Suck that and he shivers another way. I had no fear. I was in control."

Adrienne herself shivered just then, squeezing herself tighter. A look of sudden fear crossed her face so suddenly that on instinct, I stepped forward and bear- hugged her. Adrienne rubbed her nose into my chest and whimpered softly. And with her voice muffled against my body, she said, "But when he climbed on top of me to put it in, I panicked again. He had his hands on my wrists and I couldn't move my arms. And all of a sudden I wasn't horny anymore and I screamed. He was already in position and if he'd just thrust, he could have fucked me. But my scream freaked him out and he backed off."

Adrienne was shaking in my arms by now as her voice quivered. I stroked her head slowly with one hand while whispering, "Shh..." in a soft voice. "You don't have to say any more."

She sniffled and finished, "I didn't even let Dexter get that far. I was happy as long as he was opening doors for me and fetching me sodas and whatever. But every time he wanted just to touch me, I shrunk away. Something's wrong with me." And then Adrienne started crying.

I didn't know what to say. The male instinct in me started sifting through everything Adrienne was telling me, psychoanalyzing it and looking for a solution. Clearly, Adrienne was having some control issues. As long as she was in control of the situation, she was fine. But the moment some guy got on top of her, she started to lose that position of power and start freaking out.

But if I'd learned nothing else from a million conversations with girls since I hit puberty, it was that girls didn't want solutions. Girls wanted support. All Adrienne needed from me right now was support and a good listener; a solution could wait for another conversation. So I reached forward, wrapped her up in my arms, and hugged Adrienne firmly.

"Shh..." I soothed and stroked her back, holding the gorgeous blonde teenager tightly in my grasp. It wasn't physical; it was emotional. And rocking her gently I continued soothing her and just reminding her that I was there. We were on the sidewalk on a random residential street a block from my house. Any random person could see us, but I didn't care. I kept my hands safely on her waist. I closed my eyes. And I swayed us gently.

Eventually, Adrienne's crying slowed and then softened and then finally stopped. She was breathing heavily and letting me sway her body with ease. All was quiet and if I didn't know better, I'd think she'd fallen asleep on my chest.

For another minute we simply held each other, her hands gripping my shoulders from behind as she rubbed her nose against my neck. Adrienne was tall enough to put her head on my shoulder, and I felt the warmth of her breath against the hollow of my throat.

I started to relax my grip when I felt her lifting her head off me. And I was just starting to open my eyes when I suddenly felt the soft touch of her lips against mine. And in my pleasantly mellow state I acquiesced as she parted my lips and gently extended her tongue into my mouth.

Everything went on reflex for a moment. Adrienne pressed forward and planted her nuclear kiss on me, attacking me passionately while I responded in kind. I felt a surge of adrenaline lighting up all the neurons in my spine, spreading like wildfire throughout my body and up my neck to set off all sorts of bells and whistles in my brain.

But that's also when the alarms sounded and my conscious mind realized that it wasn't Dawn in my arms. And in shock I jerked away, wild-eyed and panicked as I took a full step back away from the girl I'd just been kissing. "Sorry, sorry, Adrienne," I was already apologizing.

Her face screwed up as a mask of unbearable pain covered her face. Every instinct told me to hug her and reassure her once again, but I couldn't do it. As fond of Adrienne as I was, she wasn't my girlfriend anymore.

A pained expression came over my face as well, but Adrienne recovered quickly. She exhaled slowly and looked away. And when she looked back at me, she had calmed herself once again. "No, I'm sorry, Ben. I shouldn't have done that."

I nodded slowly while breathing heavily. "It's ... It's okay. No harm done." I managed a small half-smile. "We should probably head back."

Adrienne nodded and moved up beside me again. At first, she moved to slip her hand into mine once again, but I pulled it away and gave her a fractional shake of my head. She bit her lip and nodded in acceptance, and then the two of us walked back to my house for dinner.

"Trick or Treat!"

"Oh, aren't you guys adorable?" Adrienne gushed.

"Gee, Miss. You're pretty..."

Adrienne giggled. "Why thank you, young man. So polite for a skeleton." She then turned to me. "Ben, I think this boy deserves an extra handful of candy, what do you say?"

I smirked. "Sure." I then gave Adrienne another handful of bite-sized candies which she dropped into the skeleton boy's plastic pumpkin. I wished then that I could be a little kid again, just to have Adrienne bend over at the waist and give me candy while I stared at her tits.

"Ben," Mom called. "Why don't you take over and let Adrienne finish her dinner!"

"Oh, no thanks," Adrienne replied. "I like doing this. We haven't had trick-or- treaters come to our house in years. My dad never bought any candy."

I shrugged. Adrienne then finished up with this crop of kids, closed the door, and returned to the dinner table. The meals were pretty much done; we were all just hanging out and chatting.

Then the doorbell rang and Adrienne was quickly out of her seat again. "I got it!"

Having Adrienne over for Halloween dinner turned out to be an late night affair. Normally, she chatted with us for maybe a half-hour after the meal was over before going home. But with trick-or-treaters coming by until close to 9pm, Adrienne wasn't about to leave just yet.

Along the way, we found that The Nightmare Before Christmas was playing on TV and we all settled in to watch. My family got into our usual movie-watching positions, this time with both twins spooned in on either side of me.

But during a commercial, Adrienne looked over at me and my baby sisters and with a smile, commented, "That looks sooo comfortable."

Eden volunteered, "Wanna switch? I'm gonna get up and get popcorn anyways."

"Uh, sure," Adrienne said brightly. Eden got up and then Adrienne was quick to cuddle up beside me. Being a lot taller, she could quite nestle herself under my arm but Adrienne seemed perfectly happy to tilt her head onto my shoulder and clutch my side while I wrapped my arm around her back to her waist.

I was still feeling just a bit nervous around her after that kiss before dinner. But I really missed cuddling with Dawn and feeling Adrienne's warmth beside me and smelling her familiar scent was simply heavenly. I smiled pleasantly and cinched Adrienne a little tighter to my side, at least until I caught my mom arching her eyebrow at me disapprovingly and I released the stunning blonde just a little bit.

But even under my mom's wary gaze, I couldn't help but revel in the feeling of a beautiful girl I was very fond of cuddled up against me. I couldn't help but wonder if my life wouldn't be better if I could do this with Adrienne every day.

"Thanks for dinner again. It was wonderful!"

"We're happy to have you, Adrienne," Mom beamed. "We'll see you next week."

"Hey, Ben, care to walk me home? With so many witches and trolls about, I fear for my safety," Adrienne put her arm over her face and swooned theatrically.

My parents smiled and I arched my eyebrow. "Uh, alright."

Adrienne looped her arm through my elbow and beamed at my parents. I looked to them and said, "Be back in a minute."

"Take your time, Ben," Dad said warmly.

We hadn't even reached the sidewalk when Adrienne squeezed my arm and sighed, "You have a WONDERFUL family. So much love and warmth. Have I told you that?"

I chuckled. "No ... never..." I deadpanned.

Adrienne giggled and her mood stayed peppy and cheery as we made the short hike to her house. Her gaze was up and down the street, watching for any packs of little children chaperoned by parents and big siblings meandering around. I looked around nostalgically myself, as I still remembered taking Eden and Emma trick-or-treating when they were younger. But there were none out anymore. Adrienne had stayed chatting with us too late into the evening and all the kids were home. It was time to go to sleep and get ready for school the next morning.

Adrienne didn't mind. Holding onto my hand tightly she smiled as if she hadn't a care in the world. But then we arrived at Adrienne's dark and empty house. It looked so drab and gray, without a single solitary light or decoration. And in a heartbeat, Adrienne's mood fell as well.

She got stiffer and stiffer as we approached the front door, and once on the porch, Adrienne sighed and clutched my arm even tighter. She made no move to get her keys. Instead, she turned her head up to me. "Ben, can you come in for a bit? I don't want to be alone right now," she said in a pleading voice that seemed to emanate from the darkness.

"Adrienne," I began slowly. I was still thinking of the kiss she'd given me before dinner. "I don't know if that's such a good idea."

"Please Ben. I just need you to hold me. Can you do that? Like with Summer? Just hold me?" Her voice was quivering with need, a tone that went straight as an arrow into my heart. Adrienne needed me. Adrienne needed me.

The thing was, while I'd parted as friends with Summer, our relationship wasn't entirely platonic. Even apart from the first emotional fuck, we'd still given in to our urges at the end and made love once again. Adrienne probably didn't know that, but her reference to Summer didn't help my control over my libido. "Adrienne, I want to just be your friend. But even just holding you ... it's..."

"Please?" Adrienne interrupted, her voice a desperate plea. "Just for a little while."

It broke my heart to hear her tone. How could I really turn her down? She was just a sweet, vulnerable girl who needed a hug. So while slowly nodding, I quietly replied, "Okay."

Adrienne fished out her keys, opened the door, and still with her arm around mine, she pulled me into the empty house. And then I let Adrienne lead me in a straight line to her bedroom.

Once there, my gorgeous ex-girlfriend turned on only the bedside table lamp and then pushed me into a sitting position on the bed. I half-expected her to crawl into my lap and plant a heated kiss on my lips, but instead, Adrienne stuck to her word and slid on top of the covers beside me. And fully-clothed, she turned on her side and beckoned me to nestle up behind her soft body and tight ass.

Her clothing wasn't very thick and it was very arousing to be in such an intimate position with a sexy young blonde. I fought to keep Dawn in my mind, but I couldn't deny how great it felt to be spooning Adrienne this way. It felt familiar. It felt comfortable. It was everything I missed about cuddling with Dawn and what neither Eden nor Emma could ever give me.

I sighed happily, my hot breath at the back of Adrienne's bare neck. She shivered and tugged my arm around her even closer. I then realized that my right hand was pressed up between her breasts, and when my fingers curled just a bit, I was cupping one of her incredible boobs. And with a slight groan, I felt my cock stiffening against her firm buttcheeks.

'Down boy, ' I reminded myself. I was just there to hold Adrienne, a warm body she could lean on. I wasn't there to get aroused, but it was hard not to react to being this intimately connected with my stunningly beautiful ex-girlfriend. It was hard not to remember what this felt like without any clothing to separate us.

My dick didn't listen to me. With slow inevitability, my cock grew and grew until there was no way of ignoring it, and I felt the little shake of Adrienne's ass as she slowly but deliberately rubbed herself against me.

At first I just rolled my hips away to stop the contact. I was embarrassed for getting an erection when this was supposed to be about comfort and support. But Adrienne wriggled her ass back to press up against me again.

This time I backed away by releasing my arms, breathing heavily as I rolled onto my back away from her. That's when Adrienne just turned to face me and before I knew it, she'd wrapped my head in her arms and pressed her lips against mine once again.

The kiss was soft, tender, and oh so sensual. It was the slow burn kiss of sweet memory. Adrienne moaned into my mouth, and the deep sound of her voice got my blood pumping even more than the feel of her body did. And just like before, I kissed her right back as the pleasure spread across my body like wildfire.

Just like before, after a few seconds of kissing my brain woke up and I grabbed Adrienne's arms, tugging the beautiful teenager off my face. "Adrienne," I whispered in a desperate tone.

"Ben, please."

"We shouldn't..."

"But I want to," she moaned. At the mere sound of her voice, I felt my grip on her arms loosening. No other girl, Dawn included, ever turned me on physically as much as Adrienne did. Her softest moan was more arousing to me than a hundred internet pictures of naked models. I wanted to put an end to this, but once she wriggled free of my grasp, Adrienne reached down to the hem of her shirt to up the ante.

With an upward arm movement and a quick flick of her wrists, suddenly I had a topless Adrienne Dennis in bed with me, her shirt and bra sliding off the bed onto the floor behind her. Those huge tits were so firm and round and as she brought my hands to cup them, she knew she'd regained a measure of control over me.

I let myself squeeze and rub her tits for a few seconds, knowing I should stop but completely unable to resist Adrienne's incredible breasts. But after those first few seconds, I managed to pull my hands away and shake my head again. "No, Adrienne. We can't do this."

But the gorgeous 17-year-old goddess had already slid down the bed to take matters into her own hands. Before I could react, she played her trump card, and all I could do was throw my head back and gasp as she took my cock into her mouth.

While I'd been distracted by her tits, Adrienne had managed to open my fly and extract my dick through the flap of my boxers without me even noticing. And for about a minute, all I could do was grunt and moan and hold her head tightly to my crotch while she gave me a tongue bath I wasn't soon to forget. Brooke was enthusiastic and Brandi had been pretty good at blowing me. But neither sister could hold a candle to Adrienne's oral expertise.

"Oh, shit..." I groaned.

Somehow, that groan, that release from sexual tension managed to clear my brain just a bit. Already I had crossed the line I'd set for myself. Already, in my head, what I was doing was wrong.

'Not again, Ben, ' I thought to myself. 'Think of Dawn. Not again.'

"Adrienne," I managed to grunt through gritted teeth. My hands clamped a little tighter around her head. "Adrienne!"

Adrienne loved to be in control. She frequently took charge of our past sexual encounters, directing my movements and even barking orders at me when she'd wanted me to bend her over and fuck her lights out. But as I started to pull her head away from my crotch, she realized she was losing some of that control and wasn't ready to give up so easily.

"Oh, SHIT!" I gulped when I felt a finger pop into my ass. In reflex, I surged my dick deep down her throat where her muscles massaged me in ways I can't even describe while her other hand fondled my balls and sent me into pleasure orbit. And when she started bobbing her head up and down, sucking me like a vacuum and fucking her own throat on my dick, I knew I was lost.

"Oh, Adrienne! No! Please! No!" I grunted even while my hips drove themselves back and forth into her mouth. I couldn't stop. My body and my lust had taken over. The only one who could stop this was Adrienne, and to her my brain and mouth made their desperate pleas. "I love Dawn, Adrienne. Please! I love my girlfriend. Don't make me do this!"

But she sucked harder and swallowed deeper and with a few fingernail scrapes along the bottom of my shaft, she had me.

"ARRRGGGHHHH!" I wailed as I exploded. My thick organic cannon expanded and then burst, hurtling blast after blast of creamy semen into Adrienne's sucking mouth. And with her hand jacking me feverishly, the stunningly beautiful blonde teenager swallowed every single drop.

Good fucking lord she was good at that. I felt her throat muscles contracting as she took several globs of cum straight into her belly. I felt the pads of her tongue massaging me when she pulled back enough to take the rest into her mouth. And even her gulping reflex caressed and stroked my cock to give me exquisite pleasure. I'd just spunked out my biggest load since leaving summer camp and I was still hard and ready for more.

Suddenly Adrienne was on top of me. She'd shucked her shorts and panties and lay completely and gloriously naked on top of me. With a few tugs she rolled us over until I was on top and she was helping me remove my shirt. And half in disbelief, I was helping her. I wriggled out of my shorts and boxers and lifted my shirt over my head. I both wanted to fuck her and didn't want to fuck her and in my indecision, I just kept going.

I nudged my hips forward, my cock having never gone soft. And I felt her sopping wetness as the mushroom head moved into position.

"I'm not afraid, Ben," Adrienne husked at me. "I'm not afraid of you being on top of me. I trust you. I know you'll never hurt me."

She grabbed my hands and attached them to her own wrists, so that I pinned her arms back against the bed as I held myself above her like a menacing attacker. Tears dribbled out of Adrienne's eyes as she looked at me with a radiant smile on her face, and she even giggled as she realized the emotions running through her. And as her hazel eyes turned into that brilliant gold I adored so much, I readied myself for the thrust.

This was Adrienne. The Adrienne I'd started to fall in love with. The Adrienne I'd had such white hot passion with for such a brief time. She needed me again. She trusted me. And I had the power to make her happy.

"I love you, Ben," Adrienne said with heartfelt meaning. "I need you."

"I love you, too," I said warmly, feeling the bubbling joy inside of me. "I love you, Dawn!"

Adrienne jerked as if I'd slapped her. My eyes popped open wide as I realized the name that had tumbled out of my lips. Here I was, in the most intimate of positions with a gorgeous young woman who had just shared her heart with me ... and I said "Dawn".

I couldn't do this. I LOVED my girlfriend. We belonged together. Yeah, I'd just betrayed her. But if there was even a chance of fixing this, I had to try ... for Dawn ... for US.

"I'm sorry, Adrienne," I husked, still in shock at what I'd said. And without another moment's pause I rolled off her and slid off the bed, just barely getting to my feet without falling.

FUCK! What had I done? I loved Dawn, but I'd just let Adrienne blow me to completion. Fuckity, fuck, fuck! Oh, this wasn't happening to me! Why'd I do it? Why hadn't I walked away when Adrienne asked me inside? Why hadn't I moved away when she started rubbing herself against my erection? Why hadn't I resisted when she bared her tits to me. And why, oh, why, hadn't I stopped her from blowing me?

Every time I cheated on a girlfriend, my guilt had forced me to come clean.

And every time ... I wound up dumped.

Had I just ruined the greatest thing of my life? Had I just ruined more than seventeen years of friendship and family with Dawn? Our families were united. Our love was destiny. We BELONGED together, and nothing proved it more than at the moment I could have bonded so beautifully with Adrienne, Dawn's name had come out of my mouth.

My head hurt.

I don't remember getting dressed. I don't remember returning home. How late was it? Had my parents seen me? Had they smelled me? How had I gotten into my room?

But the fact was that I WAS in my room. My cell phone was in hand. All I had to do was hold down the 2-button and I would be calling Dawn. I had to call her. I NEEDED to call her.

I had to admit that I'd made a mistake. I had to admit that Adrienne had seduced me. I had to beg for Dawn's forgiveness and explain everything I could. Yeah, she'd blown me until I spunked a gallon of sperm down her throat. But I didn't fuck her. It wasn't that bad, was it? I'd shown SOME self-restraint, right? Maybe Dawn could handle that? Maybe she'd be okay with it? She HAD to know how much I loved her. She HAD to know how much we belonged together. She HAD to know I was sorry.

But just when I moved to press the 2-button, my cell phone lit up and the screen glowed neon green. And right there on the caller I.D. was the name: Dawn.

Filled with elation, I quickly hit the TALK-button and answered breathlessly, "Dawn?"

"Ben?" Dawn sniffled on the other end. Her voice was weak and wavering. Instantly, I knew something was wrong. And my hunch proved correct a second later as she started crying without restraint, sobbing wretchedly in abject misery.

"Dawn? Dawn?" I asked in a clearly worried tone.

"I'm so sorry, Ben," she wailed on the other end of the line. "I ... I ... I think I just cheated on you."

..