Chapter 34: Graduation l

-- THURSDAY, MAY 18, 2006, FINALS WEEK --

"Dead cow, dead chicken, or dead mystery meat?"

Using one hand to hold her empty paper plate, blonde Tammy Toth jutted her hip out to the side and put the other hand on it. Giving me a bemused look, she asked, "Haven't we done this before?"

I grinned and replied, "Yes we have." And without waiting for further response, I grabbed a grilled chicken breast with my pair of tongs and dropped it onto her plate.

Tammy grinned, got up on her tip-toes, and pecked my cheek. "Thanks, Ben." She also rubbed the fuzz on the top of my head while I rolled my eyes. Apparently Brooke had spread the word that doing so would bring everyone good luck. Not that anyone necessarily believed her, the froshlings just liked to have the excuse.

Bert stepped up next, proffered his plate, and ordered, "Dead cow with fried milk, please. And toast the buns while you're at it, my good man."

I rolled my eyes, Bert tried to rub my head, and I swatted at his offending arm with the tongs. He stepped back and smiled as I grabbed a slice of cheese and put it on top of the nearest hamburger patty. Then I tossed two bun-halves onto the grill to toast up as well.

"Me, too," Paige chirped from behind him. "Same deal, but make mine a double-double."

"Right-O," I replied while grabbing two more slices of cheese and another burger bun. Bert gave Paige crap about putting on pounds with the extra food, commenting that Everett must like his women chunky. Paige started lecturing the boy on talking to a woman about her post-baby weight. And I smiled while surveying the back yard.

The view before me looked perfectly normal: music pumped from Brooke's iPod into a couple of speakers on the patio, and people I'd known for years now occupied the patio furniture and lawn chairs. All in all, my classmates and the froshlings milled about for a typical End-of-the-Year barbecue, chatting happily and celebrating the (near) end of the school year. I'd really come full circle. After starting off the year in this very same barbecue fashion, I'd gotten DJ pregnant, gotten engaged, lost the pregnancy, lost the engagement, lost the froshlings entirely, gotten Kim pregnant, made a sex tape, lost Kim, gained a house-full of Tri-Delts, gained Sasha as a roommate, taken down Rutledge, lost the Tri-Delts, Adrienne had come back, Sasha had become my girlfriend, and now the froshlings were back.

Oh yeah, and I got shot in the head.

Again.

Just another year in my ordinary life, right?

It was a much smaller crowd than the early-September barbecue we'd hosted to kick off the new academic year. Instead of two dozen froshlings, there were only ten, plus Bert, Paige, and Sasha. Adrienne was in the City for work again. The food had recently finished cooking, and I was already almost done with the line, so I figured that in another minute I'd get to close the hood on the grill and take my own plate over to where my non-froshling friends were situated on a couch on the back porch.

But there were still two more mouths to feed: Meli and Lexi.

With a friendly smile, Meli held up her plate while tapping a finger on her lower lip, pretending to be lost in thought. "I seem to remember a requirement to kiss you in exchange for our food the last time we did this."

I smirked and shook my head. "No requirement. Maybe the head-rubbing thing Brooke keeps telling everyone to do, but I'd be happier if you didn't."

Lexi had already stepped around Meli and reached up to rub my melon. I rolled my eyes and let her do it before she stepped back with a smirk. "Dead chicken, please," Lexi requested.

"Dead mystery meat for me," Meli added before patting her belly. "And add in a dead cow, too. Gotta put some meat onto this stick figure."

I smirked. Meli could eat the entire cow and still look fit and slender; it was just in her genes. I served the girls their food, they both flashed me warm smiles, and the girls turned to rejoin their friends. Once they'd left, I loaded up my plate with one of everything, snagged a beer out of the cooler, and sauntered up onto the porch where it was nicely shaded.

With her back to me, and without even looking, Paige raised up her already-opened bottle in salute to me, and I clinked it before circling around her chair and taking the available seat next to Sasha. My gorgeous girlfriend opened her arm to me with a beaming smile and let me snuggle against her side for a moment before I grabbed my burger, sat back, and opened up MY arm so she could snuggle against my side instead.

Bert exchanged a look with Paige and shook his head. "If you'd told me a year ago that you two would become a couple, I never woulda believed it."

"C'mon, it's Ben," Paige snorted.

Bert chuckled. "Yeah, but you shoulda seen Sasha when we first met her. Acted like Ben and I were both covered in spiders whenever we so much as breathed on her."

Sasha and Paige both giggled at that, and Sasha pulled her legs up onto the cushion and tucked her feet beneath her butt while laying her head on my shoulder. "Yeah, well that was a different 'me' back then," she admitted. "And I couldn't be happier to see that version of me be replaced by this one."

"Ben's magic cock is what it is," Bert sighed. "Too bad most politicians, foreign AND domestic, are male. Otherwise with your ability to tame bitchiness, you might've had a good chance at creating World Peace."

Sasha kicked Bert in the shin. "Did you just call me a 'bitch'?"

Paige snickered, Bert hedged with "former bitch", and I wearily asked my friends to change the subject to something NOT related to my penis. Bert pretended to have great difficulty thinking of something, with Paige tossing out various random suggestions and Bert continually finding ways to relate the topics to my penis, but eventually they gave up and switched gears. Sasha mentioned Bert's continuing struggle to literally keep a lid on the jewelry box burning a hole in his pocket (well at least -I- hadn't spilled the beans), and all four of us went off on a new tangent.

Eventually, Bert and I got up to get second helpings of food and a round of beer for everyone. We returned to find that Brooke had taken my seat with DJ perched on the armrest to Sasha's other side. Instead of getting up, Brooke merely scooted aside to let me sit between her and Sasha. My girlfriend once again curled up beside me. And Paige made a couple of cracks about Bert's post-baby weight.

Brooke and DJ weren't the only ones to join us. While my little clique of four hadn't spent a whole lot of time with the froshlings, everyone still knew each other and nobody was shy about mingling a bit. Various others came by to hang out and talk shop with us, sometimes to discuss their future academic endeavors at the school and sometimes just to talk about whatever came to mind. Also, nearly all of them had been at Carter's house that fateful night May 6th and for most, today was the first time they'd seen me in person since then.

Some of them thanked me for opening their eyes to the dangerous situation they'd recklessly put themselves into. A couple of the others didn't really know WHAT to say to me and hung back to let their friends do the talking. But nobody wanted to talk about the subject for very long, and we all moved on to happier topics. And by the middle of the afternoon, all fourteen people in attendance wound up on that back porch in a large, amorphous "circle" occupying every available chair, couch, and flat-topped railing as three or four conversations went on at once.

The barbecue started to break up then. Beth Abelman was drunk and horny and trying to crawl into Josh Kohn's pants. Tammy Toth was drunk and horny and making innuendoes about crawling into MY pants. But Sasha's hands were already dangerously close to actually slipping into my pants while she was draped all over my side, and DJ told her blonde bimbo friend to cool it while the rest of the crowd started to clean up.

About thirty minutes later, half of the attendees were gone. Even Bert and Paige had left; Paige was driving back to Stanford and she'd given Bert a ride so he could spend the night with Lynne. The only ones remaining, besides me and Sasha of course, were Brooke, DJ, Faye, Meli, and Lexi. And that's when Meli and Lexi came over while giving me direct looks that told me they weren't just passing by.

"Hey Ben," Lexi began. Nervous, the beautiful green-eyed brunette looked like she didn't know what to do with her arms before sliding her hands up her thighs and hooking her thumbs into the front pockets of her Daisy Duke jean shorts.

Arching an eyebrow, I gave her a steady look and said, "Something tells me you're not about to say 'goodbye' as you head out."

Lexi blushed, briefly looked over at Sasha, and shook her head. "Do you have some time to talk with us?"

I chuckled, thinking of how many "talks" I'd already had in the last week alone. Since I'd done all the cooking, the froshlings had exempted me from all of the cleanup and I'd spent the last half-hour snuggled with Sasha on the couch. Removing my arm from around her waist, I stretched it into the air and sat up straight, turned to my girlfriend, and asked, "Do you mind me disappearing on you for just a minute?"

Sasha smiled and shook her head. "Not at all. Actually, the girls already asked me while you were at the grill if it would be okay to talk to you after the barbecue." She quickly leaned in to peck me on the lips, and she pulled back to stare at me with a little sizzle in her eyes, adding, "Take all the time that you need."

In hindsight, that little sizzle in Sasha's eyes should have tipped me off. But then, my cluelessness when not expecting these situations is already well-documented. I led the way upstairs to my bedroom with both Lexi and Meli in tow. Once through the door, without turning around I began saying, "If you want to apologize for what happened at Carter's, you should already know it's not your fault." Once I got to the sitting area, I started to turn around, adding, "Everything that happened was because I-- MMPH!"

My next words were cut off as Lexi's lips sealed over mine and her arms wrapped around my head. The taste of her tongue mixed with Corona Light invaded my mouth, and the sound of her inhaling sharply through her nose while pressing her face more firmly against mine filled my ears at the same time.

Just as suddenly as she'd kissed me, Lexi abruptly pulled away. I only had time to gawk at her in surprise and mutter, "Um ... okay..." before Meli jerked my head around. And for the second time in ten seconds a 19-year-old sophomore was cramming her tongue down my throat.

I was a little more ready to react when Meli let go of me and took a step back. Holding my hands up defensively to ward off any further attacks, I sputtered, "Girls, girls, hold up a minute."

Lexi shrugged and gave me an apologetic look. "You said we don't need to apologize, but we do. I do. Brooke and DJ would have listened to your warnings not to go there if I hadn't convinced them otherwise. They wouldn't have been at the party that night if it wasn't for me. YOU wouldn't have gone all overprotective-big-brother if not for them. And ultimately you wouldn't have been in a position to get shot."

I shook my head. "We're not getting into this again. Everyone who was in that house made their own conscious choices, and the only people responsible for those choices are themselves. That goes for me, too. You don't need to apologize because the fault for my actions lies with me. The person responsible for me getting shot is the guy who did the shooting, and he's dead now. I should be saying sorry to YOU, Lexi, for killing your boyfriend, and he's not the only one who wound up dead. Cameron, Elyse: I didn't save them either."

"And that's just the point," Lexi said as she slid up to me, ignored my warding arms, and wrapped hers around my waist. She pressed forward until I let her through, and she raised her arms up my back until she held me close in a firm hug, stating firmly, "DJ told me how down you've been about thinking you didn't save anyone. I want to remind you that you saved ME. I talked to Carter's girls after everything happened: Audrey, Rebecca, and Mary. They told me about getting sucked into his spiraling web of love, lies, and drug addiction. Some of them were scared to death about what they'd do with Carter gone; they're still addicted to the drugs and they're wondering who to turn to."

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, feeling the White Knight instinct to think of something to help those other girls.

But Lexi slid her hands up to my cheeks to get my attention back, and when I opened my eyes she held my gaze on hers. "But you saved ME from that future. You've tried to apologize for killing my boyfriend, but let's not forget the fact that you did me a favor. You saved me from him. You saved me from myself and my own stupid decisions."

I sighed and glanced at Meli before bringing my attention back to Lexi. "By taking advantage of you, both of you. I had sex with both of you under false pretenses, and that's an unforgivable violation."

Meli snorted. "Do you have any idea how long I've been trying to get you to fuck me again? 'Unforgivable violation' my ass."

"Yes, your ass." I opened my eyes wide at the obviousness of it.

"Nothing to apologize for," Meli insisted. "You just got done two minutes ago saying that everyone in that house made their own conscious decisions, and the only ones responsible for those choices are themselves. I made my own choice, and I don't regret it. In fact, the only thing I DO regret about it is the reason you finally gave in and fucked me."

"And me," Lexi chimed in. "We both look back at that night and realize that you didn't really WANT to fuck either of us. Like you said, you had an ulterior motive: rescuing Cameron. And while that's noble and we don't harbor any bad feelings over your deception, we both felt a little cheated by what happened."

I blinked. "'Ulterior motive', 'deception, 'cheated' ... You're not exactly making me feel like I don't have something to apologize for."

Lexi giggled and tapped my nose with her finger. "Our only regret is that the three of us didn't have sex for sex's sake. You had another purpose in being there, but that other purpose doesn't exist anymore. Right here, in this room, it's just you, me, and Meli. No drugs. No Carter on the other side of a one-way mirror. We want to make love. We want to do it right. And your girlfriend has already given us permission."

I blinked, only NOW understanding the sizzle in Sasha's eyes. "Umm ... I see..." I drawled as that realization dawned on me.

Lexi and Meli exchanged mirthful glances. Meli slid up behind me, wrapping her arms around my waist while molding herself against my back. Lexi nuzzled my nose with the tip of hers, murmuring, "No putting on a show for the sake of a show. Just pleasure because we want to."

"No funky drugs messing with our feelings and giving us artificial highs, just the famous Big Ben magic I remember from when I was still in high school," Meli added.

"I always wanted to feel you fuck the shit out of me," Lexi breathed, rubbing her lips against mine with just the faintest of touches. "But you were so gentle and soft last time. I wanna feel you really POUND me."

"And finally, Mr. 'Ale ko'u kai'," Meli growled right into my ear, "You never actually made me swallow your cum!"

I'd been getting heated up while the two gorgeous sophomores rubbed themselves against me front and back, but Meli's last comment made me pause and recall the sequence of events that transpired in Carter's Showroom. I frowned, furrowed my forehead, and raced over my memory of the evening starting with my first explosion deep within Meli's bowels, my second all over Adrienne's face while fucking her tits, and my third into Lexi's womb.

That was it, and I realized she was right. "Huh..." I mused in surprise while Meli began kissing my neck.

At the same time, Lexi slid her hands into my shorts and circled a cool hand around my rapidly rising rod. "I shiver to think of what could have happened to me had I'd stayed with Carter, and I shiver with excitement to realize I'm here with you instead. You saved me, and I want to thank you for that."

"Lexi..." I sighed in one final, insincere protest.

Sliding down to her knees, Lexi took my shorts with her and breathed on my erection. She flicked her eyes up to mine, the emerald green irises crackling with electricity. "Let me thank you," she cooed.

And then she sucked me in.

Since Lexi and Meli were both roommates and occasional lovers, I would have thought they'd be more practiced at sharing a guy. But apparently that night in Carter's Showroom with Tiffin and Adrienne was their first time doing so, and tonight their inexperience showed.

Lexi started things off by bobbing her head back and forth on my shaft while Meli reached around to unbutton my shirt. But once my shirt was off, Meli grabbed my shoulders and rotated me around so that she could kiss me, apparently forgetting that my cock was in Lexi's mouth. So of course my dong got yanked away from Lexi as Meli turned me, much to Lexi's consternation. Meli apologized and Lexi stood up to kiss me as well, but then both girls tried to grab my cock at the same time and only wound up getting in each other's way until they finally agreed on sitting me in the chair and giving me a blowjob together.

Twelve days ago the pair managed to give me a dual blowjob, but that really was the two of them taking turns sucking on my knob while the other one stroked my shaft for the express purpose of getting me hard for Lexi. This afternoon they truly gave me a "dual" blowjob, licking their way up both sides of my shaft, kissing with my cockhead between their lips, and muttering instructions to each other about tickling my balls or licking a particular spot. But the eroticism of the moment kept getting interrupted when the girls would get crossed up, bump heads, or otherwise have to stop what they were doing to giggle at their own ineptitude. Still, it was a lot of fun and their laughter did wonders for easing the tension in the room.

After a while, the girls gave up and I told them I'd lay down on my bed and they could decide which end of me they wanted to sit on. The girls ro-sham-bo'd for it, and Meli hurriedly stripped her shorts and panties off before jumping onto the bed, straddling my waist, and attempting to shove herself down around my cock. She was still freaking tight, and she had a hard time fitting me into her narrow channel, but with Lexi reaching around to diddle her clit and Meli focusing on rocking her hips to take additional fractions of an inch inside with every thrust, we finally managed to get me fully imbedded inside her.

Once we were fully enjoined, Meli stopped and closed her eyes to savor the sensations. But I remembered the first time we'd ever done this, back when she was still a 17-year-old high school student, and with a naughty grin I sat up to help her remove the dark crop top she was wearing. Smiling, Meli let me lift the fabric up and over her head, but once the material was covering her face, I stopped my movement and instead left her shirt there to blind her, trap her arms, and generally leave her helpless to resist as I bent to swirl my tongue around her erect nipple.

"Mrf!" Meli squeaked into her shirt, and her whole torso wriggled when I stiffened my tongue and used it to tickle her nipple more than pleasure it. Meli started cursing me in pidgin slang while both Lexi and I laughed, and finally I helped Meli remove her shirt so that she could see once again.

"Jerk!" Meli spat while giving me a healthy shove to my chest, pushing me flat on my back again. She followed me partway, grabbing onto my shoulders and digging into the mattress with her knees so that she could fuck her body up and down on me a few times.

"Let me in," Lexi said, now naked herself as she climbed onto the bed beside us. Meli sat up straight, which gave Lexi room to swing a leg over my head and sit her crotch down on my face. I stared up right through the valley of the brunette's nice tits to see her staring down at me with a smile, and I reached up to grab onto those mounds while she slid her pussy onto my mouth so that I could eat her.

The three of us fucked like that for a good while, figuring out our rhythm. Lexi was the first to go off, double-teamed by my cunt-licking and Meli nibbling on her neck and palming her tits from behind. While Lexi took a break, Meli rode herself to her first climax as well, and then we all repositioned.

Lexi went flat on her back and Meli straddled her face, getting eaten out while she held onto the headboard for the ride. I entered Lexi missionary-style, drilling firmly and steadily while playing around with Meli's body in front of me, which included buzzing my fingers through her anal cleft.

After Meli came and dismounted her face, Lexi reminded me that she wanted to feel me POUND her. So I threw the green-eyed brunette's legs over my shoulders, grabbed onto her ass, and did just as she asked, laying down the lumber and folding her slender body in half until she screamed in cascading orgasms and passed out while I filled her pussy to the brim with scalding hot cum.

Meli and I left Lexi unconscious and leaking sperm on the bed while she sat me back in the chair and went down on me to prep for Round 2. My fingers buzzing through her butt crack reminded her of losing her anal cherry to me, and Meli wanted to try it again now that she knew for certain that it would fit. I knew that her previous experience and lack of nervousness should make it easier this second time around. But I also knew she would no longer be tripping on the high of crystal meth, so I made sure we were both well-lubed up and took my time easing my cock up the skinny Hawaiian babe's backdoor while she shivered and groaned feeling my entry.

Twelve days ago I never actually knocked Meli unconscious. Today I actually gave her the Assfuckxiation, and the girl screamed her pretty little head off while I growled animalistically and filled her bowels. When Meli went limp and I finished sperming her ass, Lexi started clapping from her position sitting up against the headboard. She insisted that the pounding I'd already given her hadn't been as hard or as violent as the one she'd just seen me give Meli, so now SHE wanted the Assfuckxiation as well. So that's how we wound up with the girls in a sixty-nine, Meli on the bottom with a close-up view of my cock ramming in and out of Lexi's rectal cavity and tasting the sweet nectar of no less than three of Lexi's orgasms dribbling out all over her face.

In the end, Lexi screamed HER pretty little head off and passed out, slumping onto her side as consciousness left her mind. In the coming days, she would complain quite loudly that she missed out on witnessing the grand finale, using that complaint to argue that she deserved an encore performance. I had to admit, as grand finales went this one turned out pretty spectacular.

Already brought to the brink of ejaculation by Lexi's anal muscles spasming around my rod for the fourth time, I was ready to blow when she abruptly went limp and fell over to the side. That was fine, since I'd never intended to bust my nut inside her ass. Meli had already told me many, many times what she wanted, and once Lexi was out of the way it was an easy matter for me to drag Meli's body toward me until her head hung off the edge of the bed, aim my prick at her gaping mouth, and ram my entire length down her throat.

Meli groaned at my invasion, her throat muscles vibrating around my shaft. I chuckled to myself, seeing the way her neck was obscenely dented out from the inside as if I'd given her an Adam's apple. And holding myself at full depth, I grunted one last time,

"Ale ko'u kai."

Eventually Lexi woke up, and the three of us took a playful shower together while Lexi extracted a promise out of me that this wouldn't be the last time we ever fucked, on account of her missing the grand finale and all. After cleaning up, we returned downstairs to find Sasha on the couch, watching TV.

Sasha greeted us with a knowing grin, and the girls politely said 'hello' and 'thanks' for letting them borrow her boyfriend. Lexi kissed me with a reminder that I'd made a promise, and the two of them departed.

Tired and satisfied, I slumped onto the couch beside Sasha while she gave me a smirk and asked, "Have a good time?"

I shrugged, smiled back, and replied, "Yeah, I did. Thank you for letting us do that. There was a lot of ... well, 'regret' isn't the right word ... but I don't think any of the three of us felt very good about ourselves for having sex at Carter's place under those circumstances. Getting a chance to do it right, to make this our lasting memory instead ... Well at least I know -I- feel better about it."

Sasha nodded. "I'm glad."

"Still, after last night with DJ, and after this thing just now with Lexi and Meli, I don't want you to get the idea that I'm going to constantly need to have sex with all these other girls."

Sasha chuckled and shook her head. "It's okay. You don't need to apologize."

"You sure? You're my girlfriend and I don't want you feeling left out. I mean, I'm pretty tired right now, but I'm sure I could manage for you..."

Sasha snorted, already recognizing the joke, and she replied on cue in a deadpan tone, "Take my breath away why don't you."

We shared a laugh and I reached forward to hug her. She cinched herself tight against me, and I sighed while burying my nose against her neck. But as I did so, a distinctly musky aroma filled my nostrils, and curious, I took a deeper sniff. Pulling back, I held my girlfriend at arm's length and arched an eyebrow at her. "Waitaminute. Did you... ?"

Sasha blushed and grinned. "What? You thought I'd just sit around down here twiddling my thumbs while you and the froshlings were fucking up a storm upstairs? I took Brooke, DJ, and Faye into the downstairs bedroom directly beneath you guys and we made our own racket together. You probably just couldn't hear us because you were otherwise occupied."

"You ... with..." I sputtered before shaking my head ruefully. "You realize that I've never even bagged Faye?"

Sasha's eyes sparkled. "Oh, you're missing out. She's really good with her little hands." My girlfriend held up her right hand and brought all five fingertips together for emphasis.

I barked a short laugh, and shaking my head I hugged her again. "You're amazing, you know that?"

"Sure, but it's still nice to hear you say it."

"I love you, Sasha."

She sighed rapturously, and hugged me even tighter. "I love you, too."

-- FRIDAY, MAY 19, 2006, FINALS WEEK --

I felt something tickle my balls, and with a start, I jerked awake.

"Mmph!" a girl moaned and I realized I'd just shoved my dick an inch into somebody's throat. She took it like a trouper, gagging only slightly and keeping her head down, breathing heavily through her nose until I pulled back. And then she resumed rhythmically pumping my shaft in her hands and sucking on the mushroom head as if I'd never interrupted her.

My eyes fluttered for a brief second, giving me just enough time to see the bottle-blonde head bobbing up and down in my lap before my heavy eyelids closed themselves. I smiled, knowing that Andie would be looking up at me, and I was rewarded for giving her positive feedback by the sensation of her sliding my morning wood into her throat once again.

Just another morning in my ordinary life.

"Mmm..." Sasha moaned quietly in her sleep. I'd awoken in a typical position, cuddled up behind Sasha with my left arm wrapped around her. With my sexual arousal climbing with every passing second that Andie continued to fellate me, I began to fondle the naked breast I held in my palm. But all of a sudden, Sasha jolted awake, her entire body jerking upright in surprise, which simultaneously rolled me off of her.

We both looked down her body at the same time, somewhat surprised and somewhat not to find Adrienne between Sasha's legs, smirking as her tongue extended out and took a long lick up through Sasha's cleft. My girlfriend shuddered, moaned, and reached down to shove Adrienne's face a little harder against her crotch.

Meanwhile, I turned my attention to the mouth currently bobbing up and down my cock. Andie smiled around a mouthful of meat, and I reached down to caress my cutie's cheek for a job well done.

But my hand froze just an inch away. The morning fog was lifting from my brain, and only now did it hit me that although both Andie and I had certainly lost count of the number of times she'd woken me in this very fashion, she certainly hadn't done so since we'd broken up more than a week ago.

"Andie?!? What are you doing here?" I exclaimed, propping myself up on my elbows as I gawked down at her.

Without removing my dick from her mouth, my bottle-blonde cutie grinned and mumbled, "What duth it wook wike I'b doeeg?"

I rolled my eyes and sat up a little straighter, giving her an expectant look. But I made no move to stop her from what she was doing.

Finally, Andie popped off my prick and took it in her right hand, jacking the shaft while smiling up at me. "Surprise!"

"Yes, I'm surprised." Arching an eyebrow, I added, "Did you change your mind or something about breaking up?"

She shook her head. "As tempting as it would be to rejoin your harem, no. We both know it's best for me to move on. But today's a special day, one I wouldn't miss for the world."

I frowned. "Special day? What are you talking about?"

Adrienne now picked her face up out of Sasha's crotch, grinning like an idiot. "This is gonna be SO much fun."

My eyes went wide and I gave Adrienne a look of disbelief. "You're in on this, too?"

"Once a Tri-Delt, always a Tri-Delt," she replied with a smirk.

I blinked and looked back and forth between the two blondes. "Okay, somebody better explain to me what the HELL is going on!"

Adrienne grinned and nudged Andie. My little cutie beamed up at me, licked my mushroom head like a lollipop, and chirped happily, "Trust me."

BERT

"Ben's gonna kill me when I tell him."

From the driver's seat, Paige killed the engine and glanced up at me. "Why would he do that?"

"Well he's not gonna kill me. He's just gonna give me flack about it – make some sophomoric comment about premature ejaculation or something."

Paige giggled and shook her head. "So what? All that matters is that Lynne said 'yes'. Nobody's gonna care that you didn't wait until Graduation. And we both know that sophomoric comments aside, Ben's going to be super-happy for the both of you."

I took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "I know, I know. I just kinda feel bad for the guy. I mean, in so many ways he's got this incredible life that goes beyond anything I could have ever imagined. And yet at the same time, he's been through a lot since I've known him. First with Adrienne breaking up with him, the Cadence thing with rubbing it in his face, and then Dawn cheating and leaving town. This year was the whole mess with DJ and the abortion, and finally Kim and her father and all that. The guy's gotten his front teeth kicked in more times than anybody deserves, and all that has happened in the last three years alone. He's been through hell, and as much as I love Lynne and know for certain that she and Ben are nothing more than good friends, I still feel like I'm adding to his misery by taking her away from him."

Paige shook her head. "You're right: Ben and Lynne are just good friends. You're not taking her away from him. If anything, you're taking another step to ensuring that both of you will be a part of his life for a long time to come."

"I know, I know."

"Do you?"

I shrugged and replied, "Yeah."

Paige studied my eyes for a moment. "Nuh-uh. There's a little bit more than that. You're still not sure Ben's completely over Lynne."

"What are you talking about? They dated for like a month, and that was almost a year ago. He's hooked up with Sasha now, and Adrienne's back, and--"

"But you're still not sure," Paige cut me off.

I took a deep breath and sighed. "I guess I just want to see it in his eyes when I tell him. Even though he's one of my best friends in the whole world, I'm still a little scared of him."

"Scared of him?"

"I love Lynne, and I know she loves me. But the fact remains that Ben and Lynne are exes. C'mon, you know what that feels like. There will always be a bond between you and him, and even though she's already accepted my proposal, some part of me is always gonna worry just a little bit that he could work his Big Ben magic on her and steal her heart right back, you know?"

Paige stared out the windshield for a moment, lost in her thoughts as she mused over that. "I know," she replied quietly, her eyes still unfocused. But a second later she looked back at me and shook her head. "But I honestly think you don't have to worry about that. For one thing, -I- can certainly tell when Ben looks at an ex-girlfriend as just a friend, and that's the way he looks at Lynne. Beside, she could have had him, remember? But she gave him up and chose you. She agreed to marry you. At the end of the day, that's all that matters."

I took a deep breath and nodded. "I know, I know. Still, it'd be nice for ME to see it in his eyes when I tell him. I mean, he genuinely looked happy for me when I told him I was going to propose, and I didn't see any signs of jealousy in his eyes. But telling him she actually accepted is going to be a little different, you know?"

"Sure."

I sighed. "Still, I wish I was with her right now. Feels kinda wrong to be on this side of the Bay the day after we got engaged."

Paige shrugged. "Lynne's in class, and it's our last day on this campus before your graduation tomorrow. We agreed to come hang out with our friends, and that's what we're here to do, alright?" With that, she opened the driver's door and got out.

I nodded and opened my own door. Moments later, Paige and I walked up onto the front porch and I reached out and rang the doorbell.

Fifteen seconds later, the door swung inward. But instead of Ben or Sasha or even Adrienne greeting us, a familiar Italian brunette stood in the doorway, wearing a sheer lace bra that showed off her D-cup breasts with nearly-transparent matching panties that made it evident she was shaven bare beneath.

"Hey, Bert! Hey, Paige!" Jamie Miano greeted buoyantly, hopping to attention and standing perkily erect, a motion that made her round jugs jiggle enticingly.

I gawked at her boobs for a moment before dragging my gaze up to her face. Paige reacted a little more quickly than me, replying, "Hi, Jamie. Good to see you again."

Just then, two girls ran screaming past the end of the hall so fast that I couldn't identify either of them. Though they moved out of sight, I could hear their thumping footsteps as they scrambled up the stairs.

"Umm, that looks new," Paige commented as she stepped into the foyer and moved over to the wall. A familiar letter-sized frame was mounted at eye-level with a computer-printed notice held behind the glass. So I stepped up alongside Paige to read it.

ATTENTION! This house has been re-designated "Tri-Delt West". For the date of Friday, May 19, 2006 only, all sisters of the Delta Delta Delta Sorority that pass beyond this point are subject to seizure and sexual submission by Sorority Cock Ben and/or Sasha Serafian (preferably "and"). Also, Tri-Delt West has been designated a "Lingerie-only" zone for the entirety of this period. Sisters are required to remove all outerwear within the premises. Strict Laws will be enforced by the Sorority. Enter at your own risk.

Peyton Kent, President, Pi Chapter, Delta Delta Delta

Just then, a third girl went giggling past the end of the hallway, her thumping footsteps audible as she raced up the stairs. Immediately behind her, Ben was fully naked as he ran after her, growling fake monster noises and laughing as he too thumped his way up the stair treads. And finally, a fully-naked Sasha chased after them as well.

With a sigh, I turned to look at Paige. "You remember what I said about feeling bad for the guy? Please forget I ever said that. I take it back."

Paige giggled and replied with a shrug, "It looks like Ben and Sasha won't be hanging out with us today."

I nodded. "How about we go meet up with Gwen and Robin? Spend the day with them?"

"What about telling Ben about your engagement?"

I waved her off. "He can wait until the next time I see him."

"Can you wait? To read the look in his eyes when you tell him?"

I snorted. "Not so worried anymore. Ben gets all that." I waved down the hallway and stopped to slowly gesture up and down Jamie's fantastic, semi-clad body. "And all this. The least he can do is let me have one Lynne Arian, don't you think?"

Paige giggled. "Sure."

"Aww, you sure you two don't want to stick around?" Jamie pouted before giving me doe eyes, puckering her lips, and folding her arms beneath her breasts so that they were both squished together and lifted forward. She wrapped an arm around Paige's waist, tugging the petite redhead against her side with a grin before giving me an inviting smile. "You two might have some fun with us, hmm? I still remember how yummy your cum tasted, Bert."

I reached into my shirt and pulled out the silver chain I wore around my neck. Pinching my wedding ring between my thumb and forefinger, I showed it to Jamie and explained, "Just got engaged last night."

"Ohmigawd! Really?!? Congratulations!" Jamie squealed, let go of Paige, and launched herself at me, wrapping her arms around my head and inadvertently crushing my face into her cleavage.

I patted her back politely and escaped from her grip as soon as I could. With a glance at Paige, I muttered, "We should probably get going before I get tempted into cheating on my very first day as a fiancé."

Paige zoned out for a moment, ogling Jamie's cleavage. "Well ... maybe we could stick around for just a little while..."

I sighed and groaned, "Paige..."

She rolled her eyes and pouted. "Oh, poo."

Jamie's eyes sparkled. "Another time, perhaps. You're still a Junior, right, Paige?"

The redhead grinned, nodded, and stepped back. The two of us turned and walked out the door with parting 'goodbye' waves, but just as Jamie started to close the door, Adrienne ran up behind her, dressed in full costume as the Angelina Jolie dominatrix from Mr. and Mrs. Smith, complete with riding crop. Seeing us, she paused to chirp, "Hey guys. Excuse me, but I kinda need this right now."

I frowned. "Need what?"

Adrienne hooked an arm around Jamie's waist and bodily lifted the other girl off her feet. "This."

And the door slammed shut.

BEN

"Ohh ... my ... gawwwwnngghh..." Ever so slowly, Jocelyn Canilao's naked body slumped forward as all the tension in her muscles relaxed and she lowered her forehead down onto my mattress. The tightness in her shoulders slackened. Her upper body collapsed first onto her elbows before they too gave way. And her arms spread out to the sides as I gently lowered her down with my palms on her tits as handholds.

Only once Jocelyn was lying comfortably in post-orgasmic bliss did I finally extract my rock-hard erection from her sodden cunt. Sliding myself backwards, I turned and sat down on the edge of the bed with my heels perched on the frame and my arms planted behind me for support. Breathing heavily, I stared down at my traitorous cock, still hard after all this time. And with a grimace of pain, I looked over at Adrienne and said, "You know how the commercials say that if you have an erection lasting more than four hours you should see a doctor?"

Adrienne stopped her thrusting movements and shrugged. "Yeah, so?"

"Well it's getting close to 5 o'clock. That means I've had an erection for more than EIGHT hours," I groaned.

"It's not the same erection," Adrienne reasoned. "You get up, you go down, and we get you back up again."

I shook my head ruefully at my almost painfully hard prick. "Even dosed, it shouldn't still be coming up after everything we've done today."

"That's because I dosed you again at lunch."

My eyeballs popped. "Excuse me?"

Adrienne shrugged. "What? You can handle it."

I rolled my eyes and groaned again. "You remember me complaining about that kicked-in-the-balls-by-a-Pamplona-bull feeling I get the day after you guys dose me? Well I've had that feeling for two hours already."

"Stop whining and man up."

I rolled my eyes. "I still think I need a break."

"We've already taken lots of breaks: for breakfast, for lunch ... around two o'clock to rehydrate and watch The Notebook while you took a nap..."

"I'm still the only male here trying to service more than a dozen girls."

"Which is why I'm helping you out!" Adrienne pulled her strap-on dong halfway out of Whitney Arvidsson's saturated snatch and pointed at it.

"Mmm, and you do a great job, A.D.," Whitney moaned, thrusting herself back to re-impale her cunt on Adrienne's fake dick. "But it's still not Big Ben."

Nora Cavaday dropped her head down from Whitney's crotch in their sixty-nine position, her upside-down face shiny with girlcum as she looked over at me. "Nothing's ever been able to measure up to Big Ben."

"Oh, I don't know about that..." Adrienne drawled with an evil grin.

I knew that look and growled warningly, "Adrienne ... What are you up to?"

She beamed back at me. "Do I even have to say it?"

I rolled my eyes, already hearing her 'Trust Me' reverberating inside my skull. I sighed and shook my head.

"I was planning on saving my surprise for after dinner. But you're right: maybe you DO need a break a little earlier than I would have thought," Adrienne said with a shrug.

"A little 'earlier'? I've already cum twelve times today after more than eight hours of fucking."

"Not continuously," she rationalized.

I groaned and dropped flat on my back, my traitorous cock still hard and angling upward.

"Tell you what, just one more cum and I promise we won't try to get you hard again right away," Adrienne offered. "Then we'll get the girls all assembled downstairs so I can show everyone my surprise."

I sighed, figuring it was the best deal I was going to get. Yeah, I'd let the girls pretty much walk all over me and use me as a cum-spurting hose for the entire day, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy it. So with a rueful smile, I extended both arms toward her and gestured with my fingers, saying, "Bring it on."

Misa Ng suddenly landed like a frog beside me, her knees splayed out to the sides which opened up her already well-fucked pussy. "Ooh, goodie!" she chirped happily.

I groaned. One more. Surely I could manage one more, right?

But of all the girls – when I was this exhausted – why did it have to be Miss Tasmanian Devil herself for lucky thirteen?

True to her word, Adrienne didn't try to get me hard again after I squeezed out perhaps a teaspoon of cum into Misa's tight cunt. Thank goodness, because I was sore. Every step down the stairs hurt my balls, and I winced for the entire journey to the living room. Sasha fetched me an ice pack from the freezer, and I sighed in blissful relief when I sat down on the couch and pressed it to my crotch.

Tri-Delts filled the room around me. Andie snuggled up against my left side while her little sister Kirstie sat beside her. Jamie cuddled up to my right side, and Jocelyn perched on the armrest beside her. Whitney, Nora, Misa, and Tonya Brackett squeezed onto the other couch. Jayden and Jordyn Schenke, Lakhi Sharma, and Misty Madsen (yes, THAT Misty) took chairs at the dining table.

None of the girls wore very much clothing, although all of them had put something on. Six of the girls hadn't even participated since lunch, a little worn out themselves. But all of them were curious about Adrienne's surprise.

Speak of the devil, Adrienne sauntered in front of the television wearing an open gossamer pink chiffon peignoir over the same lacy lingerie ensemble she'd worn on page 9 of the latest Victoria's Secret catalog. Her golden blonde hair was messy but artfully pinned up in what I'd call a "morning after" look, and overall she looked good enough to eat, despite my bone-aching weariness.

Sasha walked up beside her wearing a hunter green robe over a black and green teddy/panties/gartered-stockings set from page 10 of the same catalog. Her lush dark hair was more elegantly styled over her shoulders and she also carried a large silver suitcase which she placed onto the coffee table before us.

"So about twenty minutes ago, Nora complained about nothing else measuring up to Big Ben," Adrienne began with the kind of smile that sold bazillions of magazines and resulted in gallons of cum being spurted into tissues and other assorted man-made receptacles. "And with him graduating tomorrow and moving away, I know you are all going to miss him – and what he can do to you – quite dearly."

"Hear, hear!" Jamie cheered. The rest of the girls tittered, and Andie cuddled herself up against my arm, whimpering sadly.

"So I wanted to give you all a parting gift before we leave. Call it 'something to remember him by'." And with a flourish, Sasha bent over, unlatched the suitcase, and opened it up.

No ... She couldn't have ... She didn't actually ... Ah, shit.

My jaw dropped to the floor as I saw – neatly packaged into slots cut into black foam – two rows of dildos. Adrienne bent over and lifted out the top layer of foam, revealing it to be a sort of tray that hid a second tray beneath it with more rows of dildos. And when Adrienne fished out one of the surprisingly lifelike objects, I felt a pit in my stomach as I recognized the specific shape. I should recognize it. After all, I looked at the damn thing nearly every day.

"You actually made copies of my penis?!?"

"Hey, it was your idea." Adrienne beamed at me.

"It was a dream."

"And you dreamed up a very good idea!"

Andie, Kirstie, Jamie, and Jocelyn had already slipped to the floor, kneeling around the coffee table. Whitney, Nora, Tonya, and Misa gathered on the other side. And the Schenkes, Lakhi, and Misty had already gotten up from the dining table, eager to see what else was in the suitcase.

Not all of the dildos were the same. Besides the color-matched silicone copy of my erection Adrienne held in her hand, there were some that apparently could be filled with hot water to simulate the heat of a real cock. Several of them were vibrators, and a couple were made of chrome-plated steel. Two or three of them were even textured in a way no real penis could hope to match. And finally, three of them were double-ended strap-ons designed to let two girls feel my cock inside them at the same time. All in all, there were twenty-four copies of my penis in that suitcase, and Adrienne told the girls that they could each take one home with them whenever they decided to go home, plus a few extra for the harem girls who weren't here.

"When the heck did you even GET a cast of my penis?" I complained.

"Last Thursday," Adrienne replied with a guilt-free smile. "While you were sleeping, so I could make it a surprise."

I gawked at her. "While I was sleeping? Okay, seriously, did you drug me? I can sleep like a log sometimes, but surely I would have woken up for that."

Adrienne smirked and shook her head, but it was Sasha who volunteered, "You were pretty out of it. You'd spent the afternoon at Kim's house and you looked absolutely drained when you got back. We fed you, fucked you, and put you to sleep. And ... well... technically we drugged you, but nothing you weren't already taking regularly; you were still on painkillers and Benadryl, remember? I figured we'd just tell you what we were doing if you woke up, but you didn't wake and the secret was too delicious to reveal before now."

I glowered at my girlfriend, my eyes promising revenge before I remembered that it was almost certainly Adrienne who'd been driving the plot. And as my blood boiled and my adrenaline spiked, I felt new energy building in my loins, never mind that I'd already ejaculated thirteen times.

"You ... are gonna pay for this," I growled, jabbing my index finger right at Adrienne.

She extended both arms toward me and gestured with her fingers, saying, "Bring it on."

But just as I got to my feet, Misty shot up and turned to me, grinning wildly. "I have GOT to know how this compares to the real thing," she announced, holding up one of the standard silicone models.

"Me, too!"

"Me, too!"

"ME, TOO!"

I suddenly found myself surrounded by horny Tri-Delts, many of whom had already spent the last several hours resting and recuperating, and were now ready and eager to go again.

Sasha gave me a rueful smile and shrugged her shoulders. "Face it, Mister. You're not going to sleep tonight until all twelve of them have gotten the chance to compare."

Fourteen girls who want to do comparison tests? After everything you've already done today? Damn, dude. You might actually suffer Death By Fucking tonight.

Exhaling slowly, I rubbed my face with both hands and resigned myself to my fate. But first, I fixed Adrienne with a withering glare and growled, "We are NOT naming them 'Ben Junior'."

-- SATURDAY, MAY 20, 2006, COMMENCEMENT DAY --

I came awake before my eyes opened, and despite an instinctive attempt to raise my eyelids, for now they didn't rise. Through the translucent patches of skin covering my vision, I was aware of illumination around me. But it wasn't so intense as to make me shy away from it.

The last time I felt like this, I'd been rising from a ten-day coma. True, that coma wasn't real, but after the day I'd just had, I wouldn't have been terribly surprised to learn that it was now June and I was only now waking up from another coma.

I wasn't spooned up behind anybody. I held no warm, round breasts in my hands. I lay flat on my back, every ounce of flesh on my body feeling like it weighed a hundred pounds which pinned my skeleton to the mattress and promised to never let me arise.

"Urrrrgggghhhh..." I groaned, my head thick and my mouth feeling like cotton. I couldn't move my arms, couldn't move my legs, and even if I could, the very idea of attempting to move a limb made me feel even more tired.

"Nnngh ... Ohh ... Fuckme ... Fuckme..." a voice whimpered just to my left.

"Ugh-ugh-ugh..." a second voice grunted, rhythmically matching the whimpered "fuckme"s.

The voices were familiar, but muffled, as if my ears were trapped beneath the same force field that pinned me to the bed. But after what felt like an eon of slowly regaining consciousness, I managed to pry my eyelids open and turn my head to identify the voices.

Not unexpectedly, I found Sasha and Adrienne fucking each other on my bed. Sasha was flat on her back, folded nearly in half with her legs hooked over Adrienne's shoulders while the golden blonde supermodel pounded away at her pussy. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out the girls were using one of the new double-ended 'Big Ben' strap-ons, and from the sounds they were making it was clear they were enjoying themselves quite a bit.

Taking a deep breath despite the immense weight on my chest, I inhaled and let out a long, slow exhalation. The girls noticed I was awake, and briefly paused their fucking so that Sasha could reach out with one hand and stroke my arm.

"Hey there, Sleeping Beauty," my girlfriend greeted tenderly.

I groaned and shook my head. "Prince Phillip. THAT'S Sleeping Beauty," I replied, gesturing feebly at Adrienne.

"So who does that make me?" Sasha frowned.

"Um, Belle? She's the only brunette I can think of," Adrienne offered.

"Which would actually make you 'The Beast'," Sasha giggled.

I groaned, shook my head again, and turned my face away from them.

From behind me, the sounds of kissing and murmured endearments reached my ears. Moments later, I turned back to find Adrienne unbuckling the double-ended strap-on and sitting back on her heels. She shivered as she slowly extracted the life-size version of my cock from her own pussy.

"There was something else about my dream I remembered," I said, gesturing to the device. "Please tell me you haven't mailed those things off to my family."

Adrienne snorted and shook her head. "Of course not. Don't be ridiculous."

I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Why would I mail them when they're all coming HERE today? I'll give them theirs after the commencement ceremony. Suitcases are downstairs in my bedroom. All the girls are getting a full set of each type."

I blinked and shot upright, weighted-flesh be damned. "Oh, no-no-no-no-no."

Adrienne giggled. "Why not? You seriously thought I'd give these out to all the Tri-Delts but not your own sisters? Let's get real here."

I put my face in my hands. "And the Evanses, too?"

"Of course. Even Dawn's getting a set, if she wants it. If not, I'll leave hers with Deanna ... and we'll see what Mama Evans does then."

I pressed my palms even tighter into my eye sockets and muttered, "Just please tell me you're not--"

"Yes, even the twins are each getting a set," Adrienne drawled. "They're sexually active and like sixteen-and-a-half. You remember what WE were doing at sixteen? They're plenty old enough to have toys."

"Perhaps, but they don't have to play with MY penis."

"Are you kidding me? They'll LOVE these. Make 'em feel 'squishy' inside."

Already I had vivid memories of pumping my cock in and out of Misty Madsen, only to slide over a couple of feet before pumping my cock in and out of Jayden Schenke ... and then in and out of Jordyn ... and then in and out of Nora ... and Whitney and Jamie and Andie and ... well you get the picture. Each time, my actual penis was both preceded and followed by one of the assorted replicas, with the girls vocally comparing and contrasting the various sensations as if they were wine tasting or something.

And the idea of my sisters and the Evans girls doing the same? Of Emma shyly asking for the real thing so she could compare me with her new toys?

"Oh, I'm going to hell," I groaned and flopped onto my back again, this time pulling the blankets up and over my face.

Adrienne giggled. "Happy Graduation Day."

Several hours later, I found myself milling about backstage at the Hearst Greek Theatre with the rest of my graduating classmates, at least those from the Undergraduate Business Major. UC Berkeley was a large enough university that having ALL of its graduates participate in a single ceremony was outright impossible, so instead the school held a morning convocation followed by multiple department ceremonies held all over the campus at different times.

Sasha and I had opted to not even bother attending the campus-wide convocation. Sure, it was a momentous occasion to be graduating, but rather than be trapped for several hours while stuffy old people talked and talked and talked, we'd rather stay home and recuperate from Friday's activities. Sasha had no family to come see her anyway, and I'd already attended Brandi's convocation two years earlier and knew how much of a waste of time it could be. But we still wanted to walk across stage and get our diplomas with our department, and so we stood together with Bert and Casey and the rest of my fellow graduating Undergraduate Business Program classmates, making small talk and killing time until the ceremony was ready to start.

Holding Bert's new wedding ring between my thumb and forefinger, I scrutinized the platinum band and shook my head wryly before letting it fall back on its chain against his chest. "Congratulations, man. Lynne deserves a good guy like you. I'm only sorry I didn't get to tell you that yesterday."

"Thanks, and don't worry about it," he told me with a bit of a twinkle in his eye. "Gave me the opportunity to meet up with some other old friends I haven't seen in a while."

I nodded. "When do Gwen and Robin have their ceremonies? You think we'll have time to get there?"

Bert nodded. "Gwen's is after this one right here and Robin's isn't until 5pm."

I nodded. "Cool, cool."

Bert gave me a strange look. "You've barely seen either of them all year and you want to go to their ceremonies?"

I shrugged. "Sure. I know we drifted apart with the Dawn-thing this past year, but they were still my friends for a long time. Least I can do is say 'congratulations' and 'goodbye'."

Sasha nodded. "Rod has the same major as Robin. I'd like to be there, too."

Bert grinned. "Well alright then." But moments later, his eyes went wide as his gaze darted behind me.

That was all the warning I had before my head was abruptly jerked around, and I found myself being passionately kissed by a beautiful blonde. Peyton Kent's tongue speared its way into my mouth and her right leg slid up to hook around my waist, but the slick material of our graduation gowns didn't let her leg find purchase, and in the end she had to settle for wrapping her arms around my neck while we continued making out right there amidst a sea of my classmates.

It felt so good that I didn't care who saw, and I had no intention of stopping. But after a while, I noticed Sasha reach over and tap Peyton on the shoulder until the dirty-blonde Tri-Delt President finally pulled her mouth away from mine.

Sasha smirked at us and folded her arms across her chest. "Good thing Ben doesn't have a jealous girlfriend, huh?"

Peyton smiled and promptly planted a kiss every bit as juicy right on Sasha while my girlfriend gleefully wrapped her arms around Peyton's head and kissed right back.

That got more than a few whistles from the crowd, most of whom still remembered the buttoned-up, reserved young woman Sasha used to be.

Eventually, Peyton and Sasha separated, with both girls sighing and pulling strands of hair over their ears. Peyton licked her lips and flashed a wink at Sasha, saying, "I'd love to keep doing that, but I did actually come over here to see him." She jerked a thumb back at me. "Do you mind if I borrow your boyfriend for a bit?"

"Not at all, go ahead." Sasha gestured for us to go.

"Thanks. Oh, and in case I don't run into A.D. later on, tell her I said 'thanks' for the presents. My girls are definitely putting them to good use."

Sasha giggled and I blushed pink. Peyton took my hand and tugged me away, and as we left I heard Bert asking Sasha, "What was that about 'presents'?"

Complete privacy was an impossibility with so many students crammed into the back area of the theatre, save for going outside. But there wasn't that much time before my ceremony and I didn't want to miss it, so we didn't go very far. I spotted an out-of-the-way alcove that would give us at least a little bit of isolation, and I led Peyton in that direction.

Once there, I turned and Peyton pressed herself into my arms again. We kissed just as fervently as before, and not for the first time I wondered where we might have gone on the path toward a relationship had other factors not intervened in my life.

Eventually, Peyton sighed and dropped back down onto her heels, her eyes closed as she savored the feelings of that last kiss. Eventually she blinked and those brilliant green irises beamed back at me.

"So what's up?" I asked. "Why the sudden arrival right before I go onstage?"

"Well I actually can't stick around for your ceremony," she apologized. "Natalee's commencement is at the same time just around the corner, and I'm going to see that. And I've been so slammed this whole week with Finals and Sorority business and handing things over to next year's executive staff and all, plus I actually went to the convocation this morning, so this is the first chance I've really had to get away."

I shrugged. "It's okay. I didn't expect to see you and I'm glad you made the time to come here now."

"I had to see you before we went our separate ways. My family is in town and I'm sure yours is too, so we might not get another chance. But really this'll be short. I just had to say 'thank you'. For everything."

I shrugged. "No biggie."

"YES biggie. You heard the news, right?"

"That some of Rutledge's ex-students came forward and now he's facing criminal charges? Yeah, I heard. But I thought that stuff wouldn't affect you at all."

Peyton shrugged. "It won't, but that's not the point. The bastard's going to jail, and it's because of you."

I held my hands up. "I hardly did a thing. It was all Samantha and Casey and you. If anything, you should head over there and thank Casey more than me."

"But you got everything started. You gave me the confidence – no, you dragged me into taking action that I don't think I could have done on my own. I still can't assure myself 100% that I wouldn't have given him what he wanted to save my own skin, and I know for sure I wouldn't have launched an investigation all by myself."

"Oh, I think Miss Tri-Delt President would have been just fine taking action if you'd suspected foul play like I did. I know you."

"Maybe you don't know me as well as you think you do," she replied, looking a little haunted. "And I barely know you. It's been less than two months since I showed up at your house the night I put up the 'Lingerie-only' Charter, and yet you've changed my life in so many ways. But bottom line: I don't graduate today if it wasn't for you, so thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you."

I smiled. "It was my pleasure."

"And mine," Peyton crooned, pressing herself into my chest again and just barely grazing her lips against mine. She sighed, adding, "I've been so busy I haven't gotten properly laid since leaving your house, not counting those toys you sent the girls home with."

I smirked while she giggled and finally kissed me again.

"And I'm not going to be able to, now that my family is here," she grumped as well.

"Sorry."

"Not your fault." She sighed once more and leaned forward, pressing her forehead to my chin. "And even if I never get to feel another Big Ben Experience for the rest of my life, I'll always remember the lengths you went to for a girl you didn't really know, a girl who'd even been pretty cold towards you for the past few years."

Taking a deep breath, I hugged Peyton a little closer to me before reaching for her face and tilting it back. Looking into her eyes, I frowned and said, "Don't hate me, but I didn't do it entirely for you."

Peyton looked back at me, shrugged, and replied, "I know. I've always known taking down McDouche was personal for you, but that still doesn't change the fact that -I- get to graduate, and that I didn't have to fuck a slimy bastard to do it."

I arched an eyebrow and smiled. "'McDouche'?"

She thumped my chest. "You called him that when we got home the night we got him fired. It kinda stuck with me. But the point is that I already figured he must've done something like that to your ex-girlfriend, to Dawn. If not her, then someone else close to you, because there were no other rational explanations for why you'd be so driven to see him go down in flames."

Pursing my lips, I took a deep breath and picked my head up to stare off into the distance over the heads of my assembled classmates. "Yeah, it was Dawn," I replied thickly. "I don't have any proof that he messed with her grades, but I know deep in my heart that he did. She didn't sleep with him, and I can't even say for sure that we'd still be together if he hadn't done what he'd done. But I know that what he did to her played some part in our break-up, and for that alone I had to get my revenge."

Peyton too was staring off into the distance behind me, but after a moment she blinked, squeezed me tight, and gave me a serious look. "Does she even know what you did for her?"

I snorted and shook my head. "No, actually; she's been out of town. She came by after the shooting and all," I explained, miming over the right side of my head where the bandages were off but my graduation cap covered the scar.

"But you didn't tell her?"

"No. Not sure why, actually. I thought about it for a long time, about what I'd say to her when I finally saw her. But in the end it sort of didn't come up. What we had to say to each other had a lot more to do with putting the past behind us, with putting our mistakes and failures in the rear-view mirror and moving forward, you know? And in a way, I think I did it more for ME than I did for her. To have that feeling at the end of the day like I did something to fight for our old relationship, after standing by watching helplessly as it fell apart right before my eyes."

"But you are going to tell her someday, aren't you?" A hint of a smirk spread into Peyton's expression.

I nodded. "Of course, of course. She deserves to know that all those feelings of failing, the frustration of trying to swim to the surface of an ocean that kept rising higher and higher and higher no matter how hard she kicked, that it wasn't her fault. And I will tell her the next time I see her, I just don't know when that'll be."

Peyton smirked at me, and rather pointedly moved her gaze past my right shoulder. "How about right now?"

Frowning, I turned my head to follow Peyton's gaze. And standing right behind me with a bashful smile and her hands clasped together in front of her legs...

... was Dawn.

"Holy shit, did you two plan this?" I squawked, my face flopping back and forth between the blondes to either side of me.

Peyton's hands went up immediately. "Nothing planned, I swear. But she walked into the room about a minute ago while you were explaining about not having any proof."

I narrowed my eyes and scrutinized her for a moment, as if I could pull off my Mom's 'Lie Detector 3000' look and get Peyton to admit it was a set-up. But Peyton didn't cave, and I finally turned back to Dawn.

"Hey there," she began a little nervously. "Talking about me, it sounds like?"

"How much of that did you hear?" I asked without a greeting.

Dawn pursed her lips for a moment before replying, "Just the last bit, about swimming to the surface of an ocean and you telling me something the next time you saw me. So ... What did you want to tell me?"

I looked back at Peyton, who raised her eyebrows and gave me a silent but obvious gesture with both hands to tell Dawn. So with a sigh, I shrugged and explained, "About Henry Rutledge getting fired."

Dawn blinked and furrowed her forehead. "Oh, I already knew about that."

I gawked at her. "You did?"

"Gwen told me. Sent me an email with a photo she said got posted onto the 'Net of him with his pants down in his office." Dawn glanced at Peyton briefly, clearly unsure of how much this total stranger knew about her situation, so she added only, "Gwen knows what happened."

I frowned and asked, "Did Gwen tell you about my involvement?"

Dawn blinked. "Your involvement? What?"

I took a deep breath and was still trying to figure out how to explain everything when Peyton slid an arm around my waist and hugged me again. I looked down at her, and she got up on her tip-toes to peck my lips. "I gotta get over to Natalee's ceremony. But in case I don't see you again, I just wanted to say 'thank you' one more time, alright? I know you've got more than enough female complications to deal with, and plenty of women to keep you occupied. But you have my phone number and if you ever need to use it, do so. I can never repay you enough for what you've done for me." And she kissed me again, this time much more than just a peck.

It took a long time for Peyton to remove her lips from mine, and I wasn't in a terrible hurry for her to do so. But in the end, she pulled back, gave me the briefest of lip caresses with her own, and murmured, "See you on the flip side." And then she turned away.

Dawn was waiting patiently for us. She gave Peyton a sheepish shrug and a smile as the Tri-Delt President strutted away without a hint of bashfulness for what had just taken place. But when Peyton was gone, Dawn turned back to me and commented, "She's really pretty."

I shrugged and said, "Wasn't expecting you to come back so soon."

Dawn gave me a 'well, duh' look and replied, "It's Graduation. Of course I came back. Not just for you, but for Gwen and Robin and Bert and all my other friends."

I nodded. "But how did you get in here? Only Graduates are supposed to be allowed backstage. It would have been easy for Peyton to get in since she's wearing a cap and gown, but you're in street clothes."

Dawn grinned. "Viktoriya saw me. Called for me to come through and pointed me straight to you."

"Ah." I took a deep breath and looked around. The hour was getting late and it was close to showtime. Already I could see teachers and other staff getting the students lined up in alphabetical order. "We don't have much time."

Dawn noticed and nodded. "I'll wait and see you after the ceremony, but first: Can you tell me what you meant about 'your involvement'? And who was that girl?"

I chuckled. "Well this wasn't how I'd planned on telling you, but the short answer is: That was Peyton Kent. She's the Tri-Delt President, an Econ major who enrolled in Rutledge's Corporate Finance course this semester. We figured out he was artificially lowering her grades for the express purpose of forcing her to have sex with him in order to graduate. In the end we got a confession on tape, she never had to put out for him, and Peyton took that picture of Rutledge herself. The guy was pretty much gone by morning."

Now it was Dawn's turn to gawk. Her jaw had dropped, and she blinked at me several times. "You did that?"

I shrugged. "I barely did anything, really. I kinda started the process, but there were other people involved who really did all the work."

Dawn blinked at me repeatedly. "But YOU got him fired?"

I waggled my head uncertainly before sighing and saying, "Well ... I'm really not trying to take the credit--"

Dawn was suddenly wrapped around my body, her arms gripping me so fiercely I started to wonder not if she'd let me go before I needed to walk across stage, but if she'd let go before I suffocated to death.

When I stopped to think of it, getting hugged to death by my Dawn wasn't such a bad way to die.

But well before we got to that point, Professor Isakova tapped Dawn's shoulder and gestured toward the line of students. "My apologies. But time is up."

Dawn let go of me immediately, and she even reached up to adjust my graduation cap while I took deep breaths of air. Professor Isakova likewise adjusted her professorial robes and stood up straight, bidding Dawn, "Good afternoon, Miss Evans. We will see you after the ceremony. Benjamin, time to go."

I nodded and started walking where Viktoriya pointed. But I did glance back just once, to see Dawn hugging herself with tears in her eyes...

... and a happy smile on her face.

I don't remember much of my own graduation ceremony. A couple of others since then have told me their memories of certain special events – like weddings, graduations, and the birth of their children – are fuzzy due to being swept away by the emotion of the event. But I didn't get swept away by the emotions of getting my degree. Fuck, I couldn't really care less about walking across that stage, shaking some old guy's hand, and getting a fake diploma of rolled-up/ribbon-tied blank paper. The whole thing was a photo-op for my dad with the super-zoom lens, but while I went through the motions like everyone else, my mind was a million miles away.

Scratch that: My mind was a couple hundred feet away, to wherever Dawn Evans happened to be in that amphitheatre.

I could have skipped the walk across the stage and nothing would have really changed. My real diploma and final transcript would still get mailed to me in the next few days. My academic career had ended with my last Final, and the rest was ceremony for the sake of ceremony.

But the smile on Dawn's face, and the way she'd hugged me ... well ... I'd thought I'd gotten some closure with her when she came to talk to me last August before driving off to Morris Camp. I'd thought I'd gotten better closure with her last Wednesday when she'd visited to wish me well after I'd gotten shot. But this was different.

We'd barely spoken for two minutes, but something between us had changed with the revelation that I had started the process that led to Rutledge's downfall. I knew it. I felt it. And even though I still knew both in my heart and in my head that there were hundreds of things to regret, things I could have done differently that might have saved our relationship before it died, at least now I could point to ONE thing and tell myself I'd accomplished something ... for her.

And she KNEW it.

If you feel so damn good right now, why the fuck didn't you tell her SOONER?

Because I'm a moron.

Damn straight. Just like waiting all that time to give Kim the collar. THAT felt good when she put it on, didn't it?

I know, I know.

You SAY you know. But I'm still gonna have to remind you of this the NEXT time you pussy out and sit on your hands with indecision instead of taking action.

Please do. Seriously, PLEASE DO. Live and learn, right? If you promise to remind me, I promise I'll listen.

Deal.

The next thing I knew, I was getting mob-hugged by an overabundance of "sisters": blood-related, legally-warded, and plain "understood to be sisters" Evans girls. I also found that Peyton wasn't the only Tri-Delt at the Greek Amphitheatre, as no less than six harem girls had shown up to witness my ceremony. And technically they were "sisters" too, right?

My parents were a little more chaste in their congratulations. They'd already congratulated me this morning, actually, when they came to the house before lunch. So had the Evanses – without Dawn – which was why I'd been so surprised by her sudden appearance, although they explained that she'd only left Morris Camp this morning and had just arrived.

Bert found us, with his family and Lynne and Paige in tow. The girls all went nuts for Lynne and I'm surprised her fourth finger didn't get fractured the way everyone grabbed at it while they swooned over the engagement ring.

Sasha wasn't around, but after a little hunting I found her with Rod and his family. They'd come to see her ceremony and congratulate her, as proud as if she'd been their own daughter. Sasha introduced me to Rod's family as her new boyfriend. Rod's father squeezed my hand a little extra-hard at that, but he grinned and patted me on the back. I also shook hands with Rod and his little brother Kit. But Rod's new girlfriend, a cute, petite blonde, avoided eye contact with me entirely. Better that way for everyone, I figured. In the end, Sasha hugged each one of them, thanked them for coming, and kissed Kit on the cheek. And she left with me to return to my family.

On the way back, we saw Casey McCahill with Carolyn and Chevelle. The girls collectively blew me kisses and/or waved with teasing winks. Sasha and I waved back and moved on.

And that's when I got quite the pleasant surprise, something that momentarily made me feel bad for Lynne. One minute, all of the girls around were fawning over her new ring and going on and on asking her questions about how Bert popped the question and when the wedding would be and what colors she was thinking of and blah, blah-blah, blah-blah ... The next minute, she was virtually ignored.

Because everyone was fawning over 20-weeks-pregnant Kim.

Dawn had both hands on Kim's belly, which was rounded enough on her slender figure to make her "condition" quite obvious. Dawn smiled in delight while they talked about something I couldn't hear. Dayna giggled something and stood next to Dawn with both arms around her sister, rocking Dawn side-to-side and hopping up and down in her excitement. Brooke, DJ, and the twins chittered animatedly at light-speed while pointing and gesturing. And I watched Brandi drop to her knees and reach up with both hands to gently caress Kim's belly as well.

I knew immediately that Kim could not have come alone, so I scanned the crowd and quickly spotted Kim's father. He was with the other four parental units, talking about something or other.

Mike Fukuzaki spotted me, and he came over while extending a fist for me to bump. I bumped him and said, "Hey, glad you guys could make it."

He shrugged and thumbed back at his sister. "Kim insisted. Put her foot down and told Dad we were coming to the ceremony. Dad was so surprised he didn't even resist."

Adrienne, who had one arm looped through Mike's, added, "But he did have something to say when Kim tried to wear her new collar."

Mike glanced at Adrienne, hedging, "I didn't say she actually tried to wear it. She just mentioned it and Dad sorta grumped and that was the end of that. Still, she's here, and that's a big deal in and of itself."

I grinned and replied, "I'll say." And then I pushed my way through the crowd to get to the mother of my son.

Brandi had stood back up by the time I arrived, and she glanced at me for a moment and immediately stepped aside when I gently nudged her with a hand on her hip. Kim turned, gave me a coy smile, and opened her arms in response to my invitation for a hug.

I held her, she kissed me, and I placed her head against my chest while wrapping her up tightly in my arms. Neither of us even said a thing. We didn't have to.

Best. Graduation. Ever.