He either was the nicest guy in the world despite most thinking otherwise. Or he was the biggest fool in the world. He couldn't quite decide which was true. Not really, he knew he wasn't a fool, but Christ was this not pressuring her thing starting to wear on him.

Now that she'd been to his house she started coming more often. That was great. He loved having her there and their time together there was always better than a date out somewhere. He didn't want to push and she never seemed to take the incentive to move them past him touching her without a shirt or bra on.

He was, however, on the verge of getting upset with her for the first time since they'd been seeing each other. She hadn't done anything up until now to warrant him getting angry.

"I'm sorry, you're what?"

"Brenda and I are going to prom together. I mean, by ourselves, but together."

"Why would you do that?"

"Come on, Erik, you don't really want to go to my senior prom."

"Why not exactly?"

"Because you're like twenty-five."

"Yeah, so? I thought you said all it took was your dad signing some permission slip or something with Mike."

"Well, yeah, he would've I'm sure."

"I see, but I'm not quite the catch Mike is so why should your dad sign off on something like that for a mechanic. Is that about right?"

"What? No, you're being ridiculous. I didn't even ask him. I didn't with Mike either, I just assumed he would because he'd know I wanted to go."

"And you're daddy's little girl, right? He can't say no to you."

"Something like that, yeah."

"So, what's the problem?"

"I honestly didn't think you'd want to go. I bought the tickets back in February and Brenda paid me for the one."

"You bought a dress and everything?"

"Well, sure."

"So, you're going to get all dressed up in your fancy dress, get your hair done, and go with your best friend?"

"Yes."

"And there are presumably going to be guys there going stag as well, right?"

"Yes, I would guess so. I don't know. I didn't go last year."

"One of them asks you to dance you'd what?"

"I don't know."

He never knew he had a jealous bone in his body until that moment.

"You'd say yes."

"It's just a dance."

"Yeah, with some guy who won't know about me."

"Well, probably not. I don't know. I mean, there are a lot of guys in my class, it could be anybody. That's assuming any one of them is going alone, Erik."

"Oh, they will, hoping to latch on to a chick desperate."

"Well, that rules me out, I'm not desperate."

"I don’t exactly see you going out of your way to bring me around either."

"You've had dinner with my parents."

"Not the same thing. Other than Brenda, I've met Mike and whatever his friend's name is. That's it. None of your other friends."

"I don't have a lot of friends, Erik. I'm not Miss Popular. Brenda is my best friend and I have a few others that I talk to, but they're not really as important."

"They aren't? Or I'm not?"

"What are you talking about?"

"I offer to take you swimming, you come up with a pool away from Oak Park."

"Sure because I could take the train to meet you."

"I don't recall ever once hearing me complain about driving to see you. I've offered to pick you up from school a couple of times when it's slow at work."

"Well, no, I guess you haven't, but I try to be considerate. I'm certainly not going to tell you to close your garage for me."

"Sometimes I wonder."

"What's to wonder?"

He shrugged. "When I met you, you weren't even going to go to college. Now you are. Maybe those aren't the only changes you see coming for yourself."

"You drove me out there to show me how close it was. You found a car for me so that I can come see you. My dad let you pick a car out for me. Do you have any idea how big of a deal that was to him? He trusts you, Erik."

"Maybe I don't want him to."

"Why not?"

"Maybe I want him to wonder about what we're doing on prom night."

She frowned. "What are you saying?"

"You didn't even ask if I wanted to take you."

"You never said you wanted to."

"Because I was waiting for you to ask me, Chris. Your school, your prom, not really my place to invite myself. Seems you'd rather dance with a virtual stranger than me all night."

"No, that's not it at all. I wanted to ask you, but I thought about it and realized how utterly ridiculous it would seem to you."

"But it's important to you."

"Well, sure, but…"

"Then I'd do it."

She glanced at her feet then.

"Brenda doesn't have anyone to take her, Erik."

He paused at that revelation. "Really? No one?"

"No," Chris said. "I thought about it, asking you I mean, but I realized she deserved a prom night, too, even if it's with me."

"But why is it up to you to give up what you want?"

"That's what best friends do for one another. Like I said, I thought about it, hard before I offered her the ticket. I'd love to go with you, I bet you look gorgeous in a tuxedo, and I hate that I won't find out. I also know that if I went with you I'd spend the whole night worrying whether you were having an awful time. I'd rather spend all day Saturday with you. I was going to ask if you wanted to go to Great America or something."

"I'd love to go to Great America with you, but I don't get to see you in the dress, though."

She laughed lightly. "It's not that big of a deal."

"To you," he said, gathering her to him. "I want to see my best girl in a gown."

"Well, maybe you could come to the house beforehand."

"I don’t think I'd handle that well, seeing you before you go off to where other guys are going to hit on you. It's probably best I stay away. Maybe you could come see me afterward."

She scrunched her nose a little, but she didn't say no.

He lowered his mouth to hers for a kiss, lips parting at the same time as he deepened it. He pressed her into the wall she was standing in front of. She had barely gotten in his door when they started their discussion. She must have known he was going to get upset. He didn't care about prom; he just cared about seeing her and other guys thinking she was single.

He made quick riddance of her shirt and bra. It'd been pushing ninety today so he'd shed his hours ago. He was long past the point of putting one on just because she came over. She certainly didn't mind looking at him shirtless and she was getting much, much better at touching him.

Like right now her hands were skimming his chest and arms, nails running along his shoulders a little as well. His hand was cupping her breast, his thumb sliding along her peak lightly. Even kissing him she made the sexiest sounds when he touched her like this.

Her hand slid lower along his torso and he stopped breathing for a minute when she slid her fingertips inside the waist of his jeans.

"Chris," he murmured against her lip.

"Uh huh."

"You probably don't want to do that right now."

She gasped softly as he kissed her neck, lower to her shoulder and the spot on her there he loved to leave marks on. So close to being visible but not quite. She said one of her friends had seen one by accident one day when she'd leaned forward to grab something from her purse. It had turned him on some kind of crazy for whatever reason.

Fingernails were running along his skin there, so close to things he should be telling her to stay away from. She showed no signs of stopping.

"Chris," he said again.

She reached with her other hand, finding the front of his jeans and unfastening them.

He stilled her hand before she could reach inside of his jeans. He had to, as much as it pained him.

"Chris. This isn't some sort of apology for our argument is it?"

"No," she murmured.

"You're sure?"

"Positive."

"Why?" he asked. He had to know.

"Because I want you to feel good."

"I do, honey, I do."

"Well, yeah, but just touching me…"

"Is fine for now if that's what needs to be done."

She moved her hand under his. He was stronger so could have prevented her if he wanted, but he was a little curious to see just how far she'd take this. She'd been over yesterday and had barely touched his chest at all so it was a bit surprising. Her fingertips slid lower into his jeans as he went back to kissing her shoulder. He groaned softly when her fingertips grazed his shaft. Her hand withdrew a bit and he was immensely surprised when she touched him again. On purpose this time.

"Can I…"

"You can do whatever you want to do, Chris," he said quickly. "There's nothing wrong you could do, I promise you."

She giggled softly and he realized that there certainly were things she could do that were wrong when it came to that part of his anatomy. She wasn't a hurtful bitch, though, so he wasn't worried.

She grew bolder, running her fingers along his shaft until she came into contact with his head. She slid a fingertip along it. He hissed softly as she grazed the tip and the opening there.

"Did you?" she asked.

"No, not yet. It's not quite that easy," he said with a chuckle. "Though I don't know with you it might be that easy so I guess I shouldn't presume, but no. It just happens. Lubrication and, uh, well, to reduce any acid left from a guy having used the bathroom so the little swimmers can survive when they do come out. I guess they don't last too long in that type of environment."

"Oh," she said. "There'd be more?"

"Uh huh," he said, nipping at her shoulder and the mark there.

"A lot more?"

"Today? Yes."

"Why today?"

"Because it's been a very, very long time."

"Really?"

He frowned at that, regarding her. "Why does that surprise you? I've been seeing you for over two months."

"Yeah, but I was seeing someone else for a month."

"You weren't having sex with him."

"Well, no…"

"Sweetheart, a gorgeous woman shows interest in me I'm not going to fuck it up by letting that part of me control my actions. I knew I wanted to go out with you. I certainly wouldn't have sex with someone else if for no other reason you would have gotten mad. I kind of figured he and I would've had the right to do with someone else what you were willing to do with us, nothing more. So, that would've consisted of dates, which I didn't do much of before inviting you to pizza."

"But what about…"

"What about what?"

She shook her head, blushing terribly, which he loved when that happened.

"Never mind."

"No, no. You wanted to know something. What were you asking?"

"Well, you don't have to have sex for that to happen."

"You asking me if I've jacked off in the last couple of months?"

"Uh yeah."

"Not in a while, no, I can't say it's been longer than months I guess I don't keep track. It's been a while, though, I know that."

"Why? I thought…"

"You thought you turned me on?"

"Yes!"

"You do."

"Then why wouldn't you?"

"Because I'd like the first time I achieve that with you to actually be with you not just thinking about you."

"Oh," she said. "Am I doing it right?"

"Uh huh," he said. "There's not really a wrong way. You're touching me, it feels good so it's right."

He chuckled a little as he watched her watching her hand. She wasn't shy about using her thumb to spread the lubrication around his head and shaft. She kissed his chest, which she'd never done before. He didn't dare touch her back, too afraid she'd stop and Christ but he didn't want her to stop what she was doing at all.

He didn't finish from hand jobs easily, but there was something about the fact she was giving him one that made him think he might just achieve that pretty quickly. He groaned when she used her free hand to push his jeans down a little further along his hips. His boxers soon followed and he sprang free. She was still watching so she wasn't shocked or put off by it.

She found one of his nipples then, kissing and sucking on it before she moved a little to the side of it. She kissed and sucked there, too, leaving him a mark of his own while her free hand reached lower to the base of his shaft and his sac, cupping him. A fingertip grazed along the crevice there, inadvertent or not that was his undoing.

Her hand and her stomach bared the brunt of it. There was some on his stomach, too, but not nearly as much. She was still sucking on the same spot on his chest. Evidently she wanted to be sure it was good and dark so it'd show easily despite how dark he was currently.

She didn't stop touching him either, though it was different now. She ran her fingertips along his shaft, still seemingly curious at the feel of him. Her other hand she used those fingertips to slide through the evidence he'd left on her of just how long it'd been since he'd done that.

"I'll get you a cloth," he murmured.

She didn't stop anything she was doing, though, with her mouth or her hands. Obviously she didn't want him to do that just then so he stayed where he was. No hardship because what she was doing felt good. And then she stopped sucking on his chest, drawing away slowly. She raised a finger from her stomach to her lips and licked the tip of it.

He watched her do it a second time rather entranced with what she was doing. No one had ever done that before. Sure, he'd had girls swallow while going down on him, but not deliberately seek out tasting him as she was.

He cleared his throat then not really sure what to say after that.

"That was unexpectedly nice," he said.

"It was," she agreed. "Am I supposed to…"

"Supposed to what?"

She blushed again, which was really arousing considering she was currently running a fingertip coated with evidence of his climax along her lips very suggestively.

"Get excited by that?"

"Why wouldn't you?"

"I don't know. I told you this was all new to me."

"Well, I'd hope you enjoy doing that and it would arouse you, sure. I get aroused doing things to you."

"Yeah, but you know what to expect."

"And you think because you don't it shouldn't turn you on? Obviously, your body doesn't care what you've experienced before it knows what it likes."

"It does, huh?"

"Yes, and obviously it's me."

"Obviously."

He pulled his jeans up but didn't fasten them and grabbed her hand, leading her upstairs.

"Erik," she said, sounding panicked.

"Relax," he said with a chuckle.

She followed him as he led them to his bathroom. It was one of the rooms in the house he loved because he'd taken a lot of effort to renovate it when he'd converted the upstairs back to a second floor rather than an apartment. There'd been a linen closet in the hallway, which he sealed up access from the hallway to and had it open up into the bathroom instead. So all of his toiletries, towels, and things were right there where he needed them.

He grabbed a washcloth, wet it with warm water and sat on the toilet. He brought her to him so she was standing in front of him. He grazed his thumb along her skin there, feeling himself stirring a little upon seeing his spunk on her like this. There was something very arousing about it.

He washed it off gently, not wanting to rough up her skin with the towel. He kissed her stomach lightly not caring at the moment if he'd washed it all off or not.

"I absolutely don't want you dancing with anyone else, Chris," he said softly.

"Erik."

"There's got to be a ticket available. Find out. I'll take both of you."

"What?" she said with a laugh. "You can't be serious."

"I'm very serious. I'm not going to go to her house and get pictures taken with her like your mom would do with us, but I'll take you both."

"People are going to think…"

He shrugged. "They're not going to think we're a threesome or something perverted, Chris. Come on, these are people who supposedly know you and have for most of your life if not all of it. Besides, do you really care what they think? When are you going to see the majority of them again besides reunions? They know she's your best friend."

"But a tuxedo."

"I can swing that."

"But it's only a few days away."

"I'm telling you I can swing it."

"All right. I'll find out tomorrow."

He set the washcloth behind him on the tank of the toilet. He tugged her onto his lap, arms going around her.

"So, do I get to, uh, repay you for that nice surprise?"

"Repay me?"

"Yeah," he shrugged, grazing a nipple gently with his teeth. He tugged on the waist of her jeans lightly. "You said it aroused you to do that."

"Yeah."

"Well, seems only fair you saw me to my end I could do the same for you."

"You could huh?"

"If you wanted me to."

"Here?"

"In my bathroom? Well, no, I had my bedroom in mind, but if you meant my house in general, yes."

She laughed lightly, leaning down to kiss him. He returned the kiss enthusiastically.

"Do you expect me to do that again?"

"Expect?" he blinked. "Wow, did you really just ask me that? When have I ever expected you to do anything to me, Chris? Is that why you did that? You thought I expected it?"

"That's not what I meant," she said. "I meant, uh, you know, now that I have once."

"Oh, you mean, like every time you come over?"

"Yes."

"That's a much better question than what I thought you were asking me. The answer is no. If you want to, I won't complain. I mean, I hope you'd want to eventually, you know because it felt good and I clearly enjoyed you doing that to me."

"Clearly," she whispered.

"Hey, there's nothing to be ashamed of. We're in the privacy of my home. What we do that makes us feel good is our business."

"I know, I just, after I…"

"You were curious about it, no big deal." He lifted her chin to look her in the eye. "It turned me on, you doing that."

"Really?"

"Yes."

"But you'd just…"

"Just because we can't again immediately doesn't mean the desire goes away. Women have the advantage there, I guess."

"We do?"

"Sure, honey, you don't have parts that need time to recuperate."

"Oh," she said.

"So, is that a no to my offer?"

"I'm afraid," she said softly.

"Afraid? I'm not going to hurt you, Chris. Nothing I'd do would hurt."

She shook her head. "No, I'm afraid I'll want to do more."

"Why does that scare you?"

She sighed softly. "It's only been a couple of months."

"I know."

"God, I've never been tempted before."

"What if I promise not to do more?"

She laughed again. "You could do that? And I should trust you?"

"Yes, I could do that, and yes you should trust me. I've never done anything you didn't want me to do before now."

"But you'll get excited again."

"Most likely."

"If I don't…"

"It'll go away on its own eventually as it has before when we're together."

She sighed softly.

"Why do you put up with me?"

It was his turn to laugh.

"Put up with you?"

"Yes, you could have any girl you want who'd have sex with you without having to think about it. Shelly, for example, I know she likes you and I know she despises me because she thinks we're having sex. She'd probably be in your bed right now with her clothes off."

"Well, sure, if I just wanted sex that'd be great. Not to say I haven't had sex just for sex's sake, but I've outgrown that need. I need more than just sex, and you give that to me. And trust me, you in my bathroom with your top and bra off is much more exciting to me than the thought of Shelly being anywhere in my house with or without clothes on."

"I'm still not sure I can believe you."

He shrugged. "I get that. I get that I have to make up for some jerk's mistake. Let's go out somewhere."

"What?" she asked.

"Pick a place. Let's go. Anywhere. Get out of here and away from you thinking we need to do things you're not ready for."

"But you just wanted to…"

"Sure, but clearly if we have to talk about it this much you're not ready, and that's fine. So, pick some place and we'll go out."

"Erik. I'm sorry."

"Geez, Chris, you have nothing to apologize for. You just gave me a hand job in my living room. I don't know the last time I finished from a girl doing that so please don't apologize to me for anything."

"But you wanted to…"

"I want a million dollars, too, but it is what it is."

"Are you comparing the likelihood of having sex with me to getting a million dollars?"

"No, just that I'm not always going to get what I want every second of the day. Yes, I would love to please you similarly to how you did me. You're not ready, so let's get away from it for a while."

"Okay."

"You are going to find out about the ticket tomorrow, right? You're not just placating me?"

"I will."

"Because I swear if I have to spend Friday night thinking about you dancing with anyone else I'm liable to go get drunk and start a fight with someone out of sheer frustration."

"Why?"

"Because you're mine." He grazed the mark she'd left him on his chest. "Obviously you have similar thoughts."

"I never much liked them before."

"Why?"

She shrugged. "I thought they looked cheap."

"And now?"

"Well, maybe it's because you don't leave them where they actually show but I don’t mind them."

"Don't mind them huh?"

"I like the feeling I get when you give me one."

"Yeah?"

"Yes."

"A lot?"

"Mm hmm."

"That is very good to know, and I do love leaving them right there," he said, sliding a finger over the spot at her shoulder he was fond of marking.

"I know. I'm not as careful about hiding them as I was the first one."

"Really?"

"Except Mom and Dad, of course, but no," she shrugged. "We're not doing anything wrong."

"Definitely we're not."

"Then what's to worry about?"

"I couldn't agree more. Certainly no one cares if I show up at work with one on display."

"No one cares? I'll bet a few do."

"Yeah, well, it's probably good for them to see them then."

She laughed softly, kissing him. She slid off his lap and offered him a hand, which he took. He looked a little puzzled, but he followed her out of the bathroom. She knew which bedroom was his.

"Chris," he said when she opened the door.

"You said I can choose where I want to go."

"Yeah."

"I don't want to go anywhere. I'm not sure I'm ready for what you want to do."

"I understand that, that's why I asked and didn't just do it."

"It doesn't mean we can't still touch one another, though."

"Yeah," he said cautiously. "You sure you want to do that in here, though? Downstairs would probably be safer."

"It would be if I didn't trust you, but I do," she said, letting go of his hand and walking the rest of the way to his bed.

Story ©Susan Falk/APCKRFAN/PhantomRoses.com