Chapter 40: Tahoe

-- FRIDAY, MARCH 13, 2009 --

“Hello, Family!” Brandi called out into the ‘cabin’ as I took a step and let her in through the door. She gave me a quick hug and then moved along, dragging a small rollaboard suitcase with her.

“Hey, Jared. Good to see you,” I greeted immediately after proffering my hand to Brandi’s boyfriend. The guy was just as ruggedly handsome as I remembered him from that fateful Big Bear ski trip six years ago, with great cheekbones and a six-o’clock shadow.

“Ben...” he replied with just a touch of tightness in his voice, and an equal tightness at the corners of his eyes.

I realized this was the first time he and I were meeting face-to-face ever since Brandi had told him the true nature of our sibling relationship on Christmas Day, and I felt myself tense up just a little, unsure of how exactly he might react.

But a moment later, Jared exhaled slowly and gave me a reassuring smile. Releasing the full-size suitcase handle he’d been holding, he shook my proffered hand and then raised his left hand to clap my shoulder before letting go and standing up straight. “Good to see you too.”

The direction of Jared’s eyes turned past my left shoulder, and I followed his gaze to find Brandi standing next to Dawn, looking back at us a little anxiously. But my big sister visibly relaxed as Jared now gave her a reassuring smile and then moved further into the house.

Meanwhile, Dayna had been right behind Jared. My busty blonde Sweetheart stepped in far enough to let me close the door behind her to ward away the cold mountain air before she wrapped her arms around me and gave me a fierce hug. “Oooh, it’s been too long,” she whined into my ear. “M and I should really make time to come visit The Nest.”

“You both are always welcome,” I assured her.

“OR, you could always come visit ME. That big bridge between The City and The Town does have lanes that go in both directions, y’know.”

I smirked. “You try telling Dawn she spends too much time with me and needs to let me go service her big sister every now and again.”

Dayna snorted. “Here’s how that conversation would go: ‘Hey Dawn, Imma horny. Can you send Ben my way?’ And she’d immediately say, ‘Sure, sis! Have fun!’”

I waggled my head. “Well ... Okay yeah.”

“And now that you’ve put the idea in my head, I just might do that, especially if you promise to bring your new girlfriend with you.”

I laughed and glanced over into the living room where Summer had stood up to formally introduce herself to Jared and chat with Brandi and Dawn as well. Adrienne, Eden, Emma, my parents, and the Evanses were also all present in the living room, seated at the dining table, or in the kitchen. Dayna popped her eyebrows. “Is this everyone?”

“All thirteen of us, yes,” I confirmed, “in a rented house that officially sleeps only ten.”

“I suppose I should be glad that Brooke and DJ couldn’t make it. And what about Eve? You and Brandi brought your significant others.”

“Family thing this weekend. Visiting cousins, I think.”

“Could I have gotten away with bringing Monique?”

“Seriously, we’re maxed out on bed space as it is,” I continued, “and at the moment it looks like there’s gonna be a slumber party in the bunk room.”

“That’s alright.” Dayna flashed me a teasing grin. “I can bunk in with Brandi and Jared.”

I blinked in surprise. “Really?”

Dayna hugged me close and whispered into my ear. “Brandi finally let us start having threesomes together.”

I grinned and turned to look at her. “Good for you guys, and prayers for Jared’s health.”

Dayna giggled but then gave me an apologetic look. “But don’t go expecting a foursome or anything this weekend.”

I shook my head. “It’s cool. I’ve got my hands full as it is.”

“That you do.” Dayna looked into the living room where Summer, Dawn, and Adrienne were now seated side-by-side(-by-side) on the couch. “Prayers for your health.”

I chuckled. “Thanks.”

Dayna goosed my ass and headed to join the others.

Although Adrienne had offered to splurge on some luxury mansion, the parentals dismissed her out of hand but still got a pretty nice place. There were four bedrooms on the main level and stairs leading down to a lower level half-embedded into the sloping hillside, containing another bathroom, laundry, and a large family room with a curtained off alcove into which the owners had placed a bunk bed and a full-size bed. Add in the hidden sofabed down there, and we actually did have enough bed space for everyone, but just barely.

Mom and Dad got the master bedroom, and Jack and Deanna Evans were in the room next to them. On the other side of the house were two smaller rooms and a bathroom. Brandi and Jared would be in one, while the other was for me and my new official girlfriend, Summer.

Dawn and Adrienne both stated they’d be perfectly happy to sleep downstairs on the full-size while the twins opted for the bunk bed, and Dayna would officially be on the sofabed. Of course, I assumed Dayna would still end up sneaking into Brandi and Jared’s room at night (or maybe even my room). Actually, my perverted mind considered joining the five ladies downstairs, including Eden and Emma, as soon as Mom announced the room arrangements. But perhaps sensing my train of thought, Mom shot me a look that seemed to say, ‘Don’t even think about it, buster. Especially not with Jared in the house.’

There was a small above-ground jacuzzi on the back patio, with seating for six. I already knew there wouldn’t be any orgies on this trip, not with Jared and the parentals around, but that was fine. Not every family ski trip had to devolve into a hot tub orgy, even if it seemed like they always did. Still, Adrienne and Dawn said they wanted to get outside for a good soak, and the twins immediately chimed in that they wanted to go too.

My first thought was for me and Summer to join them as well, but the parentals were having a pleasant “getting to know you” conversation with Summer, and I wasn’t about to either abandon her or try and pull her away. Brandi and Jared were also chatting with us, and Dayna was on the armchair sipping wine and cracking jokes along the way.

Summer talked about being friends with Adrienne and Lynne back in high school, and especially gushed about me helping her study for her finals, although she didn’t mention that we’d hooked up a few times or anything like that. She talked about her parents’ divorce and deciding to go back to school to get her MBA, and about discovering the happy coincidence that Adrienne, Lynne, and I all lived in the Berkeley area. She never mentioned anything about a harem or my complicated sex life, although she did admit to having an immediate crush on me going all the way back to last August, and only recently wearing me down to the point where I agreed to start dating her just before Christmas.

Summer also talked about how close she was with her mom, especially after the divorce. That got MY mom talking about how little direct communication they had with me, and how she and my dad always needed to liaison with the girls in order to get the details of whatever was going on in my life. So Mom pressed upon her the responsibility to likewise keep them in the loop about my life should she intend to continue as my girlfriend.

My new girlfriend, of course, arched her eyebrow to check with me about this particular requirement. I merely shrugged and waved, saying, “If they don’t get the info from you, they’ll just get it from Adrienne, Dawn, or Kim.”

Everyone got a chuckle at that.

After thirty minutes or so, Adrienne, Dawn, and the twins came back inside and went to take showers, so the four parentals excused themselves, saying they were going to go take advantage of the hot tub next.

Brandi, Dayna, Jared, Summer, and I were then left alone in the living room, and Dayna turned to look directly at Summer, remarking brightly, “I think that went pretty well.”

Summer had been seated upright at the front edge of her couch cushion, with perfect posture while conversing with the parentals. She now blushed prettily and glanced down at her hands in her lap. “It didn’t seem like I was trying too hard, did it?”

“Nah,” Brandi put in. “I mean, it was clear you were going to a lot of effort to make a good impression, which wasn’t a bad thing. They weren’t too hard on you, were they?”

“It was alright. I was expecting much worse, actually,” Summer replied before glancing back at me and setting her hand on my leg. “Your mom was quite warm with me, at least.”

“Mom can tell how devoted you are to me,” I stated with a smile. “I think that’s always been what’s most important to her.”

“Sorry for my Mom, though,” Dayna put in. “She got a little interrogative there at the end.”

“I think she’s still trying to wrap her head around the concept of Ben’s primary girlfriend NOT being one of her daughters,” Brandi quipped.

Dayna rolled her eyes. “I think all four of them were just eager to actually HAVE a ‘meet the parents’ conversation with one of Ben’s girlfriends. When was the last time they got to do that, Sasha?”

Brandi mused on that. “I feel like Sasha’s the only ‘meet the parents’ they’ve had since high school.”

“You forgot about Amber.”

Brandi instantly made a face. “Aw, man, I blocked that one from my memory. Ugh!”

Dayna laughed.

“Do I want to know why you blocked that one from your memory?” Summer asked.

“No, you do not. Definitely not,” Brandi muttered with a sigh.

Summer shrugged. “So just two? Really? With as many girlfriends as Ben’s had since then?”

Dayna shrugged. “Adrienne, Dawn, and DJ have always dominated his past relationships. Except for Sasha and Amber, none of the other quasi-girlfriends he’s had ever made it as far as you.”

“Really?”

“Consider it a compliment,” Dayna added.

Summer glanced back at me. “I do.”

For a split-second, I imagined her saying those exact two words to me some time in the future ... while wearing a white wedding dress. I think the same thing crossed her mind, and she blushed pink again before averting her eyes.

I’d been lightly rubbing Summer’s spine while she caressed my leg. But now I hooked my hand around her midsection to gently draw her back against my chest so that she was snuggled up against me. Once we were comfortable, I glanced up at the couple on the other couch and asked, “Hey Jared, when did you do your ‘meet the parents’?”

Brandi’s boyfriend looked surprised at being brought into the conversation; like me he’d been content thus far to hang back and let the girls do the talking. He was in a similar seated position with Brandi, my sister snuggled up against his side, but now he sat up a little straighter and looked thoughtful for a moment. “Uh, pretty early on, right?” he asked, glancing at Brandi. “Your dad came to visit your apartment when I happened to be there and we had a quick chat. I wouldn’t call that a formal ‘meet the parents’ thing but he did take the time to get my background, ask about my family and what I did for a living and all that.”

“Oh, and two weeks later Mom and Dad both came up and we did a dinner double-date at ... uh ... Mastro’s?”

Jared nodded. “Mastro’s.”

Brandi smiled and reached up to caress Jared’s hair and then lightly scratched her fingernails on his scruffy beard. “You’re my only boyfriend who’s ever done the ‘meet the parents’ thing with me. And I fully intend for you to be the last.”

“The feeling’s mutual,” he replied warmly and then puckered up for a kiss, which Brandi gladly gave him.

“That looks like fun,” I remarked, tugging on Summer. My gorgeous redhead quickly turned her face to me for a snog.

“Okay, okay, enough mushy stuff,” Dayna complained. “Unless either of you two couples wanna let me join in.”

That got Brandi to giggle and break her kiss with Jared. “Not with Mom and Dad in the house,” she scolded, although she was still smiling.

Dayna blew her a raspberry. “And what if we can get the parentals out of the house?”

“Good lord, woman. Can’t you keep your panties on for three days?”

“Nope.”

I chuckled and sighed. “Never change, Dayna. Never change.”

At the end of the night, the four parentals went to bed while all of us “kids” gathered downstairs in the family room, dressed in our pajamas. We chatted, but card shark Adrienne suggested we play Texas Hold ‘Em and at that point, Brandi and Jared decided to turn in early since we were supposed to hit the slopes in the morning.

The rest of us assembled around the coffee table with Summer, me, and Dawn on the couch, Adrienne at the end in a chair at one end, Dayna in a chair at the other end, and Eden and Emma seated atop pillows on the floor on the other side.

Adrienne started shuffling, but Summer declared that seven was too many for a poker game and opted out. Instead, my new girlfriend decided she would rather sit sideways in my lap, shove her big tits under my chin, and make out with me a little bit. But once Adrienne started dealing out the cards, I pulled my mouth away, tapped her mouth with a scolding look for her to keep a lid on it, and moved to pick up my cards.

“So how does this work, exactly?” Dayna asked carefully while she scooped up her playing cards.

Dawn appraised her big sister skeptically. “Uh, it’s just like regular poker except that you have to use your two hole cards when making--”

“No-no. I know how to play.” Dayna gestured with her free hand at Summer seated in my lap. “I meant Summer’s new girlfriend status. Like ... when we had the Harem before, we were all girlfriends, but A.D. was clearly the head girlfriend and ultimately fiancée. Ever since then, Ben’s gone without an official girlfriend until what ... Wednesday night or something? And now Summer’s the only official girlfriend, right? You and A.D. aren’t taking the title.”

“Yeah...” Eden wondered aloud, looking at Dawn and then Adrienne. “I mean, does this put Summer at a higher rank than you two now?”

“Can we please not talk about her as if she wasn’t right here?” I sighed. “And I don’t rank any of you.”

“Making Summer the only official girlfriend would seem to rank her above all others,” Emma pointed out.

Dawn glanced back at me and then Adrienne before returning her attention to me and Summer in my lap. Dayna’s question had been addressed to us all, but Dawn had been the one to immediately respond. With that in mind, I gestured wordlessly from my best friend to take it away. And Dawn pursed her lips while working out her verbal response and finally looked back at the others.

“Summer’s title is less about rank and more about having a defined place in his life,” she began. “Ben and I have made clear we like our best friend roles in each other’s life, that we work best this way, and that we’re never getting married. Adrienne’s come to the realization that their relationship works best as siblings so they’ll know they can always depend on each other without romantic complications getting in the way. Neither of us wants to be his girlfriend, but at the same time we could all tell he was starting to miss having the excitement and intimacy of a truly romantic relationship.”

“If the spot was up for grabs, I’d have taken it,” Eden quipped. When nearly everyone around the table abruptly glared at her, she immediately raised both hands up, muttering, “Kidding, kidding.”

Emma rolled her eyes. “Kidding-not-kidding.”

“I fell for Summer,” I spoke up to explain. “It took a little longer than she may have hoped, and certainly I can remember you all encouraging us to get together way back at the beginning of the school year, but we got there eventually on our own. She loves me, I realized how much I love her, and making her an official girlfriend made perfect sense as the next step.”

“I do love you,” Summer said quietly, nuzzling her nose against my cheek.

“And I love you,” I murmured right back before pecking her on the lips.

“So again,” Dayna drawled. “How does this work, exactly? Y’all are still Nestmates. Did Summer move her stuff into Ben’s bedroom? Can she assert girlfriend status in order to claim precedence over you? Does she have veto rights to kick you out if she wants him to herself? Does she get one-on-one dates and have you told your friends and have you two talked about eventually getting married and all that stuff?”

“One step at a time,” I said. “I suppose the easiest way to wrap your head around it is to consider us a couple who has just started dating. She still has her own room and hasn’t moved any of her stuff into mine. We do plan on having more one-on-one dates because ... well ... I miss having more one-on-one dates. As much fun as it was to have all the Tri-Delts hanging out with us for TDN, they did rather wear me out and kind of occupied all my time.”

“As for veto rights,” Summer continued herself, “I’d never try to kick out Dawn or Adrienne. They’re my best friends - we’re Nestmates - and it’s not in me to try and claim precedence over them. And when it comes to telling our friends, we told you guys, didn’t we? Outside of this family, the only one I’d need to tell would be my mom.”

“Well, you did update your Facebook status and posted a selfie of you and Ben on the couch together,” Emma pointed out. “Got like two hundred and fifty likes.”

“Oh. Right.” Summer blushed bright pink.

“Really? How did I miss that?” Dayna furrowed her eyebrows, looking puzzled.

“Well, that one I posted just this afternoon,” Summer explained.

“Whatever, whatever,” Dayna waved her off. “I guess what I’m trying to get at is: How is your relationship fundamentally different from before? Like, not to put too fine a point on it, but when -I- was last part of this harem, you were pretty much just another harem girl.”

After expressing that last part, Dayna gave her little sister a significant look. Dawn immediately shook her head and waved Dayna off.

“Well a lot’s happened since you left the harem,” I told Dayna.

“Yeah. You hooked up with your new girlfriend’s mom. How does THAT work?”

I frowned at Dayna’s tone, not to mention her bluntness, but before I could say anything, Dawn chirped, “Says the girl who still wants to seduce Dad.”

Dayna blushed scarlet pink and averted her eyes.

“That one I’ll thank you very much to keep private please, huh?” I requested.

Dayna nodded silently.

“I don’t get it,” Dawn put in. “Are you jealous or something over Summer getting promoted, as it were? Did you want back in as Ben’s girlfriend?”

“What? No, no...” Dayna shook her head insistently. “Well yes, sometimes, but overall no. Please don’t misunderstand, Summer, you’re a great girl and I’ve got nothing against you. Truly, I wish you both all the happiness in the world. I’m honestly just curious about how all this works out, especially because I know just how important these two other girls are to him.”

Dayna had specifically pointed to both Dawn and Adrienne, and Summer nodded her understanding. “Dawn is your little sister, and you’ll always be worried about her eternal happiness,” Summer stated serenely. “You probably thought the same thing I do: that she and Ben are soulmates who truly do belong together.”

Dawn groaned and pinched the bridge of her nose.

“But then she goes and does that every time I bring it up,” Summer drawled with a laugh. Everyone else around the table (except Dawn) laughed too.

“If not Dawn, I honestly thought Adrienne belonged with him,” Summer continued. “King and Queen of The Nest, passionate lovers, and they both very clearly need each other in their lives. He’s her Rock, and at the end of the day, she said that’s the role she needs from him the most, not as a husband. And now, with both of them declining romantic roles in his life, it falls to me to help him find true happiness.”

Eden made a face. “But doesn’t that make you feel like you’re just third best? I’m sorry, that was a horrible thing to say now that I just said it out loud. I’m sorry.”

“No apologies necessary. I don’t feel any negativity over the idea of being the third most important woman in Ben’s romantic life. I know just how important Dawn and Adrienne are to him as much as the rest of you do. They’re the ones he can’t live without, not me. Rather, I see this as an opportunity, a chance to carve myself a permanent place in his life in a role that suits me. I love being with him. I love being with them, as well. Alone, I don’t think I’m quite strong enough to be everything he needs. But together - Dawn, Adrienne, AND me - I think we can collectively bring joy to his life.”

Dayna started chuckling and gave me a rueful look before shaking her head. “You are one damn lucky sonovabitch, you know that? I think somebody up there likes you.” She pointed skyward for emphasis.

I chuckled and sighed. “There are days when everything’s going to hell and I would sincerely doubt you. But then there are days like today when I have to admit: I think you’re right.”

If there really was a Higher Power up there looking out for me, he certainly didn’t give a shit about card games. Fifteen minutes after that little chat about how we made my relationship with Summer work, Emma called my poker bluff and bankrupted me.

I stood up, took Summer by the hand, and glanced over at Dawn and Adrienne with a silent question in my eyes asking if either of them was going to come join us after the game.

But to my surprise, both Dawn and Adrienne smiled and wordlessly shook their heads. I figured they were giving me some private time alone with my new official girlfriend. So Summer and I retired to what would be our bedroom for the next two nights and snuggled under the covers. The winter air was a little cold despite us running the heater in the house, and she shivered in my arms while I rubbed her back for friction warmth. But once our body heat filled the space beneath the blankets, she stopped shivering and instead stared adoringly into my eyes from only a few inches away.

“I love you, Ben,” she said quietly.

I smiled and replied back warmly, “I love you, too.”

She grinned. “I still get such a rush hearing you say that. It’s a dream come true.”

“I mean it. I really care about you and I’m thrilled that you’re here with me. My parents like you, my family likes you, and I’m looking forward to spending this weekend together.”

“Me too.” She leaned in and kissed me softly.

One kiss turned to two. Two kisses turned to three. The next thing I knew, we were making out like lovesick teenagers and I rolled Summer onto her back, taking charge of the kiss and delving my tongue into her mouth so our oral appendages could intertwine.

Just then, I heard a low moan filter through the wall, followed shortly by a male grunt. I paused for a moment, raising my head and cocking my ears. And as Summer and I listened in the silence, we began to hear a soft, rhythmic thumping against the wall immediately behind the headboard.

I smirked and glanced down at my girlfriend. “These walls must be pretty thin. Sounds like my big sister is getting some tonight.”

Summer giggled. “Most little brothers would be weirded out by that.”

“Not this little brother. Not in this family.” I planted my elbow on the mattress and glanced up at the headboard again momentarily before returning my attention to Summer’s face. “I’m happy for her. Brandi’s had a lot of heartbreak over the years. She deserves a good man like Jared in her life.”

“You’ve had a lot of heartbreak over the years,” Summer pointed out.

“And you’ve had a lot of heartbreak over the years.” I raised both eyebrows and gave her a warm smile. “But what’s past is past. Our experiences have helped define who we are today, but they don’t rule our futures. At the end of the day, I really can’t complain. Here I am now ... with you ... and I couldn’t be happier about that.”

“Well, you might be happier if we brought Dawn and Adrienne in bed with us right now.”

I chuckled. “We get foursomes all the time back at The Nest. I actually appreciate this rare opportunity for it to just be me and you tonight. Don’t you?”

“Of course. But at the same time, I don’t mind sharing you with the others. For a long time I considered myself straight as an arrow. I mean, I played around with kissing other girls just to tease and titillate the guys. It wasn’t until Jayla showed me how good it could be that I realized just how much pleasure I could find with another woman and really kick-started my bisexuality.”

“Where is Jayla now? I feel like I should meet her and thank her.”

Summer giggled. “Brentwood. She started dating a cardiologist while she was still a student and became his trophy wife a couple of years ago. Living the wealthy, pampered life now.”

“Ah. Good for her, I suppose.”

Summer shrugged. “Good and bad. He’s not the greatest husband. Jayla and I aren’t as close anymore, but we’ve kept in touch. She said she’s pretty jealous of my relationship with you right now, especially now that we’re ‘official’. She said she’s never seen me happier. I AM happier than ever before in my life.”

“I’m glad to hear it.”

“And all because of you.”

“Well, me and Dawn.”

Summer giggled. “I’ll grant you that. Dawn is truly, truly special. I’ll never understand her, though. You point blank told her you wanted to marry her, and I know how much you mean to her, and yet she still turned you down. It doesn’t make any sense to me.”

“If it’s any consolation, it doesn’t make any sense to me either.”

Summer’s arms went up around my shoulders and she nuzzled her nose against mine. “But she did make me swear to take care of you on her behalf. Your happiness is more important to her than anything else in the world - more important than her own. You do know that, don’t you?”

I sighed. “Yes, I know she feels that way. A part of me can understand that level of devotion. I mean, I would do anything for BJ. I’d die for my son. But at the same time, I know he needs his father in his life, so I’m gonna work damn hard to ensure that I’ll be there for him growing up. And while it’s easy to make self-sacrificing statements in the moment, I understand that I need to take care of myself in order to be there for him. The same goes for Dawn. She’s asked me to have faith in her love for me, which I do, but I worry that she fixates on my happiness without addressing her own issues. So I’m gonna make you swear to take care of her on my behalf.”

Summer smiled. “She’s asking me to take care of you; you’re asking me to take care of her. You do realize how ‘made for each other’ you two are, right?”

“I’m sorry. Here we are alone together and I’m talking about Dawn.”

“Don’t apologize. I’m happy to be here for you both. You’re my Master AND my Mistress.”

“And I’m your boyfriend and she’s your girlfriend.”

Summer blushed. “You know she’s always resisted using that term. I’m just a ‘girl who’s a friend’.”

“I think we both know your relationship is far more than ‘just a girl who’s a friend’.”

“Perhaps, but we don’t love each other - not the way we both love you. This isn’t a triple the way you had with Adrienne and Sasha.”

I arched an eyebrow at the comparison. “I never thought it was.”

Summer winced. “I just wanted to reassure you that there’s no chance of her and me falling in love with each other and neglecting you. Adrienne’s harped about that a lot.”

I sighed. “Our broken engagement was my fault, not Adrienne’s.”

Summer smirked. “All of the girls say you try to shoulder too much blame for things that aren’t entirely your fault. ALL of them. The point is: Adrienne knows she could’ve handled her end of the broken engagement differently. You walked away, yes, but she let you walk instead of fighting to keep you. And it still eats at her to this day.”

“And now here we are alone together and we’re talking about Adrienne.”

Summer giggled. “Dawn’s your soulmate, and Adrienne’s your Tigress. Both are extremely important parts of your life - more important than me, at least.”

“Please don’t minimize yourself. You’re my girlfriend now, and a critical part of my life. You’re the only one in this bedroom with me right now because that’s the role in my life I want to explore with you. My parents wanted to have the ‘getting to know you’ conversation today, but I feel like I’m still getting to know you as well. This is our chance, for both of us, to finally have the relationship we never had almost eight years ago. We’re not teenagers anymore. We have the opportunity to lay down the foundation for building a future together. Isn’t that what you want?”

“More than I’ve ever wanted anything else in my entire life.” Summer’s eyes were shining.