Chapter 48: Rekindling

Sunday, December 30, 1984

The first part of the day started out with us on our best behavior. The two of us went to church with Mom and Dad. The crowds had died down and everyone had checked in with us, so the big question was ‘where’s Angie?’ We struggled a bit with phrasing. ‘She’s with her girlfriend’s family’ was awkward at church, so we finally settled on ‘She’s with Paige’s family.’ Those who knew Angie knew who Paige was. Those who didn’t could think of Paige as ‘a friend.’

This wasn’t going to get better. It would only get worse, unfortunately. But, then, our association with this church was just going to dwindle from here.

Still, when Dr. Ott left, the church would start slowly shifting from ‘very conservative’ to ‘very, very conservative’ and from there to ‘very, very conservative and also dour and humorless.’ I had no intention of catering to the people who chose that for their church.

We did get to talk to Dr. Ott for a few minutes after the service. He was in far less demand with the more normal-sized attendance. He wanted to know how our classes were going, how Angie and Paige were, and so forth. After that, he asked about my ‘former Debate partner,’ which told me he likely knew about the issues there. His last question was about how Lizzie and Janet were doing. That he was concerned with and curious about Lizzie didn’t surprise me, but it certainly pleased me.

He would never ‘approve,’ but that didn’t stop him from showing love to them, which made all the difference.

In a surprise, Dad asked Jas and me to suggest a place for lunch. We thought about it for a few minutes, then came up with House of Pies on Westheimer. It was close to church and had a pretty good breakfast (or so the menu had seemed to indicate, anyway). He and Mom had never been there (though they’d passed it many, many times), so they were fairly enthusiastic about giving it a try.

It turned out to be a good idea, I thought. They had the usual range of breakfast staples, everyone’s food seemed to be tasty, and the portions were good. The service was excellent, too.

We each had pie for dessert. If you’re at a place called ‘House of Pies,’ why wouldn’t you have pie? That seems like a silly choice!

Once we got home, Jas and I rounded up our things and headed to her parents’ house. Nominally, the goal was to spend some time with Camille and Francis.

However, Camille and Francis wouldn’t be home during the afternoon. Instead, we picked up Jess on our way over. She seemed pretty excited to see us, which was what I’d expected. For my part, I was excited to see her, too.

It struck me this was, in a way, something Jas and I had started out with qualms about. Jess was unquestionably someone I had real feelings for. Jas herself had ‘real feelings’ for Jess, I was pretty sure — and I was pretty sure they were returned. They weren’t at the level Jess and I shared, but they were there and real.

That said: Jess was simply not a ‘threat,’ and that’s what we’d meant way back when. Not that we couldn’t love other people, but that we couldn’t set them ahead of each other. Even if (perish the thought!) something terrible happened to me, or to Jas, Jess wasn’t going to be the answer for whoever was left standing.

The fundamentals were the fundamentals. Jess and I made great friends and lovers. We’d make lackluster spouses without some major redefinitions of roles. Most likely, to the extent ‘asshole Steve’ and ‘Jess’ had worked, it’d worked because they were ‘friends and lovers’ much more than ‘partners.’

Gene and Angie had been similar, albeit for different reasons. Gene and Sue were a far better couple than Gene and Angie, and it had nothing to do with Angie being bisexual and everything to do with Gene and Angie’s personalities. Gene needed a Sue. Angie needed a Paige. Some hypothetical guy could have filled the ‘Paige’ role, but Gene was never going to fit in that spot. Angie, meanwhile, was never going to be what Sue was to Gene.

Other people could fit into those roles. Jas might meet a ‘Jess’ of her own. Someone else might have a relationship with me similar to Jess’s. Lovers might come and go, and some would be loved more than others, but Jas and I were forever. I firmly believed that.

In any case, we talked about everything but sex during the drive. There would be time enough for that. If we wanted to talk about it, that is.

The whole thing had a very amusing ‘high school’ feel to it. Sneaking into the house while ‘the folks’ were out, taking advantage of a bed, and so forth.

We certainly didn’t have to do that. For one thing, Camille and Francis wouldn’t have cared a bit. For another, we could afford a nice hotel. That, and I had a house! It just wasn’t here. Plus, Cammie was there, and she didn’t know about Jess.

Well ... she didn’t ‘know’ know. I wouldn’t have been in the least surprised if she guessed. She knew Jess and I had dated for a long time, were very close, and kissed. It’s not that hard to surmise there might be more.

On the other hand, I’m not sure how many people at Memorial would have guessed I was the only guy Jess had slept with. Probably not many. She’d let some level of implied activity go the entire time. Anyone who said they’d slept with her and got caught at it would have been smacked down, but plenty of people were allowed to simply smirk and not answer the question.

When we got into the house, we made a beeline for Jasmine’s room. The place was indeed quiet and empty, just as we’d expected.

Once we were in the room, Jess was in my arms in under a second, kissing me in a much-more-than-friends way. That lasted until she switched to Jas and matched that kiss with one that looked at least as enjoyable.

Once they broke their kiss, Jess said, “Nothing against Angie and Paige — at all! — but I have been looking forward to that for months!”

“Hopefully, not just that!” Jas said, grinning.

“No. Nooo. Not at all!” Jess said, giggling. “More! I’m doing the right thing not dating, but... damn! If I’d known what I was missing, keeping the brakes on all that time would’ve been much... harder!”

Jas and I chuckled a bit at that. Then Jas said, “You’re slightly overestimating.”

“Oh?” Jess said, stretching a bit.

“Well,” Jas said, “I’m not an expert. Like ... really not. But, still, in my opinion — and there has been extensive comparing of notes...”

I was starting to worry.

“ ... Steve sets the bar a lot higher than probably anyone else.”

Yup. I’d been right to worry.

“Practice, practice, practice,” Jess said, giggling.

“Not that,” Jas said. “It’s ... everyone else is in a rush. Like, ‘Oh my God! The promised land! There it is! Must get there now!’ Whereas, with Steve, it’s like, of course he’s plenty interested, but he’s not thinking ‘I’m gonna just die if I don’t get there in two seconds!’”

Jess nodded.

“That makes total sense. I haven’t compared notes as much, because ... well, until I joined the club, so to speak, I didn’t feel like I had any business checking. Girls talk, but ... eh. Most of the stories made things sound pretty ... um ... rushed.”

Jas nodded.

“It’s not like I’ve talked to everyone, and some of them don’t have other experiences, but...”

I interrupted and said, “You two do know I’m right here?”

Jess giggled.

“You understand girl talk and gossip better than probably any other guy I know. You’ll be fine. Besides, we’re only saying good things.”

Jas nodded.

“What she said!”

“Meanwhile,” Jess said, “I am going to die if I don’t ‘get there’ soon!”

“Can’t have that!” I said.

Jess stepped in close to me.

“May I?” she said, tugging at my shirt.

“By all means!”

She got my shirt off, which involved a lot of caressing. Four hands’ worth, since Jas wasn’t just sitting off to the side.

My pants followed quickly thereafter, but not my underwear. Instead, Jas and Jess started ‘helping’ each other ‘get more comfortable,’ which got them both naked fairly quickly. The amount of caressing stayed very high, and they added a bit of licking as well, plus more than a few kisses.

Before too long, though, Jess was down to her panties.

“I’ll show you mine if you show me yours,” she said, giggling.

“Works for me,” I said.

She scooted forward and tugged my underwear down, then grinned and licked her lips. In turn, I tugged her panties down, licking my own.

“Soooo,” Jess said. “I’m ... it’s ... I don’t need...”

Jas giggled.

“I know, but it’s fun.”

“True!” Jess said.

“I have an idea,” Jas said.

She patted the bed, then said, “Steve, up here.”

I laid back on the bed.

“Jess, you know more or less what to do,” she said.

Jess licked her lips again, and Jas nodded.

She moved onto the bed on her hands and knees, but Jas repositioned her until it was fairly obvious what was going to happen. With Jas also on her hands and knees, they’d form a triangle. No one would have that great an angle, but it was pretty great for ‘togetherness.’

The whole thing basically turned into silly fun. Without the people involved being who they were, I’m not sure anyone would even have ‘gotten there,’ but with Jess bobbing her head up and down and licking and sucking my cock while my face was — as much as I could manage — buried in Jas’s pussy, things were going to happen.

Both girls managed to have things happen first, which told me how excited they’d been. I was the last to ‘happen,’ and Jess wasn’t quite practiced enough to contain everything.

Fortunately (for my libido, at least) Jas was right there to help out, and did, enthusiastically. They went from ‘cleanup’ straight into ‘making out’ and from there into a 69. Like the previous time we’d all gotten together, it quickly involved fingers and the occasional smack on an ass or caress (or outright groping) of a boob.

I just rolled on my side and watched, sometimes stroking one of the other of them on a leg or a back. They both seemed to like that.

It was, as before, glorious, and very good for getting me going again, not that I needed much help on that front!

After they’d both cum twice more, Jas got up and Jess rolled onto her back.

“Any guesses what I want?” she said, grinning.

“No, Ma’am,” I said.

Jas produced a condom (always good to keep a few around for exactly this sort of situation!). Before she could open it, Jess said, “If it helps — and I know it doesn’t, not really — I am on the pill.”

Jas said, “Actually, it does, but it’s still ... you know...”

“It’s a lot better without?” Jess said.

Jas nodded. I wasn’t going to get involved. Condoms were fine by me, but Jas was right — it was definitely better without.

Just as Jas was starting to say something, Jess said, “You know? Let’s stick with it. This isn’t the time to make that sort of decision. That, and the pill is, what, 99% effective? More? But that 1% would really complicate things.”

It wasn’t 1% per encounter, or there would be a ton of babies around, but Jess had a perfectly valid point. The universe was known for what could be described as ‘statistical anomalies’ where I was involved, after all, and a pregnant Jess would be complicated indeed. Not bad, but complicated.

So, Jas opened the package and put it on me, grinning.

I moved over Jess, carefully rubbing up against her to make sure the condom was as slippery as possible, then gently guided myself in.

That is, until Jess wrapped her legs around me and Jas gave my butt a shove. That had the effect both of them apparently wanted — I entered Jess a lot faster than I meant to.

“Oof!” Jess said. She quickly added, “That’s a very good oof! Yes, more, please!”

I grinned and started fucking her, not too fast, but a little faster and a little more aggressively than I might have.

“He can get pretty carried away,” Jas said. “Thank goodness!”

Jess giggled, then moaned deeply.

“In favor!” she said. “Very much in f ... favor!”

I kept going, kissing Jess a few times, until Jess decided to up the ante.

“You know,” she said, panting, “I might borrow you one day and do this without the condom. And without the pill.”

I gave Jas a quick look. I wasn’t worried, just curious. From the look on Jas’s face, it was clearly something they’d talked about. Knowing the two of them, they’d gone over it, and over it, and over it again just to be sure.

Jas and I had talked about it, too, and I was certainly willing to consider it as a serious option.

“Could ... happen...” I said, panting a bit myself. “Maybe ... one ... day.”