Chapter 61

Hailey stepped over the sleeping forms in the middle of the living floor and smiled. Molly and Tiffany were still dressed, at least.

The party had been a huge success. Nothing had gotten broken; no one had thrown up; no fights or arguments had broken out; no one had balked at leaving their car keys. Everyone had laughed, joked and gotten to know each other.

Katelyn had initially been star struck when Terrence Grant shook her hand. Four hours later they were debating the merits of various football defenses. Tiffany and Molly had managed to maintain decorum for most of the night. It was only after everyone was well and truly drunk did they flash their tits at anyone – and even then it was only at Phil.

Ann and Rachel had been permitted to attend and they had a great time, it seemed. No one cared a bit about them holding hands or stealing kisses from each other. Hailey fought a smile when she recalled the noises that had come from the next room. There was no doubt that their enforced celibacy had ended that night.

Scott and Lisa had slept in Beth and David’s room. No one noticed that neither drank the night before – or if they noticed, they didn’t say anything. She doubted that Scott and Lisa had soiled the linens on the Warners’ bed but she would throw them in the washing machine just in case. She stepped around Terrence, not stepping over the large man because she wore only a long T-shirt over her panties.

She laughed when she saw she wasn’t the first one awake. Mitchell Drew was sitting at the table sipping coffee and holding his head. He heard her soft tread and looked up.

“Ugh!” he muttered.

“You can sleep for a while longer,” Hailey said, noting that this was the first time she’d seen him without a baseball cap.

“I wish,” Mitchell stated. “Farm life means getting up at the crack of dawn. I can’t seem to shake it – even when I’m hung over. You look mighty freakin’ chipper.”

“I didn’t drink,” Hailey said as she sat opposite him and poured some coffee. “Phil wanted to cut loose so I hung back in case someone needed something.”

“Cool,” Mitchell said. “The few times that we partied here before he was always sober. He’d drink when we were somewhere else but never here. He must trust you.”

“I hope he does,” Hailey said. “Do you want some breakfast?”

“God, no!” Mitchell muttered. “My stomach feels like my head.”

“I’m just going to get a cup of coffee for when Phil wakes up,” Hailey told him. “I’m sure he’ll need it. If you get hungry, help yourself. If you need something, just knock on Phil’s door and I’ll get it.”

“Thanks, Hailey,” Mitchell replied. “I’m pretty low-maintenance. I’m going to have another cup of coffee then shake Will out. When do you pick up David and Beth?”

“Not until nine o’clock tonight,” Hailey said.

“I’ll roust everyone before noon and we’ll straighten up,” Mitchell told her.

“You don’t have to do that,” Hailey replied, collecting two cups.

“It’s our rule,” Mitchell said. “We don’t mind hosting parties but everyone chips in on the cleanup. We don’t take advantage of anyone’s hospitality.”

Hailey walked down the hallway to the bedroom she had shared with Phil for the week. She considered the number of times she had wreaked havoc on someone’s house and then left that person to deal with it. She had destroyed thousands of dollars of belongings; she had run off when the police had busted parties and left other people to deal with the fallout. She had never offered to clean up after parties hosted by her nominal friends. She had never hosted a party at her house because she didn’t want the hassle of shuffling everyone out or getting into trouble if someone called the cops.

Hailey contemplated some of the people she’d met the night before. Ann and Rachel were both hilarious – and they both worshipped her boyfriend. Will was every bit as smart as Phil had confided even if she didn’t get the chance to see Mitchell’s skills in action. Susan LeMott, the girl who was dressed like a Goth the first time they’d met, looked like a typical high school senior when she arrived. She was headed off to the Air Force for basic training a few weeks after graduation.

Susan brought her boyfriend along with her, a really nice guy that treated everyone with courtesy and consideration. There had been more than two dozen people through the doors and now those people would get up in three or four hours and make sure Beth and David came home to a clean house.

She sighed as she opened the door. Phil hadn’t gotten drunk but he had been adorably buzzed when they fell asleep. He had spent an hour making love to her when the others had drifted off to sleep. He had repaid her for staying sober by making her drunk with lust. Her little kitty was still a little tender from the extended attention it had received the night before. She set the coffee on the table and leaned over to kiss Phil awake.

He startled her when he grabbed her by the arms and threw her on the bed. As he kissed her, she realized that he had taken the time to brush his teeth, just as she had before going downstairs.

“You goof!” Hailey said, as he pulled back with a grin.

He looked down at her with eyes filled with love, devotion, caring and attentiveness. She wrapped her arms around his neck and drew him back down.

“I’m too sore to make love this morning,” she confided as she reached for the shorts he’d pulled on in deference to their guests. “But I will take care of you if you’ll let me.”

“I’m fine,” Phil said. “I’m perfectly content to snuggle with you this morning. Sorry if I was a little exuberant last night. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

“You didn’t hurt me!” Hailey said. “It was mostly from how long we went. I think we made love non-stop for an hour! And that was after you licked me for 45 minutes beforehand. I’m pretty sure I came a hundred times. It was amazing.”

Phil blushed slightly.

“I ... I kept looking at you talking to everyone, being the perfect hostess,” Phil said. “I wanted to drag you into the bedroom all night. When you would come up, put your hand on my shoulder and kiss me, geez. It was all I could do to keep my hands off of you. Once I finally got you undressed, I just wanted to show you how much I wanted you.”

“Oh, you showed me,” Hailey replied. “I’d heard the expression ‘eaten right up’ but what I experienced last night put that to shame.”

“I thought you were pretty impressive yourself,” Phil mentioned.

“Are you kidding?” Hailey laughed. “You rocked my world for 50 minutes straight. I had to do something. By the time I got you inside of me I was crazy. I can’t wait for a repeat.”

“I thought you said you were sore,” Phil joked. “Seriously though, I’ve loved having this time with you.”

“Me, too,” Hailey replied meaningfully. “This ... this is the life I want. I understand why your parents stayed here instead of moving to Stony Ridge or Wesley Hill. I want to come home to you every day. I didn’t tell you this because I didn’t want you to think I was being silly. Tuesday, when I stayed down for supper with the girls, I cried on the way home because I missed talking to you about my day while we ate. Then I get home and you greet me with a glass of lemonade and immediately asked me how my day was. We sat on the couch and talked about what we’d done since we last saw each other. I’ve never had anyone who actually cared about how my day went.

“I could see that you did. As we talked – even when I was repeating the silly conversations we had at dinner – you were interested. You weren’t interested in my boobs. You weren’t interested in my ass. You weren’t interested in my face or my pussy. You were interested in all of me. I can’t tell you how much it meant to me to sit there and hold your hand that night.”

“I enjoy talking to you,” Phil said with a shrug. “And I am interested in all of you. I don’t want Hailey Warren the sex goddess if I can’t have Hailey Warren businesswoman on the rise at the same time.”

“Thank you,” Hailey said. “You’ll have both for as long as you want them – especially if you keep referring to me as a sex goddess.”

Beth and David walked into their home and immediately shook their heads.

“I told you,” David said.

He turned to the teenagers who had driven them back. Phil and Hailey decided to spend one more night cuddled up in his old room before returning to the air mattress in his apartment.

“I stuffed a sock under the couch cushion,” David admitted. “I wanted to see how thorough the cleanup crew was.”

“I found that Tuesday afternoon,” Phil admitted. “I’ve always appreciated the fact that you trust me enough to leave me alone. I’m not going to abuse the privilege so I always make sure I do the dishes and run the vacuum cleaner. Hailey even cleaned your oven, Dad. I wasn’t going to go that far.”

“I fixed burritos one night and they dripped,” Hailey explained.