Chapter 85

Katelyn let the group get out of the driveway before she turned on Hailey.

“You better knock this shit off,” she said toward the backseat. Molly was driving the Mercedes and Katelyn was beside her in the front seat.

“Knock what off?” Hailey asked innocently.

“Oh, please,” Molly said. “I’ve seen that cold-shoulder routine before. It rarely works.”

“You better get it through your head that you are not dealing with Rico Alvarez,” Katelyn said. “I remember this same fucking thing about this time last year.”

“Oh, yeah,” Tiffany said. “I remember that, too. You saw him talking to his old girlfriend and you wouldn’t talk to him for two days.”

“And you know what came next then,” Katelyn spat. “She went out on Friday night and made a complete ass of herself. She made out with two or three guys and wound up fucking some stranger. Let me tell you something, Hailey. If you even start that bullshit tonight, I will knock you flat on your ass and I will not stop hitting you until you can’t get up. I will not let you fuck things up because you’re unhappy or put out about this. You better remember that this is Phil and not some douche like you’ve dated before. You’ve had your two strikes and I will not let you hurt him over this. Do you understand me, Hailey?”

Hailey sat ashen in the backseat.

“I asked if you understood me, Hailey,” Katelyn said in a strained voice.

“She won’t be alone either,” Molly said. “We’re all pissed off at him but we understand it, too. We didn’t eat with him because we needed to get ready. You didn’t eat with him to punish him. You put on that bra top to punish him. You told him he should stay at home to punish him. If you plan to punish him more, then you better have a plan to go through me to do it.”

“And me,” Tiffany said. “I’m not scared of you and I won’t let you hurt him because you’re annoyed with him.”

“I’m not planning to do anything like that,” Hailey insisted. “Yes, I’m mad that he did this without talking to us.”

“You’re mad because everyone ignored you on campus,” Katelyn said. “You started out pissed off because of the other but now you’re pissed because no one would talk to you today. Don’t try to tell me anything different.”

“Maybe,” Hailey admitted. “I’m still not going to do anything tonight.”

“What about when you get a few drinks in you?” Tiffany asked. “I know exactly how you act when you’re pissed off and drunk. You find some guy and make a play for him. You can’t stop yourself.”

Hailey sat in the backseat for a moment longer, taking in the angry looks on the faces of her three best friends. No, she decided, three of her four best friends. Her closest friend was still back at the apartment wondering how far she planned to go to chastise him.

“Are we too far away to turn around and take me home?” she asked.

Molly didn’t answer. She just pulled into a parking lot and turned around.

Phil was watching Game 4 of the World Series to try to take his mind off what was going to transpire that evening. It would be the end of their relationship, he knew. He decided he would make her move out of the apartment. The four of them could figure out who slept where. Tiffany and Molly kept their clothes in separate rooms but they rarely slept apart.

The Indians and Dodgers were tied in the top of the third when he heard the door open. He looked over and saw Hailey standing there.

“Forget something?” he asked in a neutral voice.

She nodded and took her coat off. She unzipped the skirt and stepped out of it, walking toward him in a pair of very brief teal thong panties. She might have kept the skirt on but she couldn’t accomplish what she wanted with it on.

She crawled up on his lap and straddled his thighs before she put a hand on each side of his face.

“I forgot what a wonderful man you are,” she said firmly. “I forgot that anything you might have done was meant to keep us from getting hurt, not to hurt us. Oh, and I forgot one other thing.”

She leaned forward and kissed him deeply, wrapping her arms around his neck to pull him closer. Phil’s hands settled on her hips but she pushed them around until they rested on her butt.

“I’m sorry, Phil,” she said when she finally pulled her tongue out of his mouth.

“I’m sorry, too,” Phil replied.

“Why don’t you get dressed and we’ll go to the party together?” she asked. “Just give me a minute to change my top.”

“You don’t need to change the top for me,” Phil told her. “I like your breasts.”

Hailey rolled her eyes and bent forward to pick up her skirt from the floor.

“We still need to talk about things,” she said as she slid it up her thighs.

“I know we do,” Phil said. “Are you sure you wouldn’t rather I just drive you to the party and come back here?”

“No!” Hailey said. “It all comes back to what I was pissed off about. You might think this only affected you but you’re wrong. ‘You’ is not just Phil any more. No one looks at you and just sees Phil Warner. They see my boyfriend and Molly’s roommate and Tiffany’s friend and Katelyn’s buddy. It’s the same way with the rest of us. We’re a couple, Phil. There is no you and no me. There’s us. If you aren’t going, then I’m not going.”

“Do you want to go?” Phil asked.

“I think it would be fun,” Hailey said. “But if you don’t want to go then we won’t.”

“Let me get dressed,” Phil offered.

Tiffany was the first one to notice the fisherman and his catch. She rushed up to Phil and hugged him. She grabbed Hailey when she let go of Phil.

The party was going full bore by the time Hailey and Phil arrived. The music was loud and several people were already quite drunk. Phil saw Bob and Katelyn on the dance floor and Molly and Emma Thomas were chatting with some other people that Phil didn’t recognize.

Ted Billings waved and Stacy Thomas gave them a smile. No one else in the room paid them much attention.

“I love your costumes!” Emma said when she walked over. Hailey had put on a mesh top beneath her bikini bra. She still looked sexy but she no longer violated the state’s obscenity laws with her outfit.

Phil had on a pair of hip-waders and a checkered shirt. He carried a child’s fishing pole in his hand with a gummy worm tied to the end of it. Hailey had put the candy in her mouth just before they walked it. It appeared that Phil had caught her – which was pretty accurate.

Hailey hugged Emma, who was wearing a cave woman costume. It wasn’t long before the other members of their small group came over. Stacy giggled slightly. She was dressed as a nurse and Ted looked like a doctor. Bob wore a safari hat and a bush jacket. All the couples’ costumes corresponded to their dates’.

The party went much the way Phil had expected. The people who didn’t know them well avoided them; those who knew them well treated them as they always did.

Hailey didn’t move from Phil’s side for the first two hours. If she wanted a drink, she took him with her. As she got drunker, she pulled him out to dance with her and hugged herself to him. He felt her soft breasts against his chest and her hands on his butt beneath his hip waders.

“I want your worm in my mouth again,” she slurred into his ear.

“You put it in your punch about an hour ago,” Phil told her.

“That’s not the worm I’m talking about,” Hailey answered as she dug her fingers into his ass. “Let’s go back out to the car for a few minutes.”

Phil just laughed at her antics but she took his hand when the song ended and tugged him out of the house. She led him to the Saturn and pushed him up against it.

“I want to show you how sorry I am,” Hailey said.

“You have nothing to be sorry about,” Phil told her. “I fucked up. I brought you into this without talking to you about it. I didn’t really expect anyone would look differently at you guys.”

“Shh!” Hailey said, pulling him down for a brief kiss. “We can talk about this tomorrow. Tonight, I wanted to show you how sorry I am that I was a bitch. I pulled away last night when you tried to hold me. I didn’t kiss you goodbye this morning. I might have done something stupid tonight if Katelyn hadn’t set me straight. I do stupid things when I’m angry and stupider things when I’m angry and drunk. That’s why I came home tonight. I wasn’t going to risk doing anything that might cost us our future because I’m mad.”

“I’m glad,” Phil admitted. “I was a little worried about what might happen tonight.”

“Unlock the door and let’s get in the backseat,” Hailey said, smiling up at him. She fished his key fob out of the pocket of the jeans he wore beneath his costume. She clicked it twice and then eased the backdoor open. She smiled at him as she pushed the straps off his shoulder.

“I’m going to have to take my fins off,” she said, her eyes twinkling as she unzipped her skirt. She stepped between Phil and the door as she let the skirt pool at her feet. “We haven’t done it in a car. Wanna do it in the car with me?”

“We can always go home,” Phil pointed out.

Hailey shook her head slowly and grinned.

“You know I wanted to pull off the road and do you the first time you drove me back here,” she asked, shivering slightly from the cool fall air since she was standing only in her panties and a pair of sandals. She gave him a gentle push into the car and climbed in after him. A few people at the party got a perfect glimpse of Hailey’s ass before she could pull the door closed behind her.

As soon as the latch engaged, she reached for Phil’s zipper.

“Did you know I get horny when I drink?” she asked as she reached inside to fish his cock out. As soon as she saw it, her head dipped down and she took it into her mouth. Phil gasped at the sensation and ran his hand down her hips. Her butt was pointed toward the window as her face bobbed against his zipper.

Hailey waited until Phil was fully erect before she sat up and slid her panties aside. She put her knees on either side of his hips and slipped him inside of her.

“God, this is so good,” she cooed as she rocked on him. “I am so sorry, Phil. I am such a bitch sometimes.”

Her voice was ragged because the coarse fabric of Phil’s jeans was rubbing her in just the right way.

“I love you,” she said. “Please forgive me. I promise I’ll stop being a bitch.”

“It’s OK,” Phil told her as his hands cupped her ass while she moved up and down on him.

“You’re so good to me,” she murmured. “You’re just so good to me. No one makes me feel like you do, Lover. Nobody gives me as much as you do.”

Hailey gritted her teeth and clenched her legs tightly as she climaxed. Then she wrapped her arms around his neck and nuzzled his neck. The dome light came on when the door opened and a giggling Tiffany climbed in beside them. She had Hailey’s skirt in her hand and an amused expression on her face.

“If the rust-bucket’s rockin’, don’t bother knockin’,” she said with a laugh. “If you’re going to fuck in a car, don’t park under a street lamp and don’t leave your clothes outside. Did I teach you nothing?”

Hailey had her head on Phil’s shoulder but she reached out to stroke Tiffany’s face.

“Thank you,” she said softly.

“I didn’t want you to have to come back to the party in your panties,” Tiffany said with a smile.

“Not for that,” Hailey said. “For standing up to me – for making me see how I was acting. I know that you don’t mind calling me out but you don’t like it either.”

“I love you both too much too let you do something retarded,” Tiffany said with a wink. “Now you’re seriously cutting into Molly’s plan to get me drunk and take advantage of me tonight. Get your skirt on and head inside. Nice cock, Phil. Did she get you off yet?”

“You’re terrible,” Phil said.

“He’s still hard if you want a shot,” Hailey offered as she slid off to the side.

“Nah,” Tiffany said. “Molly might like to come out to help me suck him off though. Would you mind?”

“I got mine,” Hailey laughed. “I planned to do just that but as soon as he touched me that went out the window.”

“We could just leave him hard and then tease the hell out of him the rest of the night,” Tiffany opined.

“Should we leave his cock all slimy, too?” Hailey wondered.

“Oh, that would be just rude,” Tiffany answered. “Go ahead and finish him off. I’ll stand outside to make sure nobody sneaks up to watch.”

She opened the door and slipped out as Hailey’s mouth descended again.

Hailey awoke on Saturday morning with a throbbing head. She opened her eyes and then quickly closed them again. Her mouth tasted like dirty socks. She could remember puking at some point during the evening. She also remembered giving Phil a blowjob in the car after he’d fucked her. That brought a slight smile to her face. She could feel him behind her and she shuddered at the thought of how close she had come to throwing everything away.

She didn’t think she would have done anything unthinkable the night before but if she got drunk, her judgment faded. She reached her arm back to stroke Phil’s flank and he kissed her shoulder.

“I feel like hell,” Hailey admitted.

“Katie and I had to pour all three of you out of the car,” Phil said with a chuckle. “Do you remember the ride home?”

Hailey shook her head and rolled onto her back.

“You passed out in the backseat,” Phil said. “You crawled inside, pulled your skirt off to use as a pillow and that was it. It took us 20 minutes to find you. Katie was a tad bit unhappy with you.”

“Shit,” Hailey lamented. “I’ll apologize to her today.”

“You stuck your tongue down her throat when she helped you to bed,” Phil said with another laugh.

“I hope that was before I threw up,” Hailey remarked.

“It was,” Phil told her. “I was already back with Tiffany and Molly by then.”

“Why didn’t I come home with you?” Hailey asked. “God, I didn’t get bitchy with you again, did I?”

“You were fine,” Phil said. “Uh, do you remember the car?”

“Do you mean do I remember crawling up on your lap and having sex with you?” Hailey wondered. “Oh, yes, I remember that vividly. We went back to the party afterward. Then things get hazy. So why did I come home with Katelyn?”

“You just sort of slipped away and no one knew where you went,” Phil replied. “Katelyn and Bob were ready to leave and they found you curled up in the backseat. They brought you home and put you to bed.”

“Bob saw me in my underwear?” Hailey asked, distress evident in her voice. Phil only laughed harder.

“Oh, it was a little more than that,” he told her. “Apparently you found your bra a little too confining too. When they got to the car the only thing you had on were your panties and your mesh top.”

“I am so sorry,” she moaned.

“For what?” Phil wondered.

“Bob saw my breasts!” Hailey said loudly. The noise caused her temples to throb.

“I think it was only a matter of time anyway,” Phil pointed out. “He’s here so often anymore that sooner or later he was going to catch you topless. He caught Tiffany and Molly the first time I invited him out. Don’t worry; he didn’t undress you for bed. He helped Katelyn carry you in but she’s the one who took off your top. That’s when you kissed her and told her what a great friend she is.”

Hailey closed her eyes and shook her head.

“I must have really embarrassed you last night,” she groaned.

“You were fine,” Phil told her. “You got drunk but you were cute. We danced and everyone had fun. You didn’t embarrass me at all.”

“I got so drunk I puked!” Hailey said. “When did that happen?”

“It was after I got Tiffany and Molly into bed,” Phil replied. “Molly was slightly ambulatory so I just had to put my arm around her. I had to carry Tiffany upstairs. By the time I got Tiffany up there, Molly had passed out. Thank God they were already out of their costumes.”

“They were out of their costumes?” Hailey wondered, opening her eyes to glance at her boyfriend.

“Apparently they decided car sex would be a wonderful idea, too,” Phil told her. “They were hot and heavy when I got to the car. That’s why I was later than you. I let them finish. If I would have known Tiffany was going to go into a coma right afterward, they could have wrapped things up while I was driving. Anyway, I got them to bed and came back down here. When I got into bed, you tried to crawl on top of me. You succeeded but then you told me you were going to be sick and stumbled off to the bathroom. You had lost a little of your ardor by the time I got you back to bed.”

“Oh, my God, Phil,” Hailey lamented. “I don’t remember any of this!”

“That’s why we took pictures to make sure you piece it all together,” Phil said. Her boyfriend’s laughter was too loud and Hailey moaned. “Katelyn took a nice one of you in the car. You had your skirt under your head, your bra covering your eyes and your coat across your knees. Actually, it might have been Bob who took that one. I’ll ask them in a little while.”

“Please tell me you’re joking,” Hailey said.

“Nope,” Phil replied. “Don’t get mad at them. It was my idea. Katelyn sent me a text to tell me where you were. I was still hunting for you at that point. She said you were looking really cute so I told her to take a picture. I took some other pictures of you during the night. You were adorable.”

“I can’t believe I just wandered off,” Hailey said, shaking her head. “You must have been worried.”

“You had been sitting on my lap,” Phil said with a smile. “You leaned in and kissed me and said, and I quote, ‘I love you so fucking much and I’m going to keep you forever, ‘ then you got off my lap and left. I thought you were making another pass at the punch bowl. When you didn’t come back, I had a girl check the bathrooms and the bedrooms while I looked around outside. I wasn’t frantic or anything.”

“You still had someone check the bedrooms,” Hailey pointed out.

“To see if you were sleeping,” Phil clarified. “No other reason than that. I remembered that Tiffany told me that you once fell asleep in a pile of coats so that’s where I had her check first. I did not for one instant think that there might be someone else in a bedroom with you.”

“Oh,” Hailey said. “How in the hell did I get so drunk? I don’t remember drinking that much. I mean, I remember sitting on your lap and cuddling with you for a lot of the night. I had a few glasses of punch but not that many.”

“I didn’t think it was how much you drank so much as it was what you drank,” Phil told her. “By the time we came back from the car, the ‘punch’ was almost pure rum. I think I got a contact buzz just from kissing you.”

“So you don’t hate me?” Hailey asked.

“God, no,” Phil answered immediately. He started to kiss her lips but then veered to her cheek. She had been too unsteady on her feet to brush her teeth the night before. “But I should tell you, you made all sorts of promises last night.”

“I did?” Hailey inquired. “I hope I didn’t promise anything I can’t deliver.”

“You made them to me,” Phil replied, kissing her cheek again. “When I was holding your hair as you were sick, you told me that you promised to love me forever. I plan to hold you to that one.”

“Thank you,” Hailey replied. “That’s one promise I don’t plan to renege on.”

Hailey was still embarrassed when she came out of the apartment almost three hours later. She had slept for a while longer and then taken a shower and brushed her teeth. She felt a lot better but that changed when she saw Bob Prohl sitting with Phil and Katelyn at the dining room table. Her face turned beet red almost immediately.

“I feel bad about being such a sloppy drunk last night,” she said as she curled up on Phil’s lap and ate one of his fries.

“It was sort of funny,” Katelyn said, smiling across the table.

“I was talking to Bob,” Hailey replied.

“It was fine,” Bob told her, also offering a smile. “I was a little surprised to find you in the backseat but I was happy you were safe. You gave us a little bit of a scare. Once I knew you were OK, nothing else caused a problem.”

“Thanks,” Hailey told him, looking at Phil’s plate. “Uh, he told me how I was dressed and I hope I didn’t embarrass you.”

“I wasn’t embarrassed,” Bob told her. “As long as Katie isn’t mad at me for looking, it didn’t bother me at all.”

Katelyn snorted and rolled her eyes.

“Speaking of bare assed,” she said. “Why in the hell did you bother with panties at all? It was like two pieces of dental floss and a matchbook cover. The way you were shifted around, the top of your twat was hanging out.”

“Oh, God,” Hailey muttered.

“It wasn’t that bad,” Bob cut in when he saw how uncomfortable Hailey was. “You had your coat pulled up to your waist when we found you and you were on your side. No one looking in could see anything, Hailey. I think we should leave her alone. It’s obvious she’s upset.”

“Not you, too!” Katelyn said. “Christ, it’s bad enough that Phil keeps us from making fun of anybody. Now I get to listen to it in stereo.”

“I didn’t say a word,” Phil replied. He could smell that Hailey had bumped into a toothbrush so he gave her a kiss on the lips. “I thought it was funny. At least she wasn’t like that one girl who was offering lap dances for $10 each.”

“Aimee Marsden,” Katelyn answered when she saw Hailey’s inquisitive look. “Don’t worry. Phil only spent 30 or 40 dollars on her.”

“She would have blown him for 30 or 40 dollars,” Hailey remarked. “Hell, for 30 or 40 bucks she’d have done him and Bob at the same time.”