Upbeat pop music was playing with black and gold decorations hanging in key areas around the house, but Derrick wasn’t feeling festive yet - he in a hurry. He arranged crackers, sliced cheese and chunks of bread around bowls of spinach dip. Chips were spread out on a large tray around a bowl of guacamole in what he hoped sort of looked like the top of a sombrero. He doubted anyone would notice, but he would. Champagne was on ice in a large cooler, beer was chilling in the fridge, bottles of wine were set out. He’d been working on this nonstop for the last three hours and was in the process of going through his usual pattern of wondering why on earth he’d decided to host a New Year’s Eve party again.

He glanced at the clock. It was just before 9:00 pm, the time he’d told his twelve guests to arrive – well, 11 guests. He had to correct himself. He wiped some sweat off his forehead.

“How are things coming?” he heard behind him. He turned around and for the first time in two hours, he let himself smile. His girlfriend Samantha stood at the doorway to the kitchen. Her auburn hair was curling as it flowed just past her shoulders. Her makeup was done, and the black and gold, horizontally striped pencil skirt with the black blouse she wasn’t sure of when she got it home looked spectacular after all. She’d almost taken it back and went with a standard cocktail dress. Derrick was glad she decided to give this outfit a try. The black stockings underneath looked perfect as well.

Derrick put his handful of chips on the tray and wiped off any salt or dust. “Wow, you look fantastic,” he told her, walking to her to give her a careful kiss so as not to mess up the fresh lipstick. She was five-foot-six with green eyes and the blouse hinted at the C-cup breasts underneath.

“Thank you, honey,” she said.

“Things are pretty good. I think I’m just about there,” said Derrick, picking up the tray of chips. Samantha jumped in and took the trays of crackers and cheese to the dining room table. Once the snacks were set, Derrick could finally relax.

Samantha didn’t live with Derrick, but she stayed with him more nights than she didn’t. They’d been together for eight months now. Derrick’s house wasn’t huge but it was definitely better than her apartment. She was 28 and Derrick was 34, which would have been a huge age difference in high school or college, but they fit together well and were happy.

“Things look great,” she said, setting Derrick’s mind at ease. “You worry too much anyway. Our friends just want to have fun. I promise you won’t be judged by your cheese tray.”

Derrick had to agree there. “Let’s hope they judge me on my date instead. You look so good,” he said. She gave him a twirl in the dining room and then lifted the hem of her skirt just enough. “Ohhh ... thigh-highs ... you’re killing me now,” he said, walking over to her and running his fingertip over the skin peaking out over the stockings.

Samantha giggled. “I thought you might like that touch,” she said.

“Panties?” he asked, genuinely curious if she had more surprises for him.

She winked. “You’ll have to find out for yourself later.”

He was about to say something when he heard the soft “ding” sound of a text message coming in. He only turned the sound on his phone on when he was busy moving around since he didn’t always notice the vibration when it was on silent. It was a message from his friend Cameron. “Need anything? Can stop by store on way over,” he texted.

“Nope, all good here.” Derrick wrote back. It was nice of Cameron to ask. In fact, he wasn’t sure if Cameron was going to attend at all. Cameron was one of Derrick’s closest friends but it had been a rough holiday season for Cameron. Exactly one week before Christmas, Cameron had broken up with his girlfriend of three years, Abby. The holidays were always a stressful time and this year things had reached a breaking point. The bickering and snide comments that sometimes shot between them became a little rougher, a little more personal, and in the end one of them said something they couldn’t take back and they’d split up. Derrick had to watch his friend return the gifts he’d already bought for her. Derrick never did get the full story from Cameron on what was said and didn’t push too hard. It was all so recent he was letting his friend tell him in his own time.

“Cameron’s on the way,” Derrick said.

“Oh good. I’m glad he’s coming. Going solo to a New Year’s Party can really suck,” said Samantha. At first Cameron declined the invitation, but Derrick talked him into stopping by.

“I know. Hopefully the party will take his mind off things a little,” said Derrick.

“I still think we should have invited Darla,” said Samantha, referring to a single friend of hers.

“Too soon, I think. I don’t think he’s ready to start meeting people. It’s only been a couple of weeks,” said Derrick.

Samantha nodded, deciding Derrick was right on the timing issue. “I know, he’s just a good guy and all...” she said.

“Good thing I asked you out before he did,” said Derrick teasing her.

Samantha let out a small laugh. “You’re my guy, you know that.” She was right, Derrick did feel secure with her. “But if you weren’t in the picture, Cameron would be a good guy to date. He and Abby just ... they just knew exactly how to push the wrong buttons with each other.”

Derrick said he felt the same way and went back to doing the final touch-ups on the spread.

Before long, guests began arriving. They were a mix of friends from work, such as Kevin and his wife April, plus Christine and her husband, Morris. Others were old acquaintances from his rec soccer league team, Tyson and his wife Carrie, along with Marcus and his girlfriend Tenille. His next door neighbors came over as well, Selena and Roberto. Two more were close friends of Samantha, Landry and Kelly.

The group began chatting and mingling as Derrick made sure everyone had something to drink. The music was playing and a New Year’s Eve special was on the TV, muted, as musical acts and other guests appeared from New York City.

Derrick surveyed the scene and saw the snacks were being eaten, alcohol was being drunk, his guests were laughing and talking – it was a success. He worried himself about it every year and every year it turned out fine. He took a deep breath and let it back out. Time to allow himself to enjoy the party as well. He poured a whiskey on the rocks and sipped it as he mingled with the guests a bit.

Marcus, who was one of the funniest people Derrick knew was in the middle of telling a story about an argument he’d overheard between two bartenders and had half the group laughing while the other half mingled and mixed drinks in the dining room.

Another whiskey followed and finally, when it was close to 10:00, he finally spotted Cameron walking in.

“Hey bud, glad you made it!” said Derrick, stepping away from the story to say hello just inside th4e front door.

“Happy New Year,” said Cameron with a smile. He seemed determined to put on a happy face tonight with the others around. Derrick patted him on the shoulder as Chat held up a bottle. “I thought I’d pitch in a bottle of this new spiced rum I found. I think it’s really good.”

“That’s great, I love a good Cuba Libre,” said Derrick, taking the bottle and walking toward the dining room.

“Cameron! Glad you’re here!” said Samantha, coming up to him for a hug. Cameron blinked a couple of times seeing her in the dress and was happy to get the hug, her breasts pushing against his chest. Cameron wore a black, long sleeve shirt and jeans, and managed to make it look sharp. He was in shape with good shoulders, which helped.

“Thanks Sam, good to see you too,” he said.

Roberto and Selena were nearby and had met Chat before at previous parties. “Hey man, how’s it going?” asked Roberto, sticking out his hand for a handshake. “So sorry to hear about you and Abby...” he started before Selena elbowed him in the ribs.

“So rude! Don’t bring up his ex right away like that! What’s the matter with you?” she scolded him.

“Take it easy! I’m just saying I’m sorry...” he started.

“Well don’t say anything, just drink your drink and say nothing. It’s like when you told my cousin she looked pregnant. You don’t know how to talk to people!”

“She was pregnant!”

“She hadn’t told us yet! You don’t tell people they look pregnant! You wait for them to tell you and pretend they aren’t until they do!”

“That doesn’t make any sense!”

“You don’t have any sense!”

Cameron and Derrick made eye contact and started chuckling. They moved back to the kitchen with Samantha in tow. “We’ll just let them work that out,” said Derrick. “They do this sometimes. They’ll be fine in a few minutes.

“No worries, it looks like a fun group. I needed this,” said Cameron.

After some small talk Cameron went to the living room and listened to Marcus tell more stories. A few others sat on the couch and talked, others were in the dining room as Samantha and Derrick stayed in the kitchen. Derrick took a glance in at the table to see if anything needed refilling.

“Derrick, honey, relax.” said Samantha.

“I just want to see if they need...”

“What if I need something?” she said with a sultry smile and pulled him close. She kissed him and their tongues met for a moment. Derrick sighed and enjoyed the kiss, which lasted several seconds. When it continued on, he playfully flicked his thumb over her breast, finding her nipple.

“You know you can have whatever you want,” he smiled.

“Anything?” she asked, letting her hand trace over the front of his pants.

“Especially that,” he said, kissing her again, this time cupping her breast in the kitchen. As they made out she found his growing erection and began to squeeze it. Her nipple hardened under his touch and he moved his hand in small circles, making it grow more. She moaned softly in his mouth.

Just then Tyson began walking into the kitchen. He was looking over his shoulder at his wife, barely giving Derrick and Samantha enough time to separate a bit. Derrick felt a bulge in his jeans and turned his body away as Samantha glanced down. Her nipples were poking through her top. She tried to push her hair forward and over them, but she knew it wasn’t long enough.

“Um, am I interrupting anything?” asked Tyson.

“No, no, need anything?” asked Derrick.

“Just going to grab some ice. I can come back later,” said Tyson with a small smirk.

“Plenty of ice, no problem,” said Derrick, winking at Samantha as he composed himself. He took Samantha by the hand and they went back to the living room, his erection having subsided after the close call.

The conversation flowed freely as the night continued. Carrie tried to teach Samantha, April and Selena a Tik Tok dance her daughter had been doing earlier in the day, to mixed success. Selena picked it up fairly quickly while April struggled, although she was giggling all the way through it.

“I don’t know why I’m trying. I can barely do the Electric Slide,” April joked.

Samantha pulled Derrick to the living room and tried to get him to learn it as well, but he backed off after one try.

“I don’t think Tik Tok is for me,” Derrick laughed. Samantha looked over and saw Cameron standing nearby and grabbed him instead. With a giggle she and Carrie began showing him the moves, with Samantha grabbing his arms and legs, putting them in the right position. When she put his hand on his inner thigh to get him a wider base, he raised his eyebrows at her.

“Keep doing that and this will end up a different kind of video,” joked Marcus.

“Here’s your chance for that dance career you always dreamed of,” Derrick said.

“Two million followers in a month easy!” laughed Cameron.

They tried it again and to everyone’s delight all three got it perfectly, and the guys couldn’t help but notice how high Samantha’s skirt rose during the dance. Samantha and Carrie almost squealed with delight and sandwiched Cameron in a hug between them. Cameron enjoyed the hug thoroughly as Samantha kissed his cheek. Derrick grinned, knowing it was as happy as he’d seen his friend since the troubles with his ex began.

“Now all I have to do is be a teenager again and I could be a star,” said Samantha.

“I know, no one wants to see me dancing on the internet,” laughed Carrie.

“I’d love it,” said Tyson, stepping up to kiss his wife.

“Oh, aren’t you sweet?” she answered.

Morris had brought a party game to play, a game where you tried to get your teammates to guess a word but you could only use gestures and grunts. “We can do teams like guys and girls,” he said. Cameron, putting on his best face, even volunteered to be the judge and referee to keep the teams even, playing the whole thing as if he were a cheesy gameshow host.

As midnight approached, Derrick brought out a box of noisemakers, silly hats and cardboard tiaras for the usual New Year’s countdown celebrations.

Before long, the countdown was on. Everyone at the part faced the large TV in the living room to watch the ball drop in Times Square. “10... 9... 8... 7...”

Each couple at the party found their partner, most of the men had an arm around their girlfriend or wife as the seconds ticked away. “6... 5... 4... 3... 2... 1 ... Happy New Year!” The crowd shouted, raising the glasses of champagne Samantha and Derrick had handed out with a minute to go. Each couple also turned and kissed one another. Some gave quick kisses and then set off their poppers and blew their cardboard air horns, others lingered in longer kisses, with Roberto and Selena sharing the longest one, making out a while as the rest of the house erupted in noise.

Derrick and Samantha shared a good kiss, keeping their lips together for several seconds with a little tongue before breaking away. Over Samantha’s shoulder, he spotted Cameron, standing off to the side, back against the wall, looking a touch sad as he watched his friends celebrate midnight with their partners. He looked down at this glass and walked toward the kitchen.

Samantha saw it, too. “Aw, poor guy,” she said. Derrick nodded and thought for a few seconds.

“Tell you what...” he said, looking at his buddy. He wasn’t sure if it was the drinks, the atmosphere, or something else, but whatever it was, it made him say, “Why don’t you go give him a kiss? I hate to leave him out.”

Samantha looked at Derrick. “Are you sure?” she asked.

Derrick nodded. “Yeah, go give Cameron a kiss. Start his year off right,” he said with a smile to her.

Samantha looked around. The rest of the party was in full swing, with confetti and paper streamers from the poppers floating around and everyone glancing at the screen to watch the televised celebrations. She looked at Derrick and took another mouthful of champagne. Swallowing it, she walked over to Cameron in the kitchen.

He looked up at her as she approached. “Happy New Year, Cameron,” she said, boldly taking his face in both her hands and pulling him down to her lips. His eyes were a comical picture of surprise as she pressed her lips against his. Derrick watched from across the room as she held the kiss, then his heart leapt a little when he saw his hands touch her elbows, then slide up her arms. Derrick took a step to the side to get a better angle.

There was another surge of electricity in his heart as he saw his girlfriend open her mouth as the kiss grew in intensity. “Are they really making out in there?” he thought to himself. As he craned his neck he saw they most definitely were. Samantha’s hands had slid from his face, her right on his hip and her left now resting on his right bicep. He also couldn’t deny that surge of electricity had spread down lower and he felt his cock stirring in his pants. This was his girlfriend, one of only three he’d ever told, “I love you,” the one he slept next to most nights, the one who could turn him on by just walking around the house in a tshirt and panties, and now he was watching her make out with his close friend. Their mouths open, tongues rolling over one another, one of his hands sliding to the small of her back, just above her cute little ass, and he was without question very turned on.

Derrick glanced around again. From where he stood he could see most of the living room and the kitchen, where Cameron and Samantha were. No one in the living room seemed to be paying any attention. Everyone else was talking, laughing, drinking and not paying much attention to who else was where. April was stepping outside to either smoke or vape – Derrick couldn’t remember if she was still “trying to quit” as usual or was off the wagon – with Kevin and Morris in tow. Neither glanced back as they went to his back porch off the living room.

Seeing a chance, Derrick looked back over. Cameron and Samantha were still kissing, Samantha pressed more firmly up against him than even before. Derrick thought of that last gulp of champagne she took before going over to Cameron. He saw the bottle of spiced rum Cameron brought and grabbed a red cup, pouring what looked like a shot (maybe a shot and a half) and tipping it back. It was sweet and the alcohol hit with a smooth, warm feeling. Derrick shook his head and walked to the kitchen.

Cameron’s hand had slid around to Samantha’s ass and she was holding the back of his head now. They were now stopping between kisses to tilt their heads different ways before kissing again and again, their noses brushing together. Derrick realized Samantha wasn’t kidding at all when she said she’d be interested in Cameron if he weren’t in the picture. The evidence was right in front of him now. A couple of times their tongues were both out of their mouths, touching sensuously between them before their lips met again.

Derrick put a hand on Cameron’s shoulder and the other on the small of Samantha’s back simultaneously. Their eyes shot open and they instinctively backed away from each other a bit. “Oh whoa! I guess ... I guess we got a little carried away there,” said Samantha. Derrick noted she barely took her eyes away from his friend.

Cameron looked over at him. “She just came right up to me...” he started.

“It was my idea,” Derrick admitted.

Cameron smiled. “I’m relieved to hear that. She wasn’t exactly trying to hide too much,” he said, looking back over at her. Samantha blushed.

“What do you say we take this back where it’s a little more private?” said Derrick, nodding back toward the hallway.

Samantha licked her lips, her lipstick slightly smeared from the kissing she’d done. “You think?” she said, raising her eyebrows. “Oh, that’s a hell yes for me.”

Cameron looked at Derrick and then at her. He took her arm and they headed down the hall together. They passed by the small guest bedroom, which just had a full-sized bed in it, and went straight to the master bedroom. Cameron entered first, then Samantha. Derrick was the last one in and shut the door behind them, the sounds of the party dropping away some.

“Let’s see some more of that,” he told his friend and his girlfriend. “As you were.”

“My pleasure,” said Cameron, pulling Samantha close again.

She giggled. “Mmmm ... me too,” and they kissed again. Derrick stepped back and decided to just let things happen. He leaned against the wall of the bedroom as he watched Cameron stand with his back to the bed. Cameron’s hand slid back down to her ass again, his hand squeezing the black skirt she was wearing. Their mouths were making soft smacking noises and Cameron kept squeezing the cheeks of her ass.

“She teased me earlier about her panties, why don’t you find out what she had in store?” Derrick commented from a few feet away.

“Have you been teasing my friend?” asked Cameron. She nodded. He began using his fingers to pull her skirt up little by little as they pressed their bodies together. Derrick saw her skirt raise up higher than her thigh high stockings, the contrast of her white skin against the black stockings making his cock even stiffer than before. Cameron pulled it up and the cheeks of her ass began to come in to view.

“You have on a thong tonight?” Derrick smiled as she looked on. Cameron kept going, his hands slipping partially under the skirt.

“Actually ... doesn’t seem like it,” he said, his hand sliding around the top of her ass.