Chapter 67: Temptation, Frustration...

June 15, 2002, Chicago, Illinois

🎤 Steve

“Thank you for letting me get some sleep,” I said as Julie and I got out of bed early on Saturday morning.

“I needed sleep after six straight hours of sex!” Julie replied. “And that was after dinner!”

We went into the bathroom and got into the shower together to wash the remnants of our sex marathon from our bodies. After dinner, I’d taken her around the world, starting with sixty-nine, then fucking, and finally taking her anal cherry. After cleaning myself, I’d fucked her hard, then she’d sucked me until I was hard and rode me wildly. After a lengthy sixty-nine session, we’d finished by ‘Adulting’, then collapsing in each other’s arms just past 2:00am. The alarm had gone off at six and Julie and I engaged in a mattress-pounding, headboard-banging fuck to finish our time together.

“I’m curious about your plans,” I said as I shampooed her hair.

“Well, my divorce should be final on September 6th. Your wives said it would be OK to spend the night together that night to celebrate, if you were OK with it. Then I’ll start dating again. Well, actually start dating, I guess, because I never really dated. I met Jack, we mostly spent time at my house because my parents were concerned about the fact I was seventeen and he was twenty-two.”

“A five-year gap is nothing,” I said. “I would have no concerns about my daughters being in a relationship such as that.”

“I was NOT Birgit!” Julie said, shaking her head.

“I understand,” I replied. “But you can have a good influence on Tiffany, even starting now.”

“I’m not sure I’m ready for that conversation,” Julie said.

She rinsed the shampoo from her hair and I began soaping her body.

“Maybe not, but Tiffany is fourteen, so SHE is ready for that conversation. And, actually, so are you. Any woman who can do the things we did last night can have a frank talk with her daughter about sex.”

“That was crazy,” Julie said as I soaped her shapely butt. “I kind of lost control.”

“That’s a good thing,” I replied. “Well, so long as you don’t regret anything.”

“Only that I had lousy sex for fifteen years! Never again!”

“Good.”

“Would you do something for me?”

“If I’m able, within my limits.”

“In September, bring your toys and teach me how to use all of them?”

[Rochester, Minnesota] 🎤 Jesse

I didn’t see Scarlett at breakfast on Saturday, nor did I see her when we boarded the bus for the rink. I finally saw her at one of the video cameras when we came out of the locker room. When I skated on the ice, I held up my stick in salute and she waved back. Bill skated up to me and stopped in front of me.

“What the fuck, Block?” he asked.

“I’ve been talking to her after lunch when you’ve been napping, and again last night after our run when you went to bed.”

“Seriously? How?”

“Block! Clay!” Coach Bob hollered before I could respond. “This isn’t an encounter session! Ten extra laps!”

“Yes, Coach!” we both responded emphatically and began skating our warm-up laps.

We knew a protest would result in TWENTY extra laps. At least. One of the forwards had earned himself fifty laps by arguing with Coach Bob on the first day. The rest of us had received the message loud and clear. We skated our extra laps, then joined the other two goalies for stretching before our scrimmage game. Each goalie played half of each period, or as close as possible, depending on when a whistle blew around the mid-point of the period.

I judged myself the second best of the four, with the best being a kid from Green Bay, Johan, who was a Senior. He was only slightly better than I was, having given up two fewer goals on six more shots. I allowed for the fact that the D-men on my team were better than the D-men on his team, which had helped me stay close to him on the stats board.

The scrimmage went really well, and I gave up only a single goal, while Johan gave up two, bringing the stats even closer. I might just be able to top him on the performance table with a bit of luck and good D in front of me. We lifted within a couple of pounds of each other, with him slightly ahead, but I was about fifteen seconds faster during our runs.

We headed into the locker room for showers, but Coach Norm called for everyone’s attention.

“No sessions this afternoon and no run this evening,” he said. “You’re free until 1:00pm tomorrow. Curfew is still 11:00pm, and for those of you who are interested in going to church, Scarlett has a list of churches. Hit the showers, and we’ll see you tomorrow at 1:00pm.”

“Cool!” Bill exclaimed. “Want to skip lunch at the cafeteria and get some real food?”

I wondered about Scarlett, but I figured the worst-case would be that I saw her later.

“Sure. I saw a pizza place close to campus — one of those local places, not a chain.”

“Works for me! Let’s hit the showers!”

We showered, dressed, and boarded the bus back to campus. We stowed our gear in our room, leaving the window open to allow the gear to air out a bit, then left the building and headed for the pizza place.

“What do you like on your ‘za?” Bill asked.

“We usually go for the traditional Chicago style — either deep dish or pan with sausage and pepperoni. I suspect they only have thin-crust, New-York-style pizza here.”

“Pepperoni is good for me. Back to our ‘encounter session’, as Coach called it — how did you get Scarlett to talk to you?”

“By not using a dumb pickup line! But we’re just talking because she thinks I’m too young.”

“You were dating a Senior, right? So only a year younger than Scarlett.”

“Yes, but I’m still in High School and Scarlett is in college, and for her that seems to be enough to put me securely in the friend zone. She seems hung up on not dating a younger guy.”

“How old was the oldest girl you’ve been with?”

“Thirty-four!” I grinned.

“I call bullshit!”

“Call it what you want, but it’s true.”

“How the HELL did that happen?”

“Loki smiled on me!” I replied, pulling open the door to the pizza place.

“Loki?”

“A god from Norse mythology. He’s the god of change, also known as the trickster. He specializes in chaos! My dad has a real affinity for him, though obviously, we know he doesn’t actually exist.”

“You’re serious about being with a thirty-four-year-old woman?”

“Yes.”

“Damn! My oldest was eighteen — the Senior girl I was dating last year.”

We saw an empty table and sat down. A cute, blonde waitress came over right away, and we ordered a medium pepperoni pizza and a pitcher of root beer.

“She’s hot!” Bill declared.

“And I’d guess she’s twenty-two or twenty-three,” I observed. “And that would require you not acting uncouth.”

“Uncouth?”

“Lacking good manners, refinement, and grace! If you use a pickup line on her, you’ll get the same result you did with Scarlett! Those lines might work if the girl was younger than you, but older women are WAY more sophisticated. I hang out with college girls quite a bit, and college and Navy guys, and trust me, being cool and sophisticated is the only way to go. That’ll give you more chances than pickup lines.”

The waitress brought the pitcher of root beer and I thanked her and smiled. She smiled back and walked away,

“See?” I said. “That’s the first step.”

“Big deal! She smiled!”

“As I said, the first step. Now I could say something to her and she’d be receptive; well, so long as I wasn’t crass, rude, or uncouth. I don’t mean she’d agree to go out or give me her number, but she’d at least have a friendly conversation, and you never know where it might lead! Of course, we’d still have to overcome the fact that she’s in her twenties and we’re both sixteen.”

“How the heck did you get that older woman?”

“Right place, right time, right circumstances. I can’t really give any details, because Illinois’ age of consent is seventeen, and I’m not even seventeen now.”

“Ohio is sixteen, so it’s not so bad. And if you’re under eighteen, they pretty much leave you alone so long as you’re close in age. My cousin lives in Virginia, were it’s eighteen, and the day before he turned eighteen, he could legally have sex with his girlfriend, who was seventeen. The next day, it was technically illegal.”

“US society thinks teenage sex is evil, and is trying to stamp it out. Hormones are stronger!”

“No kidding!” Bill replied. “You really think you could chat her up? The waitress?”

“And get her to have a conversation? Sure. That’s easy. Beyond that? I don’t have enough information to do a good analysis.”

“How about a bet?” Bill asked. “I’ll buy lunch if you get her phone number?”

“Tell you what,” I said, “no wager, because I managed to get Scarlett to talk to me. But, I’ll buy lunch if you get the waitress to carry on a conversation that lasts more than a minute about anything NOT related to our meal or the restaurant? Ice-breakers about that are OK, but let’s see if you can do what you tried with Scarlett!”

“OK, you’re on!”

When the waitress, whose name was Kelly, according to her name tag, brought our pizza, Bill made an effort to engage her in conversation, but she gently deflected him by smiling and asking if we needed anything else. He tried again when she checked to see if we were enjoying our pizza, but once again deflected him, this time by smiling and saying she had orders up in the kitchen.

“I think she’s not interested in High School guys,” I said. “And I bet she gets hit on a lot, too. And no, I don’t think I could do any better. She gave you the same smile she gave me, and that’s the ‘please tip me’ smile!”

“If she likes the tip...” Bill smirked.

“I wouldn’t use that line,” I chuckled. “I bet she’s heard it before!”

“Probably. Want to see a movie tonight?”

“Do you know what’s playing?”

“The Bourne Identity or The Sum of All Fears.”

“I’m in for sure, though I prefer ‘Bourne’. My brother saw the Clancy movie and said it sucked compared to the book. Also, just so you know, I’m going to church tomorrow.”

“What church?”

“I’m Russian Orthodox, but there isn’t a church in Rochester, so I’m going to the Greek church. Same theology, just a different ethnic background.”

“You don’t look Russian.”

“I’m not. I joined the church when I was little after being taken there by my dad and his wives, who were investigating. They didn’t join.”

“What about your moms?”

“They don’t go to church. My godfather drove me most of the time, though I drive myself now. You?”

“Baptist, but not so that you’d notice! I decided not to be baptized when I was fifteen, Too many holier-than-thou people who are too worried about what everyone else is doing.”

“That’s my basic complaint about society!”

We finished our pizza, paid our bill, then left the pizza place to head back to the dorm.

[Apple Orchard Bed-and-Breakfast near Montpelier, Vermont] 🎤 Birgit

I ate lunch with Davey, then filled the bowls that were in both the old and new buildings with fresh apples. I had just finished when I saw Ed walking down the hallway. I hurried to catch up with him and put my hand on his arm.

“Can we talk? Please?”

“I’m going to meet my parents,” he said. “We’re going to Montpelier to check out the shops.”

I was totally frustrated with him because I’d really liked the French kiss, but he was so embarrassed by what had happened, he was doing his best to avoid me.

“Meet me tonight, around 9:00pm, in the clearing,” I said. “Please!”

“I dunno,” he said, turning and walking away.

I felt like screaming because he was being a dumber boy than most dumb boys! I decided that there was no reason to hold back, so I quickly walked after him and touched his arm. He stopped and I put my lips close to his ear.

“I want to fool around,” I whispered. “I’m on the Pill. Meet me in the clearing at 9:00pm!”

“I’m, uhm, not sure,” he said.

I turned away, rolled my eyes, and walked back to the old building.

“Wow,” Katy said. “You’re glowering!”

“Boys are dumber than I thought!” I growled.

“He still won’t talk to you?”

“No! All because he got too excited! I swear, why would you turn down a chance to kiss a girl that made you THAT hot?!”

Katy laughed, “We do have a high opinion of ourselves!”

I narrowed my eyes, stared at her, then smiled evilly.

“Whoever gets this,” I said, putting my finger at the base of the zipper of my jeans, “is going to be the happiest boy on the planet!”

“You are absolutely Steve’s and Kara’s daughter!”

“And you don’t think Dad was the happiest guy on the planet when he got YOU?”

“No comment,” Katy said with a smirk. “He did like the freckles!”

I laughed, “Dad is a sucker for freckles!”

“Can we be serious for a minute?” Katy inquired.

“Sure,” I agreed.

“Maybe he’s not ready for sex, or even heavy petting.”

“He’s fifteen!” I protested. “Seriously? Every boy that age I know is dying to get it! And would give one of their balls to get it. But they’d give BOTH for me!”

Katy laughed, “You’re going to be that good?”

“You said I was Dad’s and Mom’s daughter!” I declared.

“And now I’m positive your new friend is scared out of his mind! You might be being a bit too aggressive.”

“Only after I tried three times to get him to talk to me!”

“Birgit, sweetie, if he’s not ready for sex, you shouldn’t be pushing him into it.”

“Grr!”

“May I make a suggestion?”

“What?”

Katy smirked, “Get a vibrator; you’re going to need it!”

[Chicago, Illinois] 🎤 Steve

“I think Mom is correct,” Avanti said as we sat in my study.

“About?”

“That you are the most frustrating person she’s ever met!”

I chuckled, “You and your mom are in good company on that thought! I assume you mean because I’ve delayed your initiation?”

“Yes.”

“Because of the current social climate, I’ve reconsidered my personal rules with regard to physical intimacy. In the general case, girls who are under the age of consent are completely off-limits, though there can be carefully considered exceptions, which I have to discuss with my wives in advance. The exceptions require that the young woman be mature and her parents are at least comfortable with her expressing her sexuality in a physical way, even if they aren’t aware of the circumstances or who her partner might be.

“You obviously qualify for an exception to the general rule, with one condition — the lower age limit is fifteen, with no exceptions. What that means is, on January 25th you can, if you’re able to arrange it, spend the night here, and I’ll provide you with a thorough, all-night initiation. Unfortunately, it simply can’t be before then.”

Avanti nodded, “I wondered if you thought I was too young.”

“I don’t think you’re too young,” I replied. “I think fourteen is a reasonable age. But, taking everything into consideration, I have to set the limit at fifteen. I’m sorry if that upsets you.”

“I put myself completely in your hands as my guru,” Avanti said. “If it’s my fifteenth birthday, then that’s what it is. I’ll make sure I’m able to stay overnight here, though I’ll need to work out my birthday celebration with my parents.”

“It can be a different day, if necessary, just not before.”

“OK. When do you think I’ll be able to test for my orange belt?”

“I’d say next month. I’ll discuss it with Sensei Will, but as you’re my personal student, your promotion is my decision.”

“What do you want to discuss today?”

“I’d like to hear about your faith,” I said. “And I mean your personal expression.”

“It’s different from Mom’s and Dad’s because I was born here, and the culture is radically different from India. I’ve found Buddhism to be more to my liking than Hinduism.”

I nodded, “Buddhism resonates with me on a certain level, as does Russian Orthodox Christianity. But in the end, I don’t find any of the systems sufficient for my purposes. May I suggest some reading?”

“Sure.”

“Start with Stranger in a Strange Land, and we’ll take it from there. It’s one of the books I ask all my students and new members of the Philosophy Club to read.”

“I’ll get a copy and start reading right away!”

“Then let’s work on your breathing exercises and meditation.”

[Rochester, Minnesota] 🎤 Jesse

When we arrived back at the dorm, I saw Scarlett sitting on my usual bench, reading a book, which I quickly recognized. Bill nudged my shoulder with his and then walked towards the door. I turned, walked over to the bench, and sat down.

“Hi,” I said. “Interesting reading?”

“Where was this book when I was fifteen?!”

“In libraries, in bookstores, and on Amazon.com! Well, maybe not, because you were fifteen in 1997 if I can do my math correctly, and the book came out at the end of 1998. Learn anything?”

“I’m in college!”

“So?”

“Actually, the section on forms and reliability of birth control was way more thorough than our health class in eighth grade, and the same with the STI part. Do you follow the advice?”

“Yes. I’m tested every three months and any girl I’m with has to be tested in advance.”

“Talk about a mood killer!”

“Better than contracting HIV, hepatitis, syphilis, herpes, chlamydia, or gonorrhea!”

“Why not just use rubbers?”

“What does the book say?”

“That they are very effective when used properly.”

“Yes, and what else?”

“That up to 3% of women test positive for semen after condom usage.”

“And that’s not including the condom breaking or slipping off, which is another several percent.”

“Do you also insist the girl be on the Pill?”

“No.”

“But the risk level is about the same — 2%, or so.”

I nodded, “That is a risk, but it’s not life or death.”

“What would you do if you got a girl pregnant?”

“Take responsibility for my actions and support the girl in whatever decision she made.”

“You’re OK with abortion?”