Chapter 20: Be Mine, Valentine!

THE FIRST THING in the morning, Dad and I went to the studio and I showed him the photos. When Dad really gets mad, he doesn’t say anything. He’s quiet and breathes deeply and you know he’s seething. He put the photos in an envelope and left the studio.

I wished I’d made an appointment today for a sitting of any sort. Of course, everyone was busy getting ready for the big dance. This was the biggest event of the year that included all four years of high school. Prom in May was just juniors and seniors.

I cleaned the car and tried to wash it, but the weather was too cold. At least the inside was all spotless. I’d even emptied the trash out of the wagon part and cleaned the back seat. No sense in having just the front seat clean. I ran into Huntertown to pick up flowers for the girls and was thankful I at least had that task to keep me busy.

I was picking up Ronda and Chris at 7:30 at Chris’s house. My family was invited, along with Ronda’s family, so everyone could snap photos of the three of us dressed up for Homecoming and the great pinning of the flowers.

Of course, I’d be carrying a camera, but Dad was a pretty good photographer and he’d take our pictures on my 35. It was only four blocks from Chris’s house to mine, so my family would walk home as I shuttled Chris and Ronda in the car. As much as we liked walking home together, it just wouldn’t be appropriate at midnight in formal gowns and high heels. School rules still required that we all take off our shoes in order to dance on the hardwood.

“Well, I guess three of them is like having a chaperone for any two of them,” Mr. May said to Dad.

“They’re all three good kids,” Dad answered. “I wouldn’t be worried about them in any combination.”

“Easy for you to say,” Mr. Evans responded. “Yours is the boy. When you’ve got girls, you worry about them in any combination.”

“Especially when there’s a boy,” Mr. May said.

“I’m a few years ahead of you,” Dad said. “My oldest girl has already given me a granddaughter and the second is training to become an air force mechanic.”

“No kidding!” May said. “Didn’t realize you had older kids. We’re about the same age, but I guess I got a late start. Ronda’s older sister is away at college. That hurts the wallet.”

“Where?” Dad asked.

“Champaign-Urbana. Wants to be a veterinarian.”

“And mine wants to be a veteran,” Dad chuckled. “Don’t know where I went wrong.”

“Well, my son gets tuition and I still have to write an alimony check, but he only has a year to go in college and payments will stop,” Mr. Evans said.

I got a shortcut on the flower pinning. Each of the corsages had wrist band so they could wear them on their hands instead of their chests. I don’t know where I’d have pinned a flower on Ronda. At least not with her parents watching. Ronda and Chris had short wraps that just covered their shoulders, really. I helped them put them on and then ushered them out the door.

“Preacher, do you play cards? I’m thinking a game of pinochle would be a good way to spend the evening,” Mr. Evans said.

“Oh, deal us in,” Mom said. “I can stay for an hour or an hour and a half before I have to go practice my sermon one more time before bed.”

The dance was fun. We learned pretty quickly that it was a lot harder to do our kind of swing dancing in formal gowns. The first time I dipped Ronda down, her boobs almost popped out of her dress.

“That select group almost got a lot bigger,” she gasped. “Chris, come to the restroom with me and help me make sure I’m tucked in securely!”

The girls left for the restroom and I took the opportunity to wander around and take some pictures on the dance floor and at the tables where people were sitting. I saw the display of pictures on a table. Each one had a jar next to it to collect donations for charity. That didn’t determine who would be queen, but there was an award for the girl who collected the most. I reached in my wallet and got a dollar out to put in Ronda’s jar. It looked pretty full. I saw one of the seniors in the court leading her boyfriend to the table and begging him to contribute to her jar. He dropped in a ten and she kissed him. I got that shot.

At nine, the names of the homecoming court were announced and I escorted Ronda to the stairs to the stage where the junior king candidate, Tom, took her to lead up the stairs. Then Chris joined me and handed me my camera so I could take pictures of the assembled court. Ronda’s name was read out as the second runner up. April, the girl I’d seen at the donation table, got first runner up. No one was terribly surprised that Marlene Dickson accepted the crown and roses for the Homecoming Queen. I’d retaken her senior photo, and she was kind, studious, and lovely.

I was finally allowed up on stage to take good pictures of the queen and her court and the king, who happened to be senior basketball player Dan King. I didn’t much like him, but I wasn’t a senior. Guess he was popular with others. Then there was a dance for the court and Ronda danced with Tom. It was a fairly slow dance, but since most of the girls and guys weren’t paired up with their boyfriends or girlfriends, it wasn’t a usual hug and shuffle kind of dance. It looked like Tom at least knew the rudiments of ballroom dancing and Ronda made him look good.

I took the opportunity to dance with Chris for a bit while Ronda stood in the receiving line to be congratulated by students as they filed by.

“I’m getting a lot of dances tonight,” Chris giggled. “I guess you’ll have to give Ronda a lot of kisses.”

“I think you will, too,” I said as I gave her a passing kiss on the forehead.

“Yeah. I don’t think I’ll suffer too much.” She pulled herself in close to me, even though the song wasn’t particularly slow. “I kind of got to second base with her in the restroom,” she whispered.

“What? You ... uh...”

“Touched her breasts. I mean, I was helping her get tucked back into her dress, you know. Did you touch her when you helped her into her dress?”

“No. I didn’t try to and I don’t think she wanted me to.”

“Probably not, but they’re really nice. I kind of understand now why boys seem obsessed with touching a girl’s breasts,” Chris said.

“I hope I don’t come off as obsessed with that,” I said. “It’s not like I’m not interested, but I’m happy to wait. I mean, with Kelly and Roxie, it was kind of their idea.”

“I know, honey. I’m just saying that I understand better now and won’t get real upset if you make a pass at me later tonight. I know you just can’t help yourself.”

I pulled her closer to me than I normally dance with a girl and kissed her hair. I got tapped on the shoulder.

“Hey, that looks an awful lot like a PDA,” Ronda said as we opened up enough room to wrap an arm around her, too.

“I confess,” Chris said. “I public display affectioned him.”

“Yeah. You know what? Me, too.”

From that point on, the three of us danced together. There were some faster songs where we just were in a little triangle. There were a couple of songs that the girls sort of danced with each other and I just stayed in close enough contact to look like I was dancing with them. The same was true when I mostly danced with Ronda or Chris. The other stayed in contact with us.

We’d been dancing for quite a while when Ronda pulled Chris and me into a clinch and said, “It’s after ten. Let’s blow this popsicle stand.”

“You’re ready to go home?” I asked, stupidly.

“No. Let’s go parking,” Chris said.

“We did the dance part. Now is the make-out part,” Ronda added.

We went to the bleachers where our coats and shoes were, collected our things and took off. When I opened the car, I was surprised that Ronda got in the middle of the front seat with Chris crowded beside her. When I got in to drive, Ronda immediately put a hand on my leg. I glanced down and saw she had her other hand on Chris’s leg and Chris had her arm around Ronda’s shoulder with her hand on my shoulder.

“You know I have to shift gears in this. I ... uh ... don’t want to smash anything.”

“I’ll let you know if it hurts,” Ronda giggled.

“Um ... Where are we going,” I said as I got to the entrance of the school parking lot.

“Can you find the place where you took Kelly?” Chris asked. “That sounded like a good place.”

“It’s about twenty minutes, but I think I can find it.”

“Don’t mind us if we get started without you,” Ronda said. With that she turned and locked lips with Chris. They didn’t start climbing all over each other, so at least I was able to concentrate on driving as they mostly kissed and whispered to each other.

I found the place and parked, turning off the engine and setting the brake. I didn’t want to accidentally hit the clutch and start rolling toward the river. I turned to the girls and they both tried to get to my lips with theirs, giggling the whole time.

“Back seat,” Ronda said. We piled out of the car and into the back. I was glad I’d cleaned the whole car.

Chris slid onto my lap so Ronda could get up close, too. It was a little crowded against the roof, but at least we’d keep each other warm. As we were struggling to get in and comfortable, both girls hiked their skirts up above their knees so they could move around.

And then the kissing started in earnest. The girls went straight to my mouth to start with all three of our tongues together. I loved that sensation and wondered if I’d ever be happy having only one girlfriend to make out with. I was just as happy, though, to hold the girls in my arms as they focused on kissing each other, or to feel their hands on my chest as I kissed one of them. I discovered that a three-way kiss was done mostly with the tip of the tongue, while a two-way kiss involved exploring the whole mouth.

Then I discovered that while I was kissing Ronda, she’d reached over to Chris and had a hand on Chris’s boob while Chris was working my buttons loose so she could get a hand inside my shirt. I’d lost my tie while I was driving. Both girls slipped their wraps off so my hands were all over their bare shoulders. I’d pretty much decided when we were together the day before that T-shirts were strictly for school from now on and I’d quit wearing them the rest of the time—especially if I was wearing a jacket. Feeling Chris’s hand on my chest was great.

And then Ronda twisted a little and I met Chris’s lips while my hand landed on Ronda’s right breast. She grabbed it and I was afraid I’d gone too far. But instead, Ronda held it there for a minute, squeezing a little, and then shocked the hell out of me by pulling it up above her dress on the bare slope of her breast and then shoving my hand under the dress.

I was holding Ronda May’s bare boob! When Chris and I parted enough that I could glance down, I saw her hand inside on Ronda’s other breast as the dress was pushed down below.

“Where no man’s hand has gone before,” Ronda whispered.

She still had a hand on Chris and I saw her move a bit. Chris’s zipper came undone and Ronda pushed her dress open to cup Chris’s bare breast in her hand. Both girls moaned.

“It feels good in both directions, doesn’t it?” Ronda said. “Oh, God, yes! Rub my nipples!”

I was happy to comply.

Chris did some shifting around and turned on my lap so she was facing away. Then she lay back on me far enough that she could reach Ronda’s breast with her lips. That also left Chris’s breast exposed and available right in front of me. I immediately covered it with my hand and began playing with her nipple and squeezing her breast.

Both girls were moaning and I was feeling my cock swelling to come.

“Bring her over here closer,” Ronda said. I felt Chris scooching up and lifted her to lie across my lap a little further. Ronda looked up at me. “One for each of us,” she said, shifting around so she could reach one of Chris’s nipples while I bent to take the other in my mouth. I felt movement of Chris’s arm against my dick and looked down to see her with one hand between her legs. I felt my cock let go and Chris gasped. Ronda wasn’t far behind.

Chris struggled to sit up and look at Ronda, whose hand was still in her crotch. They grinned at each other.

“Goose and gander,” Chris whispered. The girls turned toward me and attacked my nipples with their lips.

“Oh! Oh, no! I can’t take any more of that!” I yelled. The girls looked up at me and smiled, closing in for another three-way kiss that was soft and gentle, even though we were all three panting. They started buttoning my shirt.

“Kiss my tits a little and say goodbye,” Ronda said, moving up to offer me her breasts. “But just a little. They’re really sensitive now. Just like yours.” I bent to her beautiful breasts and softly kissed the rosy tips. I could just about have come again.

“Now go drive us home while we girls put ourselves together,” Chris said, freeing me of her weight. I opened the door and the light came on. The girls shrank down in the seat, their dresses still bunched up, top and bottom, around their waists.

“So beautiful,” I whispered. The light came on briefly again as I opened the front door and I saw Chris and Ronda, still kissing with their bare breasts pushed against each other.

“I think we should put off doing that again for a while,” Chris said when we walked Ronda to her door. “I mean, I really liked it. So much that I don’t think I could stop next time.”

“I agree,” Ronda said. “I loved it, but I don’t want to lose my virginity in the back seat of a Ford. That was definitely where this was headed.”

“I’m with both of you. That was really intense. I’m sorry I lost control and came in my pants. I just couldn’t help it,” I said.

“I could feel you against my arm. It was the last thing that drove me over the edge.”

“All it took was you sucking on my left nip to get me to the edge. When I put my lips on your nipple, it was all over for me,” Ronda said. “I don’t think we should do this with each other when we’re out on a two-person date. I mean you two together or me with either one of you. I know I wouldn’t have done all that if I was alone with just one of you. I just felt freer with the three of us.”

“Kissing and petting,” Chris said. “Outside our clothes. Mostly. Let’s save the rest for later.”

“Yes. I don’t want either of you to feel like you have to do what we did tonight if we go out together. I’m not going to push either of you for anything else.”

“That’s why I think I’m falling in love with you,” Chris said.

“But, you know, if the opportunity to do this stuff with someone else comes up—like Kelly,” Ronda said, “take it. When we get this far and further, it would be nice to feel like at least you know what you’re doing.”

“As much as I’d like to pretend I’m the only girl you’re intimate with, I don’t want both of us fumbling around trying to figure out what we’re doing,” Chris added.

“You think I should fumble around with someone else?”

“I think someone like Kelly can teach you how to not fumble,” Ronda said. “Roxie could have. I didn’t expect her to respond to you dating Christine and me like she did. Usually, guys go gaga over her, hit her three-date limit, and get dumped. You must have spoiled her game plan.”

“Well, she did teach me some things,” I said.

“Save up your lessons. Were ours the first breasts you touched without clothing on?” Chris asked.

“Yes.”

“Then I feel like I’ve had my first with you. See if Kelly’s nipples are as sensitive as mine.”

“See if she comes when you touch her,” Ronda added. “We might have to live vicariously through you for a while. I’m sure not letting any other boy get that far with me.”

“Me neither,” Chris agreed.

We kissed again sweetly, and then Ronda went in. I just walked Chris to her door from there and kissed her. As we hugged each other tightly, I whispered, “I think I’m falling in love with you, too.”

We exchanged our valentines on Monday at school and each proudly took home a picture of the other two. With my own picture in the collection, I found three frames and showed them to Mom. She thought we looked wonderful. After the family had nodded and said I was a lucky guy, I put the photos on my desk.

I could really fall in love with both of them.

“Who do you think you are?” Butch Reichert asked as he shoved my shoulder in the locker room.

I don’t like being accosted or touched physically by other people unless I’m into them. Especially while I’m naked. Butch wasn’t one I particularly wanted to be near.

“What are you talking about?” I said. I pulled away from him and backed up a step. If he was going to get physical, I wanted room to run.

“How’d you manage to get two of the hottest girls in our class—in our school—to go out with you? Are you rich or something? Why is Chris even interested in you?”

“I just asked her out and she said yes. What’s the big deal?”

“And Ronda?”

“Well, she asked me out. We both like the same kind of dancing.”

“Why hasn’t she ever dated me?” he demanded.

“Shit, Butch. I don’t know. Why don’t you ask her?”

“I don’t like you, but I wouldn’t try to steal your girlfriend. Either of them.” He glared at me. I finally understood what the girls were talking about.

“Hey. We aren’t going steady. We’re just friends who found out we have a lot in common. Ronda and I like to dance. Chris comes up to my studio to help me direct photo shoots and do make up. We went out because no one else would ask them out. And because they complain that every other boy they’ve dated is an octopus trying to get his hands on their tits,” I said. I hoped the guys who were listening got the message that they’d go out, but would shoot down any attempt to grope them.

“And you didn’t?”

“No, man. What kind of guy goes out and tries to grope his date?”

“Ronda’s got the most awesome tits in school!” another guy chimed in.

“Maybe,” I said. “If that’s all you see her for, though, good luck ever getting that date.” I grabbed my clothes out of my locker and started getting dressed.

“So, you aren’t taking them out this weekend again?” Butch persisted.

“No. I’ve got a date with a girl from Huffington. Cute redhead.” I laid it on a little thick.

“Chris and Ronda don’t mind?” Lee Schwartz asked.

“I told you, man. We like each other and sometimes we’ll go out. We’re not going steady.”

“She won’t go out with you after she’s been out with me,” Lee responded. I wasn’t sure which she he was talking about.

“That’s her choice,” I said. “Be sure she’s the one who makes it.”

I finished dressing and left. I often hung around school when it was out, but this time I just wanted to get going.

Tony and Patricia were waiting for me by his motorcycle and waved me over.

“Man! You are great and your pop is a badass!” Tony said.

Patricia grabbed me by the front of my jacket and laid a kiss on me. I was ready to duck if Tony swung at me.

“What’s going on, guys?”

“My dad and I got called into the mayor’s office this morning. Your dad was there with a bunch of photographs you took Friday night. The mayor just wanted to know if the pictures were really of Patricia and me and if we’d been having regular trouble with the constable. My dad ... well, he usually takes that as a sign that it’s time to move on, but I nodded, and your dad said the pig was a racist and harassing people out of prejudice. Mr. Lechleiter said he was going to call a special meeting of the village council Thursday night to hear any witnesses for both sides and that until then he was ordering the constable to have no contact with us or our families unless he sees us in a clear violation of a standing law.”

“Damn, Tony. I didn’t mean to get you in trouble, man,” I said.

“Trouble? You might have gotten that damn pig in trouble, but not me. And your dad was steaming. Every time Lechleiter started to smooth it over, your dad insisted that the people hear about it. The guy asked me if my motorcycle wasn’t too loud to be run in town at night. I just said that it ran quiet as a kitten since your dad tuned it. Man, it’s going to be a riot Thursday night. You gotta be there.”

“Where’s it going to be?”

“At the fire station.”

“I’ll bring my camera.”

“And, Nate,” Patricia said, running a finger down my jaw. “How about a photo session Sunday afternoon. I’ve got some new ideas.”