Chapter 18

As I had promised, I showed up at Mia’s house three hours before their friends were scheduled to arrive, and she immediately jumped into the passenger seat before I could even turn off the engine. I drove her to a few stores to get snacks and supplies, since she wanted to prepare some Guacamole herself, and Nora had told her about my proficiency in the kitchen. I just hoped she didn’t tell her about it while presenting her with a specially glazed piece of pastry.

To my great displeasure, the whole time we walked through the store side by side, while she happily chatted away and inquired about my opinion on different ingredients for party snacks, my mind would not stop imagining us as a couple doing their weekly grocery shopping. It did not help that she immediately hooked herself into my arm and used me as a shield whenever some guy looked like he wanted to approach her. To my even greater displeasure, I enjoyed that.

“So ... what kind of Guacamole do you wanna make?” I asked, partly in an attempt to distract myself from how her breasts felt against my arm.

“There are different kinds?”

She turned her face to me as she asked, but did not move away from me, so our faces were disturbingly close. Completely unconsciously, my eyes dropped down from her eyes to her lips, and when they moved back up, there was a satisfied, almost smug half-grin on her face.

“Yeah. There are.” I fought to gather my wits again. “There’s the classic version, a spicy one, creamy, some people like to put bacon in it...”

My voice trailed off as her expression changed upon hearing me mention the word ‘creamy’. That, in turn, made me remember Nora’s words when she put my own cream on the pastries, and the fact that I never inquired about whether or not Mia actually ate one of them. Now she looked at me with a wide grin.

“Creamy. I definitely like the creamy version. If you make it.”

And with that, the minx turned and made us continue walking, leaving me lost for words and desperately trying to figure out if there was an actual insinuation, or if I just imagined it because of what I knew. Just like on my way home the day before, I spent the entire drive pondering how I even got to this point with Mia.

Any doubt I may have had about her intentions was cleared up, however, when we were in the kitchen together. It started with subtle and seemingly innocent touches whenever I passed her something or had to step closer to her to give instructions. But when we were done and I wanted to taste-test our creation, I scooped a little bit of the Guac up with my finger.

Before I had a chance to taste it myself, Mia grabbed my hand, pulled it to her face, and then engulfed my finger with her lips while looking directly into my eyes while slowly sucking it into her warm mouth. I almost shivered as I felt her wet tongue meander around my sensitive fingertip. The sensation caused me to involuntarily swallow while my blood rapidly rushed into my groin.

“So I can compete with Mom, huh?” she nonchalantly commented on the tenting in my pants, before turning towards the door and leaving the room to get ready for the arrival of their guests.

Was THAT the reason for her weird behavior during the last few days!? Surely she could not be still hung up on that simple comment I made in the car weeks ago. I was left speechless once again, as I watched her behind sway out of the kitchen, displaying a whole new level of confidence in the way she carried herself. I finally reached the conclusion that it would be better for me if her affectionate demeanor was actually nothing more than her attempt to get a rise out of me, and joined Jack on the couch.

The ‘Party’ was interesting. It was like a tamer version of what I had imagined high school parties to be like after seeing them in movies. Maybe fifteen to twenty people showed up, mainly girls from the cheer team and their boyfriends who, incidentally, were also Jack’s friends.

There was music, but barely anyone was dancing. Instead, most people had gathered in the kitchen and were eating pizza while talking and laughing. After learning that Nora and George would be out of the house for this party, I had expected it to be a lot ... wilder. But since I still got push notifications for every mobile device appearing on the premises, I was kinda glad they didn’t invite any more people.

I noticed two things in the makeup, though. First, Ava had apparently not been invited. And second, including me, there was an equal amount of men and women in the house.

I tried to keep to the sidelines, preferring to not draw any unneeded attention to myself, since the last time I was close to some of these guys was a rather violent altercation. Mia, however, had completely different ideas. She made it a point to drag me around like she did at the party on Christmas Eve, and made sure everybody knew that I wasn’t crashing her party. Once she had introduced me to basically every single guest, I decided to address Ava’s absence.

“You seem to have invited the whole cheer team, but where’s Joan and Ava?”

“Oh, Joan’s in Ohio. And Ava...” she looked a little uncertain. “I did call to invite her and bring Logan along. But she said she wasn’t in the mood. I don’t know about Logan. Haven’t heard anything back from him.”

I watched her demeanor a little more closely after that, though I could not reach a conclusion as to what it could mean. Maybe it was because she knew that I would not have enjoyed being around Logan, or she was worried about Ava.

She continued keeping me close for a while as she mingled with the different groups. I felt extremely uncomfortable. Not only did I have nothing to add to their conversations, I could also see the disapproval regarding my presence on some people’s expressions. But as time went on, and more alcohol was consumed, that seemed to change. Although I only noticed that after I was suddenly approached by one of Jack’s former teammates.

“So, I hear you’re working as an escort now.”

“What!?” I asked while turning towards the voice, and found myself face to face with Jack’s best friend. The one who got that very close look of my knee after I had knocked out Jack. To my surprise, he handed me a beer.

“My girlfriend was here on Christmas Eve. Mia told her something about your ‘hourly rates’?” he chuckled, and it was not a mean laugh. He was joking, and I was greatly confused.

“Uh ... well...” I stammered as I accepted his drink and immediately eyed it suspiciously, looking for powder residues and excessive foaming. He noticed my confusion, and his demeanor turned awkward.

“Tim, uh ... Look...” he said, not looking me in the eyes. I didn’t think he even knew my real name! “College is very different from high school. Truth is ... I made an ass of myself pretty quickly. My attitude didn’t fly with anyone from the new team, and they let me know it. I kinda learned that my shit does stink. I’ve had to do a lot of self-reflection, and...” he sighed “I’m sorry for all the shit I pulled on you, man. I was a giant asshole, and you didn’t deserve any of it.”

“You ... well ... thank you?” I was still unable to form complete sentences.

This was highly unexpected. Borderline surreal! Though, at that very moment, I realized something essential that no educator or responsible adult would ever say to a child. Beating the shit out of him and his teammates was fucking therapeutic!

Not only had I already paid them back, I had also bested each and every guy who thought he could use me as a punching bag, and then put the whole ordeal behind me with newfound confidence. I finally understood how that male bonding moment with Jack on Christmas Eve was even possible.

“I got to say, though, it looks like you did well for yourself after our last clash.” he grinned, his hand gesturing up and down my body. “Kinda makes me wonder if Mia’s joke about your job was really just a joke.”

“Well, at least half of it was true. I do get paid by the hour to be around her, just not to be with her.”

I found myself chuckling while answering him, and decided to at least acknowledge his efforts by taking a small sip of the beer he had given me. After that, though, I had no idea what to say to him. There was an awkward silence between us until Mia suddenly jumped up behind him.

“Hey! We’re gonna go down to the entertainment room to play a few games. Wanna come too?” she smiled, her eyes jumping between the two awkward guys that just reached some kind of truce.

“Nice! I’m game! How about you?” he looked at me expectantly, like he was genuinely hoping I would join as well.

As I had already realized after Nora told me about Mia’s honest efforts to change, I did not want to discourage him if he, too, wanted to better himself. And I was inclined to believe him when he apologized. After all, he had just publicly humbled himself in front of his old friends. If this was just the buildup to another ‘prank’, it would have to be a ridiculously elaborate one that somehow required them to put me in a false sense of security. Somehow, I doubted they would put that much effort into it. These guys would just jump me when I was occupied with something else.

So, I told them that I would join them in a minute, made my way to the bathroom, and emptied the beer bottle into the toilet. I rinsed it out a few times before I refilled it with water. I was only inclined to believe him, after all. And, strictly speaking, I was on the clock. If Mia told me to drive anyone home, and Bill found out I couldn’t because I had been drinking, I could kiss my job goodbye. If there had been something in that beer, I would be seeing some expectant and appraising looks as I sipped away at the bottle.

I got those looks, albeit not in the way I had feared. As I entered the entertainment room, everyone else had already seated themselves in a kind of big circle and started a game of Truth of Dare.

“Tim!” Jack called out upon noticing me. “Just in time! Truth or Dare?”

“Uh ... do I have to?” I wasn’t particularly happy with either option.

“Don’t be a downer, Dude! Truth or Dare!”

“Fine.” I sighed and seated myself next to Mia on the sofa. “If I choose Dare, I kinda suspect you’ll get me drunk. So ... Truth, I guess?” I prayed he wouldn’t ask anything too personal.

“How many girls have you slept with?” he grinned. So much to my delusional prayer.

“Does it count when I only ate her out?” I asked, and noticed the first set of peculiar looks, though they were from the females in the room exclusively, and not necessarily directed at me but at each other. Jack snorted a short laugh while shaking his head. “Then, One.”

As expected, the guys in the room exchanged sneering looks. Totally unexpected, however, were the completely unfazed looks on the girls’ faces when they heard about my inexperience.

“Wait, wait, wait!” Mia hurriedly injected, while grinning at me madly. “How many WOMEN have you slept with?”

“I already answered a question.” I smirked upon remembering the conversation Mia and I had in my car.

“Wait, what!?” some random redheaded girl I never bothered to learn the name of asked with an actually confused look.

“He thinks there’s a difference.” Mia explained, still grinning.

“Alright, next question!” One of the guys, who was a senior at our high school, called out. I assumed it was my turn now, so I was trying to figure out what I should ask, but he simply continued talking! “How does it feel to get stabbed?”

“Come again!?” The redhead’s boyfriend joined the conversation, so the guy who asked me the question pulled out his phone, while the redhead told her boyfriend what she had heard about my parking lot escapades.

The senior-guy apparently found what he had been looking for on his phone, and held it out to the redhead’s boyfriend. I recognized what it showed. And then I recognized the senior. That was the guy who took the photo of me when I went to the pizzeria after being released from the hospital! The whole situation grew increasingly uncomfortable for me.

“Holy Fuck!” the redhead’s boyfriend called out. “They fucked you up, man!”

“Yes, they did.” I commented reluctantly. “Shouldn’t I get a turn to ask you a question now?”

“No.” Jack informed me while laughing. “We already know each other. You’re the new guy here, so you have to answer more questions.”

“Fine.” I groaned. “To answer your question then; getting stabbed hurts. Don’t know how to go into details there.”

“Would you describe it as a stabbing pain?” the redhead joked, and most people found it funny. I wasn’t one of them. This whole thing started to feel like they were making fun of me again. Interestingly, Mia wasn’t too pleased either. She actually looked quite pissed about what her friend just said.

“Okay, now wait a minute!” the redhead’s boyfriend followed up in an irritated voice. He was one of those who displayed their disapproval about my presence at this party. “Last time I saw you, you were still Logan’s fat little geek-brother. Now you’re hanging out with the Cheerleaders! The fuck happened with you!?”

I had originally planned to stay non-confrontational. After all, this was a client’s house. The way this guy was talking, however, caused that resolution to waver considerably.

“I improved myself.” I shrugged my shoulders. It was not lost on him how my tone suggested he did not improve.

“A little overly self confident, don’t you think?”

“You think? I lost nearly forty pounds and got in shape. I make roughly forty grand a year while still going to high school, and I live in my own apartment now. Meanwhile, you are ... still good at playing with balls, I believe.” I had to smirk when I heard the others chuckle. “Of course, maybe you’ll prove me wrong, make your way into the NFL, and someday become famous. But until then, what did you do to be proud of? What exactly sets you apart from all the other former team members in this room?”

My smirk widened when I saw him glance around the room, hoping his friends would help him out. I could literally see his need to assert himself over me as he searched for anything he could use to debunk my claim and put me down again.

“I definitely had more than one girlfriend!” was all he could come up with.

“And how’s that an achievement?” I asked, causing the male part of the room to look at me in disbelief, which made me realize I had to elaborate. “Look at that girlfriend of yours in your lap. You think she’s happy to hear you boasting about having many girlfriends?”

“‘Course! She knows she got the best!” He sounded so smug, I thought he actually believed it.

“Really!? You really think she’s gonna introduce you to her parents, saying ‘Mom, Dad, this is WhatsHisName. I’m his fourth girlfriend this year’? At best, you just called her superficial and yourself her arm candy. Outside of School, nobody’s gonna congratulate you on that.”

I chuckled when I saw the effect this had. On one side were the guys, who probably wanted to defend themselves but couldn’t correct me without publicly admitting that they weren’t the players they claimed to be in front of their friends. On the other side were the girls, who, at least in part, suddenly had contemplating looks on their faces.

“Oh please! That would help him! You guys can use it to bond with your bosses.” one girl remarked dismissively. Apparently, I found the feminist in the room.

“Sure. If he’s looking to go into male dominated and low paying blue-collar jobs.” I said matter of fact, causing her to raise an eyebrow in doubt. “I’ve been working in a security firm since I was fifteen. And, based on the assignments we get from corporate clients, I can tell you for a fact that companies are not looking to hire walking sexual harassment lawsuits into positions that pay anything worthwhile. They’re looking to hire responsible and reliable people. Switching partners every few months tells them you’re neither.”

“Tim?” Mia suddenly called out to me in a magnificently dry voice. “You sound like my father.”

I blinked for a moment, unsure how to respond. Then I decided to simply keep going like the two of us were already used to.

“Well, with me being a year younger than you, that would probably be weird, but you can call me ‘Daddy’ if you want.”

“EWWW!” Mia screamed, but she was laughing while doing it. So were most of the room’s occupants. Apparently, none of them thought I could possibly be serious.

When Mia was done laughing, though, she inconspicuously turned in her seat and leaned her back into my front. So, after I had involuntarily imagined us as a couple during our shopping trip, now we were sitting on the sofa like one as well!

“Alright, Mr. Relationship Guru. How many girlfriends did you have?” the feminist asked.

“Only one. And I was very happy with her.” I worked hard to maintain my smile as I answered.

“Oh yeah! You never told me what happened to Tess! Spit it out!” Mia demanded, tilting her head upwards to look at her, not bothering to move away.

“She transferred to the California office in July.” I was not going to tell these people what really happened to Tess. And, honestly, she did move in July.

“Office? OHMYGOD! How old is she!?”

“Thirty. When she moved away, that is.” That was met with general obvious doubt.

“Pic or didn’t happen!” Jack called out, so I pulled out my phone and looked for a photo of Tess.

I had no desire to argue about my honesty in this discussion, so I decided on a rather risque selfie we took right after one of her crazy sex-moods. While it wasn’t revealing too much of our bodies, it was still pretty obvious that we took it naked in bed and covered in sweat.

“Wow!” was all that Mia said, while I received approving comments from the other guys.

“You tapped that?” the redhead’s boyfriend asked, completely unimpressed by the look it earned him as I put my phone away.

“Yes. I did. Probably because I don’t refer to her as ‘that girl I tapped’.” While he ignored my look before, I think the cold tone of my voice finally did the trick, because now he had trouble holding my gaze.

In retrospect, I must have had murder in my eyes. Everyone other than the recipient, though, seemed to interpret it in a different way, because I noticed most of the females in the room regard their chosen partners with another set of peculiar looks. It could be my imagination, but it seemed reproachful. Meanwhile, Mia casually grabbed one of my arms and wrapped it around her.

It also seemed like sharing a photo showing Tess and me in postcoital bliss set a new mood in the room. I was finally no longer the prime target for their Truth or Dare, which I was especially happy about since all the questions revolved around sexual experiences.

After about half an hour, there was one question that finally escalated everything.

“Mia!” Jack called out. “Truth or dare?”

“Mhmmm ... Truth!”

“I can’t help but notice the way you’re sitting right now.” he grinned, and I felt Mia’s body stiffen as everyone in the room smirked. “How’d that happen?”

“I ... well ... He’s doing a lot for m ... us. He’s here a lot! Of course I’m getting ... comfortable with his presence.” she stammered, patting my arm to seem extra casual about it. And of course, she was immediately picked again to elaborate.

“Okay, Mia! Truth or Dare?” the redhead grinned mischievously.

“Tru ... Dare!”

I guess she suspected a follow-up question to our seating arrangement and wanted to avoid it.

“I dare you to take your Bodyguard to the next room, and, for ten minutes, find out just how comforting he can be.”

Guess she should have picked Truth after all. Mia remained stoically silent for a moment, but then grabbed my arm, got up from the sofa, and, accompanied by the laughter and calls of encouragement by her friends, dragged me out of the room. As soon as we were out of sight, however, her hand miraculously slipped into mine. She led me into some kind of guest bedroom and closed the door behind us.

“So ... what now?” she asked timidly.

“I guess we do the dare.” I chuckled, stepped behind her, and placed my hands on her hips.

Slowly, I slid my arms around her, encircling her waist. Then I gently pressed her body into mine. My boldness took her by surprise for a second, but she immediately relaxed once I buried my nose in her hair. I gently squeezed her in a bear hug and, when it was time to normally let go, simply didn’t. Apparently, she really was comfortable with me. But then I should have known that already after she sucked on my finger in the kitchen.

Once I felt she had fully embraced the situation, I decided to continue. I let my left hand slide upwards on the right side of her body, until it came to rest on her shoulder. Now I had one arm wrapped around her waist, and another wrapped around her upper body. Mia’s reaction encouraged me again. She grabbed the arm around her shoulders with both of her hands, leaned her head back into my chest, and let out a content sigh.

“Huh. I really do feel safe with you.” she suddenly whispered softly, not making any attempt to end our closeness.

This was the first time she had verbally admitted this, and it made me weirdly happy. I started lightly scratching my fingernails over her exposed upper arm. I was content to simply stand there like this for the remaining nine minutes, enjoying the feeling of her body pressed into mine and her scent filling my nostrils. I quickly learned how much I underestimated Mia’s willingness to go further, as she turned her head, tilted it back, and kissed me.

The kiss rapidly escalated in intensity. Within seconds, I felt her tongue lick over my lips and opened my mouth to accept it. As our tongues massaged each other, I felt her press her bottom into my groin, which caused me to pull my hand from her shoulder and cup her breast instead. I couldn’t feel much through her bra, but the soft muffled moan that I felt more than I heard it, made her approval of my actions known.

When she reached one of her hands behind her and slid in between our bodies, so she could rub my groin, I had to stop her.

“No.” I breathed, as I took hold of her arm to stop her hand’s movement. “The Dare was to let me comfort you, not the other way around. I have only seven minutes left, so I better get to it. If that’s what you want.”

I waited, motionless, for maybe five seconds, before she nodded and resumed our kiss with renewed passion.

I wrapped one arm around her shoulders again and placed my other hand on the outside of her thigh. She was wearing a skirt that stopped about two inches above her knees, so, without breaking our kiss, I gradually worked it upwards until I could place my hand on her bare thigh. As soon as I felt my hand make contact with her skin, I also felt her press her butt into my groin again.

Slowly again, I moved my hand around her thigh until it landed on the front of her pelvic bone. Mia automatically spread her legs a little to make room for it. I let my fingertips slide inside the hem of her lace panties, and then sent them on their way south. When they made contact with her soft patch of frizzy hair, she shivered a little in anticipation.

At this point, her breathing had become slightly ragged, and one of her arms was wrapped around my neck to pull my head down to hers and make sure I wouldn’t break our kiss. I cupped her sex and noticed with satisfaction how wet it was, but decided to knead it for a moment, just to be sure she was definitely wet enough to not hurt when I invaded her. Gently, I massaged her outer lips with slightly spread fingers, so her clit would be positioned right in between my middle and ring finger and receive its very own stimulation.

She started to gyrate her butt into my groin, feeling my erection press into her ass, and thereby telling me that I was doing a good job so far. As my middle finger finally slipped into her, her mouth smashed into mine so strongly my lips hurt a little.

I pushed my middle finger to the second knuckle into her and curled it, and found something I had not encountered since Tess. That spongy, bean shaped spot in her upper vaginal wall with a soft walnut-shell texture. As soon as my fingertip pressed onto it, her whole body jumped and she produced a surprised but loud moan of approval. This was interesting!

Deciding to give her my A-Game, I recalled every lesson I had received, and let my ring finger join the first one that was already inside her. Then I pushed them as deep into her as possible, massaging her walls all the way up, while making sure the heel of my hand would rub over her clit. With Tess, doing this before attacking her G-spot had seemed to increase her arousal and heighten the pleasure of subsequent stimulation. It worked with Mia as well. I wondered just how compatible we really were.

I steadily massaged her insides for roughly two minutes, before I decided to go for gold. I pulled my fingers back until I was two knuckles deep and her clit was now under the palm of my hand, and then roughly attacked that spongy patch. I was basically beating it with my fingertips, and her hips started violently shaking within a minute of me doing it.

“OH GOD, YES! KEEP GOING! DON’T STOP! YES! YEEEES!!!” she suddenly screamed when she was almost unable to stand by herself. I had to hold her upright with my other arm that was still wrapped around her upper body and massaging her breast.

I complied and kept beating that spot for another minute, until the pain of her nails digging into my arm got too much to bear. I pulled my hand out of her, loosened my grip on her shoulders, and she dropped to the ground. I refused to wait until she caught her breath.

“I still have four minutes left!” I said, as I got to my knees in front of her, placed a hand on her shoulder, and made her lie on her back.

I spread her legs and dove in. My fingers slipped back into her as deep as possible without any noticeable resistance, while my lips latched onto her now clearly protruding clit. My hand rotating as it pushed in and out of her at ridiculous speed, I massaged her clit with my tongue, and my free hand was pressed onto her lower stomach to keep her hips from squirming too much. I had to suppress my smile when she pulled her knees to her chest and grabbed my hair with both hands, so I could maintain the suction.

“FUCK! Yes! Eat that pussy! Go on! EAT IT! GOD that’s SO GOOD!” she demanded with a cute squealing voice, and I saw no reason to not comply.

After a minute, I pulled my hand back a little, and roughly attacked that special spot again. It was the perfect thing to do. Her continuous moans gradually increased in volume, until it peaked in an almost screeching sound, her knees started violently buckling, and visible tremors traveled over her muscular stomach.

“FuckFuckFuckFuckFUUUUUUUCK! I’M COMMMIIINNNGGGGG!” she screamed out in pleasure as her body started violently thrashing about.

I had actually managed to give her a second orgasm before my time was up! Going by the sheer volume of her scream, it was much better than the first one she had while standing. Any inhibition she might have had about the others hearing us was completely gone.

Finally, when the spasms subsided, she writhed on the ground while letting out a prolonged mixture of a moan and a laugh, as I continued to gently kiss and nibble on her lower lips. It took her another minute to gather herself again, but when her eyes focused on my face again, she grabbed me by the sides of my face and pulled me in for another passionate kiss.

“Holy fuck, Tim! That was awesome!” she laughed.

“Told you I love eating pussy.” I chuckled back.

“I should’ve tested that claim a lot sooner!” She let one of her hands slide down my body again, and lightly rubbed my erection over my pants. “Are you sure you don’t want me to take care of you now?” There was a glint in her eyes accompanying the sultry smirk on her lips.

“Who says I don’t want you to!?” I asked in mock shock. “But are you sure you want to risk the others coming in to look for us? The ten minutes were up almost a minute ago.”

That got her back to reality, and, as she chewed on her bottom lip, she seemed to contemplate her options. That made me laugh.

“Alright, come on. Let’s go back.”

I helped her up, gave her a once over, and then grabbed her hand to lead her out of the room. The way back to the entertainment room was made hand in hand, with her fingers interlaced with mine, and she regarded me with a look of almost wonder. Maybe, not demanding to get my own urges taken care of had a special effect on her.

Before we reentered the room, she pulled me down for another passionate kiss. But when we did rejoin the others, we were greeted by loud and cheerful calls of congratulation.

“How was it?” the redhead asked, smirking.

“Very comforting. Thank you.” Mia grinned back.

“Yeah, we heard.” That statement was made in an unusually uncomfortable, almost whining tone by her brother Jack, whose ears were bright red, which caused their friends to break out in even louder laughter.