Chapter 1: Chris, Carl, and Anne

Dear God, where to begin? Let's just say that most men would have to be gay, not to find Alicia attractive. Her looks are the first thing that will catch any man's attention. Well, almost any man. My experiences with Alicia were a bit different, than most, though.

You see, I'm by no means what anyone would consider a typical guy. Plus, I tend to examine girls intellect and behavior, before I ever focus on their appearance. The night I met Alicia was quite odd, because I'd been babysitting a friend of my wife's, who was spending the night.

Needless to say, her 18 year old friend, Anne, had done a lot more drinking than she needed to. With my wife, Heather, being due at work at 6 a.m., the next morning, I was left to tend to the tipsy Anne. Now, I know what most of you would be thinking. I've got plenty of alone time with a drunk 18 year old, right? So, I might as well have fun with it. I can't lie, the thought had crossed my mind, but I was just as quick to dismiss it. You see, Anne, while being an attractive girl, has issues that I, myself, don't find very attractive.

Anne stands approximately 5'8", weighs around 150, has blue eyes and dark brown hair that reaches down to her shoulders. Plus, Anne was set to become my wife's sister-in-law, by being engaged to her brother, who is stationed at sea. And let me just say, that my wife's brother and I, don't really get along. The real start of the evening began just before my wife was getting ready for bed, when Anne was passed out on the couch, and a knock came to the door.

"Hey, Carl! Chris is here!" Heather called from the front porch of our house. Chris had been a long-time friend of mine that showed up on occasion, usually looking to kidnap me for the night to go drink.

"Alright, I'll be there in a minute." I called back to her, from the bathroom, where I'd just finished shaving. I proceeded to clean up the mess I'd made, and head for the living room.

When I entered, Anne had awakened, still obscenely drunk, and had made her way to the front porch to greet Chris with my wife. Slightly upset that she was once again up and roaming around, I sighed and walked outside.

"Oh, there he is." Heather said, as Anne giggled.

"Hey, Chris, what's going on, man?" I asked, walking up and taking the fresh beer from Chris that he'd brought for me. I quickly opened the cap and sucked down the first gulp.

"Not too much, thought I'd drop by and see if you were up to hanging out." He replied, drinking his own beer. He and I smiled at each other, slightly, before he shot a sideways look to Anne, who was still giggling, uncontrollably.

"Honey, let's go back in the house. You need to sit down." Heather told her.

"I do not! I'm doing just fine, as long as the porch will stop moving." Anne giggled in response, pulling her arm from Heather's grasp.

Quietly, I stepped off of the porch, and made my way to Chris's truck, with Chris following just behind. The night air felt good, but as much as I wanted to join Chris, I was going to have to decline.

We rounded the corner of the house, to the driveway, before turning and leaning up against Chris's bright-red pick-up.

"I'm going to have to give you a rain check, man. I don't know if you noticed, but Anne's dog-drunk in there, and Heather's got to be in bed for work in the morning." I told him.

"Well, alright. I guess you're left to baby sit her, huh?" He kind of smirked, making fun of my situation. A glare was my only response. "Hey, just kidding. In fact, do you need any help? I've got three cases of Bud Light in the truck, and all the time in the world."

I thought about it for a minute and agreed, before we both headed back inside. Heather had brought Anne in and left her on the couch, while she went to change into her night clothes. After a moment, Anne was flirting heavily with Chris.

"Hey, cute guy." She slurred, as he took a seat. "I get to be around two hot guys, tonight, instead of just one?"

I rolled my eyes. Chris just looked at me weird. Neither of us gave her a response, and within seconds, Heather had re-emerged from the bedroom in her pajamas.

"Well, I've got the kids to sleep, and I'll be off to bed, now." She smiled, as Chris examined his pack of cigarettes.

"I've got to run to the store." He said, standing.

"Oh! Can I go?" Anne asked, quickly.

"No." Heather and I told her, in unison. Anne just looked at us funny. "Listen, you're a little bit drunk, and you have no business going to the store. Chris is just going to pick up a pack of cigarettes, so he'll be right back." I told her.

"Actually, if she wants to come, it's fine with me, as long as she stays in the truck." He said. I thought about it for a few minutes, and decided that Chris was trustworthy, so I let her go.

The two walked out the door, and Heather and I followed them, Heather telling Anne to behave, as if she were some small child, and me leaning against the open door frame. The two got into the truck, and started the engine, and Heather turned to go back in the house, when I felt a sharp pain in my back.

"Ow! What the hell? Ow! Shit!" I exclaimed, before getting a very odd look from my wife.

I took a couple of steps forward, and began tugging at my shirt, feeling more sharp stabbing pains. "What's wrong?" She asked me, as I started removing my shirt. I glanced at the area that I'd been leaning on, and at least four yellow-jackets were crawling on the surface of the door frame, stingers dancing behind them.

"Shit! I got stung!" I said, finally getting my shirt off of me. Heather walked around to my back, and gasped when she saw the six white welts where I'd been stung.

"Are you allergic?" She asked.

"I don't know, I've never been stung before." I replied, before we entered the house. As the two of us made our way to the bathroom, I had Heather fetch a couple of cubes of ice from the kitchen. I entered the bathroom and grabbed a rag, wetting it down with cold water. Heather entered and handed me the ice, and I made a quick ice pack.

"God, it's swelling fast." She said, as I handed her the ice pack and had her press it to the area that had been stung.

"Hey, we're back." Anne giggled, as she and Chris entered the front door. By now, I'd sent my wife to bed, and was laying on the couch with the ice pack pressed firmly between the cushions and my back.

"What happened?" Chris asked, eyeing me strangely, as Anne stumbled her way to the nearest seat.

"Damn yellow jackets stung the hell out of me." I grumbled, trying to ignore the throbbing in my back.

"Oh, God." Anne exclaimed, before opening another beer. "Well, get up and go riding with us, the night air will make it feel better." She said.

"I don't want or need to go riding, and you have no business doing it, yourself." I told her, as I began losing my patience.

"Aww, come on!" She whined, before standing up and coming next to me. "I'll give you a kiss if you do." She giggled.

"You're fixing to marry my wife's brother. No offense, but I'm not interested in a kiss from you." I told her.

"Oh, just come on." She said, irritated, as she pulled at my arm. Finally, with a groan, I got off of the couch. I'd decided that at least, if nothing else, with the three of us gone, Heather and the kids may get to sleep without waking up from our noise. The three of us made our way to the truck and got in, before leaving.

We made several rounds through the town, occasionally stopping in alleys to grab another beer for me or Anne, before she began to express her discontent for the boring scenario we were in.

"I want to go do something." She complained. I chose to ignore her. By now, I'd gotten quite drunk, myself, and it was only one in the morning. "Come on, let's go somewhere."

"We've been all over town, don't you think we've been somewhere?" I asked, sipping more of my beer. Chris just seemed to smile in amusement. My vision had gotten slightly blurry, and my speech slurred. I'd never been much of a drinker, anyway.

"Well, there is one place we can go, Carl." Chris suggested from the driver's seat. "My uncle owns a nice piece of land, just outside of town, on an old dirt road. We can go out there and drink, crank the music up, and look at the stars.

I thought about it for a minute, and decided that since we'd be on private property, at least we'd be safe from the cops. "Alright." I replied, which made Anne giggle.

We started driving once again, and I noticed that Anne had begun to lean on me. I'd ignored it, chalking it up to her drunken state, and continued riding. Within moments of me noticing, her head turned to me, and our lips met. I was in shock, but after a moment, I willingly returned the soft kiss. I felt as though I'd hurt her feelings if I didn't return it, but silently vowed that this kiss would be as far as it would go between us. She was to marry my wife's brother, and I wouldn't take advantage of her. I love my wife very much, and I don't even find Anne very attractive.