Chapter One

RICK

I was eating supper, when I heard the familiar sound of ball hitting pavement. Then I heard the same sound, but in rapid-fire bursts. That was my summons-well, not really, more like a request. But when I heard that sound, I generally followed it.

Where it led me was to the driveway right next door to mine. I had grabbed a sweatshirt-it was only mid-March, in Massachusetts-and headed out. "Was wondering if you heard," came wafting over from the driveway.

"Of course I heard. But I was still eating," I grinned.

Kelly grinned back, as she tossed me the basketball. I shot, and missed. "I love playing with you," she said, "you make me look so much better."

"You really don't need the help," I laughed.

Kelly and I had been best friends since her parents moved in next door to mine-which was when we were both two. Both of us were only children, so she was the sister I never had, and vice versa. We had lots of little rituals, and playing basketball was only one of them. It's a good thing that we were completely immune to being embarrassed with one another, because playing basketball with Kelly would've. Kelly, you see, is as tall as I am-that's 6'3"-and one of the best high school basketball players in the state, even as a junior. I'm a rank amateur. But we grew up shooting hoops, and just never stopped. Even though, between practice and games, she probably has enough basketball in her life. Then again, knowing Kelly, the practice fiend...

"Tournament pairings came out today. We're seeded sixth." Peabody High was a moderate power in girls' basketball, but this was a particularly good team. "We open next Monday against Billerica."

"So, what are the chances?" I asked, letting another dying quail head towards the basket.

"Moderate. Honestly, I think this is the year to get our feet wet." She launched a perfect 15-footer. "We're starting four juniors and a sophomore. Next year, we'll be damn near unbeatable. Of course, going for two could be cool, too."

"Of course. Home game, the first one?"

"Yep. So, you and Mindy truly all over?"

"Yeah. She lowered the boom a couple days ago. No big loss, I suppose. You and John, too?"

"I think he just beat me to it." She sighed. "What is it about us, partner? Neither of us can hold a relationship for more than a month. And that's if we can get a date in the first place."

"I'm convinced it's just because I haven't met the right girl, yet. In your case, probably more so. It'd take quite a guy to handle you."

"Now what does that mean?" she snorted.

"It means that you're aggressive, you don't take shit, and you can kick most guys' asses at sports, especially basketball. Plus you're 6'3". You're intimidating."

"Don't intimidate you," she pointed out.

"I'm your best friend," I laughed. "I knew you when we were still both in diapers. And I know you're not nearly as tough as you like other people to think you are. And I taught you how to play basketball, so it doesn't bother me that you can now kick my ass in it."

"Good point," she laughed. "Well, if I'm searching for the perfect guy that can handle me, John wasn't it, so, oh well. Does bring up a problem, though."

"The prom, perhaps? I was thinking of that myself."

"Yup." She swished a three-pointer. I grabbed the ball, and actually hit one. "Would've been nice to have a date sewn up," she went on, "considering the thing's a month away."

"Well, why don't we just go together?" I offered.

"Hmm," she looked at me. "Can you dance?"

"Reasonably well," I said. "And for you, probably better than that. Think about it. When was the last time you danced with someone who wasn't shorter than you?"

"Exactly never," she laughed. "You're right, that's mighty appealing. OK, partner, you can take me to the prom."

"Great. Just don't blow that same-height thing." She looked at me. I grinned, looked down at her feet, and said, "No heels!"

She cracked up. "Wouldn't think of it!"

Chapter Two

KELLY

I stood in the locker room, getting ready for our first state tournament game, against Billerica.

The way Massachusetts does its tournaments, for all sports, is by divisions, and then geographical. Peabody High, my team, was Division One, Eastern Mass, North. So that was the tournament we were in. We'd play until there was a winner, then we'd play the South winner for the Emass championship; that winner would play the Central-West winner for the State Division One championship. A long road, but we should be able to beat Billerica.

At least I'd be better able to concentrate, considering I didn't have to worry about the damn Prom. Look, I wanted to go, despite not being much of a 'social scene' person. All my friends were going, I liked to dance, and, though I normally didn't dress up, I wanted to for this. I supposed I had started going out with John a month or so ago just so I'd have a date to the prom. Well, that didn't work out-but Ricky stepped up to the plate, like he always does. It might not be a Big Prom Romance, but I knew I'd have a good time with him-I always do.

Ricky's been in my life forever. I don't know what I'd do if he weren't, frankly. I'm closer to him than I am to anyone. We were like brother and sister, without that whole sibling rivalry bullshit. We trusted one another completely. Hell, when I got my first period, when was 11, I didn't tell my mother first, I told him. Which really wasn't fair, he didn't know what to do! But he rubbed my shoulders and let me whine about it and told me it was normal and then told me to go tell my mother to buy me some 'supplies' because he wasn't gonna do it!

And it worked both ways-the same year, when he was getting picked on by some bullies, it was my shoulder he cried on. I was the one that bandaged his cuts, and I was also the one that went to the assholes and told them to lay off him! And, since it was me, he wasn't offended that a girl had stuck up for him-I was well on my way to Amazon Woman even back then.

So, I guess it was right that we were going to the prom together. We'd have ended up together, anyway-but this way we didn't have to worry about silly dates getting upset when we wanted to take a couple dances with each other, which we would. This way we'd only have to worry about dancing with each other.

Anyway, we crushed Billerica. On to the next round, and a date with third-seeded Cambridge Rindge and Latin, at their place.

But first, the traditional celebration-at Land and Sea. Roast Beef and Clams. We always went there after a game. There were always five of us-sometimes there might be more, but the five of us were always there. Ricky was one of the five. Despite being my sidekick, he was also the basketball team's unofficial official photographer. That was Ricky's hobby, and he was damn good at it. The other four were myself, Annie, Sharon, and Marina-the Fab Four. We were the heart of the team, all juniors, all starters. We'd all made varsity as freshmen-unusual for one, but four was really unusual. We'd been called the best basketball-playing class ever at Peabody High.

Anyhow, we were chatting, rehashing the game. Then the subject of my recent short lived and now deceased relationship came up. I shrugged it off.

"You're back shooting for a prom date, though," Marina pointed out.

"Nah," I said, "My partner-in-crime asked me to go with him," I said, pointing at Ricky.

"Nice going, Stu," Marina said. Stu? The other girls called Ricky that. Y'see, we were the Fab Four, so Ricky was Stu Sutcliffe, the Fifth Beatle. Get it?

"Hey, I figured it'd be nice if Kel had a dance partner that was looking at her eyes and not her boobs," Ricky joked.

"Good plan. Of course, I've never had that problem," Marina said, to general laughter. Marina was our starting center, and was 6'6".

"Well, you don't now," Sharon pointed out.

"True. Thank goodness Stick is the only nice guy on the boy's team!" Stick was Nick Henry, Marina's boyfriend of six months, and the starting center on the boy's team, and all of 6'9". "I love him, but I really love him when we dance. It's so damn new!"

We beat Cambridge easily-but ran into second-seeded Andover High on our next game, and lost. I tried to be philosophical about it. They were starting four seniors, we started zero, and they beat us by three lousy points. Next year, we were going to kick their ass.

Anyhow, thus endeth the basketball season for the year. So all I had to worry about was schoolwork-I'm a good student-and finding a prom dress!

Chapter Three

RICK

I was looking forward to seeing Kelly in actual girl clothes. It would be a novelty. She was a baggy-sweats kind of person. I knew what color the dress was-burgundy-as I had asked so I could find a good corsage. But I hadn't seen it.

I went over to her house to get her on prom night. I was at ease, not nervous, none of those pre-date jitters. Hey, this was Kelly, my best friend. I wasn't nervous at all.

Until she opened the door and I saw the dress.

My God. It was low cut, slinky, clingy. She had makeup on-another novelty-and her red hair, usually in a ponytail, had been curled and hung loosely around her shoulders. But the dress was the real show-stopper. Since when did Kelly have curves-and boobs? She wore loose clothes-except for her basketball uniform, but she wore a sports bra underneath that. This dress was not loose. And she wasn't wearing no sports bra-if anything, it was a push-up. Not that she needed the help.

"Jesus Christ Almighty," I managed to stammer.

"Good, you like," she grinned. "And look at you all in a tux, you stud."

"The tux is nothing. That dress. Jesus, Kel, I'm going to be fighting off the guys all night!"

"No, you won't. I'm all yours tonight. For dancing, anyway," she laughed.

"Where are your folks?" I asked.

"They had this thing, Dad's company. They're down on the Cape, won't be home until three or four in the morning. They've requested your parents get some extra pics."

"No problem. We'll need this, though." Good thing I went with the wrist corsage, there wouldn't have been much material for a pin-on one. That dress had spaghetti straps.

"Pink roses! My favorite!"

"I do believe I knew that," I grinned. We headed back to my house, let the parents snap away with the camera, then got into the limo I had arranged for.

We sat with the rest of the Fab Four, and their dates. The normal crowd. It was fun. We joked, ate the dinner, had a good time.

And I was glad about who I was sitting next to. Hey, it's the Prom, all the girls dress to the nines, so there was a lot to look at. But Kelly was a league above. With her height, her red hair, and that dress showing off all her attributes-curves and muscles-she just stood out. Well, to me, anyway.

Anyhow, after food, the DJ started up with the music. We were chatting for a while, then decided to go up to dance. We danced to a couple of fast songs, doing reasonably well. We were both decent, though no threat to Fred and Ginger. Then a slow song kicked up. We looked at one another, shrugged, and I took her in my arms.

And everything changed.

Not immediately. When we first started dancing, you could've fit another person in between us. But, somehow, we just gradually got closer. And closer. They played two slow songs, and, by the end of the second one, we were practically plastered to one another. My arms were wrapped around her waist, hers up around my back. Her head was on my shoulders. I could smell her perfume and shampoo, we were so close. I could hear her breathing in my ear. We fit together like two pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. It was a thunderbolt straight to my brain.

After the second slow song ended, we pulled away, slowly, and glanced into each others eyes. She was flushed. Her breathing was a little labored. Her eyes held shock. I'm pretty sure all the same things applied to me. Somehow, we made our way back to the table. We quickly got back to 'normal', laughing and joking with the group like the best pals we were.

But it was an act. I was truly shaken up. This was Kelly, my best pal, my buddy!

What the hell had just happened?

Chapter Four

KELLY

Oh, God. Oh, God. I don't know how I made it back to the table. I don't know how I didn't collapse right on the dance floor.

When Ricky took me in his arms, and we ended up getting so close to one another, it felt so good. It just felt right. But it wasn't supposed to feel right! This wasn't a boyfriend, or a lover, this was my best friend! Since I was two! This was not on the agenda, believe me.

But it was happening. Something was happening. There were so many things rushing through my mind, I couldn't make sense of them all.

We sat back at the table, and I think we did a fairly respectable job of appearing normal. I don't know-I certainly wasn't feeling normal, not by a long shot. I felt shaky and unsure. We sat there for a half hour or so. It was OK, I guess, as long as we were just sitting at the table, chatting with our friends.

If we got back on the dance floor? I didn't know what was going to happen. I wasn't sure I wanted to know what was going to happen.

But he asked. After a while, Ricky asked, "You wanna go dance some more?" I didn't know whether to scream in delight or crawl under the table. I did neither-I just nonchalantly said, "OK," and followed him to the dance floor. They were playing a fast song-that was fine-but we both knew the timing. There'd be a slow song playing soon. We were right-as soon as the first fast one ended, they went into another slow one. He opened his arms and I melted right in.

As I danced in his arms like I was meant to be there, something occurred to me. We'd never put ourselves in this position. We'd never been in a situation where there was anything romantic or physical about our relationship. He'd rub my shoulders every once in a while, and vice versa, but that was it. This was different. In very innocently agreeing to go to the prom with one another, we put ourselves in that situation for the first time, and the results weren't what we expected.

And that second time slow dancing was worse. I was, and I can't believe it, wet. We were dancing close enough together that I can assure you that Ricky wasn't unaffected, either. I could pass it off as simple lust, but I knew better.

We staggered off the dance floor in a daze, and I think we pulled off the charade again for our friends. What nobody saw, however, is this: under the table, we were, almost unconsciously, holding hands.

Chapter Five

RICK

After that second dance, I think I was lost. I think she was, too. We got back to the table and our hands never uncoupled.

When we had finished that second dance, and we pulled away from each other-very slowly-all I could think was that, damn, I wanted to kiss her. I wanted to kiss Kelly? I just had no idea where this had come from, and it scared the shit out of me.

Dancing again would just be tempting fate. After a while at the table, feeling completely out of it, I decided to tempt fate. They started up another slow song. "Dance?" I asked her. She practically dragged me out to the floor.

They played some well-known ballad by one of those teen pop tarts, and we danced to it, clinging together like we were melting. Then they started another slow song, a new song, a pretty ballad I'd heard a few times. I knew it slightly, in other words. This time, the lyrics burned a hole in my brain.

"I won't spend another night without you"

We were wrapped together in our own cocoon. Her arms clung around my back, her head rested on my shoulders. I could hear her breathing.

"Let me wake you every morning"

Her nipples drilled a hole in my chest. I was hard as a rock. Our legs were intertwined, and I could feel the dampness between her legs.

"Cause you dance, in my head, in my heart, in my everything"

My hand cupped her waist, one snaking down to her ass. Hers roamed all over my back. She breathed heavy into my ear.

"You belong"

I could feel her warm breath tickle my earlobe. I heard her murmur a soft "Oh, God."

"You won't worry 'bout a thing"

I turned my head a bit, and lightly kissed her neck. She sighed into my ear.

"Cause you dance, in my head, in my heart, in my hands

Cause you dance, in my head, in my heart, in my hands"

She picked her head off my shoulder. We looked into each other's eyes and saw the same things there. We were still moving to the music. Our heads tilted forward. Our lips met.

"You belong"

Her lips parted, and my tongue met hers. All we could feel was each other, and the music-the couple hundred other people there just melted away.

"Cause you dance, in my head, in my heart, in my hands"

She clung to me like skin, as the kiss deepened. And it hit me like lightning that I never wanted to be anywhere else ever again.

"You belong"

The song ended. We broke the kiss. She looked at me, fire in her eyes and said, "Let's get the hell out of here."

She grabbed one of the foursome, made some excuse, and dragged me to our waiting limo. He told them to head for her house. Then she snuggled into my arms, not saying a word. What I didn't know is quite what she was up to. I had an idea, of course-but I didn't know if her idea was the same as mine.

Chapter Six

KELLY

We got to my house. I dismissed the limo. Then I took Ricky's hand, led him into my house, and then up to my bedroom. We stood there, looking at each other for a minute, then I tackled him onto my bed, kissing him like a hungry woman feasting on a much-delayed meal.

When we finally came up for air, we looked at each other, and, at exactly the same time, blurted out, "This is crazy!" Then we cracked up laughing.

"What the hell is happening to us?" he asked, stroking my hair.

"I don't know." I was still sprawled on top of him, on my bed. "You know what, though, partner? I say we go with it."

"I agree with that," he grinned. Then he pulled me down and kissed me again. I just couldn't get enough of it.

"You know what?" I said. "I always thought it'd be like kissing a brother. I've never been so wrong about anything in my whole life."

"Ditto, and ditto," he laughed.

"So, if I've been surprised about the kissing..." I said with a grin. I crawled off of him, and sat on the edge of the bed, my back to him. "My zipper, please," I said.

"Don't have to ask twice," he chuckled, and undid my zipper. I stood up, faced him, and dropped the dress, stepping out of it. Next went the bra, followed quickly by the panties. I stood before my best friend, completely bare-assed, and it seemed as natural as breathing.

"My God, Kelly, you're gorgeous."

"Glad you like," I laughed. "Your turn," I said, sitting beside him on the bed and reaching for the tux jacket.

"Why on earth do you hide yourself?" he asked, as we worked on his clothes.

"Couple of reasons. Habit's part of it. Some of it is that not all guys appreciate the amazon woman look, and I was teased when I was younger about being so big."

"Yeah, I remember that," he said.