Chapter 14: Spectator Sport

I did get an early start on dinner. Funny how these things work out. I was roasting some chicken, steaming some rice. An hour to roast the chicken, 55 minutes to steam the rice.

I sat down, fair-to-middling weary; a back rub sounded good. Combined with judicious applications of front rubs -- even better.

Susan appeared from her room. Earlier, she'd been studying.

"Mom, could we talk?"

"Sure, Susan."

I was a little surprised when she waved at the pool deck, but it was in the shade now, so I went outside with her.

"Is everything okay? Any problems at school?"

"No, I'm fine."

"Linda?"

"We were talking today. I told her I was thinking it was time to flit."

"And what did Linda say?"

"She said she'd been thinking about it too." Susan was silent for a second. "We haven't been together since Saturday."

Nancy and her stupid "cool it for a while." On the other hand, Saturday hadn't been that long ago.

"Is it a problem for you? For Linda?"

"No. I really think it was time. She does too."

"So, what's the problem?"

"I liked working with Amy this weekend. She's really nice."

I have never, ever felt so bad in my life. I'd talked to Susan for about two seconds about trying to become a foster parent for Amy.

What had Jackie said about how bad the team gossiped? Someone had told Susan I'd been with Amy; from their personal experience, they would assume things that weren't true. Now I'd started talking about having Amy move in.

"Do you like Amy?" I asked. Susan nodded. "A lot?"

"Yes... I don't know what to do, Mom. I love you. The team... they think chasing after someone going with someone else is 'behaving like a guy'."

"Your dad was a guy and a pretty wonderful one at that."

"It's just an expression. Mom, I know something happened at the retreat. Something about Amy and you."

"What did you hear?" I asked quietly.

"Something happened Saturday night. No one knows what. Gail, Amy, Fred, you guys. Coach already told everyone that anyone who bothered Amy any more was off the team, just like that. Marybeth talked to everyone too; she said if she saw anyone pushing anyone, they would be kicked off the team and they wouldn't want to know how many times they would bounce.

"I called Amy yesterday and talked to her for a bit. She doesn't sound like something bad happened to her."

"Susan, you and I... we're family. We love each other; more so than most moms and daughters."

"I like being with you."

"The feeling is very mutual. However, you are Susan Hunt. You are growing up, maturing as a woman. The older you get, the less we will be together. Do you understand?"

She nodded, looking very serious. "Not unwelcome, just less. I understand."

"Exactly," I told her. "You will meet people in your life; you already have. Jaime, Linda, and now Amy. Jamie and Amy are your future, Susan. Linda and me? We're old relics."

She stuck her tongue out at me. "I told Linda I would always be her friend. And she promised me the same."

"And that's good. If you want to be friends of any degree with Amy -- that's up to you and Amy. It's not up to me."

"Won't you be jealous?"

"Is Linda jealous of you?"

"No."

"Is Linda jealous of me? Am I jealous of Linda?"

Susan shook her head.

"I'm not going to ever be jealous of you, okay?"

Again Susan nodded.

"One last thing. You and I have had secrets; presents, surprise parties, things like that. Neither one of us has ever not kept someone else's secret.

"People have secrets, Susan. In a way, a secret is like sex. When you know someone has a secret, and you ask... that's the same thing as asking them for sex. That's okay... once. Do you understand?"

Susan stood, obviously thinking. Eventually, she nodded in agreement.

"So, I'm going to tell you another secret, okay?"

"Okay, I promise not to tell." It was pretty clear what she was expecting to hear.

"The secret is that Gail has a secret of her own. Amy has a secret and Fred has a secret. Each secret is very important to the person who has it. It would be pushing if you asked anyone at all what those secrets are, now that I've told you about them."

Susan blinked, and then realized what I'd done.

"That was a dirty trick. Now I can't ask anyone or I won't make the team."

I nodded my head.

"It's important?" Susan isn't stupid, not at all.

"It's very important. Someday if you get to know Amy really well, maybe she'll tell you. I promise that if you ever ask her about it, I will be really, really disappointed in you. Big secrets like this have to come from the person they belong to. Pushing, even asking once, is just plain wrong."

"So I can kiss Amy, do things with Amy... and you won't mind?"

I smiled at her. "One of these days I hope you stop being clueless."

"I don't understand."

"You can ask her... once. It's up to Amy to agree. If she doesn't... well, then I get my chance to ask." Actually of course, it would have to be Amy asking... but it was the point that was essential.

Susan's face fell, so I took pity on her. "Of course, I happen to know Amy likes Fred a lot, Jackie a little. For a long time Jackie said no to everyone. We just play the cards as they come, Susan. What I'm trying to say is that you might like Amy, but there might be other people she likes more than you."

Susan nodded soberly, more thoughtful than ever. I patted her on the shoulder, got up to check on dinner.

I told Sherrie and Susan that Marybeth was coming over after dinner; Susan said she had some studying to do, that and she wanted to talk to Jamie on the phone. Sherrie helped me load the dishwasher. Once we got it going the two of us went into the family room.

"I can't thank you enough," Sherrie told me. I was surprised when she reached out and hugged me; surprised again when I felt her nipples pop up against me when she did. Mine were only a few milliseconds behind. It was so uncannily like what had happened with Jackie; I shivered.

Sherrie backed away, blushing.

I shook my head, trying to make the best of it. "Maybe it would make it simpler if I were to go hug your mom," I said with a laugh.

The blush vanished, replaced with giggles. "Sherrie, not while you're living here, okay?"

"I don't know what to say," she said quietly. "I never, ever expected that to happen."

The doorbell went off and I went to get it.

I led Marybeth back to the family room. "Not interrupting anything, am I?" Marybeth asked.

"No," Sherrie and I both said at once.

"Nice to see you, Sherrie. It's been a while," Marybeth said as she walked closer and hugged Sherrie. Sherrie hugged back, but there were no kisses.

"Still my frosty lady, I see." Marybeth said with a laugh. I could see the Sherrie's nipples were no longer blatantly erect. Sherrie just shrugged.

Marybeth walked up to me, hugged me and then we kissed. It was deja vu once more. Marybeth has an exquisitely talented tongue. When I felt her hand rub across the front of my slacks, all I could remember was the other night and how good it had been. I forgot everything else in the world except Marybeth's fingers inside me, the pressure on my clit. And like the last time, I ended up hanging on for dear life, my knees shaky.

"However do you do that?" I asked, when my breathing was something like normal.

"Practice, attention to detail. Lots and lots of practice."

There was a sigh a few feet away and I turned to look. Sherrie was standing with a hand on one breast, the other pressing the front of her jeans.

"Ah, my frosty lady has warmed up a bit!" Marybeth murmured, loud enough for Sherrie to overhear. Sherry had started to blush a little when I looked at her; when Marybeth made her comment, Sherrie's blushing went into overdrive.

Marybeth walked over to Sherrie, standing a few inches away from her, but not touching her or even trying to. "I'd like very much to warm you up all the way, Sherrie."

Sherrie shook her head, tongue-tied.

Marybeth nodded and came back to me. "Are your knees doing any better?"

"Yes." It was my turn to be embarrassed.

"Panties wet?" Marybeth said that with a smile.

"Yes," I answered. Marybeth had to know how wet I was, she'd had her fingers there a few seconds before.

"Did you mind Sherrie watching?"

"I didn't notice -- you had my full and undivided attention."

"Would you mind if she watched some more?"

I thought about it for a second. I didn't look at Sherrie; I just shook my head.

Marybeth turned to Sherrie. "Laura is going to lead me to her bedroom in a minute. You know me, Sherrie, I haven't changed. One person is all I need to brighten my moment. You can watch if you want... or decide to do something else."

Marybeth turned back to me, and I looked into her eyes. Oh my! I was turned on by teenagers, but this woman, at least a decade older than I was, had my heart pounding like a teenager again, looking at the boy I first had a crush on, twenty plus years ago.

"I'm not fond of threesomes, or foursomes, except when I'm playing golf. I'm not like Nancy. I'm not sure why, but I've never minded someone watching."

"I never tried it," I told Marybeth. "Right now, I'm feeling a little adventurous."

"Ah! A girl after my own heart! We'll come back to adventurous in a bit. Lead the way!"

I did lead her. In spite of Marybeth's invitation I was mildly surprised when I realized Sherrie was trailing along behind us. Marybeth and I undressed each other, kissing and touching as we did.

"You lead this time," Marybeth muttered in my ear after we'd hugged and kissed for a few minutes.

I looked down at her body. I hoped when I was her age I looked as good. Marybeth was heavier than me, but she had a taut and fit body, nearly as fit as Nancy. Her breasts had some sag, but mostly they didn't, sitting high on her chest. A modest bush, not nearly the wild growth that was Nancy or myself.

"Come sit on my face," I whispered.

She giggled as we moved into place. "You know men are the dimmest creatures in creation when they tell you the way to a man's heart is through his stomach; you, dear Laura, know the way to a woman's heart!"

She smelled faintly of lilacs, I'd never found the scent of lilacs sexy before, but I did now. I started on the hollows of her inner thighs, spreading my attentions further and further afield. Marybeth started leaking fluids; I started lapping them up. Then it was motivate and salivate for the longest time.

Marybeth came with a soft groan, her body trembling. I remembered my first time with Roger. He'd masturbated before coming to bed with me. I'd no complaints about the day I'd lost my virginity; I actually came before he did. It was a mild, naive and innocent girl's first orgasm with a man. Roger had taken considerable pleasure that I'd come first. It had spurred him on and a few minutes later I came again. He followed a few seconds later.

I remembered the look on Roger's face on that day; that was how Marybeth looked now: complete and happy, pleased with what we'd done.

There was a rustle of clothes a few feet away. I glanced that way, saw Sherrie had unbuttoned her jeans and her blouse; like Jackie, she was wearing a bra that seriously misstated her cup size -- until her nipples got hard.

Marybeth slid down, started kissing my ear, licking and blowing into it. I heard her whisper softly, "Sixty-nine?"

"Mmmmm," I purred with eager anticipation.

"Can I watch Sherrie?" Marybeth asked.

"Mmmmm," I purred again. Different strokes for different folks. I was going to watch Marybeth, and that was enough for me.

Marybeth wiggled around, until she was stroking my labia with her fingers while her tongue trailed moistness across my stomach and abdomen. I moaned and nearly came when she sucked on my clit; I remembered my duties and started again on her. This time the anatomy gods were kind to me. Sitting as she had before, I'd almost no access to her clit. Now I did, and I found that Marybeth liked clitoral stimulation more than anything else. Her pace picked up, motivating me to do the same. That drove Marybeth to press harder and faster, so I replied.

I was, I found a few minutes later, nearly ready to faint. I didn't for the simple reason that Marybeth touched the right spot and I started to come. What I did to her was an accident. In the throes of my passion, I brushed her clit lightly with my teeth, aware even as it started what was happening and moving to miss mangling her best part.