Chapter 19

The celebration party at Anne and Lizzie’s place was in full swing, but for some reason, I just didn’t feel much like partying. Maybe I was feeling my age, maybe I was just tired from all the hours in the saddle I had spent in the last month? And maybe I was feeling a little guilty about what we had done to John? Anyway, I was standing on the patio looking out over the surrounding hills when Melody, Jane, and Beth finally found me.

“Here you are!” said Melody as she snuggled into my right left arm. When I didn’t immediately draw her into a hug, she stepped back and looked carefully at me.

“Nate, are you okay?”

“Yeah, I guess, ummm, I guess I’m just tired is all.” I managed to sigh out.

“Bullshit!” said Jane as she took my right arm. “You’re feeling sorry for that piece of shit John. You can’t fool us, you know?”

Beth walked up so that she was standing in my line of sight and then reached out to gently stroke my cheek. “Nate, please don’t feel sorry for John. First off, he never really treated me like a person, more like a possession. And can I just add that John doesn’t take very good care of his possessions? Anyway ... And second, and more importantly, you not only treat me like a person, but you actually went to a lot of trouble just to defend my honor. The honor of a total stranger that you didn’t know from Eve, I might add. Trust me; I’ll never ever in a million years forget what you and your friends did for me. Never, you understand!” Beth’s eyes misted over as she wound down.

For a moment, I just stared at Beth, like I hadn’t really heard what she had just said, and then I reached out and pulled her into a fierce hug. “I just feel bad that it came to this. I never meant for it to come to this. I know, on some level, that John deserved what he got, I mean I understand the code and I knew what I had to do, but still ... I mean, shit, he got banged up in the process, and I feel kind of shitty about that!” Melody and Jane both drew close, and we simply held each other in companionable silence for a few minutes.

“Nate, if he hadn’t crashed, but had finished out of the money, would you feel this badly?” asked Jane; as Melody burrowed even closer and Beth pulled herself against us as though suddenly chill. “I mean, assuming that John actually learned anything from this whole thing, which frankly I doubt, since it would be a giant leap in evolution for a ‘Neanderthal’ like John to learn from an ass whoopin’, would you feel badly about what happened?”

“No, I guess I wouldn’t, assuming he learned anything at all!” and I snorted at the thought of John suddenly overcoming his learning impairment and growing a sense of honor, as well as a spine, spontaneously. Maybe they could graft one on! “Listen, ladies, I just don’t feel much like celebrating someone being ridden mercilessly into the ground, that’s all. So, I think I’ll just head on home now.”

“Well, we’ll let you go, if that’s what you truly want, but only if we can come with you? I mean, it’s for your own good. We wouldn’t want to leave you all alone in this delicate mental state, now, would we ladies?” said Jane. Melody and Beth nodded enthusiastically in agreement.

“Yes, Nate, I fear for your safety if you’re left all alone in this state.” said Melody as she ran her hand down my thigh, leaving a tingle in its wake.

Beth pretty much sealed the deal when she leaned in close to my ear and whispered, “Besides, I think I’d like to experience you without a wall between us ... and I want to experience all of you...” and her gaze shifted down to my crotch where the little brain had begun to draw much needed blood away from my larger brain, thus preventing actual thoughts from interfering. Treacherous organ indeed!

“Shotgun!” shouted Melody as we turned toward the front of the house. We all piled into my jeep and I drove to my house as quickly as was legally advisable. Melody would occasionally reach over and fondle the crotch of my jeans, in an effort that I’m pretty sure was aimed at having me crash the jeep! Jane and Beth carried on a hushed conversation in the back seat, punctuated with much giggling and other such behavior most unbecoming mature young women. I felt like I was in junior high school again. All that was missing was the note passing! By the time we rolled up into the driveway of the house, the giggling had gotten pretty loud, and I was hard enough to drive nails! On the plus side, my mood had certainly improved...

We entered the house and I tossed my keys on the table as we all made our way to the bedroom. I counted my blessings that I had freshly made the king-size platform bed with new sheets the day before, and had yet to sleep in it, also that I was generally a neat and tidy person, even for a bachelor, which meant no embarrassing moments with dirty clothes or dishes. Speaking of clothes, the ladies seemed to be losing theirs at an alarming rate, and by the time we reached the bedroom I appeared to be the only one still mostly clothed. Melody, Jane, and Beth soon remedied this problem by the simple expediency of grabbing hold of anything clothed and pulling it off as quickly as possible. Soft flesh brushed and rubbed all over me in such a state of motion that I couldn’t say for sure who was where and had hold of what?