Chapter 32

"So what now?" I asked.

Sherri looked up at me. "What do you want?"

"Everything. Nothing. I don't know."

"So what would serve you?"

I thought about that for a while, Sherri just lying next to me, patiently waiting, as my mind raced.

"I think," I finally said, "what would serve me is knowing I served you."

She chuckled. "So you do know that it's important to know you've helped."

"I guess so, but it's not as strong for me as it is for you."

"Maybe not." She sat up, and then met my eyes. "But I think you're right. I need to teach as well as escort."

"Good," I said with a smile.

"Besides," she said, "it'll make it easier to see couples."

I raised my eyebrows.

"You're not the only guy I've seen who's felt guilty about cheating, even though you weren't cheating. As an escort, my choice is to either take him as a client or reject him. If I'm teaching, I can suggest he see me with his wife, and I can serve them both."

"More threesomes?"

"If that's the right thing to do. But I was thinking that there would probably be other ways to serve them better, if I could work with them both." She paused. "I'm thinking of one client who came to me because he wanted someone to help him cross-dress. He was afraid to tell his wife, even after he admitted she probably wouldn't mind. What if I helped them get past his fear, and helped her dress him? It could become something between them, that served them both."

I chuckled. "Hands-on sex lessons. Too bad I didn't know you six months ago. You could have given Tina's blowjob lesson instead of Sharon."

"You'd like that."

"Damn right."

"Instead of Sharon and Tina kneeling near your cock, it'd be Tina and me," she teased. "And I wouldn't have hesitated to suck you."

My cock twitched as it stiffened. Sherri's eyes darted to it and she leered at me. She placed her hand on my thigh, lightly stroking my skin.

"And of course," she continued. "I wouldn't have minded when you came. As long as it wasn't too quick. I'd want to be able to suck you for a while, taking turns with Tina."

My cock was hard now, as I imagined the scene. Except this time it was going the way I wanted.

"It's okay," she said, apparently reading my mind. "You can be turned on by the fantasy. You can even be turned on by the memory."

I looked a question at her.

"It may have ended badly, but there were moments before that which were very good."

I nodded. Taking the photos. The start of the lesson.

"It's okay to be turned on by them."

I nodded, and realized my pulse was up. Part of it was Sherri's touch, but part of it was the memories flooding back.

I glanced at Sherri, but she just held her sphinx-smile as she continued to play with my penis. It felt great, but...

"I know what I want," I said. "I want you to blow me."

Her eyebrows shot up, but then she nodded. She quickly hopped off the bed and snagged her purse. She extracted a condom and tore off the wrapper.

"Is that really necessary?"

She nodded firmly. "We're both sleeping with other people. Just close your eyes and you won't even know it's there."

"Hmm."

"In fact," she said, "why don't you close your eyes and imagine it's Tina and me sucking you? Or Tina and Sharon if you prefer."

"Huh? Why?"

She smiled again. "You can't erase old memories, Joe, but sometimes you can write over them."

"Huh."

I let my head fall back, and closed my eyes. I felt Sherri's hot breath on my cock a moment later. After a moment, it was replaced with the slow, exquisite pressure of her mouth enveloping the head and then my shaft. I couldn't help gasping. She's right, I'm not going to notice the condom.

"Think of Tina and Sharon doing this," Sherri murmured, releasing my cock for just a moment.

I let the images of that night fill my mind. The two women posing for the photos. The way they stood in their stockings next to each other. Tina across Sharon's lap. Sharon watching as Tina slid my cock into her mouth. Then them both kneeling, their bare breasts swaying as they moved.

My pulse raced, and the electric tingles from my cock where Sherri worked her magic made me gasp. This felt so good, like I wished it had that night. Except ... except that the pressure below wasn't there. As great as this felt, I wasn't going to come.

I cracked my eyelids open and gazed down at Sherri. She wasn't looking up, too engaged in her efforts. She'd brought her hands up to cradle my balls and the base of my shaft while she bobbed her head up and down, pausing occasionally to give me long licks.

She should have been the one to give Tina lessons.

I closed my eyes again and imagined that scene, similar to the one before, but with just the single change in cast. My cock in Sherri's mouth, and then in Tina's, their breasts pressed against my thighs, their smiles and even maybe a kiss.

Sherri sucked tightly around the head and I gasped. Images of her in her garter belt flitted through my head, followed by similar images of Tina. I felt the pressure, now, and I moaned. Sherri took more of my cock into her mouth, not letting up on the pressure. I gasped again, shivering with the blasts of pleasure. I imagined Tina doing the same thing. Sherri did something indescribable with her tongue, and pushed me over the edge. With a final cry, I exploded—seeing white under my eyelids. When the pleasure finally stopped washing over me, I looked down to see Sherri grinning up at me.

"Better than the real thing?" she asked.

"You mean better than what actually happened with Sharon and Tina?"

She nodded.

"Yeah." I took a deep breath and motioned for her to slide up and cuddle, which she did. "Except that's not what I was fantasizing about when I came."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. I was fantasizing about you and Tina. I wasn't getting there, thinking about Sharon."

She quietly chuckled.

"Yeah," I said, "I know. That's a good thing."

"It's good not to obsess."

I stiffened. Any protests about me obsessing died before they reached my lips. Damn. When the shoe fits...

Except I wasn't the only one. The pictures of Sherri's brother rose from the back of my mind. I started to say something, but again, the words died silently. This is not the time to bring that up.

Sherri must have sensed my mood change. "What?" she asked.

"Nothing," I said. "At least nothing I want to talk about now."

We cuddled for a while longer and then started to get cold.

"We should do something else," I said.

"What did you have in mind?"

"How about a movie?"

Sherri looked a question at me.

"Seriously," I said. "Something that friends do with each other. Assuming you have time."

She smiled. "Sure."

We slowly shifted and tracked down our clothes. As I watched her slide her top back on, I wondered if I'd screwed up by not asking for more sex. Except there will be other times, I reminded myself. Sherri seemed to read my mind; she grabbed my ass as she walked by to the restroom. When I jumped, she just leered at me, but didn't slow down. The implied rain check was clear.

We caught a showing of Reality Bites, and then went to the nearby Denny's to talk about it afterward. Sherri found the film only okay, whereas I loved Winona Ryder. She wasn't impressed with Denny's cuisine, and teased me that next time I'd have to cook. I promised I would. When we returned to my place, we said goodbye at the door with a hug.

Even though Sherri hadn't liked the movie, I thought Tina might. I spent some time writing my impressions out, thinking I'd put it in my next letter. I didn't organize my thoughts much and wrote pretty much stream-of-consciousness, discussing the movie and my discussion with Sherri afterward. I quickly skimmed it when I was finished and then paused.

I hadn't told Tina about Sherri at all. What was I supposed to say?

I didn't exactly want to keep the nascent friendship a secret. I suspected there'd be too many gaps I'd have to write or talk around if I did. But I also didn't want to tell Tina the sexual details, and in fact she'd asked that I not.

Could I legitimately just call Sherri a friend, in my letter?

And what about Lisa?

I set the letter aside, realizing I didn't have those answers immediately. Instead, I let them percolate for the rest of the weekend and into Monday.

Monday, when I got home, there was a letter from Tina.

With trembling fingers, I tore it open. She'd written four pages, occasionally adding comments in the margin or running them up along the side. I quickly skimmed it. Her tone was friendly and happy. Smiling, I headed for my dining room table, where I reread it slowly savoring every word.

She talked mostly about school and hanging out with Marcy. She'd liked my comments on Belle Epoque and hoped it opened in Tucson. She'd seen Reality Bites, and what did I think of that?

I couldn't help smiling. Great minds think alike, eh? Even if they weren't great minds, the synchronicity was delightful.

I reread her letter a third time. She just sounded bubbly and happy to have gotten my letter. It might only be a slice of her life, but it warmed me to think of her joking with Marcy over pizza after the movie.

I immediately started a reply, cribbing from my original letter. I decided to tell her that I'd gone to the movie with a friend, and that we too had ended up dissecting the movie afterward. I noted that, ironically, my friend was a lesbian like Marcy, and imagined that we must have been having the similar conversations. I decided I needed to preempt some questions about Sherri, and so I wrote a little about Sherri's studies, and her appreciation of good food. That led to me sliding off into discussing cooking and by the time I'd finished, I had four pages of my own.

There was one thing missing, that Tina was sure to ask. How had I met Sherri?

I dithered the rest of the evening, not coming up with a good explanation. The next day didn't provide any illumination either. If things worked out, I'd have to introduce Sherri to Tina some day. Did I want things to end up the same way they had with Sharon—with an ultimatum to end the friendship or else?

It wouldn't be quite the same, I realized. I didn't feel any pangs with the thoughts of giving up sex with Sherri. Or Lisa, for that matter. When the time came, I was sure they'd understand my wanting our friendship to become purely platonic, without the benefits.

Well, I was sure Sherri would. I'd better make sure with Lisa.

And with both of them, I'd better make sure we were on the same page. I didn't want them telling Tina things she didn't want to hear, if they ever met. I could explain Lisa, though. We'd met through Sherri. So once again, I only had one question to answer. How had I met Sherri? I still didn't have any ideas what to say, or what to write in my letter.

Maybe Sherri would. I picked up the phone and called her apartment.

Lisa answered. "How are you doing?" she asked after we'd said hello.

"Pretty good," I said. "And you."

"I'm doing fine." She paused. "But I read a review of a new sushi restaurant in Bethesda. Do you want to take me Saturday?"

"Take you?" I blurted, surprised.

"I'll make it worth your while."

I couldn't help chuckling. "I'm sure you will."

"So you'll do it? Great!"

"Sure, why not?"

"Pick me up at seven. And bring an overnight bag this time."

I couldn't help chuckling some more. I didn't quite know why she was so eager, but I wasn't exactly going to turn her down.

"Will do," I said. "Anything else?"

"No. Do you want to talk to Sherri?"

"Yeah."

Sherri came on the line a few moments later.

"What's gotten into her?" I asked.

"I don't know. I'll ask when I get off the phone. What's up with you?"

I briefly explained my dilemma about the letter I was writing.

"The best thing to do is to stick as close to the truth as possible," she said. "Tell Tina that we met when you'd made a phone call, expecting to talk to someone else and ended up talking with me instead. We hit it off, but we don't date, since I'm gay."

"Huh." Well, it was true enough. I certainly hadn't expected whoever I talked to that night to actually give a damn about me.

"Then," she said, "if it's appropriate later, you can tell her who you were trying to call. But she may not want to know."

"True." I rolled it over in my mind one more time. "I think I'll do that. Thanks."

"Anytime."

"So how are you doing?"

We talked a little about her final days of writing her thesis, and I told her about Tina's letter. We didn't talk long, and when we hung up, I knew exactly what to write.

I finished Tina's letter, gave it another read, and put it in the envelope, but didn't seal it. I decided to give it one last read in the morning, before mailing it. An extra night would help make sure it sounded friendly.

Then I sat back, content. It was good to have friends like Sherri. I knew that any sex between us would stop the moment I asked or I became monogamous with Tina. She understood what I was trying to build and was willing to help.

Except Sharon had been willing to help, too. She'd pushed me to start dating Tina, after all. She'd just drawn a different line about what was acceptable between friends.

I sighed. I still hadn't heard from Sharon, and I missed her. I didn't feel as angry toward her as I had before. Maybe that was the passage of time, and maybe that was perspective. I was still irritated that she blamed me for everything that went wrong, but maybe I could forgive her. The friendship might be worth salvaging, even if we never ended up in bed together.

I snorted. Part of me still wanted to sleep with her, to get that 'itch' scratched. But it wasn't as strong an urge as it had been a few weeks ago, and I'd certainly had trouble fantasizing about her when Sherri had been blowing me. Unfortunately, there was no way to know which side was stronger unless I saw Sharon again.

I decided to write her another letter. It had been long enough, that she too might have calmed down. If I kept it light and friendly, who knew?