Chapter 39

"What the crap is the matter with you, Connie?" Denise asked, a grin starting to form. "They let us off two hours early on a Friday afternoon, because of all the extra hours we've put in. You've been cleaning house like mad; I've never seen you with makeup on, even when you went out with that asshole you were living with. Now you're running around like a chicken with its head cut off. So the kid has a big dick..."

Connie took a breath. "Yeah, you're right. I don't know what's the matter with me. And it hasn't got anything to do with his dick size. Well, that got my attention to start with," she laughed. "At least what you said about seeing him. But, I don't know. I've always kinda liked the kid. I guess that's the reason I messed with him. I just never thought about having him on a date..."

"A date?" Denise said, "Is that what this is? He's coming over to eat supper with us. You've been with him all day, for goodness sake."

"The heck, I have," Connie said, turning to look at her. "How could I be with anybody sitting in the cab of that crane? You should sit in that oven for a while. It's not the picnic everybody thinks it is. And I help you guys every chance I get," she said, taking the freshly made jug of tea out of the refrigerator where she had put it to cool.

"Look, don't get your panties in a wad. I know you help us when you don't have to. And why don't you get Jackson to fix that damn air conditioner? That son-of-a-bitch drives a new BMW; he can afford a few hundred bucks to fix your air. I don't see how you stand it in there."

"That's what my foreman is for. I've bitched at him twice about it. He said that he talked to Jackson, but so far nobody has even looked at it, let alone, fixed it. And I don't want to talk about work, though. Uh, do I look okay? I need a haircut; it's getting all scraggly."

"What is the matter with you?" Denise asked, as she put the boiled potatoes in the bowl, added butter and salt, then turned the mixer on to cream them. Turning to go to the refrigerator for the half and half, she looked at her friend for a moment and grinned. "Feed him. Tell him, 'Come on, we're going to fuck, ' and drag him to your bedroom. You've razzed his butt for a year; now you're acting like a virgin on her wedding night," she finished as she turned the mixer up another notch.

Connie stirred the tea to dissolve a little sugar that had settled out as the liquid cooled, "I just want him to like me..."

"'Me?' What was that about sharing the kid if he was any good, hummm?" Denise asked, opening the cabinet to get the plates.

"Uh, I did say that, didn't I?" Connie replied, a little embarrassed.

"Look," Denise said, setting the three plates on the table in the small adjoining dining room and stopping to look at her friend. "Looks like I need to bow out. Suppose we eat, then I'll run into town and find something to do for a few hours. When I get back, if his pickup is still here, I'll sit outside and listen to music for a while. No use us getting crossways when we've only been living together for two nights."

Connie suddenly hugged her friend. "Chances are, he won't even think about anything with me, least of all, sex. I'm too much older than he is. He's probably just coming over because he's curious why I quit messing with him and started treating him nice — and the free meal," she laughed. "And... I think he likes you. Heck, at least you didn't screw with him all the time, like I did. I saw him eyeing your tits, yesterday."

Denise pulled back. "I just heard someone pull in the drive. I'll get the door. When you hear us in the living room talking, come on in. That way he'll see you in that great-looking dress as you walk toward him. After that, you're on your own," she finished, leaving the kitchen just as the doorbell rang.

Jeremy was dressed in a pair of dark gray slacks, a button-up shirt that went well with them, and a pair of dress shoes. "Wow, you clean up good," Denise teased as she opened the door.

"Uh, so do you," he answered as she ushered him inside. He tried to look her in the eye, but despite himself, her breasts in the tight pullover top, seemed to pull his eyes to them. Resisting with everything he had, he said, "I missed the mailbox the first time, and had to turn around, but I'm not late, am I?"

"Of course not. It's dead on seven right now. Oh, here's Connie," she said, as her new roommate walked in. I swear that she's blushing, Denise thought as she noticed the color in Connie's cheeks. But, hey, he does look good.

Astonishing everybody, including herself, when she walked up, Connie lightly touched her lips to Jeremy's. Stepping back, she said, "Hi, Jeremy."

Not expecting the kiss, he answered. "Uh, hi yourself. You both really look nice," he said, glancing from one to the other. "I guess I've never seen either of you without either hard hats or baseball caps on, and certainly not in pretty dresses. The guys would be envious of me tonight," he finished.

"Hah, I wouldn't bet on it. Most of them are probably at a bar somewhere looking to get laid. Well, at least the unmarried ones. But, we fixed a big supper." Denise said, "I hope you're hungry, or we'll have to eat the leftovers for a week," she laughed.

"Uh, I haven't eaten anything since a couple of sandwiches for lunch."

"Then you should be ready for some good home cooking. The bathroom is the second door on the right," she said, indicating the hallway. "If you need to wash up. We'll be waiting in the dining room."

In the bathroom, Jeremy washed his hands and ran his comb through his hair again. Boy, I really need a haircut. I'm going to go home next weekend, and I'll get Mom to cut it for me. I can't believe these two foxes have invited me to eat with them. Why has Connie started treating me so nice? I keep expecting her to gig me with that sharp tongue of hers. And why in the world did they invite me over on a Friday night? Surely they must have dates. Connie said she had split up with her live-in. I thought she probably had someone else and dropped El Stupid for him. Wonder why she isn't out with him tonight? Crap, I don't know anything about women. I'll probably say something dumb — as usual.

Apprehensive, he walked back down the hall, through the living room to the dining room.

Denise motioned to the chair at the head of the table. "Have a seat. What do you want to drink? We've got beer, iced tea, or Coke."

"Uh, iced tea is fine."

Connie put ice in another glass and filled it with tea. After setting it beside him, the women sat down. He had remained standing until they sat, one to each side of the table, near him. His waiting until they had taken their seats did not go unnoticed by the women, who glanced at each other.

Connie thought about how she had been treated by her live-in. He never bothered to open a door for me, and certainly didn't wait for me to sit before him. I must have been more desperate than I realized. Of course looking for someone in a bar is chancy at best. I sure would have been better off financially if I had stayed away from the big idiot. No, he wasn't the idiot. I was. He and his buddies all act alike. I had almost forgotten how a real man acts around a woman. The guys on the crew are okay, and they don't treat me badly, but they sure don't open doors. Of course, they treat me just like they treat each other. In a way, that's a compliment in itself, at least for a work environment. I wonder how they treat their wives and girlfriends, though. How would they treat me on a date?

Dinner wasn't anything fancy, just a roast that Denise got on sale, beans, creamed potatoes and gravy, slaw, fried okra, and banana pudding for dessert, but there was plenty of everything.

Connie and Denise both offered Jeremy food at the same time. He smiled at them and took the plate of roast that Denise offered, put a slice hurriedly on his plate, then took the bowl of cream potatoes from Connie, thanking each of them. He seemed tentative, taking a moderate helping of each dish that they offered him. Then as they started to eat, he bowed his head for a couple of seconds.

Remembering that she had seen him do that at work, Connie said, "Uh, if you would like to say the blessing, we wouldn't mind, would we Denise?"

"Certainly not."

Jeremy shook his head, then grinned at the two women. "No, I don't impose myself on others. My parents weren't ultra religious or anything, and I'm certainly not, but my father always said a short grace at the table. Actually the same thing every time, except on Thanksgiving and Christmas, when it was a little longer. When I left home for school, I promised my mom that I would always do it. That's the only thing she asked of me when I left."

The two women looked at each other. "Where do your parents live?" Connie asked.

"Near Burlington. I got a grant for my first year of college, but it wasn't much, so I had to work part-time. After my year, I got this job to save up some money. I hope I can get enough put back with two years of work to get two more full years of college."

"What are you majoring in?" Denise asked, refreshing Jeremy's tea.

"Well, I'm just getting the prep courses out of the way to see if I can make it. So far I've made A's and B's. I think I'd like to be a mechanical engineer. But the calculus courses were hard, and the chemistry was a bitch. I don't know if I've got what it takes or not. And with working, I didn't get to spend the time studying that I would have liked. I did learn some things about studying for my classes though. One of the guys in my calculus class told me that there were just so many variations of any type of problem. Most every type had a little trick associated with it, and of course, the problems on the test weren't exactly like the examples in the textbook. Sometimes, they weren't even close.

"Anyway, he said his older brother had told him to go to the library, get several textbooks, find the type of problems that you were currently working on in each book, and presto, there would probably be several variations all worked out in the examples. He said that it worked for him, and it worked for me. My grades started coming up, and the tests were suddenly easier. My last tests for calculus, physics and chemistry seemed simple because of spending more time actually studying, instead of trying to figure what in the heck they were talking about."

Realizing that Jeremy's portions were far smaller than a working man would normally put on his plate, Denise added more food to Jeremy's plate. "We didn't poison anything Jeremy, and regardless of how Connie has treated you for the last year, we don't bite either. Well, not much, anyway," she laughed.

"Okay," he said, smiling. "I know I'm a little bashful around girls. I always have been. The food is excellent. I just don't want to make a pig out of myself."

"Believe me," Connie said, "you would have to go a long way to be in the class of that scumbag I was stupid enough to move in with. Now eat up, or else we're going to think it's our lousy cooking."

Jeremy made a little hollow in his creamed potatoes with his fork as Denise scooped more gravy onto them with a big spoon.

"Thanks," he said as he started eating again. "And, believe me, this is wonderful cooking. And I'm sure tired of mine. Uh, I've set myself up on a budget — my mother's suggestion — so I generally eat the same things all the time. Mostly dried beans, rice and potatoes. I don't usually splurge on meat. But I've managed to put a good bit of money away during the last year. Jackson's company pays better than I was able to find anywhere else, particularly without having any real skills. But he hired me anyway, even though I told him I would only be working for two years before I went back to college.

"He asked me what I was majoring in, and when I told him I wanted to be a mechanical engineer, he just grinned and said he might be growing his own, and hired me."

"Well, he might not be the nicest guy in the world, but he does know how to make money. He got a smart young man who said he would work for the company for two years. That's probably a lot better than having some clod work for him forever," Denise laughed. "And he's obviously filling a niche with those quick to assemble silos. He's got a good product, and he pays decently. He didn't lie to us about why he hired the two of us. He just said that he didn't have enough women working for him, and wanted to correct that before he got into trouble. I don't guess he's required to like us," she grinned. "But he darn sure doesn't seem to have a lot of personality."

"Oh, so I'm a 'smart young man, now?'" he said, before taking a drink from his tea glass.

"Yeah, you're probably smarter than the rest of us," Connie broke in. "Heck, the most of us on the crew only have a high school education, and I've just got a GED. When Mom got sick, I stayed home to take care of her and the other kids, and run the house. Then I had missed too many days. They said I would have to do the twelfth grade over, so I just didn't go back."

"But you got your GED," Jeremy said, "Same difference."

"I wanted to go to college, but it didn't happen," Connie said, her voice a little wistful.

"Yeah, me too," Denise said. "I guess that fits a lot of people. Sometimes it just isn't in the cards."

"But both of you are smart," Jeremy said, sitting back and looking at the women. "You could still go."

"Yeah, right," Denise said. "Now how am I going to make my house payment, and save up enough money to go to school?"

"There's all kinds of tuition programs out there," Jeremy said, starting to eat again.

"Then, why are you working to save up money for school?" Connie asked.

Jeremy hurriedly swallowed a fork full of fried okra. "Boy, this is good. This is the best food I've had in a long time." Then looking at Connie, he said, "Most of the time, you've got to pay that money back. I know that some people get a free ride, but when I applied, I didn't get it. My grades weren't anything extra in high school, and well, I don't want to run up some gigantic debt that I'll have to pay back. I'm not in a hurry. I'm young. I want to pay my way through."

Taking another bite, he swallowed, then, "When my folks wanted something, they saved up and bought it. Oh, they have credit cards, but they mostly used them for emergencies, or for something you can't buy without a card. But we never had new cars, or trucks; they usually bought something not-quite-new to save money, like they did when they bought my pickup for me on my sixteenth birthday. But it had low miles, and was in perfect shape. They had been saving for it, and they went out and bought it. That's the way I'm going to do my college education. I'll make it, but calculus scared me," he laughed. "I think I have a handle on it now, though. I've learned how to study."

After dinner, they adjourned to the living room to get to know each other a little better. Denise grabbed him on his butt as they all started to sit on the couch, and he jumped. After laughing and cutting up for a while, they got a Monopoly game out, teasing each other about three adults playing Monopoly on a Friday night. "Boy, the guys better never hear about this," Jeremy said as the women opened the board on the coffee table. "Me playing a board game with two foxes like you. They'll rag me for the rest of my life."

Denise sat back down beside him, then leaned over and kissed him for a few seconds. Pulling back, she said, a grin on her face, "I'll bet they wouldn't rag you too much about that."

As Jeremy opened his mouth to respond, Connie sat back down on the other side of him, and kissed him. When she leaned back, Jeremy was blushing, and crossed his legs.

Laughing, the women put cushions from the chairs on the floor beside the coffee table. Sitting on the cushions and grinning at their male friend, the game began.

Later, tired of the game, Denise grabbed Connie's hand. "Jeremy, we'll be back in a minute. Don't you dare go anywhere. We just need to do something for a moment. We'll be right back."

Almost dragging Connie down the hall, Denise turned into her bedroom and shut the door behind them. "Okay, it's put up or shut up time," she said staring her friend in the eyes. "If you want me to, I'll take a ride downtown, or we can do something else. To be truthful with you, I don't really want to go. But I will if you think that's the best thing."

"Uh," Connie started, then hesitated, looking at the floor for a moment, then back at Denise. "I've got a sort of confession to make. I, uh, talk rough around the guys on the crew, well, to kind of keep them at arms length, I guess you could say." In a rush, she finished, "I've really only had two guys: my husband and that turkey I moved in with. If you count 'Weenie Dick, ' the two hunch king," she said, her voice changing. "My ex-husband's idea of making love was, 'bend over the table, Bitch, ' and he slammed it in. I'm scared to death around Jeremy. He's so nice. I don't even know what to do. He hasn't made a pass at either of us, and I don't think he's going to. I don't want to make him think we're sluts..."

Denise started laughing, and thinking that the laughter was at her, Connie's face turned red.

"No, no," Denise said, realizing what was happening, grabbing her friend by the arm. "I'm not laughing at you. I'm laughing at us. You see, this slut isn't very much more experienced that you. I've had the guy in high school that took my cherry. The operative word being 'took.' I never dated that bastard again. The next was my husband. And I had a one night stand right after I got divorced. Heck, it's been so long since my pussy has had any use that I'm afraid it has grown up."

Thinking a minute, Denise continued, now taking Connie by the hand in her exuberance. "Why don't you go back out and sit down with him. Heck, it looks like he isn't going to do anything. So kiss him, and make out with him for, say... twenty minutes. Then I'll come out and do the same. We obviously aren't going to carry him off to our bedrooms. After we each have a turn, we'll back up and punt," she finished, grinning. "By then, he'll be ready to rape us, or, heck I don't know. Let's just have fun."

Connie looked doubtful. "I don't know. My ex kissed me — I guess you could call it that — running his tongue down my throat. Then he was ready to fuck. The ox didn't even do that much. But kissing Jeremy is fun. I just hope I don't make a fool out of myself."