Chapter 3

It was the first time in more than a year and a half that Stephanie and Kyle had been alone together. Excluding their random meeting on the sidewalk that one spring day, they had not even seen one another since he left her home that September night. She had much to tell him, yet he would have preferred to be anywhere but with her. As uncomfortable as he might have been, he could think of no excuse as to why he needed to be somewhere else.

Conversation was awkward, at first. Stephanie didn't know how or where to begin. She definitely did not want to scare him away.

"I don't know how to start. It's been so long since I have seen you. I miss our conversations. I miss just being with you." She still didn't know how to tell him the rest.

"It looks to me like you did okay in my absence." That was a bit cold, but Kyle wasn't really trying to rekindle anything.

"Well, yes and no. A week after you left I had a stress induced miscarriage. I lost the baby."

"I don't know if I should say I'm sorry to hear that or not. Should I be?"

"No, I don't think so. It is really hard to believe how one terribly stupid night can so thoroughly destroy so many things and change so many lives. I am and will forever be ashamed of what I did to you and how I destroyed the trust that you had in me. I did everything wrong - so wrong! I shattered your dreams and..."

"Don't beat yourself up about this again, Stephanie. It's over. It cannot be undone. We just move on. I am not angry with you. I don't hate you or hold bad feelings. I have many warm memories of the good times we spent together. Those are the ones that I will keep. I don't want to keep remembering the one bad thing that happened to us."

"That's the Kyle I have always known, so kind, so caring, so thoughtful, so gentle. Even the first time that we met at the football game, I could feel your hands on my breasts, almost any other guy would have squeezed them or done something to call attention to it, but not you. You moved them away as soon as you could, I'm sure to save me from an embarrassing scene. You probably didn't think I had ever thought about that, but believe me, I have been thinking about that for almost two years. You ALWAYS respected me."

There was a pause, a lull in the conversation as they continued nibbling on their lunches. To make sure that he didn't use the lull as an excuse to leave, she stopped eating and said, "Tell me about being in the army."

Kyle told her about the army, about basic training, about the decision to apply for Ranger training and about the three components of that training. When it was appropriate, she would ask questions that showed she was actually paying attention and her reactions to the danger portions of his stories were sincere. He talked about his boot camp buddies, and about the guys on the mountain, and then about the guys in the boat. By the time he got around to telling her about the General, his whole demeanor changed. Without realizing it, his voice became clearer and stronger, yet still not loud. He sat up straighter and smiled as he spoke. He was very proud of their relationship, if one could call it that.

"What's really neat, Steph, is that he's as high a rank as he'll ever be, and yet he really cares about me. He cares that I do well in school. He really wants me to succeed. He doesn't need me for anything, certainly not to pad his successes; God knows he's had plenty of those. He just cares. It is sooo neat."

"I am so happy for you, Kyle. I don't think I have ever seen you like this. You are almost bubbling with enthusiasm."

"I go to Fort Benning again at the end of July for a month. I will see him then. He always wants to see my grades, and I can't wait to show him this one." He started to reach into his back pack, but then realized he had left his grade report on his bed stand in his room.

"What did you do, get all A's?"

"This term, yes. I've only had one B, and that was my first term."

"Are you kidding? That's great. You have a right to be proud."

"The General is pretty happy, too."

They talked for a long time that afternoon, about ambitions, goals, old friends, families and everything in between. Finally, Kyle began to tire of just sitting. "Can we get up and walk for a while? I'm tired of sitting in a chair."

"Sure. Any place in particular?"

"I don't care. I just don't want to sit any more."

They began walking slowly across campus. "If you'd like, you could walk me to my apartment and I will fix you supper in return."

"I dunno."

"Really. I'm getting to be a good cook."

"I didn't mean that."

"It's no bother, and I would really enjoy the company."

He hadn't meant that he thought it was a bother, either, but he let the thought go and agreed to walk her home.

When they got to her apartment, he really wasn't surprised that it was a ground floor place, with a fenced in back yard, a patio and a pool. He really wasn't surprised at all. It was much more lavish than any dorm room, for certain.

"Don't you live in the dorm during the year?"

"No, I didn't feel comfortable when I visited them, so we decided to look for an apartment."

"How many roommates do you have?"

"None, I live here by myself. That's why I said I'd enjoy the company for dinner."

"Wow. Don't you get lonely?"

"Well, yes and no. Not for meals during the year. There are three other apartments in this little complex, and we alternate cooking dinner for the other three. Each girl cooks for one week at a time. It saves lots on the groceries, and I get some really good meals. It also makes you learn how to cook really quickly." She put two steaks on the grill and handed him a beer from the fridge.

"As far as being lonely goes, the rest of the time, yes, I miss talking to people and being with people, sure I do."

She continued preparing a meal for him, steak, salad, hot biscuits and beer which they ate while very relaxed on her patio. Somewhere along the way, she had managed to turn on some music, because it was playing softly in the background. When she returned from the kitchen with another beer for him, instead of just handing it to him, she sat down on his lap and twisted around to look up at him. "Mostly, I think, I miss talking to you and being with you, Kyle." She pulled his head to her and kissed him, seriously and passionately.

There was something different about the way Stephanie kissed, different than any other girl he had ever kissed. There was something about her that he could taste and smell and sense, something that went right to his heart, to his brain, to wherever emotions are centered. When she kissed him, he could remember. He could remember all of the wonderful times and passionate moments that they had enjoyed. She took his hand in her hand and placed it on her breast. Somehow in the course of this evening, she had managed to remove her bra without him noticing, and when his hand felt her breast, he could feel her nipple hardening immediately. He began returning her kisses, and then his hand began unbuttoning her blouse. When she could feel him hardening below her, she stood up, pulling him with her and led him to her bedroom. He was as passionate and erotic with her as he had ever been, and when it was time, he entered her. She rolled her hips up to meet his thrusts and they were one for many minutes. Later, he rolled to one side and they embraced, a tear running down her cheek. Several times throughout the night they shared each other. Sometimes he would wake her; sometimes she would wake him. Once, after he had cum again, she asked him if he could ever pretend that it all had never happened. By morning they were both exhausted. It was sometime after noon when she awoke to find him gone. She cried and her feelings of sorrow returned again.