Chapter 27

I could feel Wes's eyes on me as he prepared to leave to pick up Kendall. I'd given him directions to her room, no doubt sounding like an usher seating guests at a funeral. I could tell he was debating whether to ask me about where things stood between her and me.

"Well, I guess I better get going," he said. "Will we see you at the party?"

I shrugged. "Yeah, I'll at least put in an appearance."

"Good! I want Kendall to have a good time tonight." I looked up quickly, and he gave me a sincere smile.

I snorted. "Then you should keep me away from her."

"Come on, man. If you don't come, she's gonna be wondering all night if you'll come through the door. I don't know what's up with you two, but you should just say hi early and get it over with. Then she can let her hair down."

His smile faded as I considered him seriously.

"Wes ... be careful, okay? She's kinda messed up right now, thanks to me."

He turned and squared his shoulders as he addressed me.

"Look ... do you want her back? You need to make up your mind."

In contrast, my shoulders sagged.

"I think it's safe to say that we're not going to get back together."

He waited to see if I would say anything more. "Okay."

I swallowed a big lump that had just appeared in my throat as I struggled to keep my emotions in check.

"Don't worry about me. I trust you, rooms," I said,

"Okay," he repeated. "I'll see you in a little bit then."

"Yeah. I'll see you later."

I sat looking into space after Wes left. I didn't want to sit in my room and drown myself in self-pity. And I didn't want to go to the party and walk around by myself with a fake smile plastered on my face. I needed something positive and fun to take my mind off all my ... stuff. I picked up the phone.

"Hello?

"Hey, Gerri, it's me."

There was a pause...

"'Me' who?"

"It's me, the idiot that used to be your boyfriend."

Another pause. "Sorry, but there've been so many ... what do you look like?"

I felt a smile trying to break through.

"Most people say I look like Gilligan, you know, from 'Gilligan's Island?'"

"Ohhh. Then you're quite the hottie."

"Perhaps, but I have honorable intentions."

"Just my luck."

"Yeah, well, your luck's been as good as mine lately."

"Oh, I don't know. I'm not a complete emotional wreck like you are."

"Ah-ha! So you do know who this is," I replied. I couldn't help chuckling.

"I suppose so," she conceded. "So what's up? Its Carnicus time, shouldn't you be drunk by now? Most of the Chi O's are already headed for the party. I was gonna make an appearance later."

"Yeah, that's kind of why I was calling. You wanna go get something to eat instead?"

There was a pause. "Aren't you going to be at the party? As a member of the house you're expected to be there." She sounded half teasing and half serious.

"I know. I just can't seem to get up for it tonight."

"I see. Randy, you know you shouldn't..."

She waited for me to say something further. Then...

"Alright, sure, that sounds good. But how about if I go to the party with you and we hang out for a while, then maybe we can go get something."

I sighed into the phone. I knew she was right; I'd piss off my frat brothers if I just disappeared during a significant social function. And I had enough problems already.

"Okay."

"Don't get so excited, you idiot ex-boyfriend you. Do you want me to come over or not?"

I grinned into the phone. "Yeah, I'd like that a lot."

Gerri did a good job of making sure I did enough host-duty, which meant bringing out fresh tubs of beer and munchies, cleaning up messes, and generally ensuring everyone was having a good time.

The party was a couple blocks off campus in the home of a Pike member whose dad was a legacy. It was a great place to have a party, a big house with a pool and a sprawling backyard. The parents, Mr. and Mrs. Diller, greeted the early arrivals but after that disappeared upstairs to give us the run of the place.

The Pikes took turns doing door duty to be sure things stayed under control. We welcomed Greeks and turned away party crashers, typically small groups of guys from the dorms or even the local high schools.

On my watch Gerri stood by my side without being asked. A few times Greeks entering gave us speculative looks. I would shrug my shoulders, while Gerri just smiled enigmatically. I was certainly grateful for her company.

Of course it turned out that Wes and Kendall arrived while we were at the door. I'd seen them coming soon enough to have time to compose myself. Kendall and Wes however were in animated conversation, and didn't see us until they were at the threshold.

"Hi guys," I said, and both their heads popped up to see us. I almost laughed at their startled expressions, but managed to hide it behind a welcoming smile.

"Welcome!" said Gerri, stepping forward spritely to hug Kendall who stood woodenly, expressionlessly watching me shake hands with Wes. "You must be Kendall," Gerri continued, "we've uh, spoken on the phone?"

Kendall's eyebrows rose as she smiled genuinely, returning the hug enthusiastically.

"Oh my gosh! Gerri? Yes, it is so nice to finally meet you!"

Gerri's greeting pulled her out of her poker face, but looking up at me she still had guarded eyes.

Wes stepped to hug Gerri, and I overcame the tightness in my chest to hug Kendall. I could feel her tension in my arms. I drew close enough to whisper in her ear ... something I'd been rehearsing in my mind.

"Sorry for being such an ass. But I hope we can be friends again some day."

I stepped back, and after a moment she gave me a curt nod before turning back to Wes, who gently nudged her forward. He gave me a nod of approval as they passed.

When they were out of earshot, Gerri said quietly to me, "See, that wasn't so bad, was it?"

I surprised her with a quick kiss on the cheek. "Thanks, Gerri."

She just grinned and shook her head, as if to say that there might yet be hope for the fool at her side.

It was past midnight and the party was still going strong.

Gerri and I had become more familiar, almost intimate during the night, standing close together, casually touching each other. At one point she sat in my lap and I rubbed her back while she wrapped an arm around my shoulders.

I caught occasional glimpses of Kendall and Wes in similar postures around the house. Once, Kendall and I even exchanged polite but brittle smiles when we passed coming and going from the bathrooms.

Neither Gerri nor I had too much to drink, just enough for a pleasant buzz. So I was alert enough to notice her catch my eye and then look towards the stairs. I raised my eyebrows, silently asking if she was saying what I thought she was. She responded with a wide grin and a long suffering shake of her head. I realized her gesture meant she'd been signaling me for some time, patiently waiting for me to get a clue.

So I asked our host if he minded our going upstairs in his parent's house for a while. He gave me directions to a bedroom we could use, warning us away from another one already occupied by another couple, and his parents' bedroom.

Once the bedroom door closed Gerri melted against me, pulling me down for a soft wet kiss. She felt like heaven wherever our bodies touched, and we wrapped our arms around each other and just savored the sensations.

As dense as I could be about women, all her signals told me that Gerri wasn't just fooling around with an old boyfriend. Her intuitive support and subtle attention to my psyche all night should have told me that, long before the door had closed behind us. Holding her felt great, and whether we had sex or not wouldn't change that.

That thought made me giggle into her mouth. Maybe I'd had more to drink than I realized. Gerri pulled back and looked at me.

"And just what is so funny?" she asked. I smiled self consciously, and under her scrutiny I morphed into a tongue tied dork.

"I was just thinking that we're ... well, you know, maybe we're ... like, coming full circle? I really like being with you, no, sorry, I mean, you know, it's like before, and if you don't want to ... you know ... tonight, or whenever, that's okay with me. I ... I just like ... being ... with you. You know? You make me feel ... good." It felt like my cheeks were on fire from a full-on blush.

She smiled warmly. "Aren't you sweet," she said while touching my cheek. Then she looked at me seriously, as if considering something carefully before she spoke again.

"Randy? Would you like to start dating again? I promise, it would be for real this time. And you don't need to answer right now if you want to think about it." She finished with a rush, as if to avoid putting any pressure on me.

I'm sure my wide grin was lopsided and goofy looking, but I didn't care. I just pulled her to me and began kissing her so enthusiastically that I could have kissed the lips right off her face. It was her turn to giggle.

"Down boy!" she exclaimed as she pulled back. I gave her as pitiful a look as I could manage, and she laughed from deep in her throat.

"There there. But I should tell you, I'm planning on keeping my panties right where they are tonight, thank you very much."

I sighed theatrically. "Fine ... but maybe someday?"

She looked at me like she was up to something. "You don't understand."

"What?"

"I told you, I'm keeping my panties right where they are."

"Uh ... yeah?"

"They're in the top drawer of my dresser back at the dorm."

After looking at her in amazement for a moment, I hugged her fiercely. She hugged me back, then after a moment she leaned backwards to fall on to the bed and pull me on top of her. I grinned and she squealed as I quickly pulled back and shouldered her legs apart. I pushed her skirt up to her waist, and discovered she'd told the truth ... an inviting treasure was revealed.

Before she had drawn a breath to cry out again, I leaned forward for a gentle kiss.

"Oh God, Randy, you know just how to touch me," she gasped as she scrambled her legs around to gain her footing on the bedcovers. Once she had it, she began making gentle undulations as I began exploring her, inside and out.

She'd just put her hands on my head to guide me when we heard a burst of laughter from the hallway, followed by what sounded like someone colliding solidly with the door.

I grabbed the hem of Gerri's skirt and jerked it back down over her thighs. Then we scrambled around to wind up sitting on the edge of the bed. The doorknob rattled for a moment before it turned.

As soon as the door opened we heard giggling, which was followed by Wes, Hayley, and Kendall stumbling into the room. Their laughter paused when they saw us on the bed, flushed and panting, trying to look innocent.

Wes let out one loud guffaw and stopped, while Hayley appeared delighted with stumbling onto us. Kendall slapped a hand over her mouth as she stared wide-eyed.

"My apologies," Wes said with exaggerated sobriety. "I should have knocked before barging in."

"C'mon," Hayley said hurriedly, reaching out to grab Kendall's arm and tugging her towards the door. "I know a place we can go."

Wes grinned and shrugged his shoulders at us as he turned to follow them out.

When the door closed Gerri jumped at me, flattening me on the bed as she reached for my belt.

"Now, where were we?" she said with a grin.

As we lay comfortably together in post coital afterglow, I realized Gerri was being awfully quiet. When I looked to see if she was awake, I saw that she was looking pensively at the ceiling. I hoped she wasn't having second thoughts about us being together again. I took her hand in mine.