Chapter 15: Just Friends

-- THURSDAY, JUNE 9, 2005, SUMMER BREAK --

"Hey there, stranger," Lynne said with a wry grin. "I was wondering if you were going to show up."

I took a deep breath and stayed where I was, making no move to embrace her or otherwise enter the apartment. Still shell-shocked from finding that Dawn had left behind the "Ben Forever" bracelet, I had driven aimlessly and just so happened to find myself pulling into the parking lot here. I knew that I was yearning for some kind of comfort, and Stanford wasn't too far away from the Evans house. But at the same time, I was consciously aware of what had happened the last time I saw Lynne, and more specifically, the way I had left.

"I wanted to apologize for last night," I said slowly, forcing myself to look her in the eye. "I shouldn't have kissed you. That was out of line."

Lynne shook her head with a little smile. "You don't need to apologize. It was a great kiss."

I blushed and looked down. Lynne then stepped up and punched me in the chest, although not too hard. "What you should be apologizing for is running away immediately after. Do you have any idea what that does to a girl's psyche?"

Despite her words, and the punch, Lynne's tone was more one of amusement. She wasn't angry with me, and that knowledge lightened my mood a bit. Looking her in the eye again, I stated evenly, "I'm sorry, Lynne. I should not have run away from you. I was caught up in the moment, and you looked so beautiful right then that I couldn't help myself. But I'm a psychological mess right now and I didn't know how to handle- MRF!"

My apology was abruptly cut off when Lynne launched herself out from the doorway. Her arms went up around my neck and she practically had to climb up my taller body in order to get her lips fastened around mine. Gripping my neck fiercely, she held on for dear life as her tongue snaked out and pressed its way into my mouth. And then my hands finally got firm grips on her tight asscheeks, and with new leverage I hoisted her higher so that we could worry more about the intensity of our passionate liplock and less about just trying to stay vertical.

Unconsciously, I'd turned us and staggered over until Lynne's back hit the door. She broke away from the kiss and giggled for a moment while I regained my balance. And then re-crossing her legs around my waist to hold herself up, she tugged my head toward hers and kissed me once again.

Two minutes later, it occurred to me that we were kissing in full view of anyone who wanted to see, whether from the outside public or inside the apartment. Cracking open an eye, I staggered us into the living room and looked around. "Where is everybody?"

Lynne panted for breath, still hanging onto me. "Wha-?"

"Where is everybody?" I repeated.

Lynne shook her head. "School's over, so there's no need to have study sessions here anymore. Ivonne went home this morning. Kady and Noelle ... well ... my guess is they're upstairs doing what we're about to do."

That got my attention. I arched an eyebrow and looked at Lynne frankly. "And what are we about to do?"

Grinning, Lynne dropped her legs, forcing me to lower her to the floor. And taking my hand in hers, she started pulling me back toward her bedroom. "We're about to get naked and have some fun."

When Lynne dragged me into her bedroom and literally flung me onto her bed, I felt like apologizing. Less than a week ago, Dayna Evans had been throwing herself at me, even sucking my penis into her mouth, and I had been unable to get an erection. I'd watched porn on my computer, trying to get off in some way that didn't involve fantasizing about Dawn, to no avail. My plumbing simply didn't work for anyone but her.

But when Lynne grabbed my jeans, jerking them down and reaching her hand into my shorts, miracle of miracles, nearly eight inches of thick man meat awaited her. "Fuck, I forgot how big you are!" she breathed, jacking my shaft slowly while stretching her lips up to mine once again.

My mind was spinning in utter shock. I was shocked that Lynne was coming onto me like this. I was shocked that I had a non-Dawn erection for the first time in nearly three weeks. And in this state of shock, I was helpless to resist as Lynne pushed me onto my back, straddled my upper thighs, and reached down to pull her shirt off.

The shirt went flying into a corner, leaving just a plain nude-colored bra to cover her perky B-cups. She tugged at the hem of my polo shirt, pulling it upward and then scratching my chest with her fingernails while she bent down to kiss me once again. And then she pulled away to finish yanking my polo shirt and undershirt both over my head.

"Lynne, are you sure about this?" I gasped.

"Don't ask me that," she whimpered, leaning down and kissing me once again. I could feel the heat of her skin as our chests pressed together, even through the thin cotton bra. She moaned into the kiss, a moan of erotic passion that got me even harder. And all I could do to respond was palm her buttcheeks, yank her crotch against my erection, and kiss back just as hard as she was kissing me.

Are YOU sure about this? I asked myself.

My rational brain was aware of the situation. It was exactly three weeks ago that my soulmate slept with another man and then came home to dump me. It was less than thirty minutes ago that I stood in the doorway of my girlfriend's home, staring in shock at her beloved bracelet left behind for me to find. This wasn't exactly the ideal time for me to make love with another woman.

But I am a sexual creature, and the mental block that had plagued me for three weeks was now gone. When DJ had offered herself to me the day after the breakup, I'd simply grabbed her and shoved her out the door. When Kim had awoken me with a morning blowjob the day after that, I'd stopped her and ordered her to go home. And when Dayna had thrown herself at me just this past Sunday, I couldn't even get hard.

I was hard now. And as I thought about it, I knew the reason why.

I was free.

If you think about it, I'd been free ever since Dawn dumped me. She'd broken up with me; she'd walked away. From that very moment, I was a single man.

But I'd still belonged to her. She was my soulmate. I'd promised I'd wait for her, and even though DJ, Kim, and Dayna had all tempted me, I still waited for my Dawn. I'd believed with all my heart that we would find a way to work things out.

We couldn't work things out anymore. She wasn't around, not even in the same STATE anymore. I knew that if I called her she wouldn't pick up the phone. If I tracked her down wherever she was, she still wouldn't want to talk to me. Maybe I could force her to stop and sit down with me. But maybe that would only make things even worse. Something was deeply wrong with Dawn's head, but I was part of the problem. This was one situation I couldn't help her with.

Maybe we'd find each other again, somewhere down the road. Maybe we were just like Daniel and Elaine: needing a separation, needing some time apart. Maybe after Dawn went and lived her wild and crazy life, she'd come back to me.

Dawn owned my heart. I couldn't stop loving her if I tried. My heart would wait for her.

But this was just sex. And I wasn't waiting around anymore.

Lynne asked me to go easy on her. She told me she hadn't had anything as big as me inside her since the last time we did this, and she pleaded for me to be gentle.

So I was gentle. Every so often, it felt like my eyes were clouding over and blood red lust was taking control of my body, the way it had done those times with Gwen in the aftermath of Adrienne's breakup. But that was then; this was now. Lynne wanted gentle, and I could do gentle.

"So deep ... So full..." she groaned as she raised her legs up into the air behind me. I hooked my arms around them to keep them raised, pressing her knees back against her own chest to allow me even deeper penetration. And as I began nibbling on her neck and thrusting with increased vigor, I felt the tell-tale tremors of Lynne's orgasm approaching.

"Ben, I'm gonna cum again," she whimpered.

I just smiled down at her and sped up my pumping a little more. She looked so adorable, as if she were trying to make an ugly face the way she bared her teeth and grunted like a pig. Even so, the way her forehead furrowed and her lips snarled were cute in an innocent way. And when she threw her head back against the pillow behind her and screamed her climax, I chuckled and slow-dicked her through the orgasm.

That climax had been Lynne's fourth in only half an hour. Throughout the years that we'd had sex, she'd never been quite this quick-trigger, this easily multi-orgasmic. Later, she would admit to me that she'd been anticipating this moment for several weeks, ever since I showed up on her front door the first time. She'd tempered her expectations, knowing that I was coming off a bad breakup, but she couldn't help but fantasize about me at night.

Last night had been the worst for her. Even though I'd turned tail and run away, she'd floated home on Cloud 9 after our kiss. Blushing, Lynne later admitted that she'd fingered herself to a half-dozen orgasms before falling asleep, and then she'd spent all day wondering just what she would say to me when I finally came over.

When I didn't arrive immediately after my regular work day, she'd started to panic. She talked herself in circles, reminding herself that ours wasn't a relationship meant to be and that she shouldn't be fantasizing about me. But she did anyway, and by the time I actually showed up, she was so horny that she couldn't help but jump me.

Her first orgasm came right around the moment my pelvic bone pushed up against hers, signaling that I was at full depth inside her. She rode me to a second orgasm before she was out of breath, and let me roll her over so that I could give her a third missionary-style. That fourth one with her legs in the air had wiped her out, and as she went limp beneath me, turning her head to the side and drooling, she whimpered plaintively, "No more, I'm too tired. No more."

Nodding affirmatively, I slowly backed myself out and prepared to lie down beside her. She was even more adorable sexed-out, with her dark bangs plastered to her forehead by sticky sweat and a deeply-satisfied grin across her face. But before I fully disengaged, she reached up and grabbed my hips. "No, don't pull out. You have to cum in me."

"But you just said 'no more'," I reasoned.

Shaking her head, Lynne raised her left knee and started twisting to the side. She pushed at my chest, this time not stopping me when I pulled all the way out and sat back on my heels. And rolling onto her side, with her right leg extended and her left bent at the knee to open up her pussy, she moaned, "Just fuck me and cum. Don't hold back. I just wanna feel you spilling your hot essence inside me."

She gave me a sultry smile despite her exhaustion. I let my gaze trail down Lynne's naked back to her perky buttcheeks and the rosy peach pit below. Her labia were dark red, flushed with arousal and glistening from her repeated orgasms. So taking hold of her hips, I leaned over Lynne's back and slowly eased my dick into her from behind.

"Nnngghhoohhh..." she moaned as I filled her back up. She stuck her left hand out, planting it on the bed to brace herself. And then weakly, she rocked her hips back to meet me.

I did most of the work, and I still kept my thrusting gentle. It didn't take very long; I'd been primed from a half hour of fucking, only holding myself back because I wanted to give Lynne even more pleasure. But I wasn't holding back anymore, and within five minutes of rhythmic pumping, I felt my balls about to release their load.

"Unnghhh ... Lynne..." I groaned a warning.

"Ohhh, Bennn..." she moaned right back.

"Ungh ... Ungh..."

"That's it..." she sighed. "Cum! Cum inside me!"

"Ungh ... ungh ... UNGHHHH!" I grunted as I hit the boiling point.

"Yesss!" she hissed. "I can feel it!" Reaching her left arm back, she grabbed my ass and held me against her as my cock spat out wad after wad of creamy spunk into her juicing slit.

I arched my back, thrusting my belly into her while trying to get just a half-inch deeper, feeling the end of my prick already nudging against her cervix. "Unnnghhh..." I groaned.

"I can feel it! Spill your hot essence inside me!" Lynne cried, bending her head forward and rocking her hips side to side.

"Ungh!" I grunted a final time as I squeeze out the last drop. And then I collapsed forward, practically crushing the petite brunette to the mattress beneath me.

Lynne didn't mind. She took my extra weight and hummed happily when we were done, her left hand reaching back to rub my bare buttock.

And as I slowly deflated inside her, Lynne sighed and said, "Promise me something."

"Hmm?" I asked, my brain a little sluggish post-ejaculation.

"Promise me that no matter what happens the rest of this night, tomorrow after work you come back here so we can do this again. And bring a change of clothes so we can spend the entire weekend fucking each other's brains out."

Rubbing her shoulder gently, I thought of all the shit that had been going on in my recent life. Smiling happily, I leaned forward and kissed her bare shoulder. And then I replied, "Sounds like a good plan."

-- SUNDAY, JUNE 12, 2005, SUMMER BREAK --

"Holy shit. You're still here?" Kady asked dumbly when I answered the door of Lynne's apartment.

I shrugged and glanced around my surroundings. "No, I'm not really here. I'm just a figment of your imagination."

With a smirk, Kady punched my chest lightly and then glanced at Noelle, who was standing beside her with a beaming smile on her face. Then returning to me, she shrugged. "We could hear you two all weekend. But when things went quiet last night and we didn't hear anything this morning, I assumed you'd gone home."

I blushed and looked directly up, to where Kady's and Noelle's apartment would be. "Are we really that loud?"

Kady chuckled. "You managed to turn quiet little Lynne into a screamer. And the Big Ben Legend strikes again!" she crowed.

"You would know," I shot right back before realizing my faux pas and darting a look at Noelle.

"Oh, no worries," Kady reassured me, before slipping an arm around Noelle's.

"Yeah," Noelle offered. "Kady told me about your history a long time ago."

I nodded in relief. "So what brings you two to Casa de Arian?"

"Oh, shit. I forgot!" Lynne suddenly announced as she came into the living room, walking a little gingerly.

Kady looked past me and noted Lynne's difficulty. "What happened? Sex-related injury?"

Lynne grimaced and came up beside me, wrapping an arm around my waist. "Something like that. I decided to try anal sex for the first time last night."

My eyes goggled in surprise that Lynne had just come out and said that out loud.

"Wow," Kady whistled.

"How was it?" Noelle blurted before clapping a hand over her mouth.

"It was great!" Lynne cheered. "At least, once you get past the initial entry. Ben's kinda thick."

"I know." Kady shrugged before clarifying,"Uh, not the anal part. We never did that."

"Are we really talking about this?" I groaned. The girls ignored me.

"But I think I'm going to have to save that one for special occasions. I'm not very big back there, and I feel all stretched out and weird now." Lynne turned to me and patted my chest. "Sorry buster, but we're gonna have to do front door only for a while."

I just blinked, still stunned that we were having this discussion.

"So ... we still going? We can give you a few minutes to freshen up," Noelle offered.

Lynne nodded and patted my chest again. "Let's get dressed."

"Where are we GOING?" I wondered, a little spazzed out at this point.

"Oh, it's Sunday morning. The girls and I have been getting brunch together for months. C'mon. We need to get some calories in you, recharge the batteries so you can keep fucking my brains out all week. I want to experience that screaming-multiple-orgasm thing again."

Astonished, I let Lynne drag me by the hand back inside.

My plate was full of delicious omelet, bacon, and hash browns. But despite the wonderful smells rising up and filling my nostrils, I couldn't help but gawk at the conversation taking place around me.

It had been a whirlwind of a weekend that had shattered many of the perceptions I used to hold about one Lynne Arian. The diminutive brunette had been the model of reason in High School, more than once guiding Adrienne and me through the ups and downs of our 'nottogether' relationship with timely advice and unflinching support.

Yeah, there had been a few times when her sexual side came out, notably that crazy winter vacation at Big Bear and Adrienne's 19th birthday orgy at Mizuho's Newport Coast house after Freshman year. I never forgot what Lynne had told me the night of Adrienne's birthday, when I apologized for not having maintained contact with her even though Stanford was fairly close to Cal. She'd said, "I'm sorry, and you're sorry. So now that we're done with that, how about we forget about it and get to the fucking?"

THAT was the side of Lynne that had come out over the last few days. We didn't talk much. Well, we talked a lot, but most of it was meaningless chit-chat. Neither of us broached the subject of relationships, whether my failed relationship with Dawn or the status of our own friendship with each other. I didn't ask if she wanted to get romantic with me and she didn't either. Instead, we watched TV, laughed about the things we saw, ate, drank, and then went back to fucking.

It was a horribly wrong thing for me to think, but I might have expected such a sexual creature if Lynne had been taller, bustier, or flirtier. The girls built like Adrienne, Candy, and Heather simply exuded sex from their very pores. They dressed to attract attention, they ensured that their big tits were put on display, and they went out of their way to drop sexual innuendoes into everyday topics.

By contrast, Lynne Arian had always been the "nice" girl. She dressed well, neither slutty nor bookish. To be honest, at 5'3", slender, and with a B-cup, she didn't have as much as the others to put on display. Her verbal banter was cultured, reasoned, and thoughtful rather than flirtatious. And she exuded a quiet maturity beyond her years. Even the few times we'd had sex, she'd been ... controlled.

Well, this lady in the street had become a freak in the bed. She'd put in a porn DVD and then given me a blowjob on the couch. She had me fuck her across her dining table while drizzling canola oil over her chest. And yes, last night, she had me lube her up and take her cherry ass.

She didn't talk about romance or relationships. I didn't really want to talk about them either. She wanted to fuck, and I was willing to fuck her. That was the extent of things.

Until now.

"No, no. Absolutely not," Lynne was insisting across the table. "We're just friends, and we'll only ever BE friends."

"Oh, come ON," Kady was protesting. "I know for a FACT that you've had a crush on Ben since High School. Remember that Truth or Dare party over spring break last year?"

Lynne shook her head fiercely. "Are you kidding me? I know full well the relationship Ben just got out of. You think I want to be his rebound?"

"Aren't you already his rebound?" Noelle wondered aloud. "We've been living above you all year and I never heard sounds like that coming from below."

Lynne shook her head. "It's just sex. What? A girl can't have a booty call?"

"Not a booty call with HIM," Kady pointed out. She darted her dark eyes to me and actually bit her tongue before saying whatever else she wanted to say. Instead, she just mumbled, "You know why."

It was the second time this morning that Lynne, Kady, and Noelle were carrying on a conversation without me, despite my presence among them. THAT was why I couldn't even eat. I was too busy darting my head back and forth trying to figure out what was going on.

"So who made the first move?" Noelle asked, digging for details.

"Me, of course," Lynne explained.

"'Of course'?" Kady's eyes bugged out. "Seriously? I've known you for two years now, and I've NEVER seen you make the first move."

"This is different. This is Ben."

"Exactly! Don't you want something more out of this?"

"No. Absolutely not," Lynne sighed. "Didn't I say that already?"

"I just don't get it," Kady complained. "You've been in love with the man since High School and now that you've got him-. Oh, shit!" She clapped her mouth over her hands and her eyes opened up wide.

My eyebrows went up as I looked over at Lynne. "You've been in love with me since High School?"

"I'm sorry!" Kady apologized. "I didn't mean to-"

"It's no big deal," Lynne sighed, waving Kady off with her right hand, which still held a piece of pancake on the end of her fork. "She's exaggerating. I haven't been 'in love' with you all this time."

"That's not what you said over spring break," Kady jabbed.

Lynne sighed and shook her head side-to-side. "Little crush. Little crush," she repeated, holding up her left hand with thumb and index finger an inch apart. Looking at me, she added, "You knew that, even during that trip to Big Bear."

I remembered. Adrienne had blindfolded me and then tied me to a chair while the girls took turns sucking my cock until Lynne mounted me while I was unawares. We'd spent the night together, and in the end, Lynne admitted that she'd had romantic feelings for me and mourned that we would never again 'make love'. She knew I didn't have those kinds of feelings for her, and she vowed to move on.

"I thought we got past that," I said quietly.

"We did, we did," she stated emphatically before looking over at Kady, who was arching an eyebrow at her. "Well ... mostly. Kady's just blowing the whole Truth or Dare thing out of proportion. The question was: What one guy from my past did I regret not making a move on? And the answer was you."

Noelle replied quietly, "I guess you made your move."

"NO," Lynne stated emphatically. "That's the point. I never made a move on Ben for good reasons, reasons that still hold today. I was hot for him. Clearly, I'm STILL hot for him. But no real relationship can come out of this. Trying to piece together something romantic out of a rebound would be a disaster just waiting to happen. No way."

"Then what IS this?" I suddenly put in. Furrowing my eyebrows, I sighed and looked pitifully at Lynne. "What ARE we doing?"

She pursed her lips, sighing and reaching over to cover my hand with her own. Rubbing the back of my hand, she gave me a serious look and said, "This is just sex. You need it, and I want it. Other than that, we're friends. We've always been friends, and I'm hoping this doesn't change us."

I shook my head. "Sex always changes people."

"We've had sex before," she hedged.

I took a deep breath, and then looked at the hand Lynne was still holding. Staring deeply at me with soft brown eyes, she willed me to understand.

"I care about you. I care about you a lot," she said sincerely. "And yes, I even fell in love with you, once upon a time. But we're friends, and I'd like to continue being your friend. If we both get a little pleasure out of the deal, so much the better, right? If you're not comfortable with that, I can go back to the way things were. We can chalk this up to an insane, out-of-control weekend, and move on. Is that what you want?"

I thought about the past three days, about the 'out-of-control weekend' we'd just shared. It had indeed been fun. I was having sex again, and it was hard to feel depressed when the pleasure was so good. At a time when I'd never felt more alone, Lynne had been there for me. And even now, she wanted to continue being there for me, plus benefits.

"What I want is to thank you for being my friend," I said finally, turning my hand palm-up so that I could lace our fingers together. "You're right: I'm in no shape, emotionally, to start up another relationship. At the same time, I'd be lying through my teeth if I tried to say I didn't enjoy the past few days. Really, I've enjoyed the past few weeks, hanging out with you guys and spending a lot of evenings in your fine company." That last bit I directed to Kady and Noelle as well.

The girls all either smiled or nodded.

"I'm thankful for everything you all have done for me, and if it's alright with you," I began, looking now directly at Lynne. "I'd like to continue being 'friends' just the way we now are."

There was no mistaking the big, shit-eating grin that now covered the entire lower half of Lynne's face. She giggled, squeezed my hand, and actually shivered. "Fuck, I think I just had an orgasm. And now I've got the strongest urge to crawl under the table and give you a blowjob."

"Lynne," Noelle hissed, darting a look behind us. At the next table over, a young family was just sitting down to brunch. And the 10-year-old boy was gawking at Lynne like she'd just taken her top off.

"Hurry up and eat," Lynne barked at me. "And then we're going to go home and pick up where we left off."

-- MONDAY, JUNE 13, 2005, SUMMER BREAK --

I stopped and stared for a long time at the bedroom. All the furniture was in the same places as before. The king-sized bed in the middle had been completely stripped, leaving only the mattress and box spring Dayna had first purchased brand new three years ago. The dresser was bare, as was the walk-in closet. Even when I'd moved my sheets downstairs into DJ's room, I hadn't completely emptied out my belongings.

But I'd emptied them out now.

It didn't really make sense to clean everything out. After all, I really only needed a few sets of summer clothes to get me through the next few months. I was still planning to return to this house in the fall for school, and I certainly could have left heavy winter jackets and many other items right where they were.

But this room had been mine AND Dawn's. While I'd intended to leave anything I didn't need right here, once I'd started packing I just couldn't bear to do so. The same way I had been unable to continue sleeping here, I was unable to leave behind my things. So I'd packed up everything, and anything I didn't need to put into the car I brought downstairs and stored in DJ's closet.

She wouldn't mind, come fall. In fact, DJ and Brooke would be thrilled to take the two upstairs rooms a year early. I had been happy in my freshman year bedroom. I could be happy again.

Sighing heavily, I took one last look at the emptiness of the room I'd shared with Dawn this past year. And as I stepped back and closed the door, I also closed the door on that part of my life. It was over. The past was past. And nothing could possibly ever let me return.

I sighed and thought of Kim when I went into the other bedroom. I hoped she was doing alright without me. The girl deserved better, deserved a Master who could love her the way she needed to be loved. And when I closed her door, I closed that part of my life as well.

I took the stairs slowly, looking left and right at the walls. We'd long ago put up framed pictures, photos of "The Family" as well as our closest friends. There were a lot of memories to look at as I descended. I remembered that first party when I'd suddenly gone to rescue Dawn from an overly amorous Aaron Collins. There was a photo of Adrienne proudly sitting in front of the vanity I'd built just for her. And there was even a photo of Dawn, DJ, Brooke, Kim, and me all sitting out on the front porch steps.

Happier times.

Times that were now a part of history, never to return.

I looked around the main floor, thinking of all the meals I couldn't cook in the kitchen, and from there to thinking of the gourmet dinners Dawn used to learn how to make on Thursday nights. It had been a Thursday night when she cheated on me. She was supposed to be in class. Instead, she was face down on Jaron's bed getting his big dick shoved up her ass.

I only realized I'd cracked a plate in my hands after it was broken and a few pieces fell to the floor. Sighing regretfully, I walked to the trash and threw away the big pieces before crouching down with a dustpan and sweeping the rest away.

Mistakes from the past, now over and done with, never to return.

Feeling like I wanted to get this over with, and to stop this self-destructive rumination, I washed my hands and then hurried out of the house. I did pause one time just outside the front door, looking into the vast emptiness.

For three years, this place had been my home.

For three years, this place had housed all my loved ones and been the framework around many a happy memory.