37: Trial Date

"I looked to my left and there was a big black brother. I looked to my right and there was a big black brother. I looked behind me and there was a big black brother. Ahead of me was another big black brother. Then all of a sudden I realize it was the same big black brother. I thought, I been playing with too many white guys."

We all laughed at Lamar's recounting of the East Chicago game. We'd had the same feeling watching the game. Troy and Birdman had stood out like two white specks in the black sea. Maybe it was a stereotype, but man those guys could play basketball.

"But you know what I got that none of those brothers have?" Lamar asked our table. "I got a full ride to IU this fall to be one of Indiana's great Hoosiers!" We whooped as Lamar held up the letter he'd received from IU. I couldn't believe he'd come to our table this noon to tell us first. His brother stood and high-fived Lamar. But Lamar wasn't finished. "I also have the privilege and the responsibility to come to this table of people who have set an example for our whole school and ask your permission to invite one of your own to the Junior-Senior prom. I pledge to honor all terms of your agreement if you will permit me the profound pleasure of escorting Miss Renee." Renee gave him a big hug and we all applauded.

"I think that's a yes, Lamar," I laughed.

"That reminds me," Candace said, looking at me. "Prom is only six-and-a-half weeks away and I not only don't have a dress, I don't have a date." Oh no. Candace, please don't, I thought. "I guess, since I'm the cougar, I have to ask one of my boyfriends to the prom. Eenie meenie minie moe. Lionel's the one I want to go," she sang. Lionel's mouth dropped open. "Lionel Trane, will you be my date to the junior-senior prom? I'm sure your brother can give you instructions on how to treat a lady right." Lionel glanced at me but didn't wait for me to respond. I was breathing a sigh of relief.

"Miss Candace, it would be my privilege and honor to escort you. I very much appreciate you inviting me because I feel it is my duty to instruct my brother on how to treat my girlfriend Renee and keep an eye on her. After I've told him all I know, though, I will be your humble servant." Shit, Lionel. That's a tough act to follow! Candace ran around the table and Lionel picked her up in a hug.

Everyone looked at Donna. As a junior, she was the only other one of us who was eligible to go to prom. She just hung her head and tried not to look at anyone. She didn't see me get up and come around the table to her. I actually knelt beside her.

"Donna? Girlfriend?" I said softly. She turned and looked at me then sought her sister's eyes. Rhonda scowled at her and motioned for her to pay attention to me.

"Yes, Brian?"

"I know I'm only a freshman and we haven't really been out on a proper date together and this is really forward of me, but may I escort you to the junior-senior prom? I would so love to see you in a formal gown and would be so proud to be seen with you at the dance."

"Really?" I nodded. She glanced again at Rhonda who nodded vigorously. "Yes, thank you," she squeaked.

"Perhaps we could get together sometime next week or on break and go out to get better acquainted. You know, I'm going to need to get you a flower and I have no idea what you really like."

"You will? I mean you would? I mean ... how about next weekend?" I grinned and kissed her on the cheek. Everybody applauded. All our upper classmen had dates for the prom.

The bell rang and we all grabbed our books to head for class. I turned and Rhonda launched herself into my arms and started kissing me all over my face, even landing a couple on my lips as she kept repeating, "Thank you, thank you, thank you. You are the best boyfriend ever."

I was thankful that Donna hadn't asked for a date this weekend, but pretty much everyone knew that I was taking Liz riding. She talked about it all the way back from Indy on Sunday while I got a chance to hug and cuddle the Kokomo girlfriends. Mom had said she thought we could arrange a get-together during spring break and we were pretty busy plotting what it would be.

Saturday afternoon I was brushing Gypsy outside in the sunshine when Liz came riding in on her bike. Mom said she was willing to pick her up, but Liz said she'd rather bike. Her parents were joining us for dinner Saturday night and they'd just toss her bike in the trunk of their car. I'd gotten to know Lech and Irene Nowicki a little while we were headed to Indianapolis and back and they were really funny. Every time I looked at Irene, though, I imagined her holding her boobs up at the preacher's house.

Liz was probably the slightest built girl in our group except for Whitney, but I knew from very direct experience how sensitive her breasts were. I'd given her orgasms just from sucking on her nipples. She often wore a t-shirt or camisole instead of a bra. It seemed like just about anything could drive Liz to an orgasm or twenty. She was definitely dressed for the horses today, though. It was hard for Liz to find a pair of jeans that fit tight. She was thin and tall—an inch taller than me. Still, the jeans she wore looked damn good on her. I wondered if she'd gone on the shopping trip with Rhonda and Samantha to get the chambray shirt she was wearing.

"Hey, girlfriend," I said. "I hear you like horses."

"I don't know, boyfriend. She looks awfully big."

"At least you got the 'she' part right."

"Denise warned me."

"May I hug and kiss you hello?" She nodded. I just gave her a warm hug and lightly kissed her. She smiled at me.

"Rhonda says you are the best boyfriend ever and I think I agree," she said. "Are we weird that we all share around so much and nobody gets jealous?"

"You know, sometimes it's a struggle. I ... Well, I've had twinges sometimes." I thought about what it was like to see Cassie making out with Geoff. That was before the agreement and a year after we broke up and I had another girlfriend. I needed to talk to the other guys about how they felt. It sort of seemed like each of us had certain girls that we spent more time with than the others. I needed to find out if anyone was feeling left out.

"Yeah. Me too," she sighed.

"Hey. You know what I've found? Brushing a horse cancels out all negative emotions. It's true. Here. Take this brush and just follow the way Gypsy's coat lays. And I'll tell you another secret. This spot right here?" I stroked the base of Gypsy's throat where it met her massive chest. "If you brush this for a little while, Gypsy will be your friend for life. Especially if you give her one of these." I took a carrot from my pocket and handed it to Liz.

"Her mouth is so big, though," Liz squealed. "She'll bite me."

"Hold it in the palm of your hand and keep your thumb up against the other fingers. If you hold your palm open, it's too big for her to bite. She'll just take the carrot with her lips." I held Liz's hand open and guided it in both of mine in front of Gypsy. She snuffled a little and lifted the carrot with her lips. She turned her head toward Liz and looked at her with those big brown eyes.

"Her lips are so soft!"

"So are yours," I suggested. Liz leaned back into me and I kissed her again. I wasn't trying to be passionate or sexual, though. I just wanted her to know that I cared for her. I guided her hand to the spots that Gypsy liked to have brushed. She was already fully brushed, but a horse is a lot like a dog in that there can never be too much brushing or petting. I guess guys are like that, too. We brushed a lot. I finally saddled her and gave Liz a boost up. She didn't have boots and the running shoes she wore really had too much tread to fit in a stirrup well. I gave her the reins, but I led Gypsy with a rope. There was a little breeze and I loved seeing Liz's red hair whipping around her face. We walked out into the pasture a ways and, of course, Princess was running around and kicking up her heels. It was spring and she really wanted to go. I had a feeling I was going to spend all of Sunday on that girl's back, but she was too spirited to take a new rider out on.

"Brian? I know I can't just go riding without the right shoes, but, could we ride together out on the trail?"

"How would you like to do something that no one else has done?" I asked.

"You mean riding?" she asked, lifting an eyebrow.

"Yeah. It'll be different, but I promise it will be fun."

"Okay."

I lifted Liz off Gypsy's back. After playing basketball all winter, my upper body strength had really improved. Liz came off the horse and just slid down me. I really wanted this date to be special for her. We took Gypsy to the barn and I removed the saddle. We rubbed her down and brushed her again until she was dry and shiny. Then I pulled down a bareback pad. A bareback pad is just a kind of thick blanket that cinches around the horse's chest like a saddle does. There are no stirrups or pommel or cantle. It just gives a slightly more secure feeling on the horse's back because you don't slide around as much. We led Gypsy out and I gave Liz a boost onto her back. I led her out to the fence where I could climb on. I can get on bareback without using a step, but not with someone else up there. Mounting bareback for me usually means that I've got a fistful of mane and I throw myself halfway over and then keep scrambling until I can get my leg on the other side. It helps to have a horse that stands patiently.

I reached around Liz to pull the reins and guide Gypsy toward the woods. Liz pulled my arms around her and just settled back to enjoy the ride.

"Wow! You can really feel her muscles. This is cool. You won't let me fall off, will you?"

"Of course not, sweetheart. I've got you and Gypsy loves you. You gave her a carrot and brushed her favorite places."

"Like me. I love you because you've brushed my favorite places," Liz chuckled. "I feel like I'm in some old western movie. This is really ... romantic, Brian. You've really never done this with any of our other girlfriends?"

"No. I never thought about it until I thought of you."

"Is that because you know I love something big and strong between my legs?"

"I hadn't thought of it exactly that way."

"I'm terrible, aren't I? Even out on this romantic ride, all I think about is my pussy. How am I not going to become a slut, Brian? I'm so scared ... and still so excited."

"Shh. Lover, you won't become a slut because you know how much we all love you and respect you. Liz, honest to God, I do love you and respect you." She rubbed her head back against my shoulder and was quiet. At one point I thought she might be crying. I just wanted to hold and take care of this dear friend who seemed suddenly so fragile. We rode for a long time, just feeling the power of Gypsy's muscles moving under us as I guided her through the trails.

"Did you ever think that maybe we're not real, Bri?"

"What do you mean, Liz?" I was trying to think if there were any more paths through the woods that we hadn't taken yet and decided just to turn down one we'd already ridden.

"Like maybe we're just synapses in God's head. When He happens to think of some brilliant chemical formula, he connects to you. All your neurons fire and there is some magical new compound." I laughed.

"God's not very smart if that's the case. What happens when he connects to you?"

"Some teenaged boygod has a wet dream," Liz laughed. "Sometimes I feel so stupid. No, that's not right. I know I'm not stupid. I just feel ordinary. Like there's no real talent. Whenever I think up something brilliant, I start trying to connect to it sexually. Oh, here's a brilliant new algebraic equation. I wonder if I can masturbate on it."

"Liz, listen to me. I don't let any of my girlfriends talk about themselves in a negative way. I know that sounds like I'm the conceited boygod you were talking about, and maybe I am. I don't believe that I have such poor taste that I run around with stupid, ugly, slutty girls. All my girlfriends are beautiful, brainy, and loving in their own way. Some of them might like to have their breasts touched. Others might not even want to kiss. But each one is beautiful and I respect and love her. That includes you, Liz. You are my girlfriend. Smart, beautiful, sensual, loving, kind, caring, a friend when I need one, wickedly funny, sexy as all get-out. I don't date dummies, Liz. I'm dating you."

"Would you let me get off at that stump, please?" she asked. It was my favorite in-the-woods mounting block, but I was concerned that all of a sudden she wanted to get off. I rode to the stump and let her slide off. "Now help me mount spider-style." It took me a minute. It was a playground swingset game. Two people share a swing with one facing one way and the other on his lap facing the other way. They had four legs and four arms so they called it a spider. I'd seen kids pump a swing till it was above the bar that way. Of course, I'd never swung spider-style.

I worked it out and decided the best way was to dismount and get her on first then to get on behind her, except that she would be facing me. It took us a couple tries to get into the right position and Gypsy was trying to figure out what the heck was going on. We ended up with me facing the front holding the reins and Liz in my lap facing me with her legs over mine and her arms wrapped around my back. It probably sounds a lot sexier than it is because you really can't maintain ... um ... genital contact in that position. But it was apparent that what Liz really wanted was to hug me and I wrapped one arm around her and squeezed her to me. The thing is that even small breasts feel good when they are pressed up tight against your chest. When we reached the edge of the woods, Liz looked up and just whispered, "More, please?" I turned Gypsy back to the woods for another circuit.

I had to return to the barn after that circuit so I could get dinner ready. Mom and Dad agreed to have all the girlfriend and boyfriend families over for dinner but insisted that I was the host so I had to cook. Besides, I owed them a few from basketball season, anyway. We got to the barn and when I lifted Liz down from her seat she melted into my arms and kissed me with a longing and passion that I hadn't felt from her before. It was like the difference between when you kiss someone as a step toward something else, like touching her breast or her panties, and when you kiss her just to show her you love her. The passion was there, but there was no intent to get naked today.

I chose a simple meal. I discovered you could take any pretty plain meal and make it something special if you added a bunch of vegetables to it. My spaghetti sauce was always a success because instead of just meat and tomato sauce, I chopped up onions and peppers and either zucchini or asparagus in it. We were two weeks from Easter and Liz's family was Catholic and I didn't know if they had any special rules about what they could eat. I'd heard fish was good, though. Anyway, I decided to fix tuna noodle casserole for dinner. I used the same tricks as I did with my red sauce. Chopped onion, green pepper, and green peas with the tuna and cheese. I used Parmesan cheese instead of cheddar and a little cream, too. It turned out great.

We had a fun time and the adults went to the living room to talk. Liz and I cleaned up the dishes.

"Would you like to go sit in the family room?" I asked.

"Can we go to your room?"

"Yeah," I hesitated. "But Liz, we really can't do too much, you know?"

"I know. I just want to sit in your space with you."

We went to the attic and she walked around my room examining every little thing in it. I sat on the floor in one of the dormers where I had a beanbag and just watched her. I could almost see my room the way she was seeing it. I was glad I'd cleaned it this morning and my hamper was empty.