The bad news was: it was everything I remembered. The good news was: it was everything I remembered.
I have no idea how I ended up naked in bed having sex with my ex. I swore I would never do this again. I now knew what an alcoholic feels like when he falls off the wagon.
What Cindy and I did earlier tonight was nice. I could happily sleep with her for the rest of my life and never be disappointed. There was just something different about what Tracy and I did. She could take me places no one else ever seemed to be able to. We got into our old rhythm, and when I finally climaxed, I was exhausted.
We both had tears streaming down our faces. It felt as if a boil had been lanced, and all my negative feelings had been drained away as I came. I was dropping off to sleep when I felt Tracy remove the condom. Thank goodness, she remembered. I would have been killed if I got one more girl in trouble. That was my last thought before I fell asleep with Tracy in my arms.
Sunday March 23
I WOKE UP TO THE FEELING of a condom being put on me. Out of the fog, I suddenly remembered that Tracy was in my bed. She made a satisfied grunting noise as she buried my shaft in her depths. When my eyes batted open, I was treated with the view of Tracy’s breasts swaying in my face and the picture of lust as she did me.
What the heck was I doing? There was no way I was getting back into this mess. But oh my, did this feel good. I began to pound her, meeting her need. Tracy smiled at me and I felt her tunnel begin to spasm around my member. She was coming hard, which caused me to explode. What a wonderful way to wake up.
She rolled off of me and took care of the condom. She came back to bed and kissed me.
“Thank you, David. That was what I needed.”
“Tracy, we need to talk.”
“No, ‘stupid boy,’ you need to shut up and listen,” she ordered me. “I need sex every now and then. I was so horny I went out with Justin last night. Before you get mad, he was a gentleman and didn’t do anything I didn’t want him to. But he wasn’t what I needed. I’m not willing to be in a relationship right now. I have too much going on in this head of mine.”
“But we can’t,” I protested.
“I told you to shut up and listen,” she said, and glared at me until I just nodded. “We love each other, whether we want to admit it or not. Right now, we can’t go out together. I’m not looking for us to get back together anytime soon. What I do need is what we just did. I’ll make you a couple of promises. The first is that I’ll never be with anyone but you. I know how you work, and all I need is you. The second is I won’t be anything but a friend to you.”
“I just can’t.”
“That’s bullshit and we both know it. You were able to do just fine last night and again this morning.”
“I know, but I can’t.”
“Stop your whining. Whatever else we are, we’re friends, and you won’t let me suffer. You couldn’t stand to see me with Justin or someone else, even if we aren’t dating.”
Crud. She had me there. She brightened when she saw me hesitate. She knew she’d won. Now it was a matter of negotiating my surrender. Tracy knew there was one more roadblock. She sent a text to Tami. She grabbed my tablet and put us on video chat. It took Tami two seconds to figure it out.
“Oh, crap!”
Tracy and I started laughing. Thank goodness Tami wasn’t here, or we both would have been dead.
“I said ‘no’ like three times,” I told Tami, trying to keep myself out of the line of fire.
“If you tell me that you’re in love ... so help me ... you’re both dead.”
“No, we’re good. He just helped me. We’re just friends,” Tracy told Tami.
Tami looked at me, and I nodded my agreement.
“This is a really, really bad idea. David falls in love as naturally as breathing, and you’re crazy-town. This will end in a spectacularly bad fashion, and I don’t think I want to go through that again.”
“I agree. But I was so horny that I was going crazy. I had a date last night to take care of it, but I suddenly realized that I didn’t want to be a slut anymore. What guy who gets lucky on the first date isn’t going to think that? I then realized that David doesn’t want to date me. Even he’s not that stupid. But he’s good where it counts, and we both know this is only sex.”
“Are you shitting me?” Tami yelled at Tracy. “‘Just sex’ between you two? Even the ‘stupid boy’ knows better. I swear to God, if you hurt him again I’ll kill you, and that’s not an idle threat,” Tami said, causing Tracy to go pale. “And you, my friend, are an idiot. It’s bad enough that you’ll sleep with anything that lets you. I have no idea in what universe this is even remotely a good idea. You gave everything to this crazy bitch and she turned on you! What do I have to do to make you understand what a colossal mess this is going to be?”
She was crying now and Tracy wasn’t much better. In my heart, I knew this was a terrible idea, but could I turn my back on Tracy? I needed time to think.
“I agree with you, but Tracy’s my friend. I want to think about this,” I told them.
They both seemed to slump.
“I have to go. I can’t watch you destroy your life again,” Tami said, and she logged off.
Tracy got out of bed and quietly got dressed. She gave me a kiss goodbye and ran out. What the hell just happened?
MR. HILL HAD A BACKLOG of work for me to do, so I skipped church. Kendal picked me up and we were at Hill Advertising by nine in the morning. I did five shoots by seven o’clock that night. Mr. Hill was happy, and I had a carload of clothes.
Two of the shoots were for sweatshirts and sweaters. I packed those up to give to my mom. Something she complained about while doing chemo was being cold. I figured she could take them with her tomorrow and give them to the clinic to hand out to people that needed them.
After everyone went through the clothes, the rest were packed up for church. They gave clothing and household items to families in need. We boxed everything up so I could take the duffle bags to return to Mr. Hill, then I helped Dad load it all into his car.
They had held dinner for me because we didn’t have our family brunch. Angie was in wedding mode, telling us about what the plans were. I had talked to Mom and given her money to give to Angie and Greg. Mom and Dad were on the hook because Angie’s parents were no longer in her life.
Greg announced that he’d gotten confirmation that he was accepted to State. He planned to take business classes. Something our parents did have money for was our college, from funds they had started when we were born. There was enough to send Greg to four years of school. He had the info on married housing. Turned out Angie qualified for a grant, based on her lack of parental support and on Kyle. She had done well enough in her bookkeeping class to get a recommendation from her teacher. She was going to shoot for an accounting degree.
The three of them would be moving out in August to go to college. State offered special assistance for young families. Kyle would be able to go to a free daycare. Not ideal, but it was a huge load off of Greg and Angie, knowing that they didn’t have to find somewhere for him while they were in class.
I told everyone about what had happened with Tracy and me. No one was happy. Mom just gave me a disappointed look, got up, and left the table. Dad told me he hoped I knew what I was doing. Greg and Angie stayed out of it.
Chapter 25 – You Could Teach a Class
Monday March 24
WHEN GREG AND I GOT to school, I was met at my locker by all my ‘girlfriends,’ plus Cassidy and Gina. Greg was smart: he peeled off and left me to my fate. I knew that Tami must have activated the phone tree and told them about Tracy. I could guess that by the pissed-off looks and Tracy’s absence. Eve was apparently elected spokesperson for the group.