"No way that you ever gave a guy a blowjob in public," Tim scoffed as he glanced over at the girl sitting in the passenger seat.
The drive from their college town back home had already taken two hours and it would be at least another three before they got to their destination. The conversation had turned to sex about thirty minutes ago, like it always did.
Lucy frowned, puffing her cheeks to accentuate her deep displeasure with his insinuation. "I totally did! We went for some food at like 2 o'clock at night, there was nobody else on the parking lot so I sucked him off." She finished her sentence with a congratulatory nod as if she presented her best friend with an undeniable piece of evidence.
"Luce, I've known you for twenty years, you've told me way more about your sex life than I ever wanted to know and not once have you ever told me about doing anything that wasn't in your own bedroom."
The young man who was only a few months her elder shook his head as he stared out the front window. The sun had just set behind the horizon but its glow still radiated from the bottom of the clouds overhead, casting everything in deep colours of orange and purple.
"Yeah well... maybe you shouldn't assume things about me. You know how my dad is. It took me months of convincing before he even contemplated letting me live at the dorms. I don't need my best friend to think I'm some sheltered little angel too," she puffed again, but this time felt a sting of sadness. She turned her head to look out of her passenger side window.
"Woah, hey there."
Lucy felt his hand grab hers. She had the urge to jerk her hand away but instead, she didn't move.
"I'm sorry, you're right. Of course I believe you. I just never thought you would like that sort of thing." He let go of her hand and put it back on the steering wheel, waiting quietly to see if she wanted to talk.
They had been friends most of their lives, starting when Lucy and her father moved in next door to Tim. While he had grown up with a younger brother and two parents, Lucy was alone most days as her father worked long shifts at the local factory. Tim's mom quickly took pity on her and invited her over for dinner almost every day, making her feel like a part of the family. In the later years, she would even sleep over regularly and spend most of her time at Tim's house.
It was probably why Tim was the only boy Lucy's father allowed any contact with, as the man was extremely protective. Especially when she hit her teens and turned into a beautiful young woman. Her dad seemed petrified she would end up with the wrong kind of guy, meaning she was banned from going to parties and even most extracurricular activities were forbidden.
Not that it deterred her. As her best friend, Tim was kept appraised of all her crushes, casual flings and torrid love affairs. Over the years she even had a few long-term relationships thanks to her father rarely being home in the evening. Afterwards, she would sneak into his bedroom through the window and lay next to him in his bed, laughing at some physical abnormality or faux-pas the guy made while they had sex.
Lucy sighed, folded her feet underneath her on the seat and swiped a long strand of dark-brown hair behind her ear. "It's alright," she started, side-eying Tim. "What about you? Have you ever had a blowjob in public?" She smirked as she asked.
Tim clenched his jaw. "No! I'm not that adventurous. And you know Annie would never do that kind of stuff either."
Lucy rolled her eyes. "Come on Tim, you broke up with Annie almost two years ago. It's time you move on, find someone else."
Tim shrugged. "I've been trying, you know, but I don't think I'm the kind of guy college girls are really looking for."
"Ugh. Shut up," she interjected, leaning her head back against the headrest and looking up at the roof of the car. "You're a great guy, blah blah, I've told you this a million times."
Tim glanced over at her, then turned his attention back at the road. "I know. And I appreciate your vote of confidence, but unless you can convince someone else of that fact I'll still spend my time alone. And blowjobless," he added at the end with a smirk. When Lucy didn't respond, he looked over at her, finding her staring at him intently.
"What if I give you a blowjob?" she asked, her voice sounding almost detached.
Tim's eyes widened, feeling a blush run across his face.
"Uh, what?" he stumbled, even though he heard her perfectly well. To avoid her eyes, he snapped his eyes back to look out the front window but he felt her eyes on his cheek.
"I'll give you a blowjob," she repeated, adjusting herself so she was now sitting on one knee, facing him.
"Are you nuts? Why would you say that?" Tim asked, his voice a little too high for his liking. He glanced over at her, only to see her smirking at him.
"Oh come on, there's no way you haven't thought about it," she retorted, swiping the same strand of hair out of her face and tucking it behind her ear again. "All those times we talked about sex, all those times we slept in the same bed. You never wondered what it'd be like to be with me?"
Tim said nothing as he stared in front of him. When he spoke again, his voice was a lot lower, "Well yeah, obviously. I mean, it's hard not to."
"Don't be shy," Lucy interrupted him again, as she always did. "I've thought about it too. Especially after Annie told me you're packing."
Tim's eyes grew wide. "What?! She made me swear never to talk to anyone about her or what we did in bed! And she talked about me with you?!"
Tim clenched his jaw even harder now as he gripped the steering wheel so tight his knuckles turned white. In an instant, the frustration of dating his ex came back to him. His heart pounded in his chest and his eyebrows furrowed so hard it started to give him a headache. Then he felt Lucy's hand on his. He took a deep breath and glanced over at her.
"Sorry," he apologized.
Lucy smiled wearily at him. "You dumb idiot. She breaks her own rules and you're the one apologizing. I'm glad she's gone." She pulled her hand back and put it in her lap. "I'm serious though. You should let me suck your dick."
The way she so casually turned the conversation back to blowjobs stirred something in his jeans.
He never seriously considered sleeping with her. For one, she was his best friend. They'd been in each other's lives since kindergarten. The other reason was that he always felt like he wasn't good enough for her. Especially when he learned the type of guy she liked to date. Muscled, brazen guys who had to be the centre of attention. Guys with chest hair and strong jaws. Not the quiet skinny reader who liked to watch the news and wore glasses.
It never bothered him. He loved her, of course, but never as anything more than a friend. Her not being interested in him sexually or romantically didn't create any friction. But her talking about it so openly felt like it was opening a door inside him. Allowing something that might be more than platonic feelings to peak through.
"Luce, seriously," he started, before looking at her but concentrating on her shoulder instead of her face so he could say what he wanted to say. "I'm just going to be straight with you. If we do something sexual, I'm going to fall in love with you. It's what happened with Annie, and it'll happen with you. I don't like that's how it works, but that's just..."
"That's fine with me," Lucy said, softly.
Tim looked at her properly now, stunned.
She wasn't sitting as she normally would, with her back straight and her shoulders back, her chin up defiantly. Now, she was sitting slightly hunched over, her hands fumbling in her lap, her head down.
"You..." Tim said, but he didn't know what he wanted to say.
"I don't mind." Her voice was soft, shy.
Tim's head was spinning from the whiplash of emotional shifts in the conversation.
"Are you sure?" he asked, finally. His voice was soft too like they weren't talking about blowjobs a minute ago.
She raised her head and looked up at him, and he could see her eyes were filled with tears. She wiped them away with one of her sleeves and sniffled. "I've been thinking about it for a while. You're the one guy who's always been there for me, always listened to me, never treated me as just some pretty girl. You always really liked me and I want to give something back."
Tim cocked his eyebrow. "With a blowjob?" he asked dryly.
Lucy laughed. A chortling laugh that sounded like it was halfway into her crying. "Yeah. To start with." She wiped her eyes again.
Tim glanced at the road to make sure they were still on it, then back at her. "You don't have to, you know. You being my friend is what you give back."
Lucy sighed and punched his shoulder. "Shut up nerd," she said, her eyes still wet but a grin on her face. "Let me suck your dick."
Tim pretended her punch hurt him like he always did, stroking his shoulder with his free hand as he laughed and looked out the front window. He wasn't sure what to do next. There had been a shift in the car, a change in their relationship. She was in charge as she always was, a whirlwind of chaos and energy that he was caught by. But for the first time, he felt like he was the focus of that energy, that she directed it at him.
He was startled when he felt her hand on his lap. His jeans didn't do much to hide his girth.
"Oh wow. Annie wasn't kidding," he heard Lucy mumble to herself approvingly.
Her hand was small, her fingers thin and long. They pushed through the coarse fabric to grab along his shaft, framing it through his jeans. "I need to see this." Without waiting, she expertly started unbuckling his belt, then unbuttoned his jeans and pulled the zipper down.