Fantasy Man Pt 08

"Come on. Never? Not once?"

Jessica asked the question to Sam as the trio walked through the fat falling flakes. It wasn't the first snow they'd seen that November, but it was the heaviest snowfall yet - and just before fall break, too.

Being the Friday and the last day of classes, the college was already emptying out in a hurry. No students were going to be allowed on campus Monday through Friday. Sam would be leaving in the morning. He thought about driving home that night since he lived pretty close by, but some friends of his invited him to a game night there in Agramonte, so he was going to crash at the dorm and go home tomorrow.

"It's true," Sam said. "I have bad asthma and lung problems, so my mom always got really worried about me being out in the snow. Then I got older and I guess it's just something I never really did."

"What time do you need to go?" Corbin asked.

"It's at seven, so... maybe six thirty," Sam said.

Jessica squeezed Corbin's hand and grinned like the part-time lunatic she was. "We are building snowmen, aren't we?"

"Hell yes we are," Corbin said.

"Aw, you guys probably got other things to do," Sam said.

"Um. No," Jessica said. "I'm excited."

"I am too," Corbin said. "I haven't built one in years and this is a great excuse."

Sam laughed delightedly. Things had been tense between him and Corbin until around Halloween. Not all their fences had been entirely mended yet, but with Corbin hanging around more with Sam on the nights Jessica worked as a babysitter, they were finding that easy vibe they had before Corbin became popular.

Once they dropped off their backpacks and Jessica's purse in Corbin and Sam's dorm room, they geared up and grabbed some snacks from Sam's wall of them. It used to be Corbin's too, and he still felt a pang of strange sadness that it wasn't now. Not because he regretted eating healthier, but because it was a bond between the roommates that no longer really existed. Even Sam had started to cut back on the sugary stuff, though he still was a fiend for cupcakes and anything with marshmallows in it.

A snowman by the parking lot inspired the entire conversation and idea, so they headed out there to make their own beside it. The fresh, wet snow packed easily. Corbin made the smallest of the bunch, his base about as wide as a tire. Sam went a little bigger than that, but Jessica went huge. When she couldn't roll the thing even bigger, she sang out, "Cooorbin, sweetie, would you mind helping me roll this just a teensy tiny bit further with your big bulging muscles?"

"Oh, no," he said. "Uh uh. I'm on to your devil tricks, Jess."

"Ohhhh, Sam, sweetie?" she tried, giving Sam her most winning smile.

"I don't think I could have moved that when it was half that big," Sam said, eyeing her huge ball of snow.

She scowled at them both, then eyed her snow boulder. "I guess it'll do."

"She guesses," Corbin muttered to Sam, and his roommate grinned.

As they were rolling the second balls, a couple more guys from the dorm came out and joined the trio to build their own snowmen. Another came not long after, and soon they were working on a village. One of them even ran down to the store to buy charcoal briquettes for eyes and mini-carrots for noses.

As Jessica was sweet talking two of the guys into helping her make the snow giant of her dreams, a car familiar to Corbin drove by the parking lot and slowed. Kacey, a former hookup gawked at their snowmen. Corbin waved and the car came to a stop, reversed, and pulled into the thinning parking lot.

It wasn't just Kacey inside, but her friends Shawna and Mary too. All three were freshmen, like him, and each beautiful in their own right. He had a biased preference for Kacey, but certainly Shawna's darker, almost goth looks and Mary's sweet, brilliantly big eyes and wide smile had their own allure.

Kacey bounded out in a cute pink puffy coat and a blue beanie with a ball at the tip. "Hey Corbin!" she called.

"Hey yourself!" Jessica was looking at him curiously, and Corbin gestured at his one-time hookup, something his girlfriend had encouraged him to pursue. "Kacey."

"Ohhh!" Jessica said.

Corbin came to Kacey and wrapped her up in a tight hug before giving her a kiss on the corner of her mouth. She blushed prettily at that.

"How's it going?" he asked.

"Good. I have a boyfriend now."

Corbin held up his hands and made a show of backing away. "Oops."

She pushed his shoulder playfully, but her attention focused on Jessica as she headed for them. "Are you Jessica?"

"I am," Jessica said as Shawna and Mary got out of the car too. "So... you had a one-night thing with my boyfriend, huh?"

Kacey's smile vanished and her eyes went huge. Corbin shook his head. "She's messing with you."

"I am," Jessica said. She stepped in and gave Kacey a big hug too. "I'm glad to meet you, finally. And I swear, I'm the one who put him up to it."

"Oh good," Kacey said, relieved. "This is Mary and Shawna."

"Hi!" Mary said brightly.

Shawna added with her usual coolness, "Hey."

"You want to join in?" Jessica asked, gesturing at the snow village.

"Ohhh, I do!" Mary said. "This is so fun."

"Snowmen?" Shawna asked. "What are we, teenagers?"

Mary looked put out, and Kacey turned on Shawna. "Hey. Are you really going to tell me you're too cool to make a snowman?"

"Yeesss?"

"Just for that, I'm definitely in," Kacey said.

Mary nodded. "Me too. Well, I would've been anyways."

Shawna gave in, and they headed for the snow village. Sam looked up, curious, and Corbin said, "Sam, these are three friends of mine." He gestured to each one in turn. "Kacey, Mary, and Shawna. Sam's my roommate."

Kacey and Shawna said hello. Mary stared at his latest snowman, one he had laid out horizontally instead of vertically. Kacey nudged her, and she said, "Oh, hi! Sorry. I had a really good idea. Can I play with your snowman?"

"Uh," Sam said. "Um. Sure?"

"Okay!" Mary said. "I think you're really going to like this."

She ran back for the car and called for Kacey to unlock it. Out came a chubby suitcase adorned in stickers. From it, she pulled out a trio of shirts, one of which fell to the snow. She picked it up and tossed it back in before she yanked a coat hanger from one of the shirts.

Everyone watched as Mary came back, straightening and then bending the coat hanger to whatever image she had in her head, nearly straight save for a big bend and the curled hook. She knelt beside Sam's snowman, a gleam in her eye. Uncertain, he knelt too. Kacey, Shawna, Jessica, and Corbin all looked at each other, none of them with any sort of clue what she was doing. Even the others from the dorm had stopped, watching the excitable young woman as she planted the straightened tip of the coat hanger deep into its side.

She grabbed a couple fistfuls of snow, giggling to herself, and packed them against the torso of the snowman. To Sam, she said, "I need... like, six pieces of charcoal and two carrots." He hurried to grab them for her and by the time he came back, the snowman now boasted sizable snow boobs.

"A snow woman," Sam said, handing over the briquettes and carrots.

"Uh huh!" Mary added the briquettes - not to the face of the snowman, but on the bottom snowball in a downward triangle pattern. As everyone gaped, she plunged the carrots about where the nipples would be. "See the wire arm? That's a snow woman on her side after she's had really, really good sex," Mary said, bobbing back and forth on her knees.

Sam's laugh nearly doubled him over, and that more than anything else set Corbin and Jessica off. Mary stood up looking pleased with herself.

A while later, they stood around Kacey's car. Sam ran up to the dorm for more snacks, and came back to lay out a buffet of cheese popcorn, snack cakes, and even his coveted peanut butter cups.

"So where are you headed?" Corbin asked Kacey, his arm wrapped around Jessica.

"We're staying at Mary's for the week," Kacey said. "Up in Rowles."

"Really?" Sam asked. "I'm from Shawney."

"Oh," Mary said. "That's such a cute town."

Sam looked like he might faint. Corbin tried not to grin. They talked some about their own plans for the week - Sam was heading home, Corbin and Jessica leaving in the morning to make the trek to her parents' house.

"Our first big road trip together," Jessica said, pinching Corbin's butt.

"Hopefully she doesn't murder me by the end of it," he said, and Kacey gave them a wide smile.

"Oh my God, this popcorn's so good," Mary said around a mouthful of it, rolling her eyes upwards for emphasis.

Sam smiled shyly. "You can, um, take it with you if you want. I have more."

"Awww, you're sweet," Mary said.

"Won over by cheese popcorn," Shawna said. "A love story for the poets."

"Shawna!" Mary said, a cute hint of red in her cheeks.

Kacey pushed off her car. "Well, I suppose we should get going."

"When we come back," Jessica said, "we'll have to meet up sometime. I'd love to get to know you better."

"If it's not too awkward for you, I'd love that too," Kacey said. "Corbin is a great guy. You're very lucky."

"I really am," Jessica said, leaning against him.

Sam gave Mary the bag of popcorn and gathered up the rest of the snacks. She got in, but before she could shut the door, he hurried around and said quietly, "Here. Um. You know, for the week."

He tried to hand off the snacks to her, but the box of snack cakes tilted forward and spilled all over her seat and he dropped two other boxes on her lap. At his consternation she laughed lightly. "Thank you Sam."

"Welcome," he muttered, and stepped back so she could close the door.

They watched the trio of freshmen go, and Corbin grabbed Sam around the shoulders. Sam looked him morosely, and Corbin grinned. "Hey. Go big or go home."

"Yeah." Sam fidgeted, then said, "Hey?"

"Hm?"

"I hope you two have a really good Thanksgiving."

Touched, Corbin squeezed his friend tighter. "You too, man."

Jessica came in for a hug too, and gave Sam a peck on the cheek that lit him up. He took off, bashful again, and Jessica took Corbin's arm. They turned to look at the snowman village, and headed up to the dorm to grab the last of their things before the week before them.

* * *

Jessica woke slowly, so warm and comfortable under the comforter and extra blanket she ended up drifting off for a few minutes at a time before she came up out of the fog completely. Her - their, and that thought always sent a delicious ripple through her - shower was running. She rose up out of bed, nude.

Steam billowed out as Corbin rinsed his hair. She poked her head in. "Morning," Jessica murmured.

"Morning to you too," he said, leaning over to give her a sweet, lingering kiss.

She hurried to do her business and join him. He stepped back, nearly done with his own shower, and let her take the brunt of the hot water. When his hands roped around her waist and his stiffening cock rose against her bottom, Jessica gave a deeply satisfied hum deep in her throat. She settled back into him as his hands moved to cup her breasts and roam her stomach. She took one in her own hand and brought it to her lips, kissing his fingers one by one until she sucked two of them into her mouth.

Oh, Corbin liked that. His cock hardened and flattened against her back. He dipped a hand to her sex as the hot water washed over her. Jessica pulled the fingers out of her mouth and gripped the hand at her pussy, He kissed her shoulder as she accepted one of his fingers inside her, then two. His other hand reached for the nozzle and the water stopped as he began to make her feel so good.

Jessica settled back against him again, head twisted, eyes closed, smiling. Her man took care of her with a silent assurance she wouldn't have thought possible when they first met. Corbin had changed so much as a lover, but at his core, he was still the wide-eyed sweet man she fell so hard and effortlessly for. That he would always strive for this connection, there was no more doubt in her mind.

He took her so effortlessly to that soaring high, his now-skilled fingers making Jessica come with a soft, satisfied sigh. She guided him out of the shower and back to the bed, sitting Corbin down on the edge so she could straddle his lap, her breasts against him as she took him inside.

"Someday we're going to make a family like this," she whispered, and he stared up at her, worshipping her with his eyes.

Jessica rocked on him for a long time, their hearts full as they were content to simply move together and enjoy the morning. There was no rush, nothing so important as this, no world outside, no pressing need but to love one another, and that, they'd both learned to do so well.

With Corbin's strong hands rediscovering every delightful inch of her back and her bottom, Jessica came again, another soft, rolling quake of her body willing him on. Corbin laid her out on her back again, whispering Jessica's name into her ear as he began to thrust into her now, his pleasure close. She cradled his cheeks, kissed him over and over again, and idly thought that life would never be so good as this. His warmth filled her and still they stayed together, kissing, nuzzling, her hands all over him.

Without saying anything, they wound up in the shower again, their hands doing much more chaste work as they cleaned up and readied for the trip.

* * *

Any time she made a road trip home to Norrell, it was Jessica's tradition to stop at a German bakery on the north end of the city for breakfast on the go. It was out of the way, but her favorite bakery in the entirety of the area. The owner, a tall, older woman with her hair tied back with a big pin and different colored eyes, recognized Jessica on sight and was thrilled to discover Corbin was her boyfriend.

"Calories don't count on fall, Christmas, and spring break," Jessica told Corbin, and he nodded enthusiastically.

They each ordered a cherry-and-custard filled pastry, which Jessica said was the absolute best in the world. She decided to try a raspberry danish too, while the baker insisted Corbin try the bee sting, her own favorite dessert.

"It's not so much for breakfast," she said as she arranged everything in a box for them, "but it's something you must try."

They paid, though the baker insisted on not charging them for coffee. There was no seating, but neither was there much of a line, so they stood and ate as Jessica chatted some with the baker. Corbin loved everything he tried, though he got mock devil eyes from Jessica for saying the bee sting was his favorite.

"When you two get married," the baker said, "you come back here, and I'll give you a deal on a cake and pastries for your guests."

Jessica and Corbin looked at each other. She shrugged and grinned, and he replied in kind. "When we do," he said, "we definitely will."

Jessica's smile lasted all the way to the car and well beyond.

* * *

Corbin's parents insisted on sending some money for gas and food, to Corbin's protests that he had it covered, as well as Jessica's own protest that she could do the same.

"You have to at least let me pay once or twice for gas," he said. "They'll sniff out a lie from me in about three seconds."

"You are a terrible liar," she agreed. "All right, fine. You can buy gas now and when we go home."

They hit the road just a little past noon. With four hours to go, Corbin drove first, and Jessica would take over closer to Norrell. The picture of comfort in a long, flowing sweater, jeans, and sneakers, she arranged a nest for herself out of a pair of throws and a pillow, leaning against the door. Jessica liked to take the highways home as opposed to the Interstate, and had a whole route planned for them on her phone. It added sixty miles to the trip, but she promised beautiful landscapes and towns he wouldn't see otherwise.

"You don't have to make the sale," he told her, taking her hand and squeezing it. "I like being with you."

"Good," she murmured.

The weather held nicely, with just a few rumbles of winter north of Agramonte and its suburbs. Jessica tuned into a favorite station playing modern hits. They sang along to the songs they knew - Corbin was more of a rock and alternative fan, while she liked a lot of everything, especially pop.

"It's a guilty pleasure," she said. "Boy bands, Taylor Swift, Britney Spears, all of it."

Suburbs gave way to a long stretch of valley called locally the Bowl. The sloped plains led down a gradual slope to a stretch of swampy lakes. A thin stream Corbin had never seen before snaked its way beside the highway. Here and there were a few small campgrounds and tiny towns servicing the local sporting needs. Then they were rising again towards small mountains, not much more than hills, capped by smatterings of pines. It was beautiful in a sleepy, calm sort of way. It was easy to imagine this place long before people tore through it.

At the end of the first hour of the trip, Jessica's mom Kimberley called. Jess lowered the volume on the radio and put her on speakerphone. "Hi Mom! Got you on speaker."

"Hello, Mrs. Nakamura," Corbin said. He spoke to Kimberley a few times before, but never at any great length of time. She was polite, but there had always been a distance there. Jessica told him it was because of her past history with bad boyfriends.

"Hello! Are you on the road?"

"Yes," Jessica said. "We're just about to Sageton."

"Sageton?" Mrs. Nakamura sounded amused. "Get a late start?"

Jessica nudged Corbin. "Lazy morning. What are you up to?"

"Your father and I were going to go to the grocery store. He had a good question. Corbin, is there anything you're allergic to?"

"Nope, good on that end," he said. "Thanks for thinking of me."

Jessica chimed in, "He doesn't like mushrooms."

"Oh hey, no," Corbin protested. "It's totally fine."

Mrs. Nakamura chuckled. "I think we can handle cooking without them for a week. Anything special we can pick up for either of you?"

"Could you make orange cake sometime?" Jessica asked.

"Of course. Maybe chicken noodle tonight?"

"Oh my God, yes," Jessica moaned, making Corbin grin. To him, she said, "She rolls her own noodles and it's the best."

"Looking forward to it," Corbin said. "Please, though, sometime this week, I'd like to treat your family to lunch or dinner. Just something so I feel like I'm contributing."

"Probably better not argue with him about it," Jessica said. "He's got the world's best puppy dog eyes and he'll just make you feel guilty about it."

Mrs. Nakamura said, "Then that would be lovely, thank you, Corbin. Has the weather treated you okay?"

"So far, so good," Corbin said agreeably. They talked some about the weather both on the road and in Norrell.

Jessica's brother Andrew asked in the background, "Did she ask for orange cake?"

"Yes," Mrs. Nakamura said.

"Dad! We get orange cake! All praise the Jessica, our savior!"

Mrs. Nakamura sighed with a hint of amusement. "Well, we should let you concentrate on the road. Have a safe trip. Corbin, we very much look forward to meeting you."

"You too," Corbin said.

"Love you, Mom," Jessica said. Then quieter, she said, "Thank you. For being okay with this."

"Of course," Mrs. Nakamura said simply.

They said their goodbyes, and Jessica hung up. She reached over and squeezed Corbin's knee. He smiled distractedly at her, and she asked, "You okay?"

"I've been nervous about this, but it just kind of walloped me."

Instead of comforting him, Jessica nodded and pulled one of her throws from behind her back to lay it across her lap. "I'm nervous too. Almost every guy I've dated up until you was a mistake. A big one. And my mom wasted a lot of breath on me trying to get me to see that, but because I was so bound and determined to prove her wrong, I always wanted them to be the right one. With you, I know I want to be with you no matter what they think, but... I don't know. This time, I really want them to love you."