That Friend From College

June 2006

There was some kind of chemistry between them in the car that day, something that was never there before. Allison kept looking over at Pete in the driver's seat wanting to touch the wisps of his dirty blond hair curling up from underneath his baseball hat. That would be totally inappropriate to do though, they didn't touch each other like that. Sure, they were friends, they hugged, occasionally he'd put an arm around her shoulders in an appropriate situation, but she couldn't just reach out and touch his hair. Even if it looked so incredibly soft and inviting.

Pete, however, didn't seem averse to touching that day, extending his hand out across the center console and patting her thigh at random points during their nearly four-hour road trip, as an emphasis for the various things that he was saying to her.

"And so this guy, Ed, he just so nonchalantly drops it in the middle of a conversation that 'oh yeah, that time when I went to the swingers club with my girl..." And the rest of us just kinda do a double-take, you know, like 'I'm sorry, you what?!'" Pete's hand came down on Allison's thigh, just as he paused. One, two seconds and it lifted again returning to the wheel.

"How do you know the guy?" Allison lifted her eyes from the spot where his hand had been and looked over at his face.

"Someone I went to high school with," Pete shrugged. "I can't say that we were necessarily great friends, he's a year older, but you know, a bunch of us who are back in town now after college, we hang out at this bar on Friday nights after work. Happy hour." She nodded.

"Right. So what happened at the swingers club?" She was really curious to know. It sounded intriguing. Allison's own sex life wasn't super exciting. Pete gave her a quick glance, peeling his eyes away from the road. There seemed to be a twinkle in them when he looked at her.

"It was an older couple who were interested in them, in swapping, and they went for it. So that was the story of how Ed nailed a woman old enough to be his mother," Pete chuckled. She liked his laugh. He always had a pleasant-sounding laugh, but now it sounded extra... zingy.

"Wow," Allison's eyes grew wide at the idea. "And I thought my... thing with Henry had such an incredible age difference. He was only 6 years older than me." Pete glanced at her again, a small slice of a smile on his face.

"Six years is still plenty," he reached out to pat her thigh again, "especially since that was a relationship rather than a single night of fun." It was several seconds this time before his hand lifted.

"Ugh," Allison rolled her eyes. "That was hardly a relationship. That was a weird non-commital, non-exclusive, prolonged dating situation," she explained. Pete chuckled again. Why did that sound suddenly strike her so sharply? The way he looked at her sent little sparks right down between her legs.

"Well, it's better than what I've had the past year. There hasn't been any kind of dating situation at all, prolonged or otherwise." Pete admitted. "I've had exactly zero dates this calendar year so far and it's freakin' June."

"That's... tragic," she pressed a hand to her chest in a dramatic manner. Pete didn't seem to have a lack of girls interested in him back in college, but life after college was obviously vastly different. "I'm sorry."

"I'll live," and there was the hand again. One, two, three seconds this time. They haven't seen each other in a few months, not since the last time that they had made the long drive down to their former college town to visit friends who either stayed in town after college or were still in school. They stayed in touch in between, talking on instant messenger several nights a week, but they hadn't seen each other since March.

Allison stared at the place where Pete's hand had touched her a moment ago, thinking about whether this meant anything, whether he just suddenly acquired this new habit that he didn't have before... wait... he didn't do this two days ago as they were driving down!

They were quiet for a period of time while Allison sorted out her thoughts about what was going on. She and Pete have known each other since their freshman year. They lived in the same dorm that year and they ended up being the only two freshmen to make it into the co-ed a capella group. They shared a lot of mutual friends, went to a lot of the same parties, and occasionally had a class together too. He wasn't her best friend. That honor was reserved for her former roomies Dotty and Leah, with whom she had spent the majority of the past weekend. Pete had dropped her off at Dotty's apartment and they had only met up again Saturday night, when they went out to the bar with a mutual group of friends. But he was a good guy and a solid friend. Someone she had never considered as anything other than a friend.

"What's wrong?" Pete's hand landed on her thigh again after a prolonged period of silence. She looked at him and then stared down at his hand, which wasn't moving away at all this time. "I'm sorry. Would you rather I didn't do that?" He waited to remove his hand until he got a response from her.

"No, it's fine," she covered his hand with her own. His was so large and warm to the touch. "I don't mind it." He flashed her a quick smile and she suddenly wanted to melt into the seat. "Is it... just a friendly gesture that you seemed to have acquired over the weekend, or... something else?"

Pete looked out at the road for a few beats before his hand turned on her thigh, facing palm up, and grasped her hand into his. Allison's heart jumped up into her throat, hammering there.

"I guess something a little bit more," he admitted.

"Oh," was all that she could muster in response. Their fingers were laced together now, sitting on her thigh, while Pete continued to drive one-handed. Her brain raced around with the thoughts of 'what does it all mean?!' and she couldn't get it to slow down.

"Are you totally freaking out right now, Alli? Don't freak out," he shot her a quick smile. She shook her head.

"I... umm... only a little bit," but who was she lying to? He knew her and he could sense it. Her hand was probably super sweaty in his right then.

"Listen, it's fine," he pulled his hand out of hers and patted her thigh again. "You don't have to feel awkward about this. I know, it was really weird timing. I just admitted that I haven't had a date in months and then basically hit on you. I get it, it's creepy. Forgive me," he brought his hand up to his chest at that phrase, then returned it to the wheel. "It's just... I don't know what it is, it's hard to explain, but... when I used to see you every day, at school, it was different and now that I see you once every few months, it's like..." he sighed, taking his baseball cap by the peak and readjusting it on his head. "There's some kind of an attraction, you know. Like I'm seeing you fresh and different each time and last night when you had that top on at the bar..." he shook his head. Yeah, it was kind of a magical top that worked super well with her push-up bra and made her seem like she actually had cleavage. "Anyway, I'm sorry. You are allowed to tell me 'fuck off, Pete' and I swear I won't hold it against you."

"I've had the weirdest urge to run my fingers through your hair," she blurted out. He glanced over at her and her eyes went wide. Pete grinned a huge grin that lit up his eyes, pulled his hat off, and leaned his head in her direction.

"Go for it," he offered. It felt a little weird, but Allison stuck her hand into his hair, running her fingers through it. It always reminded her of Owen Wilson's hair - blond, medium length, and with just a bit of a flip at the ends. It felt soft and fluffy, just as she imagined. There was enough length to tangle between her fingers and suddenly she was imaging grasping it while kissing him. She breathed out heavily, bringing her hand back into her lap and resting her head against her seat's headrest.

"That didn't help anything," she told him.

"I don't know why I didn't say anything last night," he shook his head, then replaced his hat back on it, adjusting the peak. "I should have said something last night."

There was another stretch of silence as they both looked straight ahead at the road. She liked him. Pete was smart and funny and thoughtful. Would it be worth it to try something with him? He lived an hour from her house and was going out of his way to drop her off at home after their weekend trip. An hour could be a manageable distance, right? There was potential for it working out. Except that they were both living at home at the moment, with their parents, which definitely put a damper on adult dating. She didn't know enough about Pete's parents to know how they would react to him having a girl over, but her own parents were rather strict about these things. It took her several months with Henry to work up to staying over at his place because she didn't know how to tell her parents that she'd be staying over at a guy's place overnight. It was rough and resulted in a period of silent treatment afterward.

But her parents weren't home right now. She glanced over at Pete then trained her eyes back on the road. Could she actually invite him over right now? They were thirty minutes out and it was getting close to ten o'clock at night. Would Pete actually come in? Her parents had left for an Alaskan cruise that morning and the only other person in the house would be her brother, Benny. She didn't think that he would give them a hard time. The real question was whether she'd get up the courage to actually ask him.

Pete put on some music to break the silence and they ended up singing along to Billy Joel. He had the perfect voice for those songs and soon they were in a heated discussion over the vote in the a capella group their senior year when Pete wanted to do an arrangement of Billy Joel's Summer, Highland Falls, and got voted down. The other people in the group didn't think it was well known enough to work. They complained it wouldn't draw enough interest from the audience. They ended up doing The Entertainer instead, which Pete had a major solo in.

"But it's not the same, you know," he slapped a hand on the steering wheel. "It had so much potential, in those opening bars, we could have done something really interesting with it. Everyone's done The Entertainer."

"The white house right there," Allison pointed out and Pete slowed down to swing into the short driveway in front of the modest house. He shifted into park and immediately opened the driver's side door.

Allison took a deep breath, trying to work herself up to asking Pete to come in. There were only a few minutes left, a few minutes before he would get back into his car and leave and she will have missed this opportunity. She opened the door and got out of the car as well, looping the strap of her crossbody purse over her head and onto her shoulder. Pete was opening the trunk, getting her backpack out for her. He held it out for her to take and as she reached for it, she took a deep breath to say something, something like... 'do you want to come inside for a little bit?' Her heart hammed in her throat, making it difficult to push the words out, and somehow, in that moment of waiting for them to emerge Pete leaned in and kissed her. His lips met hers with the zing of cymbals, making her ears ring and lips tingle as they pressed against his. His hand came up to cup her face and his lips parted, momentarily, followed by her own. They mashed together, their tongues joining in, finding each other, and deepening the kiss which seemed to be getting out of hand. Pete had dropped her backpack back in his trunk and looped his other arm around her waist, drawing her closer to him, their bodies now pressing together just as their lips were. Allison brought her arms up to circle his neck, loving the feel and the taste of him. How had they known each other for nearly five years now and have never thought to do this before?!

****

Kissing Alli was the best thing he had done in the longest time. She felt absolutely perfect in his arms and against his lips and he didn't want to let go of her. Why hadn't he done this last night, at the bar, when they would have had time to spend together and time to... do more of this?

"Umm..." she pulled away from his lips and he resisted pulling her right back in. "Do you want to come inside? My parents are gone on vacation and... you know, if it's not too late... you could come inside."

"Are you sure about that?" He really wanted to come inside, but it seemed like the right thing to do, to ask her for confirmation.

"Yeah, come in," she ran a hand down his arm, her hand sliding into his.

Yes, he planned on kissing her once they got to her house, but he had no expectations of anything else happening. He had heard more than one story about how strict Alli's parents were and he didn't think he'd be invited to come in.

She got her bag from his trunk and guided him inside, holding onto his hand. Despite the fact that her parents weren't home, she went straight for her bedroom, closing the door behind them and kissing him again. This was even more surprising, but he went with it, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her in against himself. A few minutes later, just as he was considering walking her backward towards her bed, there was a knock on the door and they sprang apart.

"Alli," a guy said through the door and Pete watched her expression change to annoyance, "who's car is in the driveway?"

Alli walked past him to open the door to the hulking mountain of a man that stood there. Pete didn't want to admit that he was a little intimidated, but the thought crossed his mind.

"Hey, this is my friend Pete," she gestured toward him then turned to look at him, "Pete, this is my brother, Benny."

"Nice to meet you," Pete came closer, noting the family resemblance between them, the olive skin, the smooth, dark hair, the specific angle of their noses. He put his hand out to Benny.

"Ben. Yeah, nice to meet you too," he shook Pete's hand, no doubt purposefully squeezing with some extra oomph.

"Did you need something?" Alli narrowed her eyes at her brother, shoving her hands into her back pockets, which served to make her breasts push out more.

"Nope, just checking," Benny crossed his arms in front of his massive chest, eyeing Pete. "Where'd you meet your friend?"

"Umm... in college. Pete and I have been friends since freshman year." Pete nodded along to her explanation. It's been just short of five years since they met at the dorm mixer. Benny's eyes flicked between them.

"Shouldn't you be hanging out in the living room or something?" Pete looked to Alli. This was a bad idea. Why did he come inside? Obviously, he was thinking with his cock rather than with his head.

"Oh get lost, Benny. Mind your own business," Alli told him, shutting the door in front of his face. She turned back to Pete who could feel his eyes wide and his eyebrows inching up his forehead at her reply to her brother. "Don't let the size fool you. He's not even nineteen yet. He's got absolutely no authority to tell me what to do."

"But I can tell mom and da-a-ad," Benny told her through the door.

"Go away, Benny!" She shouted back to him. "I'm sorry," she turned back to Pete, looking apologetic.

"Don't worry about it," he smirked. "I have two younger siblings myself."

"Right," she came closer to him, looking up at his face. How did he used to look at those lips for years and not ache to kiss them before?

Pete leaned down to claim her mouth with his again, kissing her hungrily. Their lips moved together in an improvised dance, pressing and pulling against one another. Their tongues searched each other out, connecting and swirling together. Alli's hands moved to his chest, her palms resting against his pecs, making him want to get rid of his shirt that separated them from his skin. He hooked his index fingers in the belt loops of her shorts and pulled her with him as he stepped back towards the bed. He didn't have a plan, he was just going to wing it, see where things would lead.

Alli came with him and when he sat down on the edge of her bed, she straddled his lap, sitting down with her knees on either side of him. He loved the proximity of her, the way that their bodies lined up. For a long time they kissed, their hands remaining stationary, his around her waist and Alli's looped around his neck. She made the first move, moving her hands down his chest and slipping them in underneath the hem of his shirt. They were warm and soft as they came up to his chest, caressing his pecs, thumbs playing with the patch of curly hairs in the center of his chest. Pete took that as a sign that Alli was ready for more as well. He pushed the straps of her tank top down, off her shoulders, along with her bra straps, then freed her breasts over the neckline of her top. They were simultaneously firm and soft, perky, with small, dark nipples pointing in his direction. He played with her nipples, rolling them between his thumb and index finger, eliciting quiet moans from her. He wondered what she'd sound like when she came. The thought made his cock stir in his shorts. It was already fully hard, straining against the zipper, a firm ridge between the two of them. Undoubtedly, Alli could feel it too.

Pete kept repeating to himself that he had no expectations, that he'd be fine with wherever this happened to go and that he wouldn't push anything. He never did. That wasn't him. As soon as Alli told him to stop, that she's had enough, he'd suck it up, get dressed and leave. But she wasn't stopping him. And eventually they were entirely naked on her bed, his hand between her legs, fingers gliding through her delicate, wet folds, her hand stroking the length of his erection. It had been an embarrassingly long time since anyone else had touched his cock besides himself and Alli's touch felt amazing.

She was a really beautiful girl, he always knew that, that part didn't just occur to him. She had a really expressive face and blue eyes that stood in stark contrast to her nearly black hair and eyebrows. Whenever she dressed up for a party and did her make up, she went heavy on the eyeliner, which had the effect of making her eyes pop even more. Since he knew her, she always had her hair cut just below her chin and it fell in a smooth, shiny curtain framing her face. She frequently tucked it behind her ears, but it always came back out again. She had a modest set of breasts and a petite frame, just on the shorter side of average, but she had a presence. She wasn't the most outgoing or loudmouthed girl, but somehow it was still impossible not to notice her. Eyes were drawn to her. Or was it just him?

Seeing her naked, touching her body, felt unreal, like it wasn't really possible that he could be doing this. He let a finger slip inside her, then another. Just two already felt like he was stretching her and it only made him want to have his cock in there even more. Her hips rocked towards him, grinding into his hand. It made him smile seeing her like this, knowing that she wanted more of what he was doing, that he was making her feel good. He pressed a thumb against Alli's clit as she lifted up into his hand, her grip on his cock halting.

"Oh God, Pete," she whimpered, coming apart. Her thighs clenched together, holding his hand between them. He could feel them twitch as she rode out her orgasm. "Mmhm..." Her eyes were closed, her lips pressed together and he just watched her face.

She opened her eyes, a little startled by his stare, and resumed stroking his cock, sliding her hand up and down his shaft, letting it glide over the tip to collect that bead of precum before moving back down. It felt awesome and he could definitely come like this, if she sped up her stroke just a bit, he wanted to be inside her.