This chapter is a little longer. I didn't originally plan it this way, but it would help if you've already read my 'Gamers' series. You will recognize more of the characters. As always, thank you for the feedback and comments. It's nice to see familiar names among the readers. That's why I post on Literotica.
*
I saw Emmeline for the rest of May, and through June. We had good times together - sometimes with her friend Sandra, but most often just the two of us. We went bowling, saw movies, and just hung out, but avoided being alone at her place or mine. We went to a dance club, with Sandra, which turned out to be a huge mistake. Neither of us are very good dancers.
A slow dance came on, and I took her in my arms. My head knew that we were just friends, and that nothing was going to happen. But my lower body never got the memo. When I held her close, and felt the gentle pressure of her breasts against my chest, and when her thigh brushed mine ... well, the result should have been predictable.
I apologized, and she laughed it off. But neither of us found it very funny. I wanted Emmeline. Wanted her in every way. And I could have sworn that she was into me, too. But there was this stupid
thing
between us, and I was no closer to figuring out what it was.
We went to a baseball game. She enjoyed the ambience, and the ballpark, but didn't like the game so much.
- "It's too slow." she said. "Too much waiting. Look at those guys out there, waiting for the ball to get hit to them."
- "They're hoping it doesn't get hit to them." I explained.
- "That's even worse." she said. "That must be really stressful for them. They probably wish that they could run around the bases and whack people with their lacrosse sticks, like you do."
I had to take a closer look at her. She wasn't
that
much of a ditz.
- "You're messing with me, aren't you?"
She took a swig of her beer, and avoided eye contact. "Maybe. A little."
- "You're evil. Do you do that to Sandra?"
- "Not much. But you're so easy, it's hard to resist."
- "How is she?"
- "Good. How's your friend Rob?"
The truth was, I hadn't seen Rob since that night with the twins. The sex with those two redheaded fiends had been incredible. Mind blowing. But utterly meaningless. Plus, Rob had dropped about two thousand dollars on that one night, and I felt a bit guilty about that.
He was phoning me, leaving emails and texts, but I was ducking him. Truth be told, I think I was done with that side of my life.
I was still an asshole - it's hard to change a lifetime's work. But I was probably through with being a pussy hound. The twins had actually helped with that decision. I mean, if I couldn't totally enjoy that experience - one of the ultimate male fantasies - then my days of chasing tail were most likely drawing to a close.
I wanted Emmeline Kesthely. I didn't call her Lina so much, anymore. That was like her superhero name. But I knew her secret identity.
Only she wouldn't let me close. We went out together - but it was never a date. Something had to give, and I decided to force the lock. We saw a movie, and went for beers.
- "Emmeline," I said, "why won't you tell me what happened that weekend? What this ... obstacle is, this thing that's stuck between us."
She got that sad look on her face again. "Please stop asking, Max. I'm not going to tell you."
- "So you know what it is. You're keeping some ... dark secret from me. I thought we were friends. Friends should be able to tell each other these things."
- "We
are
friends." she said.
- "But you know that I want more than that." I said. "You know that I'm in love with you, that I think about you all the time. I've got 'Wild Horses' playing in my head twenty times a day. '
You know I can't let you slide through my hands
.'"
"I want you every way possible, Emmeline. I want you as my girlfriend. I want you naked, in all your glory, in front of a fireplace."
She flushed at that, and couldn't meet my eye.
"The worst part of this - the part that's killing me - is that I think you want the same thing. You can tell me if I'm wrong. A friend would put me out my misery. Then I could get comfortable in the friend zone, and be happy there."
"Why won't you just tell me?" I pleaded.
- "A friend wouldn't do that." she said, softly. She looked up, and met my eye. She was sad - maybe even heartbroken. But I saw defiance there, too. If this was a contest of wills, I was never going to win.
"Maybe we should take it easy." she said. "Spend a little time apart."
My poor heart skipped a few beats. That was a horrifying suggestion.
- "No." I said. "That's a bad idea. A really bad idea."
- "You need some time, Max. Maybe we both do." She slid some money across the table. "Can you cover the tab? I'm going to head home."
She wouldn't let me go with her. She insisted that I stay.
***
I'm an idiot. That much I already knew. But I replayed that conversation with Emmeline in my head, analyzing everything she'd said. Something was tickling the back of my mind. But I was too stupid to figure it out.
And yet ... Emmeline had said a lot about friends. She obviously held to some sort of code, when it came to friendship. It was a bit like me, and my approach to being a team player.
So I contacted Sandra. She agreed to meet me for a drink after work.
I wasn't prepared for the first thing out of her mouth.
- "Hi Sandra." I said. "Thanks for -"
- "What did you do?" she said. It came out halfway to a snarl.
- "What did
I
do?"
- "What did you say to her? She called me up the other night, in tears. What did you do?"
I put my hands up, defensively. "Sandra - I'm sorry. You know that I would never willingly hurt Emmeline. I just ... I fucked up. Listen - can I get you a drink, and we'll start over?"
When she was a little calmer, I told her the whole story, from my perspective.
- "Something happened, at Blue Mountain. It had be Sunday morning - after she kissed me goodnight, but before I saw you in the parking lot. Everything changed in that span of time."
"I feel guilty, as if I did something, but Em told me several times that it wasn't my fault."
"Sandra - you know how I feel about her. I'm in love with her. Hopelessly in love with her. And I think she has the same feelings for me. But this damn thing is ... just sitting there, between us. Like a roadblock."
- "I know." said Sandra. "It's awful to watch."
- "Will you help me? Help us? You know what happened, don't you?"
Sandra sighed.
- "Yeah, I know." she said. "But I can't tell you, Max, much as I would like to."
- "WHAT?" My voice was so loud, everybody in the bar turned to look.