Coed Love Story Ch 07

Many thanks to Jill for inspiration and support, to mastertofu for the insight, and to aimingtomisbehave33 for the much-appreciated feedback that finally whipped (no pun intended) this final CLS chapter into shape.

Special thanks to you, reader, for following along this journey with me. I hope you enjoy it! Stay tuned for more adventures in this universe.

***

Chapter VII -- The Reunion

Nicole was overwhelmed by the networking scene on the West Coast. Since her move across the country 4 months ago, she had been to these events at least once a week and given out countless business cards. Although she had made peace with the fact that a certain degree of flirting was harmless and almost necessary, the follow-up calls she received were never about a job, but rather a date.

It made her want to try a solely virtual approach to networking, but she knew she was a people person. Working in graphic design meant selling yourself as the product to hook a client. She just was doing too good a job of that at the moment.

She drank down the rest of the white wine out of the clear plastic cup. Her eyes roamed around the room, casually checking out the men in their crisp shirts and dress pants. A couple of them had flair, but the confident stance that attracted her was not present, except in one guy standing with his back to her.

There was something oddly familiar about him...

***

With a stellar recommendation from the good professor, Peter had got a job in Silicon Valley pretty much right out of college. It had taken him a few years to get used to the rhythm of life there, but he was enjoying it. Despite the workload, he made time for casual dating/hookups and albeit infrequently, showed up at a network event or two.

He had been at this event for over an hour. There was only so much schmoozing with engineers that he could handle. He turned away from his table to leave. As soon as he did that, he bumped into the cater waitress. Even as he apologized, she insisted it was her fault and gave him a shy smile before gathering up her tray.

Peter didn't presume to know women, but he had learned his fair share (and then some) in college. His "affair" with Professor Park had been eye-opening in more than one sense of the word and embracing his sexuality had made him whole.

He watched the girl walk away and took an extra two seconds to admire the way her hips swayed. Shortly after the waitress disappeared from his sight, he made a beeline to the door. It would have been a successful escape, were it not for that distinct voice calling out.

"Leaving so soon?"

Peter didn't do a silly double take. He didn't screw up his face with confusion, doubt or heartbreak, and instead mustered up a generic happy face to turn around and face his ex-girlfriend.

"Hey you!" He presented a reasonable blend of excitement to see her, but the longer he looked at her, the less he had to pretend. The different haircut and new business clothes were expected and easy enough to take in. With his post-breakup training, he'd even learned to recognize the degree of sexual energy a woman was putting out. He didn't remember Nicole oozing with it, but that didn't mean he was unaware now.

Steadily, he held her gaze and watched as recognition morphed into wonder and twinge of desire in her eyes. It was unmistakable. His ego invisibly inflated; everything else with a propensity to inflate was in check.

"Care for another drink?" The petite cater waitress was back all of a sudden, carrying a tray half full of white wine cups. How she managed to get her and the drinks between Peter and Nicole without dropping anything was for her to know and for gravity to find out.

Peter looked down at her, smiling. His gaze kept drifting to Nicole intentionally. With her hands devoid of any drink, he made a point of grabbing two cups from the tray and politely thanked the waitress. There was a slight pout when she left the two of them alone to distribute the rest of the drinks, but he couldn't care less.

"You look good, Nicole. I had no idea you were on this side of the country." Of course he hadn't kept tabs on the first girlfriend he had ever had, who had dumped him brutally for his high school bully. It wasn't like they had tried to stay friends after, let alone see each other around the campus. But seeing her there was an incredible surprise, despite his poker face. As for any emotions she evoked in him, they were mostly in his pants at this stage.

"Yeah, thank you. It was just time for a change, you know, greener grass... Here, I am." She sipped her wine and used that time to size him up. It wasn't that she was interested; she was just being polite, talking to him, making sure their breakup hadn't irreparably damaged him. He actually seemed a whole lot better than how she remembered him, but maybe it was the wine goggles.

They both finished the wine in their cups. It was a cheap, relatively dry white, with no discernible aroma. Peter barely managed to swallow the last sip without making a face. "Listen, why don't I buy you a drink elsewhere? We'll actually have to pay for it, but it'll be infinitely better than this stuff, I promise."

Nicole was surprised by his cool, like she had been by his body language earlier. Saying yes to his request came naturally given the smooth delivery. It almost sounded like something Brad would say, but it didn't have the undertones of seduction. Or did it?

She grabbed her blazer and followed him out. She immediately felt lost in the neighborhood, but Peter walked confidently alongside her at a casual tempo.

She had thought she knew what to say to him when he turned around at the event. Her mind had prepared ample dialogue options -- well, monologue options since she'd be the one steering the conversation while he mumbled shyly. However, his response had not only effectively sidestepped all her preparations, but also completely changed the landscape of their interactions, not to mention the location thereof.

He had clearly gotten the upper hand...

"We'll get there before you have a chance to feel the cold," he said. He had noted the shapely bare legs under her skirt and the fact that she was carrying her blazer instead of wearing it. Her initial confidence in approaching him seemed to have vanished.

They walked 2 blocks in awkward silence. Peter was silently daring her to take control, whereas Nicole was lost, in thought and in real life.

Their destination was a hole-in-the-wall wine bar. "How long have you been in this city?" she asked. It was answered de facto by the bartender calling out "Hey, Pete, the corner is free and I have that vintage you were asking about."

Peter waved at the bartender; as they made their way to the corner, he replied "I think we'll try something less temperamental tonight, at least for now."

That last part made Nicole look at his face carefully. He was walking a fine line between patronizing and intriguing; she couldn't decide which was more surprising to her.

Given the configuration of the table, they sat next to each other, facing out into the open space of the bar, small as it was. She smelled his cologne; it was a clean, fresh scent - unassuming and innocent, somehow. Nicole was glad at least there was one thing unchanged in her first love.

The cute bartender, Rosalie, brought out two glasses of the house red blend. Peter held his glass and turned towards Nicole, making it obvious he was waiting for her for a toast.

Nicole raised her glass in kind, but the toast wasn't forthcoming. Peter kept staring at her with a maddeningly neutral expression. Nicole was usually pretty good at reading people but she had no idea what he was thinking.

Just as she was about to mumble something about new beginnings, Peter broke the awkward silence with a toast of his own. "To surviving past trauma."

He gave her a daring smile and took a big swig from his glass. Nicole felt the color rise in her cheeks, as she nervously sipped from her own glass. She supposed she deserved that.

She had broken up with Peter in just about the most traumatic way possible. What could be worse than getting dumped for your high school bully? If that hadn't been bad enough, she had then gone on to pour salt onto his open wounds via a string of explicit photos and videos, sometimes with a third partner in tow. She could only guess at the destruction left in their wake.

"Are you feeling OK, Nicole? You seem a little confused right now." Peter's words brought her back to the present. She had to admit Peter looked pretty good in his tailored suit. He had also traded in his thick, dime-store glasses for a designer pair of spectacles that suited his clean-shaven baby face. But it was more than the makeover. He was carrying himself with a confidence that just wasn't there before.

"To be honest I am a little confused. I figured you'd never want to speak to me again after... After the way things ended between us."

Peter gave what sounded like a bitter chuckle, but there was no malice in his eyes. "The way things ended... That's an interesting way of putting it. How is dear old Brad anyway?"

"We're not together," she answered concisely. She still wasn't sure which way this conversation was headed. The words coming out of Peter's mouth should have sounded angry but his tone remained perfectly pleasant. They might as well have been discussing the weather.

She cleared her throat and raised her glass again. "To health and forgiveness!"

"To fresh starts," he countered, keeping her gaze. He hadn't been looking for an apology. It was all too late for that.

The wine and his toast brought back some of Nicole's confidence. "So now you're a local in the big bad city, you know how to dress and network, you enjoy wine... What else has changed?" She was being playful; Peter followed suit. "Oh you know, when the right man comes along, it changes your whole perspective on life."

He played up a slightly higher voice with an effeminate timbre for good effect. He was able to hold back his laughter for the few seconds it took Nicole to process what he had said and for her eyes to grow large in shock. Before she could say anything, he jumped in "You know I'm joking, right?"

She let go of the breath she had unconsciously held and laughed with him.

"No, I'm still very much into girls, I mean females, I mean women..." he stuttered a bit; it was intentional, meant as a further disarming technique to get her guard down. He had had plenty of opportunities to practice these tricks since graduation.

"Well, it's always good to learn that the orientation of your ex hasn't changed." Nicole sipped more wine. She wasn't planning on flirting, but she seemed to have less and less control over the words spilling from her mouth.

Peter did a fake cough before retorting, "Can't say the same for you, though, I think. I did have some photo evidence at one point." Imagining her naked with other girls made blood rush to his ears.

He hadn't said that in a confrontational manner, but Nicole's face fell all the same. "It was childish, I shouldn't have gone along with it. I can't apologize enough." She held his hand on the table.

"Which is why I'm not asking you to. Our experiences, no matter how fucked up they were, and yes they were plenty fucked up, shaped us and hopefully we came out stronger on the other end." He brought her small hand to his lips and planted a peck.

Nicole felt a surge, like an actual physical tingling sensation, where he kissed her. "Am I that desperate to want to have sex with my first, not to mention inadequate, boyfriend?" In response to this first voice in her head, the second voice said, "He's clearly not that guy anymore. I mean, look at him!"

Her internal conflict wouldn't have been obvious to anyone else in the world, but to Peter. He was enjoying the cat & mouse game and was still undecided on what he was actually going to do once Nicole gave in to him.

A part of him wanted revenge. Another, albeit small, part of him wanted to prove himself to her, hold her and kiss her like he had never kissed anyone before. His internal dialogue chimed in, reminding him he could do both by having sex with her. He had enough time.

"Another glass of wine?" She nodded, her hand still in his. It was interesting to see him in charge. She also wasn't sure she liked how the bartender was staring at them.

Nicole did her best to smile when Rosalie brought over two more glasses of wine. Peter recognized the forced smile on his ex and correctly interpreted it as latent jealousy -- he was in! He spoke quickly before she left their table. "Rose, actually... Can you close out the tab? We need to get going soon; I lost track of time."

"I didn't realize we had to be somewhere. We basically just got here, Peter." She held onto her new glass of wine, shielding her confused face, or attempting to anyway.

"I can't waste any more time sitting here, pretending there's nothing going on. You said you were sorry about how things ended between us and I can't have the last thing you remember me by be Brad slamming the door in my face. I want you to come home with me, Nicole! I know you want to, so let's just go!"

She stared at him in disbelief. For the first time that night, she saw through his façade, through the charm and the confidence. There was both a passion and a frustration in his eyes that scared her.

Before she could retreat, she found herself in his embrace, his lips on hers. The way his hands were entangled in her hair, she had expected a rough kiss and was all the more surprised when it was a gentle one. Her mouth reacted autonomously, returning the attention it was getting. Within seconds, Nicole found herself being the aggressor, forcing her tongue down his throat.

His grip in her hair tightened for a second, pulling, a promise of what he could do. Then he let go, sat back and rubbed his lip with a boyish smile. He watched her recover from the kiss, too, and found himself content with whatever would happen next, be it wine immediately being thrown on his face, or his ex's naked body shivering underneath him in his bed within the next hour.

When she reached for her wine glass, he closed his eyes in anticipation of the former scenario.

But nothing happened. He opened his eyes, one at a time, to see her smile. "Don't you need to pay or something? You know, so we can get out of here?"

His confidence back, he returned the smile and got up from the table. He held out a hand to help her get up and put on her blazer. He didn't want her freezing in the wind while waiting for their shared ride.

***

They huddled in the back seat of the car. Nicole's bare legs were icy from the wind and she scooted close to Peter, the sides of their bodies touching. He put his hand on her knee; he had meant it as a warming gesture, but when she parted her legs slightly, it was obvious she needed warming somewhere else.

Not paying much attention to the driver, Peter's hand glided up Nicole's smooth thigh and felt the warmth increase as it got closer to target. He said a quick prayer of thanks that Nicole wasn't driving; his mind had inadvertently drifted to the times Ivy had him playing with her while she drove. Each time they had lived to tell the tale, but once or twice it had been a close call. He shook his head ever so slightly to drive these memories away.

He wasn't sure if Nicole was bluffing or testing him. The only way to find out was to push forward and see where it led. His fingers traced the outer edges of her lacy panties. She stared at him, as he hooked his fingers and slowly reached under the fabric.

The skin underneath was completely smooth. When he moved downward, the sweet wetness smeared on his fingers and Nicole bit her lip. She was more ready than he'd anticipated. "If I make her come in the car, she might freak out on me and leave," he thought, "better to tease and keep her on edge until I have her through the door."

Her breath caught when he moved back a little and caressed her inner thighs. The slow dance back and forth between her pussy and thighs drove her mad with desire. Part of her couldn't believe he was already edging her, in a public setting nonetheless. She badly wanted to come, but didn't trust herself to stay quiet enough through her orgasm.

The drive took a little over half an hour, not bad considering the traffic. Peter said another prayer of thanks; any longer in the car and he might have accidentally pushed Nicole over the edge into a mind-splitting orgasm. His own erection was firmly in place; he noted Nicole had not made a move for his crotch at all.

***

He unlocked the front door of the building. They got into the elevator. As soon as the doors closed, Nicole pushed herself against him and claimed his mouth in a savage kiss. When his hands went between her legs, she pushed them away and connected her hips to his. She could feel his hard-on against her body, a sign of how much he clearly wanted her.

The elevator dinged, they fumbled out into the hallway and got to his door. Peter pushed Nicole against his door and managed to unlock the door without breaking the kiss. The door slammed shut behind them.

He pushed her onto the couch and knelt between her legs. Nicole's head was spinning with excitement. She felt his hands drag her panties off from under her skirt. Then came his warm breath on her clit. And the tongue on her wet lips, rolling around maddeningly slowly.

She hiked up her skirt even higher and spread her legs wide, then pulled his head in deeper and relished all the little things he was doing to her with his lips and tongue.

Once he added his fingers into the mix, she started losing it. She was trying to hold on, to draw it out. Seemingly, Peter had other ideas. He increased the ferocity of his attack, plunging his finger in and out, while his tongue drew circles on her clit.

She held onto his head firmly, her toes curled in anticipation. Her eyes closed to help her focus better on the pleasure between her legs. Her moans, which were whimpers in the beginning, got higher pitched, as he ate her out like there was no tomorrow.

Her grip on his head tightened. He twisted his finger around in her and went for the G-spot. A hot second after that, she started squirting on his face; her body shook a little bit, but she didn't let go of his head throughout. He enjoyed the taste of Nicole; although this was a first for him, he was used to adapting to situations and lapped her up as best as he could.

She released his head after a minute or so, but Peter didn't let up. Aside from being a bottom and not used to initiating too much, he also genuinely admired girls, who could have successive orgasms. Although he knew this about Nicole through indirect means, he wanted to see how long he himself could keep her going.

A visible shudder went through her when his lips latched onto her clit again. Despite the fact that she tried to close her legs, Peter's hands insistently held them apart. She was surprised by his strong grip on her legs, but more surprised by the tongue action she was getting. It felt good to give in to him.

Now more familiar with her body, more than he had ever been before, he didn't take long to push her triggers towards another gushing orgasm. Following her first one, her G-spot was more accessible to him, responding beautifully to the stimulation it was receiving.

"Ooohh, fuck! Fuck! Don't. Stop." Despite her initial objections, she was begging him now in a soft voice that was getting quieter as she edged closer. He finally slapped her clit with his free hand and cued the following fountain. As she was squirting, he went back to nibbling on her clit, which made her thrash on the couch until she was completely spent.