I bounced my knees nervously as I sat on the barstool. "You're being ridiculous Ash, it's the same old Katie." I told myself silently as I watched her retrieve two beers from the fridge on the other side of her kitchen.
"Oh. My. Gawd. Ash. It's been too long!" She said to me as she sliced a lime on a plastic cutting board and handed me a long neck Corona. Apparently our days of sneaking Keystone Lights in her dorm room were over.
"It hasn't been that long, Katie." I said trying to control my nerves. "Only what, 6 months?" The last time I had seen her was just before Spring break last semester. She had still been living in the dorms then, and Luke and I had swung by to pick up my duffel bag. Our visit had ended abruptly when we stumbled onto those riskee pictures on her computer while she was busy unloading her "stash" out of my bag behind us. Curiosity about those photos had gnawed at me for months. What I had seen was pretty tame, but I knew she and Cody had been exploring some pretty niche kinks and I couldn't help but wonder if I had only witnessed the tip of the iceberg.
Secrets didn't usually exist between Katie and I. As far back as I could remember we had shared stories, traded tips and lived vicariously through each other whenever one of us was experiencing a dry spell. Our years of "story time" had culminated in that one time in her dorm room where she demonstrated for me what Cody had introduced her to. Ever since then it was like an intrusive thought for me. I mean she was still Katie, but when someone does something like that in front of you, it's hard not to think about it every time you see them.
"Well it certainly feels like longer." She replied as she leaned up against the kitchen countertop, no _her_ kitchen countertop, and took a sip of her Corona. My gaze drifted to her short jeans shorts, and I found myself searching for a hint of something more. I glanced at the spot where her shorts hugged her pubic bone, I wondered if she still explored that side of herself. Was there a hint of extra padding, a subtle crinkle, or a glimpse of a white waistband peeking out from beneath her jeans? My curiosity got the better of me, and I felt my chest flutter when I caught myself actually looking for signs of it.
"No shit," I replied, attempting to push aside the memories of our previous conversations about her kinks. But it was hard to ignore the curiosity that lingered, wondering if she still explored that side of herself. For now, I tried to focus on the more mundane aspects of her life, like how she'd managed to afford a house. It wasn't just the fact that she owned a home that surprised me, but also the fact that she'd been able to afford it.
She must have caught some hesitance in my words, because she was quick to change the subject. "I'm so glad you came by though! Are you excited for move in day tomorrow?"
"A little nervous, if I'm being honest." I admitted. "This will be the first time I've lived with anybody other than Kim, and on top of that I've got all these new responsibilities as social chair..." I cut myself off. I knew Katie never really "got" the whole Alpha Phi thing. I still think she would have loved it, but she was always so busy with swimming. Still, she could sometimes get a little judgy when we got into the subject. She was a bit protective of me, and considered Alpha Phi to be a threat to my GPA.
"Do you know who your new victim is going to be?" She asked with a hint of tease in her voice. Kim and I had been such a great fit. She never judged me for my late nights and even contributed to one or two of them.
"That's classified." I teased, winking and taking a swig from my bottle.
Katie rolled her eyes at me and gave me a look that screamed"who am I going to tell in the next 24 hours?"
"I'm getting paired with this freshman named Harper. I've met her once, she seems nice enough, maybe a little buttoned up."
"I'm sure you'll fix that quickly."
I took another swig of my corona. "I'm the social chair this year, Katie. That's literally my job."
We shared a quick laugh at that. I could see her cooking up some quip about me "having a job" or "corrupting a youth" or something, so I decided to change the subject before she got the chance. "Thanks again for letting me spend the night. I ouldmt get a differrnt flight and i was going to have to get a hotel to bridge the span. Anyway, I knew you had moved off campus but this..." I gestured at the room.
She just waved it off. "Of course!" Her eyes followed my hand around the room. "Yeah, I guess no more sneaking around the dorms right?" She said with her signature casual laugh.
"We would never!" I agreed. "So..."
Katie's response was characteristically straightforward, as if she'd anticipated my unspoken question. "Yeah, I got that internship at InTech and decided since I'd be sticking around town after graduation, I might as well start building equity!" She said it with a confident smile, but I wasn't buying it. The math just didn't add up. Her parents weren't wealthy, and she'd always been careful with her finances, relying on her swim and academic scholarships to get her through college.
I remembered how she'd shown up to her first day of collegiate swim camp in my old speedo, a hand-me-down from my own brief stint on our high school team. She'd never been shy about her body, and I recalled how she'd laughed it off when I'd teased her about the suit being too small and how much it was riding up leaving nothing to the imagination in the front or the back. It had certainly turned heads, and I was sure it had been a topic of conversation among the other swimmers (especially those on the men's team) but Katie had always been comfortable in her own skin and she'd never minded being looked at. In fact, she'd often joked that it was a perk of being an athlete - the confidence that came with knowing you were strong and capable and had the body tonmatch. But as I looked at her now, standing in her kitchen with her Corona in hand, I couldn't shake the feeling that there was more to the story of how she'd afforded this house.
I knew better than to pry. Money had always been a bit of a sensitive topic for Katie, and she'd never been one to open up about her finances. I remembered how she'd always been careful with her spending, making do with hand-me-downs and thrift store finds. It was a habit that had served her well during our college years, but apparently she'd somehow managed to afford a house. I trued to push the thought aside, not wanting to ruin the evening with awkward questions. I was determined to make the most of our night together. "So, what's the plan for tonight?" I asked, changing the subject and grinning at Katie. "You promised me a party night, and I'm holding you to it!"
"You're looking at it!" She quipped while holding up a half-empty beer.
She let that settle in for a moment or two before deftly changing the subject: "So how's your boy?"
"Who?" Of course I knew exactly who she was talking about almost immediately but I played dumb. It had been all Summer but the absence of Luke in my life still stung quite a bit.
Katie just raised an accusatory eyebrow at me.
"Oh you mean Luke?" I tried to play it off as if he were just some meaningless fling. "Yeah, we called things quit before Summer break."
"That's too bad. He was cute Ash, and I think he really liked you." I could hear genuine disappointment in her voice. "Plus, he definitely had a positive impact on your GPA."
I sighed, feeling a familiar pang of guilt. "We were from two different worlds, Katie." I had already privately run through a thousand different justifications already, but no matter which way I spun it to myself I just couldn't shake the shame of dumping him right before Summer break.
"Wasn't he like, even going to Greek events with you and stuff?"
"Yeah, but it wasn't like he was Greek." I took a long sip of my beer hoping she would drop it.
"Was he... small or something?" she wiggled her pinky at me.
"No! It wasn't that. He had plenty down there."
