Author's Note: This is the third and final installment of a series of stories about a college student named Amanda who gets some sexual therapy from her local doctors to help her improve her relationship with her boyfriend, Ben. The characters and story details will make more sense if you begin with the first two stories in the series.
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A week had gone by since Amanda had spent an enlightening evening in the backyard paradise at the home of Rick and Kim. It had been a pivotal experience for Amanda, and she was proud that she allowed herself to overcome some of the personal limitations that had previously hampered her own happiness and her ability to please her boyfriend. Today, she was returning to Rick and Kim's home, but this time she brought Ben with him. She knew that he would wonder why they were coming here, so she had told him that their hosts wanted to work out some details for another party that the doctors wanted to host to celebrate their anniversary.
"Hello Ben. Hi Amanda," Rick yelled out when he saw their car pull up in the driveway. "Just go around back and make yourself at home by the pool. I'll be back there in a minute."
"Thanks!" Ben yelled back and then turned to Amanda who was just getting out of the car. "Were we supposed to bring something?"
"They said they would have some snacks for us. Kim told me to just come as we areβno need for us to bring anything."
The sight of the immense private back yard and the large pool brought back pleasant memories for Ben. He was still pinching himself to be sure that the nude swim party here a couple of weeks ago had really happened. He loved skinny dipping, and he was openly envious of the privacy that Kim and Rick enjoyed that allowed them to swim and relax in their pool and yard without clothes. The fact that he had stripped down to swim nude at the party did not surprise him in the least, but he was still amazed by the fact that nearly every one of the guys and girls at the party had gotten naked as well. Everyone except Amanda, and he was still disappointed that his girlfriend had not joined in the fun.
They had just sat down on the padded lawn chairs that were arranged in a circle near the pool when they heard the patio door slide open and saw their hosts walking toward them carrying a pitcher of lemonade and some chips. The sun had just set and the patio was lit with some low voltage lights around the perimeter. When they were all seated, Kim looked at Ben and spoke first.
"I think that Amanda has been a little less than honest with you Ben, " Kim said with a smile on her face.
"She's a pretty bad liar," Ben said with a puzzled look on his face. "But why would she feel the need to lie to me now? What's going on here?"
"She and I thought that it would be a good idea to invite you back to our house, Ben, but not to talk about another party as I think she told you. The whole idea grew out of a short conversation we had at this table while you and the others were swimming here a couple of weeks ago. Am I correct, Amanda?"
"That's right. After I wimped out when everyone else was swimming, Kim and I talked about a lot of things."
"What kind of things?" Ben asked.
"We talked about school and our plans for the summer and things like that," Amanda replied nervously. "But mostly we talked about sex."
"Sex?" Ben responded quickly. "Just in general or us specifically?"
"Some of each," Kim said. "The more we talked, the clearer it was to me that Amanda is feeling guilty that she is not able to be more physical with you or do some of the things that you would like her to do."
"I can't believe you talked about this to her," Ben spoke in an exasperated voice as he look over at Amanda. "I thought our conversations were private."
"I wasn't planning to..." Amanda started to reply when Kim stepped in to explain.
"Please, Ben. Don't be angry with Amanda," Kim offered. "If you knew how bad she felt when she could not find the courage to go swimming with you and your friends, you might better understand why she felt the need to open up with me."
"So is that why we are here tonight?" Ben asked. "To talk about what Amanda and I are doingβor not doing?"
"If you want to talk," Amanda spoke up, "I am pretty sure that Kim and Rick could help usβor at least help me. I am the one who is having problems. But that's not why I wanted to come here with you."
"So what do you want to do?" Ben asked.
"I want to try again," Amanda said quietly.
"Try again? What do you mean?"
"I could see the hurt in your eyes when I told you that I wasn't going to swim with you at the party. I sat here for a while trying to work up the nerve to do it, but I just couldn't." Amanda answered with tears in her eyes. "The thought of being completely naked with all of my friends looking at me was too much to handle."
"Don't cry, Babe." Ben said as he wiped some tears from her cheeks. "I am touched that you were even thinking about doing it. Besides, it would not have been any fun for me if I knew you were miserable."
"So that's why we are here," Amanda continued. "Kim and Rick thought it might be easier for me to try again if I did it when none of our friends were around to look at me." She paused for a moment to watch Ben's reaction to her words. "Would you go swimming with me tonight?"