Dana's sex life is going very well now, though she is waiting as patiently as she can for an invitation to a sex party from James. When it finally comes, Dana finds herself struggling to reconcile her fantasies with the realities of the party, and with her insecurities.
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
James had promised to let Dana know about the next sex party, but he hadn't said when that might be. She heard nothing about a party over the next week, nor the week after. Not for over a month, in fact. She heard from James frequently, by text or voice, but only to invite her over. "The parties don't happen regularly," was all he could say when she asked about them.
Not that Dana was feeling sex-deprived for lack of a party. She was fucking James a couple of times a week. The same was true of Randy. She even had sex with Bobby occasionally, though not often. It occurred to her one day, while she and Zoe were negotiating use of the room for the next week, that she was getting laid at least as often as Zoe was now.
"And how do you feel about that?" Zoe asked, when Dana announced her epiphany. They sat on their beds facing one another across the room.
"Shocked," Dana admitted. If you had told her at the start of her college career that she'd be having so much sex--and enjoying it so much--she'd never have believed it. The days when she'd been shocked and disapproving of Zoe's very active sex life seemed unimaginably far away.
"What else?"
"Thrilled," Dana said. "Excited." She hesitated, then added, "Proud."
Unsurprisingly, Zoe pounced on that admission. "Proud?"
Dana nodded, though she took a moment to organize her thoughts. "Once I admitted to myself that I wanted sex--and lots of it--I set out to get it." She gestured at her phone, open to the calendar app she used to coordinate use of their dorm room with Zoe. "Mission accomplished."
She didn't add that she was also tracking her sexual adventures in it, keeping a record of every time she had sex, and with whom. She'd even gone back and filled in every sexual encounter she'd ever had, all the way back to losing her virginity to Mike after their senior prom. It seemed a bit obsessive, and she wasn't prepared--yet--to share that even with Zoe.
"So," Zoe said, smiling slyly, "are you getting enough sex yet, Dana?"
Dana stared at Zoe for a moment, feeling her face heat. She clapped her hands over her face, hiding her embarrassment. "No," she said, her voice muffled.
"What was that?"
Dana lowered her hands, her face hot. "No, okay? No, I'm not!"
Zoe grinned. "Told you so."
"I know," Dana said, embarrassed but also pleased that Zoe knew her so well. When Zoe first told her that despite all the sex she was having, she also masturbated frequently, Dana had trouble believing it. That was no longer the case. Dana herself was having sex four or five days a week--and masturbating on the days she didn't. Sometimes more than once.
And just as Zoe had admitted to doing, sometimes Dana claimed the room for herself not to have sex with someone, but so she could masturbate in privacy. She spent an hour or two at a time, bringing herself to countless orgasms--literally, as she inevitably lost count--using her toys. She'd end such sessions breathless and shaking, exhausted, and oftentimes feeling raw and sore from the constant stimulation.
"You were right," she confessed. "I thought you were lying--or at least exaggerating," she told Zoe. "But it's true. The more sex I have, the more sex I want!"
"Isn't it great?" Zoe said.
"Is it?" Dana asked. She glanced at her calendar again, where she chronicled her exploits. "Sometimes I feel obsessed. Don't you?"
Zoe didn't reply immediately. Dana saw her thinking, taking the question seriously, which was a relief. She'd been afraid Zoe would just laugh off the question.
"I like having a lot of sex," Zoe said. "No surprise, I know," she added when Dana rolled her eyes at her. "And when I'm not having sex I like talking about sex, or thinking about it. But it's not all I think about, and it's certainly not all I do."
She gave Dana a probing look. "Is it interfering with your schoolwork?"
Now it was Dana's turn to seriously consider the question. She spent a lot of time thinking about sex, even in class. She often fantasized about hot guys she shared classes with, or even just saw around campus. She often became aroused by thoughts of sex, which was sometimes distracting.
And yet...she still managed to pay attention in class, and was taking good notes. She and Zoe studied together regularly, and though it was still early in the semester, she'd done well on the few tests or papers she'd turned in.
"No," she said at last. "I don't think so."
"What about your other interests? Is it interfering with those?"
"No...."
"That didn't sound very convincing," Zoe said.
Dana was actually proud of her commitment to strength training. Getting up early three mornings a week to work out was a new habit. She'd been at it for only a few weeks, but she kept careful track of her progress in a notebook. She'd never thought of herself as athletic or physically talented, so the steadily increasing weights she was lifting left her feeling absurdly pleased.
She was still reading a lot, too, as she always had. Between classes, over meals, pretty much any time she wasn't studying--or having sex, or masturbating. She'd discovered enough new authors since starting college to keep her occupied for years. On the other hand, she'd missed some meetings of the Science Fiction Club, which had introduced her to those new authors, as well a couple of sessions with her RPG group.
Dana admitted as much to Zoe.
"Well, given the choice, would you rather attend a meeting or a game, or have sex?"
"Have sex," Dana replied promptly. "Although...I try to schedule time with Randy or James on other nights."
"You don't sound obsessive to me," Zoe said.
"I don't?"
"Your schoolwork isn't suffering. You have priorities, and when a conflict occurs, you choose the one that's more important to you. A couple of weeks ago you drove home for the weekend, and I know you could have slept with James and Randy that weekend."
"Yeah, but it was Terry's birthday that Sunday. I couldn't miss that."
"Oh, you could have," Zoe said. "You could have blown it off and stayed here and had lots of sex. But you didn't. Being there for your sister's birthday was important, and that's what you did. Does that sound sex-obsessed to you?"
"No?"
"No," Zoe agreed.
Dana mustered a smile. "Glad to hear it," she said. But still she wondered.
* * *
Dana was reading an assignment for her literature class Tuesday night, two days later, when her phone rang. She picked it up. James was calling. "Hello?"
"Hey, Dana," James said. "How are you?"
Zoe looked up curiously from her laptop. "Hi, James," Dana said, for her benefit. "I'm good. What's up?" Zoe turned her attention back to her homework.
"Tito texted me," James said. "He's hosting a party on Friday night. Wanna go?"
"Tito?" Dana asked, to stall for time. She knew from previous conversations that Tito was the name of the guy who organized the sex parties James attended. She felt her heart race. The invitation she'd fantasized about and also dreaded had come at last.
Zoe looked up again. She knew the name as well, from Dana.
