Secrets

"All we were doing is talking! It's not like that time when you...." Dana caught the look on Dan's face and stopped.

Nearly four years of marriage meant that Dan and Dana knew each other fairly well, or at least he thought so.

He and Dana were at a small party, he lost track of her and found her outside on the porch talking to Doug, the one guy he disliked more than anyone on earth.

Dan thought he saw the signals, her hand absent minded brushing back her hair, the overly animated way she moved her hands as they talked.

Dana was often moving her hands when she spoke to someone, the momentary unnecessary touch to her hair was another habit.

Dan knew that, but to him, at that moment, she looked like she was showing interest in the man.

It was already irritating enough that Doug had that way with the ladies, far more than anyone Dan knew anyway. But he just carried himself in a manner that gave off the impression he thought he was better than anyone else.

In High School, it was Doug that carried in the winning 2 point conversion that gave their team the season championship, so he was the hero. Dan himself had scored two touchdowns and stopped a turnover cold that would have been a score when an opposing player picked off a badly thrown pass.

Which was thrown by Doug. Hell, his pass was 20 feet too long and well off line, Dan saw the runner break to the right, then he broke past the other line backer and was clear. Dan ran him down from behind and took him down.

Damn near ended things, it was on the three yard line.

The very next play Dan picked the ball off of the other player's fingertips in the end zone.

Yet Doug was still the hero because of those two points.

And of course it was Doug that sank the three pointer at the buzzer to put the basketball game into overtime. Because of a perfectly timed pass from Dan who was covered by two opposing players at the time.

Nobody mentioned that part.

Dan ran in track also, he was a pretty fair half miler. That was where he could shine, no way in hell could Doug keep up with him when he broke into the gut portion of the race at the last turn.

The school record of 1:58.9 had Dan's name on it.

The mile didn't, Doug of course.

Yes, it was also Doug that stood up at graduation and gave a speech as Valedictorian. Dan's own straight "B" average was not even close.

He felt like the guy always treated him like he was nothing, that bugged Dan. Well, not really, he was always pleasant but it sure felt that way.

But he also bit his tongue, keeping the peace. Since Doug was always smiling and happy, there never was an opening to just smack the guy one.

OK. Probably there was some of the green eyed monster involved, Dan just could not help that.

He did not like Doug.

The fact that Doug had dated Dana all through their junior year did not set well at all, either. He also dated many of the other girls, so Dan made his attempts.

He had tried and tried with her with little success. Dana just seemed smitten with Doug's good looks. He was tall and lanky, blond hair, blue eyes, that damned shit eating grin that always made him look like he was up to something.

Dan's slightly shorter frame was also stockier, his dark hair and eyes with heavier than normal eyebrows gave him a more rugged look.

There were really no problems at all with dating girls, it was just that the one he really wanted to date was untouchable.

+++

It wasn't until late in their Senior year that Dan and Dana hooked up. That was almost an accident, it was a warm Fall evening and he was riding his bike when Dana rolled up beside him.

They rode together for awhile, then stopped at a cafe for some sodas.

Dana actually showed interest, so he asked her out and she accepted.

He always wanted to know what she and Doug had done on their dates, but he could never bring himself to ask without thinking he would appear stupid. Had they kissed? Probably. Petted? Probably. How far had Dana let Doug go?

That was there, in the background, like a damn tiny little stone inside of a shoe.

So that evening at the party when Dan told Dana for what was probably at least the 20th time that he didn't like her being near that guy, she blew up at him.

"Doug is just a nice guy, all we were doing was talking!" And of course she brought up Sherry again.

+++

Ever since they got married, any kind of disagreement seemed to without fail bring up that one incident at a much earlier party when Dan had lost control under a bit too much to drink.

The truth there is that it was far more than a "bit too much".

That party over four years earlier had been about like all the rest, everyone was young and full of it. College kids normally are.

Dan and Dana had been dating for many months and had finally developed into one of those "just the two of them" type of relationships which did not fit all that well with everything that was going on.

Most of their friends were seriously getting it on pretty regularly, but all Dan and Dana had done up to this point was make out a lot. She would let his fingers investigate inside her bra, and even rub her through her panties.

But she balked at anything more, finally when their sessions in the car progressed to that point she would undo his pants and take the edge off of things for him.

Dana actually appeared to really like doing that, her breathing would change into short rasping gasps, and as he ejaculated she would moan softly.

Dan did ask her if she had ever done that with any other guys but she denied it, telling him all she ever did was kiss a little bit.

Dan sort of believed her, so he let that slide. His own experiences were somewhat limited so he assumed hers were also.

After all, she was his now and that was that.

That is what he told himself, even while he wanted to know about how it had been with Doug.

The truth at that point was that Dana was the only female he had ever gone even that far with, although once in a hay barn a local girl named Paula had shown him her breasts to tease him and then ran.

Oddly that incident was what popped right into his head when Dana took care of him, without fail.

He saw no point at all in mentioning that. It was just something that had happened early on, exciting but best kept a secret.

He knew he loved Dana, she told him she loved him, too. They were even talking about how it might be after college.

So things were just fine until that damned party.

+++

One girl there was named Sherry, she was one of those gals that can best be described as stacked.

Barely five feet tall, she was blessed with a pair of boobs that were not possible to ignore, and Sherry was well aware of her affect on males.

Without fail the tops she wore showed a large expanse of cleavage, and her blue jeans appeared to be painted onto her rather round bottom.

There had been a few stories about Sherry, but Dan wrote that off to just bragging. The guys did quite a bit of that when they were somewhere with none of the women around.

Most of the time Sherry was now somewhere close to Doug.

Doug's family owned a chain of auto parts stores so he always drove the latest and fanciest sports cars.

Another irritation, Dan's old Ford was clean and shiny but it was still an old Ford.

Doug played guitar in a local band which also helped make him a chick magnet. He delighted in making the amplifier squeal from feedback to the beat of some heavy drums like that was a big deal.

Dan had tried that at home himself, it was easy and just noise. He much preferred country songs, and he loved watching the audience begin to tap their feet when he played and even sang some.

Of course at the parties the instruments would come out, Dan played fairly well himself and somehow ended up taking the place of Doug's regular guitar player that night.

"Try to keep up." Doug told Dan with a sidelong glance as he picked up his own guitar and joined in. Most of Doug's music was rock, lots of Creedence, good old Led Zep, Stones and stuff like that.

Dan had no trouble doing that of course. A half dozen couples were there, and things were getting to the point where the louder the music got the better it was. Beer was flowing, someone had brought a huge jug of Vodka and Dan had been sipping that. Doug of course in short order had his guitar shoved up against the amplifier creating feedback, that was just racket to Dan.

Then Doug took a break, the kid on drums was sitting there idly tapping out some different moves as everyone was drinking and talking.

Dan slipped into a simple country song and stepped up to the microphone, by the second bar everyone was quiet and listening. Dan's voice was made for country type music and he knew that, in short order he had everyone either dancing or tapping their feet.

He did notice Sherry staring at him and then she moved up closer to the corner they were playing from. It was hard to not look at her, the thin and very tight top she had on outlined her breasts clearly, her nipples making obvious lumps.

Then she began to bounce up and down on tiptoe, that made it even worse.

After a few tunes, he saw Doug coming, the guy picked up his instrument and gave Dan a scornful look.

"Let's play some real music, I can't take any more of that crap!" He said with a tone mostly a sneer, but even at that he had that lopsided grin on his face.

Dan shrugged and set down his guitar, letting Doug do his thing.

Somewhere in there he lost track of Dana, at one point he was sitting on a couch with two other guys that were smoking some weed, but Dan never touched the stuff. The clouds of smoke got him anyway, then Sherry came over and wiggled her way onto the couch next to him.

That was the last thing he really remembered.

+++

Morning was painful, Dan opened his eyes with no clue where he was. He instantly shut them as the light sent fire into his brain. Finally he opened them again, realizing he desperately needed some water. Looking around, he knew he was in a bed but where was the question. Rolling over, his feet touched the cool floor. There was a door, obviously a bathroom so he got up and went in there, running water into the sink while drinking it right out of the tap.

Spotting the toilet, he lifted the lid and reached down to take a leak, that was when it struck him that he was naked. He also realized with a start that his pubic hair was matted and sticky with something.

He had had wet dreams before, but never when he was blind drunk. Of course he had only been totally drunk maybe 3, 4 times in his life and right now he was thinking he would never let that happen again.

Dan found a washcloth, got it wet and washed himself. Back in the other portion of the room, he found his briefs and pants. On a nearby chair was his shirt. He dressed and went to a window, looked out. He was looking at a back yard, but one he did not recognize.

This certainly was not his house, and it wasn't Dana's either.

Dan suddenly wanted to be home. He went through the bedroom door, there was a short hallway. He walked down that and came out into a living room.

A middle aged and on the mildly heavy set side woman sat in a chair, a man that was half bald sat in the other one reading a newspaper.

"Good morning! You must be Sherry's new friend? Want some coffee?" She asked, getting up.

Dan blinked at that. He looked over at the older man sitting there, who just glanced up, nodded and went back to his paper.

"I....uhhh..." Was all Dan could manage.

"Sherry will be back in just a couple of minutes, she ran down to the store for some things." The woman told him, handing him a steaming cup.

Sherry?

Dan took a sip, burning his lip.

Just then the door opened and Sherry walked in.

"Hi Danny! You are up, good. This is my Dad, Carl, and my Mom, Sara. Have a seat, I will whip up some breakfast." With that she vanished through a doorway.

Dan sat down on a nearby couch.

"So how long have you kids been dating?" Sara asked him.

"I...There was a party..." Dan managed.

"Oh. I see. Well, please don't feel uncomfortable, we are very relaxed about relationships. And you don't need to worry, we put our Sherry on birth control pills as soon as she reached puberty." Sherry's Mom said with not a trace of embarrassment.

Dan stared at her in shock. That was when it registered on him, with the incredible hangover he had not been thinking clearly.

Sherry! Somehow he had ended up at her house, in her bed. He had woken up, all sticky, with no idea at all how he had gotten there or what had happened.

Dan jumped up and ran for the bathroom, threw up. He heard Carl mumble something about "Damned kids shouldn't drink so much."

When he came out, he made his excuses and headed out the front door. Both of her parents were looking at him like he had just swiped their TV or something.

All he wanted to do was get away from there.

+++

Outside, Dan knew within just a couple of blocks where he was. The party had been at a house just a short distance away, and his own house was only a few minute's walk the other side of that.

At the party house, he found his old Ford sitting there, the keys dangling from the switch. He got in, started it and drove home.

"Where have you been, honey?" His Mom asked the second he walked in.

"The party, there were drinks so I didn't drive." He told her.

"That's good, honey. Oh, your girl friend has called several times." She went back to mixing whatever she was mixing in a bowl.

Dana. Oh God, He thought.

Dan went to his bedroom, looked at the clock. It was nearly eleven. He shook his head to clear it, all that did was hurt. He lay down on the bed and went instantly to sleep.

+++

It was nearly dark when Dan woke up. He sat up, feeling much better. It was just after seven, he went out into the living room and found his Mom was sitting there watching the news on TV.

"There is some stew on the stove, and you need to call your girlfriend, honey. She sounds pretty mad at you." She said.

Dan didn't want to talk to Dana at all, he had an idea of what was coming.

Finally he did, and what he expected came. She was in a screaming rage, demanding to know what happened and what he did.

He broke down and told her that he had been so drunk he ended up sleeping at Sherry's house and had no idea how that happened.

"That BITCH! That fucking BITCH! You slept with her, didn't you?" Dana screamed.

Dan told her the truth, he did not remember any of it.

That seemed to calm her slightly, then he told her there was no way he could have done anything anyway, he was far too drunk.

A lie, of course. He was reasonably sure of what he had done.

She acted like she was buying it for a few seconds, but then she went back into a rage.

Dan asked her where she had gone, trying to divert the subject, but she yelled at him that when she came out of the bathroom she found him gone so Doug had given her a ride home.

When she asked him again if he had "screwed that bitch" in no uncertain terms, all Dan could say was he didn't know.

"I don't remember any of that." He protested.

"Bullshit!" Dana screamed, and hung up.

The truth was he did remember some of it now, how Sherry had led him into her room and undressed him. How she had seemed to be almost doing a strip tease for him. He remembered fondling her large breasts, then how wet she had been as his fingers had found her pubic hair.

The rest was a haze. He was sure there had been sex, how he had managed it in the state he was in, he had no idea.

What he did know now was that he had probably lost Dana.

After several telephone attempts with her refusing to even speak to him, he was sure of that. Then he heard that Dana had moved to her grandmother's, going to nursing school.

A few days later he ran into Sherry and she tried to strike up a conversation but Dan made it obvious that he didn't want to talk to her.

Sherry just shrugged and walked away.

+++

It was over a full year later, Dan was sitting on top of a short concrete retaining wall, looking at one of his engineering manuals.

The first year of College had gone normally, again he had a straight "B" average. A few of the women had shown an interest but he was having none of it.

"Hello, Danny." He knew who it was before he looked up.

Dana.

"Hi. Nice to see you." He smiled, covering the sudden flush that raced through him.

Lord did she look good, she had filled out even more which did not hurt her lithe body one bit.

It all started again, right there, within a month they were an exclusive couple, within six months they were one of the few married couples on campus.

She didn't mention the party during that period and he had no reason to, so he hoped that was all forgiven.

The past was the past, best to let some things be.

They had talked about waiting until they were married to actually have sex, but that didn't happen. About a month before, Dana had been working his erection with her hands like she had done so many times, then she leaned forward and slid her mouth over him.

That was something she had not done before.

"Let me..." Dan managed, his fingers busy under the crotch of her panties. Dana slid a leg over him and settled down against his mouth with a gasp, Dan got her panties worked down over her hips, then rolled her over to slide them off the rest of the way.

Her legs were open, her naked pussy right there. He had touched her through her clothing but she always pushed his hands away after just seconds.

Now he could see her clearly, the outside folds were swollen and multicolored, the tuft of pubic hair right at the top curled upwards.

He leaned down and licked her by instinct, her hips jerked wildly so he did it some more. Looking up at her face, her eyes were glazed, so he slid up into position and they were joined, just like that.

It was so easy, so natural that Dan just thought it was meant to be. From then on, at every opportunity they were doing it. He never even thought of condoms and neither did she, for some reason she did not conceive even though it was a daily event.

She began the birth control pills just a week before they married.

Dana never mentioned the party, not one time, until about a month later he had gotten out his guitar and was playing "Knocking on Heaven's Door", just to keep his fingers loose.

"That was one of the songs you played at the party that night." Dana said. He glanced over at her, she had a sour expression on her face.

Dan did not know quite what to say, it was the first time Dana brought that up. Then she got up and stormed off to her bedroom, locking the door.

By the next day she again acted perfectly normal, so he forgot it. He did carefully avoid playing that one song again after that if she was home.

+++

Dan soon found work once he had his engineering degree in hand. He had planned to continue in college for his Masters but the job offer came and it was too good to pass up.

They talked, Dana would have a very good income when she finished school, then he could go back for his own Master's if he wanted to.

It meant money which up until then they had very little of and in short order they bought a modest two bedroom home in a subdivision. It was closer to his new job, but over 60 miles from the school.

Dan wasn't sure why Dana picked that particular house since it made things harder. She often just stayed overnight near the college, sometimes even a couple of days rather than make the long drive.

The payments took a huge chunk of his income so they decided to put off having children until later, after Dana finished her degree to become a Registered Nurse.

That period was difficult, she often was in training for 24 hour shifts, some of them even longer. Their schedules did not blend well, Dan found himself home alone for days at a time. Even her brief off times would match his work schedule, so she just slept at the training school, telling him lots of the other girls did that.