Slightly, Once Ch. 09

Kim disappeared into her room with Cindy at noon the day of the dance. I was to get lost. So I did, reading and writing a paper. No rest for the diligent student.

I showered, shaved, and donned my monkey suit. Brian approved. "Pretty studly, roomie. You'll have those old alumni broads cranked!"

I arrived at Kim's door at precisely the appointed hour, with an orchid. Answering my knock, Cindy peeked out the door. "Hi, Dave," she said excitedly. "OO! Look at you! I think she's ready." She looked back in the room, smiled at me, and opened the door.

Every last bit of air was sucked out of me. My lady stood there in the pale dress, adorned with the necklace and earrings I had given her, and high white heels. Cindy had done her hair in tight ringlets. They hung down, framed her face, and spilled down her back. I think Cindy had also done makeup. Kim usually didn't wear any, but tonight she had thin eyeliner that set off her blue eyes, a trace of eye shadow, and a trace of blush. Pale lip gloss completed the understated, elegant look. She was absolutely, incredibly, supremely beautiful. She shone. She glowed. She was my date.

I goggled while she giggled. She twirled and the dress swirled, as did her long ringlets. "You like?"

"I...like," I stumbled. "Like doesn't seem to cover it. Kim, I am stunned."

"Thanks to Cindy," Kim said. "She's the makeup artist and hair stylist."

"Thank you, Cindy," I said. "I never believed that my girl could look any better than she does every day. But this is..." I couldn't finish the thought. I clumsily pinned the orchid on, thereby earning a bright smile and a kiss on the cheek. She wiped the gloss off me with a thumb, and Cindy repaired the damage to her lips.

"Run along children," Cindy took us by the arms and shoved us towards the door. "Can't keep the rich alumni waiting!"

On the short walk over, Kim talked about the briefing she had gotten from Ginny, the team's star. "This whole thing is designed to get the alums to open their checkbooks. The cheerleaders will be there, and all the women athletes. We're supposed to dance with the men. Ginny says to expect my butt to be bruised from the pinches, but we're not supposed to let them get away with anything."

"Feels like a sort of prostitution," I said, a little uncomfortable.

"Maybe, but it could be worse," Kim said. "Ginny says that at Southern Cal they have alumni bikini parties with the cheerleaders! Imagine all these old, fat guys in bathing suits being served drinks by little cupcakes in bikinis."

"Yeah, while I love you in a bikini, I more than adore you as you are right now."

"Thank you. And might I say that you, sir, look extremely handsome! Don't let any rich alumni wife get any ideas!" She hugged my arm.

While I'd like to say that the room fell silent when Kim entered, that's a little overdramatic, and not true. Many heads did turn, however, as a stunning six-foot blonde swept into the room on the arm of a six-foot-six geek. We mingled over hors-d'oeuvres and for us, soda water. Then it was dinner. A well-catered affair with assigned seats, we were at a table of alums and their wives. Kim charmed them all, men and women. Most were basketball fans, and recognized Kim as the heroine of the North Carolina game. Kim was sweet, mostly expressing relief that she had been ready for the pass and not dropped it out of surprise. It was a lively conversation over good food. The adults were nice to us, and I think they could sense we were in love. I didn't do anything infantile like try to hold her hand under the table. Pretty proud of myself for acting like a grownup.

A respectable amount of time after the tables had been cleared, a band struck up. I barely saw Kim the rest of the night. She twirled and swirled with alum after alum, always smiling, laughing, and heart-breakingly charming. We had one dance together mid-way through.

"Whew!' she breathed, happy to snuggle into me for a slow dance. "This is like running laps! No rest!"

"You're the belle of the ball," I said. "I'm actually enjoying watching them line up to be your next partner. How's the butt?"

"No grabbing so far, but I've had four propositions to spend the night. And with these heels, I'm about six-three, so the short guys practically stick their noses in my cleavage when we dance."

"That's your substitute for a bruised butt. Any of the propositions sound good?"

"I haven't gotten one yet from the only man I want," She said, looking at me.

"Ah. Well. Ahem. Lovely Kim, you surpass adorable tonight, and I am honored to be your escort. Would you give me the distinct privilege of spending the night with me?"

"I most certainly would!" Her eyes shone, but she shrugged. "This is fun, but I'm just not really a party girl."

Our dance ended. Immediately some codger offered her his arm. He was short, and grinning. With the sweetest of smiles, Kim took it. I watched from afar the rest of the night, doing my part by dancing with old ladies. I did my best to be charming. But I didn't have Kim's charisma, by far. She really did glow that night. I could spot her from across the room.

I also danced with most of her teammates. That was fun, as they told me about how much they had grown to like Kim, how she would emerge as a team leader, and just how wonderful she was. No new news there, but it felt good to hear it. I stayed away from dancing with the cheerleaders. Kim would understand seeing me with her teammates. Maybe not so much with some cutie cheerleader.

It was late when I finally escorted her back to her room. We had failed to make prior arrangements, and Cindy was there, asleep. We tiptoed in, shed our clothes, and climbed into bed. Too exhausted to do anything anyway, we fell asleep. It had been quite a night.

When we awoke, Cindy was gone.

"How are Cindy and Brian getting along?" I asked. "Brian doesn't say very much."

"Great, as far as I can tell," Kim said. She giggled. "She still can't get over how big he is. She's always talking about the size of his penis."

"I wouldn't know, but it must be a python."

"Apparently," Kim said. "Cindy says it satisfies her more than any other she's had."

"From what you've said, that's saying something."

"Yeah," Kim said, and she was far away.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Oh, nothing."

"Don't 'oh, nothing' me. There's something. What?"

"Well," Kim said. "Uh, never mind."

"That's like forgetting the punch line of a joke. Tell me."

"Well, it's just that...well, I'm curious."

"Curious?"

"Yeah, about what it would feel like."

"What what would feel like?"

"To try to do one that big."

I was stunned. "You're really curious?"

She nodded, slightly, once. "Ever since Trey tried to rape me, I've been curious. His was so big, and Cindy says such incredible things that, well, I'm curious."

"If you want to be that way, remember that I came very close to having your roommate. I can be curious, too."

"I know."

"So."

"So?"

"Where are we? How serious are you?"

"I don't know. I love you, love making love to you, but you're the only one I've had, and I admit to being curious."

"Do you want me to ask Brian if he'll take you out? I know he thinks the world of you."

She averted her gaze. "I really don't know. I'm sure Cindy would still jump your bones in an instant. Do you want me to ask?"

"I don't know. Let's think about it today and overnight. This isn't something to decide quickly."

The day was torture. All I could think about was Kim's willingness to consider infidelity. Except for when I was fantasizing about sex with Cindy. Well, I guess it was an even match.

We didn't see each other that night, nor most of the following day. Kim made arrangements for Cindy to visit Brian that night, so we could talk.

"The way I see it," Kim said. "It's a test. Can our relationship survive a one-night-stand with someone else? If it can, that's great. If it can't, then it was never meant to last."

I wasn't so sure about the logic behind that. Words like "trust" entered my mind. But it seemed Kim had decided. "You want to do this, don't you?"

A long pause. "Yes."

Another long pause. "And I get a date with Cindy?"

"Fair's fair."

Another long pause. "OK. I'll talk to Brian, somehow."

"I'll talk to Cindy."

We cuddled in without sex, and slept.

Uh oh. Big trouble. Can This Relationship Be Saved? Part Ten will tell us, but it doesn't look good for the Home Team. Nothing like a cliffhanger. But, after all this, do you really think I could...?