A Boy's Last Summer Pt. 02

“I think we’re coming to the end of it! We should be able to start angling toward the shore.”

“Thank God!” shouted Todd.

The old pine tree had probably stood next to that river bank for the better part of two hundred years. It towered over its brethren like a saintly old grandfather watching over his kin. The flames that lit it from roots to boughs lent the trees final moments the aspect of a Viking funeral. The old trunk gave way, and the tree began to tip over, falling inexorably toward the river below.

“We’re almost home free, Todd,” cried David before the snapping sound of wood breaking drew his gaze to the far bank, and the sight of a blazing tree falling right into the path where the current was pushing he and Todd.

There was no time to angle for shore, or even shout a warning to the man under his arm before it was upon them.

*

“Anyone wish we had brought the marshmallows with us?”

“Jesus! Pete!”

“Sorry, when I get nervous I like to joke.”

“I don’t think this is a time to be joking, Pete,” said Chris beside him.

“When Chris Michaels becomes the voice of reason we are fucked,” said George from where he sat on the steps at the back of the pavilion.

“Thanks,” said Chris wryly.

“Don’t mention it.”

The whole group was lounging trying to stay out of the way of the emergency personnel while awaiting news of their friend. The helicopters had finally arrived and were sweeping the forest with searchlights, but so far there had been nothing to report.

“Here comes Roxy,” said Heather standing up.

“Anything?” asked Stacie as soon as she was in earshot.

Roxy shook her head, and the group seemed to deflate.

“He’ll be fine. David is meant for greater things than to die in some stupid fire,” said Roger.

There was general agreement all-around at this, but Roxy could only shake her head again. She had been around long enough to know that great destinies or goodness had nothing to do with death when it came calling, and even the finest among us could be struck down by the whims of fate.

“Shouldn’t someone call his parents?” suggested Pete.

“Yes...but not just yet. Let’s give them a little more time,” said Roxy, looking back the way she had come at the bustling command tent.

Heather came over and put a hand on her shoulder.

“They don’t know about you and David do they?”

“No...We were keeping things quiet until the summer was over.”

“I can call them for you if you want?”

“Thanks, Heather, but let’s hope we won’t need to call them at all. I’m sure that...”

Whatever Roxy was about to say was cut off by the sounds of shouting from men gathered around the dock near the command tent.

“We got a guy in the water over here!” yelled a ranger.

The entire group broke into a run toward the cry but were brought up short by another ranger standing at the edge of the dock.

“Hold on there folks! Let the emergency crew do its job!”

Roxy was barely able to hold herself in check standing just behind the rangers outstretched arms with the rest of David’s friends gathered around her like a mother duck with her brood.

From out of the darkness, two men came escorting a third man between them. The man with them was wet, his hair singed and clothing ripped and torn. He was walking with a pronounced limp leaning on the other men, but when he spotted Roxy, he moved toward her shaking them off. The lights from the command tent illuminated his face.

“Todd...” breathed Roxy.

The face of her ex-husband was bruised, and blood was smeared across his forehead where a small cut had opened. He came closer, stopping just a few feet away.

“What happened to you?”

“I was...out walking...taking in the view. The fire kind of spoiled it.”

“Are you o.k.? How did you end up in the river?”

“That’s the crazy thing. Your boyfriend showed up, and he and I were having a chat when the fire came...”

“David! You saw David!” shouted Roxy lurching forward and shoving the ranger aside, “Where is he, Todd?”

Todd was clearly uncomfortable, not able to meet Roxy’s face as he spoke to the ground.

“That’s the thing...David came up with the idea to use the river to get past the fire. I can’t swim as you know, but he kept me up in the water. We were almost out of it...and then...there was this tree. It toppled right down on us...it...it all happened so fast. I’m sorry, Roxy.”

He finally lifted his face the pain of his story written in his eyes.

“No...NO! Don’t lie to me, Todd. That’s all you ever do...lie...LIE...LIE! WHERE IS DAVID?” she screamed, starting to pound on his arms before the paramedics rushed forward to push her away.

“I’m sorry, Roxy. I wish it had been me...It should have been me...He saved my life, but it should have been me...” cried Todd.

Roxy staggered back the enormity of it finally landing on her.

David was gone. She had lost him.

The tears she had been holding back came like a flood with more than enough water to have quenched a dozen raging fires. She wanted to yell or hit something, but nothing presented itself. Before she could come up with an alternative, she was surrounded by David’s friends all of them trying to hug her at the same time while they vented their own fury at the loss of their friend. Stacie was closest, sobbing into Roxy’s chest, and Roxy clung to the small woman running a hand through her tangled hair.

“I’m so sorry, Roxy,” wailed Stacie.

“It’s going to be o.k.,” said Roxy trying to make herself believe it and failing.

“God Damn! Fucking Fire!” sobbed Chris standing a little apart from the others and looking back at the flames licking the sky in the distance.

Heather pulled away and went to comfort Chris, wrapping him in a hug.

“I don’t want him to be gone...” whispered Chris to her and she pulled him tighter, crying too hard to answer.

“I’m sorry folks, but I have to ask you to clear this area, please...” said one of the rangers softly, clearly feeling for them but required to do his job.

Slowly, they turned away from the dock and began to trudge back the way they had come.

“Someone get a light over here! I think we got another one in the water!” came a loud voice from the dock.

Everyone froze in place, and time seemed to come to a standstill as men rushed past the small group of friends and out onto the dock. A powerful light was switched on, and in the glare they could barely make out men moving at the end of the long wooden structure. It seemed like an eternity, and then a small knot of people was walking back toward them, leading someone in their midst. When the rescue workers reached the shoreline the glare fell away, and David’s smiling face emerged.

“Oh! My! GOD!” shouted Chris, running full tilt back toward the dock, and scooping his friend up in a hug, “I thought you were fucking dead, you asshole!”

“I’m not dead, Pal, but I would feel a lot better if you put me down,” replied David.

His friends gathered around, reaching out to touch him one at a time as if refusing to believe he was real until all their senses had confirmed it.

“Hey! You tried to drown me!” shouted Todd from where he sat in a folding chair, being taken care of by a paramedic.

“If I hadn’t dived down you and I would both be dead. I tried to tell you to hold your breath, but there wasn’t time,” shouted David back.

Todd shook his head but looked relieved that his savior had survived after all.

Stacie managed to worm her way to the front and squeezed David so tight he thought he would bust.

“Easy there, Mighty Mite! If you crack me open, you’re not going to find candy inside!” said David patting her on the head.

“You scared the crap out of us!” she admonished him, still refusing to let him go.

David was finally able to peel Stacie off him just in time to have Heather take her place. If her hug was slightly less fierce, it was only because she took pity on him and didn’t want to finish what Stacie had started. She reached up to touch his face and then chanced a quick kiss on his lips, pulling back with a smile.

“Thank you for not dying. I don’t think I would have handled that very well.”

“I’m kind of glad I didn’t die myself.”

There were more hugs and pats on the back, so much so that David felt like he was back at graduation until the group cleared off at last, and he was left with just his girlfriend who had waited patiently for the fervor to die down.

Roxy came forward very slowly, taking measured steps the whole way until she was looking David in the face, close enough to feel his breath on her cheeks. The night wasn’t particularly cold with the fire and all, but she began to shake almost like she was caught in an Arctic wind.

“I thought I lost you...” she said quietly.

“No chance of that, Roxy. I was always going to come back to you.”

“Are you hurt?”

“A scratch or two, some bruises, mostly from Todd smacking me when we were underwater.”

They stood still, staring at each other, and Roxy began to cry anew with tears flowing down her cheeks.

“You can hug me if you want,” said David trying to break the tension.

“I’m afraid to.”

“Why?”

“I’m afraid if I start I’ll never let go,” she whispered.

He slipped his arms around her waist and pulled her to him. The minute her head reached his shoulder, she began to sob so hard it almost scared him, and he squeezed her tighter trying to calm her shaking body.

“Hey, everything is fine. I’m right here...” he soothed, stroking her hair.

“Don’t you ever do that to me again! My heart couldn’t take it.”

“Never almost burn up in a forest fire? I think I can manage not to do that.”

She leaned back and smacked him on the chest playfully, finally finding a small laugh amid her relief.

They looked at each other again, her face red and shining with the tracks of her tears.

Roxy looped her arms around his neck and pulled his lips to hers. The kiss lingered as she drank in the warmth of him, the firmness and strength she had come to admire so much in the past months. When they parted, she held him close still, so that their mouths hovered near to each other, so close that when she spoke her words seemed to vibrate against his lips.

“I love you, David.”

He brushed his lips back against hers. A brief, soul felt kiss.

“I love you, too, Roxy.”

MAKE A WISH -

The venue might not have been Roxy’s first choice, but Emily had insisted that it was the only decent place to have a birthday party which is how Roxy found herself celebrating her thirtieth at “Mr. Smiley’s Fun Time Pizzeria.”

The guest of honor was sitting at the head of a long table watching her daughter standing next to Chris and Stacie. The former was holding a basketball in his hands facing a machine that gave out tickets for every shot you made.

“Ten more and that giraffe is in the bag!” shouted Emily raising her fists.

Chris laughed, bouncing the ball off the ground a couple of times while sighting his target.

“You got this right, Babe?” asked Stacie.

“Do you doubt my basketball prowess?” questioned Chris with a raised eyebrow.

“I have all the faith in the world in you,” she said, trying to sound serious but falling into a giggle.

“Perhaps I could use some inspiration,” said Chris, and before she could ask him what form that might take, he had leaned over and planted a kiss on her sweet, red lips.

Stacie blushed but didn’t turn away, throwing her arms around the neck of her much taller boyfriend and returning his affection.

“Ewwww...Why would you want a boy kissing you?” asked Emily making a face.

“There may come a day when you don’t think that is such a bad thing, Sweetie,” replied Stacie.

“I’d rather kiss a toad,” said Emily.

This got all three of them laughing before Chris finally turned and buried ten shots in a row guaranteeing his young friend her choice of prizes.

“How goes the quest for low quality imported stuffed animals?” asked David as he returned from the restroom, and plopped down in the chair next to his girlfriend.

“Sadly, they won. Which means I have to find room in my apartment for more junk.”

“At least Emily is happy.”

“I suppose that is the important part,” admitted Roxy.

David reached over and placed a small, ornately wrapped box in front of her.

“What’s this?”

“What does it look like? It’s a birthday present! The last time I checked, you were the birthday girl.”

“I told you that you needed to be saving your money for college not pissing it away on me.”

“I’ve been putting most of my salary this summer away to help cover my school expenses, but I did manage to put aside some for this special occasion. Open it.”

Roxy tried to look stern but ended up tearing into the gift like a kid on Christmas morning tossing the paper negligently aside before pushing open the lid. Inside the box, nestled in its velvet-lined interior rested a beautiful gold bracelet, plain and simple, but very elegant.

“I figured you weren’t the flashy type,” said David.

He had worried after buying it that he should have gotten one encrusted with some jewels, or adorned with gold and silver flowers, but ultimately he had settled on this straightforward piece as more befitting his girlfriend.

David could tell by her face he had guessed right.

“It’s gorgeous, David. Thank you.”

She held out her wrist so that he could put in on her. When she raised her arm, the gold caught the light in the room perfectly, shining like a miniature sun.

“This is the nicest thing anyone ever gave me. I love it.”

They traded a quick kiss, so as not to embarrass all the family’s sitting in the party area around them.

“Does this mean we’re going steady?” laughed Roxy.

David took her hand and laughed as well, but his words had an underlying seriousness.

“I don’t think we’re quite at the ring on the finger stage, but I hope you would see this as a step forward.”

Her face softened into an almost bashful look that wouldn’t have been out of place on a girl at her first prom.

“Are you trying to get serious on me, David?”

“I’m just trying to say that I’m not planning on seeing anyone else while we’re together.”

“So we’re exclusive now, Huh? Does that mean I get to beat up any cute college girls that try to flirt with my boyfriend?”

“Why don’t you leave that to me? I can keep an eye on David for you,” said Heather taking a seat across from the smiling couple.

This would have been more of a threat than a promise of help at one time, but the two women had reached an understanding since the fire.

Heather was well aware of where she stood in David’s life, and she had come to accept her role.

“See. I have eyes everywhere!” teased Roxy.

David looked up as if pleading to the Heaven’s for help, but quickly joined his friends in their laughter.

“Hey! We got a giraffe! Who wants to try Skee-Ball for that stuffed donkey?” asked Chris, loudly returning to the table with Stacie and Emily by his side.

“What a great idea!” yelled Emily.

It was Roxy’s turn to look to the Heavens.

*

As silly as the venue might have been, Roxy had to admit it had been the most fun she had enjoyed at a birthday party since she was a kid. David and his friends had been very sweet to both her and Emily, making sure that her young daughter had a good time that more than matched her mothers. The girl in question was sleeping soundly now, worn down and crashed out among a small jungle of stuffed animals.

“Is the little princess sleeping?” asked David when she returned to the room.

“She is indeed, and now I have one last birthday present I want to open.”

“Oh? Did your family send you something?” asked David puzzled.

“No...It’s kind of a present I got for myself. You stay here, and I’ll bring it.”

Roxy vanished from the room, and David sat patiently on the couch, awaiting her return. He was leafing through a magazine when the living room light went out, leaving him in the semi-darkness with just the hallway light for illumination.

“Hey! I was trying to read,” he said, looking up.

“Wouldn’t you rather pay attention to my present?”

Roxy was standing at the edge of the light in the skimpiest babydoll nightie David had ever seen. The sheer fabric barely covered her breasts, and it seemed useless in that regard anyway since you could see right through it. The top split just above her belly leaving her flat stomach bare down to her lower half which was largely exposed behind a very thin, lacy, black thong.

“Honestly, Sweetie. That looks like more of a present for me than you,” said David thickly, not able to tear his eyes from Roxy’s sexy body.

“I think of it as a gift that both of us can enjoy.”

She waggled a finger at him, and David swallowed and stood up from the couch, making his way over to his girlfriend, finding it harder and harder to walk as his cock rapidly swelled in his shorts.

As soon as he reached her, Roxy didn’t hesitate to pull him to her and cover his mouth in a hot, hungry, French kiss swishing her tongue in quick circles around and around. They both began to groan and breath more sharply falling back against the wall. David reveled in the feel of Roxy’s creamy, full lips sliding slickly with a fresh coat of lipstick all over his making him shiver with anticipation. He slid his hands down to cup her magnificent, tight ass giving it a good squeeze while she groaned into his mouth.

“I think we need to take this to the bedroom,” she panted, grabbing David’s hands and yanking him in that direction.

They crashed into the bedroom door that swung back loudly, and only a diving save by David kept it from making a noise that might have awoken Emily.

Roxy backed toward the bed, a wicked smile on her face, and David followed shutting the door behind them.

“The birthday girl wants another gift,” she said in a sultry whisper.

“What would that be?” asked David.

“Your tongue in my pussy.”

“I think that could be arranged.”

Roxy lay back on the bed spreading her legs. David stripped off his t-shirt and quickly removed his shorts, leaving them on the floor. His boxers were stretched in front by the enormous erection he was sporting while he moved down between his girlfriend’s legs, slipping her thong to the side. The pink lips of her labia were already swollen and pulling back from the entrance to her vagina where the glistening flesh inside her seemed to beckon David’s tongue. He moved forward, gently kissing the top of her hairy Venus mound before letting his tongue trace a line across her wet slit. Roxy arched her back slightly moaning into the dark.

“Oh! David! That’s what I need...Give my pussy a nice, deep, French kiss...”

David gave a soft chuckle before he did as she asked and slipped his tongue inside her.

Roxy gasped and grabbed at the bed covers.

“Ah! God! Baby! You have no idea how bad I want you right now!”

“I think I have a pretty good idea,” thought David.

He had never seen his girlfriend so wet, her vagina soaking with juice that quickly covered his face and seemed to pour out even more as he licked her pussy all over. In no time, Roxy was squirming all over the bed, unable to hold still while he ran his tongue around her clit and sucked her pussy lips into his mouth to nibble on.

“Ah, fuck...FUCK! FUCK! David! God Damn! You have such a magic tongue! FUCK! You eat my pussy so good! Ah! Shit! I need to suck your cock! Please let me suck your cock, David!”

David wasn’t one to leave a woman wanting, and he quickly divested himself of his underwear joining Roxy on the bed in a “69” position. She swiftly guided his cock into her mouth, and he groaned himself, nearly matching her enthusiasm. Her hands were on his hips pulling at him, making him push his cock into her mouth while he kept performing his oral gymnastics on her cunt. The sensation of fucking her warm, wet mouth while sucking on her clit was a huge turn on, and it took all his willpower not to cum right down her throat.