A Phoenix Story: Living The Hand You're Dealt

Reminiscing about the party, Darren recalled how the younger sister and he talked through the situation the next morning. Both realized it was just a case of alcohol induced horniness taking undue advantage of their mutual loneliness. They had no plans to get together again.

He remembered how hostile his ex had been after she walked in on them taking a shower together the next morning. Even though her younger sister was eighteen years old, his ex made it sound like Darren was a pedophile who had violated a fourteen year old.

Quietly disengaging himself from the argument that pursued, he managed to slip away, leaving the sisters to work things out between them. From the tone of their escalating voices, he knew it was going to take awhile.

Recalling the aggravation, he sassily said, "Note to self, never again screw sisters under any circumstances."

From behind him came, "That's a good policy, but who are you talking about? Tonya only has brothers."

Responding with his usual gracefulness to an unexpected voice, Darren jumped, landing on the edge of the couch, flipping it over onto himself when he fell to the floor. Red was laughing so hard she had tears rolling down her face while she helped him get out from under the couch and set it upright.

She said, "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. I thought Tonya told you I was already here."

Darren, still trying to get his heart back in his chest, replied, "You didn't scare me."

When Becca almost went to the floor laughing at his reply, he realized how stupid the answer sounded and was soon laughing with her.

Over the next couple of hours they both outlined their feelings on sharing a place, division of chores, plus individual and joint responsibilities. Darren was very impressed by Becca's way of firmly planting in his mind the fact they were just roommates, not a couple in any way, shape, or form.

She did make him tell her about the sisters before letting the subject drop. After he finished the story she shook her head and replied, "Well of course goofball, everybody knows you don't screw sisters or brothers."

Over the next few months, until Thanksgiving, Darren and Becca along with the rest of the gang hung out and partied together. They both took time to reconnect with old friends and forge bonds with new ones.

When not hanging out with friends, Becca and Darren spent a lot of time studying together. Darren also helped his roomie overcome some Math and history problems she was struggling with.

They occasionally dated others but neither was able to find someone they really could connected with. A lot of their time together was spent laughing and sharing what was or went wrong with their dates.

When everyone got back from Thanksgiving, Darren noticed Becca was always at his side, constantly touching his arm, shoulder, or leg. When everyone got together at the club one night, one of the other guys pointed it out to him. His buddy had noticed Becca made sure she was sitting next to Darren all night, even sitting in his lap at one point.

Since there were only two days before Christmas break Darren didn't have time to fully explore his feelings on the matter. But he decided to ask for a phone number to reach her over the holidays... just in case.

She seemed quite excited at the suggestion and told him, "You can call me anytime, day or night."

Darren thought the comment a bit weird, but was so enamored with the cute little ball of fire, he just passed it off.

He called her at least twice a week over the break and each call got longer while they talked about anything and everything that came to mind. The last call was just after Christmas when he explained, "Hey just so you know, I'm caught in a problem with the airline.

"There was a holiday overbooking hitch and they offered me some primo seats to fly a different day. So I'll be back on the thirtieth. At least the apartment will have food in the fridge and heat on when you get there."

She got quiet for a moment then replied, "Ok, I'll see you then, but gotta go for now, see ya soon."

When Darren arrived back at school he went about making the apartment livable again. After putting Becca's Christmas gift on her bed, he reset the thermostat then headed off to the store. He knew he was going to be alone over New Years, so he bought some beer and a bottle of wine. As a gift to himself he also made sure he had plenty of munchies for the bowl games.

After the shopping was completed, Darren restocked the fridge and cabinets before heading for the shower. He intended to hit the sack early and enjoy the quiet. The hot water felt good and he absentmindedly wished that spring would get here so he could run again.

Even though he now knew he was not a college level runner he still liked to run a few times a week. The same applied to baseball, after the coach made it clear he didn't possess the skills necessary to play at collegiate level, he still enjoyed going to the games.

Lost in his own little world he fumbled the soap and bent down to pick it up. Coming back up, he noticed two well toned legs attached to a very nice peach shaped ass move into the tub.

As the girl turned, his vision was teased by the view of two little puffy lips adorably nestled in a patch of curly blond pubic hair. He couldn't help but notice a cute little 'heart' shaped birth mark right above that, that seemed to point the way to her hidden treasure.

Continuing his tour up her wonderful body he found a smooth but tight abdomen spread around the sexiest looking belly button he had ever seen. He swore he could hear it pleading for his tongue to invade and caress it.

Above that were two magnificent breasts, creating a delectable topping for all the sexual goodies below. Curiosity forced his eyes higher, but with great reluctance, he just knew in his heart if this wasn't a dream... one of them was in the wrong apartment.

As his eyes reached her full red lips, they begged to be kissed. He continued on to stare into light blue eyes shrouded in a gorgeous face framed by beautiful red hair. Shaking his head, he said, "Becca?"

"Yeah, Becca! I missed you a whole lot during break, Mister." As she threw her arms around his neck and pulled him down for a kiss, her tongue demanded and gained entrance.

He pulled her body to his as his erection hardened even more than it had from the visual stimuli. She pulled away from the kiss and purred, "I can tell you missed me too," as she reached down to stroke his excited member.

"Yeah I did, but you said no touching, I mean we aren't lovers..."

She kissed him again, then smiled, "Touch all you want, anytime you want, and you're right, we aren't lovers... yet! It takes a bit more for loving than just a kiss, so use that touchy feely stuff and get me ready."

Becca giggled, "Oh and once we make love my kid sister is off limits forever."

Darren couldn't reply, he had been taught early in life, never talk with your mouth full. Still on one knee, his lips and tongue were busy caressing first one then the other nipple standing out so proud in front of him. All he heard was a deep moan, followed by, "Oh yeah lover, I like that."

Already lost in the haze of lust, Darren barely heard Becca's deep mewling while his hands gently moved over her body touching, feeling, rubbing, and squeezing. As his fingers tenderly moved inside her velvet lined wetness, he began to tease her clit with his thumb.

He heard her excited voice, "Come on before the shower gets cold. We need to wash off so we can get really messy."

His fingers reluctantly slipped from their hiding place as he stood. Unable to keep their hands to themselves, they finally gave up. Between the laughter and playful banter they just washed and dried each other the best they could.

The rest of the afternoon and early evening was fast hard sex, slow tender love making, and everything in between. Finally, in the afterglow of four couplings, they held each other and just enjoyed the special closeness of their new relationship.

Darren saw Becca looking up at him and he asked, "Not that I'm complaining, but where did that come from?"

"Well Mr. 'I've got to study to the exclusion of all else,' I have been trying to get your attention since the end of October. I tried being more overtly attentive, touching you repeatedly... have you even noticed how I'm dressed when we are here alone together?

"Then in December I decided to get more aggressive. I did my best to make it clear to everyone that you were the focus of my desires. All to no avail, I might add.

"So, when I found out you were coming back early I had to scramble to get here too. I figured if you weren't going to make the first move, I would.

"I'm glad I did. You're good... damn good!" Becca said with a smile.

Darren sheepishly replied, "Hell yes, I noticed all those things, along with the short dresses and half nightie combos. Trust me, you had me talking to myself a lot of nights.

"But damn it, I was told by you and Tonya, 'No touching.' Remember? So until you said it was ok, I wasn't about to. I'm glad you finally decided to make the first move, and thanks, you're great too."

Becca giggled as the seriousness in his statement warmed her fondness for him. "Okay, so now that we both know we want this. Are you ok with it?" She asked.

"Oh yeah," Darren shot back with a deep throaty sigh that made Becca giggle again. Darren got a serious look on his face, "One question?"

"Yes?" she replied smugly.

"I really enjoyed going down on you, but couldn't help notice you're not a natural redhead. I thought most women did that in reverse. You know, wanting to be blond?" He hoped he hadn't offended her.

She touched his nose, then said, "All through the first three years of high school I had guys fawning all over me. At first the attention was cool.

"After awhile I realized ninety plus percent of them were attracted to my hair but not to me. They were drawn to the 'dumb bimbo' reputation blond hair engenders.

"So my senior year I went through about four different hair colors and found myself happy with this one. Lo and behold I was suddenly flying under the radar. My dates became fun, not an Olympic hand slapping event.

"I kept it this color when I came to college and I've been able to watch the wolves at work while I looked for a nice guy. That brings us back to you."

"Thank you, I'll do my best to live up to your standards", Darren grinned.

"You're welcome, I don't have any doubt you'll treat me right," she quipped.

Pausing for a moment, "Hungry?" he asked.

"Yep I could eat, whatcha got in mind?"

"How about pizza, would that be ok?"

"Let's go, I just realized how hungry I actually am," she replied and kissed him.

After getting dressed they walked with arms around each other to a nearby pizza joint named 'The Palace' and sat talking while chowing down. Deciding to call it an early night, they headed home.

Capping off a slow easy night with a final bout of lovemaking, they lay completely satiated in one another's arms. As she played with his lips, Daren smiled at her and said, "You're so damn cute, I could just eat you up."

She responded lazily, "Hmmm... what a way to go, I am so happy and comfortable. But you better leave the kitty alone for now. You can play with it again in the morning."

"Ok," Darren smiled, "I haven't felt this connected since last summer." He was talking to himself, a habit Becca had always thought was cute.

Becca responded with a yawn, snuggled into him to get a nice sleeping position and mumbled, "Good at least you stopped seeing your ex's sister."

Darren kissed her and both of them quickly fell asleep.

Chapter Three

Becca tried to gather her thoughts as she lay awake watching the ceiling stare back at her, 'Has it already been eleven months? After Darren decided to take summer classes, I remember how tickled I was when he asked me to stay over with him.

'Even though he warned me the summer would be brutal and he would need to put in long hours of study to qualify for grad school, I am still pissed. During the spring semester Darren got so one tracked if I didn't pester him, he would zone out and forget I was here.

'I know he took full course loads while I only signed up for one class during each of the summer terms.' She paused a moment regrouping her thoughts before continuing her self argument, 'I had to cut back on classes because I had to work. It wasn't an option for me, I had to make more money for the coming year.

'Everything was cool for the first couple of months, but now summer is almost over. I want to do things with him, but he is always too busy to even talk, let alone go anywhere.

'When we do talk, it's nothing but a constant nibbling at each other, no damn it, now it's just plain ole fighting. I'm sorry, I need more attention. We both need to have more fun and now he's telling me the fall semester is going to be just as bad.'

She listened to the voice of reason in her head. 'He's really trying to do well; he just needs time to get through this final summer semester.

'I think I'm going to take Gwen's advice and go with the gang from the office Friday night. A few drinks and a little dancing would be a nice change from being cooped up twenty-four/seven.

'It will be fun and a great tension relief. At least my best girlfriend is thinking about my mental stability. I'll explain to Darren in the morning.'

She rolled over and slowly fell asleep waiting for her guy to get home.

********

Darren left the library after midnight again. Making his way back to the apartment, he thought about Becca. "Damn it, the faster I try to get through with my studies the longer it seems to take.

'I know Becca's fed up. She wants and needs more time with me, hell it's just as rough on me, I need more time with her. We both need to put some fun back into our lives and do it together. When she's free, I am knee deep in studying; when I'm free, she is either working or in class.

'Saturday morning we need to sit down and talk, work out some time together. Maybe we could go see one of the plays she's been talking about, or at least take in a movie. We have some extra cash put back.

'That would be a lot of fun and I am in need of some battery recharging. The main point, just spend some carefree time together, let off some steam. The demand for papers this semester has been horrid.'

Arriving home Darren stumbled into bed after setting his alarm for six, "Early day tomorrow," he mumbled kissing Becca, cuddling into her he was asleep in seconds.

*********

Becca was up and moving at 8:30 the following morning. She was going to talk to Darren about her plans to go out with the people from her office after work.

Walking into the kitchen she was surprised to find a note on the white board about an unexpected assignment so Darren had an early start. He had signed off, 'Baby please don't wait up we can talk in the morning, Love ya "D."

That was it, Becca lost her grip, she began shouting and crying. "Damn it... you're damn right I won't wait up. How much of this do you think I can take?

"If this is what you 'think' makes a good relationship, well mister, you have another 'think' coming. I am going dancing tonight and that's final. If you can ignore me, let's see if you can ignore that."

She crossed through his message and tersely wrote, 'Out with friends, I'll be really late or at Gwen's if too loaded. See you whenever. Becca.'

Becca was obviously very hostile when she arrived at the office. Hayden Olsson, another student office worker with whom she and Gwen usually shared lunch hour with, followed her to the back.

"Hey, you don't look so good. What's going on?" His voice sounding concerned. Becca suddenly realized Hayden was standing closer to her than she liked but not so familiar to be uncomfortable.

Becca couldn't help herself as she began to cry again. "Is Gwen here yet?" she asked.

"No!" Hayden replied, "She took today off to help set up the club for tonight's party. Can I help or is this a girl's only kind of thing?"

One thing Becca had come to appreciate about Hayden, despite his occasional outburst of macho maleness was the fact he did seem to know when to let the girls talk among themselves.

Her increasingly higher pitched voice gave away her fragile emotions, "No, just peeved at my boyfriend right now... I'm sick and tired of being taken for granted." Suddenly Becca couldn't hold back, Hayden opened his arms and she went to him, sobbing on his chest.

She heard Hayden say, "This guy needs to get a grip on reality. What a jerk to do this to you."

Becca's heart wanted to tell him he was wrong, that Darren was actually a nice guy. But for the moment her emotions ruled, her silence agreed with Hayden.

After she calmed down, Hayden gently let her go, keeping his hands on her shoulders. Catching her gaze, he touted, "Tell you what; I'll make sure we dance with each other as much as possible tonight.

That way you can tell this lunk-head he better get on the stick. You have another guy interested... and you won't be lying, ok?"

Becca nervously glanced at his hands on her shoulders. "We'll see about tonight, but for now I have to figure out how to make things right with my boyfriend."

Hayden jerked his hands back holding them up like Becca had a gun. "Sorry, my only expertise is dancing, that's all I have to offer."

Becca turned and headed for the girl's room to compose herself. Hayden watched her cute little butt as she walked away. Just as she reached the restroom door, he mumbled to himself, "Strange chick, but tonight we'll see if my hands bother her after few drinks and some belly rubbing on the dance floor."

As she went through the restroom door, instead of stopping when she heard him mumble something, Becca just continued on, choosing to ignore him.

********

Becca felt exhausted. Combined with her slight buzz, she decided it best to crash in Gwen's apartment. As she lay in Gwen's spare bed she thought back over the evening. 'I haven't had this much fun in a long time. The music... the laughter... I think I danced with everyone. I even kept a perfect buzz all night but never let it get beyond that.

'As the designated driver Gwen did a good job of watching over me so nobody got too out of hand. However, I was buzzed enough that I was surprised by Hayden's sudden come on when he got me isolated in the hallway just before we left.

'I allowed him to kiss me for a moment or two, but when he tried to French kiss me, I pushed him away. He can't kiss anywhere near as good as Darren and he won't be getting another chance to try either.

'The 'no harm, no foul' rule I guess applies for now, but I will need to be careful around that one. He is cagey, he slipped through my defenses quicker than anyone I've ever experienced.

'I really need to talk to Darren today and work out some of these feelings of anger. He really is special to me; I'm just frustrated with him.'

She looked at the clock it was 4:30 in the morning, 'Time to sleep.'

*******

Darren glanced over at the clock once more, it was five minutes later than the last time. He finally just gave up, it was six o'clock in the morning and he was exhausted after a sleepless night without Becca.

He began talking out loud to help him think things through. "Now what do I do, I can't give up on school and I don't want to give up on Becca.

"God I wish she would call so I could stop worrying. Why didn't she just talk to me about a night out with some friends? I would have understood and I wouldn't have worried about her all night."

Thinking back to the afternoon before, "Yeah, turns out I'm ruining the grade curve so my teacher excuses me from finals. So, stupid me, I rushed to finish my last two papers, picked up some Chinese take out, and hurry home thinking I'm going to be in my girls arms.