Brad's Road Trip Ch. 04

And no, I had no intentions of doing anything that's actually covered under the real-life DADT policy.

"Um," I started, again winning the Whiz Kid of the Year award. "I think--" I started, but she cut me off.

"Five times?" she said. "Five orgasms? I've never had more than two at one time. I don't just think I'm jealous. I'm definitely jealous."

She might have been able to hear my sigh of relief from six states away.

"What?" she said when I didn't immediately say anything. "What did you think I was talking about?"

"You know damn well what I was thinking. You probably set it up that way, knowing I'd freak for a second before you let me off the hook."

"Me? I wouldn't do that," she said, using that sing-song again, the tone that let me know that not only would she do it, but she just did. "Besides, you need to get it through your head that I'm not kidding here. I'm really enjoying all of this."

"I know you are," I said. "But, it's just strange."

"There's nothing strange about it, Brad," she said. "I like you, but I don't want to deprive you of something you've been working toward for a long time. I'm patient. And besides, it's not like this is all bad for me. You know how to get me off with just your voice, and all kidding aside, you have some experiences that just blow my mind. When you get here, and if we get together and things start going well, am I going to want you messing around with every girl you meet? Probably not. But we're not even on the same continent as that bridge yet, so I'm not going to worry about it. For now, you're two weeks from home, and I love hearing about everything you're doing in the meantime."

I should have been speechless, but the right words just kinda rolled off my tongue. I didn't even have to give them permission.

"That's good enough for me," I said. "I won't worry about it again."

"Good," she said. "Now. You have to tell me something about yourself."

She was right. I'd said I would go first.

"You have any questions you want me to answer?"

"No," she said. Before I could fill in the blanks, she reversed herself. "Actually, yes. But this doesn't count for your thing, because it's not about you. I was telling a friend of mine about this guy I'd met, who was coming home from San Antonio after being in the Marines for five years. He said there were no Marine camps in San Antonio. So why were you there?"

"Intelligence," I said.

"To get some?" she said, laughing.

"Not quite," I joked back. "No place in the world that can crack through this skull. I worked in intelligence in the Marines, and I was one of maybe 80 guys attached to the Air Intelligence Agency at Lackland Air Force Base. There weren't many of us around, but it was good times."

"What did you do there?"

"Well, I could tell you, but..."

"Let me guess. You'd have to kill me?"

"Well, technically, the government would prefer it that way, yes. But I was thinking more along the lines of.. I could tell you, but it would put you right back to sleep. Everyone thinks intelligence is James Bond and fast cars and undercover spy shit. It's actually quite boring."

She laughed.

"Ok. So?"

"So? What? I don't know."

"This was your idea, and you don't know what to say?" Kelly asked.

"No, I don't," I replied. "You're right. You should start instead."

"Oh, no. You said you'd start."

"Yeah, that's what I thought," I said. "You got nothing."

"I have another day to come up with it," she said. "You don't."

"Help me out here," I said. "I'll do the same for you tomorrow. Ask me something."

"Hmmmm," she said, and something in the back of my mind decided it would be a good idea to imagine how she would sound if she did that with my cock in her mouth. "Ok. I went to watch my friend's band play yesterday at a bar, and I remember wondering if you play anything. So, we'll start there."

"Shit, I wish I'd remembered that," I said.

"What?"

"I can play the piano," I said. "Chicks eat that shit up. I can play some sappy melody, and it works the same as alcohol. Gets you all lubed up and ready to hop into bed."

"Who says I would need lubing up?" she asked, and I had no good response. "I don't think me getting wet will be a problem when we meet."

"Okay, then," I said. "I'll play it for the other women I might want to get with besides you."

"Yeah, you might need to do that," she said. "Most women aren't as dumb as I am."

"Ouch," I said. "That hurts."

"Well, I'm sure I'll be saying that plenty until I get used to you," she said. "You can say it now."

We kept talking for another half hour, rambling on and on about nothing and everything. The piano led her to talking about church, which led me to talking about priests, which got us on pedophilia.

Ok. Not really. Or maybe. I don't really remember. I do remember that when I hung up the phone, after she told me she'd call me after her second shift was over, I thought midnight couldn't get here soon enough.

******

Paul pulled me aside around 5 or 6 p.m., after I'd spent the afternoon hanging out with some college kids who were already loaded and had probably been that way since sometime on Thursday afternoon. One of the girls, who wasn't particularly shy, had yelled at me as I was walking around that she thought I was cute and that I should come over there.

I didn't return the sentiment, but there was no harm in being nice. As I'd later find out anyway, she was dating one of the bigger, beefier guys in the group. So it was probably good that I didn't find her cute, and even better that I kept that feeling to myself. Besides, they had free beer, and I wasn't arguing with that.

I ran into Paul and the others shortly thereafter, during a break between shows. I saw Zia and Belinda first, walking around holding hands and probably making every man in the zip code wish he'd been born on the other side of the gender equation. The guys weren't far behind, and Becky was with them.

"We need to talk," he said, and I flashed a glance at Becky as he and I walked away. Her face was more of a bemused smirk than anything else, but I didn't know how to read it.

"What's on your mind?" I replied. I wasn't going to keep it from him, but I wanted to know how much he knew first.

"Not much, really," he said, confusing me. "Becky just told me we needed to talk."

Ah. So she was going to let me tell him. Well, I guess that made sense. I was leaving town the next day, and she wasn't.

"She and I slept together last night," I said, figuring it would be best to get it out there. His reaction surprised me - he smiled.

"Yeah, I know," he said. "She told me."

"And you're not mad, right?" I asked.

"I'm not sure," he said. "Not sure I should be, but I can't say I'm totally good with it, either."

Not what I was expecting, to be honest. I figured he'd do one of two things - laugh or take a swing at me. I was prepared to join him on the one and dodge the other, but I wasn't prepared for hesitation.

"Why?" he asked when the silence had gone on long enough.

"Thought it'd be good to know whether I needed to stand out of reach of your wingspan or not," I said, which made him laugh.

"Oh, no," Paul said. "Nothing like that."

"Good," I said, and smiled as I clapped him on the shoulder. "Listen-"

Paul didn't let me finish before hitting me with something totally from left field.

"Was she good?" he asked. I blinked a couple times at him, to see if he was joking or not. Becky said they'd slept together, yet he was asking me if she was good?

"Amazing," I replied, figuring it might be best to simply leave it at that.

"I thought so," he said. Neither of us said anything for a minute, so Paul thought that was it.

"Should we get back?" he asked.

"Not yet," I said. "Why are you upset?"

"I'm not," he said. "I just told you."

"You just told me you didn't know either way, Paul. You're not supposed to be upset, because you aren't tied to each other. But you're certainly not happy. Tell me why."

It got silent right then, and it quickly crossed the line over to uncomfortable. As tempted as I might have been, I didn't break the stalemate. Finally, after what seemed like five or six minutes but was probably only one, he did.

"I don't think men are supposed to talk about things like this," he said, making sure he laughed generously along the way. He was kidding and stalling.

"Fucking men," I replied.

"I'm really into her, Brad," he said, refusing to make eye contact with me.

"Have you told her that?" I asked.

"I didn't think I needed to," he replied. "We go everywhere together, do everything together. The only things we don't do as a pair are work and shower, and I'm working on the second one."

"Good man," I said, and we bumped fists. That's the way it is with men. A nuclear bomb could have just exploded. A well-armed terrorist army could be marching up the driveway. George W. Bush could be elected to a third term. No matter how bad things get, if men discuss sexual exploits with each other, fists will be bumped. This is as sure a thing as death and taxes.

"Listen," I continued. "Women aren't always as smart as we give them credit for. They're still infinitely smarter than we are - just ask them - but sometimes they need to be told. I know for a fact that she has no idea."

"How?"

"Well, last night at the campsite, I found her leaning up against my car depressed. When I asked why, she told me about your Latina hottie for the night. Somewhere along the way, she mentioned that she loved you."

He seemed stunned by that, but not for too long.

"Was that before or after you got her off five times?"

Apparently word got around. I couldn't imagine Becky had included that little nugget in her conversation with Paul.

"Somewhere between orgasms two and three," I said, trying to make a joke to diffuse what I thought could develop into a pretty nasty situation if I wasn't careful. "Honestly, man, it was before."

"And you still slept with her."

"You were somewhere else fucking someone else, Paul," I said. "There were only two possibilities for me, as drunk as I may have been last night. Either you're not into Becky, in which case, you could probably give a damn who she sleeps with. Or you are, but you're with someone else, so you can't be all that upset if she is, too. Figured I was on safe ground either way."

"Well, I guess when you put it that way..."

"Why were you doing that, anyway? If you feel that way about Becky, why weren't you with her?"

"Dude, we've been sleeping together for two years, and I've never gotten any hint that she wanted anything more than that. I've dropped a hint of my own here and there, but got nothing back. I'd pretty much given up on us ever doing anything more than sleeping together. If I'd known any of this..."

"You wouldn't have been with Miss Mexico last night?"

"Man, I called her Becky," he said, and I spit the water I was drinking all over myself and him. "The music from the next site over was loud enough that I don't think she heard me, but still."

"You guys need to work on your friggin' communication skills," I said, and he smiled. "I'll say this, though. Somewhere between orgasms... she did mention that you knew what you were doing between the sheets. So you have that going for you."

"I know she doesn't think I last long enough," he said. "But I make up for it in other ways."

"Practice, my brotha," I said. "Practice, practice, practice."

We chatted for a few more seconds, then we slowly made our way back to the group. Paul kind of hung out in the back while I dove into the crowd.

"So?" Becky saw me coming before I saw her. She was sweating, slightly sunburnt on her cheeks and just a little drunk. She was still gorgeous.

"He didn't punch me, so that's good," I said.

"You're a Marine," she said. "You can take him."

"Yeah," I agreed. "But all my stuff is in his tent."

We both laughed, but she was still waiting for a real answer, and I knew it.

"You've never told him how you feel, have you?"

She stared at me for a few seconds. "No," she said finally. "I just thought it was pretty obvious."

"Yeah, so did he, apparently."

Her eyes narrowed for a second, then brightened considerably.

"You mean-"

"Yes," I said. "He wasn't really mad about you and I, because he realized he didn't have the right. But he did say if he'd known, last night never would have happened."

"Him sleeping with that other girl?"

"And you sleeping with me, too," I finished.

"Well, I'm glad _that_ happened."

"Me too," I agreed. "But seriously. If he'd known, Becky.. you guys would still be in that tent right now. He thought you weren't interested."

She looked down at the ground for a minute, and I imagined she was probably thinking about the time she and Paul had lost simply by making assumptions and not talking. I pulled her chin up to look at me.

"If you look behind me, he should be back there," I said. "Go. Go now."

She gave me a look that said so many things, but it only stuck for a second. Then she was gone, brushing past me. When I turned to look a few seconds later, I saw them heading back to the campsite.

"They're going to miss Montgomery Gentry," J.T. said.

"Something tells me they'll get over it," Belinda said. She winked at me before turning her attention back to the stage.

*******

They were still going at it when we all got back to the campsite around 11 p.m. Despite the quiet rules, we could hear them from a couple rows over.

"Sounds like somebody's making up for lost time," Zia said. "What'd you say to them?"

"Yeah, man," Bobby said. "We've been trying to get them together for years."

"Eh," I said. "I just said what they wouldn't. Nothing more than that."

"Well, I guess they're not coming out," J.T. said, chucking a thumb in the direction of the tent, where Becky was climbing the vocal ladder with her moans. "You guys wanna load up before we go or just get drunk when we get there?"

"I think the getting drunk boat has left the marina, J.T.," I said.

"Good idea. We'll drink now, and we'll drink later," he said. I looked over at the girls to see how they would play it. "Let's go."

"We're not coming with," Zia said, taking Belinda's hand.

"Why not?"

"We.. want to spend a little time together," she said. Everyone knew what that meant.

"Hey, I wanna watch," Bobby said.

"Well, I don't wanna watch," J.T. said. "That's my sister."

"She's still hot," Bobby replied.

"Whatever. We're not staying. Let's head out, Brad."

Now the girls were looking at me, to see if I was going to try to get out of it. Hell yes, I was going to try to get out of it.

"You guys go ahead, man. I gotta get on the road in a few hours, so I'm gonna drink a little more and get some sleep."

"You haven't even hung out one night, man. You're supposed to have fun at these things."

I didn't know how much J.T. and Bobby knew, outside of that first night with Teresa. So, I played it safe.

"Oh.. don't worry," I said. "I've had my share and then some. You guys go ahead. I need sleep."

That was my story, and I was sticking to it. At least until they left the site and went off in search of their version of fun.

"You suck, man," J.T. said. Zia and Belinda were now standing behind me, and I heard Zia whisper, "I bet he does."

"I know, I'm no fun. Just don't wanna die somewhere in Arkansas tomorrow."

"Well, when ya put it that way," J.T. said. He pulled Bobby with him as he left the site. The three of us stood there and watched them go. We stood there a little longer, as though none of us were sure what to do next.

"Oh, fuck!" we heard Becky say. "Yeah. Lick my pussy. Right there!"

"That sounds like a good idea," Belinda said, and we all laughed.

"Yeah, but Brad needs sleep," Zia said, clearly teasing me.

"It sounded like a good excuse at the time," I said, and the other two laughed. When they stopped, it got silent again. "So. Shall we go take Becky's advice?"

The three of us went into the tent quietly. I unzipped the divider so that we had more room to move, and we situated the sleeping bags so they made a makeshift bed for us. I knew if I let it, the silence would get awkward again. This was supposed to be a lot of things, but awkward wasn't one of them.

"Come here," I said to Belinda, patting the spot in front of me on the sleeping bag. She crawled over to me, and I situated her between my legs with her back to me. She was tense as all hell, but I had plans to fix that. I placed my hands on her shoulders, under her hair, and started rubbing gently. She started purring like a cat that had just been fed.

"Oh, my," she said. I assumed another word would be following that, but it caught in her throat. Her neck immediately relaxed, and her head dropped forward as I worked through her shoulder muscles and started in on her neck.

"Is this really going to happen?" That was Zia, and she'd said it so softly that at first, I wasn't entirely sure she'd said anything until I looked at her. She was looking at me expectantly.

"I sure as hell hope so," I said, and she smiled. I crooked a finger at her, beckoning her towards us. As she crawled near, I pulled Belinda's hair gently, forcing her to raise her head up. That opened her neck and throat for Zia, and she grinned before leaning in.

Belinda started moaning in earnest as Zia's tongue manipulated her skin. I had a front-row seat for the show, and I watched as she traced lines over both jaws, gently nibbling on both earlobes before moving south, where she left some tell-tale signs on Belinda's throat. Meanwhile, my hands moved all over her back and shoulders, working out some knots here and there but generally not staying in one place for too long.

It didn't take too long before Zia was working her way farther down and I was helping her take off Belinda's T-shirt. The shyer of the two, Belinda showed no signs of hesitation when I unhooked her bra. She drew a sharp breath shortly thereafter when Zia began licking her nipples and bathing her breasts with her tongue.

"Do you like that?" I whispered softly into Belinda's right ear. I saw her smile slightly.

"Yessss," she said, drawing out the word like she was in a trance. I guess, in a way, she kind of was. "Do you?"

"I like what it's doing to you," I replied. My hand slipped around Belinda's slender torso and cupped her right breast, so Zia licked my fingers as well as Belinda's nipple. Belinda leaned her head back onto my shoulder, so I dipped my head down to bite her shoulder. Hell, I thought. It worked on Becky, so why not?

A few minutes later, Zia had moved back up and was sharing a feverish French kiss with Belinda, while my hands roamed all over both of them. Zia's breasts were screaming for their release from her bra and blouse, and I was massaging them while the two women made out.

Finally, the kiss broke off, and Zia leaned back to catch her breath. "So," she said. "I thought this was supposed to be hot, sweaty sex."

"Check back with me in a couple hours," I said.

"So what's with all the romance, then?" she said.

"Well, you're the ones making out," I said. "And besides? Who says guys don't do foreplay? I can do sensitive and thoughtful."

"Noted," Belinda said, contributing something to the conversation for the first time since we got into the tent. "I think we can move past that now."

I grinned, then pointed at Zia. "Lose the shirt, hon."

She grinned back, but didn't argue when Belinda and I jointly took her shirt off. Zia reached around and unhooked her bra while Belinda looked up and kissed me on the lips. It was as passionate a kiss as I could share with someone I didn't love or didn't have the deep connection I seemed to have with Becky the night before.

I got so involved in our lips battling that I didn't really think about it when Belinda started squirming and moving around. I just kept fighting her tongue with mine, so I was sufficiently surprised when she bit down on my tongue and squealed.