Choices Pt. 01: The Clinic

He smiled, thinking of their long conversation on Sunday night and their dinner date on Monday night at the nearby Pizza Palace, before nodding. "Yeah. Erin," he said with a sigh. "I'm not certain, but I really think it did. I can't wait to talk to her tonight."

"Then look up, big brother, because here she comes now. I'll leave you guys alone for a while. Bye." She hopped up and said, "Hi, Erin," as she moved away.

"Hi, Rob. Who's the blonde butterfly?" asked Erin as sat down beside him.

"That's Deana Lockhart. We used to live near each other in Ohio and she knows some of my old friends there, though we never met until here. So how's your day?"

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Some of the girls didn't show up and Don, one of the senior guys, agreed to help with tryouts rather than judge so what Jen jokingly referred to as Rob's tryout harem dropped to eight girls. The clinic was less structured than the initial one, with everyone working on the parts where they felt they needed the most help. Rob was either stunting or helping with stunts through the whole ninety minutes so he was glad when Mike called time and made the final announcements about format for the rest of the week.

Rob saw Deana catch his eye and then nod to her right. He looked over and saw Erin gathering her things. Mouthing a 'thank you' to the little blonde, he approached Erin. "May I walk you home?"

"I was hoping you'd ask, but you look really beat after the workout we gave you."

"Tired, yes, but too tired to walk you home? No way."

"Great," she said with a smile as she took his hand and led him away. She added with a whisper, "When we get there, if you'd like, you can even come up to my room and I'll give you a massage."

"That's the best news I've heard all day."

"Then I have some advice: walk faster!"

Despite her recommendation, there were several stops as they walked, including one where he leaned against the low, social wall where friends and lovers often congregated. He pulled her tight against him as their lips locked hungrily. His head felt as if it was spinning as he lost himself in her embrace as her tongue briefly darted into his mouth and engaged his own for just a moment.

"Whoa. We better get going," he said when he finally could. He tried to stand to hide his erection, but she smiled as she turned and started toward her dorm once more.

When they arrived, she escorted him up two flights of steps and down the hall, stopping in front of the door where her name and that of her roommate were brightly displayed.

"Artistic R.A.," she said, nodding down the hall at some of the similar displays on other doors. "Get in here."

He dropped his little duffel bag and glanced around the room while Erin put a towel down on the bed. "Take off your shirt and shoes," she ordered. "Now, face down, on the bed, buster."

He barely got down before she swung a leg over him, straddling his legs, and started to rub his shoulders with some lotion. Her hands, though petite, were strong, digging into the muscles with just the right amount of force to make him sigh, though part of that had to do with her bare thighs rubbing against his legs. He closed his eyes, trying to think of anything to help calm what he was feeling, but nothing but her skin against his seemed to be present in his thoughts.

She slid down his legs a bit and started to work on his lower back, rubbing just down to the top of his shorts before sliding her thumbs under the fabric. His breathing faltered, but her hands moved back up into the small of his back.

"Feeling good?"

"Heavenly," he replied with a ragged breath.

He tried to rise up to look back at her but she pushed him back down. "Down, boy. No moving around until we're done."

Minutes later, she slid down again, this time to the end of the bed, where she stripped off his socks and started to massage his feet before working up to his calf muscles and then above his knees. Reaching his thigh, she bore down with her hands encircling most of his leg before pushing forward to his shorts and then pulling back down. It was third or fourth time when she kept going, sliding up into the leg opening of his shorts before moving back down again. A couple times later, he felt her hands brush up against his underwear and, ever so lightly, what was inside.

Again, his breath caught before she started pulling away. Instead of repeating it, though, she switched to the other leg, massaging up and down until she reached the same spot as before. He was holding his breath in anticipation of what might be about to happen when she sprawled down beside him and looked into his eyes. He was careful not to roll over where she could see the effect her efforts had had upon him.

"Rob, we've got to talk for a minute."

For the first time since their initial meeting, worry washed over him. "Erin, that was...wonderful. But what's up?"

"Rob, I like you. A lot. A whole lot. And I think you like me, too. Shh! Don't say anything. This is tough and I want to get it out in case it matters to you."

"What—"

"Shh! I don't know what you expect from a relationship, if that's where this is going, but I need you to know something about me. I'm 18 years old and will be 19 in November. I went to a Catholic girls school. I'm not Catholic but my parents raised me to be, well, at least a pretty good girl. I can do a lot of things to have fun, but there are just a few things that are off limits. I don't smoke and don't do drugs; those are personal choices. I drink, but not much. And I'm not supposed to have sex, real sex, until I'm married. If that's important to you, if that's what you're looking for, then we should stop right here before we both get any more disappointed and frustrated than we already are."

He was looking into the blue pools of her eyes, feeling as is he was lost to anything but her. "So you're a virgin?"

She nodded, leading him to blush and look away.

"Erin, I've been really embarrassed to admit this, particularly considering what you were doing...but so am I."

Her eyes widened. "Really?"

It was his turn to nod. "I guess my parents raised me the same way as yours did. While I loved—really loved—what you were doing, I was worried about what I was going to do if you tried to take it too far. I haven't been in a situation like this very often, but each time, it seems like it gets harder to get out of it. I honestly don't know if I'd have been strong enough to do what I was taught and stop you...or if I'd have just said 'screw it' and given in to enjoy the moment."

"Wow," she said as she rose from the bed, looking as if she was truly shocked and greatly distracted. "That's, ah, great. As long as we can, well, be strong together, that's one less thing that we, um, have to worry about."

Rob was getting up to take her in his arms, but he saw her look at the clock and say, "It's getting later than I thought. I better escort you back out and hit the books."

When they reached the lobby, Erin gave him a very brief kiss on the cheek and said "Good night" before heading back upstairs without looking back. That left Rob to watch her go, wondering what had happened.

End of Part 1

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Follow-up Note:

This story takes place in five parts. A new part will be published roughly weekly until it's complete. Thanks for again for reading!