Halftime

"Don't change, Mike's taking you to dinner. Practice for tomorrow," Jen texted me as I was finding special places for my new things.

"K. thank you", I texted back, with three hearts and a smiley emoji.

The bag with my beer clothes caught my eye and I unpacked that too, putting everything where it belonged. In the bottom of the bag, underneath my jeans and shirt, were at least a dozen pair of panties and four bras, I laughed and put them in my new 'girly' underwear drawer along with the lacy things Jenn had just given me.

By the time Mike knocked on my apartment door I had rearranged my closet, my three new dresses commanded almost a quarter of the space, my heels on the floor underneath them. They looked so lonely, but I knew it wouldn't be for long, little did I know.

Checking my makeup, I grabbed my purse and answered the door, Mike's smile was all the validation I needed. I had slipped into this new me so easily, I couldn't help but wonder how long it had been hiding just beneath the surface and what surprises it was bringing with it.

Mike was the perfect gentleman, opening doors for me and holding my chair when we got to Luigi's, I could see why Jenn adored him so much. We ate and shared a bottle of wine, he told me what to expect at the Christmas party, all about his nemesis Bethany, a short brunette with too-large fake boobs that was convinced his girlfriend was fiction, he even admitted to me that when he got the promotion, he was going to take Jenn to Jamaica for a week and propose on the beach, it was all so romantic. I closed my eyes, picturing myself on the beach, I almost spit out my wine when I realized in my fantasy, I wasn't the one doing the proposing.

We talked about what our story was going to be, how long we had been dating and how we met, sticking as close to the truth as possible, we had met a year ago, watching a game at Halftime where my best friend Jenn worked, easy.

The gentleman he was, he walked me to my door, there were two large bags of clothes waiting when we got there, two envelopes were stuck in the door jam, one said 'Ricki', the other 'Mike', Jenn had stopped by on her way out of town. I handed Mike his note and opened my own.

Ricki,

I found a few more things I think you'd like while I was packing.

Relax and have fun tomorrow, you're going to be awesome...

Love,

Jenn

PS. Don't you dare try to steal my man, LOL

I showed the note to Mike and we both laughed at the last line.

"Um she just said to have fun, and she loves me," Mike grinned and shoved the note in his pocket.

Saturday flew by, I had my own mini fashion show with all the things Jenn had left at my door, pants, skirts, tops, more dresses, and shoes, even some pajamas and nightgowns, I practiced walking in the purple heels and must have fixed my makeup a dozen times trying to make it perfect. When Mike picked me up his mouth literally dropped open, the purple dress was the perfect choice. I wondered if Jenn felt like this when he looked at her.

"You are going to be the prettiest girl at the party, that dress is stunning," I blushed and took his arm letting him lead me to his car.

"Jenn said I should call you Ricki, is that right?"

I just nodded, the butterflies in my stomach were huge, Mike patted my leg and reassured me everything was going to be fine, nothing to worry about. It helped but I was still a bundle of nerves. So far it had been just me and him and Jenn, but tonight, I would have the big stage and my performance mattered, not just to me, but to him and Jenn, too, I couldn't mess this up.

"Mike, what if I mess up? What if I do something, and you don't get that promotion, what if someone recognizes me or something?"

"Ricki, everybody is going to be so distracted by how beautiful you are, they won't hear a word you say, promise," he gave me a huge grin. I shoved him in the arm, it was the perfect thing for him to say.

The valet at the country club opened my door and I carefully turned and let him help me out of Mike's car, waiting for Mike to come around and collect me. I could feel the eyes of the three young men parking cars as they tried to imagine what was underneath the purple velvet, laughing at the thought of what their reactions would be if they really found out.

"You ready?" Mike offered me his arm, I leaned up and kissed his cheek and off we went.

We stopped in the lobby to check in and Mike signed us up for a couple's picture, "Jenn will want one," he smiled. I admitted I wanted one too. Mike got in line for the photographer, and I went to check my makeup again; actually, I just wanted to go somewhere and breathe for a minute or two, I felt like I had been holding my breath for hours.

"Don't you just love to hate these things?" the redhead in the bathroom asked with a grin on her face, "If our men realized how hard it was to do all the things we do to look good for them...," she didn't have to finish the thought, we both laughed.

"But it's so worth it, right?" I smiled back at her.

"Oh, you know it girl, I'm Robin, I don't think we've met. Are you new with the company? I like to think I know all my people."

"Ricki, I'm not an employee, I'm here with Mike, Mike Barton," I offered my hand, and she took it giving it a gentle squeeze, "so, you're like the boss?"

"They let me pretend to be in charge, but guys like Mike do all the heavy lifting, I just go to the board meetings and brag on how good they are," she chuckled. She was so disarming and so nice, and obviously had no clue what I was hiding under my dress, I started to relax.

"You said you're with Mike?" she looked a little confused.

I thought for a minute, "well, yes and no, his girlfriend Jenn is my best friend, she had a family thing and Mike didn't want to come alone, so I volunteered, I mean a chance to wear this dress, who could say no?"

We were giggling like schoolgirls when we came out of the bathroom, Robin walked me back to Mike and told him to keep an eye on me or he'd have to answer to her.

"What was that all about, do you know who that is?"

"Well, duh, that's my new friend Robin, I think she like owns the company you work for, so you better behave," Mike chuckled to himself and shook his head.

"By the way, I told her the truth, I kind of think the only one we need to convince of anything else is going to be Bethany. It will be a lot easier that way, Robin agrees."

"What did you tell her?"

"I told her Jenn hired me to be your bodyguard so none of the other girls at the party would hit on you. That, and that I said yes so I got a chance to wear this dress," I smiled at him.

"My bodyguard, really?"

"Sure, Ricki Johnson, Personal Security Specialist," I laughed, "I think I'm going to get cards made and maybe one of those garter holsters like in the spy movies."

"What else happened in there, you were about to hyperventilate when you went in and now, you're cracking jokes?"

"She just started talking to me about things girls would talk about, how much trouble it was to get dressed up for these types of things and how guys didn't understand and how it was all worth it," I took a deep breath, "It hit me, she didn't have a clue who or what I was, so no one else would either, I just relaxed, it was like lunch yesterday after the spa all over again. I just wish Jenn were..."

"Hi guys, sorry I'm late," Jenn stepped up next to me, the little red dress she was wearing took my breath away. Mike couldn't help himself anymore, breaking out laughing as Jenn wrapped me in a huge hug.

"You, you two, you set me up, this whole thing was a scam to get me here, like this," I was trying so hard to be angry. Jenn had lied to me, had manipulated me, had made me get my body waxed, she had conspired with her boyfriend to get me to dress up as a girl and come to a huge party of people I didn't know and possibly would, never, see, again, the words slowed in my mind as I realized how perfect their plan had been.

"Ricki, I'm sorry, it's just at Thanksgiving, you looked so happy running around in my shorts and that PINK shirt, getting Papa Joe his beer and letting my cousins and uncles ogle your pretty little butt, Mike and I talked about it for days and came up with this plan, I'm sorry I lied to you, but you have looked at yourself, right?"

I couldn't do it, she was right and there was no way I could be mad at her or Mike, I crossed my arms in front of me and put on the best pout I could muster, sticking my lower lip out and glaring at the two of them, "And this whole Bethany thing?"

"She's the receptionist, grandmother, about sixty, sweetest lady you'll ever meet," Mike grinned trying not to laugh again.

"Mr. Barton," the photographer called our group.

We took a couple with me pretending to be mad and then several more with Jenn and me fawning over Mike with a couple of more traditional poses thrown in, Mike ordered three copies of the entire package.

The first hour was a meet and greet kind of thing, cocktails and hors d'oeuvres, Mike introduced me to so many people I quit trying to keep track of their names, of course, they all already knew Jenn. I was on a different planet, where before I was shy and withdrawn, sitting on the sidelines watching my friends have a good time, now I was in the center of the vortex, my head spinning from all the attention I was getting, everybody was looking at me.

I recognized the lust on the guys faces, but the girls, I would have sworn it was jealousy.

I found myself separated from Mike and Jenn, surrounded by a small group of guys each trying to get my undivided attention, I was loving the attention, but it was taking everything I had to keep the growing feeling of panic from bursting through.

"May I have your attention please?" Robin's voice filled the room, my cadre of admirers turned toward the small stage where she was standing and I used the opportunity to escape, finding Jenn and Mike a short way off, they had been enjoying the show, watching me try to deal with the advances of my new admirers.

"Damn, this is hard, how do you deal with guys like that?" I motioned back to the group of guys that had trapped me, grinning at Jenn.

"Curse of being a hottie, it helps to have a Mike," she kissed his cheek and they both smiled at me.

Robin made a few announcements, gave a few yearly awards, announced the percentages for the annual bonus which got a loud cheer. The biggest news though, was the introduction of the newest member of the executive team, Executive Director of Corporate Marketing, Mike Barton, it took twenty minutes for everyone to calm down, we were immediately surrounded by his coworkers congratulating him on the huge promotion. Mike made his way to the small stage and thanked Robin, letting the marketing department know that it was because of them he had gotten here, and he would do his best to let them know how important they were to him and to the company.

Robin took the mic back and told everyone to enjoy themselves and to have a Merry Christmas and a Happy Holiday. The DJ started playing dance music and the real party began.

Once again, I found myself abandoned as Jenn worked through the crowd to get to Mike, "You look a little lost," I turned toward the voice.

"No, not really, my friends just have some celebrating to do, and I don't want to be a third wheel," I gave him a weak smile.

With the most disarming smile I had ever seen, he offered me his arm, "I'm Victor."

"I slipped my arm into his and let him lead me to a small table off to the side of the room, "Ricki, nice to meet you."

In my heels, I was six feet tall, Victor had to be at least 6'6", tall and lean with long brown hair and big brown eyes, he looked like he had stepped off the cover of a romance novel, walking next to him I felt petite, it as a nice feeling. We passed a bar and I waited while he got a whiskey neat for himself and a glass of wine for me, we sat and talked for a while, he owned a small independent publishing company and was in fact a cover model for several of the books he had published. He was a client of Robin's one of her personal accounts, I told him about my work as a content editor for the small web company I worked for. Victor seemed interested in what I did and even asked for the URLs for a few of the sites I had edited, I was happy to oblige.

When he asked me to dance, I started to get nervous," I'm um, not much of a dancer," I admitted.

"Me either, but the most beautiful woman in the room didn't put on that exquisite purple dress to hide in a corner, now did she?"

I blushed and let him lead me to the dance floor. It was obvious to anyone that saw us we had no idea what we were doing, but equally obvious we were enjoying ourselves immensely, when the DJ finally played a slow song, Victor pulled me into his arms and took my right hand in his left," this I can do," he whispered in my ear as he guided me across the floor. There was no resistance when he pulled me closer and my body gently pressed into his, I rested my head against his shoulder. We passed Mike and Jenn on the floor and their expressions radiated their approval.

"Somehow, they are going to pay for setting me up like this," I thought to myself, nope, I still couldn't come close to being mad at them.

Jenn and Mike joined us at our table, Victor and Mike hit it off immediately, they had gone to rival colleges and just had to let each other know who had made the better choice, we talked and danced and had a wonderful time, Jenn couldn't stop darting her eyes back and forth between me and Victor while grinning at me like the proverbial Cheshire Cat.

I felt myself blush more than once as Victor touched my arm and smiled at me as he shared story after story of the writers he worked with and how quirky they could be. When his hand found my thigh, I placed mine on top and laced my fingers into his almost without thinking.

Robin stopped by with her husband George on their way out the door, congratulating Mike, giving Victor a big hug, and me a big smile," so worth it," she said, and we both laughed.

I did my best to stifle a yawn, but everybody saw it, "Can I walk you to your car?" Victor was such a gentleman.

I smiled at him. Jenn and Mike grinned at each other as we all got up and gathered our things. Victor slipped his hand into mine as we made our way to the valet station.

"I had a nice time tonight. Thank you," I looked into Victor's big brown eyes as Mike opened the door for Jenn. Victor leaned in and gave me the sweetest kiss, soft and simple, gentle yet so powerful I felt it in my toes.

"Can I call you?"

Victor reminded me of myself in middle school in that moment, asking Mary Benton to go to the winter dance, all nerves and apprehension he was so adorable.

"But..." something deep inside screamed, my desire shut out the panic welling in my stomach, I nodded and smiled as I pulled out my phone and we exchanged numbers. He kissed me again, this time there was nothing gentle about it, I responded to his desire, dropping my purse, and throwing my arms around his neck letting him pull my body close, I could feel the manifestation of his wants and needs pressing into my abdomen.

"I am so fucked," I muttered as I collapsed into the back seat of Mikes car.

"If you're lucky," Jenn laughed out loud from the front seat.

I lay in bed forever, chasing sleep that wouldn't come, staring at the ceiling, one of the nightgowns Jenn had given me caressing my body, my mind lost in the past three days, "What was happening to me?"

I thought about what Jenn had said, she had been looking for a way to dress me up since we first met, I thought about the spa, the way Mike had reacted: the way everyone had reacted when they saw me in the purple dress.

I thought about how it felt when Victor touched me, his kisses, the first so gentle and the second so primal and the way I reacted to them. I found myself imagining what his strong body looked like under his suit, was his chest chiseled, did his shirt hide a ripped six-pack, and what about what I had felt pressed into my abdomen?

It hit me why the girls at Halftime treated me the way they did, why I empathized with them so much, I wasn't a guy in the friend zone, I was one of the girls, it suddenly all made so much sense.

Fantasies replaced my worries, I closed my eyes and let them wash over me, long passionate kisses, Victors strong hands running up and down my body as mine explored his chest and stomach.

I saw Ricki kissing his neck and playing with his long brown hair, moving slowly down across his chest to suckle and play with his nipples as her hands continued to explore. Victor let out a soft moan when she slipped her hand into his crotch, gently stroking the beast hidden within, "Oh Ricki" he moaned her name, "Oh Ricki."

She left a trail of kisses down his stomach tracing the lines of his abs and dallying for just a moment at his belly button, ultimately licking and the sucking his cock until he exploded down her throat, my god it was so erotic.

My own eruption disrupted the pictures running through my head and I smiled to myself as tremors and spasms of pleasure ripped through my body. Realizing that I was shoving my thumb as deep into my mouth as it would go, moving my head up and down the slick shaft, twirling my tongue around the digit, and kissing the tip gently; I got up to change into a clean nightgown.

Sunday morning was hell as I fought with myself over the choices I had to make going forward, my nails were painted red, I had earrings and a new haircut, all of which was decidedly very feminine, I had to go to work tomorrow and to my parents on Wednesday for Christmas.

Most of all I fought with the fact that I was having this debate sitting in a coffee shop, my makeup perfect, in a the same pair of grey tights, sweater dress and riding boots with the four-inch heels I had worn Friday, admiring the lipstick stains on the lid of my coffee cup; I knew what I wanted to do, I just wasn't sure I could handle the fallout.

My phone buzzed and I read the text, "Hey, short notice, you want to grab a cup of coffee?" it was from Victor.

"Sorry, already am, but you could join me if you want," I smiled as I hit send.

"I'd like that very much," his voice drifted over my left shoulder.

"What are you doing here? How did you find me?"

"Dumb luck, I pass by here every day on my way to my office. I was out running a couple of errands and, well..." he sat down next to me, not across from me, next to me.

One more thing I needed to figure out how to deal with, I smiled at him and tried not to blush, failing miserably, "Thanks again for last night, I had a really good time, I'm glad I met you."

"Same here, so you come here often?"

"Really, you're using that. That's the worst pickup line ever?" I laughed.

"But is it working," there was that damned smile again, "Seriously though, this is kind of a hidden gem, mostly only people in this area come here, unless..." his smile turned into a grin, "don't tell me we're practically neighbors."

"A girl needs her secrets and besides, how do I know you're not a stalker, I mean I only met you last night and here you are in my coffee shop the next morning, and before you try to turn that around, I'm the girl and I was here first," I stuck my tongue out at him like a four-year-old, shoving any thoughts of the reality of what I was doing, the lie I was perpetuating, and what it could mean deep into the back of my mind.

We quickly fell back into the comfortable banter we had enjoyed at the Christmas party, talking well past the point where our coffee cups were empty.