It Takes a Village Pt. 05

Hi y'all! Part 5 here. I think this is where the plot really starts to thicken; hope you like it!

PART 5

Chapter 13

The first few weeks of school continued on as any regular semester would. Isaiah and Mia were back together (for now) and agreed that they should just put the Matty incident behind them. I, however, was not so sure.

Not only was Ruth still hung up on Matty, she was beginning to get suspicious about why I wasn't supportive of her pursuing him. January 19^th was Perry's birthday, so they decided to throw a party to celebrate. Of course, a party at Perry's meant that the entire Grounds staff was invited, which meant Ruth was invited. It also meant that Mia was invited, which meant that Isaiah was invited, which meant that Rian and Matty were invited. Ruth was aware of this and had planned to shoot her shot at the party.

"Come on Dot, I don't understand what you have against Matty." Ruth asked as we got ready to go out.

"I just... I don't know, Ruth. I know some things about him that make me uncomfortable."

"Like what?"

"Like... okay, well remember how Mia and Isaiah had that huge blowup after Isaiah's Ugly Sweater party?" She nodded, and I continued. "It was because Isaiah found Mia passed out in Matty's bed without her shirt on. Matty said that he left her in his room to find a trashcan for her—in case she got sick—and that her shirt was just gone when he got back. But Mia says that Matty tried to kiss her and take her shirt off when she was super drunk and Isaiah was busy judging the sweaters."

Ruth narrowed her eyes and set down her hair straightener before she spoke. "That's interesting, Dot, and I'm glad you told me."

I waited for her to say more, but when she didn't, I prodded for an explanation. "I feel like there is a 'but' coming."

She shrugged as she went back to doing her hair. "But I don't know how much I can trust Mia. You know how she is. She's kind of..."

"No, I don't know. Kind of what?"

"Kind of... promiscuous."

My mouth dropped open and then it was my turn to get my straightener down. "No, she's not! She really loves Isaiah; she'd never cheat on him."

"Sure, maybe she loves him now, but I know what she's like when she's drunk. She's flirty with everyone. She hugs strangers and has conversations with other guys. And not to mention, she always hooks up with random people when her and Isaiah break up."

It physically pained me to hear these things from Ruth. First of all, I do not believe that Mia or any other person would make up any form of sexual assault, especially since I knew how embarrassed Mia was about it. She hadn't even wanted me to tell Ruth; she only agreed when I told her about her crush on Matty. Second of all, Mia is touchy by nature. She hugs everyone, grabs their arm when they speak, et cetera. It had nothing to do with flirting. Third of all, Mia was not promiscuous. She had never actually had sex with anyone besides Isaiah. And lastly, if Ruth thought Mia was promiscuous, what did she think about me? I explained these things to Ruth as calmly as I could, but I really lost it when I asked her what she thought of me.

"I don't know, Mia, I think you're just going through your 'ho' phase. Maybe being a little reckless, maybe trying to repress some emotions or trauma." My only response was to gawk at her, so she continued. "I mean, you've hooked up with, what, three guys in the past week? That's a lot! And I know you're looking to add Austin to the rotation. Probably Matty, too. Honestly, I bet that's why you don't want me to ask him out. I think you're threatened by me. I actually have my shit together enough that Matty just might pick dating me over fucking you."

I blew up. I didn't mean to. I didn't want to. But I did. I turned to leave the bathroom, and instead of just going to my room like I planned, my feet led me down the stairs to my leather jacket and purse, and then right out the front door. As I walked around in the cold, I started thinking about what Ruth said. Yes, I had fucked three guys in the last week, so what? I didn't think I had any emotional baggage; my life had been pretty painless thus far. I wasn't necessarily trying to add Austin to my roster, but I certainly wouldn't be opposed to it. He was hot and funny, and we'd already had all those conversations about sex. I mindlessly started walking towards Mia's place while I called her, but she didn't pick up. She was probably with Isaiah, which meant I shouldn't call him either. Maybe Rian would answer.

"Hey Dot, what's up" He asked. His voice was groggy, like he'd been napping.

"Hi Rian, I'm sorry, did I wake you up?"

"It's fine, I fell asleep watching Great British Bakeoff. Are you okay? You sound a little... different."

"Um, I think so, yeah. I got in a really big fight with Ruth."

"With Ruth? What about?"

"I don't want to talk about it. Are you at home? Would you mind if I came over?"

"Of course, do you want me to come pick you up?"

"No, I'll be there in a minute."

"I'll let you in." And he hung up.

I ran in as soon as Rian opened the door. I didn't bother taking off my boots; I just dragged him back to his room. I didn't want to risk seeing Matty.

"Okay, calm down, Dot. Want to tell me what's going on?" Rian asked, his hands holding me by my upper arms. He crouched a little so he could look directly into my eyes.

"I just... I..." I felt tears welling up in my eyes, but I pushed through. "I was trying to tell Ruth that I didn't think she should go for Matty. You know I get weird vibes from him; with all the weird comments he makes and looks he gives women." He nodded very seriously as I continued. "But she basically ended up calling me a slut for sleeping with... a few people..." Again, Rian nodded. He knew all about my sex life. "And then she said that I probably didn't want her to shoot her shot with Matty cuz I just wanted to fuck him." I felt the sadness and shock of Ruth's words turn into pure anger, and I know Rian could see it on my face, too. He pulled me to sit on his bed and held my hands in his.

"Okay, take a deep breath. That was... not a nice thing for Ruth to say." He looked up as he was searching for the words. "I know your thoughts on Matty, and even though he's my roommate, I'm inclined to agree with you, so props to you for being a good friend and warning Ruth."

"Thanks." I muttered, pulling my hand from his to wipe away any lingering tears.

"Do you want some tea? Or a drink?" Rian asked.

I shook my head.

"Do you want to watch a show or something? Old SNL episodes?"

I shook my head.

"What do you want?"

I wasn't sure what I wanted, but I did know that Ruth's words made me want to prove her wrong. Sure, I may be having sex with a few men, but I was perfectly healthy! There was nothing wrong with sleeping around a little, as long as you were safe. "Fuck her," I thought, "at least I'll be getting laid tonight."

I finally spoke to Rian. "I want to have sex." I watched his eyes go wide, and I leaned in to kiss him. My lips touched his quickly and with passion. My tongue searched for his a few seconds in, and his lips parted for me. I put my hand against the front of his jeans to feel to cock, hoping to help get him hard. I moved my lips to his ear and began kissing and nibbling just between the lobe and his hairline. When I heard a moan and felt him begin to harden, I unbuttoned his pants.

All of a sudden, I felt Rian's hands on my shoulders, pushing me back.

"Hey, hey." He said. "We can't do this."

"What do you mean?"

"We can't have sex right now. You're... it's not... you're not in a good place right now. We can't just have sex and ignore it."

I squeezed his cock a little and kissed him again, saying "I think we can."

"No, Dot. We can't. I won't."

I leaned back from him and stared, trying to figure out if he was joking or not. Eventually I said, "You're kidding."

He shook his head. "I'm not. You're upset right now; I don't want you to do anything that you would regret."

"Of course, I'm fucking upset! That has nothing to do with wanting to fuck!" I was yelling at this point. "We've had sex so many times I can't even count. Why on earth would I regret one more?"

"Dot, I—"

"No, you know what? I don't need your opinion, Rian, and I don't need you. I have plenty of other options out there." With that, I grabbed my things and left the apartment as quickly as I could.

Chapter 14

Once I had left Rian's apartment, I realized just how cold it really was. I checked my phone—19 degrees outside. All I had on was my fake leather jacket. I thought about going back to apologize to Rian and absorbing the warmth of his home, his body, his warm laugh; then his words came back to me and I shook the thought out of my head. Not in a good place? Of course not, I was upset that my best friend basically called me a slut. Who the fuck did he think he was? He sure as hell was not my emotional gatekeeper; we were there to give each other orgasms. That was all our relationship had ever been, and I didn't appreciate his attempt to switch it up.

I texted Austin on a whim to see if he was already at Perry's party or not. He said he was not, so I decided to call him. Much more efficient.

"Hey, Dot. What's up?" His low, calm voice asked.

"I'm not really feeling the party at the moment." I said quietly.

"Okay... is there something else you want to do?" There was just a hint of insinuation in his voice, encouraging me that he knew where I was going with this.

"Depends on if you'll join me, I guess." I tried my best to match the insinuation. I hoped he could hear me biting my lip and batting my lashes.

"You should come over, I'm at my place. 254 West Este Street." He understood.

"I'll be there in 10." I hung up before I could change my mind.

My movements between Rian's house and Austin's could only described as power walking. I'm not sure if it was the horniness, the nervousness, the anger, or the cold, but either way, I made it to my destination in just under 8 minutes. I stopped in front of his door, fluffed up my hair, ran my fingers under my eyes to wipe away any stray mascara, and rang the doorbell. I heard footsteps approaching the other side of the door, and as the door was pulled back, I saw his beautiful face.

"Hi, Austin." I whispered, suddenly very nervous.

"Hey, Dot." He gestured for me to come inside, and when I did, I noticed how nice his home was. It certainly did not look like a standard college-aged man's home.

"Wow." I looked around, trying to slide my boots off at the same time. "This place is gorgeous."

Austin shrugged indifferently. "It's my parents'. They bought it when I was really little, when we used to live here in the city. By the time they moved out to the suburbs, college wasn't far off for me, so they decided to keep it just in case I chose to come here." He explained, as if everyone's parents did this. I nodded, unable to find words that wouldn't sound either insulting or ingrateful. My mind flashed to my own parents, who couldn't even grow up enough to have a conversation about their own home, let alone a second one. I briefly thought of Ruth, and the insane amount of debt she had taken on in order to get her degree. Annoyance came along right after, and soon I was determined to get Ruth and my own life out of my mind.

"Do you have a favorite room?" I asked, both as a way to make conversation and as an opening for a tour.

"I do. Come on, I'll show you." He started up the stairs, so I followed, gripping the ornate wooden railing as I climbed. When we reached the top, he turned right, and I saw a row of closed doors. I counted six. At least one was probably a bathroom, maybe one was a closet? I'd guess 3-4 bedrooms. Jesus.

To my surprise, we didn't enter any of those rooms, and instead we began climbing a second flight of stairs. This passage was narrower, and there was no railing; probably stairs to an attic.

"How many... how many people live here?" I asked, still slightly in shock.

"Just me and one friend." He looked back at me and must have read my questions. "There are three bedrooms, but we use the third as a gaming room."

"So where are we heading now?" I asked as we reached the top of the second flight of stairs.

"To my favorite one," he said, pushing open the heavy door, "The Quiet Room."

I stepped past the door frame and looked around; The Quiet Room was probably a good name for the space. When you entered, it was clear that the staircase brought you to the southern side of the room. The ceilings were slanted and came to a juncture longitudinally above the center. The walls were covered in posters, most of which appeared to be for old bands or concerts. There was an incredibly large desk at the north end of the room, easily the size of my dining room table back home. The rest of the south wall was lined with bookshelves that stood about three feet tall, and old records were lined up on top of the bookcase. The west wall was home to a dark green sectional, and a small 5"x 7" carpet created a living room area of sorts, closed off by a media chest that I assumed held a TV.

"Holy shit..." I mumbled.

"Yeah, I know. It was my dad's office when we lived here, but he said I could do what I wanted with the space."

"Damn. I feel cheated. I shared a room with my sister my whole life."'

In my wonder, I failed to notice that Austin had come up behind me and wrapped his arms around me, just under my breasts. My mind quickly went blank.

"Are you going to tell me why you don't want to go to the party?" he whispered into my ear.

"Only if I have to." I answered.

"You have to."

"Fine. I got in a fight with a friend. Well, two friends." I felt him start to kiss my neck, and I moaned ever so slightly. "I don't want to talk about it, though."

"I don't want to either." He spun me around and pulled me to him, his hands gripping my ass while he continued to kiss my neck. "I've been wanting to do this since I met you." He murmured between kisses. "And then when you came into work with that hickey... and don't even get me started on Perry's little dare that night."

My hands rose to hold onto Austin's beautiful hair, and he slowly walked me backwards towards the desk.

"I'm going to show you where hickeys are supposed to go." He said deviously as he began to pull my jacket over my shoulders. When my legs bumped against the edge of the desk, Austin gripped my hips and pushed me to sit. He went to pull the hem of my shirt from my jeans and realized it wouldn't budge. "It's a bodysuit." I laughed lightly. He switched tactics and simply pulled the soft material around my neck until the shoulders slid off my arms. He pushed the fabric down until it bundled around my waist, and then he reached to unclasp my bra. He wasted no time in getting his mouth onto my breasts, and he began to kiss and suck my nipples until they stiffened. He switched breasts to continue to treatment on the other, and his hand came up to twist the nipple that his mouth had just left. I yelped, not used to that sensual pain so early on in sex.

In the end, he chose my right breast on which to leave a mark. He sucked at the bottom curve hard, until he felt me panting. Right when I thought he was done, his left hand moved to slap—no, hit—my left breast while his mouth bit my right. I gasped a little louder this time, maybe from the sensations or maybe from the utter surprise of it.

His mouth found mine and began kissing, forcing my lips open with his tongue until they yielded, giving way for him to begin exploring my mouth. At the same time, his hands began to unbutton and unzip my jeans until he could slide his hands down my thighs, under the waistband. I raised my ass just enough for him to pull them down to my knees, my ankles, and finally, off my feet. Our mouths still busy with each other, his hands found their way back to the warm spot between my thighs, where Austin fumbled with the clasps on the bottom of the bodysuit. I felt his frustration with the fickle garment rising, so I slid my hands down to help. Instead of accepting, he shooed me away, grabbed each of my hands with his own and brought them to rest on the desk, just behind my butt. He refocused on the bodysuit to no avail, and suddenly I felt him tear at the fabric with enough force to rip the small clasps apart. I was momentarily upset; it was my favorite bodysuit, and it looked like I'd have to mend it.

His hands went back to my hips, sliding under the upper band of my panties until he pulled them off and exposed me completely, his fingers running through the trimmed hair on my mons. He flung my underclothes to the other side of the room. His mouth returned to my ear and he asked, "are you on the pill?"

"Yeah," I said, slightly out-of-breath. I felt him begin to undo his pants, so I quickly added, "We still need to use a condom." His body stepped away from mine, and he bent down. Just when I thought he was planning to eat me out, I saw him pull open a desk drawer, grab a condom, and rip it open. He pulled his cock out of his pants and slowly rolled it on in preparation of what would happen next. When it was done, his hands wrapped around my body to my ass, and he pulled me closer to the edge of the desk. Then he hoisted my legs up so that my knees were raised, and he set my feet down so they were half-on, half-off the wooden ledge.

"Keep them there." He commanded with an intense stare, and in single step and one smooth motion, he was fully inside of me. My body tensed at the sudden intrusion and I bit my lip to stifle a yelp. Austin began moving swiftly, not letting my lack of arousal stop him. I dug my nails into his back as I told him to slow down.

He either didn't hear me or chose not to listen, and he continued at his brutal pace. My pussy adjusted slowly, and just when I was beginning to get that warm feeling in my stomach, he grunted and finished.

He stayed in me for a few moments, and I started to wonder if he was used to going for two rounds at a time; after all, he must be aware that I hadn't come.

As he pulled out, I saw him reach for his boxers on the floor. Still unsure what was happening, I decided to say, "I'm not quite there yet." He looked at me as if he was confused, until he asked, "What can I do?"

"You can go down on me." I stated, very matter-of-factly.

"Well, I would, but..." he trailed off.

"But what?" I interjected, confused and very horny, finally lowering my thighs back to the desk and bringing my knees together.

"But you haven't shaved." He motioned at my general lower-half and made a face like I was covered in fur. I never fully shaved; it was so much work and always ended with terrible ingrown hairs. I had tried to wax, but that was fucking expensive. Years ago, I had settled on waxing my own bikini line and keeping everything else trimmed short. I even used a special oil on my pubic hair that kept it nice and soft.

"Yeah," I started, feeling my face redden. "I don't shave everything."

"Okay." He shrugged casually. "Well maybe get a Brazilian or something and then I'll definitely go down on you."

I looked at him, expecting him to say "Gotcha! Now lie back and let me take care of you." But those words never came. I hopped off the desk, suddenly feeling very self-conscious. I reached for my bra and panties, the anger starting to well up within me. I dressed as quickly as I could.

"Are you mad?" Austin asked, beginning to sense my frustration.

"Um... I'm not happy." I gave an embarrassed laugh and refused to meet his eyes.

"Look, Dot, my philosophy is pretty normal for guys." He moved his body to stand in front of me, blocking my path to the door. "I think almost every girl I've ever fucked has been bare down there. It's just standard."