It's Just a Number

Thank you again to blackrandl1958 for her editing talents and encouragement.

Jordan Lieber was 7 years old the first time he told Shelby Dercot he loved her.

She had just hit a home run in a kickball game, and right after she crossed home plate he hugged her and told her he loved her. She told him she loved him back, then kissed him on the lips.

That was a huge mistake, considering there were about a half-dozen other 7-year-olds around them.

"Eww!" Ronnie Dreen screeched. "Shelby and Jordy sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g. First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes Shelby and Jordy pushing a baby carriage!"

The others quickly picked up on the old kids' singsong tease as Shelby and Jordan blushed profusely. As a typical 7-year-old, he was mortified, although a part of him was also thrilled. Her noted her lips were soft, and they tasted like Bazooka bubblegum. The two passed a private look between them and smiled at each other.

Jordy would say those words again to her several times over the years, although never again in the presence of their 7-year-old friends.

Shelby and Jordan lived down the block from each other and, as far as anyone could tell, had been friends forever. There were four others in their close-knit little group who had seemingly always been together, but he was closest to Shelby, and would have called her his best friend if anyone asked. She had long red hair, green eyes, a button nose and was kind of skinny, but if Jordan had to tell the truth, he was definitely smitten. She was a good kickball player and they both liked Bugs Bunny cartoons. As far as Jordan was concerned, Shelby was practically perfect.

Shelby was definitely a tomboy. The other girl in their group, Erin McKennan, was much more girly. Although she played kickball and dodgeball with the group, she preferred playing dolls with other girls. Sometimes she even badgered Shelby into playing dolls with her.

As it always does for all kids, puberty changed things for the group as the kids got into middle school. Only it took about a year longer for Shelby to hit puberty, which maybe explained a lot later. While most of her friends were developing chests and hips and starting to have strange feelings for boys, Shelby just stayed exactly as she was. Jordy was okay with that, but for the first time in her life, Shelby became withdrawn and quiet, the exact opposite of her normal demeanor. Jordan didn't have a clue as to what she was going through, but he tried to continue the friendship just as it always had been.

"Why are you hanging around with me, Jordy, when you could be drooling over Erin or some of the other girls?" she asked one day.

"Because I still love you, Shel," he answered. "I don't care if you don't have boobs. I still love you. I guess I always will."

She moved over to him and gave him a bone-crushing hug. He blushed.

Things changed drastically for Shelby in the next year. She got a visit from the boob fairy, who apparently tried to apologize for her late arrival by giving Shelby a double helping. By the time she was ready for high school, her boobs went straight past large to huge without passing go. Suddenly every boy in the school wanted to be her friend... at the least. Her spirits ballooned as much as her chest.

Although Shelby's late blooming proved good for her, it proved disastrous for Jordan. She suddenly forgot about "always there, good old him," and started dating almost every guy in the school who asked her out.

"Hey Jordy, long time no see. How come you don't come over any more?" Mrs. Dercot asked one day when he was walking past her house.

"Shelby doesn't have time for me anymore, Mrs. D. Every boy in the school is chasing her. I'm old news," he said quietly.

"Teenage girls are the worst, Jordy. She'll come back around. I promise," she said.

It took about a year before Mrs. Dercot was proven right. Jordan was mowing the front yard at his parents' house when Shelby surprised him by coming up behind him and tapping him on the shoulder. Jordan was startled, but when he saw who it was, he stopped mowing and turned the machine off.

"Hey, Shel. What's up?" Jordan asked.

"How come you don't come around any more?" Shelby said, looking directly into his eyes.

Jordan looked at the girl as if she was stupid. He gave an exaggerated shrug. She blinked her eyes and shuffled her feet.

"Okay, Jordy. I get it. I've been a self-centered bitch," she said quietly. "But I miss my best friend. I thought you loved me."

"I did... until you stopped loving me. I get it that I'm not one of the popular guys, an athlete, an upperclassmen. But you told me you loved me back, and then you've spent the last year going out with almost a different guy each week. I'm not blind and I'm not stupid. You didn't want me around, so I'm not around."

"That's not true. I want you around... all the time. I still love you. How about you take me out this weekend, and I can show you."

Jordan and Shelby became an exclusive couple that day, and remained that way throughout the rest of their high school years. There were many times, though, that Jordan felt like he was just an afterthought for his girlfriend, especially when she made the cheerleading squad in her junior year. Jordan showed up at every football and basketball game for the next two years to support Shelby, and also to keep the wolves at bay. He was particularly watchful of one Steve Garrett, the football team's star running back. Garrett was a 6-2, 215-pound beast with dark hair and blue eyes and was the fantasy of most of the girls in the school.

Garrett had eyes for Shelby, and wasn't shy about letting everyone know it, even Jordan. He would occasionally place an arm around the girl and give her a peck on the cheek, repeatedly ignoring Jordan's warnings.

"What are you going to do about it, stick-boy? Any time you want to fight, I'm ready," he'd say.

Far from a stick-boy at 6-1, 175, Jordan knew he was no match physically for Garrett, but there comes a point when someone has to stand up for themselves. The third time Garrett put his hands on Shelby, Jordan engaged, punching the larger boy in the throat and then the face before Garrett proceeded to beat Jordan half-senseless before school officials separated the pair.

"You don't have to be a macho asshole for me, Jordy," Shelby said to him as she escorted him to the school nurse's office.

"He can't be touching you. That's all there is to it," Jordy said through puffy lips.

Shelby and Jordan took each other's virginities on the night of her 18^th birthday. Jordan's parents had gone to see a movie, and the teens took advantage of the empty house to do it on Jordan's bed. As the first time for both, it was clumsy and awkward... and sweet... and amazing, both thought.

Jordan had set an alarm on his phone for two hours, so the pair was redressed and watching TV in the family room when Jordan's parents returned.

The Liebers gave each other knowing smirks.

"Yeah, right," Dave Lieber whispered to his wife.

Jordy and Shelby figured out a way to have sex once or twice each week for the rest of the school year and throughout the summer. With summer drawing to a close, though, they both knew they had to have a hard discussion as Jordy was going to attend Penn State and Shelby was going to attend Michigan State.

"I love you, Jordy, but you know long distance relationships don't work. How about we agree that we'll be together whenever we're home, but we'll be single and date others when we're at school, get the most out of our college experiences," Shelby said.

Jordy was realistic enough to know that Shelby was being factual, but he still wasn't totally comfortable with that, remembering what she was like for the year they were apart.

"Are you going to have sex with other guys?" he asked in little more than a whisper.

"Well, some, if I like the guy, but you get to have sex with other girls, too," she answered.

Jordan looked away so Shelby wouldn't see the tears build in his eyes. Shelby knew he was hurting.

"But it will just be sex, not love, baby. I only love you. I mean, I won't be having sex with just anybody; it will have to be someone special, but not love like you and I have. Okay, baby?"

"Yeah," he whispered.

Shelby was at Michigan State for two days when she called Steve Garrett, who was also going to the school.

"What took you so long?" he said to her.

"You can't open your mouth to anyone about this," she informed him. "Jordy's my boyfriend when we're together. Different story when we're here."

The two were in Steve's bed the next night. Shelby was dripping wet in anticipation of having sex with only her second partner.

"God, you are so hot," he said to her while sucking on her nipples.

The pair had sex in four different positions. Steve's equipment was only a little bigger than Jordan's, but she was enjoying a new man and the sense that this wouldn't be approved of by Jordan, if he knew.

Steve also wasn't making love to her like Jordan did. He pounded his partner hard, and Shelby was enjoying the bigger man's physicality.

"Fuck me harder!" she yelled at one point while Steve was taking her doggy.

"Fuck yeah!" Steve responded.

Shelby was far from unaware that she was a pretty woman with huge tits who could have her pick of the men on the Michigan State campus. She enjoyed two more men that first week, as well as Steve twice more. Steve didn't know about the other two.

Shelby knew that women have a much easier time than men finding willing sex partners. Plus she knew that even though Jordan was a handsome guy, he was a nice guy who would not be spending most of his waking hours trying to score with other women. She doubted he would score more than once in his freshman year at Penn State. She, on the other hand...

Jordan and Shelby were in the back seat of Jordan's car the second night they were home on Christmas break.

"Oh, God, I missed you so much, Shel," he said as he entered the woman for the first time since the summer.

Jordan didn't last long despite the cramped, unromantic setting of the car. Shelby smiled to herself, guessing that this was the first pussy Jordy had gotten since the last time the two were together. She wouldn't ask him, however, because she was hoping not to remind him that she was free to do whomever she wanted as well, and she was far from celibate. She was doing Steve every week, and finding others along the way. Jordy didn't need to know that her "number" had grown to 11 in just one semester of college.

Jordan wasn't naïve, but he was smart enough to know not to ask a question that he didn't really want answered. He still loved Shelby and knew that he could and would tolerate her having occasional sex with other guys while she was away at college.

The night before the two went back to college after Christmas break, they had an emotional tryst. Jordan didn't want to leave Shelby. Without knowing, he knew. The next 3-1/2 years were going to be very difficult.

For her part, Shelby knew that she went a little crazy the first semester. She promised herself to be a little more selective for the rest of her first year. Technically, she was, limiting herself to just five different partners along with Steve through the end of the school year.

Jordan decided he wasn't going to lose any sleep over what or how many Shelby was doing at Michigan State. They had both agreed to play while they were away, and he intended to get his as well.

Annette McLaughlin was a fellow business major that was in several of Jordan's accounting classes. She had short dirty blonde hair, a nice figure and a ready wit. She seemed receptive to Jordan's advances. The pair started dating and wound up in bed on their fourth date.

Annette liked the handsome, quiet young man. She learned about Jordan's life at home. It didn't bother her that he had a hometown honey. Like his hometown girlfriend, she was just looking out for herself when she was with Jordan. What he did when he was away from school was his choice.

Jordy and Shelby went back to being a couple during the summer, and everything went back to the way it used to be... until Steve Garrett showed up at a party that Jordy and Shelby were at as well. Knowing how Jordy felt about Steve, Shelby made sure she stayed well away from him. A couple of hours later, though, a drunk Steve came up behind Shelby and wrapped his arms around her.

"Hey, baby, been a minute. What say you leave here with me and we can find someplace to get busy like we do at school."

Jordy was just coming back with a couple of beers and came up behind the two.

"Goddamn slut!" Jordy mumbled, dropping the beers where he stood and turning to leave.

"No, Jordy, wait!" Shelby yelled as she fought her way out of Steve's embrace.

Shelby grabbed at Jordy's arm as he tried to stalk off.

"So that's what the whole dating others speech was about, so you could fuck that piece of shit?" Jordy yelled. "You been bonking him the whole year?"

Shelby couldn't look Jordy in the eyes and didn't answer, giving him all the answer he needed. He ripped his arm from her grasp and walked alone to his car, mumbling under his breath.

Shelby showed up at Jordy's home at 9 AM the next day, which was a Saturday. Not being apprised of the situation by her son, Jordy's mother let Shelby in and told her to wake up Jordy. As she had been doing since she was a little girl, Shelby walked into Jordy's bedroom. This time, however, she locked the door behind her. Jordy's mother heard the door lock, and then went off into the kitchen.

Jordy woke to the feeling of small fingers wrapped around his hard dick in his briefs. He looked over to see Shelby smiling at him.

"How did you get in here?" he croaked.

"Mom let me in," she said quietly, using the name she called Jordy's mother.

"You know we need to talk, babe," she said, while continuing to slowly jack Jordy's hard member.

She looked at Jordy's face and knew instantly he couldn't talk. She had him exactly where she wanted him.

"I'm sorry for fucking him, Jordy. I know you two aren't exactly friends."

Jordy was close to coming, until Shelby squeezed the base of his cock. He moaned, then Shelby ran a fingernail around the head of his cock. She took his balls in her hand and pulled until Jordan groaned. She knew the groan conveyed both pain and pleasure. She had learned a lot from her many trysts over the past year, including when to be dominant and when to play submissive.

"This doesn't have to end us, Jordy. In fact, I won't let it end us. I love you, Jordy. The rest is just sex. I'll stop having sex with Steve. Never again, I promise."

Shelby had Jordy back to full hard as his hips started jerking up and down in rhythm with her strokes. She then squeezed hard again, and then again pulled hard on his ballsack before she went back to slow stroking. She owned him and she knew it. So did Jordy. He groaned again.

"I'll take this as you accepting my apology."

With that, Jordy shot off a bucketful of cum, growling as he did so. Two rooms over, his mother pretended not to hear.

Shelby had the window seat on the flight back to Lansing in August for her sophomore year. The two men sitting next to her were young executives, probably in their late 20s. They both appeared to be the cliché of "tall, dark and handsome." Shelby could feel her pussy tingle. She and Jordan had made love just last night, but she hadn't fucked anybody but her boyfriend since she left school in May. These two were handsome... and they weren't Jordan. She giggled audibly. She had never done two guys at the same time before.

Unlike a lot of his friends at Penn State, Jordan wasn't interested in girls simply as sex partners. He already had a girlfriend back home, so he wasn't going to sleep with just any girl. He wanted there to be some kind of relationship, even if he wasn't exactly looking for love. He added two to his number during his sophomore year.

Regardless of what she had agreed to with Jordan, Shelby felt she was free to enjoy all of life's sexual pleasures. One of them was her English lit professor, Dr. Gary Shepherd. Dr. Shepherd wore a wedding ring, but he had long dark brown hair, a scruffy beard and soulful brown eyes. It was those eyes that made her pussy moisten while he was lecturing in the classroom.

She waited two weeks before stopping in to the professor's office, wearing a tight white tank top braless under a short sleeve top that was completely unbuttoned. He enjoyed watching her breathe as they talked. He also enjoyed looking at her legs in her short jean shorts. She smiled to herself, noting how easy men are to manipulate.

That relationship lasted until the semester ended. Shelby didn't feel guilty about sleeping with a married man, but she felt the inconvenience of working around his situation wasn't worth the effort... considering she was already doing two other guys on a regular basis and had other men waiting in the wings. By the time her sophomore year was over, her "number" had doubled.

Jordan wasn't a stupid man, and his eyes worked perfectly. He knew Shelby attracted plenty of male attention when the two were apart, and since they agreed not to be exclusive when they were away at school, he figured she was having more sex than him. Since he thought the best of her, his estimate of her experience wasn't even close. Because of this, however, he wasn't overly concerned, and the two never really had a definitive discussion about their sex lives.

Jordan had six more partners over his last two years at Penn State. By contrast, Shelby had 19 more partners over the same time frame, including four during a gangbang she set up in the last month of classes because she wanted to do one before she went back to being exclusive with Jordan. When she graduated, Michigan State said good-bye to one of its biggest sluts.

Jordan graduated with honors from Penn State and had a job in the auditing department at a hospital in St. Louis lined up before graduation day. Shelby moved in with him and found a job in HR at a production facility in the city. The two were married about a year later. A son was born two years later, followed by a first daughter three years after that and a second one two years later.

Shelby quit work to become a stay-at-home mom until the youngest child started school, then she returned back part-time to her old place of employment. The family didn't really need the extra income, but Shelby didn't want to sit home doing nothing, she told her husband. He gave her his full support.

Despite her past in college, Shelby was a completely faithful wife until Raphael Sanchez began to work at the same company as her. The first time she laid eyes on the young Hispanic man, she felt her pussy gush. She realized it had been 13 years since she had sex with anyone other than Jordan.

Raphael, an assistant vice president, noticed Shelby the first time he laid eyes on her; truthfully only a blind person could not notice the beautiful, curvy woman.

He started stopping by her office occasionally to make small talk, then he invited her out to lunch. Shelby wasn't a novice at the game. She knew where this was heading. She hesitated at first because she didn't want to break her wedding vows, but then came to the realization in her mind that what Jordan didn't know wasn't going to hurt him, as it hadn't during their college years. She began to view this as separate from her life with Jordan.

Shelby was her usual cautious self when it came to her first extramarital affair. She and Raphael met on Wednesday afternoon at his apartment, and she made sure to always shower at his place before heading home to be mom and wife.

"Hubby can't keep this hot body satisfied? Got to get some Raphael to feel like a complete woman?" he started smack-talking the second time the two were in bed and Shelby was riding him hard cowgirl.