Joel and Carrie Ch. 12

"I'm happy for Sandy. She matured a lot and Jim seems like a good guy," I put in.

"He's not nearly as good looking Karl, but probably a lot more fun," my girl agreed readily. "And what happened to Sandy? She was hot before, but did you see how she looked in those jeans last night?"

I don't know why, but her words surprised me. She'd avoided talking about other people since the whole thing with Tara began. I guess I read too much into it. She didn't want to sleep with anyone else again, but that didn't mean she wasn't attracted to them.

"I wish she'd been a little more receptive back in high school," my girl continued, sounding clearly disappointed.

"You want me to start knocking on doors to track them down?" I joked. I knew it was a little much, but I wanted to see just how far she'd come.

"No," she said. "The past is the past and I'm happy with the way things are now." I couldn't help it. I laughed happily. She frowned. "What's so funny?"

"You're better," I shrugged. "And that makes me happy."

"I would have thought you'd be disappointed," Carrie joked, obviously a little embarrassed. "After all, imagine what kind of a pretzel you could twist an actual gymnast into."

"I'll survive," I sighed melodramatically, but then added with a grin, "You'll just have to take up yoga."

"You'd better not be serious!" she snapped.

"Why? Yoga is good for you," I said, trying to sound as innocent as I could. There was no way my girl was going to buy it. Carrie shook her head and rolled her eyes.

We sat for quite a while chatting and enjoying each other's company. Despite the fun we'd had in a hot tub in the past, this was far better. We held hands as we soaked.

"I'm getting pruney," my girl sighed eventually. "And I'm hungry. We'd better get going. Can you help me out of the tub?"

"Sure," I smiled, standing and getting out first. I dried briefly before turning to help her. Carry had pulled a leg muscle so I had to steady her as she followed. I took another towel and began drying her.

"I can do that myself," she offered.

"Where's the fun in that?" I asked with a laugh. I thought she was going to make another comment, but instead she simply smiled. After a while she pulled the towel from my hands and dropped it to the ground. Carrie came into my arms and kissed me. We stood like that until we both our bodies started reacting. My girl took my hand and led me back into the bedroom.

"My legs hurts, but I want to try something," she said, pulling me to the bed. She lay on her side with the hurt leg closest to the bed. She held it out straight, but bent the one on top, exposing herself to me.

I got in bed behind her and left a trail of kisses from her lips, down her side and to the crease between her legs. Carrie was close to being ready. I could smell her excitement. That didn't stop me from spending quite a few minutes tasting it as well.

I shifted on the bed until my stiffness was lined up with the patch of blond hair between her legs. I took my time pushed in. Carrie sighed happily, took the hand I draped over her and pulled it between her breasts, hugging it. I smiled as I kissed her shoulder from behind and slowly pushing in and out of my girl.

"If you leave another mark, I'm going to..."

"Relax," I laughed. "I won't. I think you were right last night. I wasn't quite myself. I am now."

"I can tell," she said contently. "Last night was fun and necessary, but this is better. I promise not to do that to you again."

"You didn't do anything," I argued.

"That's not true and we both know it," she sighed. "Joel, everyone thinks I'm the strong one, but it's not true. You are."

"That's just your imagination speaking," I insisted. She looked ready to argue. I didn't give her a chance. "The truth is that everyone knows I'm the strong one."

"You Jerk!" Carrie cried, but the settled back down and began laughing.

Our bodies moved like they were meant to be together. I believed they were with all of my heart. We started much slower this time. I looked up into the mirror and saw Carrie looking at me. We shared a smile and then hers turned into a grin as she brought the fingers of the hand trapped between her breasts to her mouth. She licked them very provocatively before taking two and sucking on them. Her eyes never left mine as we worked toward our release together. It didn't take long despite neither one of us rushing it. We hugged like that for quite a while afterward and I actually fell back asleep.

"Joel, we need to get going," I heard Carry said as she shook me awake.

"You really must be hungry," I grumbled.

"I am," she smiled. "But that's not why I'm waking you up. We need to check out, unless you want to pay for another night?"

"Just how sore are you?" I asked in reply.

"Too much for any fun." I could hear the laughter in her voice. She had no idea how much that meant to me.

"In that case, let's go," I said, but didn't move.

"I left you enough time for another quick shower if you hurry."

"I'm going, I'm going," I sighed, opening my eyes fully and getting out of bed. We left the room twenty minutes later and went down the elevator hand in hand. The hotel offered a free breakfast buffet as part of the cost and we stopped to see what they had. I was impressed. So was Carrie because she reached for a plate.

We were both surprisingly hungry and ate in silence. I was just returning from getting my second helping of pancakes when Sandy and Jim appeared. I saw them say something to Carrie who smiled and obviously asked them to join us.

"Good morning," I smiled as I walked over.

"More like afternoon," Jim grinned. "We had some time getting out of the room before they kicked us out."

"Us too," I laughed.

"More like you, sleepy head," Carrie put in.

"What can I say? You tired me out."

"You're not the one with a pulled muscle," my girl grumbled.

"And with an obvious hickey," Jim added with a grin causing Carrie to blush and pull her hair over the mark. I couldn't help it. I laughed. My girl gave me an unpleasant look, which only made me laugh harder.

"What exactly were you two doing last night?" Sandy asked, ignoring Jim's comment and my laughter. She was obviously curious about the pulled muscle.

"Much the same thing as us, I would imagine," Jim grinned. This time his girl blushed.

"Yes, only I'm not a gymnast like Sandy," Carrie sighed. "Joel kept forgetting that minor fact no matter how many times I reminded him."

"I take it your room had a mirror on the ceiling too?" Jim asked. My girl and I looked at each other and burst out laughing.

Jim and Sandy were good company. The four of us spent nearly an hour eating and laughing. Jim lived a few hours away and was just visiting Sandy. They'd met at college.

"I have to go home tomorrow," Jim sighed toward the end. "Work calls, but I'll be back as often as I can. We should go out sometime." I looked at Carrie and she smiled.

"That sounds good," I said, exchanging cell phone numbers.

"I know that look," Sandy said, watching her boyfriend carefully.

"What look?" he asked innocently.

"You're still hoping that the four of us will get together for some bedroom fun," she laughed. "I knew I shouldn't have brought it up last night. Not with a pervert like you. I don't know what came over me."

"It's not going to happen," Carrie said seriously, worrying me a little, but then she smiled and added, "But if I ever do change my mind, you two are the first ones we'll call."

"What about Robbie and Tina? And Marie and Deana? Not to mention Jill and Jenifer," I couldn't resist putting in.

"Good point," my girl laughed, before turning back to the couple. "Maybe not the first, unless you're up for something really crazy?"

"No thank you," Sandy said a little too quickly. "Honestly, I don't think I can handle even just the four of us."

"Sandy, I'm just joking," Carrie said quickly, realizing the girl thought she was serious. "Joel and I are exclusive now and I can't see that changing. I'm sure you've heard about 'The Summer Orgy', as people are calling it. If you and Jim do find someone or a couple to have some fun with, be careful. People talk even though it's none of their business. You, your friends and family could end up getting hurt."

"Wow," the Asian girl said, seeing the pain behind my girl's words.

"You have no idea," Carrie sighed.

"Well, that shouldn't stop us from hanging out the next time I'm in town, should it?" Jim asked. "I don't know anyone here and most of Sandy's friends don't seem to know how to deal with my sense humor. You two are the first people here who do."

"Not at all," I smiled. "Give us a call and we'll see if we can get together." We said our goodbyes after that and left.

"They really are a nice couple," Carrie said a few minutes later as we drove toward her house.

"Yes," I agreed. "And we could always use some new friends."

"Especially at the rate we're losing them," my girl snorted.

"It's not that bad," I insisted. "Other than Tara and Brian, name one friend we've lost?"

"I can name twenty," Carrie replied, and then began to do exactly that. She named people we knew back in high school. I hadn't realized so many of them were snubbing us, but the truth was I didn't care.

"Please!" I snorted. "Those people were never true friends to begin with. They were more acquaintances, and don't forget the friends we've made in college."

"Maybe you're right," Carrie said, smiling slowly.

**********

The next day I was still feeling pretty good when it happened. I arrived at Carrie's house to find her in tears once more.

"What happened?" I asked.

"Nothing," she replied, wiping her cheeks. I waited patiently. It didn't take long. "My parents confronted me about our night at the hotel."

"What?" I asked in surprise. "Why would that bother them?" It wasn't like they didn't know Carrie and I had sex. Hell, they knew we were going to the hotel before I did. Carrie told them when she stopped to pick up her gift. "Was it the hickey?"

"No," Carrie said, shaking her head and almost laughing. "Do you really think something like that would put me in tears? My mother did make a comment about it, but that's not what upset me. I was expecting that. What I wasn't expecting was that one of my mother's friends was at the hotel and saw us."

"I'm still not getting the problem," I shrugged.

"With Sandy and Jim." It actually took me a few seconds to connect the dots.

"You've got to be kidding me!" I snapped angrily, finally getting it. "We ate breakfast with them! Why would anyone think..."

"Because people have nothing better to do," my girl interjected. "But let's be honest too, we were flirting with them. I'm sure from a distance it could have looked like..."

"Bull!" I cried, not letting her finish. I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Okay, sure, I guess I can see it, but it's not fair. What? Are we supposed to keep away from everyone or the rumors will start flying?"

"I don't know," my girl said, sounding small. "But I had to call Sandy and warn her after I explained what happened to my parents. You know our town. I'd be surprised if she gets to her parents before they hear, and the way she describes them, they're not nearly as understanding as ours."

"That's great!" I growled. "Just great. Maybe your mother is right. Maybe we should move!"

"Joel, calm down," Carrie sighed.

"Why?" I snapped unreasonably.

"Because if you don't I'll probably end up pulling another muscle trying to help you relieve the stress."

"A joke? Now?" I asked in disbelief. My girl wouldn't be put off.

"Did I mention that the mark on my neck is visible even if I cake on the cover-up?" she added. I wanted to stay angry, but I felt it ebbing away. "And there is no way I can handle being tied into another pretzel so soon after the last time." That was it. I couldn't help it. There was nothing funny about what happened, but I laughed anyway. Carrie smiled and added, "That's better."

"If you say so," I sighed. "I'm not so sure."

"I am," my girl said. "I was wrong at first when I said that I didn't care about the repercussions from what we did. Losing Tara showed me that. But I was equally wrong when I let them rule me. Today proved that to me. I can only control so much."

"You sound okay," I said in surprise, seeing that it was true despite her earlier tears.

"I am in a way," she replied. "Oh, I'm hurt and pissed, but so be it. I feel bad that what we inadvertently hurt the ones we love like our parents. That's why I don't want to do what caused them problems in the first place, but I refuse to take the blame for something we didn't do."

"Wow," I said, smiling slowly. "There's the girl I know and love."

"Yeah," she grinned. "The bitch is back."

"Not bitch," I disagreed. "Goddess. You'll always be my Golden Goddess." She rolled her eyes, but her smile was real despite her tear stained cheeks. It warmed me in ways I can't explain. We'd had a difficult time as of late, but if nothing else, it taught us both that we could face anything as long as we were together. I leaned forward and gently touched her lips with my own. Nothing ever felt more right.