Love Lurks Beyond the Notes Pt. 02

This story continues Love Lurks Beyond the Notes, which describes the meeting of Nate and Alyssa. The second part advances the intertwined lives of Nate and Alyssa. It is in some respects not as light-hearted as the original story. Life happens, and is not always a bed of roses. But true love endures.

Many thanks to karaline for perceptive eyes and suggestions.

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Part Two: Loving Lyssa

I was sitting at my desk in the utility corporate office, wrapped up in the aesthetic intricacies of high voltage transformer strike distance, when Alyssa texted me. Alyssa was my girlfriend of approximately four weeks, two days, ten hours and 23 minutes, give or take. She was a positively adorable sweetheart of Italian-American heritage with a very nice shape, amazing legs, shoulder length dark hair, and dark eyes that turned me into jelly. She was also way sassy, which I loved.

Buzzzz

"Hey, Hot Guy"

"Hey Lyssa, wassup?"

"Mamma wants you and me to come for dinner Saturday ok?"

"Is Gina coming?"

Gina, Alyssa's older sister, was a frank, strong-willed woman who I liked a lot.

"I think so, why?"

"Need to know how much wine to bring ;)"

"lol she'll cut your balls off for that smartass!"

"That would be ur loss"

"lol ur lucky ur so hot! <3"

"I'll be there, with balls on"

I was still laughing when my friend Nicole popped into my cubicle. She mussed up my hair, knowing full well how much I hated it. "You're in a good mood!"

"You know, I'd forgotten how much fun it was to have a real girlfriend."

"Well after that last one, Marcia the barracuda..."

"Marla!"

"Whatever. The one you hate-fucked for three weeks before you had a temporary flash of sanity. That was what, six months ago?"

Nicole had appointed herself my personal ball buster soon after we met. She was pretty fucking good at it. Once at an office function I asked her husband Frank how he put up with all of her shit. He just shrugged with a grin and said that the makeup sex made it all worthwhile. I believed him.

I'd finally broken down and given Nicole a blow-by-blow of my tumultuous three weeks with Marla. "I was totally over Marla long before my first date with Alyssa."

"Yeah?" Nicole looked skeptical. My roller coaster ride with Marla had fucked with my head for a while, much to Nicole's dismay. She'd even had to lay off busting my chops for a week or so.

"Yeah. By sheer bad luck Marla was in the same restaurant that Alyssa and I went to after the symphony that first night. But when she came by our table to trash talk me, I essentially told her to go fuck herself -- in a nice way, of course. Alyssa wasn't fazed by any of it though, we eventually went back to her place, and I was totally smitten."

"You guys have only been going out for like a month now."

"True, but... it's been like, I don't know, spontaneous combustion from the very first. She's beyond amazing." I looked up to see if anyone was passing by. "I already used the L word."

Nicole pursed her lips. "I guess I should meet this one then, huh?" Her voice had dropped like mine.

"Yes, you definitely should."

Nicole's eyes narrowed. "Well, I only know that she's pretty cute. Tell me five things that make her so special. Easy pussy doesn't count."

I rolled my eyes. I had to do that a lot around Nicole. It was a good thing I liked her. But why she thought she needed to vett the most special person I'd ever met, well, women are sometimes funny like that.

I ticked off each point on my fingers. "One -- laughs at my jokes. Two -- is just as funny as I am. Three -- calls me incorrigible..."

"So she's a shrewd judge of character!"

I frowned at the interruption. "Four -- is really smart. I mean really smart. Five -- is a great cuddler. Six -- likes my cooking. Seven -- likes to play sexy footsie. Eight -- is family-oriented in a really healthy way. Nine..."

"Ok, I get it, I get it!"

"Shit, you didn't even let me get to the shower sex." I smirked at her.

Nicole laughed. "I think that's uncomfortably close to easy pussy!"

I flipped her off. "Actually her sister told me Alyssa was kind of a wallflower before she met me. So it seems she was never 'easy,'" I air quoted. I paused so Nicole would reconsider her flippancy, at least for a minute. "Please don't be catty about her, Nicole. This isn't just about sex. There's a whole lot more to this woman. I think you'll really like her."

Nicole stopped her banter and considered my words. "Every woman who is worth your time blossoms sooner or later," she finally said. "It sounds like Alyssa has blossomed for you."

"Wow, that's pretty profound coming from you." I felt my naughty side kicking in. "When will we see you move past the wallflower stage?"

Nicole had to laugh. I managed to get off a shot every once in a while against her barrages.

I turned serious. "Nicole, didn't you ever fall for someone right away? I mean, like within hours?"

Nicole pondered. "I think it was on my third date with Frank. Maybe earlier. Once we got past the butterflies, really."

"That's not so different," I shrugged. "And it turned out really well for you both."

"Yeah, it sure has." Nicole looked right at me. "You know that I'm happy for you, right?"

"Goddamn, Nicole, that was almost affectionate. I might need to pull out a kleenex."

She mussed my hair again. "Good luck, Nate. I really mean it. And I do want to meet her!" She sidled out of my cube.

*******

Alyssa and I had lunch together on Thursday, and I got right down to it. "Lyssa, I'm pretty nervous about dinner with your whole family Saturday."

I had met Georgina, Alyssa's older sister, just a week after we started dating. I thought Gina was a gem, and she seemed to like me too. Her younger brother, Eddie, still lived at home with Mamma in the family bungalow. He had taken a couple of gap years during COVID to help Mamma stay sane, and was now commuting to UIC to save some money. I would be meeting them for the first time.

Alyssa glared at me. "What are you nervous about? Mamma's going to love you. You're the good-looking, witty guy who takes me to the symphony and cooks for me."

I sighed. "I don't know. You and I like shot all the way to the moon by our second date, but I know how important your family is to you and I don't want to fuck things up with them."

Alyssa's eyes softened. "You're really worried about this, aren't you. Well, Gina's on your side too."

"It's not Gina I'm worried about. It's the five foot two Mamma with possible Mafia connections who concerns me."

Alyssa giggled and flashed a smile. "Nate. Look. You're a fantastic guy. You have a great personality, a good job, and you treat me with complete respect. She will L-O-V-E you. Ok? And if she doesn't... well, then I'll just create some drama for a couple of hours."

Alyssa's naughty eyebrows punctuated the last bit. I laughed, and relaxed a tiny bit. Alyssa, bless her vixen-ish heart, seized that moment to run her toes way up inside my pant leg. Great, so now I had to wait for my boner to go down before we could leave the restaurant. Did other guys have these problems?

The family dinner turned out to be fun after all. Mamma Bertolini made an amazing veal scallopini, and was really pretty friendly to me. Maybe Gina had talked me up. It didn't hurt that Alyssa had her hand super-glued to mine most of the evening, or that I actually recognized and commented on some of the Italian opera arias playing in the background. I also brought a few bottles of a nice Chianti which everyone appreciated. Mamma cut herself off after two glasses, but the rest of us were all getting pretty merry. Alyssa even told Gina about my wine joke at her expense, and all I got was a whack on the shoulder and a laugh. "Well you seem to be keeping up with me pretty well tonight, Nate!"

Gina later pulled me aside and turned all big sister. "Nate, you and Alyssa weren't planning on driving home tonight?"

"No, that's definitely not a good idea." I was pretty buzzed.

"I'm staying here myself. You guys can share Lyssa's old room, there's a double bed."

I knew Gina had no issue with that, but I had to ask, "What will Mamma say about that?"

"Let me handle it," said Gina. "Just remember that your bad back prevents you from sleeping on the sofa." She gave me a smile and a wink. I really liked Gina. She was like the big sister I never had.

Once Gina managed to grease the way to our sharing a bed, it was difficult for Alyssa and me to keep our hands to ourselves. We had no sooner settled in when Alyssa got up to her usual naughtiness. "Naaate, I need another good night kiss."

"Doesn't that make the fourth..." but her lips were already on mine. I was acutely aware that the house was full and the walls were thin. Also, that my arms were full of hot, adorable woman wearing only a t-shirt and panties.

Provoked, I was compelled to slip my tongue into Alyssa's ear. Unfortunately that precipitated a fit of giggling. I kept having to "shush" her. She managed revenge though, running her fingers around my shaft and balls as I bit my tongue in an effort to stop my moaning.

She teased, "Don't you like this, Hot Guy?"

"Mmmmphh!"

I was forced to nuzzle her nipples after I strategically placed a pillow over her mouth. Somehow we managed to stop short of doing the dirty but it wasn't at all easy. I settled for spooning her with a nice handful of boob as consolation.

Finally though we had a good night's sleep. The next day Mamma made a big breakfast for everybody. I even got a smile and a hug on the way out the door to drive Alyssa home.

*******

The following Friday Alyssa and I had a very loose dinner plan at my place. I was checking the fridge when she called.

"Nate? Gina and I are on the way. We have to talk to you." Her voice sounded strained.

"Ok, is she staying for a while? Then maybe we should order in." Gina sometimes drove Alyssa to my place so she wouldn't have to take the bus.

"Yeah, that's a good idea. See you in a few."

My doorbell went off and I buzzed them in. For once Alyssa did not launch herself at me like Lust-erella. She just came up to me and hugged me for a long time. Then Gina hugged me. They both had puffy eyes. And both looked like they really needed to talk. I poured us all big glasses of water.

We sat on the sofa and Gina looked at me. I knew something serious was up. "Nate, I found a lump in my breast yesterday."

The blood drained from my face. My mother had been down this road, surgery, radiation, chemo, all of it. She finally succumbed after six years of hell. But at least I had some prior knowledge on the topic. I tried to sound calm, though my voice was a bit quavery. "The majority of lumps are benign. We... you need to get a referral for diagnosis, and possible surgery. Do you know of someone, or should I..."

Gina took a breath. "I have a recommendation from one of my work friends. The University of Chicago Hospital has a good reputation, and she recommended her surgeon as one of the best."

"Are they in your insurance network?"

"Yes, nearly all of it should be fully covered."

She was calmer than I was, I realized. Ok, Nate, she's on top of this. Just suck it up and help support the family through this trouble.

Alyssa looked at Gina and me. "I think Nate should come to the consultations."

I had told Alyssa about my mother's long cancer journey.

Gina nodded. "I agree. Mamma's just going to go to pieces. We need to make sure we have all of the information and ask all of the right questions."

Gina and Alyssa held themselves together after their announcement, and I had some Mediterranean food delivered. We were subdued, but we were talking, listening to each other, and making good decisions. That's what they needed.

Welcome to the family, Nate, I told myself.

*******

The lump was on the arm side of Gina's left breast. The preliminary diagnosis was fibroadenoma. That was good news since there was no obvious malignancy. The doctors recommended a vacuum assisted excision. That would confirm the biopsy diagnosis and also remove all of the abnormal tissue.

Fibroadenomas could enlarge with pregnancy and become painful or interfere with breastfeeding. At 31 Gina still had years of potential childbearing remaining. Gina, Alyssa, and I were in agreement that this was the best course, even if Gina wasn't currently attached to anyone. She naturally wanted to keep her options open. The lump was small enough, and close enough to the surface, that the breast itself would not be significantly affected by the removal.

The day for the procedure came and Alyssa and I stood by nervously in the waiting room. Finally we were allowed back to see Gina. The lump was removed without complications, and the diagnosis was eventually confirmed. We all breathed a huge collective sigh of relief, and Mamma Bertinolli made a crap ton of lasagna for everybody on Saturday. She gave me a big hug for supporting Gina, actually for supporting her entire family. I knew that they really missed Papa whose heart had given out a few years ago. Even the usually taciturn Eddie came up and gave me a fist bump.

Three weeks after the procedure, I was at Alyssa's place and Gina came over too. Gina turned to me. "I'm a bit worried about this scar, Nate. Can you please look at it?"

I looked over to Alyssa, just to make sure she was on board with this. She nodded.

"Ok. It's still early though, Gina. Two months is more typical for full healing."

Gina worked her bra out from under her pullover. Then she lifted the sweater enough for me to see her full side boob. Gina really had nice breasts, a bit heavier than Alyssa's, but hardly any sag. I knew she was worried about her attractiveness to guys post-surgery; she didn't need to explain that to me.

I didn't think her scar was that bad, having seen my mother's scars after two major surgeries. The smallish incision site was still red and puffy looking, but it didn't look infected. I did not downplay Gina's concerns but offered that it was a fairly small scar and seemed to be healing normally. I did not say what I was thinking, which was that any guy she dated who was worth a shit should not even care about her scar.

"I've done some reading online, Gina. Silicone treatments seem to be the best course for scar reduction, just like your doctor said."

She nodded. "I started that last week."

"Then maybe you should just monitor it. Have you been taking daily photos?"

"Duh, there's a thought!" Gina clapped her hand to her forehead and laughed for the first time in a while, at least in my presence. She looked at Alyssa. "I feel better about it now. I'm kind of tired, so I'm going to head home. And also take a photo." She went to the bathroom to restore her bra.

The subtext was pretty clear. Alyssa and I had not had a whole lot of 'just us' time during the past few weeks, and I was sure she and Gina had spoken about that.

Gina turned to me at the door and held out her arms. "Nate, you've been an absolute rock. Thank you so much for everything." I was careful to hug her more toward her right side in case she was still sore. She kissed my cheek, said goodbye and left. I was pleased by the upswing in her mood.

I had barely turned around after closing the door when Alyssa was wrapped around me. "I've missed you big time, Hot Guy. But Gina and the family needed you. Thank you for stepping up." She pressed her lips to mine. "But Nate, I'm going to be pretty selfish for the rest of tonight."

"Selfish with a side of dessert?"

"You're incorrigible. Absolutely incorrigible. Now, help me get naked, will you?"

*******

Alyssa's idea of selfishness proved interesting. She hardly got within hailing distance of my erection and she was on it like a crazed woman. Her warm mouth lowered over me and her tongue caressed me urgently. I groaned and tried to tell her that I was on a hair trigger. Alyssa just worked me even more fervently with her mouth and hand. I totally lost control and came like a fire hose within minutes. She swallowed every drop.

I was lying next to her on her bed, trying to catch my breath. "Good lord woman, are you trying for the world record time for being cum-messed?" Alyssa just laughed and snuggled closer.

"I might have missed that particular appendage a bit over the last couple of weeks."

"Well don't worry, Lyssa, it'll be testing your endurance soon enough!"

"All talk..." she sighed.

Having recovered a bit by now, I said, "We'll see who's all talk, Miss Pretty Pussy."

Alyssa and I bantered quite a bit, because we both liked doing it and it kept us really turned on. But when we got down to it, the fireworks were always 10 out of 10. I couldn't wait to apply my full attention to all of her nicely packaged nerve endings.

Her adorable, kissable lips drew my full attention now. I nuzzled her neck and caressed her pert breasts, then lowered my mouth. Alyssa's hand laced into my hair as I teased and sucked her nipples. "Ohhhh Nate... that's so nice..."

"I thought you said I was all talk."

She moaned a bit. "Stop talking and keep sucking."

I ran my hand down along her smooth belly, easing it between her legs. I could tell she was fully warmed up even before I moved my fingers along her slit. Her moans and whimpers filled my ears. She gasped as I found and teased her clit.

"Naaaate... please lick me..."

Her nipples were standing up like pink erasers now, so I readjusted my position and settled between her amazing legs.

"You are so, so, beautiful, Lyssa..."

I ran kisses up and down her creamy thighs, then moved to her womanly core. Alyssa's scent and taste always affected me strongly. I liked nothing better than bringing her this most intense pleasure.

I ran my tongue slowly along her labia as she moaned with delight. She gasped as I thrust my tongue deep into her opening and fluttered it there. Then I began to tease her clit. Alyssa whimpered a bit in frustration.

"More... more... harder, Nate..." she whispered.

I sucked her nub into my mouth and worked it until I found a rhythm that caused her hips to buck.

She gasped, clutching at my head. "Nate! That's it, I'm getting close!"

That was my cue to slip one, then two fingers deep into her pretty little pussy and feel for her G-spot. Her moans of desire reverberated around the room, then her thighs clamped my head and contractions surrounded my fingers.

"Ahhhunnhhh!"

I was a bit surprised by the intensity of her orgasm. She trembled with aftershocks for a few minutes. Finally she urged me up to meet her lips. We had a long and very sloppy kiss as she stroked my back.

I stared into those big brown eyes. "I love you so much, Lyssa, you adorable woman."

She smiled. "I love you too, Nate, you crazy, wonderful Hot Guy. I might need a few minutes to recover from that, but trust me mister, I'm going to rock your world more than once tonight."

We both giggled, then just gently stroked each other for a while.

The next time was not at all urgent. We knew each other's needs by now, and I realized it was time to truly make love rather than just fuck like bunnies. We traded tender little kisses and whispered sweet things. Alyssa's expression as I slid slowly into her vagina was one of purest bliss. I savored the feeling of her tight warmth, her wetness, and the little sounds she made as she lazily drew circles on my back. We did it slowly for a long time before Alyssa cued me that she needed a nudge over the edge.

She gasped, "Harder now, Nate, please!"

She moved her legs up over my butt. That was my cue to really grind on her as my shaft pistoned in and out. Soon she was calling my name over and over. Her face screwed up in exquisite pleasure, then she wailed loudly as another orgasm washed over her. She clutched my ass and my balls took the hint and tightened. I thrust as deeply as I could and my pulses splashed against her clutching walls as we melded in a carnal tangle of arms and legs.