Myra Slips Up?

They went to his apartment. They got to know each other's bodies quite well in the next four hours, before Ronnie punked out and fell asleep.

The next morning, they screwed again, just once. Then they ate at the Denny's across from the math department.

And they worked. It was clear to both that the sex was helping the work. They ate sandwiches from a coffee shop for lunch. At six-thirty, Brenda thought that they had come to a stopping point. But Ronnie was fiddling with some equation on her chalkboard. He held up his hand in a gesture meaning 'wait.' He added some symbols and turned to her. She didn't see him turn. She was raptly staring at the equation on the board. She sprang up and added a line. Stood back. And then they both started jumping up and down, hugging. The project wasn't complete. But it had just become a huge success.

They worked a little more, but it was simply cleanup work which could be done at a slower pace.

As they walked out of the building, Brenda said, "You know we're both going to be sort of rich soon."

Ronnie did know that, in an abstract way. But when she said it, it became quite real. He hugged her again. They went to a good place for dinner. Then they went back to her apartment. And when they got there, they made slow love to each other.

When that was over, Ronnie whispered to her, "I never felt closer to anyone as I do with you now."

She started to leak tears. She said, "Ronnie, I'm married. He's overseas with the Navy. I...I never thought that something like this would happen. But I won't leave him."

Ronnie was floored. He said, "But are we cheating?"

"No. I have the freedom to explore when he's gone for a long time. So does he. His name is Joshua."

"When will he be back?"

"Late August."

"Oh. Are we going to keep up with the sex?"

"Yes. If you want that."

"Well, it did seem to help with the math."

She jumped him.

Meanwhile, Myra initially had a great time with her Cock. As she often told him, it was good for a girl to have her own Cock. Somehow the joke never got stale. But the relationship did.

Cochran was gone on the road quite a bit and had to practice each day. They went out on the town some. They were now something more than a local celebrity couple. People took their picture when they were dancing or eating. Myra knew that it was really Cochran who was getting the attention. But she also knew how good they looked together.

But when Cochran was on the road, there wasn't much for Myra in Cincinnati. She had been texting and emailing Ronnie. They had always been honest with each other. Ronnie told her about Brenda.

Myra said, "Ronnie, I am for sure coming back for senior year. For sure. I'm actually bored here quite a bit. When I was with you, I wasn't ever bored. Well...maybe for ten minutes. Not days like here."

He said, "When you were with me, you were also with Cochran, and the professor, too."

"Not in the spring. And I won't have other guys this coming year."

"Okay. We can see how that goes. But, Myra, if you start to get bored, you have to let me know. Don't just....."

"I won't cheat Ronnie. I won't."

And she was true to her word.

Ronnie and Brenda sold the product of their collaboration to a multi-national computer firm. They both got rich, and would have royalties coming in as well, when the product was marketed. But Joshua returned in August. Ronnie was invited for dinner a week after he arrived. He accepted but was nervous.

Brenda met Ronnie at the door and ushered him into her place. Joshua was standing near her. He was huge. Tall and broad with a full, dark beard. His face was solemn as Ronnie came in. Brenda made introductions. Joahua's face was a mask. Ronnie hadn't completely closed the door. He was about to run when Joshua started to laugh. He reached out to shake. He said, "No bad feeling, Ronnie. We don't hide things from each other." The two men shook. Ronnie felt as if his hand was swallowed whole.

But the three had a great evening. The mood was helped along by some great, expensive wine and a veggie lasagna. Ronnie knew that Brenda didn't cook. It was Joshua's lasagna, and it was delicious.

As they finished dessert, Joshua said, "Ronnie, I hear we're all going to be wealthy."

Ronnie said, "It seems so. The deal is signed. I have an initial payment."

Joshua turned to Brenda and asked, "Would you have gotten there without Ronnie?"

Brenda said, "No, I don't think so. At least not so quickly."

Joshua asked, "What about without the sex?"

Ronnie got nervous.

Brenda said, "The sex was....very helpful. As a relaxing activity, you know."

Joshua said, "Brenda told me about the eureka moment. I was....well, never before, since our arrangement, have I been jealous. But to be honest, I'm jealous of that. That's different."

Ronnie was beginning to feel very uncomfortable. He said, "Joshua, it's kind of two different things. The sex was great, and it maybe helped. But the eureka moment had nothing to do with the sex, per se. Even if there had been no sex, the moment would have happened the same."

Joshua was silent. Then he nodded. He said, "I see that. I do. Thanks."

Ronnie wondered if the two had discussed this before he came. If so, why did it come up now? If not, why not? He decided to let it sit.

The evening ended well after that. Myra was due back three days hence. And it was announced that Brenda was taking a sabbatical to go to England with Joshua. He had been assigned there as a liaison between the respective navies. Brenda was going to work at Oxford for that time.

Ronnie wished them luck. He went home to wait for Myra. But he was quite depressed. Had things been different, he might have.....wanted a permanent place with Brenda.

Myra arrived in a rented van two days later. She got in at eight pm. She locked up the truck and came into the apartment. She ignored the dinner Ronnie had made. She took him right to bed and took him repeatedly there. There was no let up from her. She was like a mad woman in heat. Ronnie had little choice in the matter. Myra was simply reestablishing her place in his life. And, while she was doing that, she was getting off many times.

It was two am when there came a lull. Ronnie felt like a wet towel that had been wrung out and hung out to dry. Myra took pity. She could have kept going all night. She thought of the hiatus until morning as a gift she could bestow upon poor Ronnie. When that thought came to her, she giggled. But Ronnie didn't hear that.

Over the next week the two spoke about their summers with different partners. The discussions were at times rife with tension, and at times loving. But the discussions were necessary.

Myra ended by saying, "Ronnie, it's you I love. Not Cochran. Or anyone else."

And Ronnie said, "I love you, too. I have love for Brenda. And for Linda, for that matter. But you're number one with a bullet."

Myra smiled. She took him to bed.

For Myra, sex with Ronnie was different that sex with her Cock. Each guy had strong points. Cochran was mainly overwhelming, and somewhat self-interested. That combination set Myra off like a Roman candle at times. At other times less so.

Ronnie was always considerate and had a sense of what would please her. And since what would please her wasn't always the same, Ronnie's approach varied. She always ended up satisfied with him. One thing, though. He wasn't a big man like Cochran. She was taller and almost as strong. Mostly she liked that. Sometimes not.

Ronnie wasn't as aggressive as Cochran, either. Myra could never have dragged Cochran into bed as she did Ronnie when she came back for the summer. He would have taken over, sated himself and slept.

Myra and Ronnie were faithful to each other their entire senior year. Ronnie did keep in touch with Brenda via email. He also kept up with Linda, who was getting married to a lawyer at her firm.

Myra and Cochran wrote each other via email, mostly. When he came to DC, he wanted her to meet him there. She declined. She wanted to go see him, but she knew what would happen. She'd made a promise to Ronnie about the senior year. (Really, Ronnie was a graduate student. But he held off getting the diploma.)

Ronnie took Myra out somewhere every weekend. Dancing was her favorite. Theater, movies, camping. But she loved to go dancing. Ronnie had become a pretty good dancer. But Myra, of course, attracted a lot of attention. She danced with many men, but always only one dance. And never too risqué. As long as the guy was polite, Ronnie didn't mind.

Twice a guy was not polite. Myra brushed one off. But the other, a bruiser of a fellow, wouldn't take no for an answer. Ronnie went upside his head with a beer mug as he was trying to pull Myra out of the booth. He almost got arrested, but didn't. The venue had security video.

After that altercation, Myra dragged him home and practically raped him. That was when Ronnie began to take some fighting lessons in his spare time. Burt he never needed that skill -then.

Cincinnati FC's season ended just before Thanksgiving, with a loss in the playoffs. Cochran had been impressive in his first professional season. He had the best goal prevention statistic in the league. He had developed a real feeling for what could happen in front of him. That allowed him to make saves that looked easier than they were. Experienced evaluators saw that, when the average fan did not.

In early December, Cochran accepted an offer from the Scottish team he had been associated with for the last two years. It was in the middle of their season. The team had begun the season with two experienced goalies. One went down with a knee injury. And the other was, perhaps, too experienced.

So off Cochran went to Edinberg.

His team had a rabid following but was not the equal of the two Glasgow teams. Almost, but not quite. Still, he became a celebrity when he took over the main goalie duties and did well. And, as in his previous times in the country, the lasses were attracted to him. He kept in touch with Myra, mostly via email. Sometimes on the phone.

The season ended for him in late April, and he returned immediately to Tech. He let Myra know that he was coming back, and she told Ronnie.

Cochran had decided that Myra was the woman for him. He had every intention of proposing. He arrived on a Wednesday morning. He had a rented condo, because he was going to train with the Tech soccer team for the remainder of the term. He called Myra and asked to meet her for dinner Friday. She agreed.

Myra was so conflicted by the situation. She dithered. Not like her at all.

Ronnie was, on the one hand, nervous about the entire thing. But he was also tired of it. For him, he and Myra were at a moment where she either had to fish or cut bait.

As he mulled it over in the week before Cochran was to return, Ronnie decided that, if Myra would promise to be true to him, he'd propose. But if she had some sexual interlude with Cochran after promising him that their senior year would be all his, then he would walk away. He knew how difficult that would be, for both. But he had no patience left. He wanted to marry her and have a family. He wanted that, as he put it in his vernacular, if and only if they could be exclusive. That was his idea of marriage, old-fashioned as it might have been.

Thursday evening, Ronnie made that clear to Myra. She dithered. It was a cold night in April, although the weather was fine.

Friday Ronnie went off to his T/A classes and had office hours. He had already completed his coursework for a Masters. He'd been offered a position at the mathematics department, which he intended to accept. That was his intention, whatever Myra did.

Myra thought about her choice. By the afternoon she was fairly sure about what she wanted. Almost sure. Ninety-five percent.

She dressed casually for her dinner date with Cochran. She had picked a casual American place near Cochran's new digs. She took a cab. Cochran arrived in a classic Thunderbird convertible. Red with a white top. His condo was but three blocks away. The restaurant did not have valet parking. But he had a guy there to take care of parking. He brought a single rose for Myra, who saw him arrive. He handed it to her just outside the restaurant. He was dressed in sharply pressed gray chinos, desert boots and a black silk collared shirt. He swept her into his arms and tried for a kiss. She turned her cheek and whispered, "No. But you look great, big boy."

Nevertheless, Myra was impressed. It was clear to her that her Cock was going all out. It wasn't quite clear to her exactly what he was doing. She knew that he wanted her to go to his condo and spend the night. Spend the weekend, maybe. But the big show.....? She felt a bit uneasy.

They were seated in a booth near the front window. Drinks were ordered, white wine for her, a craft beer for him. They spoke about Cochran's seasons in Cincinnati and Scotland. He was excited about his success, and he glowed as he described it.

And Myra glowed as she listened.

Then he asked her how it was going for her in her senior year. She had kept him informed in their emails, and via phone sometimes. She shrugged and said, "You know I'm graduating soon. College life has been good, you know. Ronnie has accepted a slot with the math department. He'll get his doctorate soon."

Cochran frowned a bit. But the waitress came for their orders. Both ordered salmon. Hers sauteed, his crusted. Another round of drinks as well.

They ate and reminisced some. As the plates were cleared, Cochran reached out to hold her hand across the table. She felt a shiver as they touched. She looked at his earnest expression as his very large hand enveloped hers.

He said, "I want you to marry me, Myra. I love you. Always have, since freshman year. We can live in Edinberg."

Myra shook her head sideways, slowly. Despite the build-up, she was shocked at the proposal. She was ready for another, more prosaic, proposal. She started to leak tears.

Cochran misinterpreted the tears. He reached into his pocket, where he had a ring waiting.

But Myra stopped him by saying, "No, Cochran. No.....Ronnie. I have Ronnie. I love you Cochran. But I love him, too. We...we mesh."

Cochran was no fool. He knew she was in love with Ronnie. He knew she was in love with him, at least some. He didn't pull the ring out.

But he said, "I know, Myra. But don't decide yet. I know I've surprised you. I'll be around for two months. I know that you expected me to try to get you back to my place. But I want much more than that. Don't say no so fast. Please."

Myra tears were still flowing. She couldn't bring herself to break his heart. Not right then. She nodded. She said, "I'll say this. I am surprised. I do need to think. But, Cochran, please don't be surprised..."

She stood up. He stood with her. He said, "I'll drive you back."

She said, "No. I'll walk. I need the walk." She turned and left.

It was a mile walk. It was nine-thirty. She got back to the apartment at ten pm. She couldn't have told you anything about that walk.

Ronnie, of course, knew where she had gone that evening. They had discussed it. She had made him a solemn promise that she would come back to him, and that it was only a dinner, where she would let Cochran know that she was no longer available.

Ronnie hadn't been able to sit down for more than five minutes since she left the apartment. He had a chin up bar in the doorway to the bedroom. She'd been gone three hours, and he'd done countless lifts. Sit ups as well. And pacing. He saw Myra walking up to the outer door. Alone. He was waiting for her as she rounded the stairs.

She ran to him, sobbing, and they hugged right there in the hall, slowly spinning around.

When they got inside, Myra said, "He proposed. He proposed."

Ronnie looked at her. "And?"

"I said no. But then he asked me to wait to decide. I let that stand. But I'm not accepting. It's you I want to...." She gasped as she realized what she was about to say.

But Ronnie went to the mantle and brought a small box. He said, "I was going to do this in some very romantic way. But he beat me to it. So....I love you and I want us to get married." He opened the small box and there was a beautiful ring.

She grabbed it. She started laughing and whirling around. And she put it on her finger. She said, "Well......I guess." Then she jumped into his arms. He fell back onto the couch.

Ronnie and Myra had an exciting and satisfying night.

However, in the morning, Myra began to consider how to inform Cochran of her decision. She asked Ronnie for advice.

He said, "In person but in public." When she considered that advice, she agreed. She called Cochran and asked him to meet her on the steps of a main campus classroom building. Two hours later, they saw each other walking up to that spot.

Cochran knew, from the place set for the meeting, that it would not be good news. He joined Myra as she walked to the steps. They say down.

Cochran said, "So, I guess it's a no."

"Yes. I mean, yes, it's a no. I've accepted Ronnie's proposal."

"Oh. You mean last night?"

"Yes."

"I guess I pushed him into it."

"Not exactly. He already had the ring." She held out her hand to show him. Myra was crying silently.

Cochran said, "I love you, Myra. I wish you luck and happiness." He reached over and hugged her for a brief time. Then he walked away. She watched him from the steps until he rounded a building and was out of sight. She whispered to herself as he disappeared, "I love you, too, my Cock."

Her tears dried as she walked back home. When she stepped through the door Ronnie was there waiting. And soon the excitement of her pending marriage almost banished the hurt from her meeting with Cochran. Almost.

The wedding was a smallish affair, held at a golf club owned by Myra's father, James. A few people from campus were invited. Alice and Terry. The math department. Brenda and Joshua. Some of Myra's cohorts at the psychology department. And, after some discussion, Cochran. He attended. He felt obligated to do so, since he was still at Tech practicing with the soccer team.

There were no fireworks. Cochran brought a beautiful Scottish woman, Mary Dawson, who was visiting him just then. The two were not serious at that point, but had a sexual relationship based in Edinberg. Surprisingly, after the wedding experience, they did become very close when Cochran returned to that city. By the end of the year, they were cohabiting.

After their honeymoon in Las Vegas, Myra and Ronnie settled in at Tech. Ronnie had his doctorate work, and his teaching duties. Myra, whose major had been psychology, went for a masters in economics. They settled in. After spring semester, they bought a house near campus, but on twenty acres of woodland.

And Myra started writing romance novels. She had done a project for her B.A. on the patterns of those books, which were changing. Ronnie read her thesis and really thought it to be insightful. Why was one book successful and another very similar one not?

One evening, after they had a nice time in bed, he said to Myra, "You could write those books. If you did, they'd be better that the ones you discuss."

Myra stared at him for a long while. She replied, "I did give it some thought, Ronnie."

"Don't overthink. You know, just do it."

She smiled at him. "I did. Well, I have a thirty-page outline." She giggled but wouldn't let Ronnie see it just then. She felt that it was autobiographical, to a great degree. And it might hit too close to home.

Thinking it over the next day, Ronnie saw that. He let it go. Didn't ask again. But he was curious.

Myra was writing the book to explore her two-man romantic dilemma. Of course, the characters appeared under made up names. But anyone who knew them would know who was who. A roman a clef.