The Book of David Ch. 10

But a moment later, Amber's face went from intense to friendly and she said brightly, "Please, join us! I haven't seen you in forever. We should hit the mall soon. There's supposed to be a good summer sale coming up."

Brianna put on her best smile and nodded as she sat in the open third chair. "I think it's this weekend."

"Shall we? If you're free."

"Yeah, that sounds like fun," Brianna smiled, but I could still see the muscles forcing her smile. Amber then decided to take things into her own hands... literally.

The blonde smiled and reached her hands out to Brianna's, gently wrapping her fingers around as the brunette held her coffee cup with both hands. "Relax... I'm not mad or anything. I just had to see for myself."

Confused, both Brianna and I asked "See what?" at the same time.

Amber looked right at Brianna. "See if you were really interested in him."

Brianna jerked her hands back, just barely managing not to spill her coffee. "Oh, no. We're just friends. I don't want you to get the wrong idea." Just a little bit of panic was creeping into her voice.

"Relax..." Amber intoned again, smiling in a calming, friendly manner. "Anyways, it's too late. I can already tell."

Now Brianna was half-hyperventilating. "Tell what?"

"You like David." Amber's smile grew. "If you were just flirting for the fun of it, you wouldn't have gotten all tense when I started looking at you like that."

"Any girl would have gotten tense," Brianna protested.

"Not like that. That was the oh-shit-I-just-got-caught-scamming-on-her-boyfriend tense." Amber backed up and took another sip of her coffee. "I was watching you during the Christmas party. You were just flirting back then, with a hint of maybe being a little more interested. But at the time, it wasn't anything serious. But now? You LIKE him."

Brianna's jaw just kind of waggled up and down for a moment. I was worried about our public location and I scanned the room to make sure nobody was really paying attention to us. And then Brianna found her voice. "Amber, I... I never would have done anything. I can't help how he makes me feel, but I would NEVER steal a guy. It's just not the kind of person that I-"

"Re-LAX already!" Amber admonished. "If I was going to get mad at you, I would have done it already."

"Then... wh- what?" Brianna was thoroughly confused. And now, all coffee was forgotten.

"Look. In two months, I'll be off to Med School. All that could take... well, like seven years. A lot can happen in that time." Amber looked at me and now she reached out to take my hand with her right. "David, I don't want you getting all depressed or something, not being with me. We're too young to be like that."

"Nate and Monica weren't too young," I answered in a quiet voice, holding Amber's gaze.

Amber's jaw dropped an inch. She hadn't been expecting that response and it threw her off-track for a moment. Her eyes softened and pleaded with me, "Don't make this harder than it already is."

And then Amber reached out with her left hand and put it on top of Brianna's knuckles. "All I'm saying, if you want to see how you and David might be together... you don't have to wait until September."

Brianna's face was unreadable, but she didn't pull her hand away from Amber's grasp.

"Amber..." I began, but my girlfriend silenced me with a glance.

"Look, Brianna. You don't have to make any decisions right now. I just want you to know where I stand on things. I'm going to continue being with David right up until the minute I leave, but I won't get in the way if you want to go on a few dates, get to know each other, or whatever happens."

Brianna just looked at my girlfriend strangely, not quite sure what she was hearing.

Amber cocked her head. "Hell... if you want to fuck my boyfriend, go right ahead."

With that, Amber stood and pulled me with her. "Come on, baby. I'll drop you off at work. We should give Brianna some time to think. I know I shocked the hell out of her with this."

"And Brianna?" Amber continued. "Really, I hope that we're cool. I'm looking forward to shopping this weekend!"

***

Brianna was clearly avoiding me at work. We ran into each other just once, in the morning. Automatically, her pleased smile came out and she opened her mouth to make a flirty greeting. And then her brain caught up and the words died on her lips. She kind of looked at the floor, and then without a sound, she fled away.

I spent the rest of the afternoon trying to sort out my feelings for her.

First of all, was I attracted to Brianna? I knew with absolute certainty that the answer was yes. To many another guy, she might be just another pretty brunette. But to me, she was something subconsciously special to me. Physically, she reminded me of Danielle, which was both good and bad at the same time, and very arousing to me. Mentally, she challenged me just as much as the other women in my life had. E-Beth had been the gold standard for raw academic excellence and Amber was smart enough to get into Stanford Medical School. While Brianna might not be quite that academic, she was intelligent and sharp enough to beat me at Sudoku, which somehow I found really, really sexy.

But no matter the attraction, my heart belonged to Amber. To start dating Brianna while I still had those feelings for Amber wouldn't be fair to Brianna. I wouldn't be able to give her my all emotionally. And I wasn't sure really WHO I would be once Amber moved away. What if I went into a mourning period and suddenly became an emotional sinkhole when that happened? No way a girl like Brianna, just a month into dating, would want to put up with that kind of baggage. Whatever else was going on, I didn't want to lose Brianna as a friend.

And yet, no matter how much I might want to protect the friendship, could we still be friends the way we were after Amber had 'outed' her and her feelings this morning?

I made the decision that staying friends made the most sense. Maintain the friendship, give myself time to move on from Amber, and in the future, who knew? If Brianna and I were meant to be, we'd get together when the time was right.

I felt better having a plan. And when the day was over, I headed out with a clear conscience. Since she dropped me off this morning, Amber was picking me up at 5 PM.

But just as I got out the front door, my hand was suddenly yanked backwards. Off-balance, I spun around and caught just a brief glimpse of bright green eyes before Brianna flung her body into me and planted her lips against mine.

She moaned as she began to suck my face and squirmed her tongue in between my lips. I felt the tight squeeze of her hands against my shoulders as she clutched me fiercely. And then all too quickly it was over.

Brianna's eyes were wild and she panted heavily. Three other coworkers had stopped on their way out the door and were gawking at us. And without another word, Brianna turned and fled across the parking lot.

My heart was racing, and a musical laugh rang out in the still air. I turned and looked to the curb, where Amber's car was parked and she leaned against the door, one hand covering her laugh as her eyes danced mirthfully. She even glanced pointedly at my crotch, where I saw a sizeable tent in my jeans.

"Down boy," I growled to my dick as I started walking over to my girlfriend. But just when it seemed to begin wilting, Amber pulled me to her and shoved her tongue into my throat. My eyes simply rolled back into my head as the blonde vixen did her best to match Brianna's passion, and she did a good job.

When we broke for air, she whispered. "Let's go home."

***

We'd no sooner parked than Amber took off at a dead run into the house. It was left to me to close the garage and start after her. By the time I made it to the bedroom, Amber was already fully naked, sitting up against the pillows with her legs spread wide, one finger stirring her moist honeypot.

"Fuck me, David..." she husked. "Fuck me like you'd fuck her..."

For a brief moment, I tried to make Brianna's features mold over Amber's, envisioning the brunette in my mind's eye. But I couldn't. No matter what attraction I had for Brianna, I was still in love with my Amber.

"No," I said as I began to strip.

"Why not?"

"Because," I growled as my clothes came off. "All I really want is you."

***

I was sipping a Caramel Macchiato this time. It wasn't normally my kind of drink, but with my nerves a little on edge, I felt like something sweet and cloying. I had just placed the cup back on the table when a familiar voice said, "Morning David."

I looked up just in time to see Brianna settle into the seat opposite me. Simultaneously, I felt relieved and dejected that she hadn't made a more physically affectionate greeting. "Is that how it's going to be? You sitting over there?" I waved my hands to indicate the great distance between us.

"I don't know." She looked more nervous than I felt. "I'm not sure how this all works. I mean, I've dated before. Just... just not while the guy was seeing someone else. If I go out on a date with a guy who's still taken, that makes me the other woman. I really don't like that idea. I'm not that kind of girl."

"Then... let's not."

She suddenly looked scared. "Not what? You don't want me?" It was clear from her stricken expression that while she'd admitted she was attracted to me, she still had her doubts about my feelings.

On instinct I leaned forward and reached across the table to hold her hands. It had always been my way of reassuring a girl that I cared about her. "I do... I do... Bree, if I hadn't been with Amber I would have been tripping over myself from Day One trying to get you to go out with me."

She managed a little smile at that and her fingers squeezed mine.

My eyebrows furrowed as I tried to figure out my own mind. "I just meant, let's not 'date'. Let's go out. Let's have dinner. Let's see each other outside of work."

"What do you call this?" She indicated our hands.

"This is a start. This is coffee. And I would like to keep meeting here to start our days." My gaze was warm and for a little while, the only woman in the world I could think about was the pretty brunette sitting across from me.

"But you don't want to date me."

"I..." I couldn't think of the right words. "Like you said, I'm seeing someone else. But I want to be your friend. I want to get to know you better; whatever it takes to do that I'll do. We can hang out, get dinner at Taco Bell. That's not really a date, is it?"

She smiled. "Okay. But can we set a specific time for 'hanging out'?"

"How about tomorrow night? I'll swing by your place at seven?"

"Tomorrow's Saturday." Brianna blushed with an impish smile that looked very, very cute. "If you pick me up at my place at seven on a Saturday then it's a date."

I scratched my head, thinking quickly. All these hoops and technicalities made this HARDER than a real date. "Fine. As a FRIEND, I'm letting you know that I don't have any plans for tomorrow night. So why don't I call you or you call me sometime tomorrow and we'll go hang out, okay?"

"Sure. We'll figure it out tomorrow sometime." Brianna smiled and then took another sip of her coffee before sliding her chair around until it was right beside me, her thigh just about touching mine. And then with one hand gently stroking my cheek, she leaned in and kissed me.

Just friends... riiight...

***

I rolled over onto my belly, my right arm reaching out and finding nothing but an empty pillow. My right eye cracked open and swiveled around, taking a moment to focus before I realized I was alone in bed.

I sat up and saw Amber putting the finishing touches on her outfit. It was almost noon.

"Morning, sleepyhead."

"Morning," I mumbled. It sounded more like 'mrrblunnd' with my own pillow in my face. I finally sat up a little straighter. "Where're you going?"

"I'm going shopping with Brianna, remember?"

"Oh, yeah..." My body was physically upright, but I was far from awake.

My girlfriend stopped by the bed and kissed me before she went out. "Bye. I'll see you later."

With an empty house and no immediate plans, I briefly wondered what I was going to do with myself this day. And then my stomach growled at me.

Well, that decided it. Ten minutes later, I was headed off to Kevin and Jen's place. Surely they would have some food for me.

***

"So let me get this straight," Jen pontificated as her spatula slid some French Toast onto my plate. "Mr. Man-slut here, facing the imminent loss of his wealthy, supermodel girlfriend, is offered point-blank the option to jump in the sack and start boning the young, hot chick at the office, and you HESITATE?"

"Look, I don't fuck EVERY hot girl who comes across my path," I protested.

"Dude, sure you do," Kevin retorted. He cut off another slice of his own French Toast. "As long as you don't think it'll weigh on your conscience. Nataliya, Maria, Diane, who knows HOW many chicks at those orgies you went to Junior Year? No emotional attachment, just sex." Then he stuffed his mouth.

"I cared about E-Beth!"

"She's a prior. She doesn't count," Kevin said around a mouthful of toast. Then he wagged his fork at me. "And you're not helping your case that you DON'T fuck every hot chick that comes across your path."

Jen nodded thoughtfully. "So that answers that."

"What?" I still hadn't touched my food, despite my stomach growling.

"You really like Brianna. You can't just fuck her without wanting to be in a relationship," Jen nodded.

"Huh?"

Jen's voice dropped, and she explained as if I were in grade school. "The proof that you really like her, on an emotional level, is that you're hesitating to fuck her. If she was just another pretty girl, you'd have already boinked her by now." Jen leaned back against her chair. "You should bring her by so we can meet her. Get the whole stamp of approval for the new girlfriend, you know?"

"She's not my new girlfriend!" I protested.

"Right, dude," Kevin drawled. "You're just 'friends'."

I sighed, thinking about the way Brianna had kissed me. "Right." I answered without conviction. "We're not even going to think about really dating until after I've got Amber out of my system."

Kevin grinned. "Riiight."

***

I was back home and staring at my cell phone, impatiently waiting for it to ring before I absolutely lost my mind and made the phone call myself.

This wasn't a date. It wasn't a date.

It's not a date...

Who was I kidding? I'd changed my outfit three times trying to look nice and yet casual at the same time. I played with my hair for an hour trying to get it to look as if I hadn't done anything to it at all. And I'd overdone the cologne and had to try and scrub some off myself.

But as long as I wasn't the one to call her. As long as I, the one with a steady girlfriend, didn't initiate, I could tell myself it wasn't a date.

But I had to see her. Brianna had gotten under my skin. I was still in love with Amber, but it was the familiar and comfortable love that nevertheless felt like it was on the decline. Brianna was the new, the unknown, the exciting. My blood boiled just thinking about her.

And just when I was about to lose my nerve and make the call, my cell phone rang.

I answered without checking the display. "Hello?" I said excitedly, waiting to hear Brianna's voice, so excited to go out with me.

"Hey, babe!" Amber said brightly. "How you doing?"

"Amber!?" I said with mixed surprise and happiness. "Hey!" I was doing my best to tamp down on the surprised element in my tone.

"Hmph." I could hear her knowing grin on the other end of the line. "Anyways, we're just about done shopping here and my feet are killing me. I'm going to come home, but there's someone here who wants to talk to you."

I heard Amber pass the phone over, followed by a familiar "David!"

I did my best to calm down. "Hey, Brianna."

"Well, I'm having a good time out here by the mall and I want to keep having fun, but your girlfriend is making up some excuse about her feet."

"Okay..."

"Luckily for me, she volunteered you to come out and hang." Brianna was a pretty bad actress. Her line just seemed a little too stiff and rehearsed. But there was no faking the excitement in her voice.

"Really..." I deadpanned.

"So we're at the mall. Why don't you meet us at Jamba?"

I was already out the door.

***

"Wow, that was fast!" Brianna smiled as I walked into the Jamba Juice. They seemed to have just received their orders. My eyeballs individually tried to go in two different directions. My left eye wanted to rove over my very pretty girlfriend, Amber. My right eye wanted to check out what Brianna happened to be wearing this day.

In all honesty, Amber was the 'hotter' girl, purely based on physical appearance. I couldn't even imagine trying to trade her up from an attractiveness perspective. If it weren't for this Medical School situation, I doubt I would have ever seriously considered going out with another woman.

And yet, despite Amber's raw physical beauty, my attention was inexorably drawn to Brianna. Not only was she the 'new' girl, but her current attire was INCREDIBLE.

Standing at a decent 5'8", Brianna's upright posture and poise made her seem almost as tall as Amber. Her makeup was light, but perfectly done to accentuate her facial features, and from the way her dark hair was currently styled, I would have sworn the girls had just come from an expensive salon at the mall.

Now most of the time I'd seen Brianna had been during the workweek. Those days mostly consisted of business attire, with conservative skirts or pants and long sleeved blouses. Even casual Fridays were jeans and cute polo tops. But today, Brianna was pushing the limits of the term "casual". Strappy heels, a VERY short miniskirt, and a stylish blouse was the outfit of the day. In the July heat, the materials were all very thin and body hugging, and several buttons of the blouse were left undone to reveal some very enticing cleavage. I muttered under my breath that even her tits were as nice as Danielle's.

"Hi, babe," Amber walked over to me and gave me a hug. She pretended not to notice my mouth gaping as I looked past her shoulder at Brianna. "You like the outfit?"

I nodded almost imperceptibly.

"We picked it out today." And then Amber's lips moved up to my ear. "We also picked out her lingerie."

I stiffened and then Amber asked sweetly, holding up her cup. "You want a taste?"

Smoothies were the last thing on my mind right now. And when I didn't answer, Amber simply turned and kissed my cheek. "Hmm, you smell good," she husked knowingly. It wasn't every day that I wore cologne to go to the mall.

But then Amber simply smiled at me. "Bye, babe. I'll see you tonight. By the way, I picked her up this morning, so you'll have to drop her off at her apartment."

I nodded, and then Brianna and I said our goodbyes to Amber. And then we were finally alone.

NOT on a date...

I wasn't quite ready to deal with that yet, so I got into line to make my own order. As Brianna followed me, I tried to come up with a new subject. "So what did you and Amber talk about all day."

"You." There was no further elaboration. Brianna simply stared straight into my eyes with an enigmatic look.

"Ooh, that's dangerous," I tried to inject a little humor into Brianna's smoky intensity. And for a moment, Brianna stopped undressing me with her eyes.

"Why?"

"Two beautiful women, talking about a guy. Either you're sharing all the bad things about me, or praising me so much I'll never live up to your expectations."

"David. You couldn't disappoint me if you tried." There was no doubting the sincerity in Brianna's voice. She was really crushing on me.

I didn't know how to react to that. If I'd had any doubts that Brianna wanted to take our friendship beyond 'just friends', they were now gone. I turned away to process that, and mercifully I was soon occupied by the mundane routine of ordering up my smoothie.