The Friends List Ch. 05

Just then, I saw Monique emerge from the house, heading in my direction. She still had the bikini top on, but was now wearing a pair of denim cut-offs.

"I just heard what happened. Are you all right?" she asked once she reached us.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"I'm sorry I wasn't here. I never expected Vanessa to get violent over this."

"Maybe we should talk about it?" I asked hopefully.

She nodded. "Maybe we can go somewhere we can be alone?"

We headed into the house and walked upstairs to Natalie's bedroom, closing the door behind us. I could hear the faint rumblings of the sound system through the window, but otherwise we were in private.

"So you're okay?" she began, touching my cheek softly as she sat beside me on the bed.

"Yes, I'm okay."

"This is all my fault. I never planned for any of this to happen."

"What did you plan to happen?"

She sighed, pausing a long time to collect her thoughts. "I guess I figured you'd work your way through a couple of my friends, and then eventually..."

I waited, but nothing else came out.

"...Eventually I'd get to you?" I finally guessed.

Her eyes widened as she looked away, then back at me, furtively, unsure.

"You're the one with the crush, aren't you?"

Monique paused for a long time, and then finally nodded.

"Why didn't you say something?"

"I didn't know how." Her voice was cracking, barely audible.

"How long?"

"Forever." She stood up, facing away from me, like she couldn't bear to even be in the same room. Her discomfort was palpable. "As long as I've known you. Since I started to notice boys."

"I thought you were gay."

"I know you did."

I took a breath. "I've liked you since last summer, when we first started becoming closer up at the cottage. I would have made a move months ago, I just believed you didn't swing that way."

She turned around, looking at me for the first time. "Wait. You... like me?"

"I do. Is that so hard to believe?"

"Yes?"

"Why?"

Monique sat back on the bed, facing me. "You know my friends, Peter. There's the busty supermodel, the blonde German goddess with the voice of an angel, the adorable Asian pixie dream girl, the astrophysicist genius, the one who's already married, and the sultry, smoky-eyed nymphomaniac. And then there's old Monique. The fat chick. The funny one of the group."

"You're not fat." I looked up and down her slender body.

"Thank you, but I always was. For years. I was the fat kid all through my life. I was bullied for it. And just because I eventually learned to take care of myself doesn't mean my mentality changed overnight. I worked very, very hard to look the way I do now, but just because I've lost the fat body doesn't mean I've lost the fat brain or the fat insecurities. And you're a handsome, smart and charming guy who could have anyone you wanted. Why would you ever want me?"

I put my arm around her. "Because you're smart, and beautiful, and charismatic. You care about people. I've liked you over a year now. I wish you'd said something earlier. You just always gave off such lesbian vibes."

"Thank you for saying that. And I mean... I do like girls. I can like anyone under the right circumstances. I'm non-monogamous and pansexual and I've learned how to be pretty open with my sexuality. But I've always liked you so much. Sleeping with a girl is easy, but I was scared of you. I still am, kind of."

"I'm scary?"

"You're not, not personally, but I was scared of my own feelings for you, maybe. This new, sexually-open Monique is a recent development, but my feelings for you go back to overweight, repressed, shame-filled Monique. I always felt tongue-tied around you, like I never knew what to say. And you weren't exactly open and welcoming to all of us being around, which in truth always made me crush harder. The brooding, dark-eyed older brother is such a trope, but man, I was into you so hard back then. Still am."

"You're beautiful. You always were. You're clever and caring and wonderful to be around. You're the heart and soul of your group of friends. I'm not lying to you. I like you. You were always my favourite."

I saw a tear escape her eye. "Thank you," she whispered.

I gave her a long hug.

"So with this out, is it a problem now that I've slept with half your friends?"

Monique laughed. "I'm responsible for that, Peter, remember? I talked you up behind the scenes. I made sure all the girls heard the latest gossip about how good you were. They're all interested, at least on some level. Even Michelle admitted once she probably would give you a try if she wasn't in a relationship, though I shouldn't have told you that. Fuck. You're not allowed to go tempting her-"

"Cross my heart and hope to die," I interrupted.

"Good. And I wasn't lying before. You've given the first great sex of their lives to a couple of my friends, and I don't have any regrets about that. I got to live vicariously through them. I figured getting off to those stories was the closest I was ever going to get to having you for real."

I shook my head. "This summer hasn't seemed possible. I never expected to sleep with any of you girls. But your secret crush got into my psyche and I couldn't get it out. I was obsessing over figuring out who liked me, and the answer was under my nose the whole time. I wish you'd just told me, or even that I'd figured out you liked boys. I'd probably have picked up on it if I'd known that."

"I buried it all deep, Peter. Even my closest friends never knew how much I was in love with you. How did you figure it out?"

"Michelle told me you were pansexual, not lesbian, and the rest clicked into place. My instincts always told me you liked me, I just convinced myself I was seeing things."

She nodded. "So what now?"

I leaned over and kissed her. The kiss took her by surprise, at first, but she quickly returned it, softly, tenderly, opening her mouth, gently exploring my mouth with her tongue. I finally pulled back after a moment to see Monique looking dazed.

"Wow," she breathed.

Just then the door opened to Natalie's room, and Weiyin walked in with Natalie in his arms. Her legs were wrapped around him, and they'd clearly been kissing. They stopped short when they saw us, but instantly I recognized the look in Natalie's eyes and deep flush in her face and chest from the night at the cottage, along with Weiyin's significant bulge in his bathing suit.

"We were just talking," Monique said hurriedly.

"Yeah, it's your room, we can leave," I added.

Natalie smiled. "Thanks. No worries about you two being in here, but we're kicking you out."

We headed back out into the party. I heard sexual noises coming both from Vivian's room and the master bedroom as we passed the closed doors. We walked through the house, noticing the party was hitting the later evening stage where people were drunker and looser. A couple people were making out on couches in the living room and a couple other people were passed out. Heading back into the backyard, we noticed a few more people now skinny-dipping in the pool, but they all appeared to be Vivian's friends. I didn't see Samantha or Michelle anywhere.

I checked my phone and saw a text from Samantha - Michelle and I are heading out. Too drunk to drive so we're taking a cab. I'll come get my car tomorrow. See you in Kingston!

"The other girls have all left. Do you want to get out of here too?"

Monique nodded. Her place wasn't far, so we decided to walk. I gathered my spare clothes into my backpack and threw a t-shirt on. My bathing suit was dry, so I didn't see an issue leaving it on.

Once we were out of earshot of the loud party, Monique turned to me.

"Are you mad at me?"

"No. Why would I be?"

"You know..." She looked at the ground. "I did kind of spend all summer manipulating you because I couldn't deal with my feelings and insecurities. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but now that the secret is out and I know the attraction is mutual, I just feel like an idiot."

I considered this. "Yes, you did manipulate me, and you manipulated your friends as well. But you manipulated me into getting laid over and over again. If you were going to, it kind of had the best possible outcome."

"What about your stepsister? That's not the best possible outcome. I'm feeling super guilty all of a sudden. You guys were getting closer, and I feel like I might've ruined it."

"It's not ideal, obviously. I had liked being closer to her. But I'm counting on you to come clean with her. Maybe that will help."

"I'm not looking forward to that conversation, but yes, I'll talk to her; fess up to what I did. I owe you that much."

"Thank you."

We walked on for a bit.

"So now that this is all out in the open, what do we do about it?" Monique asked.

"I was kind of thinking I'd take you back to your place and fuck you," I deadpanned.

"Mmmmf." Monique visibly swooned. "I'm not going to turn that down. But I meant after after. In a couple days we're going to our separate universities, living a couple of hours from each other. And don't get me wrong, I really, really want you to take me back to my place and fuck me tonight, but I'm not looking for a relationship right now, particularly a long-distance one. I'm still figuring out who I am, and I'm not ready to be tied down."

"Neither am I."

The moment hung over us for a second.

"Monique, I really like you, but I also know that I caused a lot of pain earlier this summer by having a one-night stand with someone who really liked me. I don't want to do it tonight if it's going to hurt you in the long run."

Monique considered this. "That's kind of you. But I think I'll be okay. I told you the last time I saw you that I'd never had sex with a guy, though calling me a 'virgin' is probably a stretch. I was honestly debating if I should tell you the truth about my feelings at the pub the other night, but then you put your foot in your mouth a little bit. You were so cute when you were flustered, and then the moment kind of ended before it began.

"But the reason why I've never been with a guy is this stupid crush on you. I was waiting for you even before you knew I existed. And I'm hoping that getting it out of my system will be good for me and allow me to move on."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure. Maybe we'll wind up together some day, maybe we won't. But you've given a handful of my friends great sex this summer that's allowed them to move on from things holding them back. There's still a couple days left in this summer, and there's still one more girl that needs some of your magic."

I stopped walking and pulled her into a hug, feeling her body pressing into me. I could feel her pulse racing even as I held her; her breathing fast and shallow. It was still hot even late at night, and with little breeze the humidity was oppressive. The suburban street on which we stood was quiet, not a soul around.

Monique finally spoke up. "As much as I want to, I don't know about going back to my place tonight. My parents are home, and they're not going to take kindly to their daughter bringing a guy home. You know how conservative they are."

"I don't think it's a good idea to bring you back to my place tonight, either, in case Vanessa's there. We share a wall."

Monique laughed. "Yeah, that's not ideal."

We both thought for a moment. I could feel my cock coming to life in anticipation in my bathing suit, which concerned me a little - there wasn't anywhere for it to hide if I got fully hard.

"I'm tempted to go back to the party just to use someone's bedroom," Monique finally piped up.

"It's a thought, but I don't think there's anywhere private left. There were a lot of drunk people around when we left who looked like they wanted to hook up."

"Well, we're not far from my house," she finally said. "Let's go see if anyone's up."

We walked the five or so minutes hurriedly. My cock behaved itself on the walk, threatening to get fully hard at any moment, but still allowing me to walk comfortably. Finally we reached another nondescript 1970's suburban house. I wouldn't have known it was hers, but Monique started walking up the driveway and I followed.

"Wait here," she whispered.

I stood on her driveway for a moment while she went into the house. After a minute she came back out, holding a set of keys.

"What's up?" I asked.

"My parents are watering plants for the neighbours while they're away. I swiped the keys." She flashed me a big smile. "No worries about them coming home. They're on a cruise until Labour Day."

"You're a genius," I said, kissing her on the cheek.

I followed her two doors down to another equally nondescript brick house. We entered and Monique quickly disabled the burglar alarm before locking the door behind her. The house looked to be home to a young family, with a lot of generic feminine 'live laugh love' type decor around from the local corporate home goods store. There was a portrait of a family of four on the mantel - two parents looking to be in their late 30's and two school-age children.

"Do you think it's going to be okay to use the house like this?" I asked. "How well do you know these people?"

"Lisa and Joe? I babysat for them for years. I'm like part of their family. Plus..." she trailed off.

I regarded her quizzically.

"When the kids were younger and went to bed early, I spent a lot of hours alone in this place. And unlike at my house, Lisa and Joe have internet with no parental locks on it, which was a great help during teenage Monique's voyage of self-discovery. I'm honestly more comfortable being sexual here than in my own house."

"Oh, yeah? Did you ever think about me coming over and having my way with you?"

"All the time." She took me by the hand, leading me towards the basement. "I'm not even going to try to pretend that the idea of actually getting to have sex with you on the same couch I used to fantasize on isn't making me fucking wet."

Inspired, I turned her body against the nearest wall, pressing mine against hers to pin her, then I reached down to her cutoffs. The jeans were so short that my fingers easily made their way through opening of her leg hole and reached up towards her clit. The gusset of her bathing suit bottom was wet to the touch, and through the thin nylon material I found her button, firmly erect and easy to discern amid all the softness surrounding it. My middle fingertip made contact, and her legs immediately almost gave out as she sighed loudly. I managed to hold her up against the wall.

"You don't mess around," she moaned as I started rubbing her, gently, before she regained her composure slightly and pulled my hand away from her crotch. "Downstairs. Now."

She opened the basement door and urgently led me down. The house's basement was finished and laid out like a pretty standard family rec room, with a huge television, a comfortable overstuffed couch, and decor befitting someone who was obviously a passionate fan of the Montreal Canadiens. I noticed open doors to a laundry room and a fairly elaborate toy room filled with kids' stuff. The place was immaculately clean, which I assumed was from the family being out of town.

Monique headed straight for the sofa, dropping her cutoffs before laying down in a corner and spreading her legs. She was now wearing just the bikini, fully dry except one small spot. I noticed her eyes tracing down my body to my own swimsuit, where my cock was making a bulge large enough that I'd have been in trouble had we been in public.

"Swimsuits don't leave a lot to the imagination," I commented as I pulled my shirt off.

"We've seen each other naked before," Monique responded. She spread her arms, motioning for me to come over, and I climbed on top and beside her, our legs intertwining, before I kissed her again.

We lay making out for a short time. I was quite horny, and my cock was tight and uncomfortable in my bathing suit, but I wasn't ready to pull it out or go fiddling with it. I could feel Monique's body moving against me, as she seemed equally unable to lie still, her hips constantly rocking against me, her hands all over my body from my ass to my back to running through my hair. She was a good kisser, more aggressive than I was used to from women, but I liked it and was happy to let her lead.

"I don't want to drag this out," Monique whispered. She took my hand and moved it to her breast, where I gratefully started to gently massage her.

"You must usually take the lead with girls," I observed. "Some girls act like they expect the guy to do all the work."

"I'm not very submissive," she agreed. "Plus, I kind of feel like my sexuality is more stereotypically male anyway. Most girls I've been with like a lot of foreplay. They take time to warm up and get off. Whereas with me, I have a high libido, I get turned on like being hit with a train, and I can get from start to climax really quickly as well. All those stereotypes about teenage boys being constantly horny and quick on the draw always have applied to me just the same, which was another reason I used to believe that something was wrong with me."

I looked up and down her body. "Trust me, there's nothing wrong with you."

"Oh, I know that now. Everyone is different, and that's a big part of what makes sex fun. But a lot of girls who are used to being with men are used to just lying there and waiting for the other person to make a move on them. I've learned to be more forward, otherwise I'd never get any. I don't know how I'm going to be with a guy, but usually with girls I like to be in charge, to take on that male gender role. To climb on top and take what I want."

"Funny you mentioning that, because I like foreplay and teasing more than most men, apparently."

"Yes, I've heard lots of positive reviews." Monique winked. "I'm not against foreplay at all, trust me. I just seem to also get turned on fast enough not to need it as much as some girls."

She rolled slightly, moving her body so it was now more on top than underneath me, though we were still laying side-by-side. I pulled on the neck drawstring of her bikini top, mostly just to see if I could undo it, but no luck, it was knotted tightly.

"Allow me." She reached behind her back and unclasped her bikini, pulling it off and throwing it to the floor. I gratefully took her breast in my hand again. It wasn't the first time I'd seen them uncovered, but it was the first time I'd touched them, and I experimentally felt their weight, tracing the soft, slightly stretch-marked skin and then circling around medium-sized erect light brown nipples.

"These are spectacular," I approved.

"They're not really. Remember, I've seen Samantha topless just the same as you have, and I know I'm not in the same league as her. But thanks anyway." She smiled. "The only regret I have about losing all that weight is I lost a cup size. But they're still pretty sensitive. In the right circumstances I can cum just from having my nipples played with."

"I've heard that's possible with some women, but I've never seen it happen."

"And you won't tonight, because you're going to touch my pussy long before I'm ready to cum." She gave me a needy look that sent waves of erotic energy through me.

"God, I love how forward you are."

"Don't I do a good job covering up how nervous I am?" she asked rhetorically.

I leaned down and took her nipple into my mouth. It was large and erect and firm as my tongue circled it, and I heard her moan quietly as I began licking and suckling her. She started running her fingers through my hair again, and I finally lost patience with being uncomfortable and straightened my erection in my swimsuit. I couldn't resist stroking it a little while I was down there, which I thought I did discreetly, but Monique clearly noticed.