THE PERFECT STORM - An Original Fiction by AfterDark (chapter 3)

The Storm

It was now past comical – quickly approaching pathetic. Drew hadn’t beaten me in Madden football since the first Xbox edition but you had to admire his persistence. After his 4th straight loss, this one a 35-10 beat down I suggested we move on to Modern Warfare. He was much better at shooter sims. He refused and started reloading the game when his beeper went off. We looked at each other thinking the same thing, not tonight.
He had made it up state for one of my games during the season but as luck would have it I suffered an ankle injury and spent more of the weekend in the training room then our intended plan of fraternity parties and spinning at least a few of the parade of bimbo’s that tailed me in his direction. After that disappointment we promised each other to get together over the holidays. Following final exams I marched into Coach’s office and told him Bowl game or not I was going home for Christmas. We spent the first 3 days with family and friends having a great time, all the while I managed to avoid the nagging question in the back of my mind.
The snow was already extreme and still coming down heavily as Drew finished putting on his uniform and tying up his boots. “Well bro, duty calls. There’s a 6 car pileup on the interstate. Feel free to stay as long as you want or just crash here on the couch in front of the fire. I’ll do my best to see you tomorrow before you leave but it could be a long night.”
I stood and clinched Drew. “It’s wicked out there, be careful. I love you man. If I don’t see you, Happy New Year.”
Drew pulled on his parka, adjusted his hat and checked his sidearm. Opening the front door he looked back and grinned. “There’s plenty of Christmas ham leftover in the ‘frig if you get hungry and a few beers, help yourself. Hey Wyatt, have a great game. I know you’ll do us home town Raiders proud. And just so you know, Eden said she’ll be down in a few minutes to keep you company. Good night, buddy.”
I doubt I concealed my astonishment very well; it took me almost a minute to take a breath. I had no idea she was home and thought I’d done a great job of avoiding the subject of Eden while I was visiting. Now I find out she’s upstairs and we could be alone for quite some time. I sat on the couch debating myself the best course of action. On the one hand, in 3 days I had to quarterback State’s team in our first Bowl game this decade. My position coach was picking me up at noon tomorrow so we could discuss the game plan on the 2 hour- probably 3 to 4 with this weather- drive back to campus. I could certainly use a good night’s sleep. On the other, the object of all of my desires whom I hadn’t seen expect in my fantasies for the past 14 months was only a few rooms away. In the end it was a no brainer.
Suddenly thirsty I grabbed an Ale from the refrigerator, deciding against a sandwich for now. I tossed a couple more logs into the fireplace and pokered the pile to attain a warming blaze before settling back on the couch admiring the twinkling lights on the Christmas tree and looking at the snow falling past the window, all the while waiting.
I almost choked on the mouthful of beer when I saw her shadow approaching from the kitchen. When she entered the living room she was positively – plain, and all the more gorgeous because of it. She wore not a hint of makeup, was waving her hands, blowing on her fingers and walking on the heels of her bare feet with cotton balls between her toes. Clothed in grey sweat pants and the red hooded sweatshirt emblazed with the 2 Greek letters of her sorority, she was smiling the same way I’ve remembered practically all my life. I met her halfway across the room with a measured hold around her back. Her greeting hug and kiss was genuinely affectionate though a bit awkward considering she was protecting fresh nail polish on her hands and feet along with my usual physical reaction whenever I was close enough to smell and touch her. I backed away and we held each other at arm’s length, her hands on my biceps and green eyes looking up and down my body as I stared at her. Finally she voiced, “My god, Wyatt, when did you get so big?”
I suppose I was just used to being taller and more muscular than the women and most of the men at school, forgetting Eden had known me as the punk kid that once agreed to lick mud off her sneaker if I could watch her pee in the woods. Now her head was little more than chest high to me. I was 6’2, 210lbs, 5 percent body fat, bench pressing 220 and leg pressing double that. I shrugged, “Trainers, dieticians and exercise. During the season we work out 5 days a week.”
“Just stay away from the ‘roids. Promise me.” She pushed me back toward the corner of the couch. I rebounded and sat back down almost glad for the distance.
“Never touch the stuff.”
She flopped on the other end of the couch and tossed her legs over my lap. “I was supposed to go out with Diane and Courtney tonight but with the damn weather we thought better of it. I decided on beauty night instead. She wiggled her toes on my thigh and blew on her fingers again before displaying them as if a magician preparing to perform a trick. “Pretty, huh?”
I pretended not to notice. “Wonderful…red’s your color. I didn’t even know you we’re home. You still keep in touch with Dirty Diane?” I took another sip of ale.
“It’s not red….Radiant Raspberry.” She motioned for my bottle. I handed over my beer. She took a long swallow and dribbled a bit down the front of her sweatshirt. She wiped her chin handing the bottle back. “Drew didn’t tell you. I have an interview with Young, Taylor & Rodgers tomorrow. They’re taking a research intern early next year. If I get the position they’ll pay 20% toward law school.”
“And what do you know about Diane? She pounded the heels of her feet into my thigh. “Don’t tell me you had her!”
“NO…not me. She was in your class and far too prissy to fu…well “have relations” with an underclassman.” All I know is that a few of the guys testified that the carpet matched the red drapes and once you got her motor running her back door wasn’t off limits…if you catch my drift.”
She frowned. “You’re all pigs. I can only imagine what crap the “Raider Nation” had to spread about me those years ago.”
“Hey, you asked.” Searching my memory, aside from John DeSalvo busting her cherry after their junior prom while high on X, and the on again-off again senior year romance with Scott Evans, Eden had a good reputation throughout high school. “I can’t believe you’re graduating from college this spring and already accepted to law school. It seems like only yesterday that I was pulling your pony tail and chasing you through the neighborhood trying to toss a garter snake down your shirt.”
We shared a nostalgic giggle. “I know your parents and brother are very proud of you, Eden.” Adding, “I am too.”
“Thank you Wyatt. That means a lot.” She leaned forward placing her hand my cheek and softly kissing the other then reclined again. “Yea, time really does fly by. There aren’t too many guys in my Constitutional Law class offering to lick my shoes so they could see me cop a squat.” She busted out laughing at the memory but I was slightly embarrassed at the mention of that childhood incident. I took another swig of brew and handed Eden the bottle without a word.
Sensing my anxiety, she sipped and quickly changed the subject. “Speaking of pride, you dear friend, are the toast of the town. That’s the other reason I came home. The whole neighborhood is congregating over your parent’s house for the game New Years Day. I wouldn’t miss it. So are you ready?”
Happy to be back on less intimidating territory than re-envisioning the sight of a12 year old girl pulling down her pants, slipping her panties aside and urinating on a pile of leaves while this 10 year old boy experienced his first erection, I rejoined the conversation. “I guess so. Coach Perkins is picking me up tomorrow. We’ll go over the game plan and audibles on the drive back. The charter leaves for Florida at 8:00. There’s a practice scheduled on the game field for 4:00 on Friday than we kickoff 1:00 on Saturday. It’s just another game.”
That comment earned me a seriously hard jab from her heels into my thigh sending a few cotton balls flying. “Just another game, Wyatt, I can’t believe you said that! Shaun Liddle and Donny Perry are both seniors, they won’t get another shot at finishing in the top 10 of the polls. This entire town- hell the entire state- has been waiting for this game for a decade.” Then she really got to me. “Not to mention I’ve spent every Friday night for the past 3 months in the library studying to make time to watch you on Saturday afternoons. Half of my sorority sisters are fed up with me hogging the community room TV while you’re playing; the other half I had to listen to swoon over you, swearing to drop out if you would impregnate them. I didn’t have a decent date all semester. And my sex life…” She ended her rant abruptly. This time it was she that displayed a bit of embarrassment. “It’s not just another game, Wyatt.”She finished the rest of the beer, pushed the empty bottle onto the table and pulled her legs away from me, curling up on the opposite end of the couch.
I was flabbergasted. I had no idea that she had been tracking my season so intently. As I stared at her looking dejected by my attitude and mortified by her revelations, for the first time I felt I knew how to deal honestly with Eden. I grabbed both her legs and stretched them back across my lap. Blowing on her toes I removed the remaining cotton and began massaging her feet. “Eden, we’re gonna win. The team’s ready. They play the same defense as KU and remember how I carved them up?”
She moved her feet inside my hands with obvious pleasure. “Yea…but KU didn’t have a beast like Barnes blitzing from the outside and Talbert on the corner jumping routes…”
I rolled on top of her stopping the football critique by delivering the kiss I’d dreamed of all my life. Her lips were perfectly moist and inviting, the familiar taste of cherry lip gloss exciting me all the more. By her own omission she hadn’t been intimate with anyone in quite some time and enjoyed the initial closeness, returning the lip lock with mutual passion. Being used to having my way with women I pressed the issue. Her mouth opened accepting my tongue as I contorted my body against hers and eventually working my hands to the bottom of her sweat shirt. My fingers coasted over her belly surprised by the obstacle at her navel.
It was then that reality must have struck Eden. One of her hands blocked further advance up her shirt while the other pushed me off at the shoulder. Her lips closed abruptly as she tried to sit up. “Wyatt Evan Aldrich, what in hell are you doing?” She tugged at the bottom of her sweat shirt, swept her hair behind her ear and raised her knee to unburden herself of the stiff dick rubbing against her crotch. “Are you out of your mind? We can’t …what would…not to mention…we just can’t. I think you should go home now!”
No means no. Before my first practice at State the athletic director addressed the team laying down the 3 commandments – if you want to keep your scholarship - alcohol, drug and sexual abuse had zero tolerance in his programs. I rarely imbibed outside my dorm, never touched narcotics and all the girls that had satisfied my needs were very willing participants. This situation was completely different. I stretched my legs preparing to get up hoping that the missile pressing above the waistband of my Jockey’s would subside enough to at least allow me a remnant of dignity while departing. I sat there a moment, releasing a deep breath, trying to comprehend how the most heartfelt of my emotions could be at first met with such promise and then so utterly rejected.
My thoughts clarified. If it had been any other woman I would have grabbed my jacket, saluted, “Chio, baby, have a nice life” and dialed up the next name in my little black book. But this wasn’t some freshmen having a crisis of conscious while exploring her new found freedom or another sorority slut reconsidering getting even with her boyfriend after he stood her up to go on a bar tour with his brothers. I had two choices, man up or slither away. I looked into the fire, then out the window at the falling snow, swallowed hard and returned my attention to her. She was desperate for a reaction. I wasn’t sure which one.
“Eden, you need to get your priorities straight. Two minutes ago you were lying there telling me…no, it wasn’t the words, it was the way you spoke them and your expressions, how important I am to you. Don’t deny it! Tell me that kiss didn’t mean as much to you as it meant to me and I’ll walk straight out the door. Now you want to dismiss me, why? You’re afraid of what your law school colleagues or stuck up sorority sisters will think of you for slumming around with some dumb jock?”
And my mouth just kept on running. “Eden Lindsey Spencer, I love you. I’ve loved you since I’ve understood what the word meant. Drew knows it, if that’s what you’re worried about? We’ve never spoken about it. We’ve never had to but I saw the recognition on his face the night I busted up Scott Evans out front on your high school graduation night. So the way I see it you have a decision to make, accept my love or reject it. I can’t hide it from you anymore.”
“I’m hungry and I missed your mom’s ham. “ Without a glance in her direction, I strode to the kitchen finding the bread basket and knifes in the same place I had since Andrew and I had been dashing through the porch door to make PB&J for many years. Opening the ‘frig, I sighed, feeling relieved. Fuck it. I’ll get over her, trying to convince myself. Whatever else happened tonight I’d have great sandwich and I finally told her how I felt. C’est la vie. I pulled the plate from the shelf whiffing the combination of clove, pineapple and maple when the aroma of Coco Chanel overpowered the smell of the meat. As I turned to place the tray on the butcher block island Eden was standing there with tears in her eyes.
“I love you too.” She wrapped her arms around my neck and lowered her head into my shoulder. I could feel her sobbing. With more joy than I’ve ever experienced, I clutched her tightly praying I’d never have to let go.
“Eden, stop. If we’re in love why are crying?” I couldn’t reconcile my delight with her distress. I rubbed her back hoping she’d look up at me. “You should be happy.”
Her speech was muffled talking into my torso. “I am happy.”
Then there was another unexpected reply. Her fist’s thumped against my chest as her chin rose, those ethereal emerald eyes glazed by tear drops staring into mine. “Wyatt, you’re an idiot. How could you do this to me…to us, tonight? I have the most important meeting of my life tomorrow…now my eyes are going to be all puffy. You’re leaving tomorrow…2 days away from playing in the make or break game of your career. I’ve read the papers. I go online. If you have a great day, all of the top scouts say you could be the first sophomore ever drafted in the 1st round of the League. And you’re willing to jeopardize both of our futures just to get naked and fuck like bunnies the rest of the night?”
Somehow the jock seemed to out maneuver the lawyer. “Eden, sweetheart,” I couldn’t help but pucker and take another peck at her full ruby lips, “I told you how I felt. I came in here to get a bite to eat. Whatever happens next is up to you. If you want, I’ll take my sandwich home but don’t criticize my timing. Damn, Eden, I’ve seen you twice in the last two years! Like you said, our lives our going in different directions, god only knows when I’ll see you again. This may be our last chance. So to answer your question, fame and fortune will never make me happy if you’re the expense.”
I expected more tears or at least a couple more punches. Her eyes cleared, her face lit up and her body language was completely changed. “Well, Aldrich, if that’s the way you feel –prove it!” She launched herself back on the island while running her fingers through my curly blonde locks, pulling my neck forward and wrapping her legs behind my knees. This time it was her mouth that opened in a sweeping deep kiss. I savored her lips and tongue but my attention was focused on her pillowed breast depressed against my chest.
Continuing to kiss her and dealing with the father of all hard-on’s, I managed to dialogue myself. “OK, asshole. Don’t blow this. If you ram her right here, you’ll end up disgusted with yourself and avoiding her like you do the used trim on campus. You’ve come this far. It’s time to be a man and show her the love and respect you’ve truly felt since you’ve been 12 years old.” Without separating our mouths and no strain, I slid my hands under her butt and scooped her into my arms with one motion to carry her out of the kitchen. Her eyes widened with surprise by my strength and I could feel her mouth curl into disbelief, wondering what she got herself into tonight.

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