VIP-BTC2: Chapter 43

-- CHAPTER 43: Envy II --

****

“Wait, that’s it?!”

I shrugged and leaned back against the couch.

Belle frowned, furrowed her eyebrows, looked across me at Naimh, and then returned her attention back to me. “Skylar suggested that you two tempting her into a hookup was doing the same thing that got her disowned from her family and… and that’s it?!? Is this one of those, ‘I’ll share everything with my girlfriends that impacts them, but not the private/personal stuff?’”

I shook my head. “We’re not withholding anything. Neevie and I asked for more details, but she didn’t want to talk about it. So of course I--”

“--of course you didn’t pressure her into talking about it, because Matty never pressures anybody,” Eva finished for me with a groan. But a moment later, she sighed and shrugged, muttering, “Not that I have any grounds for complaint. I’d be a hypocrite for suggesting you do otherwise.”

“I’m surprised that you didn’t push her for details,” Belle observed, turning her attention to Naimh.

The redhead blushed. “I started to… But Sky gave me this big puppy-dog-eyes look and I… I didn’t have the heart.”

“Maybe -I- shoulda been there,” Belle muttered.

“I’m glad you weren’t there,” I stated evenly. “Skylar’s life is hard enough without you throwing bombs.”

“I don’t throw…” Belle began defensively before waggling her head and rolling her eyes. Eva merely started snickering. Belle threw up her hands and muttered, “Well if it gets shit done…”

I sighed before giving Belle a withering glare.

“So now what?” Eva asked. “What are you guys gonna do?”

“The only thing we CAN do,” I replied firmly. “Continue to be Skylar’s friend, continue to make clear we’d be willing and sympathetic listeners if she would ever feel comfortable unburdening herself, and respect her wishes if she doesn’t feel comfortable unburdening herself.”

“Has it ever occurred to you that the ‘harmless Matty’ approach is not a be-all/end-all cure for everything?” Belle grumped. “Sometimes, if you keep waiting for someone to feel comfortable with unburdening themselves, they’ll never unburden themselves. Sometimes, being a good friend is caring enough to step forward and make things uncomfortable to help them get over that hump and accept the emotional support you’re offering, rather than let them flounder inside their own neuroses for all eternity.”

Naimh and I glanced at each other in surprise. Naimh frowned and asked, “Is it just me, or did that actually make a lot of sense?”

Belle rolled her eyes, “I’ve been making a lot of sense all year! But nobody ever listens to me!”

I chuckled and reached out to hug Belle against my side before kissing the top of her head. “Still, it’s a careful decision figuring out whether or not Skylar really wants us to step up and help her get over the hump to accept a little emotional support… or whether she’s not floundering inside her own neuroses and in fact would be better off without our meddling.”

Naimh’s eyebrows went up. “One way to find out.”

“Not tonight.”

“No, of course not tonight,” Naimh granted. “On the other hand, today was your last E10 class. We don’t have another regular meet-up with her.”

“I still always go over there every Thursday at lunch. I can try to get her to open up to me,” I stated hopefully, and Naimh nodded. But then I turned my attention back to Belle and Eva, adding, “But if she does confide in me some private/personal information that doesn’t directly impact the rest of you, I won’t reveal that without her express permission, understand?”

“Boo…” Belle groaned, while Eva nodded her agreement.

I turned back to Naimh. “Tomorrow. I’ll go over there tomorrow.”

****

“Thanks, man. Keep the change,” I told Eric as the now-familiar cashier handed me the takeout bag containing my Persian Burger and fries. I didn’t necessarily come to Bongo Burger every Thursday before heading off to Skylar’s, but if I went back to do the math, I was pretty sure I could count the number of times I hadn’t done so on one hand.

I pushed my way past the crowded tables and past the line to squeeze out the door and then hit the sidewalk, walking on autopilot, feeling none of the tense anxiety I’d felt yesterday while walking to class. Then, I’d been caught in a neurotic zone of uncertainty: unsure of how to decipher the whole bathroom-door-cracked-open situation and trying to convince myself it was no big deal when it certainly FELT like a big deal.

One would think I’d be feeling the same way today, given that nothing had actually been resolved since then. But I had a spring in my step as I sauntered down the sidewalk, buoyed by a sense of purpose and determination. Yesterday, I couldn’t be sure whether or not Skylar had been testing me on purpose or whether I’d been reading too much into a total accident. But today, I knew she was attracted to me but specifically chose to NOT act on that attraction - which was perfectly acceptable, by the way. And instead of worrying about whether or not I’d done something wrong, I could focus on Skylar: a young woman dealing with unresolved issues who I could potentially help if I could just get her to trust and confide in me.

And I was good at that kind of thing, you know?

I strutted down Euclid, and turned at the next intersection, and headed down another block to get to Skylar’s apartment building. I pushed in the big steel pins for the building’s keyless lock to enter the front door, skipped up the stairs to the second floor, and strolled down the hallway to her apartment. And then I idly rapped out the Shave and a Haircut rhythm on the door itself, my typical way of announcing my presence.

But after thirty seconds, she didn’t answer.

So I rapped out the Shave and a Haircut rhythm again.

And then again.

“Skylar?” I called through the door.

No answer.

I tried knocking one more time.

Still no answer.

Pulling out my cell phone, I held down the number 7 speed-dial to call her. But after six rings or so, it sent me to voicemail. And I hung up before leaving a message.

She wasn’t home. Or maybe she WAS home but was taking another mid-day shower. Were tiny water droplets even now spraying all over her creamy, naked skin and running together in rivers of slippery streams bending around her luscious curves and the deep crevice of her bum? She HAD admitted that some part of her wanted me to come take a look, and now that I knew that, would it really be so bad if I did? What spectacular visions might I have been afforded had I taken advantage of the opportunity yesterday?

On the other hand, maybe she was deliberately hiding and not answering the door. Was she avoiding me? Was I overthinking the situation again? There could be any number of reasons why she wasn’t home today. It was the last week of classes before Finals, after all. I knew I wasn’t the center of her universe, although she should’ve known I’d be stopping by today and it would’ve been considerate to at least tell me she wouldn’t be home before I walked all the way over here. That had happened once before when she had to go meet with her technical writing contract employer and wouldn’t be available for lunch.

My cell phone started ringing in my hand. A quick glance at the lime green LCD screen showed me the word “Skylar” in chunky black lettering, and I quickly hit the Talk button to answer it.

“Skylar? Hey. I’m outside your apartment right now.”

“I figured. I’m sorry,” she apologized. “I had a last-minute meeting with one of my professors. Just came up this morning, and it totally slipped my mind that you’d likely be coming ‘round my flat.”

“Oh, right. Yeah, no problem,” I assured her. “Should I hang out here? Are you on your way back?”

“No, sorry. I’m done with the meeting, but I need to go see a classmate. Things are just so crazy right now.” She sighed wearily. “I’ll catch up with you later, alright?”

“Yeah, sure. No problem. Another time.”

“Right. Sorry again for flaking. And sorry for leaving you standing in the hallway outside my flat.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll be fine. Go do whatever you need to do.”

“You’re so sweet. Thanks for understanding, Matty.”

“Of course.”

“Cheers.”

And then she hung up.

****

“We’ll do another beach trip, yeah? It’ll be amazing … Oh, come on, we’re from The Isles. You canna complain about bein’ cold … Alright, alright … Oh no, not this weekend for sure. … O’course, o’course, Finals and all… You promise? I’m gonna hold ya to that! … Sounds great … Yeah … Alright. See ya next week … Uh, huh … Yeah, cheers.”

Neevie glanced at her cell phone’s screen to make sure the call had ended and then turned to give me a brave smile, asking, “You caught most of that?”

I nodded and reclined against the headboard, draping an arm across the pillows next to me invitingly. “Did she give you any specific days or times?”

“No. Just said she’d ring me next week,” Naimh admitted as she turned and dropped onto the bed beside me, snuggling in beneath my arm.

“I suppose that’ll have to do.”

“She said she’s not avoiding us.”

“She said…”

My redhead sighed, turning to rest her chin on my chest and look up at me. “You’re worried about her withdrawing away from you over this.”

“A bit. I know we’ve always been attracted to each other, but I honestly thought she was perfectly comfortable never acting on that attraction, and trusting that I wouldn’t try to like… seduce her or anything.”

Naimh snorted. “You? Seduce? I don’t think I can even imagine what that might look like.”

I shrugged. “Take my clothes off, stand naked with a woody, and gesture at it while saying, ‘Hey if you want to hop on, it’s available!’”

She snorted again, descending into a minor giggle fit before sighing and catching her breath. “Seriously though, I don’t think Skylar’s gonna avoid you forever over this. Avoid you until AFTER winter break, perhaps. Like she said: it’s Finals Week coming up, and dealing with her complicated feelings for you is something she’d rather not deal with at the moment.”

“I know. And all that makes logical sense. But I don’t like seeing a girl I care about in emotional distress, you know? I feel like I’m one of the only people in the world who can help her process whatever she’s going through - if not the ONLY one - and for that reason alone I feel like I NEED to be there for her.”

“Well you’re not the ONLY one in the world who can help her.” My redhead grinned and deliberately gestured at herself with the fingers of her right hand.

I chuckled. “I stand corrected.”

“Remember what Belle said: Sometimes, being a good friend is caring enough to push forward and make them accept your emotional support, rather than let them flounder inside their own neuroses for all eternity.”

I chuckled again. “When the hell did Annabelle Kramer become the voice of reason in this household?”

Naimh giggled. “Beats me. But seriously, Matty: Don’t fret so much about Skylar. We won’t let her get away.”

I read a note of innuendo in my Head Girlfriend’s tone. “You still wanna taste her pussy.”

Naimh giggled again. “Don’t claim you don’t.”

I laughed and stroked my sexy schoolgirl’s spine. “Just good luck trying to get her to make the time for it. Sky’s much like Sam, you know: school and career first, and the personal life only gets whatever’s left.”

“Pssht. We certainly see Skylar MORE than we see Sam, even though Sam’s supposedly the one who lives under the same roof as us.”

“Well if we stop and do the math, I’m sure you’re right. As much as it feels like Sam’s never been around as it stands, I’m sure that from now until Winter Break will be the absolute worst. I wonder if we’ll see her AT ALL for the next week and a half.”

“Possibly not,” Naimh conceded. But then she turned to prop herself up on her elbows and stare at me face-to-face with a reassuring smile. “But don’t fret, Matty. You know Sam still loves you more than anything.”

“I know, I know,” I took a deep breath and gave my Head Girlfriend a grateful smile, tenderly stroking her cheek before adding, “And I know someone else who loves me more than anything.”

My personal Irish redhead’s emerald-green eyes glittered as she smiled up at me. I slid my hand up her neck to cup the back of her head while simultaneously leaning forward to capture her mouth with my own. And Naimh hummed happily into our liplock.

Seconds later, the sexy siren’s slippery tongue slid into my mouth as she threw her right leg over my midsection. I inhaled sharply as she suddenly increased the passion of our kiss and climbed onto me, taking a dominant position so that she could press her face down against mine.

Although I initially held her head in my hands, I ran my palms down the length of her torso, my fingers sliding underneath the sides of her silky-soft white-trimmed red satin robe so I could grab meaty handfuls of her plump, heart-shaped ass. Naimh parted her lips and moaned, grinding herself down against my pelvic bone. And after a few more seconds of fierce oral lovemaking, she pulled back to gasp for breath and then sat up straight to reach down for the belt of her white-trimmed red satin robe.

While Naimh unbelted her robe, I was the one to reach up for her neckline and push the two halves past her shoulders. I let my fingertips caress her silky-soft skin as I did so, slowly tracing her collarbone until I finally pressed the satin material far enough to the sides that it slipped down her back and puddled on the mattress behind her.

The beautiful, busty, braless redhead proudly bared her big breasts to my hungry gaze, luxuriating beneath the intense heat of my amorous attention. I’d already been shirtless in bed, so she merely had to drop back down to crush her heavy tits against my chest as I once again wrapped my arms around the back of her head to kiss her fiercely. Naimh then moaned with a familiar keening wail of need in her voice, that familiar note signaling to me just how badly she needed to feel me deep inside her.

It was almost as if I could hear her voice insisting, ‘Take me, Matty! Take me NOW!’

I swiftly rolled us over, breaking our liplock long enough to look down the length of her half-naked body and take action to correct the situation. With a swift jerk I yanked her thong panties down her hips, and then after half-crawling backwards I yanked the offending article the rest of the way off. My own pajama pants and boxer shorts I merely shoved down to my knees. And after my horny redhead split her legs apart to the sides and held them back beneath her knees, I centered my fat dick into position and then roughly slammed myself inside.

Lubrication was not a problem. From Day One, our chemistry had always been off the charts. Naimh could take one look at me and immediately get soaking wet. A couple of minutes of making out was more than enough foreplay for her to accommodate my entry.

But she was still fucking tight. Her pussy was hot, wet, and clung to my cock like slippery shrink-wrap. The nubile nymphomaniac beneath me grunted at my initial entry like she’d gotten the wind knocked out of her, but she gasped for breath, wrapped her long legs around my back, and tugged me with all four limbs until I’d buried every last inch deep inside her.

And then we paused.

“Ohhh… Matty…” she breathed, panting softly.

I’d snaked both arms beneath her back to squeeze our bodies together in the effort to complete our physical union, and even though I’d relaxed my grip after accomplishing that goal, I still hugged her tenderly.

“Neevie… Neevie… my darling Neevie…” I murmured into the pillow beside her.

She chuckled. “I think ‘Darling’ is reserved for you and Zofi.”

I blinked and pulled my head up to look down at her. “I never called Zofi ‘Darling’.”

“Perhaps. I think it’s just stuck in my head because she always called you ‘Darling’.”

“Perhaps,” I conceded. “But I’m not thinking of Zofi right now. I’m not thinking of Sam or Skylar or anyone else. I’m right here. With you.”

Naimh gave me a cheery little smile that clearly invited a fresh kiss, and I was happy to give her one. Her hands slid up and down my back before grabbing my ass and tugging downward as if trying to get my big dick even deeper into her. And I took that as my cue to start slowly thrusting.

My lover’s breathing sped up a bit and became shallower as the steady friction of thick cock in her tight twat sent rolling waves of pleasure throughout her body. She sighed beatifically and moaned with pure contentment as we writhed together in erotic harmony.

“Matty… Matty… Matty…” my gorgeous Head Girlfriend chanted repeatedly in rhythm with my thrusts as if my name itself were the ultimate aphrodisiac. She slid her hand up to the back of my head and clutched my face to the crook of her neck before turning to face me and sealing her mouth over mine.

I crunched my abdominals and used my knees as cantilevers to support my steady lunges, driving my dick deep with every plunge into her exquisitely pleasurable pussy. And after only a few more minutes of forcefully intimate lovemaking, the comely coed beneath me crooned her orgasm into my ear as she clenched up and came.

Burying myself to the root, I circled my hips to grind my pelvic bone down on her clit to maximize her climax. Naimh shivered and shuddered, clutching my upper arms as she cried out and let her head push backwards into the pillow while she arched her spine and thrust her breasts up against my chest. But when her pleasure peak passed, she collapsed limply back to the mattress, her arms and legs falling askew to the sides in her blissful release.

I brought her down gently, continuing to stir my cock within her saturated snatch. Her emerald eyes stared unseeing somewhere above us, a glossy sheen covering her unfocused irises. But eventually her conscious mind started to boot back up, recovering from la petite mort. And after taking several deep, cleansing breaths. She finally turned her head to focus on my face and wrap her arms around my shoulders.

“I want you to fuck me from behind,” she intoned.

“As you wish.” I gave her a quick peck on the lips and then withdrew, my soaking-wet dick thrusting out at an inclined angle when I sat back on my heels.

For a moment, Naimh remained as she was, arms fallen back against the headboard, chest heaving in a way that made her big, firm breasts rise and fall dramatically, and her copper-furred mound on full display with her thighs spread apart and her red-worn labia gaping open from recent wear and tear while glistening with abundant lubrication. She let me admire her feminine perfection - the most gorgeous thing I’d ever seen - and smiled a dreamy smile while enjoying the rapturous expression on my face that assured her she was the one and only girl on my mind.

I let my gaze slowly travel the length of her body from head to toe while my fingertips traced a trail of freckles across her shoulder and down the upper side of her chest into the creamy area of her midsection where the density of her freckles started to fade away. I caressed the underside of her heavy breast and up the slope of its curvaceous globe, teasing her areola and making the nipple visibly crinkle.

Only after my eyes finally returned back to her face did she finally smile at me and turn over. But instead of propping herself up on all fours for me to re-enter her doggy-style, she instead lay down in a prone position: completely face-down and flat. And she reached both arms behind her, crossing her wrists together submissively at the small of her back.

“I’m yer Sacred Buttslut, Matty,” she intoned invitingly, her emerald-green eyes glittering as she stared back at me over her shoulder. “Come fuck me sacred core.”

I felt my own eyes glittering in anticipation as I pitched forward to crawl back over her body. Planting my knees to either side of hers, I grabbed her buns with both hands and slid my thumbs through the crevice of her crack, pulling the two cheeks apart. Her wrinkled starfish beckoned to me, and she concentrated on opening it up for me just a few millimeters before it closed back up again. I let my thumbs trail one at a time across that rear opening, teasing her nether portal.

While firmly separating the two halves of her pretty peach with my hands, I bent over to slide my slippery tongue through her crack, making her shiver. She giggled as I started up some serious analingus, really teasing her while simultaneously paving the way for my future plundering. And only after I felt like she was both sufficiently stimulated as well as slickened did I rise, lean forward, press my wet cockhead to her backdoor entrance, and start burrowing inside.

Once again, lubrication was not a problem. Using artificial lube was always easier, of course, but my Sacred Buttslut had plenty of practice asking me to switch holes on the fly (or even just take her ass dry right from the jump on occasion). The amount of girlcum I had coating my cock was actually more lube than we sometimes used, so once I managed to shove my massive mushroom head through her spit-coated sphincter, the rest of my journey was much easier.

But she was still fucking tight. Her asshole was hot, dry, and clung to my cock like a second skin. The nubile nymphomaniac beneath me grunted at my initial entry like she’d gotten the wind knocked out of her, and she kept grunting while surrendering every successive inch. I’d planted my left hand directly atop her crossed wrists, keeping them pinned down against the small of her back. She was helpless to assist me - and helpless to resist me - completely at the mercy of my relentless downward drive until I’d buried every last inch deep inside her.

And then we paused.

“Ohhh… Matty…” she breathed, panting softly.

Releasing her wrists, I dropped myself down to rest my chest against her back, and then slithered my arms beneath her body to give her a tender hug.

“Neevie… Neevie… my darling Neevie…” I murmured into her ear.

She chuckled at the repeated phrase and then sighed dreamily. “Mmm, Matty… my Matty… Deep wit’in me sacred core. Does it feel good for you? Does me arse feel hot an’ tight an’ pleasurable for you?”

“The hottest. The tightest. The most pleasurable imaginable,” I growled before withdrawing my arms, planting my hands flat, and then doing a pushup to likewise withdraw my dick from her darkest hole until I had just the tip still embedded within.

And then I plunged back down, making her scream.

And then I did it again.

And again.

And again.

Over and over again, I sodomized my Sacred Buttslut’s sacred core with savage intensity, and yet it was just as forcefully intimate as our previous lovemaking had been. Naimh slid her palms over the backs of mine, intertwining our fingers together as tightly as our emotional bonds. My thrusts were slow and steady, full-length from her anal entrance all the way down to her deepest depths. And although each heavy impact seemed to knock the wind out of her given the way she’d grunt, I knew with absolute certainty that she wouldn’t have it any other way.

“Claim me, luv…” she groaned in-between thrusts. “Claim me sacred core…”

“I claim you. You’re mine. You’re all mine.”

“I’m yours! I’m yours! I’m forever yours!”

“Mine! Mine! Mine!” I growled, hammering her heinie hole harder and harder.

“Yours! Yours! Yours!” she cried out in reply.

“Mine! Mine! Mine!” Grabbing her hands, I bent her forearms against her lower back, pinning her in place as I pillaged her asshole with pulverizing power.

“Yours! Yours! Yours!”

I suddenly yanked my dick out of her ass, flexing my legs to jerk myself back on my heels. But I’d hooked my arms around her midsection, yanking her body back with me to bring her up onto her knees. Then I quickly pushed her head back down and got a fresh grip on her forearms, once again trapping them against her lower back, although this time her ass was thrust up into the air.

[THWACK]

“AUGH!” I’d let fly with one hand to spank her right asscheek, and Naimh yelped at the impact, her head popping up briefly. I spanked her again, this time on the other cheek.

[THWACK]

“AUGH!” she yelped again.

[THWACK] [THWACK] [THWACK]

“AUGH! AUGH! AUGH!”

[THWACK] [THWACK] [THWACK]

“AUGH! AUGH! AUGH!”

[THWACK] [THWACK] [THWACK]

“AUGH! AUGH! AUGH! AAAAUUUUGGGGHHH!!!”

My Head Girlfriend’s screaming shot up in pitch and volume as my rock-hard cock suddenly re-invaded her reddened rectum. Entry was easy, given how wide it was gaping open. I took hold of her upper arms just in front of the elbows, using them as reins as I started to saw my fat schlong back and forth, really riding her hard.

“Fuuuuuuccccckkkk mmmmmyyyyy aaaaarrrrrsssseee!” Naimh howled as she raced down the road to orgasm. “Fuuuuuuccccckkkk mmmmmyyyyy aaaaarrrrrsssseee!”

“UNGH! UNGH! UNGH!” I grunted as I thundered down the road towards orgasm.

Fuuuuuuccccckkkk mmmmmyyyyy aaaaarrrrrsssseee!” she repeated.

“UNNNNGGGGHHHH! UNNNNGGGGHHHH! UUUUNNNNGGGGHHHH!!!”

“CUM INSIDE ME ARSE, MATTY! CUM AND CLAIM ME! I’M YOURS! I’M YOURS! I’M YAAAAHHHHHHH!!!”

“NEEVIE! NEEVIE! NEEEEVVIIEE!!!” I gasped one final time and then slammed forward, groaning, “UUUUNNNNGGGGHHHH!!!”

“AAAAUUUUGGGGHHHH!!!”

“UUUUNNNNGGGGHHHH!!!”

“AAAAUUUUGGGGHHHH!!!”

“UUUUNNNNGGGGHHHH!!!”

“AAAAAAUUUUUUGGgggghhhhhh…!”

Naimh’s knees buckled as her legs suddenly split out to the sides. I let go of her elbows and allowed her arms to splay out, somewhat bracing her collapse. Her upthrust ass fell, still clamped around my cock as her colon convulsed in epic climax. And I collapsed right with her, my turgid tool still spurting sprays of semen straight down into her sacred core’s deepest depths.

It took a long time for us to recover our respective breaths. When we did, I was still collapsed flat on top of her, my semi-hard schlong still rooted deep within her sweaty, satisfied body. And she hummed a happy tone that spoke of complete and utter fulfillment.

“I love you, boyfriend,” Naimh murmured earnestly as she slid her palms over the backs of my hands once more, intertwining our fingers together.

“I love you too, girlfriend,” I replied in kind. And then I corrected, “Head Girlfriend.”

She tittered cutely and then turned to glance at me over her shoulder.

“Promise me you’ll love me forever?” she asked without hesitation.

“I promise,” I replied with equal immediacy. There was no question in my mind that I would.

The most gorgeous thing I’d ever loved smiled, closed her eyes, and felt at peace.

****

A stray beam of sunlight woke me up. The curtains had been shut, but there was a half-inch of space between them, and at this very time on this very date, the sun’s rays came through at just the right angle to hit me right in the eyes.

The morning air was cold against my right cheek, the pillow reassuringly warm against my left. I snuggled deeper into the covers and their cocooning heat while pressing myself against my lover’s back, with nothing separating my skin from hers. As my senses came alive, the fingers of my right hand reflexively squeezed the large breast I was currently palming. My left arm snaked beneath her pillow, with the hand dangling off the edge of the bed. Reflexively, I ground my morning wood into the cleft of her bare-naked ass. And breathing deeply, I let my head roll forward to push my nose into her copper-red hair, smelling her sweet fragrance.

I remained like that for a good several minutes, just enjoying the feel of my Head Girlfriend’s warm body spooned up against mine. We were alone this morning, with no pint-sized pixies or lusty Latinas having snuck into my room to give me an alarm-clock BJ. It was actually the third night in a row I’d spent with only Naimh in my arms, and I reveled in the feeling of having the most gorgeous thing I’d ever loved with me so often.

Still operating on autopilot, I continued fondling Naimh’s naked boob in my hand and continued to absentmindedly hot-dog her buns. But as consciousness slowly percolated into my brain, I became aware of what I was doing and paused, inhaling deeply and letting my eyelids flutter open. It occurred to me that I hadn’t woken up my freckled redhead with a surprise entrance in quite a while. So I did my best to keep my breathing steady and silent as I let my right hand drift south of the border and down between her thighs in search of her pink taco.

But just when my fingertip drifted across her little love button, Naimh’s thighs clamped together and trapped my hand. I froze, silently cursing myself for waking her, and put on a sheepish expression when she turned to glance back at me over her shoulder.

“Umm… morning?” I greeted with a smirk. I didn’t feel guilty or anything about fondling her in her sleep, but my ears still burned from getting caught.

Naimh gave me a little smile and wriggled her ass against my crotch, testing the hardness of my morning wood between her buns. “Dia duit, luv,” my redheaded girlfriend murmured quietly.

“Maidin mhaith, love,” I replied in kind. And then I slid my hand back down between her thighs, intent on resuming my digital manipulations to get her warmed up.

But my Head Girlfriend twisted in my grasp and then started sliding herself backwards beneath the covers. I rolled onto my back once I realized what she was doing, and I gave her a warm smile as she centered her face over my loins. My freckled redhead ducked down to lavish the underside of my erection with a long, languid lick from balls to tip. She nibbled on my mushroom head for a bit and then took my shaft in hand, elevating it up so she could pop the business end into her warm, wet, and welcoming mouth.

It wasn’t like I needed any fellatio to get me hard enough to fuck, but I was happy to let her give me a morning blowjob. I spent a lot of time studying my lover’s face, tracing some of her freckles with my fingertips as I caressed her cheeks. And then I groaned and let my head fall back when she pushed herself down, taking inch after inch of throbbing dick deep into her throat.

When she pulled back up to breathe, I gestured “come hither” for her to climb aboard, but Naimh shook her head in the negative and resumed her blowjob. If she didn’t want to have sex this morning, I wasn’t going to argue with her. Instead, I set my hand down atop her head and closed my eyes to enjoy her expert oral attention. And not wanting to overly prolong the experience, I relaxed and let the pleasure flow through my body until my abdominals tensed, I thrust upwards a final time, and began erupting great gouts of scalding lava straight up into the sexy siren’s sucking mouth.

After she’d swallowed every last drop and then rolled onto her back beside me, I found myself staring up at the ceiling as the sparkles in my brain slowly faded and I eventually caught my breath. In the aftermath of such an incredible ejaculation, I was feeling no pain and in fact felt like a million bucks. And it was with an almost giddy, euphoric smile that I turned to take her into my arms and give her a fiercely passionate kiss of thanks.

But just as I wrapped my arms around her, something in Naimh’s expression made me pause. I stopped my face just inches above hers, furrowing my eyebrows as I stared down at her face.

“What’s wrong?” I asked in mild confusion.

Naimh blinked twice, and when her eyes swam into focus, she reflexively jerked back in surprise. It was as if she hadn’t previously realized my face was so close, directly above hers.

I frowned. “You alright?”

“Yeah… yeah, of course.”

I wasn’t convinced. “You looked like you’d spaced out there for a second.”

She grinned. “Aren’t girls always a little spaced out after you’ve had your way with them?”

“Well sure, but…” I waggled my head. “I haven’t had my way with you. You gave ME an orgasm, but I haven’t done anything for you yet.”

She waved me off. “I’m fine. Don’t need you to do anything for me this morning.”

“What’s wrong?”

She frowned. “Nothing’s wrong.”

“Uh-huh,” I muttered dubiously. “What’s on your mind? What’s got you distracted? Still worried about Skylar?”

“Skylar? No. I’m sure that situation will work out.”

“Then what’s wrong?”

“Why does there have to be something wrong? Don’t overreact just because I gave you a blowjob and then said you don’t need to do anything for me this morning.”

“Then what is it?”

“It’s nothing. It’s… it’s everything,” my girlfriend finally admitted. “It’s no big deal.”

“If it’s no big deal, then you might as well tell me.”

“Matty…”

I propped myself up on one elbow beside her and silently stared down at her with an expectant look on my face.

Naimh pursed her lips, looked away from me, and sighed. “Some days I wish you’d go back to being the High School Matty who would just hold up his hands, apologize for bothering me, and let it go.”

I continued to silently stare.

Naimh returned to staring at the ceiling, pursing her lips and collecting herself for a moment before eventually turning her gaze to me. Even then, she didn’t speak yet, merely staring at me with a familiar expression of forlorn longing and emotional turmoil.

She’s feeling “grand”.

I knitted my eyebrows together in a look of concern and asked, “Are you feeling lonely again?”

She sighed wearily, but the way her eyes flickered had already told me I’d hit the nail right on the head.

“We just had our third night in a row together,” I stated reassuringly.

“I know. And I love that,” she muttered softly.

“I thought we’ve been spending more quality one-on-one time together, even besides sex, like that walk around The Bulb at low tide the other day.”

“We have. And I love that.” Naimh shook her head. “It’s not you, Matty.”

“Skylar? Luna?” I queried.

Naimh pursed her lips and looked downward, and once again I felt like I’d hit the nail on the head. “I don’t want to be envious of you and Skylar, but…”

“But you’re envious of me and Skylar?” I queried in surprise. “You have to know that Skylar’s no threat to--”

“That came out wrong,” she interrupted. “I know Skylar’s no threat to take you away from me. I know you love me as your girlfriend and you’re just friends with her. Rather… I guess…”

Her voice trailed off as she fought to collect herself, and I patiently waited her out, although I did reach forward to start stroking her leg back and forth with my free hand, just so she could feel my intimate touch.

And eventually, she sighed and murmured, “I’m envious of your friendship with Skylar. Somehow, she’s always been more comfortable opening up to you than to me.”

“Well in fairness, I do spend more one-on-one time with her than you do,” I hedged. “The three of us hang out together twice a week, but I see her by myself on Tuesdays and Thursdays.”

“It’s not that. People just open up to you more than they open up to me. Do you know how much time and effort I put into befriending Eva and not really get anywhere?”

“Well I told you how she’s always been more comfortable around guys, all the way back to high school. And if you want an example of someone who hasn’t opened up to me at all, I still don’t really know anything about Luna.”

Naimh closed her eyes and let out a weary sigh, a look of clear disappointment on her face.

I grimaced. “Things with Luna not turning out like you’d hoped, either?”

My girlfriend shrugged helplessly and opened her eyes to the ceiling. “No matter what, she’s Isabela’s girlfriend. We still talk, and she’s really nice, but… at the end of the day, Isabela is her pair-bond.”

“Is that what this is about? You’re still searching for a pair-bond best friend?”

“I dunno… Maybe?” Naimh shook her head sadly, and my mind raced through all of the things she’d ever said about Sam and Zofi, Belle and Mari, and me and Alice being pair-bonded while she felt like the outsider. I thought about her wishing she could’ve bonded with Belle but how first Lily, and now Isabela seemed to have taken those roles. And of course she’d just now cited Skylar, Eva, and Luna.

There were tears in Naimh’s eyes, and my typically glowing girlfriend looked so forlorn that I immediately wrapped her up in my arms. “Hey… I’m here,” I reassured her. “Maybe you’re meant to be MY pair-bond, huh?”

“You’re me boyfriend, Matty, and I know I’ll ne’er be your ONLY girlfriend. Belle… Eva… Sam…”

The unexpected bitterness in Naimh’s voice as she muttered Sam’s name caught me by surprise, and I pulled my head back to look down at her. But she was shaking her head and continued before I could say anything.

“I’ve told you before and I’ll tell you again,” she stated emphatically. “The BTC means everything to me and I will NEVER try to take more’n my fair share o’you. I canna be your pair-bond. None of us can be.”

“You’re still my Head Girlfriend, right?”

She shook her head. “It’s an empty title. I canna even state that you’re more important to me than the group! Pair-bonding with you would mean trying to claim I was more important to you than the others. I won’t do that. I may be ‘Head Girlfriend’ for The BTC, but I refuse to hold myself above your other girlfriends in your heart.”

“An excellent quality in a leader, I think.”

She waved me off. “I’m NOT a leader. I come up with creative ideas, yes, but I’m not the take-charge type. I don’t have Sam’s force of personality or self-confidence. I’m afraid of doing the wrong thing and second-guess myself all the time. Nobody wants to follow someone who can’t even make up her own damn mind.”

“We’ve been over this: there are MANY different methods of leadership. So what if you’re not the loudest voice in the room? Sometimes leadership is about being a great example. Sometimes leadership is creating value for everyone else and being an influencer, not just an expert. You don’t have to always have the right answer. You can come up with great ideas, listen to everyone else’s opinion, and help form a group consensus.” I rubbed Naimh’s arm. “You may doubt yourself, but if we go downstairs and ask every other girl whether or not you’ve been a great Head Girlfriend, I guarantee you that each and everyone one of them will unequivocally say, ‘Yes.’”

Naimh shook her head and pursed her lips. “Being Head Girlfriend makes me feel like I’m on top of a pyramid, where there’s only room for one.”

“There’s room at the top to still have a best friend. Even Sam had Zofi beside her,” I pointed out.

“Yeah well maybe Sam was better at handling all this than I am.”

“Different, not better,” I stated seriously.

“Better,” Naimh insisted. “Everything was better when she was in charge.”

“Well that’s a moot point because she isn’t in charge. Sam made her choice. She deferred to you and stepped down.”

“And she can step right back up whenever she wants.”

I frowned and shook my head. “It’s not that simple.”

“Isn’t it?” Naimh challenged, a glint in her emerald-green eyes.

I arched an eyebrow. “Are you afraid of your Head Girlfriend position or something?”

“What? No, no, of course not. Haven’t you been listening? I just got done telling you I’m not a natural leader. If Sam wanted to come back and take over again, I’d welcome her back.”

“You don’t mean that.” I squeezed Naimh’s shoulder. “You’re an incredible Head Girlfriend, alright? If the title bothers you or stresses you out, I’d be happy to chuck the title out the window. But even if you doubt yourself, -I- believe in you. The girls believe in you. You make everyone better. You temper Belle’s complaints with reason and keep everyone in harmony. You have helped draw Eva out of her shell. Your devotion makes Sam feel less guilty about her time away. And you’re a really good friend to both Luna AND Isabela. Title or not - pair-bonded or not - you ARE at the top of my pyramid. I love you, Neevie. I love you with all my heart. Belle will always be my little sister. Sam’s never here. Eva isn’t romantic about me, and neither is Isabela. You are my romantic partner. YOU are the great love of my life.”

There were tears in Naimh’s eyes again, but this time they shimmered in harmony with the broad smile on her face. “You really mean that?”

I kissed her quickly and then kept my face inches above hers. And with a warm smile, I stated seriously, “I do.”

****

“¡Dios mío! Is this place for real?” Isabela exclaimed from the third-row middle seat of Sam’s Escalade, leaning towards the window and gawking at the large mansion all lit up with Christmas lights and related decorations.

“My second time here, and I’m feeling just as awed as I did the first time,” Naimh breathed from her middle-row bucket seat right behind me.

“Do you think he still has a bounce house?” Belle queried from her driver’s-side third-row seat.

“Do guys enjoy watching bouncing breasts?” Sam laughed from the shotgun seat beside me. “If so, you can count on there being a bounce house.”

“But it’s so cold outside!” Eva exclaimed from her middle-row bucket seat on the right. “Up here in the hills, the wind will be freezing.”

“So keep your jacket on,” Luna remarked from her passenger-side third-row seat. “If you want to jump, enjoy yourself without giving the guys a free show.”

“Hmm, I suppose…” Eva mused.

“But where’s the fun in that?” Isabela teased.

It took a few minutes, but eventually I parked the Escalade in front of the uniformed valet attendants and stepped out to hand one of them the keys. I circled around the shiny black SUV and looked up to take in the semi-familiar mansion decked out for the holidays. In addition to the abundant multi-colored Christmas lights decorating the house, trees and bushes, there were large air-filled Santa, reindeer, snowman, and wrapped-present inflatables on the front lawn. Red and green lights bordered the main walkway up to the front door. And over the fence we could see that the nearly excessive decorations continued into the back yard.

And yes, there was a Christmas-themed bouncy castle.

Oh, and one of the seniors dressed as Santa Claus trying to get all the girls to sit in his lap.

The six girls with me squealed excitedly and started forward, eager to party and have a good time. It was the Saturday night between the last week of classes and Finals Week, and we ALL wanted a mental break from studying and academic-related anxiety.

Music pumped throughout the house on synchronized speakers embedded in the ceilings, playing upbeat Christmas music. A crowd mingled in the living room immediately off the foyer, but first we stepped over to a red-cloth-covered table in front of a home office which was being used for a formal coat check room where they handed you little claim tags to collect your stuff later on. The mansion itself was quite warm inside, so all of the girls removed their thick jackets and handed them over, leaving each of the six gorgeous girls wearing cocktail dresses.

Naimh was gorgeous in a one-shoulder rose gold number that shimmered in the light. Belle was beautiful in baby blue. Sam was fierce in a fire-engine red number that showed off her extravagant cleavage and made me wanna motorboat myself in her melons. Eva was exotically alluring in a slinky black number. Isabela wore eye-popping bright yellow. And Luna was demurely pretty in purple.

Sam had led the way, given that she was most familiar with the house having been here several times over the course of the semester. Lincoln was pretty tight with her Pre-Law group of friends, after all. Eva and I brought up the rear and were the last ones to hand over our coats. The poor guy working the counter had been getting whiplash gawking at one gorgeous girl after another, and when he handed Eva her claim tag, he couldn’t help but let his eyes rove up and down her lingerie-model-esque figure.

Eva stood impossibly erect with her haughty Zofi-gone-evil vibe about her. She extended a long, lithe limb to slip the claim tag out of his hand and drew it back in a graceful line towards the plunging vee of her cleavage, and I could visibly see the guy’s heart start to thud in his chest. Eva then drew the claim tag up her chest and to her exquisite face, where she pursed her lips to blow him an air kiss and wink a blue-contact eye.

The dude might have creamed his pants from the way he shuddered, and Eva let out a musically arrogant laugh before she wrapped her arm around my lower back possessively. The guy blushed, gave me an embarrassed apologetic look, and then immediately turned his attention to the next guest in line.

I chuckled at her antics but hugged her back against my side, and as we walked away I muttered, “Thought you were gonna wear your jacket in the bounce house.”

Eva shrugged. “If I drink enough, I’m sure I’ll feel plenty warm. But if I DO go jumping with the girls, know with absolute certainty that my bouncing boobs are only for you.”

I smiled readily. “Good to know.”

“Charlie! Hey!” Sam called ebulliently, and I turned my head to watch the busty blonde bombshell’s boobs bouncing up and down as she scampered across the foyer.

The semi-familiar tall, well-built young man immediately put on a wide, toothy grin as he replied gregariously, “Heyyy! Welcome, welcome! Sam, you look amazing, as always.”

“You remember my friends, right?” Sam asked while gesturing back at the rest of us.

“How could I forget?” Charlie’s wide, toothy grin returned. “When I told Lincoln you all were coming, the very first thing he said was, ‘Bounce house.’”

Sam laughed. “Maybe later, when we’re all lubed up.”

“Drinks it is!” Charlie declared. “Follow me.”

Sam giggled, wrapped her arm around Charlie’s arm, and walked off with him. Naimh, Belle, Isabela, and Luna soon followed.

“You’re squeezing my hand pretty hard, Matty,” Eva mumbled.

“What? Oh, I’m sorry,” I muttered in surprise, immediately relaxing my grip.

Eva’s eyebrows went up as she looked at me curiously. “Everything alright?”

“Yeah, sure, totally,” I insisted before taking a deep breath and exhaling quickly before putting on my own wide, toothy grin. “Let’s get some drinks.”

Eva rather deliberately stared over at where Sam and Charlie were nearly to the kitchen. And then with equally deliberate measure, she returned her attention to me. “You sure?”

“I’m fine,” I insisted, rolling my eyes. Then I tugged on Eva’s hand, starting forward. “C’mon. Let’s go.”

****

“You’re certainly a popular one here,” Isabela remarked. “Come here often?”

“Every now and again. Lincoln’s not Pre-Law himself, but a couple of his closest buddies are.” Sam shrugged and took a sip of her cocktail while reclining back in her seat.

After collecting our first two rounds of drinks while doing some serious socializing (i.e. following Sam and Charlie around to meet up with their friends, which seemed to be EVERYONE in the house), the seven of us were now seated on comfortable couches around a large stone fire pit on the back patio. In addition to the blazing fire’s heat, overhead electric heaters built into the pergola structure above us kept the area nice and toasty, warding the winter chill away. Eva was on my left, Isabela and Luna were squished a bit to my right, and Belle sat in my lap with my arms wrapped around her. Sam was in a wicker armchair to Luna’s right, with Naimh on another armchair next to her.

“Is everyone here Pre-Law?” Luna inquired.

“Nah…” Sam waved her off. “Maybe half. The other half are friends of friends or significant others, like me bringing all of you here.”

“Still seems like everybody here knows you,” Eva remarked. “Or at the very least, everybody here wants to talk to you.”

“Sam’s always been an excellent conversationalist,” I complimented.

“That and the girls with the biggest jugs are ALWAYS popular,” Belle pointed out with a buzzed giggle.

“You’re not wrong,” Isabela laughed, reaching under and hefting hers up for emphasis.

“Interestin’ that you’ve found enough time to get to know everyone here on a first-name basis…” Naimh stated softly.

Sam shrugged. “Well the half of them that are Pre-Law I study together with five, six days a week.”

“And the other half?” Belle queried with an arched eyebrow.

“Fake it ‘til you make it.” Sam smirked. “Matty’s mum actually drilled into me how important it is to have instant recall of someone’s name and face. A very useful skill in my future profession.”

“So you’re faking your friendships?” Luna asked, looking confused.

“Sorry, not what I meant.” Sam set her drink down and shook her head before collecting herself to rephrase. “Sometimes it’s useful to act like there’s a stronger, tighter bond there than actually exists. The more comfortable someone is in interacting with you, the more they open up and give you information. It’s a learned skill.”

“I know exactly what you mean,” Isabela remarked, raising her cup in toast. “High-level socializing isn’t easy, but you’re really good at it.”

“Why thank you.” Sam smiled grandly at the compliment, picked her back cup, and raised it in response.

“Soooo…” Naimh drawled with a single arched eyebrow. “Does that mean your bond with Charlie likewise only seems stronger and more intimate than it really is?

Sam blinked in surprise and leaned back in her seat. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I’m jus’ askin’. What’s the deal with you and Charlie?”

“There’s no deal with me and Charlie. We’re just friends,” Sam stated somewhat defensively, taking a swig of her drink. When Charlie had split off to join other friends, the girls and I had all picked up a third round of cocktails before coming outside to find a hangout spot, fortunately right as another group got up and left.

“He seems a little handsy for someone who’s just a friend,” Naimh muttered. “How many times did his hand find its way around your waist? And his eyes certainly spend a lot of time attached to your boobs.”

Sam rolled her eyes. “Every guy’s eyes spend a lot of time attached to my boobs.”

“True enough,” Naimh conceded. “But none of us saw you flirting back with any other guys but him.”

“I wasn’t flirting back,” Sam insisted.

Naimh cocked her head and gave Sam a look that plainly said, ‘Oh really?’ Even I had noticed the way Sam would laugh and touch Charlie’s upper arm while they socialized, the two of them doing most of the talking while the rest of us hung in the background after introductions. But despite Sam being joined at the hip to the handsome upperclassman, I’d made a concerted effort to keep my sense of jealousy in check, and Eva had not needed to complain about me squeezing her hand too hard again.

“We’re just friends,” Sam insisted. “He’s one of my best friends, yes. But there’s nothing going on between us. And I’d like to think that you and I are still best friends enough for you to take my word for it.”

“If she says they’re just friends,” I spoke up, “then I believe they’re just friends.”

“Thank you, Matty. It’s nice to know someone has faith in me.”

“I believe you, Sam,” Belle chimed in with a smirk. “I know you barely have time for Matty, let alone any other guys.”

“I’m trying to decide if that was a compliment or a complaint,” Sam mused with a smirk.

“Bit of both,” Belle quipped with a laugh before taking another sip of her drink.

“You should treat it as a complaint,” Naimh stated seriously, “given that we all just saw you flirt with Charlie more in the past half-hour than you have with Matty in the past month.”

“Et tu, Neevie?” Sam sighed. “I’m used to Belle needling me, but do we have to do this tonight?”

“Oh, I’m sorry. Is tonight inconvenient for ya? Coudja giv’us a more specific time in’ye busy shhedule when’ye might wanna spen’ five minutes with yer friends?!”

“Neevie,” I scolded firmly, sitting up straight.

My freckled redhead’s Irish temper was flaring up, but she still turned to look straight at me and immediately took a deep, calming breath.

“Charlie and I are just friends,” Sam repeated firmly. “He knows I have a boyfriend and he respects that.”

“Respects it with his hand around your waist,” Naimh muttered coldly. “And if that’s the way he acts when your actual boyfriend is right behind you, I wonder how he acts when your boyfriend’s NOT watching.”

Sam pursed her lips, took a deep breath, and measured herself before responding. She glanced around for a moment, and then sat forward in her seat. And in a low voice so that she wouldn’t be overheard, the blonde intoned seriously, “Look, I know Charlie’s got a bit of a crush on me, but I am loyal to Matty, alright? I’ve told Charlie plainly that nothing’s gonna happen between us, and he understands that. In the meantime, Charlie’s attention on me keeps other guys away, alright? Like, they see that Charlie and I are together a lot, and they don’t wanna encroach on his turf.”

Eva waggled her head. “That actually makes sense. So long as there’s nothing actually going on between him and you.”

“There’s nothing going on between us,” Sam insisted.

“Yet,” Isabela stated quietly with a shrug. And when all eyes were suddenly on her, she blushed and said, “I’ve obviously not been around as long as the rest of you to know the details. But I’ve some experience with the way a guy looks at a girl he can’t have, but hopes that if he just hangs around long enough, when her other relationship falls apart he’ll be there to pick up the pieces.”

I felt Isabela tense up a bit and glanced down to see Luna’s fingernails digging into her girlfriend’s thigh as a warning.

“Charlie’s not hanging around me waiting to pick up the pieces,” Sam stated carefully, “because I’ve made clear to him there won’t be any pieces to pick up. I love my boyfriend, and he loves me.”

“We hear your words, but Neevie brings up a good point,” Eva stated seriously. “We can only see the way Charlie acts when we’re around, and can only assume he’s even more… casually intimate… with you when we’re not. He did seem to spend a lot of time with his arm around you just now. An outsider might assume you and Charlie were together. Certainly, no one would assume that you were with Matty.”

“Because Matty spent the last half-hour with his arm around you,” Sam pointed out.

“You’re welcome to come take my spot,” Eva suggested, gesturing for Sam to switch places.

“Matty doesn’t NEED me to come take your spot, because Matty knows how much I love him.”

“Does he?” Eva queried skeptically.

“I do, I do,” I insisted immediately. “I have total faith in Sam.”

Naimh muttered something in Irish Gaelic I didn’t catch. I don’t think any of us caught it, but the gist was clear enough in her tone.

Sam sighed. “What?”

Rather than glare at Sam, Naimh glared at ME with a scolding expression and a disappointed shake of her head, and then it was my turn to ask, “What?”

Naimh pursed her lips and shook her head again, deliberately averting her eyes away from me while she crossed her arms and huffed.

“I don’t see the problem here,” Sam stated, looking around the circle, almost daring one of us to say otherwise. And after a moment of silence, it looked like no one would.

But then Naimh flung her arms out and pivoted in her seat. “Do you really not know?” she scoffed. “For how long has Belle been telling you, ‘You’re doing it wrong!’?”

“If Belle was the one complaining right now, I wouldn’t be confused,” Sam stated. “But what changed tonight to set YOU off?”

“YOU. Him. Here,” Naimh stated roughly. “Maybe this is my fault. I didna see the signs. Or maybe I was jus’ will’flee ignorant. When I’m at home with The BTC and you’re not around, it’s easy to focus on the people I’m with and not worry about who’s not there. But here? Watchin’ some other man hold you against his side, slip his palm over your bum, and act like he’s your boyfriend two feet in front of me?!”

“Charlie didn’t grab my bum,” Sam stated.

“You’re missing the point!” Naimh exclaimed. “Do I think you’re cheating on Matty? No. That’s not the issue here. I know you love him with all your heart. I really do. You’ve always been super-busy and I didna wanta make things harder on you than they already were. But it hurts me heart, alright! I can see with me own eyes the way you’re canoodlin’ with other guys while I’m with Matty at home, knowin’ just how much he wishes YOU were home canoo--”

“I’m not ‘canoodling’ with other guys!” Sam insisted.

“Coulda fooled me,” Eva muttered.

Sam shot Eva a harsh look before slipping Belle off my lap and abruptly standing up. “You know what? I don’t need this right now, alright? Shouldn’t we already be in the bounce house by now or something? FINALS are next week, we’re ALL stressed out, and I THOUGHT I could have a fun night out with my friends!”

“Which set of friends?” Belle asked quietly.

“Fuck YOU, bitch!” Sam shot back angrily.

“Guess that answers that,” Eva muttered.

“I didn’t NEED to invite you all here tonight,” Sam exclaimed. “I could’ve just come by myself.”

“Wouldn’t be the first time,” Belle pointed out.

“How many times HAVE you come here?” Naimh asked tartly. “How many times have you come here this semester and NOT invited us? How many times have you come here with Charlie?”

“That’s enough,” I stated roughly, standing up and waggling a finger at Naimh and then at Belle. “It doesn’t matter how many times she’s come here with Charlie, alright? Sam’s my girlfriend, and I trust her.”

“You’re a fookin’ idjit, Matty,” Naimh fired back with tears in her eyes. She stood up as well. “And you’re only makin’ it worse.”

“This one’s not about you, Matty,” Belle added. “It’s about ALL of us. The entire BTC, or Sam’s Pre-Law friends? It’s pretty clear which group she’s chosen to be with.”

“They’re welcome to her,” Naimh seethed. “Go join your REAL friends.”

“I AM with my real friends,” Sam insisted, reaching her hand out to grab mine. “And I’m with my BOYFRIEND.”

“Of course you are. And you’re welcome to him,” Naimh snarled at Sam. “I hope you two are happy together.”

And then Naimh abruptly turned and stalked away.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The next chapter will post on February 24th. For anyone who can't wait, Beta Tier has a 7-chapter lead.

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