Second Chance

I didn't know where we were going. They never told me.

I was in the passenger seat, John was driving, and David had his face between us, his arms on the tops of our seats as he leaned forward from the backseat. He was begging for disaster if John were to slam on the brakes.

John was my boyfriend, but not for much longer if things didn't straighten themselves out between us, and soon. I was tired of telling him what I needed. Mostly, that was marriage. After all these years together, he should have figured that out by now.

David was his best bud. A guy I'd had a crush on our freshman through sophomore year of college. A guy who hadn't realized I'd existed at the time, and still didn't ten years later other than knowing I was his best friend's longterm girlfriend.

The music in the car was low, and the guys were rambling on about some game they had seen last night. I was staring out at the stars, going through all the things I needed to do at work come Monday.

I hadn't realized John had pulled over until David was pushing on the back of my seat. It was a futile attempt to get me to open the door so he could climb out of John's dilapidated two-door car. No way was I getting out until I had some answers.

"Where are we?"

"Get out, Mandy." John jerked his keys from the ignition and opened the driver's side door, the overhead light casting a dull yellow glow over the interior before the door closed again.

I groaned at David's insistent jerking on the headrest. He was like a bored child. "Stop it! "

"Come on!" I heard John yell from outside.

"Not until I know why we're here. "

David growled. He gave up on me and slid across to the other side of the car, fumbling for the door handle from the backseat. The interior light flickered on again. Then I was alone in the dark once more.

I heard the crunch of gravel under their feet as they walked away. I cursed under my breath then jerked the door open, racing after them. "You're both assholes, you know."

They ignored me, continuing their path past the several cars littering the parking area as they approached a house twenty feet away. The two stories loomed over us, and the building itself was laid out in an L-shape with a door in each section. I wasn't even sure if it was all one building or separate apartments with two entrances. A heavy, musical base made the doorframes rattle, and flashes of neon lights peeked out from behind blinds on the otherwise dark windows.

"Will you two stop and tell me what's going on?" I shoved my hands in the pockets of my hooded sweatshirt, shivering in the night breeze.

"I told you we shouldn't have brought her," John mumbled as he opened one of the white, screen doors.

"John?" I glanced at him and then David. "What do you mean? Where are you going?"

John ignored me, pushing the inner door open instead. The music volume increased exponentially, then suddenly it was muted again as the door closed behind him.

"Dammit, John!"

David disappeared through the other entrance.

I caught the outer door before it slammed shut, but I paused, wondering which guy I should follow. I groaned and stepped inside after David.

"Wait for me!" I stopped a few feet inside, letting my eyes adjust to the darkness.

Outside, the moon and stars provided enough light to see by. In here? The neon flashes only gave glimpses of other people. Some were dancing. Some were just standing, talking and drinking. Although, I didn't know how they could hear each other over the music.

"David!" I tried to follow his quickly retreating form. At least I thought it was him. The lights flashed, and suddenly no one was in front of me anymore.

I decided to stay where I was, just like when I was a kid and would get separated from my mom when we were at the mall. If I stayed put, she always found me. Eventually. I assumed that to be true of either John or David.

Someone brushed past me, and I stepped out of the way, right back into a wall. I let out a deep breath. As I looked around, I realized it was one big open space. Both the door John and David had entered led into the same room. By the red and blue pulsing lasers that alternated from lighting the ceiling then the floor from somewhere off in the distance, I could tell the furniture was sparse. A couple of couches randomly arranged against walls. But for the most part, it was just an empty space with a lot of people milling about in small groups.

Great. We had crashed a college frat party. I was too old for this. But since I was here, I could use a beer.

As I walked across the room, my steps in time with the flashes of light so I didn't run into anything or anyone, I wondered why the guys had come here. We were in our thirties. This wasn't our crowd. We were working people, and we didn't go clubbing anymore. Hell, my idea of a good night out these days was fine dining with my coworkers and a bottle of wine. If David was looking for a quick shag, I'm sure he could have found a willing partner at one of the local bars. He didn't need to drag John and I along with him to God-knows-where. I didn't want to think that this had been John's idea.

I finally found the kitchen. There was a single light on over the sink where a pile of used red plastic cups had gathered, dredges of a cigarette and beer floating in the bottom of the top one. I pulled a fresh cup off the stack on a nearby counter and poured a beer from the keg that had been situated on the floor in a barrel of ice. I took a long swig, draining half the liquid, then refilled my cup and headed back to the main room. I still couldn't see John or David, but the beer was good, and the beat was starting to relax me. I wandered around, using my hand on the wall as a guide. Eventually, I heard voices as the music changed and grew more distant behind me. There were some cheers, some hooting and hollering. I saw flashes of light—from a camera this time.

And I suddenly knew. I'd seen the videos online. I wanted no part of this. Yet my curiosity got the better of me. So I proceeded toward the room ahead of me where light spilled into the hall.

As I drew closer, I heard the grunts and groans. I stopped in the doorway. The crowd of at least a dozen college boys and a couple of girls suddenly parted enough for me to get a direct eye-line of a bed. John was kneeling on the floor beside it, his face buried between the parted legs of a naked blonde.

I dropped my cup, my beer splattering over my feet. I didn't care. And no one else seemed to either. They were focused on watching my boyfriend eat out a college girl's pussy. The tears formed in my eyes, and my chest tightened. I wanted to scream. I wanted to turn and run away. Yet I couldn't move.

It was as if I were home watching the videos with John beside me. College Fuckfest I think they were called. While amateur, they had been a useful tool to get us in the mood some nights early on in our relationship. Every now and then, I'd peek at one online again when John was out of town on business. I'd always envisioned what it would have been like for John and I to be the couple in those scenes.

But now? Now I wasn't the one John was licking and fingering while people snapped pictures or recorded the encounter on their iPhones. I wasn't the one gasping and fondling my breasts as the slender guy with a tight ass stood and stripped, revealing a hard cock while a video camera tried to catch the best angles.

I bit back my own gasp as he thrust into her, like the knife he was stabbing into my heart. I stepped back, barely registering as I ran into a firm chest. But when strong arms wrapped around me from behind, turned me to face away, I whimpered. And when I inhaled to catch my breath and drank in the sandalwood-scented cologne that took me back so many years in an instant, tears pricked my eyes. I looked up slowly, and my knees gave out as a strangled groan escaped.

"Shh," was all David said. He tightened his embrace and dragged me back into the hallway with him. Once we were alone in the dark, he pressed me up against the wall and kissed me.

I moaned, forcing my eyes to stay open, even if I couldn't see him. I felt his tongue outlining my mouth before it pressed for entrance. I parted my lips for him, clawing at his arms. This was a dream. A nightmare and a dream rolled into one.

He deepened the kiss, his tongue exploring as his hands tilted my head as he wanted it. His knee pressed between mine, and I settled down onto this thigh. He rubbed against me, and I rode on the cusp of an orgasm. John had trained me to do that over the years. To let my mind control when I could come, even on command from him. After what I had seen...what I was feeling right now... I was raw. The friction of my jeans pressing against the thin layer of my panties and my swollen pussy only heightened the sensation.

A loud shriek and a giggle broke into my brain, and my heart lurched. I pulled away from David, my head lolling to the side as I cried.

David grasped my hand and led me away.

I followed him through the darkness. I had no idea where we were going, and I did not care. We climbed some stairs. We passed people making out in the shadows of hallways. Caught a glimpse of a couple having sex in a bathroom through a crack in the door. I stumbled, and David slowed, wrapping his arm around my shoulders.

There was an open door ahead of us, the room dark and silent beyond. David led me inside, closed the door, and I heard the snick of a lock behind turned. I collapsed on the end of the bed as I bumped into it, the tears coming faster now.

"Oh, Mandy," he whispered. A soft light snapped on.

I glanced around the room. It was quite tidy for a college boy's room, yet the signs of masculinity were everywhere. A variety of sports teams and scantily-clad models on posters adorned the walls. A pile of jeans and tennis shoes in one corner by an open closet door that revealed an array of colorful T-shirts. A stereo and TV that took up a third wall. A few beer cans on the dresser along with a bottle of cologne, shaving cream, a razor, and a simple comb. The black-and-white checkered bedspread and pillows beneath me.

"Why?" I sniffled. I wasn't really sure what I was asking. Why John was doing this? Why David was doing this? Maybe why I was doing this?

"Because he's a jerk." David came toward me, his steps slow, as if approaching a timid animal. "Because I screwed up. Because you deserve more. But mostly because I want a second chance."

"What do you mean? You never even gave me one."

"I did. New Year's Eve, sophomore year. I kissed you."

I remembered that kiss. It had been quick, at the stroke of midnight. And John had ripped me away to makeout in the corner. I hadn't seen David the rest of the night. I had planned that kiss, and he hadn't come after me. I figured David didn't want me like that.

"Please."

He was standing directly over me when he said it. His hands cupped my cheeks, his thumbs brushing away my tears as he stared at me, his eyes dark. Then he leaned down and pressed his lips to mine, gently sucking on my lower lip.

I closed my eyes this time. Together, we scooted back on the bed. He laid down on top of me and kissed me harder, more thoroughly. My leg wrapped around his, and I moaned as I felt his arousal press against me through our jeans. He rolled us onto our sides, and one of his hands smoothed down my back until he could squeeze my ass.

Our mouths kissed. Our hands roamed. The tension between us increased until I was whimpering in his arms. He made quick work of removing our clothes, mine first then his. Then he was lying on top of me again, his skin so hot as it pressed against my breasts and stomach.

I got lost in tracing my fingers along his back and sides. Finally feeling him as I'd always wanted to. As I'd hoped to that New Year's night so long ago. If this was a dream, I wanted to remember every inch of him.

"Open for me, Mandy," David breathed against my ear. His fingers entwined in my hair, tugging my head back so he was staring into my eyes once more.

I moaned and parted my legs wider, pulling my knees up so my feet were flat on the mattress. His hips nestled between them, and I felt my breath catch as he pressed into me.

His mouth covered mine as he sheathed himself completely in my heat. I shook beneath him, my fingers digging into his back as I tried pull him deeper. It wasn't enough. I wanted more. I needed more. And then he gave it to me as he withdrew so slowly I thought he was going to pull me inside out. My body craved him, gripped him, and my head rolled from side to side when he took a breath. His re-entry was just as excruciating. I loved it. I felt the tension in his back, how his body shook as he tried to retain control. I never wanted it to end.

But suddenly, I tightened around him, my whole body going stiff. This was wrong. I had a boyfriend. A cheating boyfriend, albeit. But I shouldn't—

"Shh, it's okay, Mandy. It's just you and me now. It's okay to come undone."

So I did. For the longest time, all I could feel was him sliding in and out of me. His breath hot on my face and neck as he alternated between kissing me and licking and nipping at my neck. His body heavy on mine, making me feel safe. Suddenly, everything tightened in a delicious, tingling way, and I cried out as I shook beneath him.

He kissed me through my orgasm, whispering my name. I was still numb as he lifted himself up and sped up, fucking me so hard I was soon on the edge of the cliff again. He grunted and groaned long and loud, and I came again shortly after he did.

I must have drifted off, because when I opened my eyes, were still on the bed but under the comforter. I was on my back, David on his side smiling down at me. His palm covered my pussy, his fingers lightly stroking the outer lips, then the inner ones, but not touching my clit.

"Hey," he whispered and leaned down to kiss me. When he had me distracted, he thrust two fingers deep inside me, making me cry out, my eyes shooting wide open to stare at his.

He lowered his mouth to suck my nipple into his mouth, his tongue flicking at the pebbled peak. He continued to stroke me until I was a writhing mass of boneless limbs in his arms, then he threw his leg over my hip and pulled me into his embrace.

"Don't you think someone might want their bedroom back?" I mumbled against his shoulder when I was able to speak again.

David kissed the top of my head, his fingers drawing lazy circles on my back. "Nah, my little brother has loaned it to me for the night."

I giggled, feeling drained, sleepy, yet so alive. "So you had this planned, huh?"

"I had hopes. That's why I insisted you come along." He tilted my chin up and studied my face for a long moment.

"So you knew? About John?"

David closed his eyes, and his jaw hardened. Finally, he sighed. "Yes. And it isn't the first time."

I choked back a sob. David's arms tightened around me.

"Don't, Mandy. Don't go there. I know you. You're trying to think of all the times he was away on business. Was he lying? Yes, sometimes. But you'll beat yourself up for nothing. It's not your fault. It's who he is. I told you before. You deserve more than him."

"Can I?" I gulped and slid a hand up to cup his cheek, to stroke the stubble there.

"Can you what, sweetie?" He gently nipped my thumb when I brushed it over his lips.

"Can I just walk away from him?"

He gripped my chin and kissed me deeply. "Yes. And I will help you. I will be there every step of the way."

I closed my eyes and snuggled against him, nuzzling his neck. "Thank you, David."

"For what?"

"For giving me a second chance."

~ H