Double Time
Chapter 55
“It doesn't matter whether you're the lion or a gazelle—when the sun comes up, you'd better be running.”
—Christopher McDougall, Born to Run
MY HIGHLY ANTICIPATED private time with Desi never materialized. I fell.
It was my own stupid fault. I was concentrating entirely too much on Livy’s bouncing ponytail ten yards ahead of me as we did timed splits and tripped over my own feet. Faceplant right on the asphalt.
V1 didn’t run track, but we’d all been out on the cinder track around the football field in gym class and football practice. A fall on that track meant you were picking cinders out of your skin for days. At least the artificial surface the V3 track didn’t fall apart when I hit it. It wasn’t actually asphalt, but some kind of composite material that was probably more durable than asphalt. They should surface roads with this stuff. No more potholes.
Nonetheless, I failed to catch myself in any reasonable manner, slid, tumbled, and rolled on the track, whacking my head on the inside dirt as I rolled off the track. What a fucking klutz!
Jock was at my side before I’d caught my breath and tried to move. So were a couple of my teammates who’d been behind me.
“I’m okay. Just stupid. I’m okay,” I kept muttering. That wasn’t good enough for Jock. He checked the several areas of road rash on my arms and legs and told me not to move while he checked my eyes and to see if I’d broken anything. Then he was on his cell phone to my mother!
“My assessment is that there is nothing broken and only a few lesions. Most guys I’d have just get up and walk it off. With Jacob’s history, I wanted to consult with you first.”
While Jock was talking to my mother, Livy strode up, having cut across the football field when she saw it was me who was down. Embarrassing, but having her kneel down and lean over me was nice.
“Rachel will kill me if I let anything happen to you on the track. Are you okay?”
“Yeah. I’ll be fine. There was nothing you could have done. You were ten yards ahead of me.”
“Damn, but those scrapes are going to hurt.”
“I can tell already,” I laughed.
“Okay, sport. Take it easy getting up. Let me know if there are any pains I haven’t checked on. Your mother is on her way to take you to the doctor. The rest of you slackers get back in motion and keep your feet under you,” Jock yelled at the rest of the team. “Jacob, just have a seat on the bench until your mother gets here and let me know if you start feeling woozy.”
Which is how I ended up in Doctor Jordan’s office instead of Desi’s bed Thursday afternoon.
“I thought those tracks weren’t supposed to cause injury,” Rachel said when she saw me for our math class in the morning. “Your face is a mess.”
“I guess the track is meant for shoes and not for faces. I feel like such an idiot.”
“Your girlfriends are going to flip.”
“Brittany already did. We have English with Ms. Levy first period. Even Ms. Levy suggested that a sedentary life might be healthier for me.”
“Will you still be able to go out tonight?”
“Yeah. Aside from being scolded for being a klutz by both my mother and my doctor, I’m fine.” We settled into our seats and I leaned toward her so I could lower my voice. “Everything is in working order.”
“Well, that’s a relief.”
“I was halfway around the track before I even knew someone was down. We aren’t supposed to cut across the football field during practice but I didn’t get tackled,” Livy laughed as we all settled at our table for lunch. Beca had taken my hand as we left US History and hadn’t let go yet as she leaned against me at the table. There was still too much chaos in the cafeteria to take advantage of the taco salads they were serving, so we’d all brought lunches from home. I don’t know why, but I turned and kissed the top of Beca’s head. “That’s so sweet,” Livy said.
“I told you, Jacob and Beca are the glue that holds us together,” Rachel said.
“Why don’t we just gather at my house tonight?” Joan asked. “Surely you can’t expect Jacob to roller skate tonight.”
“That’s true. How about it, honey? Want to spend the evening being cuddled and pampered by all your girlfriends?” I could hardly say no to that.
“All well and good for you,” Desi said miserably. “Dad is picking me up after school and we’ve got a four-hour drive back to Kentucky for the weekend. I’m a serving wench for King Arthur Saturday and Sunday.”
“How much longer do you have to work every weekend?” Brittany asked.
“This weekend and next weekend in Kentucky and then Labor Day weekend with Jacob at ComicCon. Then I’m free until Fort Wayne PopCon between Christmas and New Year’s.”
“It sounds like a lot of work, but it also sounds fun,” Brittany said. “Maybe I should try cosplay.”
The subject was off my injury and before we knew it, we were headed back to class. My date for the evening had been changed from intimate time with Rachel to… intimate time with all my girlfriends except Desi. And Livy. Just because she ate lunch with us and ran with me didn’t mean she was one of my girlfriends.
“You’re still too banged up to race this weekend,” Jock said. “Lighten up your run Saturday morning and focus on your stride. You’ve slipped into limping again and that will wreck your back.”
“Yessir. I’m sorry to disappoint you.”
“I’ll still run with you Sunday morning if you want,” Livy said. I grinned at her. I almost told her she was the reason I fell.
“Just don’t try to set any race records on Sunday,” Jock laughed. “Do that Saturday morning.”
I got the royal treatment Friday night. We all went out to dinner at Sara’s Restaurant and then headed to Joan’s for a movie. Season three of Last Hope was just released on Netflix and we settled down to just veg out. I was more interested in making out with Rachel but saw that with Joan and Beca occupied with each other, poor Brittany was odd man out. Not to worry. Rachel called her over to us before I could say anything.
“Um… is it okay?” she asked as she settled next to me.
“Let me ask,” I said. “Are you really our girlfriend? I mean mine? Rachel’s? Beca’s? Joan’s?”
“And Desi’s,” Brittany added as she nodded her head. “I want to be but I’m so inexperienced. And a little afraid.”
“Honey, none of us are going to try to make you do something you aren’t ready for,” Rachel said. “But when we’re all together like this, you should never hesitate to come cuddle up to any of us. Even if we’re making out like Joan and Beca are.” She said that loud enough to get the girls’ attention and they both looked at us and blushed. “I think that even if we’re naked and making love, if we’re with the rest of you, you are welcome to join in.”
“Rachel!” Beca exclaimed. Brittany buried her face against my shoulder. “You are so wicked! Um… Do you mean it?”
“Yes, Kitten. I mean it.” It was the first time I’d heard Rachel use my pet name for Beca. “You know, I’m a little weird, I guess. I just think that I look at the four of you… and Desi… and I think I’d do anything for any of you. I don’t want to hide the fact that Jacob and I are lovers. I don’t want Joan to hide it, either. Or you and Joan. I’m… I really feel… I love you.”
Joan and Beca got up from their chair and joined us on the sofa. Beca settled immediately into Rachel’s lap and gave her a kiss that was so intense I could feel the heat adding up on the sofa. Of course, that could also be because of Joan in my lap. The kiss she gave me raised the temp a few degrees as well. I had my right hand on the inside of her bare leg and felt it joined by another. Brittany was looking up at the two of us with a question in her eyes. She looked like she was still uncertain about whether she was welcome. Joan smiled at her and leaned forward to give our youngest girlfriend a gentle kiss that Brittany welcomed. We didn’t try to grope Joan, but just having our hands joined on her bare leg was very intimate.
17 August 2019
I feel like I’m letting my team down. Jock has reassured me that is not the case. Injuries are common in a sport like this. Now that school has started, the team has grown, too. A lot of athletes weren’t back from their summer vacations before the first meet. I guess that gave me a chance to shine where I wouldn’t have had the opportunity if the real runners were competing.
Of course, I’ll go to the meet today and cheer on the team. Livy. Shit! No sense kidding myself about being interested in any other teammate than her. I’ve always had a thing for tall thin girls. That she’s blonde, athletic, and nice doesn’t enter into it. Much.
And what’s with her and Rachel? I mean, I’d never heard Rachel mention her before, but all of a sudden, Livy is a fixture at our table and is an old friend of Rachel’s. And how am I supposed to respond? Rachel is bringing the other girlfriends to join us at the meet. Even though I’m not racing today, I still have to ride the team bus. Jock will have me checking equipment, timers, and uniforms before I start helping the team cool down and get stretched out. The thought of stretching with Livy makes me think of how my stretches went with Nanette. That makes me… Yeah.
I wonder what Nanette meant to imply when she said the age of consent in Indiana is sixteen. Maybe I’ll find out in a couple of months.
Anyway, Livy hits me in the primal core of my being. My response to her is non-rational. I keep looking for my older wiser self to chime in and control my behavior, but he just blathers ‘Hubba hubba hubba!’ Some help.
Livy was a few steps behind her competition Saturday morning. We all had to remind ourselves that we were running against three of the top teams in the three counties that surrounded us—Huntington, Bluffton, and Columbia City. The girls did better than the guys did. I didn’t think I could have helped our fourth place finish. Huntington University has a nice cross country trail a mile north of the campus. I really wished I’d been able to run there and was going to talk to Nanette about coming out for a Saturday run the next time I didn’t have a meet on Saturday. The trail is all groomed grass. It’s a little sexist that they mark the trail for 5k for women and 5 miles for men, but it’s beautiful slightly rolling terrain. Everybody loved running on it.
I met each of our runners with a bottle of water and a towel as he or she crossed the finish line. We were all able to meet friends and family in the short social time after the race and my girlfriends had no qualms about giving sweaty Livy a big hug. I saw Rachel give her a nice kiss right on the lips. Hmm.
It was already near eighty by the time the team boarded the bus back to school at eleven-thirty. Livy dragged me into a seat beside her when I got on the bus.
“Hey, nice run,” I said.
“That girl from Bluffton is just going to keep getting better all season,” Livy said. “You should have seen her stride. I think she’s four inches shorter than me and could stretch her legs out to cover more territory.”
“No way. The last time I watched a girl running in front of me, I did a faceplant on the track.”
“When was… No! Who were you… Me?”
“I guess I got distracted and tripped over my own feet.”
“Not what I want you to do,” she said. I started to hold up my hands and apologize but she just kept going. “Tripping, I mean. I guess it’s okay if you get distracted running behind me. You might let a girl know, though.”
“Livy, I’m… I mean… Yeah. You’re distracting. I really like watching your ponytail while you’re running.”
“Oh. Your eyes were clear up there?”
“Yeah. Just before I got distracted.”
“Our poor guys running today just weren’t used to doing a full five miles,” she said, turning the subject from me watching her butt. “Coach could have used your endurance today.”
“That reminds me. You still up for a run tomorrow morning?”
“Absolutely.”
“My… uh… running mentor wants me to start working at 10k to prepare for a race on Labor Day. Are you game?”
“Let’s come back out here tomorrow morning and run that trail. We can easily mark out the six point two miles.”
“It’s light at 6:30 in the morning. You up by then?”
“I’m up anytime you want. I’ll pick you up at six. Oh,” she said. “Um… Rache suggested that after I shower I um… offer you a ride… to late lunch with your girlfriends. If you like. I mean, I’m sure you want lunch with your girlfriends, but if you want a ride with me. And don’t object to me joining you all.”
I’ll be damned. I had to wonder if Livy was trying to work her way into our group and if she’d become one of my girlfriends. Or if maybe she was only interested in Rachel.
We all had a good time at lunch and Livy fit in just fine. We made a ton of jokes about growing up to be fat Hoosier beef when we ordered at Cracker Barrel. For me it was an indulgence in biscuits and gravy. I figured that as long as I was prepping for a 10k run in the morning and exercising like a demon, I could indulge occasionally.
It was after lunch that I found out the interesting stuff. Livy headed off her own direction and I joined my girlfriends at Joan’s house. Brittany and Beca were cuddled up together talking about their chemistry class. Rachel was on my lap, but Joan was stretched out on the sofa next to us with her head on Rachel. And my hand in her shirt. Joan pretended to nap while Rachel and I kissed. She’d have had us fooled if she hadn’t squirmed around and released the catch on her bra to give me better access to her breasts.
“I suppose everyone needs to reassure you, but if you and Livy get something going, it won’t create any problems as far as I’m concerned,” Rachel said.
“We’re just running mates. Like I am with Nanette,” I protested.
“Yeah. Well, we all know where that’s going eventually,” both girls laughed.
“What’s the story with you and Livy?” I asked.
“Oh. Well, you know. We’ve been friends for years. We had a little falling out in junior high and grew further apart the past two years when she became a star athlete. It… was silly. I’m glad we’re friends again.”
“Was she your little girl crush?” Joan asked. She turned her head enough to kiss Rachel’s leg just below the hem of her shorts.
“She could still be,” Rachel sighed. “We did everything together. We were each other’s first kiss. And… um… Jacob, I told you about losing my virginity. For your info, Joan, it was at a party in eighth grade where there was alcohol, bad judgment, and a pile of dirty laundry. Well, the party was at Livy’s house. And the boy was the one she’d decided on.”
“Oh. Poor baby. And it wasn’t any fun, either, was it?” Joan asked. She kept kissing the inside of Rachel’s leg as Rache petted Joan’s face and hair. Just watching the byplay was making things stretch my shorts.
“Yeah. It wasn’t so bad I didn’t want to do it again. And Livy and I kissed and made up. That might have been what we weren’t ready for. We kissed a lot. Everywhere. I think it was that intimacy between the two of us that pushed us apart more than anything,” Rachel said.
“You’ve done this before?” Joan asked as she turned a bit so she could kiss and nibble higher between Rachel’s legs. Rachel moved her left leg out to give Joan better access as I kissed her again and added a few strokes to Rachel’s breasts.
“Yeah. A lot like this,” Rachel panted as Joan pressed her lips against Rachel’s mound. “Are you sure you want to play like this, Joan?”
“You wouldn’t believe the dreams I’ve been having,” Joan said. “You play almost as prominent a role as Beca and Jacob do. I might not be quite ready to play inside your shorts… yet… but mine are getting sticky.”
“I just don’t want to take anything away from you and Beca,” Rachel said, her hips betraying her arousal by rocking up to meet Joan’s mouth.
“Did you have sex with Livy?” Joan asked.
“Yes. And it was really good. It kind of scared us. We tried fingers, tongues, even pressing our clits together. Then we started thinking that we didn’t want to be lesbians. I certainly wanted to try a boy again and Livy was even willing to invite the same boy over to her house again. So, we just said it had been fun, but we never wanted to do it again and we’d better just take a break. Now I think the break is over. And I’m pretty sure that if we accept her into our little family, she’ll be in the same position you are right now.”
Joan had shifted again so she was fully facing Rachel’s crotch and gnawing on her sex as I petted our girlfriend and kissed her. Rachel was rocking her hips back and forth to help stimulate herself against Joan’s mouth and I could feel one of Joan’s hands run up the back of her leg under her shorts. The other hand gripped my erection. Our little gatherings on Saturday afternoon at Joan’s often got a little frisky as we made out in various combinations, but they didn’t usually reach a point where we were blatantly manipulating each other’s sex organs.
I spared a glance at Beca and Brittany. They were sitting next to each other in the recliner, arms wrapped around each other as they watched our demonstration. They held each other tightly but weren’t making out. It was more like they were absorbing what we were doing. Learning.
Rachel’s shirt was pushed up above her breasts and I had her bra unfastened so I could lower my head to take a nipple between my lips while Joan continued to maul her sex through the thin fabric of her shorts. And Rachel let go in a low shuddering orgasm. Joan crawled up her body until both girls were lying in my lap, their bare breasts pressed together as they kissed.
“That’s the first time I’ve done that with a girl since the time with Livy,” Rachel sighed. “It was so nice, Joan. Thank you so much.”
“It was the first time I’ve done it with a girl. I… wanted to make sure I could. Before I… Jacob and Rachel, I love you. I want to make love with you. I want to be with you. But… Rebeca rules my life. I wanted to be sure I could take care of her.” We all looked over at Brittany and Beca again. This time, their attention was on each other with little exploratory kisses while they petted each other.
“I’m glad you chose me,” Rachel said. “I think we’ll all have fun with each other in any combination eventually. But that doesn’t mean we won’t have someone who is very special. I love you, Joan.” They kissed again.
Things shifted around a bit and when I came back from the bathroom, Beca was in the lap of Rachel and Joan and Brittany was beckoning me to the recliner. I settled in and she settled on top of me. She gave me a very nice kiss, still exploring her own discoveries.
“I think this is going to be a really nice year,” she said. “I loved having you as my date to my party. I loved dancing with you. Mom and Dad have approved me going out with you and with our girlfriends. Of course, they think that if we’re all together, we can’t get into too much trouble,” she giggled as we looked at the cuddle pile on the sofa. “I bet we get into some trouble this winter. Maybe a bit less when I invite everyone to my house. But the reason I’m so comfortable is that I know I can kiss you and you won’t automatically start grabbing my breasts. Or anything else. And at the same time, when I’m ready, I can take one of your fingers…” She folded my hand so only my index finger was extended and kissed it. Then she held the hand in both hers as she began moving my finger around her body. “…and I can ask it to teach me what it knows or to touch me where I want to be touched. I can find out what it is truly like to have a boy… you touch my breast or my pudenda.” She used my finger to draw shapes on her body, eventually holding just that finger out as she circled her young breast and brought it to rest on a firm nipple, then dragged the finger down her front, over her mound and between her legs. She brought it back to her mouth and kissed it again.
“Brittany… I don’t want to rush you. You are still the youngest of us and you don’t have to try to catch up all at once. But I’ll be here for you, whether you want to kiss or dance or pet. I’ll be here.”
“I know. And I’m not going to hurry, even though I’ll be dreaming about that little touch all night tonight.”
“I think I will, too.”
“I’m going to take Aunt Sophie outside where it’s private and tell her exactly what we just did. I’ll show her and she’ll get all flustered and want to go dancing with you.”
“I won’t mess around on you with your aunt,” I said adamantly. How stupidly noble of me. V1 remembered the fiery Latina Sophie and couldn’t wait to get in bed with her. I had a feeling that one day, Brittany might outdo her aunt.
“I know. You’re so noble. But sometime this winter, you might have to take her in hand to settle her down. Maybe a goodbye gift before she goes back to New York in January. And don’t worry. I might want to join you when you do her.”
Comments
Please feel free to send comments to the author at devon@devonlayne.com.
