The Agreement
18 Treasures
WE HELD EACH OTHER all through what remained of the night. The sun came up and in the early morning light I looked at her beautiful honey-blonde hair, her soft lips, her cute nose. I kissed her brow softly and she stirred in my arms.
I was cried-out. Well, for now. I knew that when she was gone the tears would start again, but now, I could only look at the precious treasure in my arms. She stirred and pushed the blanket down. I watched her perfect nipples harden in the cool air as her blue eyes fluttered open and gazed at me.
“I love you, darling,” she said. I snapped my eyes away from her breasts. “No. Look at them, Brian. I want you to look at me. I want to see the love in your eyes as you look at my breasts. At all of me.” She pushed the blanket all the way off and reached for her panties.
“Jessica…”
“Just look. I want you to see all of me. I want to remember you looking at me like no other man ever has. I want you to see every inch of my body and know that every part of me will always live with my regret.” She stood in front of me and slowly turned so I could see her from every side. The slope of her shoulders, her long hair streaming down the perfect curve of her back to the precious heart of her bottom. I could see her swollen pussy lips, still dripping honey even after our long night of abstinence. Her flat tummy and the little indentation of her navel that once had my sperm splattered on it. The curve of her breasts and the perfect little nipples that crowned them. Her long elegant throat and the regal head above it. She slowly pulled her panties on again, then her simple blue dress. I hadn’t even seen it in the darkness the night before. It wasn’t the same dress she wore six years ago, of course. That one wouldn’t have covered the butt of the tall elegant woman standing in front of me. She slipped her shoes on and reached for her jacket.
“Photographers are offering hundreds—even thousands—of dollars to photograph what you’ve seen. To them, I’m just a commodity. But I won’t do nude poses for anyone. I’m a fashion model. You might see me in a provocative pose, or even topless. But you won’t see me exposed. I’ll be seventeen in April. By the time I’m twenty-five, my career will probably be over. I’ll have devoted a third of my life to regretting my choices. I love you, Brian. I always will.”
She turned and went down the ladder out of the loft. Tears kept trickling out of my eyes, but I wasn’t weeping. I was wondering how many years I would spend regretting.
I was still brushing the horses when I heard the crunch of tires on cinders as a car left.
Heaven was gone.
I guessed I’d better go in and face the music. By this hour, there was no way Mom and Dad wouldn’t know I wasn’t in bed.
“Oh, there you are!” Mom said. “You spent a long time out with the horses this morning. Here we were all thinking you’d be up to make the grown-ups breakfast this morning.”
“Sorry. I… uh… had a lot to think about. I didn’t realize how late it was.”
“No problem, honeybunch. You can help with lunch. I don’t know if you’ll have three or four girlfriends here with their parents. What do you suppose you can whip up?”
“Let me get some bread mixed up and rising,” I said.
“My god! He bakes bread, too?” Anna said from the kitchen door. “How about coffee? Did he make that?” I walked over to Jennifer’s mom and gave her a great big hug. It surprised her. I’d never done that before. “Oh my! You smell like a barn,” she laughed, hugging me right back.
“Like a horse,” I corrected her. I grabbed a quick shower and got bread rising before we had breakfast.
I was hurt. I was shocked. I was sad. I was angry. I’d cried into Silk’s and Rika’s manes as I brushed them, stroke after stroke until they shone. I asked them if they’d heard everything last night and what they thought. I’d complained that it wasn’t fair. I hated what my own stupid agreement had done. I hated what Jessica had done. Coming to make love to me when she knew she was leaving the next morning? How could she do that? How could she just leave me again?
She promised she’d never hurt me. I guess you should only make promises you know you can keep.
I really punched the bread down when it rose. How stupid could I be? Pass up the opportunity to make love to the girl I’ve adored for years because I put my name on a stupid piece of paper? I could just see Carl turning down Heaven and he hardly knew her. ‘Agreement? What agreement? Oh. I forgot.’ But not me. I have to go and drag it up right when I’ve got my finger in her pussy. I’m hopeless.
I miss you already, Heaven. Why did you ever leave me? Why did you even come home? Why did you ever say you loved me?
The Gordon and Price cars pulled into our drive just as the bread came out of the oven. I put plates of sliced ham and turkey leftovers on the table with a kettle of vegetable soup—mostly vegetables I’d canned in September. It was hot and spicy.
The girls came running into the kitchen and started to rush me with their arms held out. Even Sarah was in line for a hug when I held up my hands and shook my head.
“Lunch is on the table. Let’s eat first,” I said. I could see I hurt them but they went into the dining room. I looked out the kitchen window and saw a car I didn’t recognize pull in. For just a moment, I thought Jessica had changed her mind and come back, but the car stopped behind the Gordons’ and Betts got out of the passenger side. A tall guy got out the driver’s side and Betts ran to him and kissed him. He put his arms around her and swung her in a circle. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. My big sister is in love. That’s what it’s supposed to look like—pure joy.
I grabbed two more place settings and took them to the table. Everyone was finding places to sit as I began shuffling things around a little.
“Do you have more friends arriving, Brian?” Mom asked.
“No, Mom. Betts just got here. We need to make a little extra room.”
“Oh, I’m sure she and Doreen will be hungry.” Dad got up and grabbed two more folding chairs out of the closet. I heard Betts giggling in the kitchen. She came into the dining room.
“Are you sure we’re not crashing?” he asked.
“There’ll be plenty,” Betts giggled. Dad looked at Mom and raised an eyebrow. Betts walked in holding hands with the guy. Even when she was dating last year, I’d never seen Betts hold hands with a guy in front of Mom and Dad. I heard Sarah gasp at the same moment that I saw the flash on Betts’ hand. “Mom, Dad, I’d like you to meet Allen Partridge. Allen, these are my parents, Hayden and Marilyn Frost. And this is my brother, Brian.” She actually reached an arm out and hugged me. I couldn’t help myself. I wrapped my arms around Betts and hugged her.
“Really?” I whispered.
“Yes,” she squealed.
“It’s nice to meet you, Allen,” Dad said. “Welcome to the table. This is Rev. and Mrs. Gordon, Mr. and Mrs. Price, and Mrs. Pratt. I’ll let Brian introduce the girls.”
“Hi, Allen,” I said. He wasn’t expecting it, but I stepped around Betts and hugged him. “Congratulations,” I whispered. “These are my girlfriends, Jennifer, Courtney, Hannah, and Sarah.” Sarah’s eyes got big. Why did I say that?
“Plural girlfriends? Betts, you’re not planning something like that, are you?”
“Have a seat. We have plenty,” Mom said. I wondered for a second if she meant food or girlfriends.
“Mother,” Betts said formally, “Father, Allen asked me to marry him and I said yes.” She held out their joined hands and the giant diamond that glittered on her ring finger. Other than Sarah, the girls hadn’t seen the ring and all squealed. Mom’s eyes shot open and I was afraid for a minute that she was going to faint.
“Betts, don’t you think that kind of announcement requires a hug for your parents?” Dad asked. Betts crushed Mom in an embrace and then rushed to Dad.
“Isn’t he wonderful, Daddy?”
“Why don’t you sit down and tell us all about how this happened and why we haven’t heard about it before now.”
“I’m sorry to spring this on you, Mr. Frost,” Allen said. “Betts and I have been dating all semester at Purdue and then I had to go home to Seattle for the holiday. While I was there I got some good news and drove all the way back this week so I could propose to Betts on New Year’s Eve.”
“While we thought you were at a party at Doreen’s?”
“We were. He totally surprised me when he showed up at her house. Mommy, we’re going to get married!”
As usual, when Betts shows up everything is about Betts and that’s how the rest of the day went. It turned out that Allen was a senior and received a job offer from a technology company out in Seattle.
The Price and Pratt families were going to excuse themselves early and leave, but Mom came to the rescue and asked them to stay for an hour so that I could have a little time with my girlfriends before they went back to Kokomo. There was a quick and unanimous vote for us to go see the horses. Hannah grabbed hold of Sarah and dragged her along with us.
Seeing my sister so deliriously happy did something to me. I looked at Hannah and my heart burst. I just knew that one day that could be us. Jennifer and Courtney were holding hands and they looked at me with such adoration that my heart almost broke. Pure joy. That’s what it’s supposed to be like.
“May I have that hug and kiss from my girlfriends, now?” I asked softly.
“Yes!” Courtney was first in my arms and I kissed her tenderly. I could feel how much she cared for me. It was hard to let her go but as soon as I did, Jennifer wrapped me in her arms and kissed me. I crushed her to me, I was so happy to have her in my arms. I turned to Hannah and she stepped into my arms. She didn’t hesitate but put her lips against mine and pushed gently with her tongue. I sighed as I kissed her.
“I’m still not very good at it, but I’m only fourteen,” she said.
“Sarah? Would you like a New Year’s hug and kiss?” I asked. She looked at Hannah. Hannah gave her a little push. That was all it took. Sarah kissed me and was not as tentative about it as her sister.
“Please tell us,” she said. “Was it as wonderful as you hoped?” I looked at her. She knew I was meeting Jessica last night and she probably knew what Jessica intended. I lost it again. I just collapsed on the floor in the barn and cried. My girlfriends were on me in a flash.
“Didn’t you make love to her?” Hannah asked. She looked really puzzled.
“No.”
“She said…” Sarah began.
“I couldn’t!” I wailed. “I couldn’t.”
“But you’ve always loved her and she’s always loved you,” Sarah said.
“It was so romantic,” Jennifer said. I looked at her.
“Jennifer, do you eat Courtney out?” Her mouth fell open.
“No!”
“Courtney, do you put your fingers in Jennifer’s pussy and jill her off?”
“No, Brian. We wouldn’t do that. We all a-… Oh, my God!”
“I saw how you looked at each other the night we changed rule four. You’ve loved each other for years. You were ready for more intimacy. You live a hundred miles from the rest of us and no one would know if you broke the agreement and touched each other. But you agreed and haven’t done what you really want to. I wrote the fucking agreement! How could I… How could I make love to Jessica and not cheat on you? And you, and you. And even Carl and Doug and Geoff and Lionel. What would our agreement mean if the first time I had a chance to make love with someone else, I broke my promise to you? I couldn’t. I COULD NOT.”
All four girls collapsed in tears beside and on me. We were sobbing and I had to get control of myself. I loved these girls. Hell, maybe even Sarah. I didn’t want them leaving to go home thinking I didn’t care or that I resented them.
“We never thought,” Jennifer whispered. “After all the time you’ve loved her. After she protected you. After you saved her from those rapists. And we’d still never thought that because you cared for us, you would…”
“Brian, I love you,” Hannah whimpered in my arms. “I don’t understand it, but I know I love you.”
“I love you, honey. And I don’t just care for you, Jennifer. I love you. I love you, Courtney. Sarah, I love you!” We all managed a little laugh through our tears. “I will never break my promises to you. Jessica was going to come and make love to me and then leave again. She’s not coming back. She’s on her way to South Africa for a photo shoot right now. Even if I made love to her, she was still leaving.”
“I’m so sorry, Brian. It was my fault. I asked Hannah what I should do,” Sarah said. “I didn’t know she was leaving.”
“I didn’t mind, so I thought I was just being the best girlfriend,” my little honey said. She’d curled up in a little ball between my legs and held me around the waist. Sarah hugged me from the left and Jennifer and Courtney had both managed to smash their boobs against my right side. In that moment, without a kiss or caress or sex of any kind, I felt love radiating so strongly it filled the barn.
“This is where my girls live,” Betts said as she led Allen into the barn. She noticed us on the floor and just turned him toward the stalls. “Don’t mind the puppy pile,” she said. “This is my baby, Paprika.” She led Allen into the stall. We all giggled. I nodded toward the ladder. Hannah got the hint right away and dragged Sarah with her. She was the only one who’d been in the barn before. When Courtney and Jennifer saw where they were headed, they kissed me on the cheek and followed. “Brian, Rika is so smooth and silky. You are doing such a good job keeping her in show shape!” Betts called from the stall. Wow! I guess when you’re in love you forget to hate your brother!
“She got brushed a long time this morning. I hope you brought her a carrot. Silk is even softer. They’ve got all their winter fur.” Betts didn’t answer and I had a feeling she, too, was otherwise engaged.
By the time I was in the hayloft, the girls had already found and spread out the sleeping bag and blanket They were huddled together waiting for me. I kicked off my boots like they had and crawled onto the blanket. We just held each other and occasionally there was a little squeeze or kiss.
“Oh. It looks like the hayloft is in use,” Betts said. “There’s a spot in the toolshed that I don’t think Brian knows about yet, though.” I saw her head drop down below the loft and heard the door to the barn close. The toolshed? I never even thought of that!
“Brian? Would it be too weird if I asked to join your dating group?” Sarah asked.
“I already introduced you as my girlfriend, Sarah. Is that what you’d like? We asked Carl if Bill could join and he said that would be okay as long as he didn’t have to date his brother.”
“I don’t mind dating Sarah,” Hannah said. “I love my sister.”
“Sarah? May I kiss you?” Courtney asked. Jennifer was snuggled against my side but popped up when Sarah answered.
“Kiss a girl? I don’t know.”
“We’ll show you,” Jennifer said. “It’s easy.” Hannah pushed her back down in my arms.
“I’ll show her. She’s my sister. Why don’t you remind Brian what he’ll be missing until we can get together with you again?” Hannah said.
“Brian,” Jennifer whispered in my ear pulling my face away from whatever was about to happen with the other three girls. “I give you explicit permission to kiss me and to touch me anyplace above the waist, outside or inside my clothes.” I smiled and ignored the others as I turned toward Jennifer. My hand ran up under her shirt and jacket as our lips came together. This time I rolled over her and pressed my leg between hers. She immediately pressed against it.
“And you really don’t get jealous?” Sarah whispered. “Mmm,” was the only response I heard.
“Brian, lover,” Jennifer said. “Oh my God, we love you. There is another reason that Courtney and I haven’t done anything… well, inside our panties… besides the agreement.”
“What’s that, sweetheart? Tell me.” If I could have pushed her shirt and jacket out of the way I’d have feasted my mouth on those hard little nipples I was feeling.
“We want the first time we do it to be with you. All three of us together.” I lifted my face from the spot on her throat I was kissing.
“Why?”
“Because we… I guess we want to set the right precedent. The three of us together. I know there will be others, both for you and for us. But we want to set the pattern that we always come back to as the three of us together.” My hips just kind of involuntarily thrust against her thigh. “Yeah. Go ahead. Come on me if you want to. I want you to know how much we love you.” I might have, even with Sarah, Hannah, and Courtney closing in to cuddle with the two of us, but I heard Dad’s piercing whistle.
“We gotta go,” I said. I pushed my shirt down in my pants and headed for the ladder. Hannah was right behind me.
“Right now?” Jennifer moaned.
“I’ll take care of you, baby,” Courtney said. “Later.”
When we walked out of the barn, brushing hay off our clothes, I glanced toward the toolshed and Allen was following Betts out, tucking in his shirt. Betts caught my eye and grinned.
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