3 Years Ago
Kevin braced his arms against the wall to keep himself upright. His knees were about to buckle. “Fuck, Claire,” he rasped. “Your mouth is amazing.”
He looked down at her, watching her head bob up and down the length his cock.
He was a visual guy and there was nothing better than watching his cock disappear between a luscious pair of lips.
Claire was a little too skinny for his taste, but still incredibly sexy and she knew exactly how to use her feminine wiles on him.
She should. They’d been doing this since he was fifteen years old.
They had an odd dynamic, which no one else really understood.
They weren’t really friends with benefits, because…
they weren’t friends. Kevin didn’t like the term fuck-buddies, but that was more of what they were.
It was purely superficial. Their relationship had absolutely no substance.
He knew every curve of her body, but he didn’t know what her favorite color was.
She knew virtually nothing about him either.
If anything, she cared less and used him more, but that was something he would never complain about.
Sex had become a three-step process for them. Get in. Get off. Get out.
There were only two rules. Never without protection (though, that was a general rule for a sexual encounter with anyone) and never when either person was in a relationship with someone else.
It was simple and he liked simple. One-night stands required too much effort, so in between relationships they just fucked each other.
An easy way of getting through a dry spell.
No cheesy pick-up lines, no pretenses, and no risk of his dick falling off because of some venereal disease. Simple.
She took her mouth off him for a second and looked up. “Happy birthday.”
He smirked. “It’s a very happy birthday.”
Before he could say anything more, she sucked him hard, teasing his tip with her tongue until his legs felt like they were going to give out. He thrust his hips forward, his breathing becoming more labored.
He was just about to reach into his back pocket for the condom he always kept in his wallet when three hard bangs on the metal door pulled him out of his pleasure-induced trance. Claire didn’t stop at the interruption.
“Kevin, you in there?” came Perry’s voice from outside.
“Yeah, I’m…I’m coming, Perry. Just…give me a minute.”
“Really?” Claire teased playfully. “Just a minute?”
Her mouth closed over his cock again and he couldn’t think of an intelligent response to that taunt.
“I’m giving you five seconds,” Perry said, “and then I’m coming in there.”
“Fuck!”
“Five…”
Claire didn’t seem to care and carried on.
“Four…”
He threw his head back in frustration.
“Three…”
“Stop,” he said and quickly zipped up his jeans. “He’ll really come in here.”
“Two…”
“We’ll have to continue this later.” With a frustrated groan, he hoisted her up, gave her a quick kiss and rushed out the door, trying to keep Perry out so she could put some of her clothes back on.
He knew he was a mess when he got outside.
His belt was still unbuckled and his heavy breathing was a dead giveaway. Oh, and then the obvious boner.
Perry shook his head with disappointment. “Did you just fuck another girl in my dad’s shed?”
“What do you mean another girl? It’s Claire, man. Her dad got laid off and my mom’s always at home with my nieces. Where do you want us to go?”
“Not in my dad’s shed.”
“Hi, Perry,” Claire greeted from behind him.
“Hey, Claire.”
That was the beginning and end of their conversation before Claire’s eyes returned to Kevin. “I’ll see you later…at around four? I have violin lessons until three-thirty.”
He ran his hand through his disheveled hair. “Sure.”
They watched her walk away and Perry only spoke once she was out of earshot. “I didn’t know she could play the violin.”
“Neither did I.”
“I’ll never understand the two of you.” He paused for a moment. “Hey, weren’t you dating Hope this morning?”
“I was.” He started walking towards the street and Perry followed behind him. “But that was before I found out she was fucking the whole football team…Sorry, I’m exaggerating. It wasn’t the whole team. Just five of them.”
They took a long stroll, heading towards the Barber Shop.
The Barber Shop wasn’t really a barbershop.
It was a coffeehouse that had the appearance of a barbershop.
Pillars decorated in red, white and blue stripes, mirrored walls, even some reclining chairs at the back.
It was ridiculous, but they loved its uniqueness. And the desserts were great.
“I don’t understand the point of cheating, Perry,” Kevin complained as they crossed the main road.
“If she wasn’t happy, all she had to do was say: ‘Kevin, it’s not working out.
You’re short and I don’t like you very much.
’ And that would have been a nice, amicable ending to our relationship.
I’m a faithful guy and we were only dating for a month.
Is it so hard to not fuck five other guys in a month? ”
He heard his friend chuckle beside him. “You seemed pretty broken up about it while Claire was sucking you off.”
“I’m not hurt. I’m upset. It’s false advertising. Her name is Hope. Hopes organize charity drives and volunteer their weekends to helping underprivileged children. Hopes don’t gangbang half the football team. I mean, I would expect that from a Jennifer or a Tiffany or a…”
“Or a Jackie,” Perry filled in.
“Or a fucking Jackie,” Kevin agreed exasperatedly. “Jackies can’t be trusted. But a Hope…That name comes with responsibility, Perry.”
They walked into the Barber Shop and Shandré was already there waiting for them.
“Hey, beautiful.” Perry sat down beside her and placed a long kiss on her mouth.
Kevin ignored the smacking of their lips and looked towards the door just in time to see Clayton walk in. Perry and Shandré were still making out by the time he sat down.
“Where did you go after class this morning?” Clayton asked, ignoring the lovebirds. In the short time he’d been hanging out with them, he’d learned how to block out their sickening affection as well. “I thought we were gonna study together.”
“I was with Claire,” Kevin replied.
Clayton was confused by this because even he knew that it was out of character.
Kevin enjoyed sex. He loved women. He had flings all the time.
And if he was horny enough and Claire wasn’t available, he would even indulge in a one-night stand (maybe).
But cheating? Cheating was a no-go zone.
He had three nieces, two moms and one sister.
If there was one thing his dad and brothers had taught him, it was that a woman’s heart wasn’t something to be toyed with.
Unfortunately, not everyone shared the same views about cheating.
“What happened to Hope?” Clayton asked.
Perry finally pulled his lips away from Shandré. “Don’t get him started.”
Rose came to the table then. She was fifty-six years old and the owner, but she didn’t think it was beneath her to still wait tables.
Three kids and age had rounded her figure yet she still carried herself with elegance.
“The usual?” she asked and while everyone chirped their yes’s, Kevin looked her dead in the eye.
“Rose, I want you to know something. You live up to your name.”
“Oh, shit,” Perry cursed under his breath.
“You are as sweet and as beautiful as a rose. And I appreciate that.”
“You best stop flirting with me, Kevin,” she teased. “You know I like them youngens.”
“If I were even ten years older, you’d definitely be my girl.”
She batted her eyes playfully. “Flatterer.” She pinched his cheek and walked away.
“Maybe you should look for a girl named after a flower,” Perry suggested. “Like Daisy or Lily or…Petunia.”
Clayton looked even more confused now. “What’s going on?”
“Kevin’s a little disappointed because Hope decided to release the talents of her inner porn star on half the football team. She didn’t even let him watch. I think that’s what hurting him the most.”
“Maybe they were depressed,” Clayton offered, “and she was just spreading her little ray of Hope. That is living up to her name.” His expression drooped with fake sadness. “You know…I think I’m feeling a little depressed too.”
Kevin sharply turned to face him. “Really, Clay? You’d have sex with my ex-girlfriend?”
“Kev, from the looks of it, everyone’s had sex with your ex-girlfriend. I’m starting to feel left out.”
Perry burst out laughing. “You’re such a dick!”
It wasn’t a joke. Clayton was a dick and he would make a move on Hope, because he was a whore like that, but at least he was honest. Kevin liked that about him.
“Hope is sex-crazed,” Kevin said. “I know this for a fact, and honestly, there is nothing wrong with a woman having a healthy sex drive. I love women who love sex and I don’t care how many guys she’s been with.
All I’m asking is that if said woman is in a relationship with me, can I be the only one she’s having sex with?
I just want a good, faithful girl that I can take home to my mom. Is that too much to ask?”
Rose returned to the table and placed a sundae in front of Shandré, a milkshake in front of Clayton, and a bowl of vanilla ice cream in front of Kevin and Perry.
She handed Perry a bottle of chocolate sauce and left.
Perry squeezed out almost a quarter of the bottle over his ice-cream and then handed it to Kevin.
“I don’t know how you guys eat that stuff,” Clayton said, looking a little repulsed. “Why not just have chocolate ice cream?”
“Clayton,” Perry began, “there are only three things in this world that you can never have too much of. The love of your momma.”
“Chocolate sauce on ice cream,” Kevin added.
“And fat on a woman’s ass!” they finished together.
Perry threw an arm over Kevin’s shoulder and gave him a reassuring smile. “And don’t you worry. One day you’re gonna meet a girl with an ass so fine, you gonna wanna keep tappin’ it. Forget about Hope.”
Kevin shrugged. “Well, so far I can’t seem to last more than a month with a girl. I’m starting to think it’s me.”
“It is you,” Shandré quipped, tossing her long braids over her shoulder.
Kevin was intrigued by this and leaned forward. “All right. As the only one at this table with a vagina, give me some insight to the female mind.”
“Kev, you get bored so easily and even if a girl can keep your interest for longer than a week, you never open up. You shut everyone out. It’s just about sex for you, but a woman wants to feel like the man is equally invested in the relationship emotionally.”
“I don’t shut people out. I’m actually a very caring guy.”
Clayton snorted at his response and she actually laughed. “As soon as someone gets too close, you turn into an asshole. I saw it with Melissa. I saw it with Christy. You do it to everyone except Perry.”
“Which is why I really think we should make those rumors about us true,” Perry said, leaning closer like he was about to kiss him.
Kevin snickered, pushing his face away, and then turned back to Shandré. “Well, thank you for that advice. It was very enlightening. I now completely understand why my girlfriend fucked five guys behind my back.”
She shook her head. “See? You just proved my point. That’s exactly the type of asshole I’m talking about.”
“You’re right, Shan,” Clayton said with a nod. “Don’t even waste your time talking to him. There’s no…Hope for him.”
“I agree. He’s absolutely Hopeless.”
Kevin laughed and rolled his eyes. “Fuck off! The both of you.”
He’d meant it as a joke, but Shandré stood up and exchanged a look with Perry. He nodded and she tugged Clayton’s shirt. “C’mon, let’s go get a round of Cokes for everyone.”
Clayton didn’t know them well enough to pick up anything weird, but Kevin saw right through it. Perry wanted some time alone with him.
“What’s up?” Kevin asked once they’d left.
“So it’s your birthday…and I got you something.”
“Sentimental shit again, Perry?”
“Of course. It’s me.” He took two small boxes out of his pocket and placed it on the table, but only slid one across to Kevin.
Kevin opened the box and saw a silver dog-tag chain with Saint Christopher engraved on one of the tags.
“I got the same one for me,” Perry said, opening the other box.
They put it on together and even though Kevin wasn’t a fan of sentimentality, he knew it was never coming off. “Is this a male version of a BFF chain?”
Perry chuckled. “Yeah, something like that.”
He lifted the tag and gently rubbed his thumb over the engraving. “Why Saint Christopher?”
“We’re big boys now. We’re gonna kill it in college.
You’re gonna become an electrical engineer.
I’m gonna start my own business once I get my degree.
We’re gonna make a ton of money. I’m gonna marry that girl right there.
” He pointed to the counter where Shandré was standing.
“Have lots of babies. We’re gonna do amazing things, see the world—starting with Florida. ”
Kevin tried not to roll his eyes. “I promise we’re gonna go to Florida one day.”
“You bet your ass, we are.” Perry grabbed his own chain in one hand and wrapped his other arm around Kevin’s neck again. “Saint Christopher is the guider of the travelers…and we’re going places, Kev.”