JoanM@CENTRENET.ON.CA (Joan McDougall) BUDDIES? "That was a really great dinner, Ken. Thanks for taking me there," Lita said. "Well my best friend doesn't turn 21 everyday. I had to do something special," he grinned. "Besides now you owe me at least two or maybe three of your dinners." "I should've known you had a ulterior motive," she laughed. "Well here we are. Are you coming in for coffee?" He hesitated. It was barely a fraction of a second, but she noticed it. Then he took a quick glance at his watch. "Sure, it's not really late," Ken answered. "Are there any muffins to go with it?" "No, but I think there's still some cookies. How can you possibly eat anything more after what you put away at dinner?" she asked. "I'm a growing boy?" he tried. "Yeah, right. If you keep packing it away like that you'll be growing all right. Growing right out of your clothes." Unlocking the door, she opened it. She started the coffee and got the cookies out. "Get your own cookies," she told him. "I'm going to get changed." She changed into a casual outfit of pants and a top from the more formal dress she'd worn to dinner. I wonder what's wrong with Ken? He's acting weird tonight. Well, if he wants to talk about it, he will. And if he doesn't... well maybe he will anyway. Lita came back into the kitchen in time to pour the coffee. "How's that for timing?" "Not bad. But you do know that the real test is doing that in the morning before you're properly awake, don't you?" "I suppose you're an expert on it?" she asked sarcastically. "Not quite yet," he answered with an attempt at modesty. Lita passed Ken his coffee. She fixed her own, then joined him on the sofa. "Ken, what's wrong? You've been acting a bit weird all evening." He didn't answer at first, just stared into his coffeecup. Finally he looked up. "I'm all right. I just haven't been sleeping well lately." "Are you sure?" she persisted. "I'm positive," he snapped. Jumping to his feet, he gulped his coffee. Then he headed towards the kitchen. "I'm sorry, Ken. I didn't mean to push so hard," she apologized. Getting to her feet she brought her cup to the kitchen. "Do you want more coffee?" He shook his head. "You never told me what you wanted for your birthday," she said trying to change the subject. "Is there something special that you want?" she asked as she put the dishes in the sink. He groaned and she whirled around. "Ken.... " she started. "I'd better go," he interrupted. "Not without an explanation, you don't," she snapped. "You want to know so bad? All right I'll tell you," he snapped back. "It's you. That's what I want for my birthday, damn it. And all evening I've been trying, trying damn hard, not to make a pass at you." He stopped and took a deep breath. Great, now I've really messed things up, he thought. Lita turned back towards the sink. "Why didn't you?" she asked softly. "Because I didn't want to screw things up," Ken answered. After several minutes of silence, he asked "Are you very upset?" She shook her head. "No, I'm not upset. I'm... surprised and a little flattered." Before either of them could say anything more, the phone rang. Lita hesitated a moment, then moved to answer it. "Hello? Mina, could you hold on for a minute?" she asked as Ken headed towards the door. "Ken, dinner next week is at seven. If you're late, you don't get dessert." He looked back at her. "Are you sure?" She nodded. "Birthday dinners are a tradition." "I'll be here then," he said as he left. "Ok, Mina. I'm back. Yeah, I did get tomorrow off. You did too? Great. Then I'll see you in the morning. Yeah... Why don't you come here, I'll make breakfast first. Then we'll hit the stores. Ok. I'll see you then. Bye." She hung up. After finishing the dishes, Lita got ready for bed. Sleep however eluded her. Her mind kept returning to Ken's surprising declaration. All right, maybe I should think about it. What would happen if Ken did make a pass? The more she thought about it, the more intriguing she found the idea. But would it mess up our friendship? She couldn't tell. Finally she got to sleep, but her sleep was disturbed by dreams that she couldn't quite recall in the morning. ********** By the following Thursday, Lita was a bundle of nerves. She hadn't seen Ken since her birthday and was starting to wonder if she'd imagined his outburst. On the other hand it seemed as if she'd done nothing but think about it ever since. Dinner was a little strained. Both of them couldn't help remembering the week before, but neither of them referred to it. Finally over dessert, Ken cracked. "Lita, I can't just keep pretending that everything's the way it was." "Then don't," she said softly. Getting up, she began clearing the table. "Are you saying that you want me to make a pass?" he asked incredulously. "Why do you want to make a pass?" she countered, her voice even softer than before. He took a deep breath. "I happen to think you're beautiful and sexy, and you turn me on." Might as well go for broke, he thought. "And you're the reason I haven't been sleeping well lately. You've been haunting my dreams." He stopped. "Lita, please say something. Anything... " She went over to her night table. Opening the drawer, she said. "I got you a birthday present." She took a small package out of the drawer, and tossed it to him. Then she closed the curtains, and turned on the lamp by her bed. Coming back over to Ken, she stopped beside him. He just looked at her for a second, then at the small package. "Open it," she told him. "Lita, I told you I didn't want a present," he said. "But that's not the present." She smiled. "That's just sort of... an accessory. Ken, I've always thought of you as a buddy. I never really thought of you as a guy. That changed last week. I haven't been sleeping much lately. I'm afraid of messing things up too... " she broke off. "We'll have to be careful then," he said softly. Reaching out he took her hand. "So, what are we having for breakfast?" he asked, as he drew her into his arms. "We'll talk about that later," she managed to say before his lips met hers. ********** Several minutes later, they broke apart. "Wow!" She shook her head slightly, and looked at him again. He still looked the same. "What's the matter?" he asked as she looked around. "I was just thinking, if you can pack that much punch into one kiss... There oughta be singe marks around somewhere." Ken laughed, then looked serious. "Are you sure, really sure, about this, Lita?" She nodded. "As sure as I can be. Besides I think if we tried to back off now, we'd probably explode." She hesitated a moment. Should she tell him? It had been a long time ago, and she hadn't really enjoyed it exactly... "Ken, I... I'm not... I'm not a virgin," she blurted out. "Neither am I," he answered. "But I'm not seeing anybody right now. Are you?" "No." "Then who cares. Right now," and his voice dropped to a seductive whisper. "I'd like to start unwrapping my present." She started to reach for the package he'd dropped. He stopped her. "Not that one," he told her. Reaching for her hand again, he drew her towards the bed. He kissed her again, and began unbuttoning her blouse. She reached up to help, but he stopped her. "Let me do it," he whispered in her ear. She murmured something indistinguishable, and let her hands drop for a second. Then she raised them again, but this time to his shirt. "Then let me take your clothes off," she whispered. He nodded. Very shortly clothes were strewn over the bed and the floor. "Let me look at you?" Ken asked. Lita blushed but nodded. "Could you turn around, slowly please?" She did. Ken groaned. "What's wrong?" "Nothing. You're just so beautiful." He really means it, she realized. He really thinks I'm beautiful. Looking at him, she blushed. "Ken, I really think maybe you'd better open that package," she said pointing to it. "I've got a feeling we're going to need it real soon." Ken look a bit startled, but unwrapped the gift. It was a package of condoms. "I'm not ready for kids yet," she said. He set the box on the night table. "Neither am I, but we don't need them quite yet." He sat down on the bed. "We'll worry about those later. I'm not done kissing you." She sat down next to him. "You're not?" "Nope. I'm just getting started. There's still your arms, your legs, your fingers, your toes and all the bits in between." His voice dropped into that seductive whisper again. "I'm especially looking forward to all of the in between bits." Lita blushed. Ken put his arms around her and held her for a second. "Lie down," he whispered into her ear between kisses. He stretched out beside her. After kissing her neck and throat for a while, he drew back. "Turn over, please?" he asked her. Then he started at her feet and kissed his way up the back of her legs. By the time he reached her waist, she was squirming. When he reached her neck, she was whimpering. He's going to drive me crazy, she thought. I never realized that the spinal column was an erogenous zone. He rolled her over again. This time he started at her neck and worked his way down, slowly. Lita whimpered again and bit back a moan as he reached her breasts. He kissed and licked his way around them, first one and then the other, without touching her nipples. Finally he took one into his mouth, at the same time he brought his hand up to play with the other nipple. She moaned, loudly and writhed around. "Ken... " she moaned. "You're making me crazy." He drew away a bit and looked at her. She was flushed and her breath was coming in gasps. "You've been making me crazy for months now," he whispered, his hand continuing to play with her nipple. "Do you want me to stop?" he asked. Lita shook her head. She didn't have the breath to speak. Ken moved back to her. He drew her nipple back into his mouth and sucked on it a bit, before switching to the other one. Then he kissed his way down to her stomach. One of his hands moved lower and began caressing her. She moaned again. Ken looked at Lita. Her eyes were closed and her hands were clenching at the bed. He moved lower, her legs parted. He touched his tongue to her and she cried out as her body spasmed. Ken groaned and moved back. Lita slowly opened her eyes. Ken was kneeling between her legs. "Ken?" He looked up at her. "Now, are you done kissing me?" He looked confused for a moment, then grinned. "Not exactly, but I think I'm going to do more than just kiss you now." He stretched out beside her. That seductive whisper started again. "I want to watch your face as I slide inside of you. I want to feel it, as you orgasm." Lita squirmed. "Ken." "What?" "Stop talking." She watched as he got a condom and put it on. Lita let out a sigh as he slid inside of her. She wrapped her arms around him and stroked his back. He nuzzled her ear. "You feel better than I'd imagined," he murmured. "Do you like this?" She nodded. "How about this?" as he changed motions. She moaned. He bent his head down and kissed her breast. She moaned again and tightened her grip around him. He kissed the other breast, then drew the nipple into his mouth. As her body began to spasm, she started to cry out, building to a scream just before she went limp. He groaned and stiffened, then buried his face in her neck. Ken rolled on to his back, panting. Finally, after catching his breath, he turned his head to look at Lita. "I was wrong," he said. "You're not sexy." Before she could do anything more than frown at him, he continued. "You are incredibly sexy and exceedingly passionate. I don't think I've been this worn out in years." Lita rolled over and put her head on Ken's shoulder. "I'm ... " she started, only to be interrupted by a huge yawn. "You win," he said and sat up. Reaching down he got the covers and pulled them up over the two of them. Settling back down, he put his arm around Lita. Shortly after the room was silent except for the sound of slow, even breathing. ********** Lita woke up slowly. Her pillow felt different, warm and it seemed to have a heartbeat. That's funny, she thought groggily. Pillows don't have heartbeats. Wait a minute, heartbeat? Suddenly she was wide awake. She stayed still a moment, then slowly opened her eyes. Her head was on someone's chest. How had someone gotten into her apartment and her bed? Then a hand brushed her hair out of her eyes, and a voice mumbled a sleepy question. "You awake yet, Lita?" Lita relaxed. It was Ken. Then, as she remembered when and how he'd gotten into her bed, she blushed. "Lita?" he sounded concerned. "I'm awake," she answered. "You sound funny," he commented. "Are you ok?" She nodded, but didn't raise her head. "My throat is sore." "I'm not surprised," he said. "Lita, please look at me." Slowly she raised her face to meet his. It was crimson. "Lita, did anyone ever tell you that you look good wearing a blush?" She turned even redder and buried her face in his neck. "Did I really tell you to stop talking?" she asked. He nodded. "Lita, you're ok with this aren't you? I mean, you're not sorry about this are you?" he asked seriously. Lita pulled back and looked him straight in the eye. "No, I'm not sorry and I don't regret it, not one little bit." Ken smiled. "Good, because I neither do I. Now, what's for breakfast?" She grinned. "Nothing if you don't let me get up." The end of the begining.