That Friend from College

May 2010

It has been nine months since they closed on their house and started their project of christening every room. Living together has been better than Allison could have imagined. The feeling of waking up next to Pete every single morning was absolutely amazing. He spooned her, his body connecting with hers over the entire length, his arm draped over her side. His hand would frequently rest over her breast. She could feel his breath on her neck in slow, even exhales. It was the absolute perfect way to wake up.

They were away from the bedroom of their townhouse this weekend though. It was promising to be a warm and dry one and seemingly on a whim, Pete had dragged them out camping. They had driven up to the campsite after work on Friday and Alli closely followed Pete’s directions helping him set up the tent. She’s never been camping before, not like this. She had gone to camp for many summers and they had campouts in tents that had already been set up for them on platforms up the path from the main camp. But this was completely new to her. Pete had all the equipment and a whole lot of stories of camping as a boy scout and then making his way through England and Scotland on a backpacking trip with his childhood friend Logan.

Alli felt comfortable outdoors, she wasn’t a high maintenance girl, but her experience wasn’t as extensive as Pete’s. They have taken many hiking trips together over the years that they’ve been dating and Pete had long talked about going camping. They had finally pulled the trigger on it and now she watched Pete as he cooked sausage and peppers over the camp stove. She was frequently in awe of this man and the fact that in some way, she had a claim to him. He was a loyal friend, a caring partner, an amazing cook, and had absolutely no complaints about sharing the load of household chores. He washed the dishes, vacuumed the house, and did the laundry just as often as she did.

Pete looked up at her from where he crouched by the small portable device and tilted his baseball cap back, smiling at her. There was something inexplicably extra in his smile, something that resonated through her whole body, wanting very much to capture that particular smile for always in her brain.

“It’s almost ready now. Why don’t you get us a couple of plates and open up the rolls?” Pete suggested. Allison nodded, getting up from the picnic table. She was already busy anticipating what the sex in the tent tonight would be like.

She had some fantasies about doing it out in the open, in the woods somewhere, but she imagined the mosquitoes would eat her alive with that much exposed skin. Yes, the mosquitoes seemed like a much scarier possibility to Allison than someone actually seeing them.

“This is really great,” she complimented Pete’s cooking. The food seemed to taste especially delicious in this setting.

“You’re really great,” Pete’s rebuttal was almost instantaneous. It made Alli smile. He picked up a piece of pepper that had fallen out of her roll and fed it to her. She nipped his finger with her lips.

“I love you,” the words rolled off her tongue so easily when it came to Pete.

“I love you too,” his smile still served to make her melt. “And, after we clean this stuff, I think I’m gonna have you for dessert.” Allison felt her thighs clench together at the thought.

They rushed through clearing and storing the food just to get back into the tent and zip up the flap. Pete had a pad for underneath the sleeping bag and Allison had wondered, on the ride up, how comfortable that would actually be, to be sleeping on the hard ground. But by the time they made it inside, she didn’t really care about that at all. Pete had almost tackled her to the ground immediately, kissing her lips, her face, her jawline, her neck. Alli pulled off his baseball cap, letting her fingers tangle in his hair, pulling him closer to her.

“Your neck tastes like bug spray and I don’t even care,” Pete declared.

“I’m sorry,” it made her feel the slightest bit self-conscious.

“No, it’s fine. I’m just gonna taste you someplace else instead. He was already moving down her body, pulling her shorts down as he went, along with her panties. He got her naked from the waist down and spread her thighs open with his hands.

Allison felt her pussy gushing just at the thought of Pete’s tongue. He was so remarkably good at making her come with his mouth that the anticipation alone got her halfway there. He got comfortable, laying on his stomach and moving his tongue through her slit, from her entrance up to her clit, then back. He licked at and sucked on her folds, drawing them in between his lips. His tongue pressed firmly inside her, pushing into her channel, and her hips lifted off the ground towards Pete’s face. She couldn’t control the sounds that were emanating from her, the moans and whimpers of complete pleasure. And when he sucked her clit into his mouth, igniting her climax, she actually screamed out, immediately clapping her hand over her own mouth.

“So good…” she managed to string two words together, immediately biting her lip because Pete’s mouth didn’t cease moving over her swollen, sensitive pussy. He eased back slightly, allowing her to regain some composure, but then his fingers were joining in on delivering the immeasurable pleasure between her legs. He slid two fingers through Allison’s tender folds and pressed them inside her, making her pussy buck up towards his hand. He moved to the side of her, fucking her with his fingers while his mouth and tongue took a short break. He smiled at Alli, her juices still glistening on his chin, and reached a hand up underneath her shirt and bra, searching out the hard nubs of her nipples and rolling them between his fingers. The dual sensations felt tremendous and Allison found herself trying to restrain her moans and whimpers once again. Pete’s fingers thrust into her with the perfect firmness and rhythm and a new orgasm was building. He leaned back over her still throbbing clit and flicked his tongue across it, back and forth, delivering another release.

It was almost too much now. Everything was so sensitive that she felt like her body was buzzing. Her back arched up off the bed as Pete continued to touch her. He was pulling back again, taking the intensity down a notch, letting her ride out the waves of climax.

“Take your pants off, please,” her voice was almost breathless. Pete chuckled.

“Oh yeah?”

“I want your cock so badly,” she admitted, feeling the slight flush in her face at how desperate her voice sounded at that moment. She needed to feel him inside her. She wanted that full and stretched feeling and the feel of his weight over her body.

“Why don’t you help me out?” Pete shifted, sitting up on his knees to let Allison unzip and unbutton his shorts. She had his cock out and in her hand in no time, stroking the length with her fist. He was impossibly hard. He pulled a condom out of his pocket and handed it to her. Allison ripped the packet open, then rolled the condom down over the shaft. “How do you want me to take you, love?” Pete’s eyes twinkled.

“Right there, with my legs up over your shoulders,” she told him. Pete shifted back between her legs while she lifted them up.

She felt his thighs leaning against hers as he slid his sheathed cock through her slit, back and forth several times, before notching into her opening and pressing in slowly. She never got tired of that feeling when he first entered her, the way her body stretched to accommodate him, that slight burn of him reaching all the way inside her. He settled in before beginning to rock in and out of her slowly. Her ass lifted off the ground as he pulled her to himself by her hips, thrusting deep.

“You feel amazing, Alli,” his breathing came ragged. He found the steady rhythm, driving into her in the most satisfying way. She could feel him leaning into her body and loved feeling that stretch along her legs as he nearly bent her in half. “I think you should pull up your shirt and play with those pretty nipples,” there was that sparkle in his eyes again. Of course, she didn’t hesitate to follow through on his suggestion.

She was going to come again, she could feel it building inside her and her fingers on her own breasts only brought the moment closer. Pete picked up speed, nearing his own orgasm, but held off until Allison was shuddering again, clenching around his cock inside her.

“Fuck,” Pete growled, shutting his eyes, his cock pulsing as he unloaded into the condom. Alli’s fingers stilled on her breasts and she tried to bring her rapid breathing back under control. Pete brought her legs back down, pulling out carefully, then leaned over her, kissing her lips. “I love you.”

“I love you too.” There was that smile with something extra on his face again. She couldn’t quite decipher it, but she wanted to hold onto it.

****

He wanted to start out on this hike as soon as possible. He could barely sleep last night with the anticipation and the ring was burning a hole in the pocket of his shorts. He impressed Alli by making really great coffee in a french press that morning and they were all set to head out on their morning adventure.

There was a really great spot, up high on the hill, where the state park below them spread out as if in the palm of your hand. There were amazing views and on a clear day like today, you could see for miles. He had gotten the ring about a month ago and waited for the perfect time and place to ask Alli. He knew she wouldn’t be interested in any sort of big, public display – that wasn’t her. It would have to be intimate, something that was just between them. And at the same time, he wanted to do something special, something that wasn’t just at their home one night as they sat there watching TV. He had thought that perhaps he would propose to Alli on their trip back to college alumni weekend this spring, but she had gotten an ear infection and ended up spending that weekend in bed, feeling crummy. This, up here in the solitude of nature, surrounded by tremendous scenery, would be quite close to perfect.

The nerves rattled around inside him as they hiked up the narrow trail through the towering trees. Everything was green and fresh and new. They didn’t talk very much, their eyes fixed on the woods surrounding them, their hands intermittently brushing against each other. Pete didn’t actually think that Alli would turn him down, but the idea of asking her to marry him still seemed monumental and important and tied his stomach up into knots. He could see the treeline now, where the path met the overlook on the edge of the cliff. The sun was streaming in brighter now, unobstructed by trees. The ground underneath their feet was changing from dirt to rock and Pete clung onto the ring box inside his pocket, gripping it in his hand. The words that he planned on saying replayed in his head again and again while his hands turned slick with sweat. ‘Relax,’ he kept telling himself, ‘this is going to be perfect. She’s going to be surprised and she’s going to love it.’

He felt Alli falter next to him before it registered with him to turn his head and look. She was airborne for a second, seemingly flying through the air, her hands outstretched forward, before she landed on the rocky path, grunting. She had her water bottle in her right hand, which bounced away on impact and her left hand braced for impact against the uneven, hard ground. He was down on his knee beside her in the next moment.

“What happened? Are you ok?” He tried to examine her face.

“I just tripped. I’m a clutz,” she confessed, wincing and sucking air through her teeth as she tried to sit up. Pete’s eyes went to her knees, the left one scraped and dirty. She’d be ok, he thought, giving her his hand to help her up. She clasped his right hand in hers, using it as leverage to pull herself up and then looked down at her left hand, hissing through her teeth again.

There was a large gash right in the palm of her hand, thick crimson droplets forming and seeping out, down her wrist. They both stared at her hand for just a moment before Pete pulled it together, dropping his backpack off his shoulder and grabbing the bandana he had inside. He took her hand in his and she winced as he wiped away at the pooling blood. The cut seemed bad, immediately filling with blood again after he had wiped it away. Alli kept sucking in air through her teeth, her breathing hard and rapid.

“Ok, we’re gonna go back,” he made the decision. “I have a first aid kit in the car.” Alli was nodding rapidly. He balled up the bandana in her hand, pressing her fingers closed over it. “Put pressure on it,” he instructed. Alli winced at his move.

“Yeah ok,” she covered her left fist with her right hand. He picked his backpack up off the ground along with Alli’s water bottle and they turned away from the overlook where they had been headed.

“Does it hurt a lot?” His hand rested on her lower back as she limped along next to him. He would need to clean up the scrapes on her knees as well.

“Yeah, I don’t know. I think I just kinda landed funny on that hand. My fingers hurt.” He stopped, pulling Alli to a stop as well, taking her by the wrist to look at her fingers. She was pressing the handkerchief to her bleeding palm with her right hand, the fingers on her left not closing down around the wadded fabric.

“They look swollen,” he commented, examining without touching. “Can you bend them?” She gently wiggled her fingers.

“Yeah, I mean it hurts, but I can move them.”

They resumed walking back down the path, through the trees in the shade that they provided. Pete felt for the ring in his pocket again. It would have to wait. Now wasn’t a good time. It took them over an hour to get back to the car. Alli sat sideways in the passenger seat, her legs hanging out the doorway, while he cleaned up her knees and then her hand. He didn’t want to alarm her, but her fingers seemed to be turning a shade of purple. He was hoping that it was just some bruising, but he couldn’t help but worry that this was something that needed to be checked out. He looked up at her face after cracking an icepack and setting it onto her blue-tinged fingers. Her expression was pained, but she was holding it together.

“Alli, I think I need to take you to the emergency room,” he told her, watching her expression change to fear.

“Why?” She searched his eyes.

“I would just feel better if we got this checked out. Make sure that nothing is broken and that you don’t need stitches.” He decided to phrase it specifically that way, hoping it wouldn’t worry her as much.

“But it’s probably nothing, right? Just a bruise and a scratch.” Pete looked down at her hand where he could already see fresh blood seeping through the bandages he just wrapped around her hand.

“Yeah, probably,” he met her gaze and reached a hand out to her face, cupping her cheek. “You can blame it all on me, if it turns out to be nothing, and tell whoever at the hospital that I am too overprotective and forced you to come.”

They got in the car. Pete stopped at the campsite office to ask for directions to the closest emergency room before they took off. He tried to focus on keeping a “safe enough” speed, talking himself into the fact that Alli was fine and getting there five minutes sooner wouldn’t make any difference. But he worried about her, he hated that she was hurt, it hurt him to see her injuries. It was his fault, he started to convince himself. He was the one who decided to take this trip and to go on that hike and if he hadn’t, she’d be fine right now. Maybe this was the universe’s way of telling him that he shouldn’t propose to her, that he didn’t deserve her to be his wife.

“I’ve never broken any bones before,” Alli was telling him in the passenger seat, “nor gotten any stitches, ever.” He gave her a quick glance.

“It’s not so bad. They usually numb the area before they sew you up.” He’s gotten stitches before when he fell into the corner of the coffee table as a kid, at eight or nine. And he had broken his arm, stupidly, in high school, while drunk off his ass. He only got the cast off a few weeks before leaving for college and meeting Alli.

The rural emergency room they arrived at wasn’t crowded. There were a handful of people sitting in the waiting room that hadn’t seen an update since probably the 1980s. The pastel paint stroke wallpaper reminded Pete of a couch his parents had when he was a kid. He helped Alli fill out the paperwork, knowing most of the answers on his own and feeling quite proud of himself for it. His stomach growled as they waited, reminding him how much time has passed since they left their campsite for the hike that morning. It felt like that had been an entirely different day. The day they were supposed to get engaged. His hand slipped into his pocket again, feeling the small ring box.

“This is going to need a few stitches,” the young doctor wearing glasses and a labcoat announced, examining Alli’s hand. “I will take care of this first and then I also want you to get some x-rays done. There might be some fractures in your fingers, considering the swelling and the skin coloration.” Alli pulled in a deep breath through her nose, looking wide-eyed at Pete sitting in the chair next to her.

“You’re gonna be ok,” Pete took hold of her right hand, holding it in both of his.

“Good thing you didn’t have any rings on that hand. With this sort of swelling, we would have had to cut them off, and that wouldn’t have been fun.” The doctor gave them a small smile over his shoulder as he pulled the suture kit out of the cabinet.

“I don’t really wear rings,” Alli watched him as he opened the sterile package, unpacking the implements on the rolling tray table where her hand rested, palm up.

“Really? Not even like an engagement ring or a wedding ring?” The doctor asked casually, without looking up at either of them, his attention on what he was doing.

“I… umm… don’t have those,” Alli’s voice was quiet. “We’re not engaged or married.” She glanced over at Pete quickly, then back at her hand. Pete exhaled heavily. This is not how he intended this whole day to go.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I assumed…” the doctor looked between them before trailing off.

“You actually have a ring, you just… didn’t get it yet,” the words seemed to have slipped out of Pete’s mouth without him meaning to say them out loud. Alli stared at him, her eyebrows drawn, her lips pressed together. Pete sighed. This wasn’t perfect and scenic and beautiful and not at all how he planned this to happen, but he pulled the ring box out of his pocket, holding it in the palm of his hand. Alli’s eyes were now wide, her eyebrows inching up her forehead.

“Wow, you just carry that thing around with you, man?” The doctor had looked up at Pete too, the needle with the anesthetic prepped in his hand.

“No,” Pete shook his head. “I had planned this camping trip and the hike because… I had planned to… you know… propose. At that scenic overlook where Alli fell and, you know, cut her hand open. We were minutes away from actually having a ring on that finger. Hopefully. If she had accepted.” Alli was shaking her head.

“Of course I would have accepted!”

“Well,” he sighed again, opening the little box, “I guess… things with us never really go as planned right?” Pete shifted, getting down on one knee in front of Alli, where she sat on the hospital bed. “We didn’t really plan to sleep together that first time, and it just happened,” he could hear the doctor smirk, “and we hadn’t really planned what happened at Dotty’s wedding either, it just did.” Pete shrugged. “So I guess this is just how we’re supposed to roll, unplanned. I love you, Alli, no matter where we are. I really hope that you’ll let me be by your side anytime anything like this happens. Will you marry me?” Alli was nodding, involuntary tears spilling out down her cheeks. She reached out to touch his face with her hand.