Coming back around

Artwork by George S. Williams

I've been working on the Circle of Confusion now for about two years and I keep hitting a brick wall. I was just reading some of the earlier posts of the first version of what I'm tentatively calling this first book "It's All New," and I like it so much better than what I've been writing more recently. What I really need is to print everything off and sit in a nice quiet room and really read over it until I figure out where I'm going with the story. Of course, it would help if my characters stopped creating themselves. I have an idea of who I want them to be, but sometimes that have a mind of their own and they become someone I didn't forsee, which screws up my long term story plans. GRRRRR. Anyway, the story is slowly coming along and I'm still shooting for Thanksgiving, but we'll see.

New Story Picking Up, Blog Slowing Down

For all of you who have been following this blog, you know that my ideas about how to tell this story have changed several times. I went from telling the story from different characters point of view to telling it from Lori's point of to view, to P. J.'s point of view, and now I've come full circle back to telling it from different character's point of view. I working hard on this story and I think I've finally found the way of telling it that I like and hopefully all of you will like it too.

My original goal was to have it ready by the end of September, but that's not looking like it's going to happen. I've set a new goal of Thanksgiving, just in time for holiday shopping. :) Some of what you've seen on here will make it into the new story and some will not. The story is definitely being written with my audience from Suddenly in mind and hopefully some new readers will find it too.  It is also going to end up being a series that is going to follow Jamie and P. J. through college so the books will be shorter. My plan is to have a book for each semester of college, that's the plan anyway. ;)

I will keep you all posted of how things are coming along with the story. So for right now, mark your calendars for a Thanksgiving release.

Also, I love hearing from you guys, so if you have ideas about the story or just want to drop in and say "hi", you can write me at mxtudor08@gmail.com or find me on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest, Stumbleupon, and Myspace.

Installment Seven Fall Break

Chapter Seven

Jamie kept her promise to make fall break very interesting. I dropped her off at her parent’s house with a light kiss when we got home on Friday evening. Saturday afternoon she was begging me to come over while her parents were gone. I thought she’d lost her mind, but I went straight to her.

Later, after we’d made love in her bed, we lay side by side gently stroking each other. I love the feel of her soft skin under my fingers. “Kayla wants us all to go out to dinner when we get back,” Jamie says casually.

I instinctively tensed and Jamie looked in my eyes questioningly. “Good,” I say. “It’s about time she agreed to meet me.”

“She is really shy,” Jamie says.

“Well, still, I’m interested in meeting the woman who is getting to spend so much time with you.”

“You can’t be jealous,” Jamie says, lightly stroking my naked breasts, “Especially with all the love we’ve made lately. How could you possibly think that I’m into someone else when I want to make love with you all the time?”

She had me there.  “I know, but I’m just not used to sharing you with another lesbian.”

Jamie kissed me lightly, and then with more intent. “Let me show you again why you don’t have to worry about anyone else.”

Two hours and a short nap later, we drug ourselves out of Jamie’s bed and into the shower. That, of course, led to more lovemaking. I swear the girl is insatiable. I guess I really should let this thing with Kayla go. Surely to God she wouldn’t want me like this all the time if she were even remotely interested in someone else.

By the time Jamie’s parents go home we were sitting in the family room watching a movie.  When her mother gave us her usual disapproving look I started to move away, but Jamie put her hand on my leg to stop me. “Hi,” she said cheerfully to her mom. “How was your day?”

“It was good,” her mom said and went upstairs.

“I’m going to head home,” I said and bent down to put on my tennis shoes that were sitting next to the couch.

Jamie sighed, “I hate that you feel like you have to leave.”

I looked toward the stairs and heard a shower start. Turning to Jamie, I pulled her into my arms for a quick kiss. “I hate leaving, but your mom hates me and that makes it very uncomfortable to stay.”

“I don’t think she hates you,” Jamie said. “She just still hasn’t adjusted to us being lovers.”

Standing, I said, “Sweetie, she is never going to adjust to us being lovers.”

Jamie stood too and walked with me to the door. She looked toward the stairs and then kissed me. “You are probably right, but she is going to have to learn to deal with the fact that you will always be a part of my life.”

“Always and forever?”

“Always and forever,” Jamie answered with a grin. She kissed me one more time before I opened the door to her father who was just about to walk in.

“Hey girls,” he said cheerfully. He gave me a quick hug surprising me. “How’s school?”

I shrugged, “It’s school.”

Jamie laughed, “Algebra is her favorite subject and she’s really enjoying the class.”

Her father looked from her to me and laughed. “I don’t believe that for a minute. How’s the art classes?”

“They’re pretty cool,” I said. “The professor is great and I’m learning some really great stuff.”

“But everything else?” Mr. Edwards asked.

Grinning, I said, “It sucks. Except psychology. That’s kind of interesting.”

“It’ll get better once you get past your general ed classes and get to focus on your degree classes,” he said. “Don’t let the boring classes get you down.”

“I’ll try not to,” I said. Giving Jamie’s arm a gentle squeeze, “I have to run. I’ll call you later.”

“Okay,” she said and threaded her arm through her dad’s as they went to the living room.

Well, at least her dad likes me, I thought as I headed to my Jeep. I had no doubt that her mother was never going to come to terms with my relationship with Jamie. I just hoped she never came between us.

* * *

Being at home in my own bedroom was awesome. The room I have at Aunt Cheryl’s house is nice, but it’s not the same as my room here. As I lie back on my bed, I study the posters of rock groups that I had collected over the years and the pictures I’d drawn. It’s funny how juvenile the posters seem now. I have only been away from home a few months, but it feels like I’ve matured years.

I still like the dark blues and black decorations, but I think I’m going to take down the posters and put something more artist up. Maybe prints from some of my favorite steampunk artist.

There’s a light knock on the door. “Hey, you ready to eat?”

I jumped off the bed and opened the door. “I’m starved.”

My mother smiled in at me, “Good. Dave and I are going to treat you to a steak dinner.”

“Awesome,” I said, turned and grabbed my shoes. “We leaving now?”

“Yep,” Mom said. “I’m sorry I didn’t get to talk to you much last night, but I was exhausted.”

“I know,” I said. “I understand.”

I followed Mom out to my stepfather, Dave’s truck. “Hey kiddo,” he said when I climbed in. Did you have a good visit with Jamie?”

“Yeah, it was awesome,” I said trying not to blush. It was extremely awesome. I was still really nervous the whole time that Jamie’s mom was going to come home and catch us in bed. I would have to bring her over to my house during the week when Dave and Mom were gone so we could have some real alone time.

“How’s school going?” he asked. “Every time you’ve called you’ve sounded a bit bummed out.”

“Yeah, school is school. My art class is pretty neat, but algebra sucks.”

“I’ve never understood why you have to take all those general ed classes. What do they have to do with your degree?” Dave said.

“I don’t know,” I said, “but they suck. Honestly, I’m not sure what I’m going to do after my scholarship runs out. I’m having a hard time wrapping my brain around the cost of taking a bunch of classes that I’m going to hate.”

“So what are you saying?” Mom turned to look at me in the backseat of the king cab. “Are you going to drop out of school?”

Dropping my head, I said, “I don’t know.  I’m just having a hard time thinking about spending the next four years running up a student loan debt when I could be out working.”

“What does Jamie say about that?” Mom asked.

“I haven’t talked to her about it,” I admitted.

Mom and Dave shared a look. “Well, it’s totally up to you,” Mom said, “but if you want to stick it out, we’ll help with the money.”

“Thanks, Mom,” I said. “I haven’t made any final decisions. I’m just not sure I’m cut out for college, but we’ll see what happens.”

“Yeah, it’s only been a few months,” Dave said. “Maybe it will get easier.”

* * *

The rest of the fall break Jamie and I went back and forth between houses, but we made love at my house most of the time. There was less possibility of my parents suddenly come home, and even if they did, they wouldn’t freak out to find us alone in my bedroom.

I discussed my plans to replace the posters in my room with steampunk art with Jamie. She liked the idea. She wasn’t that big on steampunk, but she was cool with me changing the room. It’s my room and her opinion shouldn’t be that big of a deal, but it is. I always want her to feel comfortable in my room.

I wanted to talk to Jamie about my concerns over staying at school beyond the year that my scholarship covered, but there never seemed to be a good time to talk about it. I knew she was going to freak out, but I just really hate school, and I can’t see making enough as an artist to warrant the student loans. I just didn’t know what I was going to do.

Like Dave said, maybe it would get easier. Maybe after the first semester, I’ll have a really interesting semester and love being at school. I couldn’t really see that but I was going to try to stay positive.  But, until then, I had a paper that was due as soon as we got back. Maybe I could get Jamie over here for the last night and we could celebrate our last day of fall break together.

Apologies for my tardiness and Installment Six

I have to apologize to you all for taking so long in between installments, but I was working on the final edits for my new book Second Chances. Second Chances is a lesbian romance about two almost lovers who finally come together. I originally wrote it 12 years ago and it was funny reading it again and realizing how much things have changed in 12 years. The book is with Itoh Press right now and I'm waiting for an official release day, which I will post here as soon as I get the word. Until then, I hope you will enjoy this new installment to The Circle of Confusion: P. J.

 

Chapter Six

Friday I was still on the high from the night Jamie and I had spent together at the hotel. I’m definitely going to have to start reading lesbian romances. Oh my God! Just thinking about all the things Jamie wanted to do to me is making me blush as I sit here in algebra.

I wasn’t paying attention when Lori walked in. She sat down in the chair next to me and grinned at me, “Happy memories?”

I blush crimson and Lori laughs, “I take it you and Jamie finally had some alone time.”

My blush deepens and I nod but can’t meet her eyes.

“Damn, that must have been quite an event for you to be blushing so hard about it.”

I leaned closer, but didn’t look at her. “She’s been reading lesbian romances and got a few new ideas.”

Lori let out a low whistle, and then says, “Lucky dog.”

The professor started class and we didn’t talk again until the end of class. Lori and I walked out together. “What about you,” I ask. “I can’t imagine someone as attractive as you are not having a girlfriend.”

Lori blushes. “Thank you, but it’s a lot harder to have a girlfriend when you have practice and games all the time. Not to mention psychotic parents who watch your every move.”

“You said something about your parents being religious before. Do they have any idea that you are gay?” I ask.

“Lord, no! And I have no intention of them finding out, at least not while I’m in school,” Lori says.

“So how do you get to be with anyone?” I ask.

“I don’t,” Lori replies. “Well, at least I haven’t since I started college.”

I look at her questioningly as we walk toward the exit of the building.

“I had a girlfriend in high school. She was my best friend and my parents never suspected we were lovers, but she got a softball scholarship to play at Murray in Tennessee and I got one to play here, so we ended up breaking up because it was too hard to maintain a long distance relationship,” she explains and opens the door for me as we exited the building.

“Bummer, man,” I say.

“Yeah, it sucks,” she says. “But, I’m focused on school and playing ball. I don’t have time for a girlfriend right now anyway.”

“I understand,” I say. “But it still sucks.”

Lori smiles at me and gives me a knuckle bump. “I’ll see you after fall break.”

Fall break! That’s right that was next week. I was taking Jamie home to her parents’ house in Barker Lake and I’d go home to spend time with my mom and stepdad. Thank God we were able to have Wednesday night at the hotel. We will probably hardly see each other before we come back the following weekend.

I can’t believe I forgot about fall break. It was the only thing I looked forward to as much as spending time with Jamie. School sucked and if it wasn’t for Jamie, I would not be going. I know everyone says that I’ll make more money with a college degree, but that’s hard to believe when my stepfather makes such good money at the factory and he barely has a high school education.

I honestly don’t expect to ever be a millionaire artist. I know my work is good, but there are so many other really good artists with the right connections. The fact of the matter is that I would have to move to a big city to make even decent money as a graphic artist, and that’s something I’m not interested in doing. I really don’t even know if I’ll go back to school next semester when my scholarship ends. I know that I will stay in Bowling Green so I can be close to Jamie, but I don’t know if I’ll continue in school.

Sighing, I look at my surroundings. I have to admit this is a beautiful campus with lots of beautiful flowers and bushes that are starting to show the signs of fall. I make my way to the building where I will have psychology with Jamie and observe the various colors and sizes of leaves that litter the ground as the leaves change and fall. This has always been a season of torment for me. I love the colors as an artist, but I always hated that it meant school time.

I see Jamie heading toward me and smile. She is the only reason for me being here. She is what makes my life make sense right now. What will happen in the future doesn’t matter as long as Jamie is a part of it.

“Hey,” she says, giving me a hug. She pulls back and looks at me, “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” I lie, “Just thinking that next week you’ll be at your parents’ house and I won’t get to see you much.”

“That’s where you’re wrong,” she says lacing her arm through mine. “Mom and Dad will both be working. Your mom and Dave will both be working. We will have all morning and afternoon to be together.”

“I hadn’t thought about it like that,” I say.

“Oh, I have been thinking about,” she says pulling me closer and whispering, “You know it just occurred to me the other day that we have never made love in my bed at my parents’ house.”

I stop and look at her. “Have you lost your mind?”

Jamie laughs, “Calm down, my parents will be gone from nine in the morning until five in the evening. We’ll be able to make as much noise as we want.”

The image of Jamie’s mother walking in on us flashed before my eyes and I felt a panic attack coming on.

“Stop worrying,” Jamie says, giving me a tug, her blue eyes flashing with desire. “We won’t get caught.”

“You have really got to let me read the lesbian romances you are reading,” I say. “I think they might be having a bad influence on you.”

Jamie laughs, “Is my wanting to make love to you every day a bad thing?”

I look down at her heated gaze and make myself not kiss her. “No, it’s not a bad thing at all.”

Installment 5 of The Circle of Confusion: P. J.

WARNING: READING THIS MAY REQUIRE A COLD SHOWER AFTERWARDS.

Chapter Five

The weather was turning cooler as the semester moved into the fall. Jamie, Lori and I were meeting every Wednesday evening at the library so Jamie could help us with our homework. Lori and I were both getting it pretty good.

Lori was really cool and I enjoyed hanging out with her. I really felt that Jamie liked her a lot too. Jamie was still doing a lot of work with the Kayla chick, whom I have yet to meet. It’s almost like the girl is avoiding me. If she has designs on my woman, she better keep avoiding me. I try not to think like that, but every once in a while I’ll see Jamie and her walking together on campus and it looks a little too friendly. Jamie swears they are just friends but it still gets under my skin.

Jamie and I are supposed to meet at the student center for lunch this afternoon. I’m really looking forward to it. It seems that we both have gotten so busy with our schedules and homework that we rarely get to see each other. We burn up out phones with texts and talking to each other. It’s good thing we both have unlimited talk and text. But, it’s not the same as sitting next to her and holding her hand, or holder her in my arms. We really haven’t had any alone time since the last time we tried to sneak in some lovemaking at Aunt Cheryl’s and got interrupted.

Maybe we can work out something today to find some place to be alone. I’d even call into work if I thought we were going to be able to make love.

I see Jamie walking into the student center and she’s with Kayla. Well, maybe I’m finally going to meet this chick who seems to get to spend more time with Jamie than I do.

Jamie looked at me and smiled with a wave. Kayla said something to her and then turned and walked away. I gritted my teeth, but found my smile when Jamie reached me. She sits down next to me and gives my knee a squeeze. “How are you?”

“Good,” I say tightly, and then ask, “Why doesn’t Kayla come with you to meet me?”

“She’s really shy,” Jamie says.

“Humph,” I snort before I can stop myself.

Jamie frowns. “What was that about?”

“I think she’s avoiding me,” I say.

Shaking her head, Jamie asks, “Are you suggesting that she doesn’t want to meet you because she likes me?”

“Yep,” I say.

“That’s bullshit, P. J.,” Jamie snaps.

“Well then, the next time we are going to meet and she’s with you, have her come on over so you can introduce us.”

“Fine,” Jamie says. She turns and looks over at the food court. “I’m not really that hungry. You want to just get something at the coffee shop?”

“Sure,” I say. We both stand. I slide my hand up her arm to her bicep and turn her to me. “I love you and I really hate it that she gets to see you more than I do.”

Jamie sighs and nods, “I understand. I think we’re both a little frustrated with how little time we get to see each other.”

“How about we sneak off someplace private this afternoon,” I suggest.

“Where?” Jamie asks. “We tried going to your aunt’s but that didn’t’ work out.”

“I have a plan,” I say, thinking that I’d saved a little money and would put it into good use by getting a hotel room for us.

“What do you have in mind?”

“Meet me at my Jeep in the parking garage at four and I’ll show you,” I say.

“Okay,” Jamie smiles. “I’m game. Now let’s get some coffee before Psyche, we’re going to need it to keep awake.”

* * *

Jamie was waiting for me by my Jeep when I got there later that afternoon. I pressed her against it and kissed her. She returned my kiss with equal vigor. “So what’s your plan?” she asks.

“We’re going to get a hotel room,” I say and open the door for her.

“I don’t have any money for that. I won’t get my money from Mom and Dad until this weekend.”

I go around to the driver’s side and get in. Reaching over, I take her hand and bring it to my lips. “I have some money saved for just such emergencies.”

“This is not an emergency,” Jamie giggles.

“Yes, it is,” I say. “I haven’t made love to you in weeks and it’s causing an ache that is killing me. The only way to cure the ache is to get you alone, so this is an emergency.”

Jamie’s eyes turn a darker shade of blue. She pulls me to her and kisses me hard. “You’re right. It’s been too long and we definitely need to cure this ache.”

I start the Jeep, back out of my parking space, and quickly make my way out of the parking garage. The only decent hotels are out by the Interstate, so I head in that direction. “Do you want to stop and grab something to eat before we get to the hotel?”

With smoldering eyes, Jamie turns to me, “I think everything we need to eat we’ll find at the hotel.”

Lord have mercy, that girl makes my entire body turn into a flame when she looks at me like that. I race through town to get to the hotels. I pick one that I know is fairly reasonable. Jamie waits while I book us a room. I specifically ask for one that is on the far side of the building.

When I get back in the Jeep, Jamie turns to me, “I think we should get a shower first.”

“Christ woman,” I growl, gun the Jeep out of the parking spot and try not to lay rubber on my way to the back parking lot.

We both grab out backpacks out of the Jeep and hurry inside the back hotel entrance. Our room in on the second floor and we take the stairs instead of waiting for the elevator. I wanted to take the stairs for fear of not being able to keep my hands off her if we were alone in the elevator.

The room is five doors away from the staircase and we practically run to it. I open the door with the key card, we slip inside and Jamie pushes me against the wall. “I don’t know if I can wait for a shower,” she says and kisses me. Her hands are in my hair and her body is plastered to mine.

I know we are both a bit sweaty from the day’s excursions up and down the hill on campus, but like Jamie, I don’t really give a shit. Pushing her back, I lead her to the bed and pull my shirt off on the way over.

Jamie’s hands are immediately on my sports bra clad breasts, squeezing and nibbling at them. She pushes the bra up and over my head. She returns her mouth to my breast and gently chews on the nipple. My knees give out but Jamie catches me and pushed me on the bed.

“I’m going to make sure that you are never worried about another woman coming between us. After I get done with you, you will never question any whether anyone else has a chance with me,” Jamie growls and kisses me deeply as squeezes my nipples between her fingers.

I think I was coming to come right then, but Jamie is not going to make it that easy. She steps back, grabs my jeans and rips them off my body. Running her tongue from my navel down to my pubic hair, she pushes my panties down. Once again, she steps back, pulls my panties completely off, grabs my legs and hikes them up as she pushes me further onto the bed, drops to her knees and dives into my pussy with tongue.

My entire body tries to arch upward, but Jamie is holding me down. She possesses me with her mouth and her hands as she sucks at my pussy and tweaks my nipples. The orgasm rips through my body and I scream out, unable to control myself.

The next conscious thought I have is of Jamie kissing the inside of my thigh before standing up and stripping her clothes off. She climbs on the bed and straddles my face. “I have something for you,” she purrs.

I can smell her arousal. I lick my lips before pulling her down on my face to lick and suck her. She is grinding against my face and I’m grabbing her and pulling her down harder on me until her body starts quivering. I suck her clit in my mouth and assault it with my tongue until she cries out and collapses on me.

Slowly she moves down my body until we are face to face. She kisses me lightly on the lips and I can taste myself on her. We kiss for a few more minutes before she rolls over on her back. “Wow.”

“Yeah wow,” I agree. “I had no idea you knew how to do things like that.”

“I’ve been reading lesbian romances. There are several positions I’ve read about that we will have to try,” she says and reaches over to take my hand and lace her fingers between mine.

Squeezing her fingers gently, I say, “I can’t way to try out some of those positions. I roll to my side. “Neither one of us have classes until nine tomorrow morning, so we have all night for you to teach me stuff.”

Jamie rolls to face me. “And I’m going to teach you,” she says and kissed me lightly. “I don’t want you to ever have doubts about how much I love you.”

“Okay,” I say, pushing a few strands of her chocolate hair away from those beautiful blue eyes. “I won’t doubt you anymore.”

“Good,” Jamie says and sits up, pulling me with her. “Now, how about that shower?”

 

Installment Four

Chapter Four

Jamie is packing two Subway bags and a drink carrier with two drinks when I spot her approaching me in the library. I’m on the top floor where we will have an excellent view of the campus and town beyond. I know it sounds weird to think of the library as a romantic place, but it can be.

I usually pick a couple of the comfortable leather chairs next to one of the windows and away from the study tables in the middle of the room. This will give us some privacy so I can steal a kiss or two.

Jamie smiles as she gets closer to me. “Hey beautiful,” she says.

I blush and return her smile, “You’re the one who’s beautiful.”

She bends down and gives me a light kiss on the lips before sitting the food down on the low table in front of the chairs. “I got you a roast beef with provolone and everything on it, barbeque chips and a Mountain Dew.”

“Thanks,” I say and pull the sandwich and chips out of the bag. “What did you get?”

“Roasted chicken with parmesan and spaghetti sauce.”

“Umm, that sounds good too.”

“It is. I had one yesterday for lunch,” she says and pulls out her sandwich and chips.

After taking a bite of my sandwich and washing it down with some Mountain Dew, I ask, “So what kind of writing project are you and Kayla working on?”

“We have to do an essay about a famous person we both admire,” Jamie says and takes a bite of her sandwich and shoves a couple of her sour cream and onion chips with the bite.

“So, did the professor assign you two to work together or did you get to pick who you worked with?”

“We got to pick. Kayla and I hit it off right off the bat. We had kind of a gaydar slash cheerleader connection vibe.”

“So she’s gay?”

“Oh yeah, and quite proud of it.”

“Really?” I look away and take a bite of my sandwich.

“Yeah, apparently her mother is a real free spirit. She’s into astrology, tarot cards, and that sort of thing.”

“Cool,” I say and take a drink. “Is she a cheerleader here?”

“No, she was in junior high and high school, but like me, wanted to focus on her career choice at college,” Jamie said and took another bite of her sandwich.

“And what is her career choice,” I ask, thinking that if it’s biology I’m going to be sick.

“Computer science. Apparently, she is quite the computer nerd. She can program them, build them, design websites, all that kind of stuff.”

“Really,” I say surprised. “She doesn’t look like a computer nerd.”

“Not even when she’s wearing her glasses, but if you get her talking about computers, she sounds like one,” Jamie laughs.

I look down at my food and take another bite of my sandwich. After a few awkward silent moments, Jamie asks, “You aren’t feeling jealous, are you?”

Shrugging I say, “Maybe a little, especially when I saw you kiss her on the cheek earlier.”

Jamie puts her sandwich down, reaches over and takes my hands, “P. J., you have no reason to be jealous. Kayla is just a friend. You will like her.”

Smiling, I nod, “I’m sure I will.”

We finish eating our sandwiches before opening our books. Jamie picks up my algebra book and opens it to the page where my problems are located.  She looks over the sheet where I’ve been attempting to work out the problems. Looking up at me, she shakes her head and says, “You’ve forgotten the order the operations go.”

I shrug, “I did good to remember right after you told me initially. I’m not interested in it, so it’s hard for me to remember how it goes.”

Jamie reaches over and squeezes my hand, “I know and once you get past this class, you’ll never have to remember how to do it again.”

Smiling, I say, “Well, now that you’ve put it that way that gives me motivation to get through it.”

She punches me on the arm. “You are so silly.”

I grab her tiny fists and laugh, “I’m so serious. Just knowing that I will never have to take another math class after this semester is a huge relief.”

“Okay, so let’s get to this. I need to get back to the dorm and get some sleep. My first class starts at eight tomorrow.”

Pulling her to me, I kiss her on the cheek. “Okay, I’ll focus.”

* * *

The next morning I was ready for class. Jamie had helped me remember how to do the basic algebra problems and once I got the order of operations going it turned out to be fairly easy. Of course, her assuring me that I wouldn’t have to take another math class and they I only have to get a C in this class helped motivate me.

I sat down in my favorite desk at the back of the room and was soon joined by Lori Weaver. “Hey,” she says when she took the seat next to me.

“Morning,” I reply.

“Did you figure out how to do this crap?” she asks.

“Yeah, I met up with my girlfriend last night and she reminded me how to do the operations in the right order. That has always been my problem,” I say.

“Lucky you,” Lori replies, “I wish I had a girlfriend to help me with my math. I’ll probably have to get my advisor to hook me up with one of the tutors.”

“I’m sure Jamie wouldn’t mind helping you if you want me to ask her,” I say.

Lori smiles, “That would be cool.”

I pull out my phone and send Jamie a text asking her about helping Lori. “We usually meet in the library to study,” I say to Lori.

“It would have to be in the evening,” Lori says. “I have practice until about six.”

My first thought is that it will have to be on a night that I don’t have to work so I can be there. Lori is hot and not that I don’t trust Jamie, but I don’t know Lori, but I know she’s gay and I don’t want her hitting on Jamie. “Okay,” I say with a smile. “I’ll see what she says.”

“Cool,” Lori says.

The professor starts class and we don’t speak again until the end of class. Lori turns to me as she’s gathering her stuff. “I would really appreciate your girl’s help. I’d rather work with family”, Lori says, putting air quotes around the word family, “than with some random stranger.”

I smile, “I understand. Why don’t you give me your cell number and I’ll text you with what she says.”

“Okay,” Lori says and gives me her number.

I put it into my phone and check for a message from Jamie. She hasn’t replied yet so I say to Lori, “As soon as Jamie lets me know something I’ll text you.”

“Cool. I hope she doesn’t mind.”

“I doubt she will. She’s sweet like that,” I say.

Lori smiles, “I’ll bet she is. Later.” She turns and saunters out of the class ahead of me.

I watch her tight butt and muscled legs moved ahead of me and think that there is no way I’m letting this chick be alone with Jamie.

* * *

Jamie agreed to help Lori, which I knew she would. We were already at the library when Lori showed up around eight o’clock that evening. “Sorry I’m running so late,” she says as she approachd us. “Practice ran over.”

“That’s cool,” I say and turn to Jamie, “Jamie, this is Lori Weaver. Lori, this is my girlfriend, Jamie Edwards.”

“Nice to meet you,” Lori says offering her hand to Jamie, who takes it and gives it a firm shake.

“Grab a seat,” I say pointing to the chair across from us. “We waited for you to get here before we started on the algebra.”

Lori swings her backpack off her shoulder and sits it on the ground next to the chair I pointed to. She digs out her algebra book and note book before plopping down in the seat. “So where do we start?”

“The order of operations,” Jamie says.”I’m betting you have the same trouble with it that P. J. does.”

“Yeah, I don’t have a logical mind,” Lori says. “I lean more toward the creative side.”

“Really? Are you an art major, too?” Jamie asks.

“No, I’m an exercise science major,” Lori says.

“Oh yeah, that’s cool. Are you planning on being a coach or something?” Jamie asks.

“Maybe, I’m thinking more along the lines of a personal trainer, but I will probably do some coaching eventually.”

“Cool,” I say.

“Well, let’s get this studying going on,” Jamie says.

We go opened out books and Jamie gave us a refresher course on the order of operations. After which, Lori and I felt like we had a pretty good handle on things.

Lori looked at her watch and it was approaching ten o’clock. “Oh crap,” she says, “I have to go. My parents have a strict curfew.”

“Do you live here in town?” Jamie asks.

“Not really in town, we’re more out in the county, but not too far out. You can still have pizza delivered where we are.”

“Sounds like where I grew up,” I say. “Not quite in town but close enough for pizza and cable.”

“Yeah, we probably could get cable if my parents allowed it. They are really religious and think that my sister and I will be wrongly influenced by watching television,” Lori says.

“Bummer,” I say.

“Yeah, it sucks,” Lori says. “I figure when I get my own place I’m going to spend a lot of time watching television just so I can catch up on culture.”

Jamie laughs, “That might take several years of watching television.”

“Probably,” Lori laughs too. “I gotta go, though. Thank you so much for the help. I have to keep my grades up or I don’t get to play ball and softball is my life.”

“I don’t mind at all,” Jamie says. “Just let P. J. know if you need more help.” Jamie put her hand on my leg, “She always knows where to find me.”

I smile at her affectionately and Lori blushes slightly. “That’s right,” I say.

Standing and pulling her backpack onto her shoulder, Lori says, “I’m going to get out of here and let you two have a little time alone before you have to be headed your separate ways.”

“See ya, Friday,” I say as she starts walking away.

“Yep, see ya Friday. It was nice to meet you, Jamie,” Lori calls over her shoulder.

“You too,” Jamie calls back. She turns to me and says, “She seems nice.”

“Yeah, she does,” I say. “I can’t imagine having strict parents like that and being gay. I suspect her parents have no idea.”

“Probably not,” Jamie agrees. She leans over and kisses me lightly on the lips. “But, I need to get going too. I want to get to bed so I can get up early tomorrow and work on my paper.”

“Okay,” I stand and stretch, “I need to crash too.