What a couple of palm trees were doing in the corner of Tech’s student center were anybody’s guess. But, the table tucked behind those trees was Steven’s sanctuary. Most students used time in the center for socializing between classes. Steven used it to get away. He was busily pecking away at his laptop when Trevor approached. Steven sensed the approach and looked up quickly to survey Trevor’s expression. It didn’t look good.
“Oh, no … what happened?” Steven asked with a concerned look on his face.
Trevor looked down, shrugged, waited a moment, and popped a crisp A- in front of Steven as his face exploded into a huge grin.
Steven looked at the calc test grade, looked back up at Trevor, and threw his arms into the air. “You did it!”
“No. YOU did it! You somehow made calculus make sense to a doofus like me!” Trevor exclaimed, beaming.
“Man, you did the work. I just pointed you in the right direction.”
“I owe you one, bro … big time!” Trevor said as he sat in the seat across from Steven. “I was hoping for a B- … As, calculus, and me aren’t generally in the same solar system. So, I’m taking you out to celebrate.” Trevor slapped a ticket on the table next to Steven.
Steven looked at the ticket and furrowed his brow. “A dance concert?”
“Yeah … and you’re going, so don’t even try to get out of it. Stacy’s one of the lead dancers, so, naturally I have to go. But, you’ll love it. Trust me.”
“But, I don’t know anything about dance. I won’t even know what I’m looking at.”
“Steven, you’re my best friend, and I love you, but you need to get out of the library on a Friday night. Dude … this is college! This is when you’re supposed to sow your wild oats. There are some major babes in the dance program. Trust me … you’re gonna be glad I handcuffed you and dragged you to this.”
“Yeah … sounds swell,” Steven said rolling his eyes.
Trevor stood up and ruffled Steven’s shaggy brown. “Chill, bro. I’ll pick you up at 6:30, and we’ll head over to The Foundry for dinner — my treat — and then to the theatre. I’m off to anthropology.”
The only difference in Steven’s daytime clothes and nighttime clothes was that the shirt he tucked into his chinos at night had buttons. Trevor just smiled and shook his head when Steven appeared at his front door. “What?” Steven asked.
“Nothing, dude. You’re a fashion icon.” Steven looked at his clothes concerned. Trevor laughed and bounded down the stairs toward his car.
In the theatre, Steven squirmed in his seat and looked around nervously. He was definitely out of his element. Suddenly, the lights dimmed, and the black multi-plat formed stage was awash in purple light. Dancers in white tights and leotards bounded and spun onto the stage in rhythm to the lilts of the flutes. Steven used the penlight on his key chain to peruse the program. The first piece was entitled, “Jacob’s Dream.” It was conceived by Martha Graham and was performed to music by Mordecai Seter. The featured dancers were Rodney Jones, Stacy Shaw (Trevor’s girlfriend), and Amanda Peterson.
Steven looked up in time to see Stacy, center stage, moving sensuously to the music. He smiled. Stacy was cool and looked magnificent. He turned his head toward Trevor, who was on the edge of his seat with the giant grin of a proud boyfriend plastered from ear to ear. Steven turned back to the stage, and his eyes were drawn to the raven-haired dancer leaping onto the stage from the back right corner. The smile on Steven’s face slowly faded as he became transfixed by the dancer. He followed her every movement. He didn’t move; He hardly even breathed. At one point, Trevor glanced at Steven and did a double-take when he saw his buddy so engrossed in the performance. Trevor smiled.
When the dancers fell into their final pose, the music stopped and the audience broke into an appreciative applause. The sound brought Steven out of his trance. He rose quickly to his feet and applauded. Although the audience was enthusiastic, Steven was the only one standing. Trevor laughed and shook his head once again.
Steven sat down and went right for the program to find out if Amanda Peterson was featured in any more performances. He sighed when he couldn’t find her name. However, he was heartened when he discovered that she was part of all but one ensemble for the remaining performances.
When the final performance ended, Steven led what would become a standing ovation for the troupe. Trevor added his own whistles to the wild applause. The dancers bowed happily many times before finally retiring backstage. As the crowd filed out, Trevor told Steven to remain seated. Once the aisles cleared, they would venture backstage to congratulate Stacy.
The pair joined a handful of others climbing the side steps to the backstage area. Backstage was a circus of activity, laughter, and hugs.
“Trev! Trev! Over here!” Stacy shouted over the din. Trevor made his way through the crowd with Steven following like a puppy dog behind him. “So, what’d you think?”
“It was amazing! Stace, you were great!” Trevor gushed as he hugged her.
“Steven, what did you think of your first dance performance?” Stacy asked.
“It was one of the most amazing things I’ve ever seen,” he replied with a big smile. “Wow, Stacy, Trev told me you were good, but, geez, that was incredible! I loved every second of it.” Stacy beamed, reached up to kiss Steven on the cheek and hugged him.
“I’m so glad! I can’t believe Trevor got you here. I thought he’d have to tie you up and drag you in.”
Steven grinned. “He pretty much did. Now, he won’t be able to keep me away!”
“That’s so cool!! Hey — I want you to meet someone.” Stacy reached behind Steven for the wrist of another dancer. “Mandy, come here! I want you to meet Trevor and Steven.”
Steven turned his head and froze. The smiled dropped from his face, and his mouth hung open. Trevor saw the caveman-in-ice look on Steven’s face and rushed in to save his pal. “Hi, Mandy. I’m Trevor.” Mandy glanced at Steven with a bemused look on her face and turned to Trevor, shaking his outstretched hand. “And, this is my deaf-mute best friend, Steven,” Trevor said as he slapped Steven on the shoulder to break his stupor.
“What? Hi,” Steven said with a quick forced smile. Mandy tried to hide a chuckle as she reached for Steven’s hand and shook it. Stacy watched the interaction and tilted her head slightly. “I’m Steven,” he mumbled as he looked down at the touch of Mandy’s hand in his.
“Steven … yes, I think I heard that somewhere before,” she said grinning.
“What?” Steven asked as he looked back up to meet Mandy’s cocoa eyes.
“You’ll have to forgive Steven, Mandy. He doesn’t get out of the lab much,” Trevor said, pleased with himself.
Mandy smiled and asked Steven, “Did you enjoy the performance?”
“It was fucking amazing,” Steven said with such sincerity that Mandy broke into a huge laugh, as did Trevor and Stacy. The word, fucking, coming out of Steven’s mouth had the same incongruence as Portuguese spilling out of the mouth of a poodle. Steven looked at the trio utterly confused.
Trevor reached over to dislodge Mandy’s hand from Steven’s grasp, saying, “I think she might need this for the next performance.” Steven looked down and jumped slightly when he realized he still held Mandy’s hand.
“Oh … sorry,” he said, feeling the heat rise in his face.
“It’s okay,” Mandy replied, still chuckling. “I have a spare,” she said waving the other hand in the air.
“Now that that’s settled, Mandy, we’re headed over to the Garage for a drink. Would you like to join us?” Trevor asked. Steven’s head immediately swung around to hear her answer.
“Oh, I can’t tonight, guys. My parents are here. They were supposed to come tomorrow, but had to change their plans. In fact, I have their two tickets for tomorrow’s performance if you know …”
“I’ll take them,” Steven interjected. Three surprised faces turned toward him. He scanned them and realized he may have sounded too eager. “I mean, you know, if no one else wants them,” he replied, trying to sound nonchalant.
“Who would you take?” Trevor asked incredulously.
They all stared at Steven, who felt his face get red. “No — No one. I-I …”
Stacy came to his rescue. “Steven, I think it’s cool that you want to come back tomorrow.” She moved over, grabbed his arm and hugged it.
Mandy smiled and said, “Yeah. Me too.” She moved over, took Steven’s other arm and hugged it as well.
Trevor arched his eyebrows at the “Steven sandwich,” shook his head and said, “Hey … whatever works, dude. Listen, if you want, I’ll come back tomorrow with you.”
Steven smiled stiffly. He couldn’t believe he was being hugged by two gorgeous girls … especially Mandy. “Sounds good.”
They let go of Steven, and Mandy smiled, adding, “So, I’ll see you tomorrow then.” Steven smiled staring at the dimpled wonder of her model-like face. Trevor rolled his eyes at Steven’s frozen smile, reached up and forced Steven’s head to nod. The girls looked at each other and laughed.
“Wait for me out front,” Stacy said to Trevor as she and Mandy headed off to their dressing rooms.
Later, at the Garage, Trevor excused himself to hit the head. Stacy took a sip of her daiquiri and said to Steven, “I think Mandy likes you.”
Steven, who had been watching ESPN on one of the widescreens, looked down at her, turned red and asked, “Me?”
“Yeah, you, cowboy,” she said as the straw lingered at her lips.
“Right … I’m sure she can’t wait for a geek like me to sweep her off her feet.”
“You may be surprised, Mr. Geek.”
Steven huffed and rolled his eyes.
“There’s a lot more to Mandy than you know so far.”
“I appreciate your optimism, Stace, but girls who look like her don’t date nerds that look like me.”
Stacy sat up in her chair and leaned toward Steven. “So, what’s so wrong with how you look, other than being a bit sartorially-challenged, hmm? You’re tall and still have that killer swimmer’s body from high school. Your moppy brown hair works for you in a Jim Halpert kind of way. You’re sweet. You’re wicked smart. You’re one of the coolest guys I know, Steven. What’s not to like?”
Steven huffed again. “Come on, Stace. Mandy’s waaaaaay out of my league. Her hair … her eyes … that amazing smile … her …” he stopped.
“What? Her body? It’s okay to admit she has a killer body, Steven.” She leaned closer to him. “It’s okay to admit you’d like to touch her body and see what’s underneath those loose cotton pants and to reach inside that loose cotton shirt.” Steven turned bright red, and Stacy giggled.
Trevor walked up with two more beers for him and Steven. He saw Steven’s face and asked Stacy sternly, “What have you been doing to torture my friend?”
“Nothing,” Stacy replied as she sat back in her seat. “Just a little girl talk.”
“Ahh. Looks like I arrived just in time to rescue you, dude.”
“Steven doesn’t need to be rescued … he needs to be fucked!”
At that, Steven choked on a gulp of beer and spewed some of it onto the table. “Give the guy a break, Stace. We just got him out to his first cultural event. We’ll work on his virginity later,” Trevor said with a grin.
Steven smiled sardonically. “Thanks for your concern, guys, but I’m doing just fine, thank you.”
“I’m telling you, Steven, you keep working out that right arm, and you’re gonna look like that dude in that movie, ‘Lady in the Water’ … the one that had a bodybuilder’s right arm and a chicken arm on the left.”
“Ouch!” Trevor screeched. “You are one cold bitch,” he said as he scooted over to cover Stacy’s mouth with a sloppy kiss, which was done partially to shield Steven from more embarrassment and partially to force her to shut up. Steven gave her another acid smile and looked back up at ESPN.
The next night after the performance, Trevor and Steven waited in the auditorium for Stacy and Mandy to change and join them. Steven was a wreck. He paced back and forth in front of the stage.
“Will you calm down, dude? You’re gonna wear out the floor.”
“Yeah, well, it’s easier for you. Stacy’s very hot, and she’s already your girl.”
“And, Mandy’s scalding hot. Maybe she’ll become your girl.”
“Yeah, and maybe monkeys’ll fly out of my butt,” Steven said as he paced.
“Oooh! That explains why you always keep that big banana in your pocket,” Stacy said devilishly as she and Mandy walked down the steps from the stage. Steven turned quickly toward them, and his eyes widened at her comment. Mandy laughed as Steven, once again turned red. She walked over and took Steven’s arm.
“Don’t worry. I’ll protect you,” Mandy said.
Stacy turned her head toward them, stopping in mid-kiss with Trevor. “Steven, you mean you didn’t bring your own protection? I’m surprised at you!”
“Do you ever think about anything other than sex?” Mandy asked chuckling.
“Rarely, I’m happy to report,” Trevor said with a smile.
As they walked out of the theatre, Stacy turned back to Mandy and said, “Little Trevor has always been the brains of this relationship.” Trevor looked back and shrugged.
“You know what they say … big talk, like big cars, is a compensation mechanism,” Mandy said laughing. That comment cracked up Trevor and Stacy as well. Steven had been listening to everything with big eyes. He smiled, but he was currently concerned that being this close to Mandy, feeling her heat and the electricity of her touch, was going to make that banana in his pocket grow for real. He was relieved to step into the coolness … and darkness … of the night sky.
The quartet went to Spartacus for a late dinner and for some quiet music. They had a great time. Every time Stacy made a lewd comment, particularly at Steven’s expense, Mandy pulled him in closer to her and rescued him with her own wit. He eventually became comfortable enough to join in the banter. Of course, every time he looked at Mandy’s dark, perfect skin, her dimpled smile, and her twinkling dark eyes, he got so lost in her beauty that it usually took a loud laugh or some other sharp noise to pull him back into the moment.
After about three hours, Trevor and Stacy bid the couple adieu with Stacy demurely explaining that she was so horny she had to go home wring out her panties. Mandy and Steven watched them walk to Trevor’s car grabbing each other ass the whole time.
“I wish the poor girl didn’t suffer from such an under-developed sex drive,” Mandy said to Steven, who chuckled but suddenly realized he was now going to have to deal with her on his own and panicked a bit. “Feel like going to Porter’s Square or would you prefer a moonlight stroll across campus?”
“I love walking through campus at night,” Steven answered. Mandy dazzled him again with a smile, took his hand, and began walking down 9th Street toward the main archway leading into to Tech main quad.
They walked for a long time getting to know each other. Steven told Mandy about his little sister, Erica, who was a tomboy and a talented track athlete in high school. “She’s a cool kid and one of my two or three best friends,” Steven explained. Mandy was touched by that and laid her head on his shoulder as they sat on a bench next to Founder’s Fountain.
Mandy told him about her dad … “Mack Peterson? Dr. Peterson, head of Physics?” Steven asked incredulously. “Yeah. You know him?” Mandy asked.
“He’s my faculty advisor,” Steven sputtered.
“Small world, huh?” Mandy asked.
“That means that Judd Peterson’s …”
“My big brother, yes,” she replied, finishing his sentence. Judd was Tech’s all-conference middle linebacker.
“I guess I’d better be a gentleman then,” Steven said.
Mandy frowned. “Not too much of a gentleman, though,” Mandy said as she put her hand behind Steven’s neck and pulled him toward her for a kiss. At first, Steven froze, but as the heat from the kiss ran up and down his body, he relaxed and put his arms around Mandy. He couldn’t believe how good she smelled and how soft her lips felt. The first time her tongue invaded his mouth he stiffened and held his breath. Then, he let out a long, heavy sigh. Mandy tried to hide her smile by moving onto his lap and kissing him more urgently.
“Did you feel something?” Mandy asked as she interrupted a kiss.
“Yeah,” Steven answered dreamily.
Mandy laughed. “No, I mean did you feel …” Her question was interrupted by a deluge of rain that suddenly cascaded upon them. The jumped up and ran under the cover over the fountain. The rain came in torrents, followed by the wind that whipped the water under the small roof.
“I think we need to head for shelter. I live about two blocks down Chapel Drive. Want to make a run for it?” Mandy asked.
“Okay,” Steven answered, wiping water out of his eyes.
The sudden downpour was already creating giant pools in the streets. Mandy ran right through them, howling with laughter and aiming her face into the sky to feel the chilly water pelt her cheeks. By the time they got to Mandy’s apartment, they were totally soaked and cackling like kids as they stumbled up the stairs to her second floor apartment. Inside, Mandy flipped off her shoes and ran to get a couple of towels for them. They wiped their faces and squished some of the water out of their hair. Mandy was still laughing at the whole situation. She went back to her bedroom and brought out a long, tan robe for Steven.
“Here. Strip, mister, and I’ll put our clothes into the wash.” Mandy went back into her bedroom to change. Steven had to walk over to the kitchen sink to pour water out of his shoes. He then, took off all his clothes, took out his belt and wallet and balled everything into a sodden mess. He wrapped the robe tightly around him.
Mandy came out in a long flannel shirt and woolly socks, still rubbing her hair with the towel. He took Steven’s clothes, mixed them with her own and started the washing machine. “How about some hot chocolate?” she asked.
“Sounds perfect,” he answered. Mandy soon came out of the kitchen with a couple of steaming mugs. When she bent over to set them on the coffee table, Steven’s eyes bulged as her breasts and body were displayed before him.
Mandy grabbed her cup and curled her legs under her on the sofa next to Steven. When she saw the look on his face, she asked, “What?” Then, she realized she had just given him a show. “Oops! I didn’t even think about that. After so many years of dancing with cramped dressing rooms and all kinds of people staring at your body in all kinds of conditions, I’ve become pretty oblivious to modesty. I hope I didn’t make you uncomfortable.”
“No … it’s — it’s fine. It just caught me off guard,” Steven answered, as he gulped down a sip of his beverage.
Mandy sat silently for a moment just looking at Steven. He really is gorgeous, Mandy thought. Steven realized she was staring at him and wasn’t sure what to do. Mandy knew she would be the leader in this relationship. She set down her mug, stood, and walked over to sit on Steven’s lap. “You have beautiful eyes,” she said as she put her hands on either side of his face and brushed back his hair. She tilted his face toward hers and kissed him softly. He put his slightly trembling hands around her and felt her taut, strong back under the single layer of cotton.
She put her arms around his neck and kissed him again with increasing passion. Steven pressed her body to his and felt the soft, firm pressure of her breasts push against his body. Mandy kissed his neck and pushed the robe off his broad shoulders to kiss his collarbone. “You’re such a beautiful man,” she said with a smile.
Mandy reached up and pulled her shirt over her head and shook out her long, dark hair. She inched closer to him on his lap and felt her thigh brush against his huge erection that was sticking out of the robe. Steven jumped at the sensation. Mandy put her hand along his face and whispered, “Shhhh. That’s what’s supposed to happen.” She placed his right hand on her left breast, wrapped her fingers around his thick cock, smiled sweetly at him and kissed him gently. This was the first time she’d had the opportunity to seduce a guy, and she was thoroughly enjoying the experience.
