“Brandiii...” I groaned. She was messing with me, pretending that the issue was selfishly about her. But she’d made her point. I’d chosen this path, and I had no one to blame by myself.
Brandi turned and brushed my hair back from my forehead, looking almost motherly into my eyes. “Look, obviously you haven’t come to terms with the way things are going to be, Ben. You’ve got to sit down with her and talk things out. Communication, communication, communication. Yeah, you said you two came to some sort of agreement not to have sex with each other while you’re with Adrienne and she’s with Ryan. But that’s not the whole relationship and you’re going to have to decide on some sort of balance with her now that you’re actually here.”
I sighed. “I know.”
“And don’t waffle around, Ben,” Brandi stroked my forehead. “This house is too small for you and Dawn to have any sort of rift. Everyone’s happy now; but we’re just moving in and no one wants to live in a place full of angst and tension. Nip this in the bud. Talk to her.”
“I will, I will.”
“Good.”
I would talk to Dawn. We’d figure this out. Hell, if she were here right now I’d go downstairs and get everything worked out immediately.
But she wasn’t here. She was ... out ... with Ryan. I didn’t even know if she was coming home tonight.
“Relax, little brother. I didn’t mean right this second,” Brandi drawled before giggling.
I sighed and patted her back. Then I got up to head back down to my bedroom and get ready to sleep.
Thirty minutes later, Adrienne and I were cuddled up together in our new bed, Adrienne in one of my oversized T-shirts and me just in my boxers. I was spooned behind her, smelling the sweetness of her hair along with the muskiness of her sexual play with Dayna.
But I couldn’t sleep.
Where was Dawn? Was she coming home? When could I talk to her?
I wanted to toss and turn in frustration, but I couldn’t wake Adrienne. It was torture trying not to move, and I went over and over in my head all the things I wanted to say to Dawn. If only she were here. If only I knew where she was.
And then, just before 1am, those paper-thin walls came in handy. I heard Dawn pad in, the wood floors flexing audibly despite her efforts to be quiet. She went into her bedroom and closed the door behind her.
She was here. Dawn was home. And only now able to relax and feel some peace, I closed my eyes and let unconsciousness take me away.
Dawn, Dayna, and Brandi were already having breakfast when Adrienne and I walked in. My girlfriend and I would have been out earlier, but Adrienne decided to get some early protein by rolling me over and blowing me until I nutted a quart of jizz down her throat. Knowing how thin the walls were, I tried to keep quiet. But from the raised eyebrows both Dayna and Brandi were giving me, it was clear my groaning had still been heard.
Dawn, on the other hand, just smiled sweetly as she turned away from the stove and pointed. “Pancakes?”
Adrienne clapped her hands together cutely. “Yum!”
“Got any eggs, too?” I asked a little groggily. The incredible blowjob had both woken me up and left me rather dazed.
“Uh, no. We had some sunny-side up but already finished them.” Dawn frowned. “I’ll make some more. Poached, right?”
“Oh, you should eat, Dawn. I can make them,” Adrienne glided forward.
“No, really. It’s no big deal. I’m already cooking.” Dawn shrugged.
“Really. I should be the one to do this,” Adrienne said with just a bit of an edge in her voice. Dawn looked up at her, their eyes meeting and something being communicated between them. It was almost as if Adrienne was telling Dawn, ‘Hey, I’m his girlfriend.’
Dawn then glanced at me for a brief second before nodding. “Right.” She gestured towards the stove. “I, uh, I’m sure you can figure everything out.” She nodded almost nervously again before backing away, picking up her own plate and moving to the dining table where Dayna and Brandi were almost done with their meals.
Adrienne then came and pecked me on the cheek. “Sit down, Tiger. I’ll be done in a minute.” My girlfriend then went into domestic mode, hopping around and checking cabinets to figure out where everything was while she simultaneously babysat the developing pancakes and pulled out some fresh eggs. She’d been feeding herself for years, and Adrienne certainly knew her way around a kitchen.
I poured myself some orange juice and went to join the girls. We started talking about what to do for the day while our families headed to the aquarium. Dayna and Brandi thought it would be a good idea for us all to take a tour of the school and get the inside scoop on where to go, where to eat, etc. While Dawn and I had been to the campus before, Adrienne had not. And besides, Dawn and I could use the refresher.
But I was still thinking about Brandi’s encouragement to sit down and talk to Dawn. Our relationship had always been founded on comfortable familiarity and open honesty. Now that we were here, we needed to really hash out nature of our relationship. And I’d seen enough movies to know that to delay that conversation would only give opportunity for misunderstandings to occur. Hell, look what happened the last time I delayed talking to Dawn about temptations and wanting an open relationship: she got raped, I was nearly seduced, and in the end we’d broken up.
Besides, it was about time I stopped letting stuff just happen TO me. I had to take charge of my life.
So right after Adrienne sat down with our food, I reached out and grabbed my girlfriend’s hand and said, “You know, why don’t you go with Dayna and Brandi to tour the campus? I think Dawn and I need to hang back and talk.”
Dawn’s eyebrows went up. Dayna and Brandi looked at each other. And Adrienne looked confused. I rather liked their expressions. It was a bit of a power rush that for once, the girls around me weren’t totally in control of the situation.
But Adrienne seemed just a mite upset. She was in a new city full of strange people. And while she was now familiar with Dawn, Dayna, and Brandi, she still barely knew them and my girlfriend didn’t appear to like the idea of being separated from me. Heck, she wouldn’t even be with Dawn, a girl she’d at least come to know and become friends with for a few weeks at camp. “Ben, do you have to?”
I sighed. “This isn’t summer camp anymore, Adrienne. We all knew our relationships would be different, and Dawn and I really need to figure this out before things get any more complicated.” I nodded to Brandi in acknowledgement of her advice. My sister just nodded back in agreement with my suggestion.
“Besides,” I continued. “Dawn and I have been here before. And we’ll pick up what we really need to know when Welcome Week starts tomorrow.”
Adrienne frowned but looked back and forth between me and Dawn. Then with a little pout, she nodded.
“C’mon, A.D.,” Dayna giggled. “We’ll have much more fun teasing all the guys on campus without your boyfriend around.”
Adrienne managed a laugh. I merely arched my eyebrow at Dayna’s rather quick pickup of Adrienne’s nickname. And then Adrienne nodded. “Okay. We’ll meet up for lunch? I’ve been dying to try out this Blondie’s pizza place you kept raving about.”
I glanced at Dawn and got a nod before turning back to my girlfriend. “Got it. Have fun.”
Adrienne grinned. And only then did the knot of tension in the back of my neck start to loosen up.
Good freaking lord Dawn was gorgeous. She sat facing me on the couch, one arm propped over the backrest with the hand both brushing her sunny blonde hair back and supporting her head. She looked at me with crystal clear blue eyes, open in curiosity at what I wanted to say. Even now, I would have to say that Dawn empirically had the prettiest face I’d ever seen in my life, Adrienne included. They were both beautiful, just slightly different. But while Adrienne had the sexier, more alluring kind of beauty, Dawn’s was purer and more angelic.