A Well Lived Life Book 6 Kara IChapter 40 A New Semester
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November/December 1982, Chicago, Illinois
Elyse and I made good time and stopped for gas and something to eat in West Lafayette, then got back on the road towards Chicago.
“Steve, what’s bothering you?” Elyse asked.
“Is it that obvious?”
“You haven’t said two words since we left Cincinnati. I mean, you pull off the strong silent type pretty well, but this is a bit much. What’s going on?”
“I’m just worried about Kara. And Stephie.”
“That does NOT sound good, Steve. Come on, spill it.”
“I really can’t talk about what happened. It didn’t directly involve me, but I had some responsibility for it. Anyway, what I can say is that Kara and I are fine, but I think I’m going to move things forward. I think I need to.”
“If that means what I think it means, Stephie’s going to be pretty upset. She was counting on you for the rest of the school year.”
“I know. I was thinking of just asking Kara to go steady, but I think I’m going to ask her to marry me,” I said.
“Holy shit, Steve!” Elyse gasped. “You can’t be serious!”
“I’m serious as a heart attack,” I replied. “I’m just so afraid I’m going to mess things up. I think this is what I need to do.”
“Jesus, no wonder you were quiet! It sounds like you’ve really made up your mind.”
“I have. On Christmas Eve, I’m going to ask her to marry me. Last year, we started a tradition of celebrating together on Christmas Eve. We’ll exchange presents and make love by the tree. I’ll ask her after that.”
“I knew you were a romantic at heart, but that’s just so sappy! Of course, it’s also perfect. When are you going to tell Stephie?”
“After exams. It has to be. If I tell her tonight, or even next week, I might totally mess up her finals and I can’t do that.”
“I don’t see any other alternative. You have to tell her before you do it, so it can’t wait until January. What about Tatyana?”
“I’ll tell her after Christmas. She’ll still come to visit. We’ve talked about how things would work after Kara moved in, and this isn’t really anything different from what she understood was going to happen. And before you ask, I’ll tell Karin when we talk at the end of December — she’s supposed to let me know if she’s coming to visit in February, though I’m pretty sure she’s not going to since she knows what’s coming. Both of those will be bad. But there will be a worse one.”
“Worse?”
“Bethany. I made a promise to her that I can’t keep. Not because there isn’t time or I don’t want to tell her, but because I promised myself that I wouldn’t be with anyone other than Stephie before I ask Kara.”
“You ASSHOLE!” Elyse spluttered angrily. “You’re telling me now that I can’t have you one last time? Fuck you, Steve! Just fuck you!”
I was quiet for a moment then said, “I’m sorry, Elyse.”
Elyse was fuming. I just let her because I didn’t have anything else to say. I was doing the right thing for me, and for Kara. As much as I cared for my friends, and as much as I loved Stephie, I had to do this.
We covered most of the rest of the distance to Chicago before Elyse finally spoke.
“I’m sorry I said that. You’re doing exactly what you’ve said you’re going to do. And you obviously think it’s the right thing to do. You know what I think about that, of course, but in the end, what I think doesn’t mean a damn thing, does it?”
“I’m the one that has to live with my decision, and I’m the one that has to make it. Your advice has been pretty good, Elyse, but this is what I want to do and what I need to do.”
“OK. I won’t say anything to Stephie, obviously. When is she flying home?”
“On the 11th, in the afternoon. I’ll tell her on Saturday morning. The ride to the airport will be a bit frosty, I suspect. I think I’m going to drive home after I drop her off. When are you heading home?”
“That morning. I’ll plan to leave by 7:00am so you can have the rest of the morning with Stephie. Or do you need someone there to call the paramedics?”
I chuckled, “For me? Or for her?”
“Probably for both of you! If she knows it’s the last time, do you think she’ll settle for anything less than the full ‘Steve Adams’ experience? I sure as hell wouldn’t! And I don’t even get the chance for one.”
I thought about it and, in the end, no harm would come of giving Elyse a last time. If she wanted it, I’d give it to her. But I wasn’t going to say anything just yet.
“I think we’ll both survive without the Chicago Fire Department coming to our rescue,” I said.
We rode in silence until I came to the Garfield Avenue exit. Instead of continuing on the Dan Ryan towards O’Hare, I got off the freeway.
“I thought we were going to pick up Stephie,” Elyse said.
“I have something very important I need to do at the apartment. We have enough time to stop so I can take care of it.”
I parked the car and got out. Elyse went to the trunk to grab her bag, but I told her to forget it. We went inside, walked upstairs and I unlocked the door of the apartment, and then closed it behind us once we were inside.
“How long is this going to take?” Elyse asked.
“That’s up to you. I’m yours until we need to leave to pick up Stephie, which is about an hour.”
“You’re serious? I can have a last time?”
“Yes, Elyse. Whatever you want.”
“Quit wasting time and come to bed!” she grinned, dragging me down the hall to her room.
We quickly undressed and got into her bed and began kissing,
“What do you want,” I said, in between kisses.
“Slow and soft, make it last as long as you can, and grind as much as you can!”
I ran my finger along her slit and it was quickly drenched with her juices. I moved on top of her and slid slowly into her hot, silky tunnel. We moved slowly together, with me grinding against her clit with every forward thrust. Twenty-five minutes and an uncountable number of orgasms later, I pushed as deeply in as I could and filled her pussy with my cum.
Without being asked to, I moved down and began licking and sucking her very sensitive clit, giving her a series of orgasms that built upon each other until she grasped the sheets, arched her back and screamed loudly. I was hard again, so I moved up and entered her. This time, instead of soft and slow, I fucked her as hard as I possibly could, our flesh slapping together as she humped hard to meet my thrusts. After her third orgasm, I slammed hard and deep and fired jet after jet of cum into her.
“Damn!” Elyse gasped.
“Yeah,” I said between heavy breaths.
We lay together for about five minutes, then went to the shower, quickly cleaned up, and then dressed. Elyse sprayed some air freshener in her room and then we went back to the car to head to the airport to get Stephie.
“I was wrong,” Elyse said with a smile. “It turns out that you’re not an asshole.”
“I realized I had done wrong by you and could easily fix it. It’s not going to be that easy with Bethany.”
“Why didn’t you do it at home?”
“I only made the final decision in the car this afternoon. I had been thinking about it, and I talked to Stephanie about it. I wasn’t going to make any decision until Christmas, but today I decided I needed to stop acting like an entitled jackass and put my money where my mouth is.”
“Steve, you are the last person to think they’re entitled to anything! You work hard for everything you have, whether it’s your car, your apartment, your grades, or your friends. You’ve never, ever expected a single thing from anyone. For a guy who’s been with scores of girls, I’ve never, ever, heard you say anything that even remotely resembles the idea that someone owes you sex or that you’ve ever taken advantage of anyone.”
“Annie,” I said.
“Bullshit, Steve. I know Bethany’s opinion on that, and I totally and completely disagree with her. It’s exactly what happened with me and Sean. I didn’t say ‘no’. Hell, I wanted him to fuck me once I was that excited. He didn’t ask, but I sure as hell didn’t try to stop him! And I sure didn’t want to! I’m pretty sure that’s what happened with Annie. Yes, she had been saving herself for something, but so was Kara. As for the other supposed mistakes, Becky and Dona, both of them wanted you so badly that they did everything they could to get you to fuck them.”
“What are you trying to tell me, Elyse?” I asked.
“The same thing I’ve been saying for two years. I just have to make one more attempt. After today, I won’t say a thing about it and you and Kara can live happily ever after. But what you’re doing isn’t you, Steve. I still don’t know what it is that’s driving you to do this, but it’s not right for you. I’ve said my piece and now I’ll shut up about it.”
“I love her, Elyse,” I said softly.
We rode the rest of the way without speaking, the only sounds being the hum of the tires, the throaty thrum of the engine and the music coming from the radio. By the time we parked and walked into the terminal, Stephie’s flight had landed and taxied to the gate. She walked out the door from the Jetway just a few seconds after we sat down to wait. As usual, she ran over and jumped into my arms and I held her tight.
“I missed you, Yankee!” she gushed.
“I missed you, too, Peaches,” I said reflexively.
She purred and held herself tight against me, even as a stab of guilt shot through me, knowing the unpleasant news I was going to drop on her in less than two weeks.
We went to the baggage claim to get Stephie’s suitcase, then headed for the car and drove back to Hyde Park. Elyse made some tea, and then the three of us relaxed in the living room.
“It’s odd to only have two weeks until the semester is over,” Stephie said.
“Yeah, we start a week earlier than a lot of schools, but Northwestern, IIT, and UofC are all on the same basic schedule, which works out nicely,” I said.
“This week is going to be all studying for sure,” Elyse said. “Are you guys going to karate practice?”
“I had planned to,” I said. “It’s a nice break and lets me work off some of the tension that I usually use a sauna for.”
“I know how to work off some tension, Yankee!” Stephie grinned.
“I could see my way clear for that,” I said.
“Jerk!” Stephie giggled. “I saved up my peach juice for ya’ for a whole week!”
“And you know what? I’m really thirsty and I think I can only quench that thirst with peach juice!”
“Well, take me to bed and you can have all you like, Yankee!”
I got up, took Stephie’s tea cup and put it with mine in the sink, then followed her down the hall to my room. She shut the door, quickly stripped off her clothes and lay on the bed, her legs spread. I couldn’t resist such an open invitation and quickly undressed and got between her legs and quickly covered my tongue, then my face, with peach juice. After her fourth orgasm from my tongue, Stephie tugged on my hand, so I moved up and entered her, sliding my dick deeply into her dripping pussy.
“Fuck me, Yankee!” she whispered.
We quickly developed a hard, fast rhythm, our bodies moving in perfect unison. Stephie had another orgasm, then said she wanted to be on top. We rolled over, and she rode me hard until she had an orgasm, then asked me to finish from behind. I got behind her, grabbed her small hips, and held her tightly as I pounded into her. It didn’t take long before I felt the cum rising in my dick and slammed as deeply as possible before firing jets of cum deep inside her. I withdrew from her and we lay next to each other, on our backs, breathing heavily.
“One down, two to go!” Stephie giggled.
“Oh?” I said between heavy breaths.
“Yeah! Next I want to 69 and drink some Yankee juice!”
About twenty minutes later, Stephie crawled on top of me and took me in her mouth. She lowered her pussy to my face, and we used our tongues, lips and mouths to bring each other to orgasm, with Stephie swallowing every drop I spurted into her mouth. After she had cleaned my dick completely with her tongue, she turned and we cuddled together.
“Two down, one to go,” Stephie smirked.
I chuckled, knowing what the last one would be.
“How?” I asked.
“Spooned. Just slow and easy, while you rub my clit,” she whispered.
I got the cherry-flavored lube from my drawer and slowly worked it into her butt, then covered my dick with a liberal amount. We spooned together, and I gently entered her, pushing in slowly until I was fully embedded in her butt. Stephie sighed deeply as I put my finger on her clit and began tracing small circles. My thrusts were gentle and slow as I worked her towards her release, letting my own pleasure build quickly. I did my best to time the orgasms together, but she came first with me about a minute after her.
I stayed deep in her until my erection started to subside, then we got out of bed and took a shower. After washing each other thoroughly, we dried off and went back to my room. We changed the sheets on the bed, then climbed in and pulled the comforter over us and quickly drifted off to sleep in our usual way — spooned together, with my hand cupping her small breast.
Our last week of classes started out as expected — review of the material we’d covered so far this year. I handed in my final assignments for my three classes on Monday. The main outstanding item was the final project for my digital circuits class, which I’d finish with Dave and Julia on Tuesday, with Thursday morning as a fallback, if we ran into trouble, and an agreement, that if that wasn’t enough, we’d meet early Saturday morning.
On Tuesday, I made my collections and payoffs and then headed to the Sig Ep house. It turned out that our worries were for naught. We got our prototype working less than halfway through the Tuesday afternoon meeting, completed the other two boards, and then drew up our schematic ‘as-built’ diagrams. All three boards passed the listed tests and we high-fived each other. We all thanked each other and agreed to work together on future projects, though the only class that the three of us would share was Management Information Systems, which was a theory class.
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September 1981, Chicago, Illinois, and Milford, Ohio When Elyse arrived home she found me sitting in a beanbag chair drinking some of the bourbon that I’d had Joyce get for me. The wine was stashed in my room, though I left two bottles on the kitchen counter. “Uh oh! What’s wrong?” Elyse asked. “Just thinking,” I answered. “About Bethany?” “Yeah. It’s good, but it’s sad. She’s always depended a bit too much on me and now she’s moving on. We didn’t break up, per se, but she’s going to...
November, 1981, Milford, Ohio Kara came out quickly when she saw me pull into the driveway. I barely had time to stop and go around to open the door for her, for which I was rewarded with a quick peck and a sultry look of promise for later. We headed to Skyline, where Kathy wanted to meet. Kathy and Kurt were already there when Kara and I walked in. I introduced Kurt and Kara to each other, then all four of us ordered, with Kathy insisting that Kurt get 5-way. We had a nice lunch and a good...
July 1982, Dawsonville, Georgia My drive south took me into Kentucky and I stopped for lunch at Wendy’s just after I passed through Lexington. As the countryside rolled past my windows, I reflected on the things that had happened recently. I hadn’t been keeping my journal as closely as I should have and resolved to spend some time alone at Stephie’s to put my thoughts on paper so I could put them in the computer when I got back to Chicago. I was a bit concerned about the situation between...
November, 1981, Milford, Ohio Stephanie was waiting for me when I pulled into the driveway and came walking out to the car. “So?” she smirked. “A wildcat, just as you predicted. She’s going to be sore for a couple of days, I suspect.” “Tell me about it! I sure was!” “You both asked for it!” I grinned. “Oh, I’d do exactly the same if I had to do it all over again. Did you get her unconscious?” “No, I did not. And I thought we weren’t talking about stuff like this!” “Special...
August 1982, Chicago, Illinois I woke up to the alarm on Monday morning, kissed Stephie, and quickly slipped on my running clothes and headed out. I took a slow, easy pace and worked to clear my mind and prepare to shift my focus to my schoolwork. The Summer had been a combination of fun, emotional highs, emotional lows, and adapting to the reality that Kara wasn’t going to be with me this year. On the other hand, I had Stephie, Elyse, Kurt, and Kathy close, and Kara was less than six hours...
November, 1981, Milford, Ohio On Sunday, I spent the morning with Stephanie swimming and eating breakfast, as well as making my call to Karin. I had lunch with Larry before heading over to Don Joseph’s house. The weather wasn’t good enough for bocce, so I sat with Don Joseph and his friends and talked before dinner and with Larry and Joyce after dinner. When it was time to leave, Joyce followed me outside. “Can I come spend the night with you?” Joyce asked. “Sure. I’ll see you at the...
July 1982, Chicago, Illinois On Sunday morning after breakfast, Kara packed her things, said goodbye to her mom, and followed me to my car. I drove to the Spencers’ to pick up my things, where I thanked Trudy and reminded her that I’d be back on Friday. Kara and I took my bags to the car, loaded them in the trunk, and set off for Chicago. As usual, the drive was uneventful. I had encountered neither traffic nor an accident, nor been pulled over a single time despite all the back-and-forth...
July 1982, Milford, Ohio Kara and I awoke, and she took a quick shower before we drove to my parents’ house so I could swim and have breakfast with Stephanie. My dad joined us for breakfast before he had to leave for work. After cleaning up the kitchen, we went to my old room to hang out with Stephanie for about an hour before heading back to the Spencers’. Nobody was home and there was a note on the fridge that said that Frank, Trudy, Pete, and Melanie were out for the day because Frank had...
May 1982, Milford, Ohio On Monday morning, I followed my usual routine for being in Milford and had lunch with Trudy Spencer after our sauna. That afternoon, Krista and Beth were coming over to talk about business. Kara would join us as well. Beth arrived about 2:30pm and Krista and Kara walked over from the school campus and arrived about 2:45pm. The three of us were very happy with how things were going. We had a total of twenty-two veterinary clients paying a monthly support fee, about a...
March, 1982, Milford, Ohio “What’s the craziest thing you’ve done, Tracey?” “That one’s easy! Asking Steve to the Sadie Hawkins Day dance!” “What?!” Kara said, looking askance. “Think about it. I was a frumpy, shy girl with no self-confidence. I asked the school sex god to take me to the dance, knowing full well I’d probably end up losing my virginity, though I was worried he wouldn’t do it with me. Boy, was I wrong! Not only did he do it, but he spent the entire next day with me doing...
July 1982, Milford, Ohio Sandy came into my room and shut the door, shaking visibly. She leaned against the door and didn’t move further into the room. “Relax, Sandy,” I said gently, trying to ease her nerves as best I could. “Are we going to do it now?” she asked, her voice cracking with emotion. “No. We’re just going to talk,” I said. I could see visible relief. That confirmed to me that she was very nervous about doing this and I needed to be very cautious. “Talk about what?” “About...
October 1981, Chicago, Illinois Friday was a cool, cloudy day. It was getting late in the year and we had passed the point where the nights began to be longer than the days. I knew that it wouldn’t be too long before I’d have to find something to replace jogging, at least for the couple of months where it would be brutally cold and snowy. I had found an ice rink, but it wasn’t convenient to either home or school. I decided to ask Sensei Jim for an exercise routine that I could do indoors, in...
December, 1981, Milford, Ohio As I drove to Kara’s house, I thought more about my conversation with Bethany. And the more I thought about, the more I realized that I had totally missed the signs. I had fallen in love with Kara without feeling the connection — in a sense, our kisses, and even our first lovemaking, didn’t feel different from many other girls I’d been with. But it was different. It was different because I loved her. And, eventually, we HAD felt the spark of the connection. We...
March, 1982, Milford, Ohio On Wednesday morning, I swam with Stephanie and we ate breakfast together. I avoided talking about Saturday or what we might do. I still had no clue what I should do, and the implications of my decision were huge. I wondered if Stephanie could handle the conversation about the deep meaning behind what she was asking, and I wondered if she understood the implications. The fact that she and Jennifer were talking meant that she and Jennifer could have discussed this...
December, 1981, Milford, Ohio I pulled into the driveway at the Spencers’ and went inside. Melanie was halfway up the stairs and turned to say hello. “Want to spend some time in the sauna with me?” she asked. “Only if you promise to behave. I need to make a phone call first, and it may take a bit of time.” “I do. And I’ll wait. If you want privacy, use the extension in my room. I can read while you’re on the phone.” I nodded and walked up to her room and shut the door. It hadn’t changed...
February, 1982, Chicago, Illinois On Monday morning, while Stephie and I were driving to school, she asked what I was doing for Valentine’s Day. I let her know I was going to Ohio, but that I’d be happy to celebrate with her either on the 11th or the 16th, because I was taking the three-day weekend in Milford. “I guess that will have to do,” she sighed, “because it does make sense that you would be with Kara on Valentine’s Day.” “Are you going to be OK, Peaches?” I asked. “Do I have a...
November 1982, Milford, Ohio After dropping Elyse in Glen Este, I headed to the Spencers’ to drop off my stuff and then drove to Kara’s house. Kara hadn’t been clear about me staying every night at her house, so I didn’t want to assume. “Hi, Snuggle Bear!” she said when she opened the door. “Hi, Honey!” I said, pulling her into a hug and kissing her. “Do you need to get your stuff?” she asked. “I wasn’t sure from our last conversation which nights I could stay here, so I dropped my...
July 1982, Milford, Ohio Thursday, Friday, and Saturday were nearly identical — swimming and breakfast with Stephanie, spending the day with Kara, finding time for a sauna, and making love in the evening. I did end up sleeping alone on Saturday night because I took Kara home so she could go to church in the morning with her mom. She would drive to my house after church to help set up for the party, which was starting at 2:00pm and might even continue after fireworks, depending on how...
February/March, 1982, Chicago, Illinois I made good time on the drive back to Chicago despite the light drizzle that I ran into just south of Gary. I walked into the apartment to find Stephie and Elyse stretched out on the couch, each one leaning on an arm and their legs alternating so they could put them out straight. “You two look comfortable,” I said, taking off my shoes and coat and dropping my bag. “Hi, Steve,” Elyse said. “Hi, Steve,” Stephie echoed. Neither of them moved to get...
November, 1981, Chicago, Illinois “How are things going?” I asked. “Amazing!” Kathy said with a huge smile. “He’s just what I needed. Last night was the first time we could sleep in the same bed. Doing that with you was always my favorite thing!” “Oh, really?” I chuckled. “Actually, yes. You holding me in your arms while we slept was the most amazing feeling. Don’t get me wrong, the orgasms were out of this world, but feeling safe, secure, and loved; it’s the best thing there is. And I...
November, 1981, Milford, Ohio We made good time, arriving at Kathy’s house about 2:00pm. She and Kurt thanked me for the ride and we agreed that I’d pick them up at noon on Sunday so we could be back in Hyde Park by 5:00pm Chicago time and they could be back at Northwestern by 6:00pm. We agreed to have lunch on Wednesday, then I said goodbye, got back in the car, and pulled out of Kathy’s driveway to head to the Spencers’ house. Melanie and Pete were there waiting for me, and I got one of...
September 1982, Chicago Illinois By the time Kara left, she seemed to be in a much better mood. We had eaten lunch, made love again, and after a long shower together, she’d packed up her weekend bag and I’d walked her to her car. After we exchanged a long, soft kiss, she got into the car and drove away, promising to call as soon as she arrived home, which she did about 8:15pm. I had spent the afternoon working on technical documentation for the vet software, something that had to be...
December 1981, Chicago, Illinois I really should have guessed that what Jennifer was saying was prompted by a girlfriend who saw me as a competitor, but I had to know if it was just Jocelyn, or if it was from Jennifer’s therapist as well. “And not your therapist?” I asked. “No. The reason Doctor Clauson didn’t want me to come is because she knows how I feel about you and that you’re in a serious relationship with Kara. She’s afraid that I’ll have a serious setback, or do something stupid...
August 1981, Chicago, Illinois We ended up not getting crazy that night. We made love and fell asleep in each other’s arms. We woke up the next morning and repeated what looked like was going to be the pattern for the school year — I jogged and Elyse showered, I showered, and then we ate breakfast. “Bye, Honey! Have a good day,” she said again. I headed to IIT and after parking I walked into the Stuart Building for Computer Science 200. I’d been permitted to skip CS100 because I already...
April/May 1982, Chicago, Illinois I made very good time driving back to Chicago, assisted by the radar detector, and arrived at my apartment before 6:00pm Chicago time. As usual, Stephie and Elyse were sitting on the couch when I walked in. “Well, another fantasy up in smoke!” I teased. “Get your mind out of the gutter, Yankee!” Stephie exclaimed, getting up to hug me. “Did you have a good weekend?” “I did. How about the two of you?” “Same as always, though I didn’t have a date on...
March, 1982, Milford, Ohio Tuesday started off like usual days had when I visited Milford and after Stephanie went off to school, I played some video games and practiced pool until it was time to go and meet Susan Pollard for lunch. We met at Skyline just before 1:00pm and both of us ordered Five-Way chili. We started out by catching up on our lives. It had been a really long time since we’d talked and said more than just a brief greeting. Susan was attending Clermont Community College and...
December, 1981, Milford, Ohio On Tuesday morning, I swam and ate breakfast with my little sister and hung out with her until it was time to head out to see Anna. I was still surprised that she’d called out of the blue, and was really curious as to what it was that she wanted. Even though I hadn’t driven to her house before, I’d been there enough times to remember how to get there. I parked in the driveway, then walked up to the front door and rang the bell. Anna opened the door almost...
December, 1981, Chicago, Illinois I made good time on my drive back to Chicago, arriving just before dinner. Other than one stop for gasoline and the restroom, I had driven straight through. When I pulled up in front of the apartment, I didn’t feel like cooking, so I parked, dropped my things inside, and then walked to the Chinese restaurant and got takeout. I took it back to my apartment, retrieved two weeks’ of mail from the mailbox, then went inside. I set the food on the table and sorted...