10 comments/ 24011 views/ 36 favorites Love Among the Elk Ch. 02 By: Thucydides My first day of Chem 101 at the University of Oregon started off with a bang, literally. I had found my assigned seat in the lecture hall and was getting my notebook out when something slammed into the back of my head, almost knocking my face into the table. I got to my feet, turning. "Hey, watch what the hell you're doing!" I found a smallish blonde looking up at me with wide blue eyes. "Oh, I'm so sorry! I'm not used to carrying this backpack yet." The weapon in question looked about as big as she was. Way to make an ass of yourself, Matt. "Forget it, you just startled me. Sorry for yelling at you." I reached for the pack. "Here, let me give you a hand. You sitting near here?" "I think so. Hi, I'm Lindsay Collins." "Matt Conklin. I think that would put you, let's see, here." I set the pack at a table two seats from mine. She smiled at me. "Thanks." I was momentarily stunned by the force of that smile, and before I could respond the lecture started. Over the next few weeks I got the same smile every time she passed me on the way to her seat. It didn't mean a lot, though, since she treated everyone she saw with the same friendly courtesy. It was interesting to watch: the sorority social climbers were constantly trying to get her to join their competing cliques, and she just smiled and treated them the same way she treated everyone. I was a small town boy trying to become the first in my family to work his way through college, and my budget didn't run to clothing with designer labels. As far as those girls were concerned, I didn't exist. Lindsay was just the opposite: smart, beautiful, and from the whispered conversations I heard from the row behind me wore the kind of clothes that most girls couldn't obtain for any amount of money. They saw her as a potential linchpin of their cliques, and the faint air of amusement with which she observed their frantic popularity competition drove them crazy. How did I know all this? Well, no matter how much I wanted to do well in the class, it ran for an hour and a half. For me, that meant trying to keep my attention on the graduate student lecturer trying to explain chemical reactions in a thick, unidentifiable accent for an hour and a half instead of observing the pretty blonde two seats down with her shapely legs usually on full display. It really wasn't a fair competition. Not that Lindsay was even aware of it, of course; her full attention stayed on the lecture and she did nothing to distract anyone else- aside from looking ridiculously good and having a few cute, unconscious mannerisms that drove me crazy. As I was leaving class one day I noticed that she wasn't moving and didn't give me her usual smile. In fact, when I looked closer, she looked about ready to cry. I hung around until the room cleared out and then approached her. "Hey, are you all right? You look stressed." "You know that guy Ryan?" I knew who she meant. He played quarterback for the football team and showed up for class with a bunch of other jocks and their coterie of ditzy groupies. Their constant horseplay and talking was a real annoyance to those of us who actually wanted to do well in Chem. It was common knowledge that she had shocked the campus society crowd by turning him down flat when he condescended to ask her out. "Well, long story short, the other day as I was passing him on the way out of class he tried to put his hand up my skirt. Now his friends are saying it's my fault that he's out for the next two games with a sprained thumb." I cracked up. "I'm sorry to laugh, but that guy has always acted like he can get away with anything because he plays football. I bet you're a hero to most of the girls on campus. How did a little thing like you do that to him?" "My Aunt Amanda is smaller than I am and she's a lieutenant in the State Police. She's constantly had to whip men twice her size to keep her street credibility. She started teaching me to do the same when I was about fourteen." "Well, I guess he learned something about judging by appearances." "I wish it was that simple. There's talk that I'm going to be hauled in front of the Disciplinary Board over this. The football coach is really mad." "That's bigger than you should try to deal with on your own. Can your folks do anything?" "I hate to get them upset over something like this. They've done a lot for me already." "I'm sure they don't want you to have problems with the D-Board. You should let them know." "OK, I will." She smiled at me a little. "Thanks for the perspective." "Need a hug while I'm at it?" I didn't want to give her more to deal with, but she looked so upset I had to offer. "Maybe a small one." She gave me a one armed hug and a quick smile. "See you next class, I guess. I have to go make some calls." "OK. Let me know how it goes if you want." She half smiled and walked off. The next week I was on my way out of the Ad Building after dropping off some scholarship paperwork when I heard a yell. "Hey, Matt!" I turned. Lindsay was coming down the stairs from the second floor between two adults: a tall, sophisticated looking redhead and a big, rangy guy in a suit. She gave me a big smile. "Hey, you're looking happier than you did last week." "That problem I was telling you about just went away. Matt, this is my mom Wendy McNeil and my uncle Mike." Handshakes all around. "Mom, can Matt join us for lunch? Do you have time, Matt?" I checked my watch. "My next class is at three." Her mom's voice matched her appearance. "Please join us, Matt." We ended up at a restaurant across town. Not a place I had ever gone on a student budget. "Should I ask what happened?" Mrs. McNeil spoke. "We just met with the president of the University. Mike's wife is in the State Police and asked some cops she knew around here about this situation. Turns out that Lindsay isn't the first girl this guy has groped or worse. I mentioned the prior incidents and some stories I've written for Sports Illustrated and asked if he wanted to comment on the allegations that he was covering up a sexual misconduct problem in his athletic department for my next story." My eyebrows rose. "I bet that got his attention." "He tried to bluster about getting his lawyers involved. Mike here pointed out that he's the District Attorney in our county and if he wanted to go that route he'd be happy to meet him in court, with every journalist I know in the spectator section." "So?" Lindsay spoke up. "Ryan's looking for a school to transfer to next year, and he's being told that if anything more happens to me or any other girl in the meantime they'll expel him and any shot he has at another college team or the NFL draft will be gone." I shook my head. "Remind me never to get your family mad at me." Mr. Elliot spoke. "Lindsay means a whole lot to a whole lot of people where we come from. She's gotten the lecture about dealing with problems through channels instead of using force, though. Right, young lady?" She looked abashed and spoke dutifully. "Yes, Uncle Mike." We moved on to our mutual interest in chemistry and science until it was time to drop me off back at campus. Lindsay gave me her usual friendly smile and said she would see me in class. The next week she caught me after class as we left the hall. "Hey, Matt, did you understand what he was saying about molecular bonds and reagents?" "I think I did." "Well, would you mind going over next week's readings with me? I'm confused." Was it the idea of helping out a damsel in distress or hanging out with the girl of my dreams that appealed to me? What difference did it make? "Sure. Meet me on the third floor of the Library about seven?" "See you then." She gave me her usual friendly, noncommital smile and moved off. Jesus, was I dreaming? She showed up right on time, though, wearing the usual college girl jeans and sweatshirt and carrying all her books. Turned out that she's an incredibly smart girl, too. She saw things in terms of mathematics while I saw them as structures, and between us we managed to make molecular bonds actually make sense. Before long the study sessions moved from the library to her dorm. It was set up with several individual rooms surrounding a common lounge, and we would hang out at the big table in the lounge with our books and laptops spread out. One night she came out of her room some fifteen minutes late. "Sorry, I was talking to my dad Jim." "You talk about your dad Jim and your uncle Jim all the time. Did your grandparents give both their sons the same name?" She looked confused and then laughed. "No, sorry, it's the same man. This is complicated." She hesitated. "I've never met my bio dad. My bio mom raised me alone. When I was about six, Jim McNeill showed up in town to work for Fish & Wildlife. He has a doctorate in wildlife biology. Someone drafted him to coach pee wee basketball, and we kind of gravitated together. Jim became my surrogate dad." "Wait, your dad is Dr. James McNeill? His book on elk ecology is required reading!" "Yeah, Jim and wildlife biology kind of go hand in hand. Mom's been trying to talk him into taking the teaching job they keep offering him here, but he gets mad when she tells him that he's getting too old to wrestle thousand pound critters for a living." "Is Wendy your bio mom, then? She doesn't strike me as a small town girl." "She isn't. She was a journalist in New York City when she got sent out here to do a story on Jim's elk conservation program and he grabbed her and married her." "And your bio mom?" "She worked for the Forest Service. When I was fourteen a log truck with bad brakes pushed her Jeep over a cliff on a narrow logging road." "Damn, I'm sorry." "So am I, but there it is. Jim and Wendy came to my school to tell me, and then told me that I was coming home with them. Mike Elliot- who's Dad's best friend and not really an uncle, by the way- arranged to make them my guardians or something so I wouldn't end up in a state home. They didn't tell me the details and I didn't care. Wendy's part big sister, part aunt, and mostly my second mom. All I know is that I would be lost without the both of them." "I didn't mean to ask about a difficult subject." "It is what it is. Wendy always says that we're a family out of love, and that's more important than biology. I miss my mom, but I couldn't ask for better replacement parents than Jim and Wendy." She blew her bangs up out of her eyes. Jesus, she's cute. "Anyway, let's get through this Chem stuff." An hour and a half later we took a break. She grabbed a couple bottles of juice from the refrigerator, tossing me one, and settled on the couch across from me with her legs tucked up under her. "You haven't told me about your family." "I have six brothers, and I'm the first in my family to go to college. The rest of them are happy to be loggers their whole lives. Every weekend I go back they're getting drunk, raising hell, and beating the crap out of each other if they aren't in jail. That's not how I want to spend my life." "I don't blame you." "They think I'm wasting my time and turning into a snob. It's the usual family thing: they may pick on me and rough me up all the time but God help anyone outside the family who tries it." I thought a second. "You know, if it had been me instead of you who had that problem with Ryan their reaction would have been to show up here in a group and break every bone in his body. Not that he didn't deserve it, but it wouldn't have improved the situation, you know? I would have been scrambling to stop them on top of all my other worries. I'd say you're further ahead with your adopted parents than I am with my natural family." "I know how lucky I am. Don't ever think of me as the poor little orphan girl, even if I am one technically." "Not exactly poor, are you?" "I told you Dad's a government scientist and Mom's a freelance reporter. They both have great reputations in their fields, but they're not rich. " "You're not doing work study, though." "After Mom died Uncle Mike squeezed a big settlement out of the log truck's insurance company. That helps a lot." "So you have money of your own." "Not exactly. The money's in a trust fund and I can't touch a penny unless Jim and Aunt Amanda both sign off. Believe me, unless it's for my education talking them out of it is almost impossible." "Bummer." "No kidding. I worked a good part of last summer to convince them that a car to get back and forth from school was a good idea. I had my eye on a shiny little VW Beetle convertible, but they said that a five year old Subaru Outback was more practical and if I didn't want it I could keep riding the Greyhound." "And the clothes? It's not something I really understand but I've heard those silly sorority girls make jealous comments about how you dress." "Mom goes back to New York City every few months to meet with editors and catch up with her friends there. If I'm not in school she takes me along- says I need to know the bigger world outside our little town. Some of her friends work for fashion magazines and get a lot of free designer clothes. Maybe they've been worn once for a photo shoot or something, but so what? They load me up with as much as I can carry home." "Nice for you." "I guess so. I'm not out to impress anyone but I don't mind looking good." "You always look good to me, for what it's worth." "Thanks. Let's get back to work." OK, maybe I was pushing the boundaries a little there. Oh well. We went back to studying and for the next several weeks our time together was strictly business. Then, late one night as we watched the Late Show after a long study session, she leaned her sweet smelling blonde head against my shoulder. I lost control of my carefully hidden feelings and went too far. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ One Friday afternoon Lindsay and I were sitting out on the deck of our house, watching the sun set and hashing over the mysteries of college men. As a pretty blonde sophomore at the University of Oregon, Lindsay had her hands full. "Tell me again how you met Uncle Jim?" "You were there, kiddo, you ought to remember." "Yeah, but that was a long time ago." "Not all that long ago, really." I reached down to scratch behind the ears of the enormous German Shepherd dozing next to my chair. His head snapped up, he looked around, decided there was nothing threatening either of us, and went back to sleep. "I got Thor here as a puppy not long after that, and there's plenty of kick left in the big guy still." "Well, tell me again anyway." "Let's see..." It had started with an assignment from the magazine I was working for at the time to cover an elk roundup in Oregon. I had called the Fish & Wildlife Service office in charge, and ended up talking to some grouch with a Western drawl and what sounded like a poor attitude about female reporters. I hadn't expected much as I flew out from New York. The guy yelling orders in the parking lot of the grocery store wasn't what I had expected, either. I had read some of Dr. James McNeil's academic work on wildlife biology in preparation for the trip, and expected a skinny nerd with a beard. Instead, here was a Marlboro Man type with broad shoulders and a narrow waist who made me tilt my head up to look at his face. At five feet ten inches tall, I had gotten used to looking the average man in the eye. I barely topped Jim McNeil's wide shoulder, and that set off a "Hmmm" reaction somewhere in the back of my mind that I tried hard to ignore. He was actually a pretty nice guy in person, too. I could feel his eyes on my body as I pulled my stuff out of the rental, but so what? I had worked hard to qualify for the New York City Marathon, and knew I looked good. Besides, no matter where his eyes went his friendly, professional attitude never varied. It was a refreshing change from New York, where men feel free to yell propositions for bizarre sex acts at any woman who catches their eye. Once we got to the site for the roundup, Jim pointed me to the best place to take pictures and headed for the real work without a second look, sadly. I had half suspected him of trying to put me in a safe corner out of the way, but in fact he had thought about it and found an excellent vantage point. Maybe he wasn't such a big jerk after all. "That's when a little blonde bundle of bones wandered up and started firing questions faster than I could answer them." "I had never seen anyone as sophisticated and glamorous as you. I was fascinated." "Funny, that's what Jim said too. He knows you too well." "That's why I could never get away with anything in high school. Every time I tried there would be Uncle Jim standing in the way, telling me to think before I acted." "You're lucky to have him." "You couldn't have convinced me of that in high school, but I can see it now." She stared out into the valley below us for a while. "I wish he was my bio dad." "Love makes a family, sweetie, not biology. I never met your bio dad either, but the fact that he ran out on your mom before you were born tells me all I need to know. Did I ever tell you that Jim and I had our first fight over you?" "Really? What happened?" "He found out that you had been e-mailing me in New York, and I told him that what you said was none of his business. I thought he was going to kick me out of his truck on the side of the road." "Was he that nosy?" "Overprotective is a better word for it. I told him that he would be the first to know if I found out you needed help, and he calmed down. He's like a daddy bear when it comes to you." "Tell me about it. Johnny Smith swore he really had planned to go hunting the week after prom, but I still think he was looking for a way to get away from Jim after he brought me home late." "Was that really just a flat tire?" "A flat tire complicated by a little making out, maybe. Johnny's a sweet guy, but it was never anything serious. Thanks for keeping my secrets, such as they were." "Some things are just girl stuff, as I told Jim." "Anyway, back to how you met Uncle Jim." "I assigned you to watch out for riders and elk coming into the chute just to keep you out of my hair. At the lunch break you wanted to see all the pictures, and as we were looking at them here came ol' Marlboro Man himself, looking like every city girl's fantasy. You managed to ask a bunch of embarrassing questions about whether we liked each other, and the gentle way Jim handled it impressed me no end. Jim was confusing me, too. He kept looking at me like a hungry kid looking at an ice cream cone, but never said anything remotely personal." "The dreaded 'too nice a guy to make his move' syndrome?" "That's what I was starting to wonder. I wasn't sure if I wanted him to anyway. In J-school they always warned us against getting personal with the subjects of our stories. Besides, I was flying back to New York the next day and I didn't need a twenty-four hour romance even with a tall, handsome cowboy." "Something must have happened, though." "He invited me to use his spare room rather than drive out to the Shady Dell Motel. I normally wouldn't do that with a man I just met, but something told me I could trust him. He showed me this place for the first time and cooked me a really great dinner. Even then, it took me a little work to get him where I wanted him." "You had changed your mind?" "All the women- except the single ones, of course- made a point of mentioning that he was single, a terrific guy, and a real catch. I already knew he was ridiculously good looking and a lot smarter than he appeared at first glance. Let's just say that I was intrigued." Love Among the Elk Ch. 02 "So..." "See that hammock over there? After dinner I got into it and had to ask him to join me. Of course I couldn't help cuddling up to him once he did, and pointing out constellations was a lot easier for him once I put my head on his shoulder." "I thought you got an A in astronomy." "You think I wanted Jim to know that? What fun would that have been?" "You really pulled out all the stops, didn't you?" "Not all of them. He said in so many words that he wanted to spend the night ruining me for any other man, and I passed. That was a while after I basically trapped him into kissing me." "Why did you pass?" "I wanted to hang on to some semblance of being a responsible journalist. Besides, after fooling around with him in that hammock for a while I had a strong impression that he really was equipped to ruin me for any other man and it scared me a little." "Aargh! TMI! TMI! That's my dad you're talking about!" "You asked, kiddo." I decided not to mention my body's reaction, which caused me to change my panties before I finally went to bed. My La Perla thong had been on top of my overnight bag's lingerie pocket, and I was definitely in the mood to be wearing something sexy. Flashing Jim while half asleep the next morning had been a pure accident but his bugeyed reaction was kind of cute. "Did you ever figure out why he was such a slowpoke?" "He told me later that sexual harassment is one of the few things that can get a Federal employee in trouble, and if a journalist complained that he had hit on her he'd probably be reassigned to cleaning the elephant yard at the zoo." "But you wanted him to!" "Once he got that through his big thick head he was all over me. It was great, though, I really liked him and he was willing to respect my limits. I had a lot to think about on the flight home. Jim and I knew that we wanted to follow up on whatever we had started, but I wasn't about to give up my career to move to Oregon and keep house for some cowboy. "We got in the habit of talking every day after work, and I found myself looking forward to it more and more. Next to him the men I met around New York looked pretty sad. Here were a bunch of pasty nerds in suits worrying about making money, and on the phone was this cowboy wanting to talk about wildlife preservation and how to be a good dad to this little girl he wasn't technically related to. I flew out for a followup, and I think I realized by the time I left that I was in love. I still didn't know what to do about it, though." "That was when you brought me that T-shirt, wasn't it? I thought you were the coolest girl in the world. I still have it someplace, but my friends would make fun of me if they saw it now." "What, you don't still think I'm the coolest girl in the world?" "Well, the world's best big sister." Jim had asked for help dealing with Lindsay's normal adolescent girl problems soon after our marriage. Some things he just didn't comprehend, and his desire to kill any boy who didn't treat "his" little girl the way he expected was too blunt a tool. Lindsay's mom did her best, but she had never been far from our small town and Lindsay instinctively went to her "sophisticated" adopted big sister for advice. When her mother died in a car accident, it was natural that she moved in with us. "You worked it out, though." "Someone put me in for a National Journalism Award for the story, and I won. Suddenly the editors of Outside Magazine were inviting me to lunch and all sorts of other magazines were calling as well. I realized that I could have a great freelance career just as easily from Oregon as I could from New York, and if I did that I got to be with Jim too. I told Jim when he came out for the awards dinner." "What was that like?" "Jim got up, told the crowd how great he thought I was, and asked me to marry him right there in front of everyone. How could I refuse?" "Why would you?" "I didn't. I think they heard the 'YES!' in the Bronx." Lindsay had a dreamy expression on her face. "God, that's so romantic. I wish I could find a guy like Jim." "Sweetie, Jim was a complete dork when he was your age. I have the pictures to prove it. If you expect boys your age to be men like Jim you're sure to be disappointed." "He is a hard act to follow." "You have every right to have high standards in men. Just realize that college guys still have some growing up to do and don't expect them to be the equal of your dad yet." Thor grumbled a little in his sleep. "Why all the questions about romance, sweetie? Does this have anything to do with that good looking young man you invited to lunch with us?" She was quiet for a minute before she spoke. "He kissed me the other day." "What happened?" "He was over at my dorm and we were hanging out watching the Late Show after working through our Chem homework together. I kind of leaned on him because I was tired, he put an arm around me, and after a couple minutes he reached over and turned my head and there we were." "Well, do you like the guy?" "Of course I do! He's smart, funny, good looking, ambitious, respects me, and has a cute butt." "Don't tell Jim that last part. So where's the problem? Sounds like ideal boyfriend material to me." "But what if it doesn't work out? Then I've lost a good friend and the best study partner I've met since I started college." "I think you're past that point already, honey. He kissed you? Did you like it? Kiss him back?" She turned a little pink. God, was I ever that young? "Well, yeah, I did. He's a good kisser, too, and I responded a little before I pushed him away." "What happened?" "I said I needed time to think. He told me to take all I needed, but he wants to be a lot more than a friend to me. Then he hugged me, kissed my forehead, and left." "He wasn't just trying to get you into bed? I'm still not seeing why he's not a great guy." "He is! I don't want to lose him one way or the other." "Once a guy puts himself out there like that, sweetie, you have to make a decision. If you're attracted to him, give it a chance and see what happens. If not, tell him so and break it off. It's tempting to let him hang around spoiling you in hopes that your feelings will change, but that's taking advantage. What would Jim say? Integrity is doing the right thing when it's not easy." Thor stirred from his doze beside me. In a flash he was over the edge of the deck and flying down our two mile driveway. "Jim must have opened the gate. Nothing wrong with that dog's hearing." "Jim found him, right?" "Amanda Elliot had a friend of a friend who bred police dogs. Thor was too easy going to be a K-9, and I had told Jim that I didn't like being alone out here all day while he was at work. He came home from work one day with a half grown pup, mostly ears and paws." At first I had been irritated with Jim for sticking me with another chore, but Thor's goofy, clumsy affection definitely made the place less lonely during the day. I had moved directly from a Manhattan apartment to Jim's fire lookout tower in Oregon, and the idea that I was the only human for miles was disconcerting. One day I was out planting beans in the garden Jim and I had laid out, and as usual Thor was poking around, chasing bugs and getting underfoot. Then he started barking his fool head off. I turned around and saw that he was focused on one spot in the tree line and getting more and more upset, although I couldn't see anything there. It made me nervous, so I grabbed his collar and the two of us went back in the house. That night I told Jim about Thor acting weird. I thought he was seeing ghosts, but Jim looked serious, picked up his .357 revolver, and went out to look. He called me a few minutes later. "Wendy, come look at this!" He was out at the spot that Thor was so interested in. "See those tracks there?" "What is that?" "Puma. I bet that was what had Thor so excited." I shuddered. "They get this close?" "This time of year the young males are looking for a territory of their own and go places they normally wouldn't go. Do things they normally wouldn't do, too- usually they know where all the humans are and stay away from them. The general rule is that for every time you see a mountain lion, he's seen you at least twenty. Looks like this one was at least thinking about attacking you. They won't do it unless they can sneak up, though. I think Thor here saved your life." Of course Thor got steak for dinner that night, and I never resented having him around again. Jim taught me to shoot a .357, too- one of those skills a New York City girl doesn't need much, but useful in the back country. Jim's pickup bounced into the yard with Thor wagging his tail proudly in the bed, and Lindsay went running down to meet it. "DADDY!" Jim trudged up the stairs to the deck with Lindsay tucked under one arm, rear end first. "Hey, look what I found." "Daddy! Put me down!" He did so with a smack on her vulnerable, denim-covered rear end that had her rolling her eyes at me. I was struggling to keep a straight face. "Jim, Lindsay is a sophisticated young lady now. You can't just pick her up and smack her on the butt." "Sure I can. Watch!" He reached for her and she jumped back, shrieking and giggling. "Aw, I've got more important things to do right now." He grabbed me and kissed me thoroughly, to Lindsay's obvious disgust. Then he put a casual arm around her too. "How long you here for, kiddo?" "Just the long weekend. They don't serve barbecued elk on campus." "Lucky for you the freezer's full, then. Wendy, did you call Mike and Amanda and tell them to come over?" "The twins are starting kindergarten or something. They'll all be up tomorrow." I had told Lindsay years ago that she wasn't allowed to accept money for babysitting Mike and Amanda's twins, seeing that Mike had refused to take a penny of the settlement from her mom's death. They were wild with excitement at seeing their big sister again, and the rest of the weekend passed in a whirl of games, barbecues, and long talks on the back deck. I managed to get Lindsay alone as she was packing up to start back to Eugene. "So, have you decided what to do about Matt?" "I think so. You're right as usual." "I always am, sweetie." "Can I borrow that La Perla thong?" I stared at her. "In the first place, sweetie, you aren't going to need any lures to reel that boy in. In the second place, you have no business having your clothes off when he's around. Third, if you do don't tell your parents about it. Anyway, I'm six inches taller and thirty pounds heavier than you. I can just see that thing falling out from under your skirt and tripping you up as you run to class. Embarrassing accident to have to explain." "You're right. I'm just nervous about this." "Why? He's already told you what he wants. If you like the idea-and I know you do- you're about to start something pretty terrific." "I am, aren't I? God, I love you, Wendy." "I love you too, sweetie. Good luck, and if you can't be good be careful." She stuck her tongue out at me. "I'm always good." I hugged her. "I know. See you in a few weeks." ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ On the Friday after my big mistake I got a text from Lindsay. "I'm going home for the weekend. See you Monday." That was it. What did that mean? Was I about to get the big brush off? God, how could I have been so stupid? Telling the prettiest girl in school that I had a crush on her? A girl who had half the men on campus at her feet without even trying? Why would she want a broke-ass hick like me? Why couldn't I have been happy just hanging out with her? I tried to study all weekend, but it was hard to keep my mind on Calculus when all the numbers seemed to remind me of a pretty little blonde with a talent for math. I was a nervous wreck on Monday when I got the text. "I'm back. Meet me at the Arboretum after your Calc class?" Walking down there wasn't easy. I found Lindsay sitting on a bench in an out of the way corner of the rose gardens. She looked as tense as I felt. "Lindsay, I think I freaked you out the other day and I'm sorry. I really don't want to lose you as a friend." "The bad news is that it's too late to take it back." She stood up to face me. "There is some good news if you want to hear it." "That I could use." "Here." And she reached up and slid her arms around my neck. "I want to be more than a friend to you too." I was so shocked that I didn't react as her lips reached mine. She pulled back a little and looked up at me with a worried frown. "Is something wrong, Matt? When a girl you like throws herself at you it's only polite to catch her." "No, absolutely not. Things couldn't be more right." Then my brain caught up and I pulled her up tight against me and we kissed each other for real. "My God, Linds, I can't believe this is happening." "You better get used to the idea, then." Our kissing technique was definitely improving with practice as she wiggled her way tighter into my arms and I adjusted my grip accordingly. I had dreamed of this for so long, and I couldn't believe it was finally happening, but it sure as hell felt like a beautiful girl in my arms. Eventually she pulled back slightly. "Can we walk a little?" She took my hand and we wandered off through the garden. "Believe me, Matt, I've had a lot of the same type of thoughts about you. I told myself when I started here, though, that if I was going to get into a good medical school I needed to keep my eye on the ball and not waste time partying or running around with boys. I hadn't expected to meet a man who felt the same way. I really wasn't expecting that we would work together so well either. Once that happened, I was too afraid I would screw up a great friendship with romantic drama." "You know I'm here on a scholarship, Linds. If my grade point drops below a 3.3, it's back to being a logger and I can forget ever being an architect. We both have to focus on school, and I'm not asking for more than you have to give. So what changed your mind?" "I had a long talk with Wendy this weekend. She basically said that you had pushed things past the point of no return and that I had to either go with it or cut you loose. It's unethical to friend-zone a guy who wants to be more than friends. Integrity is important in my family." She poked me in the ribs. "She also said that you sounded like a great guy and good boyfriend material. You must have done something right the one time you met her. She would have supported me either way, but I think she was pulling for you." "Does she like flowers? I should send her a huge bunch." Lindsay laughed. "You'd better wait until after you've had a chance to meet Jim. He's suspicious of any boy I date, and sending flowers to his wife won't improve his first impression." We decided that for once we could cut class and hung out the rest of that day, mostly talking and getting a feel for what this new relationship was going to be like. As it turned out over the next few weeks, it was even better than we had hoped for. We had that synergy going with classes we had together, and even if I had to read up on something else it was a lot more fun with her curled up in the other corner of my room studying her books and giving me the occasional smile when she caught me looking at her. Keeping our hands off each other was an occasional problem, but we made and generally stayed to a "no fooling around until the homework's done" rule. It was a strong motivation to stay on top of our studies. One night, after the work was done, we were making out on my bed. Linds was incredible fun to fool around with: small but strong and lithe, and more than enthusiastic. We hadn't gotten much beyond second base, though, and I wanted to change that. She managed to end up on her side with one leg draped over me, and I slid a hand up the back of her smooth thigh until I hit the soft satin under her short skirt. With a little exploration I found the damp spot and ran my fingers along it, massaging gently. She moaned a little and then pushed herself back, knocking my hand out of the way. "Hold, it, Matt." "What's wrong?" "This is going to sound silly." "If you can't trust me now, you never can." "I'm a virgin, Matt, and I intend to stay one for the time being." "Wow." "It's not that I don't like the idea of sex with you, Matt." She blushed a little. "I'm sure you could tell how much you turn me on. I saw how hard it was for my mother to be a single parent, though, and how it derailed her dreams. I was a mistake, and I don't intend to make another one." "An accident, maybe, but no one who knows you will believe that you were a mistake. What I had in mind was safe sex, sweetheart." "That's still hard for me to get my head around. I need to just take this slow." "Speaking of hard..." "I know. I don't intend to leave you that way, believe me." She slid down the bed and unbuttoned my jeans. "I haven't done this before, so let me know if I'm doing it wrong..." What she lacked in experience she made up in enthusiasm. My erotic experience was somewhat limited, but I had never felt anything like that talented tongue while watching that blond head bobbing. All too soon she had me close to the edge. "Linds, I'm going to..." She didn't slow down or pull back until I was completely spent. Then she grinned up at me. "I always wondered what it felt like to do that!" I pulled her up to face me, kissed her, and settled her in my arms. "You did great, sweetheart. Now it's my turn!" "Uhh, Matt..." "Yeah?" "Doing that to you turned me on so much that I already, uhhh, got there." "Well, I can probably improve on that." "Another night, definitely. Tonight, I just want to fall asleep in your arms." She wiggled herself into a comfortable position and did so. Having just been treated to the best blow job of my life, who was I to complain? The next night she let me return the favor. Her small, fine labia were perfectly pink and perfectly beautiful, and tasted as sweet as her personality. Her reaction to my careful ministrations was volcanic, and left her shuddering as she settled against my chest. It went on that way for about three months, swapping magical oral experiences but never, technically, violating her virginity. I was enjoying the hell out of it, just as I was enjoying the rest of the incredible pleasures of being Lindsay's man, but I was feeling a little frustrated. One night, laying nude in my arms, she sighed. "I'm tired of this." "Of what?" "Of almost but not quite making love with you. This isn't some casual college fling, is it?" "Not to me it isn't. I love you, Lindsay." "I love you too, Matt." She rolled on top of me for a long, sweet kiss. Then she pushed herself up a little and looked me in the eyes. "I'm safe with you, aren't I?" "Always." "I think it's time." I half rolled, reaching for my nightstand, but she pushed me back. "Allow me." She reached into the drawer, found a condom, and slid down my body. "Let's see, this goes like this..." She ran her tongue around just under the head a few times. Then she rolled the condom on and crawled back up to face me. "Just lay still a second and let me do this." With a cute little frown of concentration she guided me to her wet entrance and started slowly forcing herself down. It was all I could do to lay there and not thrust, but the last thing I wanted to do was hurt her. She got me about an inch in, paused, and started rocking back and forth, a little harder every time until suddenly I was all the way inside her. Her eyes widened and she flattened out, clutching me as I wrapped her tightly in my arms. After a couple of minutes she started rocking again. Love Among the Elk Ch. 02 "You OK, sweetheart?" "Never, oof, better..." After a few strokes I got a solid grip on her cute little butt and flipped her onto her back without breaking the connection. She smiled up at me. "Hey, that's pretty fun too!" I started really moving and within seconds she screamed my name, dug her finger into my shoulders, and had a massive orgasm that took me right with her. After a couple minutes I got up and then came back and put my arms around her again. "You doing OK, Linds?" She didn't reply for a few seconds. "I never knew what I was missing. My God, I'd say you've officially blown my mind." "You're pretty amazing there yourself, kiddo." "Oh, heck, I had no idea what I was doing." "You were pretty mindblowing for that. No harm in practicing, though." "Oh, believe me, I intend to get in a lot of practice." She wasn't kidding about that either. I had the best of all possible worlds: a girlfriend who was charming and beautiful in public, sexually insatiable in private, and crazy about me all the time. It goes without saying that I was just as crazy about her. How in the world did I get this lucky? On the way out of the lecture hall one morning I found Ryan blocking my way with his gang of football players and groupies there to watch the fun. He looked me up and down contemptuously. "So tell me, how does a geek like you snag a hottie like Lindsay Collins? Who do you think you are?" "You treated her like a piece of meat, and I treated her like an intelligent human being. Try it sometime." He hadn't been expecting an actual answer. "You think I should act like some sort of sensitive New Age fag? Not likely!" Pure class, this guy. "No, but you could act like a decent person instead of an arrogant douchebag. How's the thumb?" He obviously didn't know how to react to being spoken to that way. The fact that I wasn't bothered by his size and muscles confused him too. Summers spent setting chokers for a logging outfit had left me with wiry muscles, the lung capacity and agility of a mountain goat, and some basic skills in fighting dirty. If he wanted to get physical, he was going to get a surprise. Like most bullies, he didn't have a backup plan when someone wasn't intimidated. Lindsay walked up in a short, dark blue racerback tank dress that showed off her toned, tanned legs and shoulders to perfection before he figured out what to do next. Carefully blind to Ryan's existence, she gave me her sweetest smile, put a hand on my shoulder, stood on tiptoe, and briefly kissed me. My left arm went around her slender body as she did so. "I wondered where you went, Matt. Ready for lunch?" "Sure." Ryan couldn't let it go. "Slumming, Lindsay?" "The best man won, Ryan. You can drop dead." I looked at Ryan over her blonde ponytail. "Look, I could care less how you act. Just think about what works and what doesn't. Good luck at Bemidji State." I took my stunning girlfriend's hand and strolled off. We just made it around the corner before we both cracked up. "My God, Linds, you're brutal!" "I LOVED the look on his face. Is he really transferring to northern Minnesota?" "That's the rumor, and from the look on his face I bet it's true. It takes a better player than he is to get picked up at a Division 1 school after being pushed out of his first choice under questionable circumstances. I think what really hurt was realizing that I know what's happening." "Well, it couldn't happen to a more deserving guy. Let's hurry, I have Bio at one." For a "geek", I felt like the king of the world. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ "MOM! I can't get this stupid zipper unstuck!" I carefully extricated my daughter from the mass of white lace enveloping her and tugged the dress into place with a couple small adjustments. She was nearing hysteria. "Take a deep breath, young lady. Matt's a terrific guy and this is going to go fine. How long have you been with him?" ""Since sophomore year in college, six or seven years now." "You love him, right?" Her smile spoke louder than words. "So settle down. Nothing to worry about." She did as instructed. There was a banging on the door. "Come on, let's round 'em up and move 'em out!" I opened the door. "For crying out loud, Jim, we're marrying off our daughter, not herding cattle!" I hadn't seen Jim in a tux since the night we got engaged. If he didn't remember how sexy it made him look he was sure as heck going to by the end of the night. At the moment, he just looked harried. "We've got a hundred guests, one nervous young architect, and the preacher waiting on us..." His voice trailed off as he got a good look at Lindsay, and he stepped in and shut the door. His hands went to her shoulders. "Linds, I've been your dad since you were six, and I'm always going to be your dad even if I'm about to give you away to a man who's almost good enough to deserve you. You've grown up into a kind, smart, confident, beautiful young lady. Heck, in a year or two you're going to be a pediatrician. I couldn't possibly be prouder if you were my natural daughter." "You and Wendy made me whatever I am by being the best parents in the world. If my bio dad even knows what's happening today it's not my doing. I am your natural daughter, Jim. Love makes us a family, and I've never doubted how much you two love me." And with one final three way hug, we led our daughter out toward her brilliant future.