Chapter 4

But all Shelly could think of was how she would have loved to have been there, but not with Pauline. She was still involved with River and it made her feel guilty to fantasize about Gina while being with River. She liked River and the sex was good, but still, there was something missing. It took her a while to figure it out; missing was that deep, personal connection which lovers should have, but was missing between her and River.

After their last final, Shelly got together with River for a celebratory drink.

"Two years down and two to go," sighed Shelly.

"For you, maybe, but I'm looking at just one more year."

"Then what?"

"Look for a job. Maybe move to the coast where there are a lot more queer people."

This admission suggested to Shelly that River wasn't much into their relationship. Maybe it was just sex after all. "Uh, Riv, you thinking seriously about moving on?"

"Yeah, when I graduate, sure."

"Am I, uh, do I figure in your plans?"

"Who knows what will happen? Who knows what my plans next year will be? I'm still in college and learning a lot about me."

"It sounds to me like you're planning on moving on."

"Shell, I don't have any real plans. I'm taking it one day at a time."

"Um, maybe, uh, maybe if you're…oh, shit, I'll just say it. Maybe we shouldn't consider ourselves together in that case."

"You mean break up?"

"Yeah, but in a friendly way. You know, say to people we were merely experimenting and have decided to move on. We'd still be friends, you know, meet at the group, have a drink now and then."

River moved over to Shelly's side and gave her a big hug. "Shell, you're such a gem. I couldn't agree more. Sex with you is phenomenal, but I don't see us together long term, do you?"

"No, not really."

"So, if we went our two ways, you'd be OK with it?"

"Yeah. A little sad, maybe, and I'd miss your tongue, God, I'd miss your tongue. But, no, I'd be fine."

"Like my tongue, do you?"

"You know that I do."

"Wanna 'good-bye' fuck? One last time with my tongue?"

"Mmm, maybe not. Knowing it's the last time, well, I don't think I could relax enough to enjoy it. Let's not, let's kiss goodbye and say we'll see each other in the fall at the support sessions."

"Yeah, you're probably right. Know what?"

"What?"

"I'll miss your tongue, too."

Both Gina and Shelly took the same summer jobs they had the previous year. Shelly enjoyed working with the trail crews and being outdoors so much that she found herself wondering if she should consider switching from pre-vet studies to forestry or some other similar field. As she shoveled gravel, rebuilt washed-out bridges over creeks and cut away encroaching bushes, she wondered and worried if she would lose any ground if she switched majors or could she still plan on graduating in four years. She promised herself she would look into this as soon as she finished her work on the trails.

Unlike the previous summer, there were no opportunities for any sexual contact except with her two talented fingers on her right hand. And aware of how sound travels through a campsite, she always kept as quiet as possible. Keeping quiet wasn't nearly as difficult as the longing she experienced right before climax as she fantasized about going down on Gina.

Gina, meantime, volunteered as an assistant coach for the community soccer club and worked again at the pool. One of the other summer employees was seriously attractive and had a dry wit, which attracted her to him. After a few weeks of flirting with him, he let on that he had a girlfriend at his college.

'Dammit,' she muttered once he spilled the news, "Just my luck. Getting' horny and the first decent prospect is taken. At least he was honest about it, not like that shit Andy."

She loved her volunteer work with the soccer club. She was given responsibility for the U-7 girls and, not knowing what to do with them or what to expect, she did a quick dive into the internet to answer the questions. The girls were a hoot and they thrived on her attention. Within a few weeks, she had chosen a goalie and even had the ball hogs passing to teammates. On the few occasions when her team scrimmaged with other teams, the results were fabulous. 'Her' girls ruled, as they shouted after each game, and towards the end of summer, the league's president came to watch the last scrimmage, which was a six-nil rout.

"Say, Gina, you've really got these girls doing great," she said after the flags had been collected and the last of the girls was gone.

"Thanks. They're sweet and so easy to teach."

"That may be, but none of the other teams did nearly as well. These girls will be the heroes of their teams when they start playing in the fall league."

"Yeah, they should do well."

"Say, uh, we could use someone with your talent on our coaching staff. Would you be interested?"

"Oh, sorry, can't. I'm still in college and have two years to go."

"Oh, well, then I have to ask you to consider us when you're back next summer or if you come back after you graduate."

"Thanks, but that might be a while. Once I'm done with college, I'll do grad work."

"Well, good luck to you and if I can make a recommendation? Consider coaching in your spare time, if you have any."

"Don't have a lot. I do play intramural soccer in the fall and three v. three in the spring, but it's right on campus. Getting to a coaching gig would be tough."

"Well, I see you have it in your blood, so maybe when you've got some spare time in the future, you'll consider it. Good luck to you and thanks for your time this summer."

The president's little talk gave her ego a big boost. The work at the pool had been fairly boring and coaching seemed to make the summer worthwhile. 'No decent guys to waste my time on, but at least I had fun coaching.'

When Gina and Shelly met in the fall, they gave each other a big hug and immediately began to talk about their summers and their new studio apartments. They had casually texted each other a few times, but contact had been difficult for Shelly when she was out of cellphone range. She told Gina about possible plans for a change in her major.

"I love being out there and I keep asking why not do it all the time. I'm going to see if I can't switch to forestry or ecology and shoot for going into the national park service."

"Doesn't that mean a lot of travel and moving during a career?"

"Yeah, I guess it does, but being cooped up indoors all day listening to Mrs. Myshitdontstink talk about her foo-foo dog sounds less appealing every day. Don't get me wrong, I love animals, but dealing with the owners, well, not so much. What about you?"

"Did the pool thing but volunteered as a coach for U-7 girls. Shell, it was great! They were a bunch of surly little girls who hogged the ball, but once I got them working as a team, wow, it was amazing."

"Sounds like you're one of those who 'can't do, so you teach'."

"I can too, do. Um, that sounds weird, but just because I didn't make the college team doesn't mean I can't do."

"Yeah, I'm jerkin' your chain. Oh, hear about the intramural league?"

"No, what?"

"Downstate decided to kick in some cash and redid the fields this summer. They look great. Can't wait to play on them."

"I'll take a look tomorrow. Care to split a bottle of wine after you've moved in?"

"Sure. My treat. See you around seven."

When the two went to the intramural soccer fields the next day, they were surprised at how many people were there. It seemed as if there would be twice as many teams and the new leaders were pushing for more organized games.

"OK, everybody, please pay attention. I'm Sandy and I drew the short straw so I'll be the president or chairwoman or whatever for this fall's intramural soccer season. We've decided to set things up differently and will keep scores, do the win/loss/draw thing and arrange for a championship game at the end.

"There are so many of you that we will divide up into two divisions and the winner of each division will be in the big game.

"Like before, teams will consist of eight players, max six on the field at any time. These are all coed and teams must have four of each. OK? So, for now, I want you all to talk it over, set up your teams and let me know who's on the team and what your team name is."

Gina and Shelly were able to get several of their teammates from the previous year to join them and the 'Fleet Feet' were reborn. They got together the next afternoon to discuss a captain, Shelly was the unanimous choice, and to have a quick little practice.

The seven games were weekly, starting in late September and finishing in mid-November. The two women were the stars of the team and of the entire league, for that matter. The 'Feet,' as they were called, ended up winning all but one game, a game which was tied by the other team with a desperation shot from midfield right over the goalie's hands. Even with the tie, they were one of the two teams in the championship match and were set up to play against the 'Golden Nads,' an unbeaten team which was cheered on with the shout "Go Nads!"

It was a glorious fall Saturday afternoon when the two teams met. The Nads had some good male players, one of whom had played for his junior college's team, while the women were not so talented. The Feet, more evenly skilled, had held a quick strategy session the night before the match and decided to concentrate their effort on attacking the weaker side while trying to double-team their star on the defensive end.

There was a surprisingly big crowd for the match and to the Feet's dismay, the Nads even had a few cheerleaders working the crowd. A roach coach in the parking lot was doing a rousing business selling tacos and hot chocolate on the brisk late fall day. As Shelly looked over the scene, she had a sense of inevitable defeat. 'No way we can beat them,' she thought, 'They've got so much enthusiasm that the refs will favor them.'

The match was brutal. Both teams desperately wanted to win and the men playing for the Nads did not ease up when going against a female Feet player. Several times Gina and Shelly ended up on the turf, but no yellow cards were shown. After the second time she had been shoved to the turf, Gina turned to Shelly and said, "No more nice girl. You with me?"

Shelly nodded 'yes,' they high-fived and turned back to the pitch. Within a minute, Shelly took a pass from Gina and as she turned to go around a defender, she cut him off and he went flying to the turf. She and the entire team were stunned to hear the whistle and a warning shout from the center ref.

The crowd, even those rooting for the Nads, went berserk. "Hey, Ref, that wasn't a foul!" "Let 'em play!" "It's OK to knock a girl down, but if a little, widdle boy goes down, it's a foul?"

While Shelly fumed silently about the unjust call, Gina stood over the Nad on the ground and said loud enough for him to hear, "Had enough, little boy?"

He jumped up and wildly, with hands on her breasts, shoved Gina to the turf. The crowd, already sensing unfair refereeing favoring the guys, went nuts. They screamed and yelled at the ref, who was trying to get control of the game by calming tempers and separating the players. When he signaled for the match to resume without having penalized the offending Nad, the women in the crowd, even the Nad cheerleaders, reacted with screams and swearing.

"How come you're letting him off?" "That big asshole should get a red card!" "Are you on the take, Ref?"

He appeared to ignore the crowd and blew his whistle, ordering the match to be resumed. It wasn't a minute later when Gina was tackled from behind after she had passed the ball off to another player. Once she went down and no foul was called, several of the women spectators stormed the field and accosted the ref, accusing him of favoritism and sexism. When he tried to push them back and even shoved one of the protestors, multiple others joined the women on the field. Shouting, swearing and even threats of violence were heard as they accosted the center ref.

There was sheer pandemonium until police sirens were heard from the parking lot. The campus police, one with a bullhorn in hand, ran to the field to defuse the situation. With shouts and pleas for the crowd to leave the pitch, the spectators slowly backed up, grumbling and swearing the whole time. Once the spectators were off the pitch, the police captain spoke with his bullhorn to the crowd.

"We need you to all stay on the sidelines during the game. If this happens again, we will cancel the match and detain anyone who is on the field. This is supposed to be a friendly match, so please…"

"The ref is allowing the guys to do anything and the girls are penalized for nothing!"

"Yeah, he's not even trying to be fair."

"Can the ref! Can the ref! Can the ref!"

The crowd took up the chant until no one could hear the police captain, even with his bullhorn. The situation looked to be getting totally out of hand when the ref walked up to the police captain, shouted something to him, pulled off his ref jersey and whistle and walked off the field. Cheers erupted from the crowd and not a few unkind remarks were hurled at the back of the fleeing referee.

The two team reps met with the police captain and the two sideline refs, ideas were tossed around and finally, everyone came to an agreement. One of the sideline refs was to assume center ref duties, the remaining sideline would be monitored on the honor system and the offending Nad who had pushed Gina down was given a red card and ushered away from the field. The new ref announced to the crowd and to the players that the goal of the intramurals was fun and sportsmanship and if the players couldn't keep things fun, she was going to stop the play.

Once the game resumed, it was a blast. The teams took care of the one sideline calls and self-reported offsides as best they could. The game was tough but fun. Teasing and friendly taunting replaced the anger and hostility while the score see-sawed back and forth. At the end of the regulation time, the score was tied four-all. As it was getting late and the field had no lights, the center ref called everyone together and officially called the game a draw. Some of the players wanted to have a penalty kick shoot-out to determine the winner, but most were happy with the tie.

As they milled around on the field, shaking hands and talking, one of the Nads yelled out, "Hey, everyone, let's have an end-of-the-year party. I called and my fraternity will be glad to host it. Show up in an hour, OK?" There were cheers of approval before everyone dispersed.

The party was a smash. After she showered, Shelly walked over to the frat house, where she was pleased to see Gina at the party where the players, the two refs and some significant others were all mingling. Everyone circulated and talked about soccer and their classes. Gina was hit on by two of the Nads, but declined, saying she needed to get some sleep. For a frat house, alcohol consumption was moderate, but even so, Gina found herself tipsy enough at the end of the party that she knew a walk across campus to her studio apartment was not a good idea.

"Hey, Shell, can I crash with you tonight?"

"Sure. Bed's kinda small, but we'll manage, I guess," answered a nervous Shelly.

Once they were at her apartment, they peed, stripped to their panties and crashed into bed. After both slept like the dead, it was the next morning when those fateful words were spoken: "How come you never, you know, you've never come on to me?"

—–

Shelly didn't know how to react. She was simultaneously stunned and turned on; here was the object of her secret desires asking why she had never come on to Gina. She had long before decided to avoid getting involved with a straight chick, yet here was one asking a direct question which seemed to be a challenge, a dare, even.

And Shelly didn't know how to answer the question. She had avoided coming on to Gina out of sheer willpower and not because she wasn't interested. She was. Very!

Finally, she squeezed out. "But you're my straight BFF."

"Umm, yeah, I guess. But don't you sometimes wonder, uh, you know…?"

"Are you wondering?" whispered Shelly, barely able to hide her nervousness.

There was a long pause, so long that Shelly thought for a second Gina had fallen back to sleep. Then she heard the answer. "Yeah?"

"Is that an answer or a question?"

"Both, I guess."

Was it an invitation? Should she do something? Would Gina get mad if she did? These and a thousand other thoughts raced through Shelly's mind, her mind acutely aware of her lightly curled hand resting between Gina's beautiful breasts. Oh, how she wanted to feel them, play with them, kiss them and suck them, all on the way downtown. But this was her straight best bud. And Shelly swore she'd never have sex with a straight girl. What was she going to do?

Her hand, as if it had a mind of its own, answered the question. Her fingers slowly straightened until the tips of her four fingers were resting higher up on Gina's chest, still in the sweet valley between the breasts. The index finger was the first to rub a tiny circle on the skin, almost like seeking permission. There was no verbal response, but Shelly could tell Gina had held her breath before emitting a soft sigh.

The finger drew a few more circles before being joined by one and finally all the fingers. Light little circles evolved into little strokes along the skin, strokes which seemed to still be seeking permission to proceed.

A longer and slightly louder sigh seemed to give Shelly the permission her fingers were seeking. She expanded the range of her gentle strokes, slowly climbing up to Gina's neck and jaw. When the fingers reached Gina's lips and traced along them, the mouth cracked open, seemingly inviting them to explore further. Once two fingers were tracing along the lower lip, Gina's tongue tip reached out and barely touched them.

Shelly froze, unsure what to do, until the lips gave the exploring fingers a barely perceptible kiss. Yes! Gina was responding. Shelly again drew her fingers across the lips, only to be met with the mouth opening wider and the tongue teasing, luring the fingers inside. Gina's mouth wrapped around the two exploring fingers and gave a gentle suck while teasing with tiny darts of her tongue tip.

Shelly was ecstatic, but scared. Yes, her dream was coming true, but at what cost? She pulled her fingers from Gina's mouth and whispered the question which needed to be asked.

"You sure?"

"Umm-hmm," was the response from Gina's barely nodding head.

"If we do this, we can't undo it."

"I know."

Shelly lay there excited and scared, excited to be given permission to proceed and scared for what this might mean for the two of them. She decided to explore things a little further with a kiss of her own. She pulled her hand from Gina's lips, scooted away slightly and gently pulled Gina flat on her back. She slowly lowered her mouth to Gina's while resting her free hand on Gina's shoulder.

The first contact between their lips, contact so subtle and so soft it was barely perceptible, lit a fire in Shelly, a fire unlike anything she had ever felt before. Their kiss deepened, mouths opened, tongues darted. After an eternity of kissing, an eternity which was at the same time far too short, Shelly gently pulled back and looked down at Gina. Her face featured a sweet, relaxed smile and when she opened her eyes, they showed no fear, no anxiety. Instead, they sparkled with desire.

Shelly closed her eyes and lowered herself to Gina again, wanting, no, insisting on more kisses. As they kissed, Shelly's hand slowly slid down from Gina's shoulder, fingertips tracing tiny circles on the way, on the way down to Gina's breast. The fingers drew unhurried circles around the nipple, skating close before drawing away, and then repeating.

After several teasing forays towards the nipple, Gina reached up with her own hand, forced Shelly's to the nipple and broke the kiss with a soft command, "Touch me or else."

"Or else what?"

"It will be the last time you see or feel my boob."

"Your wish is my command." Shaking off Gina's hand, Shelly let her fingers resume their soft circular journey, but this time she dragged fingers right over the nipple and even scratched it lightly with her fingernails. Gina, sighing softly with every stroke, pulled Shelly's head back to her and resumed their oral exploration.

If she had been asked previously, Shelly would have said that, given the opportunity, she would have raced fingers and tongue down to Gina's Promised Land. But on that morning, she found it to be far more exciting to go slow, to tease Gina, to draw her out, to make her want more. And so, the kissing and nipple play continued until Gina broke away and asked in a husky voice, "Is this all you lesbians do, or is there more?"

"Oh, there's more, a lot more."

"Then what's taking so long?"

"It's called foreplay and…"

"Named after 'four hours,' right?" giggled Gina.

"You want it a little faster?"

"Yes."

"Good, then I'll go a little slower."

"Don't you dare, or I'll have to take care of myself."

"Oh, we can make that part of this if you want, but for now, let me lead."

"If you insist," came the frustrated sigh.

In spite of having teased her about going slower, Shelly decided to speed things up slightly. As the two resumed kissing, Shelly's exploring hand began to drift south, drawing little circles and short strokes over the upper belly, a belly Shelly had been drawn to for years. By the time her hand reached the belly button, Gina was whimpering in Shelly's mouth.

"What?" she asked.

"You're cruel."

"Teasing is not cruel. Teasing leads to so much more."

The hand drifted ever so slowly down until it hit the top of the panties. Instead of slipping her fingers under the waistband, Shelly slid them over the cloth to the gusset, a gusset which was wet with excitement. She trailed a fingertip up and down along the slit, eliciting more sighs, sighs which became moans as the finger trailed across the tiny nubbin at the top.

After several minutes, Gina broke away, grabbed her panties and began sliding them down her legs.

"Impatient, are we?"

"Hell yes."

"OK, let me help."

Shelly sat up and looked down at her best friend, now her lover, and she loved what she saw. Gina had the look of absolute desire in her eyes as she struggled with the panties. It was the perfect image of lust. She leaned over and helped slide the panties down the legs and tossed them to the floor.

Gina lay there, legs slightly askew, eyes begging for more and one hand grasping Shelly's free hand. A small dart of trimmed hair seemed to point down to the shaved and swollen outer lips.

An almost evil thought slipped through Shelly's mind; she could start at the feet and go just as slowly up the legs as she had gone down the torso. She realized, however that Gina was seriously turned on and wanted, even needed, release. Yes, Shelly was going to give her new lover the release she desired.

She stretched out beside her and as she began to kiss again, Shelly brought her hand up the inner thighs and to the bare lips. Her fingers gently spread the lips, releasing more liquid heat onto her fingers. She probed slightly, slipped two fingers inside an inch or so before drawing them well lubricated back to attack the pearl. Shelly knew it wouldn't take much to bring her lover to climax and decided she had teased her for far too long. She began a simple rotary motion, something she enjoyed while pleasuring herself, right over Gina's clit.

One, two, three little circles and Shelly could tell Gina was well on the way to an orgasm. Her kissing stopped as she turned her head to the side to take in deep gulps of air, her body tensed as her torso arched and subtle tremors seemed to spread over her body. And this was after only three little rubs!

By the sixth or seventh circle over the clit, Gina exploded. She called out, swearing like a sailor and calling out to God and Jesus as her body gyrated and shook. Gina's hand clamped over Shelly's, forcing her to continue the digital attention. With an almost voyeuristic thrill, Shelly opened her eyes to watch the orgasming Gina. Her head was turned to the side, face scrunched up tightly, her chest and those attractive breasts were covered with a mottled rash, her free hand tightly clutched the sheet and her body trembled and shook.