Free Ragged Man by Ken Douglas Page B

I gotta go, I got a girl waiting.”
    “ Maybe I’ll see you around,” Storm said.
    “ Maybe.” Evan turned and left the restroom.
    “ What took so long?” Sherry asked when he returned to the table.
    “ I met a guy in the john that I knew.” He didn’t want to tell her that he’d been sitting in a toilet stall, finishing off the gram of coke that he’d started earlier in the day.
    “ You know I was thinking,” she said, “if I went through your Stones collection, I would know exactly what you had and the next time we got something in, I’d know for sure whether you had it or not.”
    “ What do you want to do that for? You know exactly what I need.”
    “ I know, I’m just looking for an excuse to go to your place.”
    “ Why?”
    “ Evan, you silly, can’t you tell when a girl wants to go to the submarine races?”
    “ I don’t understand.”
    “ That’s what we called making out in high school, the submarine races.”
    His tongue was planted firm against his bottom teeth, temporarily frozen. This was a moment he thought would never happen.
    “ Come on, say something.”
    “ I just never thought—”
    “ Well, don’t think now. Drop some money on the table and let’s get the train to Great Neck. It’s about time I saw your place.”
     
     
    * * *
    She slept with her head on his shoulder during the train ride and was sexually silent as he shepherded her to his BMW, and the only thing she said on the ride to his place was, “I’m really looking forward to this.” Her voice was electrifyingly erotic and he was euphoric.
    “ You take my breath away,” he said.
    “ And you leave me breathless,” she answered.
    He was in heaven, spine-chilling, spine-tingling, spine-thrilling heaven.
    As soon as they were in the door, they were in each other’s arms. Evan scooped her up, carried her to the bedroom, dropped her on the bed.
    “ God, you look great,” he said as he stood back to look at her.
    “ Come here, you,” she said.
    He jumped on the bed and they were instantly entangled, a mass of arms and legs. He ran his hands up and down her back, then with a daring he didn’t know he had, he reached under her blouse and unhooked her bra. He hadn’t done that since high school.
    She moaned in his ear as her breasts sprang free.
    He brought his hands around to them, cupping one in each hand.
    She nibbled in his ear and moaned louder.
    Trembling, he pulled the blouse over her head and gasped when he saw her breasts. “They’re magnificent.” He lowered his head to take a nipple into his mouth.
    She arched her back and moaned still louder.
    Without removing his mouth, he worked her skirt up and put a hand inside her panty hose. She wasn’t wearing panties.
    “ Take them off, quick,” she whispered with her tongue in his ear. He complied, rolling them off of her agreeing form, leaving her clad in nothing but her short checkered skirt.
    “ Do you like me like this, naked and waiting, wanting you?”
    “ I sure do.” And he pulled her toward him. Their lips met, tongues jousting. She tugged at his belt and pulled down the zipper of his jeans.
    Holding fast to her tongue, he pushed his underwear and jeans to his knees, then, kicking off his loafers, he shed the pants. She grabbed between his legs and it was his turn to moan, and to worry.
    “ What’s the matter,” she said, “don’t I excite you?”
    “ It’ll be okay,” he said. He gently pushed her back, knowing that it wouldn’t be. Why of all days did he coke himself up today. And why of all days, did she pick today to finally succumb. Life wasn’t fair.
    All of a sudden Mick Jagger and the Rolling Stones started to scream as his stereo jumped to life.
    Evan sat bolt upright.
    “ Somebody’s here,” Sherry said.
     
     
    * * *
    Sam Storm cranked up the volume, and while the couple in the bedroom were still in a state of surprise, he burst into the room, grinning.
    Evan jumped off the bed, determined to make a fight of it,