How I Got My Revenge

Chapter 34

And Then There Were Two

I woke up Wednesday morning and smelled coffee and shampoo. Elijah’s head was still on my chest and obviously, the smell of coffee was coming from the kitchen. Carl was up and getting ready for work. I had to pee, so trying to go back to sleep wasn’t an option. I’d need to either wake Elijah or try to gently move out from under him. I chose the latter. I gently moved his arm from my stomach and then grabbed the other pillow. I then gently held his head and slid out from under him, and then slid the pillow I had grabbed where my chest had just been. I slowly released Elijah’s head down onto the pillow. He stirred and I thought he was waking, but he just reached his arm out as if searching for my abs. His arm settled on the pillow his head was on. I slowly crept into the bathroom and then after relieving my bladder, quietly made my way into the kitchen where Carl sat drinking a cup of coffee and finishing a bowl of oatmeal. I said, “Good morning. We weren’t too loud last night, were we?” Carl grinned and said, “No, not really. It did take me a while to fall asleep after getting hard from seeing a naked Elijah kneeling in front of you, giving you a blowjob.” I laughed and said, “I can imagine he looked pretty hot from where you were.” Carl said, “Yeah, it reminded me of when I saw Chris the other day in your bed. They have similar bubble butts, both full and firm. I almost came back out to join you, but I knew if I did, I’d be totally wiped out for work today. I’m not sure if I stayed hard the whole night or if it was a coincidence that I went to sleep and woke up hard.” I laughed and said, “We did have a pretty good night after you went in.” Carl said, “I can only imagine. I’m wondering why you don’t seem overly happy this morning if last night was so good.” After sitting down with a cup of coffee, I looked at Carl and asked him, “When you talk to Kayla, has she ever told you how she felt after our breakup?” Carl gave me a surprised look as he asked me, “What do you mean?” I said, “Well, I’ve been thinking about what you said about me developing a fear of rejection after Kayla and I broke up and you may have been right at the time. Now I think I have other concerns. Kayla and I had a great relationship, at least from my perspective anyway. She apparently met someone at Oxford that she liked. We were only going to be seeing each other once or twice for maybe a week over the next two to four years, so I understood the difficulty with our relationship. When she finally made the decision to write that letter, I’m just wondering how she felt at the time.” Carl was looking at me as if he was reading my mind, and then he slowly nodded, and said, “Kayla really did or does love you, Jeremy. She was heartbroken when she wrote that letter. She cried when she told me about it on the phone. Look, I know you didn’t ask me this to know how heartbroken she was about your breakup. This is about you, isn’t it? You’ve gone from being worried about rejection to being afraid of having to reject someone else” I lowered my head in acknowledgement, and he continued, “I’ve already told you that I’d get over it and that we’d always be like brothers, so this isn’t about me.” I shook my head agreeing with him. He said, “You’re worried about choosing between Chris and Elijah.” I looked up at Carl with watering eyes and said, “So now you know how I’ll feel if I have to make that choice. It would tear me apart.” Carl got up and came over to where I was sitting and hugged me, “I hope it doesn’t come to that, but you’ll always have my shoulder to cry on if it does. They’re both great guys and I had some issues to deal with myself before I realized I had to put our relationship as brothers above that of my desire to keep you for myself. I had Kayla in mind when I decided to not put you in that situation and am now comfortable with the decision I made.” Carl grinned before saying, “Though I’m always available whenever you want to play.” Then his serious face reemerged, “Life will always be filled with tough decisions and those are some of the toughest. You will get through them though, and I’ll always be there to help you through those times.” I gave him a big hug and said, “Thank you, Carl. You’re the best big brother I never had up until recently.” Carl squeezed me tightly, then said, “I need to get going or I’ll be late. Have a good lunch.” We then kissed and I left him to finish getting ready while I sat at the counter finishing my coffee. As I sat there it hit me that through the whole conversation we had just had, a very important thing had been established. Carl and I would probably never be a couple, but we’d always be brothers, there for each other whenever we were needed. I found myself surprised that I was mostly ok with that, especially considering Carl’s comment about always being willing to play. I smiled to myself.

I finished my coffee and then decided to get a shower. I’d only gotten three hours of sleep and needed something to wake me up. I had to smile when I walked into my room and saw Elijah with his head on one pillow and the other, he had his arms and legs wrapped around as if they were a person. I hoped in his dreams, that person was me. I quietly slipped into my ensuite and brushed my teeth, shaved, and then got in the shower. As I shut the water off, I recalled the dream or rather nightmare I had a couple nights ago. I shook it out of my head as I combed my hair in the mirror. I quietly entered back into my bedroom and found Elijah pretty much in the same position except he had rolled over, so his cute, muscular bubble butt was on full display. His face was turned, so I was surprised when he said, “Why didn’t you wait for me?” I grinned at the spectacle before me and replied, “I didn’t want to wake you. Besides, you seemed to be having a great time making love to my pillows.” Elijah rolled over and looked at me with a grin, “Yeah, I fell asleep wrapped around this hot guy with my head on his chest and I wake up with the scarecrow.” I burst out laughing at his analogy and then he added, “By the way, you may want to wash this one, it’s a little damp from my precum.” I grinned and said, “Maybe I’ll lick it clean then.” He laughed and said, “You’ve turned into a pervert, Jeremy.” I laughed and said, “Why don’t you grab a shower while I throw some breakfast together.” He smiled and said, “Sounds good. I’m hungry.”

I was just putting the eggs and bacon on the plates when Elijah came into the kitchen and said, “Smells good. You were up early.” I said, “Yeah, I smelled the coffee Carl was making. I also smelled shampoo from the guy who’s head was on my chest.” Elijah grinned and said, “It was your shampoo I used last night.” I smiled and said, “Somehow it smelled different in your hair. More alluring.” Elijah smiled. As we ate breakfast, Elijah asked, “So, did you call your friend Chris yet?” I said, “No, not yet. I thought I’d wait until after breakfast.” Elijah said, “I’m looking forward to meeting him or rather getting to know him better. I know what I said last night, and I hope you took it lightly when I referred to him as my opponent. If he’s anything like you describe him to be, I’m hoping we can become friends.” I smiled and said, “I’d really like that. I’m sure you’ll like him.” Then Elijah asked, “Is Carl ok with me being here? I know he called me, but I thought you two were..” I interrupted him, “A couple? Well, no, not exactly. We’re roommates and brothers without blood. He’s my ex’s brother, but now more like the big brother I never had. I do love him, but now I’m thinking it’s more of a brotherly love but with benefits.” Elijah said, “That’s pretty cool.” Then I heard him say under his breath, “One down, one to go.” I asked, “What did you say?” Elijah said, “Oh! Nothing, just mumbling to myself.”

After breakfast, I called Chris. “Hey Jeremy, what up?” I said, “Hey Chris. Elijah arrived last night instead of this morning. Would you want to join us for lunch?” Chris said, “I wouldn’t want to impose. Besides, you and Elijah need to catch up. Maybe tomorrow.” I said, “We already pretty much caught up. Elijah would really like to get to know you better. Why don’t you join us?” Chris was quiet for a few seconds before asking, “Are you sure?” I said, “Of course, I’m sure. Eleven thirty, ok?” Chris said, “Sure.”

We arrived at the Italian restaurant and Chris pulled in beside us. I smiled over at him and then got out of my car with Elijah getting out of the passenger’s side. As we gathered together before going inside, I said, “You remember Elijah from the other week, right Chris?” Chris smiled and attempted to shake Elijah’s hand. Elijah instead moved in and gave him a bro hug, “How’s it goin’ Chris?” Chris smiled as they broke the hug and said, “Good, and you?” Elijah replied, “Great. It’s good seeing you again. It’ll be good to spend more time together and get better acquainted.” Chris said, “Yeah, I’d like that.” I thought things were going well, so far. We headed into the restaurant and were seated at a table. The waitress came over immediately and took our drink order and gave us a few minutes to look over the menu. I wasn’t sure which one of us she was flirting with the most. She was pretty hot. As we looked over the menu, we talked about our majors and different classes we were taking, just typical stuff. I was happy Elijah and Chris seemed to be pretty comfortable around each other. I had feared a bit of jealous tension.

The waitress returned with our drinks and said, “I’m assuming you’re all of age for alcohol.” as she smiled at Chris. He smiled back and she said, “Oh my God. I love your dimples.” She put her hand on his and then asked, “Are you ready to order?” Chris stammered out, “Yes. I’ll have the uh, um, Chicken Alfredo with fettuccini please.” She hesitated for a moment, keeping her hand on his, then said, “That’s one of our customer favorites. You’ll love it.” Then she removed her hand so she could jot it down and turned to Elijah. She did the same to him, placing her hand on his before asking, “And what would you like? I love your hair by the way. I can’t resist a curly blond.” Elijah smiled and said, “I’ll have the Stuffed Ravioli.” She said, “Another good choice.” The she removed her hand only to run it through Elijah’s hair. Turning to me, she asked, “What will you be having. I love your muscles.” Instead of placing her hand on mine, she grabbed my right bicep and gave it a squeeze. Elijah and Chris were both grinning at me. I’m sure I turned red. I told her, “I’ll try the Lobster Spaghetti.” She leaned down, and for a second, I thought she was going to kiss me but instead whispered, “That’s my favorite.” She then stood back up and gave my bicep one more squeeze before she wrote my order down and said, “If you need anything else, just call or put your hand up. I’ll come right over.” As she walked away, all three of us were trying to contain our laughter. Elijah said, “I’m not sure who she was flirting with more. First it was Chris’ dimples, then my hair and finally Jeremy’s muscles.” Chris said, “She couldn’t keep her hands off us.” When our order arrived at our table, she was more professional since there were two male servers with her. I recognized one from the campus. He acknowledged both Chris and me with a nod. The food was delicious and there wasn’t a great deal of conversation because we were too busy stuffing ourselves. When we finished, the one server who I didn’t recognize came over to take our plates. He was next to me and as he turned to take the plates away, he brushed up against me, then apologized, “I’m so sorry. Please forgive me, sir.” As he apologized, he placed his hand on my upper arm. I’m sure he had done it on purpose, but I assured him, “It’s fine. No harm done.” He gave me a smile as he carried the plates away. The waitress returned to give us our checks as we had agreed we would pay our own tab. She asked, “Can I get you guys anything else?” We said no and gave her our cards. When she returned our credit cards and we signed the receipts, she smiled and said, “I hope to see you all again soon.” We thanked her and left the restaurant. As we were walking to our cars, Elijah said, “Look at this!” We stopped and looked. On the back of his receipt was the name Sherry as well as a phone number. Chris grinned and said, “She must have really liked you, blondie.” Then he looked at his own receipt and said, “No shit! She gave me her number too!” I looked at mine and said, “Same here.” I said, “Maybe we should call her and invite her back to the house when she’s done working.” Chris blushed at my suggestion but didn’t say anything. Then Elijah said, “Are you sure that busboy didn’t slip his number into your pocket? You do know he did that on purpose.” I just grinned and said to Chris, “Are you following us home?” He smiled and said, “If you’d like.” I started to reply, but Elijah glanced at me and said, “We insist.”

We were back at the house before one. Carl wouldn’t be home for a couple hours. We were sitting in the living room still laughing and talking about Sherry at the restaurant. Elijah joked about Sherry liking Chris’ dimples and teased him about calling her. Chris shocked the hell out of me when he said, “She’s all yours.” Elijah said, “Lately, I’ve been mostly into guys.” Chris asked Elijah, “Can you keep a secret?” Elijah replied, “Of course.” Chris then said, “I’m gay. No one in our basketball group except Jeremy and Carl know, and I’d like to keep it that way, at least for now.” Elijah didn’t reveal that I had already told him, “Thanks for being honest, Chris. I thought I was totally straight, well at least I tried to convince myself of that.” He looked at me when he said that, then continued, “But like I said, I’m pretty sure I prefer guys too. I don’t know if Jeremy said anything to you about our past.” Chris glanced to me and then back to Elijah and said, “Just that you played football in high school together and only recently started hanging together.” Elijah grinned and asked, “So, would you be interested in a little fun with Jeremy and I?” Chris smiled and those dimples were deeper than usual as he nodded his head. I said, “I’ll go grab us a drink. I’ll be right back. By the time I returned from the kitchen, Chris and Elijah were kissing. I stopped in my tracks as I looked at them and smiled. I walked over and set their drinks down. They broke their kiss and turned to me and began kissing me while also pulling off my shirt. Soon we were all undressing each other. Clothes were flying everywhere. Before long, there were three iron hard, precum oozing cocks pressing together as the three of us were enjoying a group kiss. Hands were soon stroking stiff cocks and squeezing firm buns. We eventually moved to the floor and Elijah took Chris’ cock in his mouth. Chris moved his mouth onto my cock, and I began sucking on Elijah’s. The sound of moans and the slurping of cock filled the room. After several minutes, we switched places. As I sucked Chris’ cock, I began rubbing his firm buns and then my fingers slowly worked their way to the deep valley between them. I heard Chris moan,ing more loudly. I pulled off his cock long enough to wet my fingers then took his cock back in my mouth. Chris must have followed my queue, because Elijah started moaning more loudly on my cock as well, and then Elijah started working a finger in me. Elijah pulled off my cock long enough to say, “Fuck! I’m getting close.” I heard Chris moan a, “MMmm Hmmm.” On Elijah’s cock signaling he was close as well. Suddenly both of their moans grew louder, and Chris began flooding my mouth with his seed. I was sure Elijah was filling Chris’ mouth too. That thought and the taste and feel of Chris’s throbbing cock filling my mouth brought me over the edge as well as I began planting my seed in Elijah’s mouth. The three of us grunted and moaned as we fed each other our cum. Once we were all drained, Elijah and Chris laid on either side of me and the three of us shared a cum-swapping three-way kiss. I was filled with happiness as there didn’t seem to be any animosity between Chris and Elijah. I had been a little nervous about today, but it seemed to be going fantastic. We continued kissing and then hands were groping as we laughed for a bit. We laid on the floor for a while, side by side just thinking about what we’d just done together. Suddenly, I heard Elijah say, “Anyone want to fuck? I need a cock inside me.” Chris and I looked at each other. I could see Chris was a little shocked by Elijah’s request. I nodded at Chris, and he said, “I’d love to pound that fine butt of yours.” I was a little surprised at that tone from Chris, especially after this being only the second time being around Elijah. Elijah said to me, “Maybe you should fuck Chris while he fucks me.” Chris grinned and said, “I’d be ok with that.” I then said to Elijah, “That’s not a bad idea, but maybe after we spit roast you for a while.” Elijah grinned and said, “That would be sick. Let’s do it!”

I retrieved some lube and condoms, and when I returned, Chris was already fingering Elijah’s anal cavity. Elijah was on his back with his legs spread wide and his feet flat on the floor. Chris was kneeling between his legs with the middle finger of his left hand inside him. They both turned and smiled at me. I tossed one of the condoms and the lube to Chris. Chris removed his finger and poured some lube onto it and his index finger and then pushed both inside Elijah, who groaned, “Yeah, work my hole. Get it ready to fuck.” Chris was grinning, but then a surprised look crossed his face as I stepped over Elijah with my feet straddling his hips and my hard cock aimed at Chris’ face. I took my hard cock and slapped it across Chris’ cheeks a few times, leaving a few streaks of precum across them. The precum-streaked dimples came out as he grinned at what I had done. He leaned forward and took my cock in his mouth as he continued to work his fingers inside Elijah’s anal passage. After a few minutes, I looked down and saw that Chris was now plunging four fingers into Elijah’s hole. I pulled my cock from Chris’ mouth and said, “Looks like Elijah’s ready.” Elijah said, “More than ready. I need some cock in me.” Chris and I both laughed. Elijah got up and climbed onto the sofa on his knees with his arms and shoulders on the back of the sofa, his back arched, and his butt in the air. As Chris put on a condom, I walked around the back of the sofa and slapped my hard, precum and spit-wetted cock across Elijah’s cheeks a few times before shoving it into his grinning mouth. As I was face fucking Elijah, Chris slowly impaled him on his lubed-up, condom-covered cock. Elijah groaned on my cock as Chris slowly penetrated him until his dark pubes were pressed tightly against those firm, muscular buns. Elijah began moaning in pleasure on my cock as Chris began fucking him in a slow rhythm. I began matching that rhythm as I fucked Elijah’s throat while Elijah looked up at me with his pretty, sweet blue eyes. Chris and I were soon pumping rapidly into Elijah as Chris slapped hard against Elijah’s firm cheeks. Then Chris said, “Fuck! I’m getting close!” I yelled, “Stop!” It surprised both Chris and Elijah as I pulled my aching cock from Elijah’s hot mouth. Chris pulled his cock out of Elijah’s love canal as well as they both looked at me. I said, “Elijah, roll over onto your back.” He complied. His head was against the back cushion and his butt was hanging slightly off the front of the sofa as he pulled his legs up with his arms around the back of his knees. As Chris began to enter Elijah once more, I grabbed a condom and slid it over my cock. Once Chris had his cock fully inside Elijah, I began fingering Chris’ tight hole. Chris groaned, “Fuck yeah. Get me ready for your big cock, Jeremy.” Chris began moving slightly in and out of Elijah to keep him happy while I fingered Chris. Once Chris was slowly pistoning back and forth, into Elijah and then back onto my fingers while they both were groaning with pleasure, I removed my fingers. I lubed up my condom-sheathed cock and slid the tip up and down between Chris’ hard, muscular buns and then stopped at his tight ring. I held it there as he was tightly pressed against Elijah with his cock buried deeply inside him. Chris then slowly tugged back taking my cock inside himself as he did. I pushed forward slightly and the said, “Ok, Chris. Fuck Elijah and yourself at the same time.” Chris turned his head to face me and we kissed, then he turned back and began pistoning back and forth slamming into Elijah and then impaling himself on my throbbing rod. All three of us were grunting and moaning in pleasure. Elijah yelled out a few times between grunts and moans, “Fuck yeah! Fuck me!” Chris groaned, “Holy fuck! I’m getting close!” I was close as well and said, “Me too!” Elijah cried out, “Fuck! Fuck me! This is so fucking hot! Oh shit! Fuck!” I saw a glob of cum splash across Elijah’s right cheek from my view over Chris’ left shoulder. Another landed on his chin. I knew Elijah was cumming all over himself. Chris continued pumping away until Elijah had finished paintining himself in cum, then stopped. I knew Chris was on the verge of cumming. I slid out of his hole and removed my condom, then climbed over to Elijah’s left side, and put my right knee next to his head while my left leg remained on the floor next to Elijah’s left hip. Chris knew what I was doing, and he pulled off his condom, then placed his left knee next to Elijah’s head to his right and his right leg next to Elijah’s right hip. We were now on either side of Elijah, pumping away on our cocks. He looked up at us grinning and said, “Yeah, guys! Paint me with your baby batter!”  Chris yelled, “Oh fuck!” Rope after rope of cum rained down on Elijah’s face, hair and chest, mostly on his right side. Then I felt my own cum rising from my balls and yelled, “Fuck yeah!” My cum shot from my cock, painting Elijah on his left side. He had closed his eyes by then as his entire face with a few minor exceptions, was covered in our cum. Elijah smiled as his tongue and teeth had a mixture of our cum on them. He licked his teeth clean, then swallowed what was in his mouth before sticking out his tongue and trying to retrieve what he could from around his lips. I looked at Chris and he was grinning down at Elijah, then he looked at me and smiled with satisfaction. I looked back down at Elijah who still had his eyes closed with cum all over the lids. I bent down and began licking the cum from his left eye. Chris did the same to his right eye. We continued licking up the cum, kissing each other and Elijah as we did. We slowly cleaned up the cum from Elijah’s face, neck and chest and swapped it back and forth until it was gone. He still had a lot in his hair, but that could wait for the shower. Elijah grinned up at us and said, “Thanks guys. Now I know what it’s like to have two dogs.” I said, “So, we’re dogs?” “Aaaaahhh! Stop!”, Elijah screamed as I began tickling him. Chris joined in as well as Elijah squirmed between us, eventually winding up on the floor still squirming under our assault. He began yelling, Okay! Okay! You’re not dogs! Stop! Please! You’re not dogs!” We were all laughing and eventually let up. Chris and I ended up sitting on the floor on either side of Elijah, catching our breath. After a few minutes, I suggested we get in the shower. My shower was large enough for the three of us. We took turns with two of us shampooing and soaping up the third. I was last and it felt great having two pair of hands caressing my soaped-up body, leaving no parts untouched. Of course, all three of us were boned up by the time we were done. If we had time, we probably would have had another round of sucking and fucking, but Carl would be getting home soon, and I wanted to have dinner almost done when he arrived home from work. We climbed out of the shower and dried off and then I slid on a pair of jogging shorts and threw Chris a pair from my drawer. Elijah pulled a pair out of his bag and slid them on. I looked over at him and said, “Those look familiar.” Elijah grinned back at me, knowing what I meant. He said, “Yeah, they’re yours. I borrowed them and wanted to wash them before I returned them.” I grinned and said, “So now you’ll want to wash them again since you’re wearing them.” His grin grew wider, “Maybe.”

The three of us were in the kitchen when Carl got home. He said, “Something smells good.” I stepped over and gave him a kiss and said, “Dinner should be ready when you get out of the shower.” Carl kissed me back and said, “Awesome!” Then he waved and said, “Hey Chris! Hey Elijah! Have a good day?” They both grinned and said in unison, “Yeah.” Then he said, “I’ll be out in a few, after I get a shower.” I asked Chris and Elijah, “Can you guys tend to dinner. I want to talk to Carl for a couple minutes?” They both said, “Sure.” They only had to steam the vegetables and wait for the potatoes to boil.

I walked into Carl’s room as he took off his shirt. He smiled at me and I asked him, “How was your day?” He shrugged and said, “Typical day. How about yours? Was there a lot of tension between them?” I grinned, knowing what Carl meant and said, “No, I was surprised at how well they’ve been getting along.” Carl stepped out of his pants and then stepped in front of me and kissed me. Then he said, “Do you think they’d want to have some fun after dinner?" I smiled and said, “I doubt it would take much convincing.” Carl then kissed me once more before asking, “What about you?” I was confused at first by his question and asked, “Why would I not want to have fun with you?” Carl grabbed me in a big hug and then released me and said, “Look, Jeremy, I know we have an understanding about this, but I also know that you’re still in a quandary over Chris and Elijah. So I want to make sure you’re ok with this too. You mean a lot to me, Jeremy. I want to be sure you are ok with anything we do, especially with these two.” I considered what he said and kissed him deeply. As I pulled back, I felt tears running down my cheeks. I said, “I think you’re the best thing that ever could have happened to me, Carl. I’d never say no to you. You pulled me through my darkest times.” Carl put his finger on my lips and said, “I also think I took advantage of you when you were at your weakest, so please don’t praise me as your savior. I just want to make you happy and be the best big brother I can be, with benefits of course.” The last part had me laughing along with the tears. I knew we would never be a couple, but maybe even more than that. Our bond went beyond being lovers. He was the big brother I never had and more.

Chris and Elijah were together in the kitchen tending to the potatoes and vegetables. Chris asked Elijah, “So, you and Jeremy played high school sports together? How come you guys didn’t hang out a lot?” Elijah replied, “Josh and I did but Jeremy always stayed late after practice and didn’t seem interested in hanging out afterward. He’d take a shower and then leave. Most of the time we were gone before Jeremy even got back to the locker room. He was great on the field and never had a bad word for anyone. If someone missed a play, instead of berating them, he would give them some advice if he thought it was needed but would also tell them he was sure they had learned from their mistake. I guess I was kind of jealous of that. I started resenting him because he didn’t hang out with us. In reality though, I resented it because I wanted him to hang out. I had a crush on him but wouldn’t admit it to myself. I ended up convincing Josh to help me do something stupid.” Chris looked at Elijah and asked, “What did you do?” Just then Jeremy returned into the kitchen.

I heard Elijah and Chris talking as I returned from talking to Carl and suddenly when I entered the kitchen, the conversation stopped. I asked, “Did I interrupt something?” Chris said, “I was just asking about you guys playing football in high school.” Elijah said, “We actually played since grade school, but we were on different teams until high school.” I smiled and said, “Yeah, Elijah and I played against each other in Jr. High School. We were pretty evenly matched.” Elijah laughed and said to Chris, “See what I mean? Our last year in Jr High, Jeremy scored more touchdowns than anyone else in the state and was second in interceptions on defense.” Chris smiled and said, “That’s sick, Jeremy!” I smiled and could feel the blood gushing to my face. I quickly changed the subject, “So, are the potatoes done yet?” Chris said, “They should be.” I checked and found they were ready. I asked Chris to drain them while I pulled out two eggs, milk, butter, and cheese from the refrigerator and then a few spices from the cabinet. Chris and Elijah both watched intently as I combined the ingredients while mashing the potatoes. Elijah said, “I never knew all that stuff went into mashed potatoes. I thought you just mashed the potatoes and that was it.” Chris grinned and said, “Remind me to refuse if you ever offer to make me dinner.” We all laughed and then Elijah said, “Yeah I doubt that will ever happen unless you like Ramen noodles.” “It doesn’t smell like Ramen Noodles in here”, Carl’s voice chimed in. He had just entered the kitchen. I turned and asked, “Do you want Ramen Noodles?” Carl laughed and said, “No thanks. I had enough of them when I went to college.” Elijah was setting the table and said proudly, “My point exactly.” Chris had filled the glasses with water and I set out the food. The sounds of silverware rattling, “MMmmm.”, and “MMMmmm HMmmm!” was all that was heard as everyone dug in. When we were finished, there wasn’t a tiny bit of roast beef, mashed potatoes, broccoli or corn left. As I looked over the table, I said, “So much for having beef stew later in the week.” Everyone laughed except me. I just smiled. Elijah said, “You wouldn’t be in this fix if you weren’t such a great cook. You’ll make someone a very good wife some day.” He cracked up at his own joke, but shut up when I turned to Carl and asked, “Remind me again where that arsenic is kept.” We grabbed a drink and went out back to enjoy the late afternoon sun. As we sat around making small talk, Carl asked, “So, what did you guys do this afternoon?” Suddenly, I felt both Chris’ and Elijah’s eyes on me, waiting for the answer I was going to give.

End of Chapter 34