Author: Thinking Horndog
Title: Second Best
Part: 082
Universe: Second Best
Summary: A full-length novel that follows several young couples and their
families through the period immediately preceding their Senior Prom.
Keywords: nosex rom
Keywords for full story: F-solo, Ff-inc, M+F Ffm MF mf oral anal bd D/s Mg-
inc Fm-inc mm mmf rom MF-reluc
Chapter 82
On the road
Jennifer Hardesty herded her Ford Expedition down Route 295 on the 20
minute run between the garment factory's locale and the exit leading to her
small home. The roads were still damp, requiring the intermittent swish of
the windshield wipers to clear the muddy slop splashed up by the cars ahead.
It had been raining earlier in the day, and the showers threatened to
return; Jennifer cursed her lack of foresight in not bringing a jacket or
umbrella with her, despite the morning sun.
Driving the SUV was sometimes a chore for one of her limited size, but
she had gotten the lumbering beast for a song from a girlfriend at work who
had bought into the SUV craze only to be disappointed by the reality.
Besides, having the heavy beast wrapped around her made her feel safe,
something she had a serious craving for.
About halfway through the commute, there was a sudden loud bang, and
the big Ford started wandering all over the place. Thirty seconds of stark
fear later, she had managed to herd the beast out of the left lane, across
the other two lanes of traffic, and onto the narrow shoulder of the freeway.
Carefully climbing out, she circled the rear of the SUV and discovered the
flat right rear tire. "And me in a blouse and skirt!" she grumbled to
herself, kneeling down to examine the damage. There was no help for it -
the ground was soaking wet, and by the time she had wrestled the jack and
the spare into position, she was, too, not to mention dirty. Jumping up and
down on the tire tool, she managed to break the lug nuts loose, then
proceeded to hunt for the jacking point on the underside of the vehicle.
"Damn!" As she withdrew from her inspection, a bit of trim snagged on
her blouse, shredding it and popping off three buttons as she fell back in
surprise. Her rapid retreat against the snag caused it to hook through the
tear to demolish the right cup of her already somewhat tattered brassiere in
the process. Picking herself up off the ground, she angrily began wrestling
the jack into position.
Eventually, she got the vehicle into the air enough to cause the tire
to clear the ground, the effort not assisted by the fact that the jack's
bottom plate wasn't quite big enough to be stable in the soft shoulder mud.
One by one, she worked off the lug nuts, and began to tug at the tire. As
she tugged, the tire tipped forward, snagging on a small rock and wedging
itself against the lugs. A minute or so of squatting and tugging convinced
Jennifer that she didn't have the proper purchase, so she gingerly sat on
the ground with her feet out in front of her and hugged the tire to herself.
Getting proper purchase required that she shift to the right, curling her
leg behind the tire so she could pull on the bottom, but, with some
difficulty, she managed to get the tire vertical again for a moment,
clearing the lugs.
Then the jack failed. Jennifer leaped back, but was in no position to
get clear as the jack flopped forward. The tire crashed down, and the wheel
hub dropped neatly into the center of the wheel, incidentally trapping
Jennifer's right ankle between the wheel hub, axle and the wheel. After the
initial pinching flash of pain, there wasn't much, but her ankle was truly
trapped. The collapsed jack was wedged, and virtually out of her reach,
anyway.
So she sat, getting dripping wet from the misty splash of the passing
cars, trying to get someone's attention from behind her automotive behemoth
as the evening light slowly faded. Jennifer's cell phone, in the hands-free
mount on the dash, might as well have been on another planet for all the
good it was doing her. The damp and evening chill began to settle into her
bones, and she became shocky as well as miserable. After about an hour,
exhaustion caused her to nod off.
"Well! What have we here?" The words caused her to become blazingly
alert. She whirled, her mouth open, to find a man standing there, grinning,
and a scream of fear erupted from her throat.
Mike McCormick blinked in shock. The tattered ragamuffin in front of
him, her soaked auburn ponytail dripping, had spun to reveal that her
clothing was not only dirty and wet but shredded! Instantly, a look of
concern washed across his face. "Easy, Missy! I won't hurt you! I'm here
to help!"
Jennifer stared at the tall man in obvious fear, and Mike began to
wonder if she had been molested. Certainly, her blouse and bra were a
wreck. He turned his eyes from the fear-erected nipple peeking through the
gap and began pulling off his jacket. "Here, Missy, put this on. Has
someone hurt you?"
Jennifer scrabbled for control. Despite the scare he had given her,
he appeared to be concerned, not dangerous. "N-no." She looked down,
discovering the reason for his concern, and clutched her blouse closed,
blushing. "Truck snagged it. I'm caught!" She took the jacket and donned
it, savoring the warmth his body had generated in it.
"Are you hurt?" Mike hunkered down to look at the site.
"N-no. Not much, anyway. I just can't get it out!" she replied.
"Okay, I'm going to get a flashlight. I'll be right back. Okay?"
"O-okay. Don't leave me!" Jennifer sobbed as he went out of sight.
Mike stuck his head back around the fender and smiled. "I won't. I
have a tow truck, right here. I'll get you out, Missy!"
Mike went around the passenger side of the truck and fished out his
heavy-duty flashlight. The relief on Jennifer's face when he hove back into
sight moments later was a sight to see. Mike hunkered down and got a look.
Despite the odd capture, it didn't appear that she was actually hurt much,
just pinned. 'A straight lift should do the trick...' Mike thought. "Okay,
Missy, I'm gonna set up the truck to lift the rear end, here. I'll be real
careful. You just hold still. I'm gonna be back to check on things before
I actually start. Okay?"
Jennifer mustered a weak smile. "O-okay!"
Mike backed the truck into position with the ease and control of long
practice, sliding the sling at the rear under the tail end of the SUV. Then
he hopped down and chained it up. Finally, he came back for one last check.
Squatting down next to Jennifer, he issued final instructions, "Okay, Missy,
you fish your ankle out as soon as the axle comes up, hear? I worry about
the whole business shifting, so I want you out as soon as it's possible.
You CAN move it, right?"
"Yes. I can move it." Jennifer's tone left some doubt, but...
The driver of the eighteen-wheeler never came forward. Maybe he never
knew what happened. Maybe he was napping, and the bang of the impact merely
awakened him... In any event, at that moment a tractor-trailer rig swerved
in past the tow truck and entirely too close to the SUV. The tail end of
the trailer clipped the Ford, causing it to jump a foot to the right. The
wheel hub jumped out of it's seat in the wheel and dropped over the outside
edge of the tire. The action tore skin on Jennifer's ankle, and the
leverage caused her to spin 180 degrees in place, ending up prone. Jennifer
screamed in shock and pain.
Mike didn't fare as well. When he saw what was happening, he threw
himself supine under Jennifer, one leg on each side of the tire. The wheel
hub crashed down on his thigh, only stopped from going straight through by
the wheel rim. Both of them passed out from the pain.
Jennifer awakened lying on Mike's chest. Mike was slowly retrieving
his Nextel phone. He activated the walkie-talkie feature.
"Dad!" Big Al and Helen had just retreated into the living room after
dinner and sat down to snuggle and watch TV, when his phone went off. Al
hadn't reacted properly when it repeated, "Dad!"
Al frowned and hopped up. Mike didn't sound right...He picked up the
phone from the charger and responded, "Mike?"
"Dad, I'm at mile marker thirteen on 295. I was helping a tire
changer, and..." There was a wheeze. There also seemed to be the sound of
someone crying in the background... "an eighteen-wheeler smacked into the
vehicle. We're both trapped - I need you to get us out. Oh, and Dad? Send
for an ambulance. I'm not sure about the woman, but my leg is probably
messed up, bad!"
Al and Helen exchanged glances - Helen was already rooting in her
purse for her cell phone. "We'll be right there!" Al replied, and got
moving.
Helen's hands shook a bit as she manipulated the phone. "I've got the
ER's number programmed into this thing!" she announced. The couple burst
out the door heading for Al's old pickup, Helen urgently relating the
situation to the ER dispatcher.
Mike put the phone down and wrapped his arms around the shaking
shoulders of the woman atop him. His leg hurt like hell, but it was somehow
as soothing to him as it was to her to stroke her back and comfort her.
Jennifer lay there atop him, wrapped in his arms, crying bitterly as he
murmured, "There, there, Missy. Help's coming. It'll be all right..."
Al and Helen took 20 minutes to arrive; the ambulance took 25. By the
time the ambulance got there, Al had lifted the vehicle and extracted the
pair from beneath. Both were bleeding a bit, but not seriously; the extent
of Mike's injury wasn't known, however. The EMTs gathered them both in and
took off for County Hospital.
Al and Helen stayed until the State Police had taken pictures and
started the accident report, then lugged the battered Ford out of there,
Helen following in the pickup. Al was gratified to find out that Helen
could operate its 3-speed on the column manual transmission. They dropped
the tow truck at the garage, Al piled into the pickup and they roared off to
the hospital.
It took about four hours for everything to settle down. Bobby was
chased down at Nellis' with Dina, and it was decided that that situation
could continue; Bobby could stay the night and go to school from there the
next day. Jackie was harder to track; Jennifer didn't have the Michaels'
number. Helen called Mandi, who got it from Rick. Ellen assured Jennifer
that Jackie would be fine and that Terry would bring her to the hospital and
take them both home.
Around eleven p.m., doctors had finished stitching and bandaging
Jennifer's ankle, and told her she could go home if she took it easy. Al
would pick her up Wednesday morning and help her to work with the insurance
company to repair the damage to the Ford, which was safe enough where it
was. Mike was confined to a bed until a radiologist could look at the X-rays
of his left thigh. Doctors couldn't decide whether it was crushed, or
chipped - the X-ray made it look dented. The soft tissues had taken quite a
lick, too, and there was some worry about the femoral artery.
Jennifer set off to visit her hero, maneuvering on her crutches
through the door to his room. Coming around to his right side, she smiled
tremulously, "Hi!"
"Hi, Missy. Feeling better?" Mike smiled. She sure was cute, dry.
Hell, she hadn't looked bad soaking wet and scared to death! Fragile,
though...
"I came to thank you." She husked.
Mike spread his arms. "All part of the service. Wait'll you get my
bill!" he teased.
"I'll pay it, whatever it is," Jennifer started out smiling, then
sobered. "You went 'way beyond what you had to do, and got hurt in the
process. And all I did was cry on you and get you wet!"
"You were soaking wet, scared to death, and shocky. You didn't just
need help, you needed protection. I HAD to give it to you - I couldn't do
anything else!" Mike reassured her.
"Well, I can't thank you enough." Jennifer laid her right crutch
aside and leaned forward, pressing her lips to his.
It was intended to be a chaste kiss, but Jennifer, who was driving,
just couldn't seem to pull away. She inhaled his musky scent and remembered
feeling protected for the first time in years with his arms rubbing her back
and his voice murmuring in her ear. Mike was in no hurry; he was going
nowhere soon, and if this sweet lady wanted to kiss him, well... When it
became apparent that the kiss wasn't going to end soon, Mike gently wrapped
his arms around her. At the feel of his arms, Jennifer dumped her left
crutch and leaned into the embrace. Simultaneously, her lips opened and her
tongue snaked out.
Mike KNEW that this woman didn't just give away kisses! There was
something urgent going on here - and he would figure it out just as soon as
he had to stop enjoying her embrace!
Oral exploration became too serious at that point to support anything
advanced in the way of thought in either of them. Jennifer was on automatic
when she climbed onto the bed and draped herself over Mike's right leg; all
either of them noticed was that they were more comfortable. Sex wasn't even
thought about - this was comfort kissing, and both of them were half asleep
in each other's arms fifteen minutes later when Helen stuck her head in the
door to find out what the Hell the delay was.
"Psst! Al!" she hissed. Al came and peeked around the door. "Huh!
Willya lookit that!" He waved the recently arrived Jackie and Terry
forward.
Jackie looked through the door and gasped. "Good God!" She went
white.
"What's the matter, Dear?" Helen asked, concerned.
"Momma is SCARED TO DEATH of men! I'd bet big money she hasn't kissed
a boy since before I was born!"
"Well, she's kissing Mike!" Al observed.
"You don't understand! She's very high-strung! And she's incredibly
vulnerable!" Turning to Helen, she added, "You know how unreasonable she
gets where men are concerned!"
Helen nodded. "Yes. It's my opinion that she's highly sexed, too,
and has been denying herself for a long time. I think that's why she gets
the way she does; she gets excited and can't let it out!"
Jackie and Terry nodded synchronously. "Exactly!" Terry announced.
Jackie went on, "She's been coming around over the last couple of
days, and her barriers are down! If she gets fixed on Mike, and he dumps
her, I don't know WHAT she'll do - but the results could be awful!"
Helen nodded agreement. "If she bares herself again, and the guy she
settles on dumps her, she could end up in the funny farm! I don't think she
can take it!"
"Mike isn't exactly a hot and cold running women type," Al assured
her. "Losing his momma hurt him bad. They could be good for each other."
"Well, she's a timid soul, not meant to be alone - but she has been,
for a long time. She's going to want to flow over him like a coat of paint.
This isn't a date or two - she's looking for someone to keep the world away.
Can he do that? Should ANYONE expect him to?" Helen replied. Al looked
thoughtful.
"It may already be too late!" Jackie hissed urgently.
Terry piped up, "Okay, let's do this: Mr. McCormick, you and Helen go
in and direct Jackie's mom out here. You can warn Mike while we try to
settle her down!"
Helen's resolve firmed. "Good plan!" Al nodded, and they passed
through the door.
Al announced them with, "Hey, you two! One to a bed!"
Jennifer popped up, blushing, and Mike let go so she could chase down
her crutches. "Thanks," she murmured, dropping her eyes.
"Huh! Thank YOU!" Mike laughed.
"Dear, I think your daughter and her boyfriend just arrived." Helen
observed.
"Oh. Thanks!" Jennifer made for the door, then stopped, giving Mike a
meaningful glance. "Can I come back?" Mike nodded.
"Hey, Son, how are you doin'?" Al asked.
"Fine. Leg hurts some, but not as bad as expected." Mike replied.
"Nice lady. She's the mother of one of Bobby's friends." Al nodded at
the door.
"Really? She doesn't look that old," Mike got to thinking, then
blushed. "Where's her husband?"
"Isn't one," Helen replied. "Never was. She's scared to death of men
since her first fathered a daughter by her and blew her off."
"Um," Mike pondered. "That's why she seemed so fragile..."
"Yeah. She is. Her daughter's new boyfriend was the Antichrist for a
week, but she's coming around. She's been re-evaluating men, and then this
knight in shining armor shows up..." Helen amplified.
"Uh oh." Mike grimaced.
"Look, according to her daughter, she's VERY vulnerable, and could
fall for you like a ton of bricks," Al cautioned. "If you let her, then
dump her, she could crash totally. Certainly, she'll never trust a man ever
again."
"Jesus! It could already be too late!" Mike exclaimed. "Damn! I
like her, too."
Helen favored him with a close regard. "It's up to you - but she
won't settle for casual sex. She's looking for a MAN - someone who can
shoulder her burdens. Someone who will always be there. Someone she can
cuddle up to, every night! She wants love, and protection - and she wants
it to be permanent. You're the first man to get inside her shell to the
soft and gooey parts in a looooong time. You can save her - or you can
destroy her."
"Be damn careful, Son," Al cautioned. "If you do it now, you can
probably turn her away gently. But if you start a relationship with her,
you'd better be serious!"
Out in the hall, Jackie lit into Jennifer. "What are you up to,
Momma?"
"I was just saying 'thank you' to Mike..." Jennifer looked perplexed.
"You don't know his last name, do you?" Jackie pounced.
"Uh, no... But he's really sweet! He helped me and protected me - it
was terrible, and he was there...He's so nice!" Jennifer vacillated visibly
while she remembered her ordeal.
"Yes, Momma, Mike's a nice man. But there are a LOT of nice men -
I've been trying to tell you!"
"But he saved me, and protected me!" Jennifer protested.
"Yes, he did! That doesn't mean he's your perfect mate, or even that
he wants to be! Don't pin so much on him! If nothing else, you'll scare
him off!" Jackie pushed hard.
Jennifer stopped, and the light in her eyes faded. "Oh! God! I was
going to throw myself at the poor man!"
"It's okay, Momma. He IS a nice man. Maybe he likes you! But if you
pin all of your hopes on him..."
"I'll be disappointed." Jennifer drooped. "I had put him on this
pedestal..."
"On the other hand..." Terry piped up, "did he take advantage of you?"
"No. He was a perfect gentleman. He was just so comforting to be
around, I just didn't want it to end..." Jennifer's eyes glazed.
"Well, that's the good stuff. Just make sure he really wants you
before you throw yourself at him. You're asking him to make up for stuff
you've been missing since before I was born! That's a lot!" Jackie
asserted.
Terry said quietly, "You don't know who he is, but we do. He's Bobby
McCormick's big brother!"
"Oh, God! How old is he?" Jennifer was scandalized. She'd thrown
herself on a teenager!
"I think Mr. McCormick said he's 24 or so. He's not a kid, even if he
IS younger than you are." Jackie replied.
"Whew! Still..." Jennifer's relief was palpable, if not complete.
Back in the room, Mike was rallying. "What if I like her? I don't
know what it is, but she makes me feel good!"
Al stomped on it. "Well, let's see... When's the last time you had
pussy? When's the last time you cuddled a woman?" Both Helen and Mike were
blushing furiously at Al's raw comments, but they had their effect. "This is
about more than sex, Son."
Mike struck back. "While we're at it..." he framed Helen with a
significant glance, "Are you ready to tell me the difference between love
and sex?"
Helen piped up. "If anything, we have the opposite problem. Your
father will have to go a long way before I can accept that we have anything
in common but sex. Jennifer is likely to go straight to deep romance."
"What if I don't consider that to be a bad thing? I haven't exactly
been swimming in the stuff!" After a moment's thought, he added, "Jennifer?
Her name's Jennifer?"
Helen nodded. Al shrugged. "Son, I'm not going to run your life -
I'm just here to warn you that this isn't a normal woman, and if you enter
into a relationship with her, it likely won't be a normal relationship! I'm
done talking - you do as you please!"
Jennifer stuck her head back through the door, looking sheepish, eyes
downcast. "I guess I made a fool of myself."
"Are you sure?" Mike asked. He crooked a finger.
Jennifer hobbled over, hope and fear warring in her green eyes.
When she reached the bedside, Mike regarded her, poker faced. "How
sure are you?"
Jennifer visibly gathered her courage. "I'm not. I felt something.
I want to feel it again!"
Mike locked eyes with her. "So did I. Look, I'm not superman, and I
can't promise we're the perfect couple. But if you want to try..."
Jennifer started shaking like a leaf. Mike took it for a moment, then
held out his arms. "C'mere, Missy!" Crutches went everywhere. They didn't
kiss; Jennifer just crawled onto the bed and tucked her head into his
shoulder and cried, loudly. Mike rubbed her back and crooned softly to her.
Jackie and Terry watched from the door. They shared one of their patented
telepathic glances, and Jackie shrugged. "She needs it, bad. I wish us all
luck!" Terry hugged her to him.
Twenty minutes later, a frowning nurse intervened to push them all
out. Jennifer promised to see Mike the next day, inside the hospital or
out. As she hobbled out the ER doors, Jennifer observed, "You haven't said
anything."
Jackie shrugged. "Mike made the call. I don't really think he has
any intention of hurting you; in fact, I think he's really nice. I just
wanted to make sure you weren't harboring unrealistic expectations. I
REALLY don't want to clean up the mess, afterward. But I also REALLY want
you to be happy! If Mike can do it, more power to him!"
On the way home, Jennifer called Ellen Michaels. The question blew
everyone who heard it away: "Can Terry crash at our house? It's late, and
I don't want him to have to get up extra early, too. We can take proper
care of him..."
Ellen stared at the phone like a hand had popped out of the earpiece.
"Uh, well, okay. Let me talk to him."
Jennifer handed Terry the phone. "Mom?"
"Terry, is Jennifer sick? Did she hit her head?" Ellen was somewhat
concerned, not to mention confused.
Terry laughed. "No, actually, I think she's cured - or at least on
the proper treatment..."
"Hmph. I'd have diagnosed her as in dire need of a man..."
"And you'd have been right. Look, I'll be fine - we're past the rough
spots. I can crash on the couch; I've got some spare stuff in the back of
the car. Okay?"
"Okay, Dear. I'll see you tomorrow."
"G'night, Mom."
"Good night."
Paul regarded his wife with raised eyebrows. "And that was?"
Ellen was still somewhat glazed. "Jennifer Hardesty, asking if Terry
could spend the night."
"Excuse me?"
"You heard me! I guess she DID get hit by a truck!"
"That's not terribly charitable!" Paul reproved.
"Well..."
"Come to bed. If you can't say anything nice about someone..." Paul
yawned and turned over.
Helen and Al returned to Al's and settled down for the night. The
night's activities had left them both pretty jangled, so when Helen rather
sheepishly crawled into bed, Al just gathered her in and hugged her to him.
They talked disjointedly about this and that, then fell asleep during one of
the gaps in conversation, Al half-draped across Helen with an arm under her
neck and the other hand wrapped around one of her massive mammaries.
Jennifer organized Jackie's efforts to settle Terry in the guest room.
It hadn't seen much use over the years, and required so much reorganization
to find the bed that they almost gave up and parked Terry on the couch.
Finally, however, all of the proper components had been gathered, and the
bedding had been changed. Terry brought up some stuff from the car that he
had kept around for emergencies; the top layer wouldn't be fresh, but his
underclothing would.
Only an idiot could miss Jackie's excitement at having her boyfriend
sleep under her roof, and Jennifer wasn't one. She gathered the pair
together and put her foot (the good one) down. "I know I've been paranoid
before, but this time I think I'm being totally reasonable. You (looking at
Jackie) need to stay in YOUR room, and you (eyeballing Terry) need to stay
in the guest room. I'm not ready to indicate even tacit approval of you two
sharing a bed! Do we understand each other?" The pair exchanged one of
their signature glances and nodded in unison. The request was reasonable,
and so was the tone; the pair decided not to act up. "Good!" Jennifer
continued. "I'm tired, and we all have a long day ahead of us. Don't stay
up too long!" She turned and hobbled toward her room, leaving them to say
their goodnights in peace.
Jennifer undressed and got into bed, but sleep wouldn't come. The
past few hours had been a kaleidoscope - elements of pain and fear mixed
liberally with comfort and joy. The ordeal under her broken vehicle was a
scary memory - but intermixed with it was the smell of Mike's musk and the
feel of his hands and sound of his voice murmuring as he comforted her. The
scene in the hospital room had enforced the finer parts of the experience;
Jennifer had totally lost herself in his embrace. It occurred to her that
bringing Terry home might have been a mistake; it was asking quite a lot of
the pair to be good, and just the idea of the pair of them together, added
to her own recent exposure to romance, had her experiencing feelings she
couldn't put a name to. Finally, she fell into a troubled sleep, dreaming
fragments of mixed tenderness and terror.
The young couple followed instructions, necking uncomfortably in the
hall for a few minutes before retiring to their separate rooms. Their
sleep, too, was troubled, but at least they recognized the problem for what
it was - sexual tension - and each took what actions he or she thought they
could get away with to relieve it.
At Nellis', things settled down quickly following the blow-off
triggered by Merry's amazing punishment. Mandi never left Rick's bedroom
(except maybe to pee) the whole night. After settling Bobby's status during
the phone call with Big Al, Bobby and Dina handled the sleeping arrangements
in the usual manner: Bobby settled on the couch, and Dina went upstairs
until things got quiet, then joined Bobby there to sleep and spoon.