Chapter 2 – The Party

“Hurry up Nick, they’re here!” said Ben as he banged his fist on bathroom door on the way to answer the knock at their door.

“Okay!” yelled Nick and Ben heard the shower shut off.

He opened the door and was pleasantly surprised. The girls looked hot. “Ladies! Wow…come in….quickly, before some other guys swoop you up,” he said as he ushered them inside.

“Hey, it’s early still, why don’t we have a drink here first?” asked Ben.

Rachael and Emma had some kind of silent female conversation with their eyes before Rachael answered for both of them. “Sure,” she said, “Whatcha got?”

“Cold beer okay?”

They both nodded their head.

Ben grabbed four beers out of the fridge and handed them each one. “Please have a seat while I get Nick,” said Ben motioning them to the couch.

Ben walked to the bathroom door and knocked on it, “Princess, our guests are here! You are gorgeous enough, come out and have a beer with us!”

Nick emerged from the bathroom and the girls walked over to say hello.

“See what I mean,” he said rolling his eyes at Ben as he took the beer from him, “Asshole!”

Ben just smirked and led them back over to the couch. “So tell me about this party. Who’s going to be there?” he asked.

“Well,” said Rachael, obviously the ringleader of the two, “there is Johnny and his girlfriend Amber, plus his roommates Max and Victor and their girlfriends and I’m sure a a few more that we don’t know. They generally have plenty of pizza and beer…and some other things…if that’s what you’re into,” then she added quickly, “Nothing hard though.”

This time it was Ben and Nick that exchanged looks. Nick raised an eyebrow and Ben frowned. He didn’t need to smoke or pop anything to have a good time. He was surprised Nick wanted to try it. A couple of drinks to relax was enough for Ben.

“So Emma, you don’t sound like you’re from around here,” said Ben, “How did you two meet?”

“I moved here my senior year and Rachael took me under her wing,” said Emma shooting a quick smile at her friend. “We became good friends and when we decided to go to school here, well, roomin’ together made sense for us.”

“Nick and I are sort of the same. We’ve been friends since we were 12 and when I decided I wanted to go to school away from home, he jumped on the bandwagon and here we are. We chose San Myshuno because we have lived in small town America all our lives and wanted to experience city life.”

“What do you think so far?” asked Rachael, “has it lived up to your expectations?”

Ben openly ogled Emma and Rachael. “So far so good. I will let you know more after the party,” he asked waggling his eyebrows.

“Speaking of parties,” interjected Nick, “it’s time to go. Let me grab a 12 pack to take. We want to make a good impression on our neighbor.”

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The party was in full swing by the time the foursome arrived. Lots of folks were already there, huddled in different conversations around the largish living room, drinks in hand. Low music coming from the stereo added a party ambiance to the scene. The sweet unmistakable aroma of burning marijuana wafted in from one of the bedrooms.

Emma looked around the room for Johnny. When she found him she introduced him to Nick and Ben. “Hi! Actually, my name isn’t really Johnny Steffen.  It’s Austin Steffen. A lot of people have been calling me Johnny because I am ‘Johnny on the Spot’ when it comes to parties.  Please just call me Austin. It’s nice to meet you neighbor,” he said shaking hands, “Welcome to the bad side of town!”

“Hey, it can’t be so bad with these two gorgeous ladies living here,” said Ben.

“They definitely raised the property value when they moved in!” laughed Austin.

Ben felt a little twinge of jealousy.  Johnny/Austin was smooth. Way smoother than he was and he oozed confidence. When a girl walked up and snaked her arm around him, he suddenly felt better. He wouldn’t be competing with him for Emma. Good.

“Hey Austin, aren’t you going to introduce me to your new hunky friends?” she asked.

“Sure. Amber, meet Ben Murdock and Nick Hamlin, my new neighbors. Ben, Nick, this is Amber Ridge – my girl – so hands off gentlemen.”

Ben winked at Amber and held his hands up, “Don’t worry. I don’t take what’s not mine to take. Nice to meet you Amber.”

“Help yourself to the bar. There’s beer, wine and few mixed drinks. If you want anything else, they are passing around a pipe in the other room. There’s pizza too.”

Rachael tugged on Nick’s arm and motioned towards the room where they were passing around the bong.

Nick leaned in to Ben and whispered, “I’m gonna try it. You game?”

Ben shook his head. “I’ll pass. I have my drug of choice right here,” he said as he put his arm around Emma, “Enjoy big guy.”

Nick turned and followed Rachael like a little puppy dog.

Ben walked over to the bar and got him and Emma a drink. Someone had turned the music up and a few couples had started dancing.

They sat down and finished their drinks and chatted with some of the other couples.

Ben saw Emma watching the dancing couples. “Wanna dance sweetheart?”

She nodded her affirmation.

The music had changed to a slow song. Exactly what Ben was waiting for and from the looks of the other couples around him, so were they.

He pulled Emma close. She smelled so good. It made him hard. But he wanted to take it slow with her. She seemed inexperienced. But maybe it was just her accent. Regardless he didn’t want to scare her off.

They danced a few more dances and Ben really wanted to kiss her. By the way she pressed her body against his, he knew she wanted it too. He opened the door to the bedroom and it was empty.

They went inside and Ben sat down on the edge of the bed. He pulled sweet Emma into his lap and kissed her gently to see how she would react. Her kisses were sweet, yet eager. He ran his tongue along her bottom lip and she readily opened up to him.

Things soon escalated to hot and heavy and he could feel her squirming in his lap.

Emma pulled back breathless. “Your place, now!” she commanded. Ben smirked at her. He didn’t have to be told twice.

Ben took Emma by the hand to go look for Nick to let him know they were leaving. They walked inside to find the party had gone from conversation and dancing to couples making out everywhere and Nick was nowhere to be seen. He figured he and Rachael had found another empty bedroom. He laughed to himself and led Emma out of Austin’s apartment and into his own.

Once in his apartment, Ben led Emma to his bedroom and the couple began tearing off each other’s clothes. “I’m on the pill,” she gasped in Ben’s ear.

Ben stopped anyway and pulled out a foil package. “Not taking any chances sweetheart.”

Just then Ben’s door flew open. Nick came barreling into his room, totally wasted. “Oops!” he slurred, “Sorry guys. But I just wanted to tell you that you need to try that shit! Oh, have you seen Val?”

“Fuck Nick!” mumbled Ben, “ever heard of knocking?”

Emma quickly grabbed her shirt off the floor to cover up but just pulled it on instead, “Val?” she asked confused. Then her tone changed to worried, “Nick, where’s Rachael?”

“You mean Val, no Rachael? Uh, I don’t know. Ben…help me find her Beeeen. I need to tell her I love her. I called her when she left, but…”

Ben sighed. “Sorry Emma, looks like the party’s over. Nick’s totally fucked up. Go on home. I will help Nick find Rachael and bring her home.”

“Who’s Val?” asked Emma.

“Nick’s girlfriend,” said Ben.

“What about you Ben, who’s your girlfriend?”

“I don’t do girlfriends sweetheart. Just friends – with benefits,” said Ben then looked at Nick, “Come on big guy, let’s get some coffee into you and go find Rachael.”

“Well shi-ut! I knew you two were too good to be true,” said Emma, “One’s taken and the other one’s now a confirmed asshole. Your friend was right. And for the record Asshole, I don’t do benefits.” She took another look at Nick and sighed, “Dayum, I will go with you. He looks pretty wasted.”

Ben turned and looked at Emma and gave her his best sad big blue puppy dog eyes and put his hand over his heart. “I’m hurt,” he said. “You don’t know how much fun we could have had being friends – with benefits.”

Emma snickered and Ben was hopeful. “When you put it that way… oh crap Ben…he’s gonna get sick…quick, trash can!!!”

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