SARAH AND THE CLODS

Inevitably, the conversation turned to sex. Well, what else do you expect when you get four attractive young couples together and lubricate them well with adult beverages? Chances are that the subjects of religion and politics will give way to sex. Surprisingly, it was Sarah who steered the conversation away from national politics, and she did it by asking us all a brutally simple question.

But let me back up a little. My name is Keith. I'm 30 years old and married to a beautiful woman named Judy. Life has been pretty good to us. We own a small media company, and some winning investments have set us up on lower easy street. Our core circle of close friends consists of five other middle class couples in their late 20's. Their professions range from a professional race driver to a history professor. Our little group was formed when four of us guys met in college. We all hung out at a local motor sports bar called "The Pit Stop" and we became inseparable during our years on campus. We called ourselves "The Clods."

Over the years since our college days, all of us married - some more than once after messy divorces. We naturally inducted our wives into the group and eventually two other couples joined our ranks. Although we all lived in different parts of the country, we made it a tradition to gather together once a year for a week of fun, food and frivolity. This year it was at my place in central Massachusetts.

Three of the five couples had arrived early that afternoon. The other two were flying into Bradley the next day. After getting the visitors unpacked and settled into their quarters, the eight of us that were present had been sitting around all evening drinking, catching up on the past year's events and engaging in spirited conversation about a variety of subjects. We were gathered in the family room; sitting on free-form sectionals pulled together this way and that to form a rough circle. Candles and mini lights provided the illumination in the room – soft and flattering. Cool jazz was playing softly in the background.

Sarah was the newest member of the group and the youngest at 21. She was John's wife of just eighteen months. John raced sports cars for a living, and was one of the messy divorce guys. Some years after he split from his first wife, he met Sarah during a three-week stint in the hospital, the result of a nasty crash at Road America. Sarah was one of the day shift candy stripers at the time and she took an instant liking to John. She was tall - nearly six feet tall - with a slim body and long, straight auburn hair. She had huge green eyes and full lips - the kinds of lips guys call DSL's, so naturally John took an instant liking right back at her. The crash had left him pretty busted up and although he was more upset about his broken Porsche than his broken body, the fact that he'd missed three races near the end of the season really left him in a sour mood. But Sarah would have none of that. Her bright personality, her sense of humor and her innocence brought him quickly out of his funk. Six months later they were married in the presence of the Clods. This was Sarah’s second Gathering.

She had been somewhat reserved all evening and at around ten o'clock she stood up. "I'm going to take a shower and get into something more comfortable. I'll be back in a few minutes"

"That's a great idea," I said. "There're showers in the two other bathrooms and one in the pool house. Why don't we all take a break and freshen up. I explained to everyone that there were fresh towels and terrycloth robes in the closets in the bathrooms.

A half hour later we were back clad in the bathrobes and various other casual attire. Jesse was the last to join us, dressed in a set of sweats. Conspicuously, he took a seat to Sarah’s right while his wife, Gloria, was sitting to Sarah’s left. The rest of us settled down around freshly made drinks. The conversation turned to politics.

That's when Sarah popped the question. During a lull in the conversation she asked, "Why didn’t you guys include me in the fun last year?"

Gloria looked quizzically at Sarah. "What do you mean?"

"Okay, first I want to tell you that John filled me in on what went on last year." said Sarah.

"We were hoping he would," said Gloria

She took a gulp of her drink. "Last year was my first Gathering. When I met all of you guys, I was just so happy that John had such a great circle of friends and that he wanted me included in the group." I wanted so much to be a part of it and to be included and to be considered a permanent part of the Clods." She placed her hand on Jesse’s thigh. "Last year, Jesse especially made me feel welcome. He took the time to fill me in on The Clod’s history and dish out some funny and very personal stories about you guys."

Laughing, Gary said, "Thanks Jesse!"

Sarah smiled and unconsciously started stroking Jesse’s thigh with her fingertips.

"Well he left a lot out." She pointed to John. "And he didn’t tell me the whole truth about The Gathering until a month ago."

John looked a little sheepish. "I just didn’t have the balls to tell you. I’m sorry honey. I didn’t realize it would bother you that much."

Well to tell you the truth, at first I didn’t notice anything," continued Sarah, "but as the week wore on, I caught some of you disappearing for an hour or two in groups. I didn’t pay much attention at first, but when it kept happening each day, it finally dawned on me that you were all hiding something. I had no idea what was going on, but it became obvious to me that I was not going to be included. John was no help. When I asked him what was happening, he made some lame excuses.

Gloria leaned over and kissed Sarah on the cheek. "We tried to be discreet, but we weren’t discreet enough. I’m really very sorry."

Sarah continued, "Then came Friday night and everybody but John left early in the evening. I asked him what was going on, but he just said that he told you all that he wanted to take me out to dinner that night so you all just decided to go to the movies. But then on Saturday I paid close attention and when again you disappeared in groups, I asked John what was going on. He made some excuse about flea markets and gyms. I didn’t believe it for a second." Sarah looked around at all of our faces and said, "If you remember, John and I had to leave two days early so that he could help get his car prepared for an endurance race at Watkins Glen. I remember our goodbyes. Everyone seemed generally sorry that we were leaving with two days left to go in The Gathering. But I just couldn’t help but wonder why John and I weren’t included in the activities – whatever they were. It bothered me all year and I’ve thought about it a lot. I figured it had to be either drugs or sex."

I was sitting across from Sarah and I watched her hand slowly stroking Jesse’s thigh and almost imperceptibly inching its way higher toward the outline of Jesse’s balls. Gloria didn’t seem to notice, but I figured since she was sitting to Sarah’s left, she couldn’t see what was going on.

Sarah paused for a second or two. "Why the secrecy? Why didn’t you just tell me?"

"That was John’s idea," said Gloria. "He didn’t know how you’d react being a newlywed and all. You’d only been married for six months.

John said, "I mean how do you tell your new bride that you want to fuck five other beautiful women for a week?"

Gloria continued, "He was afraid that if he told you before the Gathering, you wouldn’t attend, and that you’d be afraid that if he came to the Gathering by himself, you’d simply assume he’d be joining in the fun without you. He decided to sit out the fun last year and tell you what was going on before this year’s Gathering. When we saw that you were here this year, we just assumed that John had explained everything. We were all very happy to see you get off the plane this afternoon, especially Jesse. You smote him last year and he kept begging John to tell you what was going on. He was in agony last year looking at you but not being able to touch."

Sarah turned to Jesse. "Thank you Jesse. You made me feel the most welcome last year." She slid her hand up and put her palm on Jesse’s thickening hard-on and started stroking his balls with her fingertips. Jesse let out a low moan and started rubbing Sarah’s back. "I’ll make it up to you this year," Sarah said. "One thing you all should know though. I was a virgin when I married John. He’s the only guy I’ve ever been with."

"Oh you poor thing!" Jesse blurted it out without thinking. Laughter erupted from the crowd.

"She was the last of the teenage virgins and I got her," John said with a chuckle.

Sarah smiled. "So tell me, what am I in for this week?"

(Continued)