What are Friends For 

   "I know you mean well, Karen, but I just don't think I'm ready for this
yet," I said as I watched my smiling friend.

   "Mike, it's just like falling off a horse.  You have to get back on
immediately, or you may never get back on," Karen Welston told me.  "I know
you're still hurting from Amanda dumping you, but the best way to get over
the hurt is to get back out there and find someone to help take your mind
off of it."

   "And you think Julie with the big tits is going to help me get my mind
off my wife leaving me for an insurance salesman?"

   Karen's laugh rang through the house.  Karen had been my best friend
since...  forever.  I'm Mike Adams and I guess I was maybe five or six
years old when I met Karen.  She is the same age as me.  We grew up living
next door to each other.

   When we both started dating in high school, I'd tell her about the boys
who bragged about their conquests and she'd tell me about the girls who
teased a guy then bragged about how frustrated she'd gotten him.  For some
reason we had never even considered dating each other.

   I think Karen cried on my shoulder every time she'd break up with a
boyfriend or had a bad date.  She helped me get through high school English
Literature and I helped her get through Algebra.  Both of us went on to
college at different schools, but we kept in touch and saw each other on
breaks.

   Karen met Jim Tate when she was a freshman and almost immediately fell
in love with him.  They were married during their sophomore year.  They
lived together, off campus.  Karen finished her sophomore year, then went
to work full time to help Jim get through school.  They planned for Karen
to go back to school as soon as Jim graduated.  Instead Jim divorced her as
soon as he graduated.

   I met Amanda Stewart during our junior year.  We got along well from the
start.  I don't think there was ever any burning passionate love between
us, but we were compatible and the sex was great.  We were married the week
after graduation.

   We had been married less than a month when I got a call from Karen,
telling me that Jim had left her.  We were living in the same town again,
so I told Amanda what was going on and went over to see Karen.  She cried
on my shoulder again and I consoled her as best as I could.

   I think Amanda was a little bit jealous of Karen.  I never could
understand why.  When Karen would come over to the house to ask my opinion
on something or just to visit, Amanda always seemed a little defensive. 
When I'd ask her about it, she'd tell me I was full of shit.

   I had managed to get a good job as a junior engineer right out of
college.  I had gotten a promotion when I had been with the company for one
year and had gotten another one just before Amanda left me.

   I had no idea anything was going on, but I found out later that Amanda
had been sleeping with the guy she'd left me for for almost a year.  The
guy had sold us a life insurance policy on me right after I had gotten my
first promotion.

   "Mike, you could spend weeks just mapping those mammoth mammaries. 
You'd need a transit or maybe a GPS just to figure out how to get around
them.  If that wouldn't get your mind off Amanda, I don't know what would,"
Karen laughed.

   "Yeah, Karen, but I always thought of boobs as something I could hold in
my hands, not something I'd have to haul around in a bucket."

   By now we were both cracking up.  Karen tried to get a little more
serious, then said, "You really do need to start dating though, Mike.  It
would be better than you just sitting home and moping all of the time."

   "Yeah, like you get out and date all of the time?" I asked her.

   "Hey!  That's unfair, Mike.  I have to wait for someone to ask me.  The
problem is, no one wants a twenty-four year old, divorced, college dropout
with no prospects."

   "Karen, you are still as pretty as you were when you were a seventeen
year old prom queen," I told her.

   "Mike, you can pay me all of the compliments you want, but the topic of
conversation is your dating.  Dating Julie in particular," Karen said. 
"Remember, you promised me you'd let me set you up on four different dates.
We've never broken a promise to each other and I'm not going to let you
start now."

   Okay, she finally wore me down.  Karen could always do that when she
tried.  I guess that should have told me something, but it didn't.  I've
always been a little dense when it comes to women.

   So, I went out with Julie Chrisswell.  Julie is a nice girl and she does
have humongous hooters.  She also has raven black hair, a porcelain
complexion, and blue/gray eyes.  The problem is, her IQ isn't much bigger
than her bra size.

   I took Julie out to dinner on a Friday evening.  We went to a nice
restaurant and right after we ordered, she told me, "I don't fuck on the
first date, but I'm free tomorrow night if you'd like to go out again."

   The thought of mauling those massive mountains made it tempting, but
common sense won out when she started talking about how cute and how smart
her cat is.  She went on about her fabulous feline all through dinner,
which kept me from thinking about the only pussy she had that I might even
faintly be interested in.

   I took her home right after dinner.  She invited me in, but I told her I
had to catch a plane to Japan in the morning.

   Karen showed up Saturday afternoon.  "So, how was your date with Julie,"
she asked with a big smile.

   "Karen, she is gorgeous, but she certainly isn't my type."

   "What's wrong with her?" Karen asked.

   "For one thing, her IQ is about equal to her age.  She can't carry on a
conversation about anything but her cat.  Besides that, she says she
doesn't fuck on the first date and I could never force myself to have a
second date with her."

   I thought I was going to have to pound Karen on the back, she was
laughing so hard.  When she finally got herself under control, she asked,
"Was it really that bad?"

   "Worse.  She does have tremendous tahtahs though."

   This set Karen off laughing again.  This time, when she got herself
under control, she said, "Well, I really didn't know Julie that well.  I
haven't talked to her that much, so I didn't know she was a dim bulb."

   "That's okay, Karen.  Can we just forget about those four dates though?
I don't know how I'd be able to get through three more if they're like the
last one."

   "No way!  You made a promise and I'm holding you to it.  I do know the
woman you're going to be taking out this Friday, and I know she's
intelligent."

   "Do I really have to do this?" Even to me, this sounded like whining.

   "Yes, you do.  Cindy Wilson is a very nice girl.  She's smart and she's
funny.  I think you'll like her," Karen told me.

   I'll have to say this kind of dating wasn't hurting my performance at
work.  I was really getting into a new project and the week flew by.  The
first part of a project is always the most interesting.  That's where you
get to do all of the neat design stuff.  It's later in the project when you
are ordering materials and the like that it gets boring.

   I met Cindy at the restaurant.  I must say, Karen was right about her
being intelligent and funny.  We had a very nice time during dinner.  We
talked about any number of things.  When she put forth an opinion, it was
well thought out and she could back it up with facts.  When I would crack a
joke, she would catch it immediately.  The jokes she made were hilarious.

   She was also very pretty.  The problem was that although she was very
pretty, I just wasn't attracted to her physically.  Before the meal was
over, we both agreed we owed Karen a big debt because we knew we were going
to be good friends.  We also agreed, we'd probably never be anything but
friends.

   Karen showed up on Saturday afternoon again.  "So, how did you like
Cindy?" she asked.

   "Cindy is a great person," I told her.  "She's smart and funny and
pretty and a great conversationalist.  The problem is, I was not physically
attracted to her and she wasn't physically attracted to me."

   "Better than your last date though?"

   "Infinitely.  I think Cindy and I are going to end up being very good
friends.  I really wish the attraction was there because otherwise, she's
perfect."

   "Well, your date for next Friday is gorgeous.  She's also very smart. 
She's also an engineer, so that should give you something to talk about,"
Karen told me.  "Her name is Beverly Green."

   "Okay, I'll meet her.  At least I found a new friend from the last
date."

   After another fast paced week at work, I met Bev Green.  Karen was
right. I sprouted a woody as soon as I saw her.  She was also very smart.
We were talking like old friends within minutes.  We ordered our meals and
settled in.

   I'm no comedian, but almost everyone who knows me tells me I could be. I
love to crack wise, tell jokes, and make plays on words.  The first time I
made a wisecrack to Bev, she just looked at me with a puzzled expression
then went on talking.  I waited until another opportunity presented itself
then made another wisecrack.  Again she just looked puzzled.  I stopped
trying to be funny after that.

   Not once during the meal did Bev make a joke or a wisecrack.  I started
to feel like I was talking to a mannequin.  Needless to say, my hard cock
shriveled to nothing.

   When Karen showed up the next day, I lit into her.  "What the hell do
you think you're doing?  I thought you knew me.  Bev has a stick up her
ass. Every joke I tried to make bounced right off of her."

   "Well, I know Bev is a little serious, but she is beautiful and she is
smart."

   "Yes, she is beautiful and she is smart.  What I want in a woman is
someone who is as smart as I am.  I want someone who will get my jokes and
give me back some of her own.  The woman I end up with should be someone
I'd be proud to be seen with.  She should also be someone I'm attracted to
physically."

   Karen came over and sat on my lap.  She hadn't done that since I was
sixteen.  I'd gotten a boner and she had squealed and jumped up.

   She put her arms loosely around my neck and looked me directly in the
eyes.  "Mike, I do know you.  I've been saving the best for last.  The
woman I have you fixed up with for Friday is perfect for you," she said.

   I was looking into her eyes and listening to what she was saying when I
realized I had another boner.  "Oh, my God, what's she going to think of
me?" I wondered.

   Karen didn't pay any attention to it, so I asked, "Who is this perfect
woman?"

   "She may not be perfect, but I think she's perfect for you," she said.
"I'm not going to tell you her name because I think you might know her and
I want it to be a surprise."

   "You're not going to bring Amanda in on me, are you?" I asked.  "She's
anything but perfect for me."

   Karen laughed.  "No, it's not Amanda," she said.  Then she kissed me on
the end of my nose and ran out of the house.

   I must have called Karen at least half a dozen times that week.  Every
time, I got her answering machine.  I left messages for her to call me
every time, but she didn't even attempt to call back.

   I didn't really know what to do, so I went back to the same restaurant
I'd been going to and got a table.  I had been sitting there for about
twenty minutes when I saw Karen walk in the front door.  She looked around
and spotted me.

   She walked to my table and sat down across from me.  "So, did my perfect
woman stand me up?" I asked.

   "No, she's here," Karen said.

   "You mean you?" I was astonished.

   "Yep." She had just a hint of a smile.

   "But, Karen, you're my best friend, damn it."

   "Shouldn't your wife be your best friend?" She said, her smile getting a
little wider because she was teasing me.

   "Yes, she should, Karen, but that should be something that develops over
time."

   "Didn't our friendship develop over time?  Look, Mike.  Amanda was never
your best friend and Jim was never mine.  I've had one friend in all of my
life who I could really count on and that's you.  You've had one friend you
could really count on and that's me."

   The waiter came up to ask if we were ready to order and I told him we
needed a few minutes.

   "But, Karen..." I started to say as the waiter left.

   "I don't want to hear any but Karens," she said.  "We've always been
able to talk for days at a time.  I've told you things about me that no one
else has ever known and you've done the same.  I finally realized about a
year ago that you are the only person I've ever felt this close to."

   "But what about...  Uh...  You know...  Sex?"

   "What about it?  I have set on your lap a total of two times in the last
eight years.  Both times you've gotten a boner.  When I left your place on
Saturday, my panties were so wet I thought I was going to have to wring
them out before I could drive home."

   "Yeah, but you know, we've never even really kissed."

   "That little problem can be taken care of quite easily.  Your place or
mine?" Her smile had become a smirk.

   "Mine, it's closer," I said as I pulled a twenty dollar bill out of my
pocket and threw it on the table.

   Karen giggled when she saw the condition of my pants.  I looked like the
flag bearer in a parade.

   We left Karen's car at the restaurant and drove quickly home.  I don't
know if Karen was a little apprehensive or what, but she didn't say a word
until we had gotten there.

   As soon as we were inside the door, Karen turned to me and said, "Now,
let's see what it feels like to kiss our best friends."

   It felt wonderful, stupendous, spectacular, and any other superlative
you could think of.  I had been afraid that kissing Karen would be like
kissing my mother or my sister.  It wasn't.  It had to be the most toe
curling kiss I had ever experienced.

   "Wow!" I said as we pulled apart.  "Where'd that come from?"

   "I think that was about eighteen years of repressed desire.  Do you want
to try to relieve some more of it?"

   "I think we should, or there might be an explosion or something."

   Karen started unbuttoning my shirt, so I returned the favor by
unbuttoning her blouse.  The damned thing must have had twenty buttons down
the back.  She waited patiently for me to undo all of them, then shrugged
it to the floor.  I did the same for my shirt and watched as she reached
behind her and unhooked her bra.

   Karen kept the cups of her bra pressed against her breasts as she pulled
the straps over her arms.  She looked me in the eyes then dropped the bra.
As my eyes darted downward for my first glimpse of her treasures, Karen
turned and ran toward my bedroom.

   We left a string of clothes and ended up standing toe to toe by the side
of my bed, me in my boxers and her in her panties.  We tackled each other
onto the bed and our lips found each other again.  The passion was still
there in the kiss, but it was loving as well.  We both knew what was going
to happen.  We were both anticipating it, but we weren't in nearly as big
of a hurry as we had been when we came in the house.

   I think we both realized that we had all the time in the world.  I
kissed her nose then her chin.  Next I kissed the base of her throat then
started kissing across her collar bone and out to her shoulder.

   I worked back across the upper part of her chest, kissing and nibbling.
By the time I reached the upper slope of her breasts, Karen's pelvis was
raising rhythmically off of the bed.  I kissed and licked the globes of her
breasts and eventually found my way to one of her nipples.

   After kissing her nipple, I ran my tongue in circles around it.  I've
never seen anyone with more responsive nipples.  Her nipples were large and
very firm.  I sucked one of them into my mouth and nursed on it like a
baby. Just before I moved over to give her other nipple the same treatment,
I gave it a little nip.  Karen gasped and her panty covered pussy must have
raised a foot off of the bed.

   After I had worshipped her other nipple for a while, I started to kiss
my way down toward her panties, but Karen grabbed me by the ears and said,
"Enough foreplay.  I want you inside me."

   I couldn't argue with that, so I pulled her panties down and then off. I
kind of regretted not getting to taste her pussy right away, but I knew
there'd be time for that later.  Karen sat up, grabbed my boxers, and
pulled them down.  I very ungracefully managed to get out of them.

   Karen giggled as I moved up between her legs.  I wasn't laughing.  She
had to be the most beautiful woman I'd ever seen.  She grabbed my cock as I
leaned toward her and rubbed the head up and down between her very wet
nether lips.  When she thought I was lubricated enough, she positioned me
at her opening.

   Okay, I wasn't even close to being a virgin.  I knew about sex and I
knew about vaginas.  This one was the tightest I had ever been in.  The
walls of her vagina gripped me and caressed me like it had been made for me
alone.  I stopped as soon as the head of my cock was inside her and waited
for her to adjust.  Karen gripped the cheeks of my ass and pulled, so I
started moving.

   It was a few minutes before our pubic hair meshed.  When I felt her clit
press against my pubic bone, I stopped again.  I looked into Karen's eyes
then tenderly kissed her.  "That has to be the most wonderful thing I've
ever felt," I told her.  Karen just nodded.

   We started moving against each other in a rhythm as old as time.  I knew
I was building toward a climax and from the way Karen was spasming around
me, I could tell she was too.  I picked up the pace slightly, but this
evidently wasn't enough for Karen because she kicked it up another notch.

   I knew I wasn't going to last much longer and I started to tell Karen
just when she started to moan.  The moan grew in volume as I pounded into
her.  Her whole body seemed to explode as her moan became a shriek.  Her
pussy was gripping and releasing so fast I'll swear she pumped the semen
right our of me.  My scream matched hers as I filled her with my cum.

   We collapsed as our orgasms started to subside.  I managed to roll us
over so we were facing each other, still joined.  We laid there for a few
minutes, gasping for breath then I opened my eyes and saw her looking at
me.

   "Not bad for a couple of old friends, huh?" Karen asked.

   "Not bad at all.  In fact I'd say it was fantastic.  Karen, as far as
I'm concerned, that was the best there's ever been."

   "I have to agree, Mike.  I knew it would be though.  Everything else
between us has always been the greatest.  Why wouldn't sex be the greatest
too?"

   "So, what are we going to do about this?" I asked.

   "Well, when you divorce is final I think we should wait a respectable
amount of time, like maybe two or three days, and then get married."
   So, that's what we did.