Chapter 1: Morning View

I sat at the breakfast table with coffee and toast. Looking through the glass door, I enjoyed the view of the elevated porch and woods below. The morning light filtered through the trees, peaceful.

Moving in with Mandy seemed like a good idea. Rent was cheap, we were close enough for a long walk to downtown. We both went to the university. She was a psych undergrad, I was a math grad student.

But the roommate interview was over, I was in. What was Mandy really like, now that we're living together?

She was nineteen, punk cool, with a bright but sly smile. Her body was pure athlete, toned everywhere. Where do you get the time to work out like that? Her slightly crooked teeth were maybe the only thing that made her seem attainable to a mortal. Almost attainable, anyway.

The woods outside were dark green. A cardinal hopped between branches. My coffee was still hot enough to burn my tongue slightly when I sipped it. It was a nice momentary distraction from the probability theorem on my mind.

I heard footsteps on the stairs behind me, reaching the bottom of the stairs and moving into the kitchen.

"Sup nerd?," Mandy said.

I glanced up to acknowledge her greeting.

That was a mistake.

She wore a tight and thin white top. Her nipple piercings were completely visible through the material, two small barbells. The shirt ended just below her ribs, showing off her abs.

Below that, she had on white panties that rode low, exposing her hips. She turned, and good god. The back was just a strip of fabric disappearing between her ass cheeks. My eyes went involuntarily wide before I could quickly control my face.

I turned back to the glass doors, looking for my cardinal. I tried inspecting its feathers for, I don't know what.

"Psh I'm the cool guy of the math department." I joked, trying to pretend like I wasn't looking.

"Sleep well?" Her voice had an amused quality.

"Oh yeah, it's surprisingly quiet for how close to downtown we are" I said. I took a bite of toast. The bread tasted like cardboard in my suddenly dry mouth. "Been watching cardinals in the back yard."

I heard her moving around in the kitchen, opening drawers and cabinets. Then there was a metallic clatter.

"Oops," Mandy said.

"Oh shit" I said to myself, knowing exactly where this was about to go.

Mandy walked into my peripheral vision. Then she bent over to pick up the spoon.

I tried to look up at the ceiling. I'm telling you sincerely, I tried. But I couldn't will my eyes away, entirely.

The movement was slow. She bent at the waist, her ass lifting as she reached down. The white panties stretched tight across her cheeks, providing no moral coverage.

She grabbed the spoon and straightened up, turning to face me with a glance. I had only looked for a second, though!

"Enjoying the view?" she asked. "I thought you were bird watching or something."

"Cardinal. Out- out there." I said, trying to breathe deep. Tilting my head to indicate the direction, did nothing to help my explanation. But it succeeded in making me look pretty stupid.

"Uh-huh." She walked closer to the table, still holding the spoon. "Sure the cardinal wasn't perched on my ass?"

"Uh ... heh, I don't ... know ..." I stammered and eventually sighed, feeling caught red-handed.

She laughed. She took a carton of orange juice out of the fridge, threw her head back and chugged a few times. Her throat moved up and down.

I couldn't believe what it made me think of. My own mind shocked me.

"Yeah, I see woods." she teased.

I moved to try to hide the tent in my pants. "I don't mean anything by it, hah. I just ... cardinals do that sometimes ..."

Before the sentence was out, I was kicking myself, thinking "Oh GOD Harman, what a fucking weird joke!"

A laugh exploded out of Mandy's nose and mouth at the same time, not expecting my nervousness to get this extreme. When she finally recovered, crying a little, she just flatly said "Weird."

Mandy moved to stand in front of the glass door. She stretched her arms over her head, in a long, exaggerated motion.

The stretch arched her back, pushing her chest forward. Her shirt rode up even higher, exposing the underside of her breasts, abs flexed. And her piercings impossible to ignore.

I tried to keep looking past her. But there was nowhere else for my eyes to go. My brain was melting; my mind correspondingly spinning.

"Still working on that eye discipline, huh?" She tilted her head in mock concern.

"I was looking at the window," I said. The excuse was lame, even to me. "You're blocking it." I tried to point, as if that somehow made me seem honest.

"So you had to stare at my tits instead," she nodded.

"I wasn't--" I started.

"You were absolutely staring," she cut in. Her voice had more edge.

I shifted in my seat. "I uh, heh, promise I'll work on not looking," I said and did a mock salute, trying to cut the tension.

"Dork!", she laughed.

She walked to the kitchen counter, then she hopped up to sit on it. Her legs dangling over the edge, slightly apart. Just enough to see her white panties. She swung her legs casually, like relaxing on a dock at a lake.

"So I'm throwing a party tonight," she said. Her tone was conversational now. "Should be fun. I invited a bunch of people from school."

I nodded, trying to focus on her face. "Cool, I'll make an appearance."

"Jake's coming," she continued. She watched my reaction. "You know Jake, right? From your wrestling gym?"

I knew Jake. Two years younger than me, built like he'd been lifting since childhood. All the guys at the gym hated wrestling him. Because he was fucking strong. And so good looking, it felt unfair. I guess that's irrelevant for wrestling.

"Yeah, I know Jake," I said.

"He's so hot," Mandy said. She leaned back on her hands, the position pushing her chest forward again. "Like, seriously built. Have you seen his arms?"

Everyone had seen his arms. He wore tank tops even in cold weather, to make sure of it.

"M hm."

She caught the tone. She'd found the button she wanted to push.

"And his hands," she went on. "Those huge hands could pin me down all night!"

I took a drink of my coffee, trying to let this wash over me.

"Also Marcus is coming, he's from my psych class," she continued. "He's more lean than built, kind of artsy." She did a little dance with her arms as she explained, emphasizing her enthusiasm.

"He has these tattoos all down his ribs." Her finger traced along her own ribs as she said it. "I've been wanting to see the whole design up close." She stated, eyes getting a little big on the word "close".

My expression must have shifted.

"What?" she asked, her voice innocent. "I'm just telling you about my party plans."

"No it sounds fun!" I shrugged, and mustered an excited tone.

She swung her legs faster, her whole body language radiating satisfaction.

"Gonna be great," she agreed. "I plan to suck a dick tonight! Maybe two if I'm feeling ambitious."

My coffee mug stopped halfway to my mouth. I set it down carefully on the table, not trusting myself to hold it steady. She was watching me with bright eyes, enjoying every second.

I chuckled. I had to. I shook my head in disbelief, and amusement.

I'm an extremely good looking guy, but I know Mandy's a league above that. If I were that attractive, maybe I'd be like her, too. Has to feel thrilling, knowing how much you can get away with!

"Good for you." As the words wobbled out of my throat. I almost put my face flat on the table, because of how much they betrayed my insides.

"I think so," she replied. She hopped off the counter, landing lightly on her bare feet. "Jake seems like the type who'd be fun to blow. He's got that confident thing going on. You know what I mean?"

Rich kid, student athlete, douche bag. But sure, let's generously call it "confident".

"Yeah," I nodded.

"Anyway, I'm going to do some yoga," she said. "Get warmed up for tonight." She walked toward the glass door, pulling it open. "You can finish your breakfast, mathelete."

Through the glass I could see her laying out a yoga mat. She started with a downward dog, facing me. Her ass lifting high in the air as she planted her hands and feet.

I stood up from the table. My erection was painful now. I didn't bother trying to hide it as I walked away from the table, leaving my half-finished breakfast.

I went upstairs to my bedroom and closed the door. The image of her bent over on that yoga mat was burned into my brain. Her in those thin white panties, piercings visible, the way she'd sat on the counter with her legs apart, telling me about sucking Jake's dick. It all whirrled in my head.

I pulled my sweatpants down and took my cock in my hand, already leaking. I started stroking. Her bent over, picking up that spoon. Her stretching in front of the glass door.

I came hard and fast, my hand moving urgently as I pictured her on that porch right now, stretching in positions designed to show off.

I cleaned up and sat on the edge of my bed, breath slowly returning to normal.

This was going to be a long living arrangement.