Date: Mon, 29 Mar 2021 18:51:10 +0000 (UTC)
From: atlantisguy@aol.com
Subject: Karl and Scott, part 4

***Note that the following story is a work of semi-fiction, or maybe
"inspired by a true story." Part is 100% true, and part is fantasy, and
I leave it to the reader to determine which is which. Certain details
have been tweaked to protect the "innocent." By all means, send
feedback along to AtlantisGuy@aol.com***

Gay--College

Karl and Scott -- Best Friends Become More, Part IV


We slept.

Man, after the past 24 hours or so I don't know how we could've done
anything *but* sleep. Karl and I were both well and truly spent; and for
good measure, I think I had overworked a whole group of muscles I didn't
even know I had. More than that, the feeling I had spooning with him as
we slipped into oblivion gave me an overwhelming sense of peace... of
being safe.

Of course, daylight's first beams got our blood flowing again, and the
touch of our bodies brought our dicks to full attention. We both knew
that our time in our private love nest was drawing to an end--Karl had to
work at the computer lab that afternoon and I had a shit-ton of projects
I had put off for far too long. But for the moment, we had each other,
and had enough testosterone flowing in our blood to kill a pod of whales.

For all that, we didn't throw ourselves into wild, throbbing,
throw-em-down-and-fuck-em sex... it was like we were savoring each other.
Even with all the intensity of two sexed up guys going after each other,
it was surprisingly sensual. I think on top of all the other lessons we
had learned that weekend, we were really coming to an understanding of
foreplay... especially man-on-man foreplay. It was very different from my
experiences with women.

At one point I had Karl flat on his back, with me pleasuring his entire
torso with my tongue, leaving his rock-hard cock anxious for attention.
Whetting his appetite.  Sitting between his legs, I pulled his leg up and
forward, bending it at the knee and dragging my tongue on long, sensual
licks up and down his inner thigh. Karl sighed in deep contentment.
Playful, and curious, I tried something new. I continued to flex his leg,
working my tongue down past his knees, to his ankles, and finally to his
feet. Staring him dead in the eye, I slowly worked his foot to my mouth,
and then focused my oral attention on his toes, suckling them as if they
were his cockhead. I don't know what he was expecting, but he let out an
explosive burst of raw joy that almost sounded like a laugh... not of
being tickled, nor of finding humor in the situation, but simply not
believing his good luck. His eyes weren't flashing *need,* but some
other emotion I couldn't quite name.

As we went on, our foreplay became less focused as our patience ran thin.
Finally Karl grabbed me out of bed to put into play an idea he had been
brewing about for some time--he wanted me to fuck him in front of the
full-length mirror on one of the walls, so he could watch the action take
place from a variety of angles.

Who was I to deny him anything?

He stood in front of it, braced against the wall with his outstretched
hands. I slid behind him, working that sensitive spot on his neck while I
greased up his hole, and slowly slid inside him. FUUUUUCK I loved that
first moment of penetration. I reached around and worked his cock with my
right hand, while sliding my left across his nipples, teasing them.
Lightly pinching them. He leaned into me, matching my undulations as I
slowly began thrusting.

And Karl--brash, outgoing Karl--dissolved into absolute putty. He pleaded
with me to fuck him. Whimpered for my cock juice to fill him. He had
completely surrendered to the fuck. The weird thing is that it was all so
masculine... or maybe that *he* was so fucking masculine, even in
surrender. This was all so unexpected to me... a completely different
perspective on masculinity. I... can't explain it.

And truthfully, at that moment I had no interest in explaining it. I just
wanted to *feel* it. To spend my last chance fucking him with all my
being. After a long rush of long-dicking him, I needed more. I pushed
down on him to get him on all fours, and dug in for deep, fast hammer
strokes. Fuck, I loved doggie. I could fucking *pound* him from that
position, drawing out animal sounds in both of us. His ass was fucking
*mine.* Slamming my hard cock into him like that, I could drive away all
other thought. All other confusion about what may come. There was nothing
but the jackhammered collision of my cock and his greedy ass.

I wish I could have lasted forever. I wish that glorious friction would
have gone on, that the sounds of our bodies slapping together and our
animal cries would have lasted into a new night. But my rough play in his
ass drove Karl past the point of no return, triggering for Karl a
cascading cumshot that triggered mine too. A grand finale that left us
both deeply satisfied.

And after. I leaned down over Karl, so that my chest met his back. My
hand below reached around, grabbing not for his dick, but running open
palmed across his hairy chest. I could... feel his heartbeat, the long
slow gasps as he caught his breath. His tight hole instinctively
contracting and constricting around my cock, which was starting to soften
but was still hard inside him.  Connected in the most intimate way
possible.  But other sensations stayed with me, too... the intimacy of our
skin touching, reacting to each other. His natural scent filling my
lungs. The taste of him as I gently kissed his neck. All of him. Karl.

After such a climax, the rest of the morning was, by definition,
anticlimactic. We showered together, but there was almost an elegiac
silence--the shower made it hard to talk, and we fell into wordlessness
as we gently cleaned each other, readying ourselves to go back to
civilization. And I could tell we were mentally starting to remove
ourselves from this magical weekend as we increasingly lathered up
ourselves, not each other. I chuckled bitterly, inwardly as I only now
put on the change of clothes I had brought for the weekend. After a
weekend of naked sex, clothes felt... scratchy.

Conversation, which had flowed so freely, also took a nosedive. With only
the blandest of banter, we stripped the bed and threw everything into the
washer... I'd stop by the house later to finish up the laundry. We
gathered up everything and hit the road back to campus.

We needed to talk, and this was pretty much our last chance. I have no
idea what I thought about the weekend. I mean, I loved the sex and all
things considered would have cheerfully jumped into the backseat for
another round right that very minute... I mean, cruise control would take
care of everything, right? But there was far more to this than sex. And
even if I knew what was going on in my own head, I had no idea what was
going through Karl's. I was grateful that in driving, we were both
pretty much stuck staring straight ahead... it made it easier to talk to
him if I wasn't looking into his eyes. Those eyes.

"So." I began. "Back to civilization."

"Yeah."

Pause.

Pause.

Great. This was starting off well. "So. Do you... have any thoughts about
what... you know... happens now?"

Karl let out a short, somewhat humorless chuckle. "That's the
million-dollar question, isn't it?" There was another pause.

At this point, I was starting to get irritated. That wasn't fair, sure,
but I'll own it. God knows my own thoughts were in a jumble. But one
thing that was standing out was a feeling of connection with him. That we
had just had something incredibly important happen. Maybe something
incredibly *rare* happen. I guess I was hoping he'd at least acknowledge
that part.  "Did you like what we did?" I asked, with a tone that might
have had a bit too much angst.

"Well, yeah. Yeah!" Karl responded, slightly defensively. "I mean....
Shit. If I'm honest, I'd have to say that was some of the best sex
I've ever had. Like, I didn't know sex could even be like that."

Pause.

"And?" I asked.

"Well, what about you? Did you like it?"

"Of course I did!" I responded. "I mean, yeah... you're right. I
didn't know sex could be that good."

Pause. I pushed a little more. "Karl, I get the sense you're thinking
hard about something."

"It's hard. I always leave the thinking to you," he said mordantly.
"It's just I don't even know what this all means. I've... always seen
myself as straight. Never even questioned it. Always saw myself as
marrying some great woman and settling down with the kids and job. I
mean, that's who I am. I mean, I don't ogle guys in the showers. I'm
not checking anyone out or anything. I'm not, like... you know,
fantasizing about other men."

"Did you ever fantasize about... me?"

The car suddenly got very, very quiet.

"I don't... I don't know."

"Huh?" I responded.

"It's not like I was... fantasizing about you. I mean not really. But I
have sometimes wondered. I mean, not wondered. I have thought that...
fuck.  Fuck.  Ok, there were times where I thought I felt something...
more towards you."

"What? When? How long have you been..."

"Fuck. Ok, ok. Last year... remember at the very end of the year, when we
both had loaded up our cars and were getting ready to head home for the
summer? We saw each other and hugged good bye. And it was like hot and we
were sweaty from packing, and anxious to get going, and we hugged. And
I... didn't want to leave. I didn't want *you* to leave. I... it's like,
I never had a guy friend like you. And things were just so great. So
fucking easy between us. And I just wanted us to keep hanging out, and
being together... and I felt it all, right here," he said as he thumped
his fist right over his heart.

"You've had feelings for me since last year?" I responded, wildly
thinking through the implications.

"No, no, no." He cut me off. "I mean, not really. I mean, that's part
of why I never said anything. It didn't mean anything. I mean, not
really. Or at least I didn't think so.  It wasn't serious.  I'm not
really gay, and I didn't think you were either. But.... Fuck, I don't
know."

"if it helps any... I think there were times I felt something about you,
too. More than once, actually."

Karl whipped his head around, staring at me in wide-eyed shock. "You're
shitting me. Seriously?"

I thought long and hard about what to say. To be honest with him... and
maybe more important, to be honest with myself.  "The weird thing is
those feelings bubbled up at weird times, usually in response to
something... small. Like when you dove for a frisbee and it was like
masculinity in motion. When you burst out laughing at a stupid joke I
said. It was never some big Hollywood Movie Moment with some orchestra
music swell in the background. And I think that's why I was able to
write them off. And I've never had feelings like this for another guy,
so I had no... idea what they felt like. No idea what to do with them."

"I didn't know," Karl said simply.  He sighed deeply. "I thought I
was just being... you know, a no-account horndog. I wouldn't have ever
said anything to you. I wouldn't have ever said anything to *myself.*
But... maybe... maybe there was something... there. And it's been staring
us in the face all along."

It was my turn to sigh. "I guess that brings us back to the
million-dollar question. What do we do now?" I let the question hang in
the air for a second, before pushing on. "I mean, here we are at the end
of the year. The end of *college.* I've planned on moving away this
summer. I'm starting grad school out east in the fall. You're staying
here and starting that internship. We only have a few weeks. A couple
months ago I was all set to be moving ahead with Liz, and thought that
*that* was going somewhere. And holy shit I still have to somehow finish
my honors project, survive finals and... you know, actually graduate."

My sentences had slowly been picking up speed as I went, and I finished
in a blast of speed verging on desperation. Karl was staring ahead,
middle distance. He may have nodded grimly. I continued on, with
something that was weighing on me. "I have loved everything we've done.
It's not just a "no regrets" kinda thing, but really *loved* it. But I
don't think I could be like in a full-blown relationship right now, let
alone *start* one right now. Not with anyone. I don't know where my own
head is about any of this... and I'm way behind where I need to be with
my big project. With everything... it's going to be a hellish few weeks
as it is."

"Our timing sucks, that's for sure," he replied flatly. "And I hear
you... I'm at make-or-break time, too. If you need time, if you need
focus, I can understand." He paused, and I got the sense he was steeling
himself, gathering strength before going on in a rush himself. "But I
also think if this thing between us has been staring us in the face this
whole time, finally throwing us at each other... there might be something
there. Something real. And it would be fucking stupid not to realize
it."

"You're right," I conceded, unwinding ever so slightly.

After a moment, I jumped in again. "Look, we don't have to make some
kind of formal decision... not right here, not right now. And I don't
want to get you sucked into my world of overthinking things." Karl
smiled. "This is all new. Let's just... agree to take things as they
come. Not say anything to anyone. No one knows... no one has any idea. Our
secret. We'll just take it one day at a time. Survive the next few
weeks. No pressure. Casual, and cool. That work?"

Karl breathed out. "Casual and cool."  The silence that followed no
longer felt as oppressive. "And just to say it out loud: This weekend
has been amazing.  All of it, not just the sex."

I smiled a crooked smile. "But especially the sex?"

Karl looked at me and responded with an impish smirk of his own. "But
*especially* the sex."

At this I laughed. "Jesus Christ, man. You are a horny fucking pervert.
You know that?"

"Pffft. *Everyone* knows that."

The rest of the day, and next few days generally, were an unpleasant
collision with reality. I wasn't just hyperventilating when I laid out
to Karl everything I had going on, and I know he was in crunch time, too.
I was lucky that my dorm was a single--a bad experience with a asshole of
a roommate cleared up any interest in sharing a room if I didn't have
to. Without another roommate, I was able to cut out all the noise, all
the distractions, and get ready for the final few weeks of school.

Of course, the lack of distractions gave me plenty of time to think about
Karl... and brood about what was going to happen between us. In truth, I
could've used his proven ability to snap me out of a spiraling train of
thought... but of course *he* was the thing my thoughts were spiraling on
about. Everything I thought I believed about myself--my sense of self, my
identity, my expectations, and my plans for the future--were telling me I
should not get any further involved with him. Walk away. To just enjoy
what we had and not dig any deeper. But... I couldn't stop thinking about
him. And not just the physical stuff, just... him. All of him. The way he
made me feel. His easy grin. The way he got my stupid jokes. The problem
was that all my reasons for not getting involved with him were
intellectual, generic, big picture, and abstract. My reasons for wanting
to be with him, however, were close, personal, emotional and...
overwhelming.

It was further complicated by the fact that in those first few days back,
we barely saw each other in the daily run of our lives. And when we did
see each other, we were always with our friends, and so hyper vigilant of
anyone catching on to what had gone on between us that we basically
avoided each other. It all added to the frustration, the confusion. It
was all just so much bullshit.

As the week neared the end, I was feeling well and truly sorry for
myself, and aggressively working on my honors project mostly out of
frustration. Out of the blue, there was a knock at the door, and perhaps
a bit sharper that necessary, I shouted at the closed door "What?"

Karl opened the door and came in.

Fuck. Ok. Cool. And Casual. We're cool and casual. Coolandcasual. "Hey
man," he said, with a... look on his face, which somehow managed to read
as nervous, expectant, hopeful, hesitant... and very interested. Fuck.
Cool and casual. "Am I bothering you?"

He was wearing shorts and a T-shirt, coming from something active, with
his skin vaguely flushed and the hair at his temples slightly wet with
sweat. Looking... *alive,* in physical glory, and hot as fuck. I sat up
sharply, locked my eyes with his and welcomed him in... with a tone in my
voice that was so desperately trying to be cool and casual my voice was
almost brittle. "Heyyyyyy. No. No... no bother. What's... up?"

"Oh, cool!" Karl brightened. "Yeah... it's just that, well, Rick and I
were, you know... just out playing.... Well, we *were* playing, and since I
was in your neck of the woods...."

I had no idea what else he said. My body was reacting to him, both
physically and emotionally, in ways I could barely understand. My stomach
had butterflies--fucking butterflies!--and I was awash in sensations.
Fuck, Scott. Cool. Casual.

I was cool as a fucking cucumber as I slammed into him, my mouth mashing
against his as if I was sucking my last breath from his lungs.

In a way, it reminded me of our first kiss, that fateful night nearly a
week ago. It was way past "passionate" into deep into "raw hunger."
My hands somehow locked the door behind him, then were everywhere,
feeling him, wanting him. I ran my hands through his hair, caressed his
face as I kissed him, felt the muscles under his clothes. His were doing
the same... free from any care or concern, just taking me all in. I pulled
back enough that I could wrench his shirt over his head, and went back to
exploring him with my mouth, with long sweeps of my tongue down his neck
and across his chest... kissing him, suckling him, tasting him. He
returned the favor, lifting my shirt over my head and diving him for his
own oral assault. I clenched down *hard* to keep from gasping out his
name. We were going so hard, our breath had already fallen into gasps as
we overcompensated for our time apart, in desperate need to feel each
other again.

I spun him around and sat him down hard at the edge of my bed. Still
working his chest, I moved down in fearsome determination. I violently
opened the button and zipper of his shorts, and as he lifted his butt
from the bed removed the offending garments, flipping them to the side.

And I fucking *sucked* him.

Primal hunger. Hormonal overdrive. His dick and my mouth made up for lost
time. His hands raked by back, neck and shoulders as I went down on him,
and he started lifting his hips up rhythmically as he tried to fuck my
mouth.  I still couldn't go all the way down on him and gaged, but
immediately recovered and used my mouth and hands in combination to set
his dick aflame. God it was fucking hot.

When he couldn't take it any more, his hands grabbed my shoulders hard
and hoisted me to my feet. I was fucking pissed--I wanted more of his
cock. But with one quick move he similarly wrenched my shorts and
underwear down, and slammed his mouth down the length of my rock hard
cock. I threw back my head in a silent scream. Fuck it was good.

He was just as frantic in his sucking as I had been--he knew exactly how
bad I needed it, and gave it to me hard. The intensity of his sucking,
the power of his mouth as he went down on my was throwing off my balance,
and I was quickly becoming unsteady on my feet. Karl was not going to be
denied, however; he grabbed my hips and set my ass down on the side of
the bed so he could resume his oral assault on my dick. As he worked me,
he slid my shorts off entirely so he could better spread my legs. I
silently panted out a mental prayer for what I hoped was coming next, and
Karl did not disappoint.

With no prelude, no chit-chat, he hauled up my ass and started making out
with my asshole.  FUUUUUUCK. God fucking damn this was better than
anything he had done before, setting me off like a rocket. In fact, it
was a little too exciting, as I had to bite my tongue *hard* to keep from
letting loose a string of damning profanities that would have brought the
entire floor running. I could feel his wildly-strewn clothes near me, and
for some reason decided to grab them to serve as a gag to keep myself
from screaming in ecstasy. But holy fuck... when I got the fabric to my
face, I realized I had grabbed his underwear. Underwear that was *deeply*
infused with his goddamn masculine, musky scent. I breathed in his man
smell, and nearly shot my wad right there. I was then wildly rubbing it
in my face, nearly hyperventilating as I went.

Karl's head slid up, and we locked eyes... we both couldn't take it
anymore.  He looked around wildly, and saw the bottle of lube I had
brought back from our weekend. Without grace, skill, or even a care, he
splatted some on my ass, working it in as he rubbed the rest on his dick.
Without a word he stood up, got between my legs so they were around his
hips, and fucking tore into me.

I yelped at first. "Go slow. Gimme a second," I hissed through clenched
teeth. He stood down, but I could see the boiling need raging behind his
eyes. He barely gave me enough time to adjust, but the reality is I
didn't care. I needed him. I needed us to fucking rut like we fucking
Grizzley bears in heat. And he gave it to me. No elegance. Raw,
blood-curdling fucking. I loved it. It was only a few minutes--far too
few for my taste--before we both launched into simultaneous blasts of
white-hot cum. How we managed to keep it quiet and not set off the fire
alarms is beyond me.

"Jesus," I said when we could finally breathe again.  "Have you been
practicing?"

"I didn't think this was going to happen. I mean, I've been trying to
be good... you know, keep it cool, keep it casual. And I know you're
busy. But finally I just... really wanted to see you. Just to talk. I
mean, I'm always horny and thought maybe something would come up... but
dude, you have an effect on me I can't control. And I don't know if I
*want* to control."

"I know what you mean," I replied. "I mean, I thought I was just going
to hug you, but my body went to autopilot. I suddenly needed more. And
kept needing more."

Karl propped himself up on one arm. "The sad thing is, I really can't
stay. Is it weird if I..."

"No Karl, don't worry. I get it. I'm still pretty swamped myself with
stuff I have to get done. And... we don't want to raise suspicions. But,
I'm... really glad to see you."

"It's really good to see you, too. I...." Karl finally went on almost
pleadingly. "Look, I know we're keeping things cool and casual and all,
but... would you.... I mean, I could stop by every now and again, if
that's ok."

I grinned. "That is very ok. Cool, I'll let you stop by when you want,
but in payment for taking up all my valuable time... how about leaving
your undies?"

Karl stared at me for a minute before bursting into uncontrollable
laughter. "See? You're turning into a pretty sick horndog too, you
know?"

The final few weeks of school were a bit of a blur. Karl stopped by
pretty much daily, and we went to town on each other as quietly and
efficiently as we could. Some days he stopped by after lunch, sometimes
while out on his morning run, sometimes as our crew was heading back to
the dorms after dinner. We tried to be as discreet as possible, although
as time when on I stopped being so maniacally concerned. For the most
part we stuck to oral, as it was usually easier to manage on the fly. To
our great mutual pleasure, we, um, tried various things on for size, we
pretty much realized we both liked it all, so we never fell into any
formal roles, or patterns. That said, the heavy constraints of communal
living meant that although we could explore to some degree, we didn't
have the freedom to *really* try things out. Certainly not loudly.

I think the release we offered each other paradoxically gave us the focus
we needed to bear down and get through those last weeks of classes. But
we never really talked about what was going to happen after graduation.
Karl and his roommate had already secured an apartment, and he was lined
up to start a summer internship that would hopefully lead to a job in the
fall... a dream job, if an entry-level one, with a company in his field.
I had secured a full scholarship to grad school out east, and my plan had
been to leave sometime after graduation to move out east, find an
apartment, and get myself situated in preparation for the fall. Changing
our respective plans would have been complicated, and complicating.

There was only the clandestine encounters, and for me the indelible
memories of Karl's touch, his scent, and his eyes. Despite the fact we
saw each other only fleetingly and on the sly, he was an ever-present
presence in my mind.

The term ended and finally we were at graduation. After finals, most of
the underclassmen left for the summer, but graduating seniors had a few
days to themselves on campus. Karl's extended family was driving up for
the graduation ceremony, and I had out of town family here as well. Our
time would no longer be our own. We would see each other, sure, but we
had one last chance to truly be together.

As our group of friends wrapped up dinner, Karl asked if I wanted to go
for a quick walk. Our friends let us be... they had no idea what had been
going on between us, but given everything that happened over the year I
think they instinctively understood we needed some time together and
respected our privacy.

It was a surreal walk, going across the campus that was mostly quiet,
with a few glimmerings of life scattered her and there, as folks
celebrated the upcoming graduation, took one last pass at favorite
haunts, or dreamed of new futures that were just now opening up before
them. My feelings with Karl encompassed all of this, but also were
colored by swirls of complicated emotions I barely knew how to identify.
It had been easy pushing all complex thought to the side while we were in
the headlong rush to finish the semester--and to enjoy the incredible
release and excitement of toe-curling sex with him--but the reality we
had been ignoring for the past few weeks was now rudely staring us in the
face.  It was... hard.

We slumped down on a favorite bench, where we had hung out many times,
and stared quietly into the night. Summer was coming, and the air was
touched with humid warmth. Even so, the warmth couldn't quite drive away
a cold emptiness in my gut.

"Scott, I wanted to say something to you," Karl said, finally breaking
the silence.  "And, well, to say *a lot* to you. Please let me get
through everything." He took a huge breath, and let it out. I nodded,
and let him go.

"I just wanted to say that... ... damn, guys don't do well talking about
feelings, and I'm worse than most."

I gave a small, sympathetic smile to him.

"Your friendship has been the most important friendship of my life. I
mean, it goes on way, way beyond friendship. Emotionally yes, and the
physical stuff too. I mean, I don't want to sound crass and all, but...
well, everything we've done in bed... it's hit me in ways... it's
*helped* me in ways I never expected. It's fed my soul, and every time
I'm with you, it just makes me more hungry. For more."

My smile moved more into a smirk, but I bit my tongue so as not to make a
smart-ass remark to break the mood.

"But it's been more than that. You... you've been better to me than I
ever deserved. The whole time we've known each other, but especially
this spring. It wasn't just that we connected, you... brought out things
and part of me that I didn't see. Made me better than I was. You were a
foundation for me. And I've never repaid you. In fact I fucking stabbed
you in the back, like a complete fucking asshole. And even then, after
everything went down, you went beyond your best self, making me *really*
see parts of me I didn't see, and being even *more* of a foundation for
me. This year would've crashed and burned if it wasn't for *you*... the
person I fucked over. I... can never thank you enough. Never. Enough.
You...."

Karl's voice nearly cracked with emotion. "Scott... I love you."

I had stayed silent up until now as a courtesy, to let him finish. Now,
as emotions crashed over me, I couldn't have spoken up if I tried.

Karl went on. "And I think I've always loved you. As I've thought more
and more about it, I think that was a big reason I slept with Di. I was...
jealous of you. Wanting you. Mad you didn't want me. I was mad about my
feelings toward you. I would never have admitted it to myself, never to
you, but I think in my own way I was acting out, retaliating against you
for something that wasn't your fault. And it was easy, because I always
thought sex was just sex. No big thing. But sex with *you*... I've never
felt so close to someone. It's scared me, excited me... it's something
 more deep and personal than I knew possible. It made we want to share
more with you. Only with you. I'd already fallen for you--I know that
now--but the sex brought it to a higher level than I could have thought.
And I...."

At that moment, I cut him off completely involuntarily--the dam burst and
I let out an explosive gasp that dissolved into a shuddering fit of
ugly-crying. As he gathered me up in his arms, the water-works burst for
him, too. God, we were a mess.

Finally he continued. "I love you, man. I fucking love you. And I know
this doesn't change anything. I just...."

"I love you, Karl. I *love* you," I said simply, cutting him off.

And we kissed... a kiss greater even then the famous kiss in "Princess
Bride."

And so it was that one chapter in our lives came to a close, and a new
one began. As it turns out, Karl was wrong: many things *did* change for
us, and would continue to change for us. Such is life. But the best
change of all came that very evening. You see, we had always had great
sex...

     ...but that night, we finally made love.