Even so, I later asked him to draw the line on petting so that he didn't touch me there again. "For how long?" he'd asked. We'd drawn lines in petting...before."Forever, I think." Indefinitely," he'd offered and not brought it up that year.When Bob had gone off to the university, my parents -- with some support from his -- had extracted the promise that each of us would date others in that separation. In this "cooling off period," I had dated juniors, nerds, and two boys who thought that their. Their hard work and dedication paid off. I was proud of Melinda's accomplishments. Life was good.By this time I was thirtyseven years old. I was successful and happy in my work and family. I still went out and hunted from time to time, and we still went out to my grandparents' property as a family to fish and play in the water. We still visited our parents frequently, and still spent time in Tim and Susan's pool. Life was good. Sure, my sex life with Mel had slowed down some; we weren't kids in. The other couples who were there partying and, by now, fucking, were Ann and Wick, Danny and Faye, Bill and Charlotte, Ben and Amy, Debbie and Ron, and Pam and Tom. They were the same group of "couples" that got invited to all the high school parties and most of the get-togethers followed along the same lines: everyone showed up and there was some drinking and snacking, then after 30 minutes to an hour, a couple would start to drift off to an available bedroom and then 2, 3 and more couples. Sure, she was a hot piece, but…the state championship! “Hey Tom,” Laurie smiles as she gets into the front seat, “how was school?” “The same,” I murmur, “what is she doing here?” “Eleanor is staying with us tonight,” Laurie says, “and you’re going to be nice.” “The state championship…”“Be nice!” Laurie hisses as Eleanor opens the sliding door of the van. “Hey Tom,” Eleanor says, “you got a date to the prom yet?” “I’m not going to prom,” I grumble, “it’s too expensive.”“It’s an archaic tradition.