A/N: Ok, a little more filler, but it's also a setup for the next chapter. Never fear, the other Z-Boys will be back soon.

Chapter 34

"C'mon, let's go check out the bedroom," he compelled her in a soft voice as he reached out to take her hand and lead her to the inner sanctum of their private retreat…

After their initial romp in the hay and a delivered meal of Chinese food (when Stacy impressed Jess by expertly using chopsticks to eat his chow mein), they decided to have fool around on the couch. Things got hot and heavy in a hurry, inciting them to move back into the bedroom. As she and Stacy knelt facing each on the bed and started to make out, Jess' gaze fell upon a bookshelf set into the wall opposite the bed. One title in particular seemed to jump out at her, causing her eyes to widen with interest. She pulled out of Stacy's embrace and retrieved the book, holding it up gleefully. "Check it out!"

"The Joy of Sex," Stacy read aloud. "Oh yeah, I know about that one. Nathan's parents have a copy under their bed. We used to sneak peeks at it a couple years ago," he confessed as his high cheekbones colored slightly.

"My best friend and I used to look through it in the bookstore when the clerks weren't watching," Jess admitted with a giggle.

Stacy reached out with one hand. "Bring it here and let's see if it provides any material for inspiration." Jess did so promptly and he began riffling through the pages. "I recall some pretty good stuff in here, like uh…oh yeah, the 'Boots' page is pretty hot."

Jess leaned over to get a better look, then threw an amused glance at Stacy. "You like girls in black leather boots, huh?"

He blushed a bit again, nodding a bit shyly. It delighted Jess that he could be such a little devil in bed, but a sweet schoolboy out of it. "Well, maybe I'll have to pick some up," Jess said musingly.

Stacy grinned broadly. "That would be so hot! Yeah, you wearing boots and nothing else." He put the book down on the coverlet and reached out for Jess again. "We've got all week to look at this. Right now I wanna make the most of our time," he told her, then pushed her playfully back on the bed and crawled on top of her, already reaching beneath her skirt.

About an hour later they were exhaustedly entangled in each others' arms, clothing and sheets a rumpled mess about their sweaty limbs.

"It just gets better every time," Stacy murmured contentedly, one hand idly stroking Jess' far shoulder.

She smiled at his words. "Yeah…god, I'm wiped out." To give credence to her statement her eyelids began to droop. "What time is it?"

Stacy fumbled for his watch, which he had actually taken off for a change. "Umm, 10:30. You wanna take a nap for a little while? I might go out and watch some TV."

Jess considered the offer but decided to turn it down. "Nah, there's no point in napping this late in the day. You said we have this place to ourselves for a week?" When Stacy nodded 'yes' she continued. "Well, we might as well call it a night and go back home, don't you think?"

"Yeah, guess so," Stacy replied a bit reluctantly, probably more bummed about not getting to watch the enormous color TV than quitting the bedroom, Jess thought.

"Well, we probably should shower first, don't you think?" she asked him with a sly grin.

He brightened instantly. "Right on, let's do it!"

The shower almost turned into another sex session, but they mutually decided to hold something back for the next time. They left the house a little after 11pm, plenty of time to get Jess back home before curfew.

"Now that you're eighteen you ought to convince your mom to let you stay out later," Stacy suggested as he drove the Volvo down out of the canyon.

Jess exhaled noisily, causing her long bangs to float upward for a second. "I can ask, but I don't know if she'll say yes."

"It won't hurt to try, though, right?" he replied hopefully.

"Guess not." Jess turned her head to look out the window, already thinking about how she'd word her plea and when she could present her case to her mom.

That next afternoon, Jess spied her chance when Sandie got in from work, all smiles as she carried a green glass vase of Spring flowers with her into the house.

"Ooh, who gave you those?" Jess quipped with a raised eyebrow from her spot on the couch as she looked up from her issue of Seventeen.

Her mom blushed – blushed! – slightly as she walked past Jess to put the flowers on the dining room table. "A…coworker," she replied, turning her face away to hide her grin from her gleeful daughter.

"A guy coworker? Who likes you? He must like you, those had to cost a fortune!"

Shyly, Sandie murmured, "Well, it's early days yet. He only just made his…feelings known to me a short time ago."

Jess hopped up to inspect the arrangement more closely. "Really? When?"

"Oh, about the time he gave me these, which was right before I left work."

Jess grinned at her mom as she stroked one petal of a tiger lily. "So what did he say? Do I know who this is?"

Sandie quickly shook her head. "He's one of the art directors, a guy named Sam. I really haven't mentioned him before because he's always kept his distance and I never dreamed that he…well, anyway. He asked me if I was free tomorrow night…"

"And you said yes, I hope!" her daughter butted in, too excited for her mom to be overly polite.

Sandie shook her head again, this time at her daughter's impatience, but she also smiled. "I said yes. And why not? He's nice enough and we seem to have plenty to talk about."

"Is he cute?" Jess naturally wanted to know.

Her mom burst out laughing. "Given who you're dating I don't know if Sam's your idea of 'cute', but he's a nice looking man to me, anyway. He's tall," she added with a little sidewise glance at her daughter.

Jess nodded approvingly. "I'm sure he's cool. I'm so happy for you, Mom. It's about time you got back into the dating scene, to be honest." Sandie cocked an eyebrow at her, but forbore a response to that little gem of insight.

"So where are you guys gonna go?" Jess asked as Sandie ceased her admiration of the flowers and went into the kitchen to pour a glass of orange juice.

"I think some place in Westwood," she called out from the kitchen.

"Right on," Jess replied as she went back to the couch and picked up her magazine.

Sandie came back into the living room and sat beside Jess. "Are you and Stacy going out tomorrow too?"

Jess shrugged, trying to make it look casual. "Probably so. He said he wanted to see Bad News Bears, and it's playing up in Santa Monica, so maybe we'll have dinner first and then go to that."

"Sounds like a nice time," Sandie told her. Now's as good a time as any to bring up the curfew thing since she's in such a good mood, Jess thought quickly. Oh man, I hope this goes well. She took a deep breath

"Hey mom, since I'm 18 and Stacy and I have been going out for a little while, can I start staying out a little later now?"

A thoughtful look instantly swept over Sandie's attractive face. "Welll, I don't know. How late are we talking about?"

Ok, Jess thought, this is a chance to use the foot in the door technique, just like my Social Psych teacher talked about. Ask for something ridiculous first, then follow it up with the reasonable request you really want. "How about one am on weeknights and two or three am on weekends?" At the disbelieving look on her mom's face, Jess mock-soldiered on with her case. "But Stacy doesn't have a curfew at all! It's not fair!" she pretend wailed.

"Well, he's a boy and boys usually have it more lenient," Sandie shot back. "And the world's not a fair place, you should know that by now, Jess."

Jess sighed. "Ok, how about midnight on weekdays and one am on weekends? You let me do that before over the school break. Please? Pleeeaase?"

Sandie ran one hand through her tumbling dark locks. "Ok, fine. Midnight on weekdays and one am on the dot on weekends. And you abuse it, you know what'll happen."

"Yes, Mom," Jess replied dutifully, then gave her a hug. "Thanks. You know you can trust me, and Stacy too."

"I certainly hope so." Then Sandie's look changed note from stern to concerned and Jess could tell that the talk was imminent. She braced herself mentally. "Jess dear, I hate to pry but as long as you're under my roof then I have a right to be concerned. Are you and Stacy…" she mercifully let the rest of the question hang in the air.

"No!" Jess barked, then hastily added, "I mean, we've kissed, of course, but he's not pressuring me to do anything." That much is true, she told herself mentally. He's never asked me to do anything I didn't want to.

Sandie nodded slowly, trying to gauge the veracity of her daughter's statement. "I'm glad to hear that he's as nice as he seems to be. But if you two do end up doing anything, are you going to be prepared?" Sandie gave Jess a meaningful look as she spoke.

Jess decided to be a little more truthful. "Well, I am on the Pill…just in case," she admitted.

Sandie brought one hand to her mouth and looked at the far wall. At first Jess was afraid that her mom was going to cry or freak out, but after a moments' silence she merely said, "I'm glad to see that you're thinking ahead." She made herself meet her daughter's eyes again. "But Jess, promise me that you won't do anything lightly, or let Stacy – or anyone – pressure you into thinking you have to do something."

"Of course I won't," Jess assured her, hoping the conversation would come to a natural close. I already feel so bad for lying to her, but everything's under control and right now, what she doesn't know definitely won't hurt her, Jess rationalized privately.

"Well. I guess that's that," Sandie said as she got to her feet and went back into the kitchen to rummage through the cupboards. "Hmm, we're looking pretty sparse foodwise. You want to order out tonight?"

Jess closed her magazine and stood up. "Oh, I would but Stacy's taking somewhere to eat tonight," she explained to her mom apologetically.

Sandie raised one eyebrow. "Again? He just took you out last night, didn't he? Has he robbed a bank or something?" she joked, but with a note of trepidation in her voice.

Jess rolled her eyes. "Nooo, Mom. We ate at his house and then went and watched some people skate near the beach. So tonight he's actually taking me out to dinner." Wow, you sure are turning into such a skillful liar, Jess thought with a mixture of shame and pride.

"Fair enough. I'll just fend for myself," Sandie said with a little shrug as she left the kitchen and headed back toward her bedroom.

Jess finished reading her magazine ten minutes later and went to her own room to get ready for her "date" with Stacy. Of course their true plans were to pick up some food and eat it at the house they were looking after. They intended to spend as much time up there together as possible, knowing that a chance to be alone with their own devices was a rare and precious thing, and might not come again anytime soon.

Stacy picked Jess up at six, wreathed in the clean scent of soap and shampoo and clad in yet another horizontal-striped shirt.

"How many of those do you have anyway?" Jess asked with a pointed look at the garment as they got into his car.

He glanced down self-consciously at himself before starting the car up. "What, you don't like stripes?"

"No, they're fine. You just wear them so much," she defended herself with an amused chuckle.

Stacy pulled away from the curb, his handsome face set in a simulated frown. "I have other kinds of shirts, you know," he informed her, trying to sound put-upon.

Jess laughed. "Yeah, at least two Led Zeppelin shirts, if I recall correctly." God, that first meeting in the school hallway seems like a year ago, Jess mused as Stacy turned the car northward. So much has happened since then. I really hope all the crazy stuff is done with now. I could use some normalcy.

They stopped at an Italian restaurant and ordered a large pizza with everything to go. While it was being made, they sat beside each other at a wooden bench by the front door and people watched for a few minutes. When that got boring Stacy turned to Jess. "Just so you know, Allen Sarlo invited us to his girlfriend Mindy's birthday party a week from this Saturday," he told her.

Jess nodded. "Oh yeah, I know her – sort of. She's a regular customer at the boutique."

"And Allen goes to Santa Monica College like us," Stacy confirmed.

"Do you know yet who else is going to be there?" Jess asked, trying to keep the worry out of her voice. I think Mindy and Allen are cool, but I really don't know if I'm ready to be around a bunch of Dogtowners yet, she thought doubtfully.

Stacy read the concern in her voice anyway, and tried to distill her fears. "Actually, they hang out with more of a Malibu crowd these days. But from here I guess it'll be guys like Nathan and Paul Constantineau, maybe Biniak, maybe Kathy Alva…it's being given by a friend of Mindy's named Leela, and she's pretty friendly," he told her.

"Oh? Friendly as in just nice, or friendly as in…?" Jess retorted with a cocked eyebrow.

Stacy threw his hands up defensively. "Heyy, I never touched her! Ok, she's known to be rather 'friendly' to certain guys, but not me, honest. She's really not my type."

"Suuure," Jess teased, but let him off the hook. "Nah, I believe you. But now I have to see this girl."

Stacy grinned. "She's cool, just a little into the partying. But then again, a lot of people in this scene are, so she's in good company."

"Do you think we're expected to bring a present?" Jess wondered aloud.

Stacy thought for a second. "Allen didn't really say, but it probably wouldn't hurt."

"Well, there's time to think about it, anyway." Before they could discuss it further the man at the register informed them that their pizza was ready. Stacy paid with a handful of crumpled ones and Jess carried the box out to the car, putting napkins in her lap to shield herself from the worst of the heat and any seeping oils.

Five minutes later they were in the house, devouring the pizza while sitting on the fur rug on the living room floor.

"Bunker's friend will kill us if we get grease on this thing," Stacy said as he demolished his first slice.

"Oh well, it'll be worth it. This is divine," Jess enthused as she ate with abandon, heedless of spills or looking like a pig.

"Yeah, they win awards all the time for their food," he confirmed.

After they ate they began making out with the same abandon they had for their food. Eventually they ended up locked in carnal embrace, still in the same spot on the rug.

When they were done they sprawled on their backs side by side, their heads lolling back against the thick, dark fur. "I wonder how many times Bunker's friend has done it on this rug," Stacy said idly, his voice still thick with the remnants of his recent ecstasy.

Jess snorted with disgusted laughter. "Yuck, I don't wanna think about that at all."

Stacy smiled as his left hand sought out her right one so he could entwine his fingers in hers. "Sorry. That's how the male mind works sometimes, though," he explained.

Jess wriggled closer to him and put her head on his shoulder. "It's cool. Actually I was kinda wondering it myself earlier," she confessed with a giggle.

They ended up having sex again, this time in the master bedroom, using The Joy of Sex as a guide for a couple of adventurous positions that left them mutually satisfied and lying sweating profusely on the bed.

"Man, I just showered before I picked you up," Stacy muttered as he pushed strands of his hair, now soaked and dark, from his forehead. "Now I'm going to have to wash again." He reluctantly pushed himself up on his elbows and rolled off the bed.

Jess quickly followed suit. "Wait for baby!" she cried, causing Stacy to laughingly catch her up in his arms and half-carry her into the enormous master bath.

While in the shower Jess told him the good news about her curfew.

"Awesome," Stacy breathed as he lathered up his hair with the expensive salon shampoo that the homeowner had left behind. He studied the bottle for a moment. "Hmm, this is good stuff. Wish I could afford to buy a bottle of my own. Well, someday." He tilted his chin up and rinsed the suds away, squeezing his eyes shut tight as the warm water sheeted down his face and shoulders

As they dried off afterward they decided that despite Jess' new extended curfew, they should go home early anyway, since they both had to work the next day. "Don't wanna get all burned out before the weekend anyway," Stacy added as he vigorously toweled his hair.

"I think with you that's physically impossible," Jess joked. Stacy shot her one of his smug smiles and popped the end of his damp towel against her unclad bottom, making her squeal and spin around to face him, already winding up her own towel in retaliation.

30 minutes and one good towel fight later, they eased their welt-covered backsides into Stacy's car and headed back down the mountain toward home.

The next day seemed to drag for Jess as she tried to fill the hours until she and Stacy could return to the mountaintop house. She had to open the boutique on Fridays and work a fairly long shift, often running the register since Evie was usually busy with orders and conversation with the many friends who customarily dropped in to visit on that day for some reason. After work she did a little shopping, then drove home and finished up a paper, then studied a bit for her Geometry final, trying to be very good in order to balance out her upcoming naughtiness.

Her mom came home from work, got ready for her date with coworker Sam and rushed back about again in whirlwind fashion. Jess couldn't help grinning as she watched Sandie back her car out of the driveway, an expression of both anxiety and hope on her face as she pulled out into the street and accelerated away. She's about as giddy as I was on my first real date with Stacy, Jess thought as she returned to her cylinder volume exercises.

A little after six, she put the books away and got ready for her own date. What I told Mom about dinner and a movie really wasn't a lie, she thought to herself as she showered. I just conveniently left out the part about going to some stranger's house and balling our brains out. She giggled despite herself, shutting off the water and shaking her head so her sodden hair slung water all over the shower stall walls.

45 minutes later she was close to being ready. She put on a pair of dangly earrings and the labradorite pendant necklace that Stacy had given her, liking the way it matched her dove-gray short-sleeved sweater top and accentuated the low V neckline. It was a little more risqué than her normal look, but she intended to get Stacy worked up right from the very start. And I think a little cleavage will do the trick, she thought mischievously as she dabbed a little Jean Natè on the area in question, then pulled on a short deep gray a-line skirt and a new pair of calf-high black patent leather boots.

Stacy showed up at seven on the dot, punctual as usual. Jess immediately noticed he was wearing his Led Zeppelin III shirt and smirked at him.

"Well, I thought you'd like a change from the stripes," he told her magnanimously as he escorted her to his car.

Jess grinned. "You nut," she said, her usual response to his more off-kilter witty statements.

They ate dinner at an inexpensive Mexican restaurant a few blocks from the movie theatre, then went to the 8pm showing of Bad News Bears, which Stacy especially seemed to enjoy. Jess had a sinking feeling that she was going to hear "This is for Allah. And it's goin' way out there, sucka" and "Yo no me voy a poner esto! Esto duele!" for some time to come, judging from the way Stacy cracked up at the lines when they were first uttered and was now repeating them to himself as he drove them up the mountainside to their secret hideaway house. I gotta get his mind off of the movie and on to me, Jess thought to herself.

When they pulled up at the house, he was still laughing over certain scenes as Jess just smiled indulgently. He unlocked the front door and let themselves in, then excused himself to the bathroom. "Probably shouldn't have had that large Coke, huh?" he said with a touch of embarrassment as he closed the door behind him.

He emerged a minute later and went back to the living room, but Jess was nowhere in sight. "Hey, where'd ya go?" he called out.

"Down here," her voice came from the vicinity of the floor in front of the fireplace, which was currently blocked from Stacy's view by the couch. As he rounded the large piece of furniture the suggestion that they sit there and watch some tv died unspoken as he caught sight of Jess. She was reclining on her side on the fur rug, wearing her new boots, her necklace and a smile – and that was it.

All thoughts of baseball movies, tv and almost everything else in the world vanished from Stacy's mind as he knelt on the rug beside her, already stripping his shirt off.