“Hey guys, thanks for keeping an eye on Beth for me. Our band is set up and we’ll start playing in about twenty minutes.”
I looked around and didn’t see Sammie.
“Hey, where’s Sammie?”
“She didn’t have a date and was worried that she’d be a third wheel,” Kim said.
“Jeez, give me her number.” I said, and Kim rattled it off as I dialed. “Hey, Trouble, it’s David.”
“David, why are you calling? Aren’t you at the party with Cindy?”
“Yeah, Cindy’s here, along with every other cute girl in our school except one.”
“Yeah, right.”
“Seriously, Kevin, Luke and I were just saying we need a girl we can throw at all the band geeks and keep them away from our dates.”
Cindy and Suzanne both smacked me in the back of the head. I gave them both a dirty look. The good news was that I could hear Sammie giggling.
“Look, we all would like you to come. It’s not the same without you here, and I promise if you come your dance card will be full all night.”
“I’ll only go if you promise to save me a couple.”
“Deal.”
I could hear her laughing as she hung up on me.
“Bitch, she hung up on me,” I announced.
I got up to get Cindy another martini. Mona followed me up to the bar and I smiled at her.
“You need a ticket?”
“No, I still have one. Kevin and Luke are going to buy the next round,” she said, and then looked serious. “Thanks for calling Sammie. She’s upset with what Tracy did. She didn’t want to come tonight because she’s afraid she might say the wrong thing to her.”
I snorted.
“She’s not the only one. I honestly don’t know what I’ll say when I see her. My guess is I’ll totally wuss out and let her off the hook.”
“God, I hope not. That was one of the coldest things I’ve ever seen her do.”
“Well, I didn’t come here tonight to talk about her.”
“One thing I need to warn you about: Sammie has a huge crush on you. Actually, Mona and I both do too; we’ve seen you with Tracy, and how good you were with her. Plus she gives you very high marks in key categories.”
“You flirt.”
Her ears were so red that Kevin yelled over.
“Dawson, don’t forget you have your own date!”
I just waved over at him to acknowledge that his date was safe with me. I got Cindy her drink and sat back down at the table. Gary had left to go play while I was gone. We were having a good time when we heard the band start. Everyone gravitated to the dance floor.
This was the first party I’d been at since my disastrous party last spring. What a difference: I was sober and having much more fun than when I did drugs and drank. Sammie showed up near the end of the first set, and she bounced out on the dance floor and gave me a big hug. Cindy had a good laugh and asked her if she was trying to steal her date. Sammie almost bolted until she saw everyone around us laughing. I was even okay when I saw Jim and Tracy dancing. They looked like Beauty and the Beast. He dwarfed her. They seemed to be having a good time, and he was in lust big-time. I couldn’t blame him; I was still in lust with her.
Once the set ended, we went back out to the pool area. Beth left some of the band people to save our seats so we were able to grab our original tables. As I settled into my seat, Suzanne sat in my lap. She leaned in and gave me a nice kiss. She giggled when I pinched her butt. The rest of the table was doing their best to ignore us, but I did get some sly looks.
“What has you all frisky tonight?” I whispered into her ear.
She sucked my earlobe into her mouth; that sent shivers down my spine. I saw Luke turn to Magic and mouth, ‘Damn that’s hot.’
“I want you to take me to Homecoming.”
“Princess, I would take you in a heartbeat, but Cindy and I are going.”
“I talked to Cindy, and she said I can go too.”
She licked my neck and purred. Now everyone was watched us with their mouths open. Cindy and Beth smirked at me like they knew something. I was ready to throw caution to the wind, throw Suzanne on the table, and have my way with her. The little minx was driving me insane with her hot little body. I looked at Cindy for help.
“Suzanne!”
They locked eyes for a moment and did that weird girl-communication thing that always baffled me. I swear that with one look they could communicate a complete conversation. Suzanne wiggled her butt to let me know she felt my desire, and then went over and hugged Cindy and everyone could hear her stage whisper.
“Thank you, he’s taking us both to Homecoming.”
Luke smacked the palm of his hand to his forehead.
“Dawson, I give up. You’re a rock star.”
Everyone laughed at Luke. We could hear the band start to play, so I grabbed my two girls and we hit the dance floor. I tried not to embarrass myself as these two put on a show. There was a reason they were on the cheerleading squad. They had everyone watching us. After the second dance, I had to pee, so I excused myself and they continued to dance together. I found the bathroom by the kitchen open, so I quickly took care of business.
When I came out, Beth had waited for me.
“Hey gorgeous, you look great tonight,” I said.
“You don’t look so bad yourself. I see you jumped into the deep end with those two.”
“Yeah, they’re a lot of fun.”
She got a serious look on her face. I couldn’t figure out what she was thinking. I looked deep into her eyes.
“Hey, what’s wrong?” I asked.
“I’m regretting not following Tami’s advice. She called me after she heard about the auction and told me to forget about Gary and ask you out.”
I was in shock. Not by Tami knowing about the auction—her network of friends kept her up to date on everything that went on—but that she would tell Beth to go out with me. I never got more than a ‘friends’ vibe from her. I wasn’t sure how to respond, so I pulled her into my arms. I’d been friends with Beth the longest, since I literally grew up with her. It would be a nice, comfortable relationship. With Cindy and Suzanne, there was more passion, but there wasn’t the foundation for a long-term friendship. She laid her head on my shoulder and began to talk.
“David, I know the timing sucks. I really like Gary and I know you like Cindy and Suzanne, but I can’t stop thinking about you. I know Cindy and Suzanne aren’t looking for a relationship. They both have plans to go away for school and have both been hurt in the past.”
“You’re right. I’m looking at them as short-term. I like them both a lot, and knowing we aren’t in a long-term relationship is kind of a relief. I’m not over Tracy yet. She got deeper into me than I even know. It’ll take me a while to get over her. Like with Tami, if I started something with you it would be serious. We are too good of friends for it not to be that way. I honestly love you more than you know. All you have to do is ask and I’m yours. My heart is in your hands.”
She had tears in her eyes. She turned her head and gently kissed me. I felt a spark like static electricity when our lips met. Kissing Beth was different from anyone I’d ever kissed before. I could feel her longing for me and I felt our desire ramp up. Suddenly she pulled away from me and the reality of where we were flooded my mind.
“You’re right, we can’t hurt them. I like Gary. Hell, I spent $500 of your money to go out with him. Can you forget I ever asked?”
I hugged her tighter to me.
“Beth, you know I love you. You’re one of my dearest friends. If and when we’re both free, I’m looking you up.”
She gave me a funny look, then pushed me back into the bathroom and locked the door. Oh, shit! Beth walked towards me with a wicked gleam in her eyes. I slowly backed up until I felt the toilet hit the back of my legs. Now what? There was nowhere to go.
“Beth,” I tried to warn her off.