He hunched his shoulders and gripped the steering wheel even tighter.
“Yeah, I know,” I said into the silence. “Life’s pretty confusing as a teenage guy. I remember. Trust me. It’s still confusing, and I’m a few years older’n you. So I dunno if it gets any easier.” I glanced over the seat at Christy. “What do you think, honey?”
“I think you’re both doing fine.”
Alexa gave me a teary smile and nodded emphatically.
“Don’t worry about it, dude,” I said to Damon. “Being the best at something doesn’t make you a man. It’s how you handle things when you aren’t the best. That’s the true test. Do you pick yourself up and try harder?
Or do you quit and sulk about it?” I watched him out of the corner of my eye.
“I dunno ’bout you, but I know which one I’d choose.”
The rest of the weekend was a blur. A good blur, but still a blur. It was the
last weekend before danger week, so Christy and I wanted to make the most of it. We had sex on every flat surface in the room, plus a few of the vertical ones as well. We had sex in the bathtub and with her tied to the bed and blindfolded. We even did it once outside, standing on the patio outside our door at midnight. She clung to my neck and buried her face in my chest to keep from crying out as she climaxed.
She also tried her best to deep throat me. She almost managed it a couple of times when I was only semi-hard, but she still couldn’t force me into her throat when I was fully erect. Her eyes were watering with tears when she finally gave up in frustration.
“I just can’t do it.” She sniffed grumpily and sat back. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me.”
“Nothing,” I chuckled. “But this really annoys you, doesn’t it?”
“Yes, dammit!”
“Relax,” I said. “I don’t think this is something you can learn in a couple of weeks.”
“Why the hell not?”
I slid onto the floor and pulled her into my lap. “Damon isn’t the only one who’s super-competitive.”
“So?” she asked sullenly.
“Well, what did I tell him? Either pick yourself up and try harder, or quit and sulk about it.”
She glared.
“Listen, I know you think it’s a cheesy line, but we have the rest of our lives.”
“But I wanna do it now, not ten years from now.”
“Now, ten years from now, who cares? It isn’t worth it if you don’t enjoy it.”
“But I do enjoy it. Well, not the part where I keep gagging, but you know what I mean.”
“Yeah, I do. And I’m patient. You know that, especially where you’re concerned.”
“That’s nice. I’m not.”
“You’re a stubborn little thing, aren’t you?”
“And don’t you forget it, mister.”
“Not much chance of that,” I chuckled. Then I kissed her forehead and simply held her until she eventually relaxed. “Better?” I said at last.
She nodded and let out a deep sigh. “I guess this is like learning to do splits. I need to give my muscles time to stretch and get used to it.”
“Exactly. You’ll get there.”
“I know. I’m just more like Wren than I want to admit.”
“Like me and Rich,” I said. “But that isn’t necessarily a bad thing.”
“No.”
I looked at my watch. “Okay, Miss Sex Kitten, it’s four in the morning.
I’d like to get some sleep before we have to get up and check out. But first, I’d like to make love to you. In the bed, missionary position, and with the lights out. Would you like that?”
“Yes, please.”
A couple of days later, I called Susan and wished her a happy birthday.
“Thank you very much,” she said.
“You’re welcome. Have you had a good day?”
“A great one. We just got home from dinner. We’re about to get in the hot tub.”
“We?”
“My friend and I.”
“You still aren’t going to tell me who he is, are you?”
“Not unless you can think of a reason I should.” She muffled the phone, and I heard what sounded like, “You go on out. I’ll be right with you.”
“Want me to let you go?” I asked.
“No, we’re a little full from dinner. I’ll join him in a bit. In the meantime, how’re you? How’s Christy? Have you and Trip had a chance to look at the numbers?”
“I’m good, she’s good, and we have. I’ll save the longer answers for when you don’t have someone waiting on you.”
“Let me worry about him. We’ve been friends a long time. He understands.”
“Well,” I admitted, “I have my own distraction here. Christy just came upstairs. She has a snack, and that’ll keep her busy for a few minutes, but then we’re supposed to look at her project sketches.”
“I won’t keep you long,” Susan said. “But I do want to hear your thoughts
on my project.”
“My thoughts? In a word, scared.”
She chuckled, a sound rich with amusement and irony. “That’s a good thing. You’ll take it seriously if you’re scared. I wouldn’t even think about hiring you if you weren’t.”
“Yeah, that’s what Trip said.”
“But I am thinking about hiring you, so let’s talk. I spoke with Trip a couple of days ago, but now it’s your turn in the hot seat.”
“It’s a lot of work,” I said, “but we think we can do it. Trip will do the management, and I’ll handle the design and site visits.”
“He said you’re also thinking about bringing in a consultant, someone with more experience to give you the benefit of their wisdom.”
“Yeah, we talked about it,” I said. “I don’t know the guy, but I trust Trip’s judgment.”
“That’s good enough for me. I know someone local who can consult too.
He was part of the Works Progress Administration. He’s in his eighties now, but his mind’s as sharp as ever.”
“We’ll take all the help we can get.”
“Good to know. That’s a sign of maturity, knowing what you don’t know.”
“I really worry about the things we don’t know we don’t know, if that makes sense.”
“It does, and it gives me even more confidence to hear it. So I’ll watch the mail for a new ballpark estimate. And you’re coming for a visit at the end of the month?”
“That’s the plan.”
“Okay. I’ll see you then. In the meantime, give Christy a hug and kiss for me. I’m glad you’re doing well. See you soon.”
“Will do,” I said. “See you soon.”
We said goodbye and hung up, and Christy grinned at me from the end of the bed.
“I really like her too,” she said. “Susan, right?”
“Mmm hmm.”
“She’s good for you. Like Sara. They’re both smart and no-nonsense.”
She nibbled a carrot stick and gave me a speculative look.
“What?”
“Nothing. Only… No, never mind.”
“What?” I insisted.
“Just something I thought of. Only, I need to think about it some more. In the meantime, Mr. Nosy Parker, can we look at my sketches now? I really want your opinion before I finalize the maquettes. I know you think I’m bad at telling time, but I have a deadline I can’t miss.”
“Sure. Let’s take a look.”
She hopped up and grabbed her sketchbook and an even larger sketchpad.
We spread everything in front of us on the bed and looked at the series in order, from Wren’s body to Delilah’s and finally to Sayuri’s.
“Are her breasts real?” I asked about the modern Sayuri. “I mean, not that I think they’re fake, but… did you perk them up in the sketches?”
“I know, right?” Christy said. “She’s a hundred percent real, and she’s beautiful. I hope I look half as good as she does at her age.”
“She isn’t that old,” I said. “About your mother’s age, right?”