“Hold on.” I ran back to the house and grabbed mine from the rack by the door. I jogged back and draped it around her shoulders. It practically swallowed her.
“Thanks.” She pulled it tight. “Mmm, it smells like you. What cologne is that?”
“Lagerfeld.”
“It’s very masculine.”
“Thanks.”
She slipped her arm through mine, and we set out toward her apartment.
“Thanks for inviting me tonight,” she said. “I had fun.”
“I’m glad. I did too. But I was kinda worried.”
“About what?”
“You didn’t drink very much.”
She shook her head. “I don’t like to be out of control.”
“Makes sense.”
“What about you? You didn’t drink much either.”
“I do sometimes. I guess I wasn’t in the mood tonight.”
“I hope I didn’t stop you.”
“No.” I thought about it and shrugged. “I’m a bit of a control freak too.”
“I didn’t say I was a control freak,” she laughed. “I said I don’t like to be out of control.”
“Is there a difference?”
“Of course there is. A control freak has to be in control. I… don’t mind if someone else is in control. As long as I trust them.”
“Ah. Okay. Do you trust me?”
“Of course,” she said. Then she grinned. “I’ll show you a shortcut.”
We walked between two houses and down a gravel alley. We came out beside her building, and I walked her up the stairs. She turned with the keys in her hand. Then she moistened her lips. She leaned toward me and tilted her face up. I reacted automatically, and we kissed.
“I’ve been thinking about that all night,” she said when it ended. “Would you like to come in?”
“I don’t—” I said. “I mean, I’m not— I didn’t—”
“Don’t worry, I have them.”
“Huh? Have what?”
“Condoms.”
“No, it isn’t that. Wait, what?” I was irritated at myself, but she misread me.
“Did I misunderstand…?”
“No, not at all! I— Hold on, what’re you talking about?”
“I thought… Tonight… Christy said you have an open relationship.”
That threw me for a loop. “She what?”
“Said you have an open relationship.”
“When?”
“Is this some kind of joke? It isn’t very funny.”
“No, it isn’t a joke. And you’re right, it isn’t funny. Can we talk inside?”
“I’m not sure,” she said warily.
“Listen, I…” A dozen thoughts flashed through my mind. All of them made me sound like a jerk, so I told her the truth instead. “Listen, I screwed up. Big time. I wasn’t expecting… this, an invitation. That’s why I reacted the way I did.”
Her expression didn’t soften, but she relaxed slightly.
“I can probably explain, but I don’t want to wait till tomorrow. The short answer is that I like you. And I want to sleep with you—I mean, if I didn’t misunderstand—but not unless you know what’s going on.”
“You’d better come in.” She unlocked the door, and I followed her into the apartment.
It was two hotel rooms that had been knocked together to create a one-bedroom apartment. It hadn’t been a classy hotel to begin with, and the conversion hadn’t improved it much. On the upside, Terri had done wonders with furniture and decorations. The place looked cozy and comfortable.
She laughed in disbelief. “You’re looking at the apartment, aren’t you?”
“Yeah, sorry. It’s a habit.”
“I meant what I said. Earlier. You’re going to make a great architect someday.”
“Thanks. And I must be doing something right if you still think that.”
“Honesty helps.” She took off my jacket and handed it back. Then she turned on a light. “Would you like something to drink? Beer? Wine? Soda?”
“Whatever you’re having.”
“Wine, probably.”
“Want me to open it?”
She laughed. “It isn’t that kind.” She opened the refrigerator and pulled out a green jug. “You can get the glasses, though.”
They were hanging in a rack above the front window. I had to stretch over the small kitchen table to grab them.
“How do you get these?” I said.
“I stand on a chair.”
“Okay.”
“I’ve had to adapt. I’ve been this size since I was thirteen.”
I tried to lighten the mood. “I bet some things are bigger.”
“What? Oh, them.” She glanced down at her breasts. “No, they came later.” She arched an eyebrow and dared me to make another comment.
“Right, got it,” I said. “Terri, 1. Paul, -1.”
She glanced down and tried to hide a smile.
“I like your place,” I said, a neutral subject.
“Thanks. I’ll be sorry to leave it.”
We sat on the couch, and she filled two glasses with pink wine. She took one and sat back against the armrest. She wasn’t being defensive, but she definitely didn’t want me close to her. I took the hint and turned to face her instead.
“Have you decided what to tell me?” she asked. “How to dig yourself out?”
“Start with the truth.”
“That’s a new one.” She sipped her wine and studied me over the top of the glass.
“Christy and I do have an open relationship,” I said after a moment. “Sort of. But it’s more complicated than that. We sleep with other people, but we usually talk about it first.” Our relationship wasn’t open, per se, but it was easier to explain than the actual truth.
Terri processed for a moment before she said, “So, you don’t mind if she sleeps with other guys?”
“No, but it’s only girls.” That came as a surprise.
Terri started to recover before the penny dropped for real. “Now I get it,” she said. “Tonight. With Wren. She was serious about the bath thing?”
“Yeah. They’re girlfriends.”
“And not the way most people mean it.”
“You aren’t shocked?”
“Maybe a little.” She shrugged. “But I’ve been around dancers all my life. Some of them are… that way.”
“So you understand?”
“Of course. I don’t care if people are like that. And you’re clearly okay with it.” She snorted derisively. “Why wouldn’t you be?”
“Now, hold on, Miss Feminist. Why shouldn’t women be able to choose who they sleep with? Men or women, how often, and under what circumstances.”
“You don’t live in the real world,” she accused.
“I live in the same world you do. But I choose to play by different rules.”
“You can. You’re a guy.”
“Women can play by the same rules. Christy does. Wren too.”
“What do your rules say about you and me? About… that?” She glanced toward the bedroom.
“Not unless Christy knows about it.”
“But… she practically threw you at me. Said you have an open relationship. That I’d enjoy it. She even described your…” She waved vaguely at my crotch. “Equipment!”
“Yeah, but she didn’t tell me any of that.”
“Seriously?”
“Nope.”
“Then why’d she do it?”
“I’m not entirely sure,” I admitted. “But part of it— Well, she likes you.”
“I like her too. But— Uh, you don’t mean like friends, do you? You mean… the other way.”
I nodded slowly.
“But I like men.” She gulped her wine. “Men only.”
“She figured that out,” I said. Which explains Lily, I added to myself.
Terri followed the trail of logic. “Ah, now I understand. She wanted to get to me through you. And when that didn’t work, she moved on. But she’d already called the tune.”
“Exactly.”
She huffed in frustration. “You didn’t realize I was serious? Tonight. I thought you did. You were flirting too.”
“I was. I was having fun. I thought you were coming on a little strong, but—”