“What if I stick around that long?”
I glanced at her sidelong. “That’s a good question.”
We went to the pool at the Student Aquatic Center. Christy was like an otter in the water, lithe and playful. She was a better swimmer than I was, but she didn’t rub it in like Wren did. Mostly we goofed around and let off stress.
After an hour or so, we climbed out and dried off. Christy noticed me looking at her.
“What?”
“I just realized I’d never seen you in a bathing suit.”
“So, what do you think?” She let her towel fall. “Here I am in all my glory. A hundred pounds, soaking wet.”
I made a show of looking her up and down.
She frowned. “Kinda scrawny, I know.”
“Not what I was thinking.”
“Oh?”
“Well, you know what they say… good things come in small packages.
Pretty things too.”
She turned on the sun. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Now, let’s get home and see what kind of carnage we have to deal with.”
We headed toward the locker rooms, and she fell into step beside me. She slipped her arm through mine and smiled up at me.
I smiled back and had to admit that I liked having her there.
Trip and Wren hadn’t killed each other. But they weren’t on the main level either. Christy and I cautiously headed up the stairs. We surprised Wren at the top. She had a towel wrapped around her and was using another to dry her hair. She was looking for something. She jumped when I cleared my throat.
“Hey, babe?” Trip called from the bedroom. “Did you find ’em?” He appeared in the doorway and quickly covered himself with his towel. “Oh.
Hey.”
“So,” I said casually, “everyone in a better mood?”
Trip grinned.
Wren summoned a glare.
“Oh, quit,” I told her.
“Where have you two been?” she said. “We have tons left to do.”
“Attention on deck!” I barked.
Christy played along and braced beside me. We saluted.
“Ensigns Hughes and Carmichael, reporting for duty.”
Christy looked at me hopefully. “Can I be a lieutenant?”
“Ensign Hughes and Lieutenant Carmichael, reporting for duty. Hold on, then you’ll outrank me.”
“You can be a commander.”
“Sounds good.” We snapped to attention again. “Attention on deck.
Commander Hughes and Lieutenant Carmichael, reporting for duty.”
“I dunno,” she said. “I kinda liked it when I outranked you.”
“You’d better be a captain, then.”
She nodded. “That works.”
“Captain Carmichael and Commander Hughes—”
“Shouldn’t you be first?”
“I thought you should. I mean, you’re the captain.”
“No, the person speaking is first.”
“Oh, right. Hadn’t thought of that.”
Wren huffed and stalked past us. “You deal with them,” she snapped at Trip.
He simply grinned.
Christy took a shower in the second-floor bathroom while I used the third.
The hot water never quite reached me. And I’d forgotten to grab my razor, toothbrush, or anything else I needed from my usual bathroom. So I wrapped a towel around my waist and headed down. I knocked on the door.
“Yes?”
“Are you decent? You mind if I get my stuff real quick?”
She opened the door and a cloud of steam escaped. She was wrapped in a towel. Her chest and face were pink from the heat.
“Well, now I know where all the hot water went.”
“Oh my gosh! I’m so sorry. I didn’t even think…”
“It’s okay. I’m used to cold showers.”
Her eyebrows rose with a question.
“Not for the reason you’re thinking.”
“And what was I thinking?”
“You know,” I said. “Now, can I get my stuff real quick?”
“Don’t be silly. There’s room for both of us. I’m used to it.”
“Used to it?”
“Mmm hmm. Laurence and I shared a bathroom in our house in Japan.”
She moved closer to the sink and motioned me behind her. She was short enough that I could easily see over her.
“Works for me,” I said.
She grinned at me over her shoulder. “This is how Laurie and I used to do it.”
“I’ve never heard you call him that.”
“What?”
“‘Laurie.’ You just called him Laurie.”
Her eyes misted with tears. She wiped them and forced a smile. “I guess I was thinking of him.”
“Do you want me to go?”
“No. Stay. Please. I’d… like it.”
Wren yelled at us from downstairs.
“We’d better get a move on,” Christy said.
“Yep. Chop-chop.”
She laughed. “My dad says that too.”
“Must be a Navy thing.”
“Probably.”
“Christy! Paul!” Wren yelled again, even louder. “Are you coming or what?”
“We’ll be right down!” I shouted back. “Fifteen minutes.”
“We’ll have guests in fifteen minutes.”
“Then send ’em up and they can help stuff my shorts!”
Christy giggled. “She’s probably right,” she said after a moment. “We’d better hurry.”
“Yeah. So no more foolin’ around. Got it?”
“Yes, sir, captain, sir!”
Chapter 14
My costume was so simple that I was dressed and downstairs long before Christy.
Wren had been right, we did have guests already. They were friends from Trip’s management class.
Leave it to Business majors to show up early for a meeting, I thought.
Their costumes were pretty basic (variations on corporate executive), but at least they’d tried. I introduced myself and offered to fix them drinks.
They’d brought a bottle of Bacardi, so we started with rum and Coke.
Trip came through from the kitchen. He greeted his friends in passing and continued toward the octagon room, where he started his first mix tape. The eerie sound effects from “Thriller” filled the house a moment later. Just like him, I thought. He knew the perfect music for every occasion. He returned to the dining room and I excused myself to answer the doorbell.
Freddie DeFeo and a couple of people from design class came in. He was dressed like a mob boss. The others were a cowboy, a ghost, and Tinker Bell (a mousy girl named Rosemary, who had a much nicer body than any of us had realized). I welcomed them to the party, told them the drinks and food were in the dining room, and sent them on their way.
I closed the front door and glanced toward the stairs. Christy stood on the landing. In the background Duran Duran’s “Hungry Like the Wolf” started with the woman’s laugh, and I had to suppress a smile at the timing. She grinned like the song had been cued for her.
She had rolled her wheat-gold hair and added a baby blue bow. Her Alice dress was shorter than I remembered from the store. The ruffled organza
petticoat ended at mid-thigh, and I could see several inches of skin between it and her over-the-knee stockings. They were white, with little blue bows at the top, and she definitely hadn’t bought them at the department store.
I slid my sunglasses down my nose and looked over them. “Wow. You look amazing.”
She blushed and lowered her eyes.
“And now I see what you meant about the shoes.”
“You like ’em?”
“They’re perfect. The stockings too. The dress. Your hair. Everything.
Perfect.”
Her blush deepened.
I pushed my sunglasses into place and held up a hand.
She descended the stairs and took it. She did a little turn when she reached the floor.
The doorbell rang.
“You’re kidding,” I griped. I smiled down at her. “Hold that thought.”
I opened the door.
“Is this the party?” a Wall Street wannabe asked.
“No, I normally dress like this.”
“Oh, right. So where are the hookers?”