“Sorry, she reminds me too much of my mom. I would never think of not answering her. I’ll try to be better in the future. I like your mom and dad.”
“And they like you a little too much,” she added.
I just smirked.
“And I definitely want to talk to you about Jennie.”
“I was wondering about that. I was surprised when it happened. I thought she hated me,” I admitted.
Harper laughed and shook her head.
“No, far from it! Jennie Wesleyan likes you more than a little. She admitted to me that she messed up with you. She begged me to help wake you up on Saturday. I was a little surprised at how far things went. Before you worry, I was there. I know if I’d asked, you wouldn’t have had sex with her.”
“We need to talk about this. I wasn’t planning on having sex with anyone but you,” I said.
“I’ve been thinking about this a lot. I’ve never dated someone like you. I know you have some friends with benefits. Heck, I was one of them. I enjoyed having no-strings sex with a guy I could trust. I’m sure your friends miss your attention. I’d like it, if you ever do something with them, that I’m there. I would’ve had a problem with you and Jennie getting together without me in the room. At least, for now, I want you to be just mine. I hope you understand.”
“I do, and that’s what I want too. Just be aware that when you get up here this weekend, some of my friends might approach you.”
“Have they been asking you for sex?” she said with a scowl on her face.
“Don’t get mad. Peggy was fine with me being with my friends, since we were just dating. I’ve had to explain to my friends there’s a difference between dating and having a girlfriend.”
“I can see why they’d be confused. I promise not to smack them around,” she said with a smile. “I did have a good time when we were with Jennie. I might be open to doing more in the future.”
“Harper, I assure you we’re exclusive unless we talk about it beforehand.”
“I know I can trust you. I hope we do some more things together that push my boundaries.”
“Are you serious? Because I have a few ideas!” I said, leering at her.
“I’ll bet you do,” she shot back.
“If you’re serious, I have a website you should check out. They have some toys we might want to play with. You can have everything delivered here if you’re worried someone might see what you buy. I’d even be willing to pay for them.”
“David!” she exclaimed as she went red.
“You know you want to, so don’t act all shocked with me.”
“Maybe. Can I really have it delivered to your house?”
“I get the mail every day, so we’d be fine. If my mom finds it, I’ll just tell her she needs to get her own.”
“David!”
“It can’t be any worse than when she took me condom shopping,” I admitted.
“OH! MY! GOD! I’m logging off before you embarrass me any more. Send me the link,” she ordered and then logged off.
I would put money on her sharing the link with her friends at Wesleyan.
Chapter 12 – Barbie and GI Joe
Friday March 13
I was glad today was over. I think every teacher felt they needed to give us a test or quiz. I felt confident I’d done well, but I was just glad the day was done.
Baseball was going well. Moose and Coach Haskins were happy since we were ahead of schedule. Our winter workouts had helped and I felt more confident pitching. I did have some problems with control. Shiggy and Coach Herndon felt I tried to overthrow the ball. I guess they were right because when I backed off I had better command of my pitches. The problem was I was very hittable when my velocity dropped. When I threw hard, I was a little wild, but no one could touch my pitches. Then again, why would they even want to if I handed out walks?
After baseball, Jeff, Cassidy and I had gone to the dojo to practice. I’d cut back to just three times a week for now. Cassidy was confident I could defend myself if needed. The dojo work helped with my balance and flexibility, and both translate nicely into both baseball and football.
When I pulled into our driveway, Harper’s car was already here. Duke and I went to the house where I found her seated at the kitchen table with my mom and dad. I think Duke was more excited to see her than I was.
“Down!” Mom gave Duke his command to put all four feet on the floor.
I was surprised when he minded. He was still at the hit-or-miss stage of his training and he seemed to mind Mom and Dad better than he did me. They worked with him more than I did, with the idea of him being a service dog. He thought of me more as a buddy than his master.
I gave Harper a kiss on the cheek.
“We’re having dinner with your parents. Go take a shower. After we eat, we’ll go out,” Harper told me.
I raised my eyebrows. Did she just change our plans again without talking to me? Dad winked at me and I knew my mom had made the change to our plans. I just did as I was told.
When I came back, Angie and Greg were home with Kyle and Mac. Mac saw me and wanted me to pick her up. Kyle was about ten seconds behind her. They were cute since they’d started to say a few words. Duke had learned to settle down when one of them would tell him ‘no.’ I have to say, Duke was very gentle with them, except for when they got in the way of his tail. He could clear off a coffee table with that thing. Babies had no chance when he walked by and whacked them with it.
I noticed Mac had a Band-Aid on her elbow.
“Mac, what happened?” I asked her.
“Owee,” she told me.
She raised it so I could kiss it. Kyle showed me the doll he held. It was a Barbie Doll. I looked over at Greg.
“Just shut up. Mac took his GI Joe,” Greg told me.
I knew one little boy who’d get another GI Joe doll. I didn’t need my friends seeing him play with a Barbie. I think Greg read my mind.
“Don’t bother. He throws a fit if his Barbie disappears.”
His grandma came and got him. Mac was content to have me hold her. I checked out Angie because she was now seven months pregnant and starting to really show. I handed Mac to her granddad and led Angie to the living room. She went willingly because I’d given her a foot massage each time I’d seen her over the last couple of weeks as her feet and ankles had swelled. I knew Greg did the same, but she wouldn’t turn down a foot massage.
Harper came into the living room to talk to us while I worked on Angie.
“Your mom told me Greg and Angie were coming over for dinner. I hope you’re not mad I changed our plans.”
“No, I figured it had to be something like that. I actually enjoy seeing my brother and his family,” I told her.
“Shut up and get to work,” Angie ordered, since I’d stopped rubbing when I talked to Harper.
“Yes, ma’am,” I replied, and began again.
Angie had some tender spots that needed to be worked on.
“Do you know where I keep the massage oil?” I asked Harper.
“In the cabinet next to the microwave?”
“Yeah. Could you go get me one of them? I need to really work on Angie,” I said.
Harper got up to go get me the massage oil and Duke went to supervise.
“I like her,” Angie told me once we were alone.
“I like her, too,” I said with a smile.
Then Angie changed the subject.
“I want to hire someone to help me with the nonprofit.”
“Do you have the funds to do it?” I asked.
“We have enough money, but I didn’t know if I could. Plus, I’m not really good with payroll and all the human resource stuff.”
“Do you know who you want to hire?”
“Yes, one of the girls we gave money to wants to help. She’s been volunteering, but she could use the extra money.”
“You know you don’t have to ask me,” I assured her.
“As our biggest donor, I want you to be aware of what we’re doing. I don’t want you to think we’re wasting your money.”