“What can I do to help?” Leah asked, her voice still low.
“Just be yourself.”
“Is that all?”
“Yeah. I don’t want her to feel like we’re railroading her or anything. She has to come willingly. You know?”
She nodded.
“But in the ‘be yourself’ category, don’t worry if you feel a little frisky, especially with Erin. Christy has serious feelings for Wren, although she hasn’t really come to grips with the idea. She has, sort of, but she needs to realize it’s normal with us.”
“Okay.”
We watched Mark use a spoon to build the shots while he explained the process to Christy and Erin.
“Anything else?”
I thought about it for a moment. “Maybe talk about sex. She’s getting used to the idea that we’re a lot more open about it, but it wouldn’t hurt to reinforce it.”
“You don’t ask for much, do you?” Leah teased.
“Hey, I really like this girl—”
“I can tell.”
“—and I want to make it work with her. I think she’ll come around, but it won’t happen overnight.”
“I hope you’re right.” She nodded at the small blonde. “And I hope she understands what you’re giving up if not.”
“I think it’ll work out. I have faith.” I chuckled at my choice of words.
“What?”
“Long story. Just… she’s changing me as much as I’m changing her.”
“Yeah, that makes sense. Mark’s doing the same with me. It’s weird sometimes, but I like it.”
“Me too. For both of us.”
Her hand found mine and clasped it. We both felt a spark, but it was different somehow, subdued yet stronger than ever, like a deep current that connected us.
“For the record,” I said, “I love you.”
“I love you too.”
We stood in companionable silence for a moment and then let go of each other’s hand at the same time.
“Yeah,” she said, “we’d’ve been good together.”
“Totally.”
Mark glanced at us. He must’ve known how much Leah and I cared for each other—he wasn’t stupid—but he’d never said anything.
“Time to join the party,” I said.
She smiled and brushed her index finger against mine, the briefest of touches but full of meaning. Then she stepped forward and deliberately moved to Mark’s other side.
I touched Christy on the small of the back and smiled when she looked over her shoulder.
Mark handed me a shot glass with distinct layers of liquor. He raised his own glass.
“To old friends and new,” he said. “May we always be true. Cheers!”
“Sláinte,” Christy and I said together. She grinned at me when she heard it. Then we sipped our drinks. We both shivered as we downed the Kahlúa.
“Oh, God,” Erin said to her, “you’re turning into him.”
“What’s wrong with that?” she asked.
“She can’t help it,” I said. “I’ve been giving her special injections.”
The others burst into laughter.
“I bet you have!”
“Lucky her.”
“Oral, I’m sure.”
Christy blanched. “Oh my gosh.”
“Come on,” I said to her. I grabbed a four-pack of wine coolers and tossed my head toward the patio door. “I’m surrounded by beautiful women with too many clothes.”
“We should do something about that,” Mark agreed.
So we headed out to the patio, where Christy hesitated.
“You okay?” I whispered.
“I can do this,” she said, more to herself than me. Then she kicked off her shoes and unbuttoned her jeans. “I can do this.”
I gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and knelt to untie my shoes.
The light from the hot tub bathed us with a cool glow, and I watched Christy check out Leah and Mark as they undressed. Her eyes widened when she realized that Leah was shaved too.
Did she do that for you? she asked silently.
I nodded.
But…? Are you…? Is she…?
“She likes it,” I told her quietly. “Mark too.”
“Oh. Okay. I thought… Well, you probably know what I thought.”
“That maybe I had another girlfriend you didn’t know about?” Her guilty look was answer enough. “No, just you.”
“I don’t know why I get jealous,” she said. “I’m really not. I mean, I am, sort of, but… not. Ugh! I hate that I can’t use words like you. At least you know what I’m talking about most of the time.”
The others had finished undressing, and we watched them climb onto the deck and then descend into the tub. I hung my shirt over the back of a chair and decided how much I wanted to explain.
“I know what you mean,” I said after a moment. “It’s a trust thing. Like…
if I thought you still had something going on with Simon that you were hiding from me.”
“Exactly! I don’t, by the way.”
“I know,” I said with a chuckle. “Be kinda hard, with him in England and all.”
“Right.”
“By contrast, I know about you and Wren, so it doesn’t make me
jealous.” I wasn’t really the jealous type, but that wasn’t the point. “I’ll tell you more about Leah and me some other time. The R-rated version, at least.
Long story short: we’re very close, we love each other, but we aren’t in love… if that makes sense.”
“I… think it does.”
“She’s in love with Mark, and I’m… well… I’m falling in love with you.”
She beamed and bounced up to kiss me. “The feeling’s mutual.”
“I thought it might be,” I said with a grin.
“You guys coming?” Mark called from the hot tub.
I raised my voice, “Yep. One sec.” Then I pulled Christy against me and bent to kiss her. “So… are you okay? About Leah and me?”
“I think so. But I definitely have some questions.”
I cocked an eyebrow.
“Get your mind out of the gutter. Not those kinds of questions.”
“Okay. Just checking.”
She stared at my chest for a moment. “I’ve decided something, though.
You were right. No way you should’ve told me this all at once. I’d’ve run screaming.”
“So, maybe I know what I’m doing?”
“Maybe,” she admitted. Then she grinned up at me. “I still wanna know everything, though. But…! When you think I’m ready. And only the R-rated version. Okay?”
“For now,” I agreed. “I’ll save the X-rated version for when I want to tease you while you’re tied to the bed.”
“Oh my gosh.” She sighed with an unspoken, “Yes, please.”
“Ready to join the others?”
She nodded and we took off the rest of our clothes. Then I grabbed the wine coolers and gestured for her to precede me.
“Oh, cool,” Erin said when Christy came into view, “you shaved.”
“I keep telling you,” Leah said to her, “you should try it. It makes you extra-sensitive. Besides, I think it looks neater.”
“You never complained about mine before,” Erin snapped before she realized it. She blushed and stammered to Christy, “Not that I— Or we— I mean—”
“It’s okay, Erin,” I said. “Christy has a sort of sixth sense for bi, lesbian, gay, whatever. It’s uncanny.” I twisted the cap off a wine cooler. “Here,” I
said as I handed it to her, “you’re going to need this.”
Christy gave me a deer-in-the-headlights look but took the bottle. She drank about half of it, which seemed to settle her nerves. “I can do this,” she said so only I could hear. “I’m fearless.”
“You are.”
She turned and descended the steps into the water.
I followed her and told Erin, “She figured out that Mom and Susan are bi.
Took her about five seconds.”
“For real?”
“Yep.” I sank into the water and guided Christy to my lap. “She might’ve taken a bit longer to realize you and Leah are too, but—”
“No,” Christy said, “I was pretty sure already.”