Part 15 (2/2)

Chris sank back into bed and thought to herself, I guess satisfying the woman had taken all night. I wonder if she had satisfied Lynn*

Lynn leaned against the railing of the deck, cooling down from the strenuous run she just completed. She realized she had only a few cigarettes left. Either she was going to have to get over her feelings for Chris, or she would have to buy a new pack. She lit the cigarette and drew in her first smoke, wis.h.i.+ng that the nicotine didn't work so well at calming her nerves.

Matt slid the gla.s.s door open and stepped out onto the deck. ”Oh, real healthy, Lynn. What did you do? Go for a run before you lit one up? Did you really think that one would counteract the other?”

Lynn kept her eyes on the waves cras.h.i.+ng against the sh.o.r.e. ”Is Chris here?” she asked.

”Not yet. I guess she went to the library today after cla.s.s. Probably because she felt the tension here,” Matt quipped. Placing his hands on his hips, he continued in a sarcastic manner, ”What's going on between you two, anyway? Are things not going according to your game plan?”

Lynn turned and looked Matt straight in the eye. ”It's not a game, Matt” she said. Solemnly, she turned back to the water.

Matt was taken aback. With Lynn, romance had always been a game. It was always the thrill of the hunt. This was hard for him to comprehend. ”You mean* what you mean is*”

”What I mean is that I really care for her.” Lynn flung her arms in the air. ”There, I admit it! I've fallen for a straight woman!” she blurted out. ”Pretty stupid, huh?”

Matt nodded. ”Yeah, pretty stupid.”

”Thanks for your support,” Lynn said, saluting him with her bottle.

Matt paused for a moment. Irritated, he asked, ”If you care for her so much, why did you go f.u.c.king around with that other woman last night?”

Lynn sighed. ”I didn't have s.e.x with her.”

Matt mimicked like he was cleaning out his ears. ”Excuse me? I think I heard you wrong,” he said, never knowing Lynn to walk away from a woman primed and ready for a night of pa.s.sion.

Lynn shook her head. ”No, you heard right.” She took a swig from the bottle. ”Pretty hard to believe, huh?”

Matt nodded and walked over to join her at the railing. He couldn't believe that he hadn't seen this before. All this time he had been irritated at Lynn for lulling Chris into her trap. He thought back to the conversation that he and Chris had on Sunday. He had thought that Chris was just confused and had fallen victim to Lynn's charms. Now he had to look at the situation differentiy. Maybe Chris was confused over her feelings for Lynn because she was falling for Lynn, just like Lynn had fallen for her. d.a.m.n! How could he have been so blind! He was sure of it now. The questions Chris had asked him, the way she acted last night when she found out that Lynn had been with another woman* He had to do something.

Matt turned to Lynn. ”I can't believe that I'm going to say this. But I think that if you give Chris a little more time*”

”Excuse me?” Lynn asked.

”I think that she just needs a little more time* to sort out her feelings.”

”I don't know if I can take it anymore, Matt. One minute I feel like it's going to happen, the next minute she pulls away.”

”Lynn, I think you've forgotten what a real relations.h.i.+p is like. You've gotten so used to jumping into bed with people that you've forgotten that a real relations.h.i.+p takes time. That's what you're talking about, right? A real relations.h.i.+p?”

Lynn ran her fingers through her hair. ”Quite frankly, the whole idea scares the h.e.l.l out of me.”

”Well, I guess you just better decide if she's worth it. In my opinion, she is. She must be, she's the first woman to get you this hot and bothered since I met you.” Matt backed away from the railing. ”You know, you surprise me. You have so much patience in your stupid investments, then something like this comes along and you can't handle it.”

”I don't make stupid investments. Risky maybe, but not stupid,” Lynn snapped.

Matt looked her in the eyes. ”I don't think Chris would be a stupid investment. Risky, but not stupid,” he said.

Lynn smiled at his hint of sarcasm and remembered why he was her best friend. He shrugged, then strolled back into the house, trying to figure out what he could do to help.

”Yes, a very risky investment,” Lynn mumbled to herself. She snubbed out the fading cigarette and reached for another.

”Hey, Lynn, keep your groupies away from the stage, would you?” Nikki called out, Lynn stopped messing with the amplifier and turned around to see Terri standing in front of the stage. ”Five minutes, okay guys?”

Jumping down from the stage, she led Terri off to the side.

”Hi,” Terri said shyly. ”You don't look too happy to see me.”

Lynn smiled. ”Well, I didn't think I'd see a reminder of one of my life's most embarra.s.sing moments so soon.”

Terri reached out and touched Lynn's arm, ”You shouldn't be embarra.s.sed. I should be embarra.s.sed.”

”You?” Lynn questioned.

”Yeah,” Terri replied. Then looking down, she pretended to smooth out a crease in her jeans. ”I don't usually come on quite that strong.”

Lynn smiled and blushed, remembering the night before. ”Yeah, well* you don't have anything to be embarra.s.sed about.”

Fidgeting with a b.u.t.ton on her s.h.i.+rt, Terri said, ”Look, Lynn, I just wanted to come by and say that if things don't work out between you and that straight woman* well, I really would like to get to know you better, and not just physically, okay?” Terri reached into her pocket, pulled out a small piece of paper, and handed it to Lynn. Lynn took the paper and examined the phone number she had just been given. Smiling, she thought that if things didn't work out with Chris, she would definitely call this woman.

Lynn shoved the paper into her pocket. ”I'm not sure I'll be much company for a while if things don't work out between me and Chris.”

Terri smiled seductively and reached out to touch Lynn's arm. ”I'd love to help you forget,” Then covering her face, she laughed. ”G.o.d, there I go again! I'd better leave while I'm ahead!”

Around that time, Matt and Chris walked in and waved to Sam, who was tending bar.

”The regular?” Sam called to Matt, who nodded and held up two fingers.

The couple strolled to the seating area and took seats at a table. Both noticed Lynn as soon as they walked in. She was speaking with an extremely attractive African-American woman. Chris watched the tall, thin woman who seemed to be very interested in Lynn as she spoke, and was frequently touching Lynn's arm.

Sam set the bottles of beer on the table, including one for herself, and sat down.

”Who's that?” Matt asked Sam, nodding to the woman talking to Lynn.

Sam looked in the direction that Matt had nodded. As she began peeling the label off of her botde, she answered, ”She's the one Lynn was with last night.” Glancing up, she saw Chris's intent stare at the two women talking. Sam continued, ”I don't know if I would've pa.s.sed that one up.”

”What do you mean?” Chris asked, suddenly interested in their conversation.

”Lynn didn't sleep with her,” Matt answered, casually looking at Chris.

”She didn't?” Chris said.

”That's what I heard,” Sam replied, as she continued to watch Chris.

After Chris turned her eyes back to the women, Matt and Sam smiled at each other mischievously, glad to have conspired on the telephone that afternoon.

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