by Nicole Casey
Over the course of a few short, albeit eventful, days, our talk of sharing the same girl went from hypothetical fantasy to something that bordered on tactical planning.
“Like did they keep a schedule?” J.P. asked.
I shrugged. “I suppose so. I mean everyone keeps a schedule.”
“Was it like tag-team or did they have sex all of them at the same time,” asked Santiago.
“I don’t know the specifics.”
This earned me jeers and boos. “What’s the point of talking about sex if we’re going to leave out the specifics?”
While I was being bombarded with questions, Travis received a text from Gwen.
“Hold up guys,” he said. He stood from the couch holding his phone delicately away from him like it was a bomb that would go off if it was knocked or dropped. “I’ve just received a text.”
“Breaking news,” said Taylor sarcastically.
Travis looked at his brother with an air of seriousness. “It’s from Gwen.”
I was suddenly very alert, no longer tired from the day’s hard training. I leaned forward on the couch.
Travis read aloud. “Come in for a quickie any time. But don’t tell your brothers.”
“Don’t tell your brothers?” Tristan repeated, confused.
“There’s another one,” said Travis. “Unless you want to share.”
“No way!” Taylor jumped up from the couch. He reached to snatch the phone from his brother, but Travis turned and brushed him off. “Let me see that.”
Travis held the phone out for Taylor to see. Taylor grabbed at it, but Travis pushed him back. “Just look,” Travis said. “You don’t need to grab it.”
Taylor leaned in and squinted. He read aloud. “Unless you want to share.” Then he looked at us with wide eyes.
“Did you think I was lying?” said Travis. He walked to the corner of the room where he could play with the phone without someone trying to snatch it from him.
“Gwen actually said, ‘Come in for a quickie’?” I asked. I couldn’t believe it. She seemed so reserved when I’d talked to her.
Travis looked at me from over his phone. “Any time.”
I was jealous. I stood from the couch and was about to leave the room, but I decided this feeling of jealousy wasn’t healthy. I wouldn’t run from it. I would face it and fight it.
“What should I write back?” Travis asked.
“Tell her you’ll share,” said Santiago, “not with your brothers, but with your whole squad.”
“I can’t write that,” said Travis.
“Write something ambiguous,” said Nolan, “Like ‘sharing is caring’.”
“That’s stupid,” said Santiago.
“Tell her something honest,” I said. “Like you’re not interested in a quickie, that you want to take your time.”
That suggestion earned me a bit of ribbing for being a ‘romantic’.
Travis typed away then brought his phone down.
“What did you say?” asked J.P.
Travis smiled smugly and walked back to the couch.
“What did you say?” Elijah insisted.
Travis sat down calmly and put his feet up on the coffee table.
Taylor snuck up behind him and put him in a fake chokehold. “What did you write to her?”
“I wrote what you told me to write,” he replied calmly.
Taylor let go of his hold.
“I wrote: ‘Sharing is caring. and I care so much about you that I want to share you with my whole squad. But I’m not interested in a quickie. I want to take my time.”
I didn’t sleep well that night, half consumed with thoughts of Gwen and half consumed with my struggles over jealousy. The following day, I was a mess. I couldn’t concentrate on anything but Gwen and my contradicting feelings. Finally, two days later, I had some free time. I left the base and swung by the cafe.
I chose to walk to the cafe. I thought the long walk would help me get my thoughts together. I thought it would give me time to come up with an idea of just what to say to her, and how. But when I arrived and I saw her behind the counter, her smiling eyes, her fit yet generous body, any words I had prepared were forgotten.
“Good afternoon,” she said to me.
I exhaled a breath I didn’t realize I’d been holding. “Good afternoon. It’s been a while.” She didn’t react. Perhaps she thought I meant it’d been a while since I had one of her tasty pastries. Still, I felt stupid for saying that, for revealing my thoughts that quickly.
“What can I get you?”
“Just a coffee, thanks.” I took a seat on the terrace, looking out toward the beach. I felt powerless, powerless to communicate with her, to understand my feelings and share them with her. And I hated that feeling.
When she brought me my coffee, I said, “Thank you, Gwen.”
“You’re welcome.” She paused. “Forgive me, I don’t remember your name.”
“That’s quite OK. I’m Axel.”
“Axel. That’s right.” She smacked her forehead. “I’ll remember for next time.”
“I’ll have to come by more often, so you don’t forget.”
She nodded. “Yes, Axel, come by more often.” She smiled then turned to walk away.
“Gwen.” I called out her name. I didn’t know what to say to her, but I knew that I didn’t want her to leave.
She turned to me and waited for me to speak.
“Gwen,” I said again.
“Axel.”
“You’re the talk of the squad, you know that?”
She tilted her head and furrowed her brow.
“I’m stationed with Manny and Santiago.”
“Oh, right.” She seemed to light up at the mention of their names.
“And J.P. and Taylor.”
“And Travis and Tristan,” she continued.
I smiled. “And Elijah and Nolan.”
She motioned to me. “And Axel, that makes nine.”
I nodded.
“Unless there are more of you I don’t know about?”
I shook my head. “That’s our squad. That’s all of us.”
“You don’t have a twin brother or two to confuse me?”
“Nope.” I thought I’d detected a hint of accusation in her voice. “I’m sorry about that.”
Again, she tilted her head. “What’s there to be sorry about?”
I got defensive. I felt, unsurprisingly, like I’d said the wrong thing. “I just meant, I heard there might have been some embarrassment with the confusion.”
She shook her head. “No embarrassment on my part. It’s all good fun.”
Her reaction put me at ease. “Yeah. It’s all good fun. I’m glad to hear you say that.”
She smiled.
I enjoyed a moment of silence, looking out at the beach with Gwen standing beside me.
Finally, she said, “We’re doing some redecorating. We’re going to be bringing in some of the tables from the terrace.”
“Oh.”
“But you’re fine there. Stay as long as you want.”
I took a sip of my coffee. “Thank you. I didn’t come by for a quickie. I, too, want to take my time.”
Though I was looking straight ahead, I caught a glimpse of Gwen out of the corners of my eyes. She looked confused if not troubled. I turned to her. “Did I say something wrong?”
She looked away from me and bit down on the inside of her cheek. She exhaled through her nose then shook her head. “No. It’s my fault.” She turned and walked back inside.
“Wait. Gwen.” I jumped out of my seat and followed her in. “Wait. Gwen.”
She stopped and turned to me.
“I don’t get it,” I said. “What’s wrong?”
She dismissed my question with a swat of the hand. “I thought I was having a private conversation with Travis. I guess I was wrong.”
“Oh.” She was visibly upset. It was because of what I’d said, and I hated myself for it. “Please, don’
t be upset, Gwen.”
“No?” She went from visibly upset to visibly angry.
“I mean, I’m sorry.”
“It’s not your fault.”
“It kind of is,” I said.
“How so?”
“I’m the one who told the guys about you and about this place.”
“Are you the one who told Manny, Santiago and Nolan to make a bet to see who should ask me out?”
I shook my head.
“Are you the one who told the triplets to have a little fun at my expense?”
I shook my head and put up my hands, palms out. “No. That was a mistake. An accident. They just wanted to meet you. Bad timing, I guess.”
She smiled, but it was a forced smile. “It’s OK, Axel. Like I said, it’s all good fun.”
She started to turn. She was going to walk away from me again.
“Gwen.”
She stopped and looked at me.
“That’s how we are, you see. We don’t keep secrets. We share everything.”
She exhaled through her nose and nodded. “So, I’ve been told.”
“I mean, not like that.” I paused. Am I suggesting there are limits to what we’ll share? “Well, maybe like that,” I continued awkwardly. “I mean..”
“What are you trying to say, Axel?”
“I’m trying to say I’m sorry.”
She shook her head. “There’s nothing to be sorry about.”
“You don’t feel like Travis sharing the text was a breach of trust?”
She shrugged. “I guess I should be used to it by now.”
There was hurt in her voice. I stepped up to her. I put my hand softly on her arm. “Gwen, we will never betray your trust. But, we share everything.”
She tilted her head to the side and a small smile started to form on her face. “Everything?”
I nodded. “Everything.”
She bit down on her lower lip. Her eyes searched the upper corners, as if she were considering something.
I hoped against hope she was considering the same thing I was, the same thing we all were.
“Gwen, we have a rare leave next weekend.”
“What does that mean?”
“That means we have the night off next Saturday and Sunday. Why don’t you come out with us, get to know us better?”
“All nine of you?”
I smiled and motioned to her. “All ten of us.”
Her lips twisted into a half smile, half frown. “Hmm. I’ll think about it.”
“Please do,” I said. And I knew that for the following days, I’d be able to do that and nothing else: think about it.
6
Travis
I was surprised none of the guys asked me for Gwen’s number. It would have been difficult for me to deny them; we shared everything, and we weren’t about to let that change, not for a girl, not for anything, not even Gwen. I put it down to guy code: If you want a girl’s number, you have to ask her for it; by any other means, and it’s dishonorable—triplets excluded, of course. And since Gwen texted me and not my brothers, that meant that they could treat me a bit like their secretary: ‘send Gwen a text from me; tell her I’m thinking about her.’ ‘Send Gwen a text for me. Tell her I’m dreaming of tasting a delicious muffin, and that I’d like to try one of her baked goods, too.’
I was happy to oblige. All the texts came from me, though they started with, from Nolan, or from Elijah. And of course all replies came to me. I read them, but I didn’t filter them. That’s not what we were about.
From Santiago: ‘please say you’re going to come with us this Saturday. We won’t be able to come if you don’t.’
Response from Gwen: ‘If there are nine of you, I expect to come at least nine times!’
From Manny: ‘I know you’re not dating. So, this Saturday, we won’t consider it a date. No pressure, but you have to say yes.’
Response from Gwen: ‘I love it when a man tells me what I have to say. Will you tell me what I have to wear, too?’
From Manny: ‘As little as possible.’
From Taylor: ‘I wonder if you’ll be able to tell me and my brothers apart. I’ll be the sexy one, the one you can’t keep your hands off of. Don’t worry, though. I won’t mind.’
Response from Gwen: ‘I know it will be difficult to tell you guys apart. Which one of you is the cocky one? I can’t remember.’
From Axel: ‘I’m looking forward to seeing you this Saturday.’
Response from Gwen: ‘I haven’t said yes yet. Or are you guys not into the whole consent thing?’
From Axel: ‘You said ‘yes’ to me with your eyes. But, also, please actually say ‘yes’ with your voice. We are very big into the consent thing.’
From Travis: ‘The last time I saw you, you offered me your muffin. I’m hungry again!’
Response from Gwen: ‘The last time I saw you, you took your nut and left. Let’s not have a repeat performance of that.’
From Nolan. ‘You’re all we’ve been talking about. This Saturday is going to be great. We’ll be on our best behavior.’
Response from Gwen: ‘I’m sorry to hear that.’
“Is it possible,” said Nolan, “that this girl is actually into all of us?”
“She’s just having fun,” said Elijah.
“She’s just leading us on,” said Tristan.
“That’s not like Gwen,” said Axel.
A few of us, myself included, laughed. “So you know what she’s like, do you?” I said.
Axel shrugged. “You can just tell. I have a good feeling about her.”
“Let’s hope you’re right,” I said. But deep inside, I had the same feeling too. Gwen gave off such positive vibes, I couldn’t imagine that she’d be playing games with us—at least not the hurtful kind.
“Why don’t we ask her?” said Nolan. “Send her a text, ‘are you just playing with us? Or are you serious?’”
“It’s a bit premature for that, don’t you think?” I said.
We had a bit of a debate. Tristan and J.P. agreed with Nolan, that we should come right out with a declaration and ask her to do the same. But I stood my ground. “Let’s not blow this, guys. Let it develop naturally.”
“What’s natural about a girl dating nine guys?” said Nolan with a bit more snark than I was used to hearing from him.
Axel snapped at him. “Hey! It’s perfectly natural. There’s nothing wrong with it.”
Nolan put his hands up defensively. “I didn’t mean anything by it. I was just saying.”
Axel glared at him then looked away.
I took note; judging by the expressions on the faces of the other guys, we all took note: Axel is taking this very seriously.
To break up the slightly awkward mood that had settled on our conversation, I said to Nolan, “Are you all right with that? We play it cool, don’t show our hand just yet.”
“Yeah, I’m cool with that,” he said. “We’ll let it play out”—he glanced at Axel—“naturally.”
I was excited for Saturday night; we all were; that was the topic that dominated all our conversations. But Gwen made us wait till Friday night before she actually confirmed that she’d go out with us. Even though we’d pretended to be confident, it was a huge relief. We’d built up such high expectations. She asked if it would be OK if she brought her friend Holly along. We told her that would not be OK. ‘We’re not interested in any other girl,’ I wrote her. ‘All we want is you.’
We suggested going dancing at The Cellar. She said she’d never been. Neither had any of us, except Santiago. Letting Santiago suggest the club might not have been the best idea, but there was something about the name of the place that we all found appealing. Plus, it wasn’t far from the base or from The Bean Counter, and we assumed Gwen didn’t live far from her place of work.
We offered to pick her up, but she insisted on meeting us there.
“Why do you think she doesn’t want us to pick her up?” I asked the guys.
“Maybe she doesn’t feel comfortable getting into a car with nine horny Marines,” said Elijah.
I shook my head. “No, it can’t be that.”
“Maybe, she wants to be independent,” said Axel.
“Let’s hope not,” said Santiago.
“Maybe she’s not going to show,” said Tristan.
This earned him a round of boos and an elbow from Taylor.
“She’ll show,” said Axel. “Gwen’s not the type to stand us up.”
I looked at Taylor and then J.P. We were thinking the same thing: ‘you don’t know her.’ But we kept that comment to ourselves.
“She’s going to show,” Axel continued. “And we’re going to have a great time.”
He was so sure of himself. There was such confidence in the way he said it that we believed him; we wanted to believe him, and he made it easy for us.
Even Tristan seemed to get a sparkle in his eye. “Let’s get ready, guys. We can’t disappoint.”
We arrived at The Cellar shortly before the agreed upon 9 pm. Fashionably late is not for men as anxious as we were. The place lived up to its name; we had to go down a dingy staircase to get to the entrance. The place was packed, and loud and dark.
“We’re going to have a hard time finding her here,” I said.
“I think that’s the point,” said Nolan. “That’s why she didn’t want us to pick her up. She wants us to find her, to hunt her down.”
Of course, none of us knew if what Nolan said was true, but we all accepted it as truth anyway. That was fine by us. We were Marines; finding our target and closing in on it was what we were all about.
The place was full of girls in short skirts and shorter tops. Their eyes followed us lustfully as we made our way through the crowd. A tall blond threw herself, literally, onto Manny, but he slinked and shifted away from her. She quickly turned her attention to Nolan.
Another girl tried to pull Tristan onto the dance floor. He refused. She made an exaggerated pouty face, but we kept making our way through the crowd, our eyes scanning the place for our target.
Taylor saw her first. He pointed her out to us. There were probably sixty or seventy people separating her from us. She spotted us and waved, but made no move toward us. That was fine.
