by Marie Cole
She knocked down a grand total of four pins. She cheered and came back to the food, downing half a cup of beer quickly followed by some twirling and a giddy laugh.
I raised my eyebrows and gave Nate a look to see if we were seeing the same thing. He shrugged his shoulders at me as he shoved another nacho in his mouth.
It was Kent's turn. After his ball busted through all the pins he turned around and winked cockily at me.
I half smiled, my teeth biting the straw on my cup. "Oh it's on, Mr. Lytle." I said softly. He probably didn't even hear me but the threat was there.
Chapter Thirty-One
"My turn." Nate stood up and jogged to the lane. He grabbed a gold ball and lined up, he was super serious. He took his time and finally threw the ball down the lane. It looked like it was going well and then it went into the gutter.
"Booo!" I yelled.
While Nate waited for his ball to came back he grabbed the two pink balls and held them low, "Blue, er, pink balls!"
Jen whistled loudly. He chuckled, picking up the rest of the pins for a spare.
It was back around to me and when I got up to take my turn, Kent yelled, "Gutter ball!"
I looked at him over my shoulder and smiled. There hadn't been much to do all summer long in the small town my grandma lived in, except bowl and dance. I picked up my pink ball and chucked it down the lane. Another strike. I smiled triumphantly as I made my way back to the table. I winked at Kent and promptly stuck my tongue as Kent did the same. I sat down next to Nate and fed him a nacho.
I rolled my eyes at Jen who sauntered up to get her ball and let her hips sway. Before I could turn away Jen picked up her ball and then dropped it. She giggled and bent over to pick it up. I felt bile rising in my throat. The jeans she was wearing were so tight I was amazed she could even get down that low.
I glanced at Nate out of the corner of my eye, he was watching but quickly looked away when he realized what she was up to. He smiled at me and opened his mouth for another nacho. I smiled, approving of his ability to resist Jen's backside, and fed him one as a reward.
I looked up at the scoreboard and saw the Jen had managed a strike. "Great job, babe!" Kent smiled proudly as he stood up. Jen leaned in and gave him a kiss, pulling back with his bottom lip between her teeth.
I wrinkled my nose and took a drink of water. I guess whatever shit they had been going through was over. If they wanted to play the PDA game I could play too. While Kent bowled I fed Nate more nachos and rehydrated. I was going to need it because Kent didn't like to lose and he wasn't going to go easy on me.
Kent got another strike.
After I matched Kent's strike, I pulled Nate with me to the jukebox. While we were looking for a selection he held me against him, cradling me against his chest, his hands resting innocently on my stomach.
After picking a couple of songs I turned in his arms and grabbed the front of his shirt, pulling him down so I could suck face with him. My body bent backwards as he held me close and kissed me senseless. Nate turned us around and pressed me against the wall, his hips grinding against mine, making my panties wet. My hands were in his soft black hair, gripping it tightly. His hands slipped under my shirt and mine slipped down to the bottom of his shirt.
Kent was there behind Nate and practically yelled us out of our love bubble, "Should Jen and I just go?!"
My lips peeled from Nate's as I froze in his arms. "Oh, sorry!" I pushed Nate away gently and touched my swollen lips. I smiled innocently to Kent though inside I was cheering myself on just a bit. My boyfriend couldn't keep his hands off of me and wasn't embarrassed to be seen with me. Score one for me.
Nate looked over his shoulder at the board, "My turn!" He ran off and bowled himself another spare.
"Sorry..." I said to Kent as I followed him back to the table.
"It's alright." He said as he stepped down to the bowling level and sat down next to Jen. She didn't make any effort to hide her hand which was running over Kent's thigh as he looked down the lanes at the other people. The intimacy she was showing him made something knot in my chest.
I turned my attention back to Nate, who was on his way over to me. He distracted me from my misery by kissing me gently. I smiled at him, "Thanks. Missed you."
I squirmed in my seat, my wet panties distracting me, "Be right back!" I got up and went to the restroom leaving Jen and Nate alone while Kent bowled.
When I came out of the bathroom I saw Jen was getting more beer and standing alongside Nate. They were talking together, Nate had Jen laughing.
I came up behind them and slapped Nate on the ass. "You're up!" Nate gave me another gentle kiss and then went to the lane, bumping shoulders with Kent on his way down. I glanced at the board and smiled. "Yay! I'm in the lead!"
Jen leaned over to me. "Good job. Nate is a hot one, girl."
"I know. My panties know too, if you know what I mean." I giggled as Jen kissed my cheek and then coughed, wiping the merriment from my face as Kent came back. "Feeling a little...behind?" I grinned at him, the score was quickly adding up for me and slowly adding up for Kent.
"Yeah. You'll fuck up eventually." Kent smiled sweetly as Nate threw his first strike.
Nate came back, checking Kent on his shoulder again, "Sorry, man." He put his arm around me and nibbled on my earlobe, making me squirm and giggle.
Kent nodded his head to Nate and pulled his eyes away from our PDA.
I ducked out of ear licking territory and stepped up to bowl. I had to wait for the other bowlers to go first so I looked around. I noticed that my shoe was untied and bent down to tie it. As I stood up I fell off balance and landed on my ass. I heard Jen snickering behind me. "Thanks," I smiled as Nate helped me up. Kent would probably think this would be my black moment but it wasn't. Another strike for me.
I was still blushing as I walked into Nate's arms, burying my face against his chest. "So embarrassing..."
He held me and swayed gently, "No way, doll. No one even noticed."
"Yes they did!"
The game ended with me pounding Kent into second place. Followed by Nate and Jen, not that she cared because she was pretty drunk. Nate and I said goodbye to Kent and Jen after we returned our shoes. We walked home in different directions.
On the walk back Nate confided in me that Jen had hit on him when I was in the bathroom.
"Which time?"
"Both times! She was feeling up on my junk. I pushed her off but geez. That girl is a handful."
"She probably just accidentally brushed you or something." I refused to believe that Jen would openly grope my man, and in front of Kent no less!
The thought of Jen groping Nate had been on my mind all night. I sat down next to Kent, and despite his cheeriness I remained silent beside him.
He tugged on my hair and that's when I turned to him, and frowned. "What the hell?!"
He held up his hands in surrender, his expression irritatingly surprised. "Woah, Elly-beast. I asked you a question and you didn't answer."
"Yeah, well, maybe I just don't want to talk to you today," I snapped.
A flicker of a frown passed over his face before he shrugged and turned his attention to his notebook. "Okay. Sorry." He picked up his pencil as the lights went down.
I was trying to take notes next to him but his scribbling was getting on my last nerve. How dare he let Jen feel up my date. Was he in on it? Was it a little joke the two of them had going on between them? Or were they testing him?
At the end of class, after the lights went back on, I didn't move from my seat. Kent tried to step over me after saying excuse me but I pushed him back and stood up. "How could you let her do that?!"
He looked at me, clearly confused, as he scratched at the back of his head. "Um..."
"Jen! You just sat there and watched as she groped Nate?" Kent exhaled slowly and looked around at the stares turned our way.
"Elly, this isn't the right place to talk about this."
"Fine! Fuck you too."
I grabbed my things and made it down two steps before I felt his arm tugging me backwards.
"Elly, Jesus. Come on." He looked down at me with sympathy in his eyes. His hand slowly dropped back to his side. "She was drunk. I talked to her about it after she did it."
"After you left?"
"No, right after she groped him. I told her it was inappropriate and slutty and mean."
"Apparently she did it twice."
"I only saw the one time, Elly. That's the truth." He looked around, his cheeks blushing from the embarrassment of having to talk about this in front of prying eyes and ears. "Look, Jen's mom is divorcing her dad and it's been tough on her. Her trust fund is in jeopardy and she's been acting out."
"Am I supposed to feel sorry for her?" I raised my eyebrows in amazement at his audacity.
He shook his head and held up his hands defensively, "No, of course not. I just... I'm sorry. Ok? I'm sorry for her behavior. I completely understand if you don't want to be around her or bring Nate around her. But she isn't doing it to be mean to you."
I scoffed, "Yeah... okay. Keep telling yourself that."
"What am I supposed to do, Elly? Break up with her?"
I stared at him, wondering if he was really as stupid as he was acting. "Yes!"
He shook his head and looked away, his jaw clenching a couple of times before he looked back at me. "I can't do that. She'd had too much to drink, she wasn't herself."
I shook my head and rolled my eyes, "Oh, great. So anytime she wants to grope someone who isn't you she can just have some drinks and it'll be okay? That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard."
His ears burned red, "Just stay out of it, Elly. It's my relationship, not yours. I've been with Jen for years, not a few weeks."
I bit the inside of my cheek at his jab. "Fuck you." I turned and ran down the stairs, leaving him standing there.
Chapter Thirty-Two
I showed up to Thanksgiving dinner just before 3pm with a pecan pie on my hands. Not made by me but my local grocery store. I couldn't bake to save my life. My mom had been over since early that morning helping Kent's mom prepare the huge dinner as she did every year since we were eight or so. I dressed conservatively in a plain black dress that showed no bare skin below the neck or above the knee. My makeup, however, was the usual glossy lips and smokey eyes.
I made my way into the kitchen with the pie and set it down on the counter. "Hi Mrs. Lytle. It smells ridiculously wonderful in here."
Kent's mom glanced at me, she had a towel in her hand that she'd been using to dry the dishes and she brought it to her mouth in surprise when she took in my new transformation.
"Elly! Oh my god! Your mom told me you'd lost a little weight but this is...you look fantastic! KENT! Why didn't you tell me that Elly was a supermodel?!"
I blushed and closed the distance, hugging Kent's mom briefly before stepping back. "Thank you, it's not a big deal."
I heard Kent from the living room. "Mom, I told you she looked good." In just a few seconds Kent came into the kitchen. I was still pretty pissed at him from our fight last week.
I'd been so pissed at him that I'd switched sections in Art History just so I wouldn't have to see him.
"It is, dear, not a lot of people can accomplish what you have. And you!" she pointed at Kent, "You told me she looked good, I thought she got a new haircut or something. Not..." she swept her hand from my toes to my head. "This!"
While Kent and his mom bantered I held my breath and stared at Kent from across the room, studying him. I hated to admit that I didn't hate him. I didn't even dislike him, not even a little bit. The fact that he was supporting Jen, despite her bad behavior, just showed me how much he really loved her. For better or for worse he was going to be there for her.
"Elly's always been beautiful, mom. Or have you forgotten how you used to make me keep my door open because you were afraid we were having sex, huh?" Kent teased his mom and looked towards me and I looked away quickly.
"You two were inseparable. But I hadn't forgotten you constantly insisting that you and Elly weren't an item. You made it very clear you didn't have those feelings for her. But then Jen came along and I hardly saw you anymore." His mom raised her eyebrows. "I can only imagine what you two were up to at her huge probably unsupervised house and on those fancy vacations she'd treat you with."
Jen came in, a glass of wine already half consumed in her delicate hand, "Mrs. Lytle, you know exactly what we were up to. We were teenagers in love."
Jen smiled up to Kent, wrapping her arm through his. His cheeks started to turn a pale shade of pink as he shook his head.
"C'mon Jen, not in front of my mom." He chuckled and ran his hand through his hair, releasing it from the gel cast that was probably on Jen's doing.
I smiled politely as I shuffled my feet. Jen bat her lashes at Kent, innocently.
"What? It's not like she doesn't know about this stuff. She's a very smart lady. Even our little Elly..." Jen pressed her lips together and glanced between me and Kent.
I felt my stomach drop along with my smile. He'd told her that I'd lost my virginity? He'd told her the horror story that was my first time? I looked down and tried to compose myself. He was in a relationship, did I really expect him to keep my secrets? I was a fool for thinking that he could.
Apparently she thought better than to bring up my horror story and went on a different path instead.
"Elly's been doing open mic nights at a local bar. We haven't been able to make it but I've heard her name come up a few times between my circle of friends." Jen smiled softly to me and raised her wine glass in my direction. Her way of a peace offering, I guessed. Little did she know it was pointless.
Mrs. Lytle looked at me, "Yeah? I didn't know you read poetry."
"It's singing, mom. Elly sings. It's nice that she's finally doing it in front of other people."
I scoffed at Kent. "I sang in the car all the time."
Elly's mom came into the kitchen and rubbed Kent's back as if he were her own son. It perturbed me just a bit.
"It's true. And in her room. And in the supermarket. And at the doctor's office. She was always singing." My mom smiled at me, her face full of love.
I felt my cheeks heat and rolled my eyes, "We don't need to re-live my childhood right now. Do you need help with anything?"
Kent's mom looked around and shrugged her shoulders, "I had no idea you were a singer, Elly. You certainly never did it here. Not that I was eavesdropping or anything." She cleared her throat softly before continuing, "You could set the table, if you'd like, dear."
I nodded and stepped to the counter where the dishes were already stacked. "Excuse me." I grabbed the plates and silverware and smiled at Jen and Kent as I approached, I needed to get past them to set the table.
Kent moved Jen so I could squeeze by them. Just before I got passed I felt his hand on my arm and he pulled me into an awkward group hug. It was a bit weird being a threesome that way. It would be weird to be a threesome any way.
"Happy Thanksgiving, Elly," Kent said with a smile.
I winced as the plates and silverware smushed between us and tried to stamp down my anger at his chicanery. "Happy Thanksgiving to you too. Now let me go so we can eat, I'm starving!"
I forced a grin that I wasn't anywhere near feeling and pulled away. My traitorous knees quaked slightly at his touch, which, I thought as I walked away, was completely ridiculous! I was losing it. Every since losing it I was even more aware of men and that included my off-limits friend.
As I was setting the table my thoughts turned briefly to Nate. It turned out I hadn't needed Kent's opinion of him after all. Two nights ago I'd asked him to come with me for my family Thanksgiving. He said he'd give me an answer the following evening. The answer had turned out to be a song he'd written for me called, "Let Her Go." I cried well into early that morning. I was still raw with emotion from the break up and I was sure that's why I was feeling all these things for Kent. It was transference or
something.
After setting the table, I went out back to the swing that faced the garden and tall trees in Kent's backyard. I sat down and crossed my arms over my chest, getting some fresh crisp air, hoping it would calm down my raging libido and equally raging anger.
It wasn't long before I heard the back door open and the leaves crunch under someone's approaching feet. My tingling body told me it was Kent. And that only made me angrier.
"You alright, Elly?" Kent asked. I moved over as much as I could so he wouldn't be touching me as he took a seat beside me. "You seem...out of it tonight."
"Yeah, I'm okay. Just going through some stuff that I can't really talk to you about. And I'm pissed at you. I can't believe you told her. I..."
Kent was silent beside me. I looked down at my hands which were turned skyward on my lap. I wasn't sure what else to say. I still felt this wall coming between us, growing higher and higher. I knew that if I was going to remain sane I needed to try to distance myself from him. I couldn't let him get close so he could learn all my secrets and then blab them to Jen. She would torment me with them for the rest of my life or for however long she was in it. I didn't see an end in sight.
I looked up, staring out into the pretty little rose garden Kent's mom had planted a dozen summers ago. It was starting to lose its color as winter quickly approached.
I had come over every day to help Kent water them. His mother swore that they needed at least twenty minutes of watering every morning. I smiled to myself as I remembered the water fights we'd had as kids. It was so much simpler back then before the sexual tension arose and tried to drive me slowly crazy by dangling Kent in front of me morning, noon and night. That piece of cake I so desperately wanted but couldn't have.
Kent spoke softly beside me, breaking my thoughts, "You know she didn't think they were going to live. Everything else she planted died that year...even with her watering them daily to help them along. The roses, she decided to give the job to me, and then you joined in."
