"Come on, Debbie. You set me up." I offered her a cigarette, she accepted and we both lit up.
She shook her head. "Tyler, I've been telling you, this has always been on the cards. I called your bluff to pick the muff. Who is it? Me or Holly?"
"C'mon, it's not that easy. I haven't decided yet." I knew it would be Holly, but I couldn't tell Debbie that.
She took a deep drag and slowly blew out the smoke. "Well, Tyler, you treat me like some Shit Street whore. I feel like filth."
"Wait a minute, Debs. You're the one who said no strings, unemotional sex. Can't blame me for taking that at face value."
"No I can't." She sniffled back tears. "I'm a slut, a whore, the other fucking woman. I can't get a guy who loves me for me." A tear trickled down her cheek.
Oh shit. Not waterworks. I got up and put my arms around her. "Hey, don't cry." I held her until the quiet sobs had been reduced to sniffling, then stroked her arms a little while longer before returning to my chair.
She regained her composure and took a drink. "Sorry, you're right. It's all my fault. I should have left you to Holly long ago. The girl who already has everything." She looked at me, tears pooled in her eyes again. "I just thought you might pick me over her in the end. Well, that was a stupid thought, wasn't it?" She smacked her head. "How in the hell was I ever going to outdo the wonderful, gorgeous Holly Knight? You've obviously chosen her." Her eyes pleaded with me to tell her she was wrong.
"Look, Debbie, it doesn't have to end like this. Why don't you get Sanchez to act as your boyfriend for the night and we'll work something out."
Sad eyes were replaced by angry eyes. "For starters, you expect me to show up with a five-foot nine, slightly overweight Mexican with brown eyes, and convince Holly he's the dreamboat I'd been talking about. She's thick, not blind. Not to mention that Sanchez isn't a self-centered asshole as I accurately described."
Boy, first Mark, now Debbie. I took a drag and looked at the floor. The relatively unfamiliar feeling of guilt washed over me. I knew she had been falling for me but chose to ignore it. Not so much ignore as use it to my advantage. Now I sat in danger of losing them both. "I never meant to hurt you, Debs." I looked up and took her hand resting on the table. "I'm really sorry."
Debbie smiled. She took a drink and then a puff. "You know what? I've changed my mind. You're right. I don't want to lose you. This was all my idea. Okay, so I couldn't knock the head cheerleader off her perch. That's just something I'll have to deal with. It's my problem and I just had a thought. That Richardson guy from the weld shop fits your description, I'll ask him out. The four of us will play happy families, Holly will never know, then we'll see what happens. How's that?"
I sat stunned. "Seriously? You'd do that? I mean, is that what you really want?"
She nodded. "Well, it looks like that's the only way I'm going to have you, right? You've enjoyed it, haven't you?"
I nodded.
"So, what the hell. Don't worry about it. Everything will work out. As long as I make you happy in some way, it's good enough for me."
We leaned in and kissed.
"If you don't mind, Tyler, I'm a little emotionally drained right now. Mind if we leave it for now?" She stroked my cheek. "Let's just stay low-key until after the date, then we'll get back on track. Is that okay?"
"You sure you're okay?"
She sniffled and nodded.
"You're the best, Debs. Thanks."
"Good. See you Friday at Dolphin's."
I kissed her and left.
#
I got back to the room and decided to wait for Mark to get back from his date to talk to him. I sat reading a book about the impeachment of Richard Nixon and the Watergate scandal. It was amazing how morality was thrown out the window to orchestrate a cover-up. I found it appalling the way he disregarded principles while trying to save his own skin.
Mark came in about eleven. He cast me a glance and undressed without speaking.
"Hey, sorry about earlier," I said. "You were right and I shouldn't have acted like that."
"I don't really care." He flicked his hand at me. "I just don't like seeing Debbie getting hurt."
"Hey, we're cool again."
He sat on his bed and looked at me. "Whatta ya mean?"
"I went and saw her after you left. She agreed she did the wrong thing. She's gonna get a date with Richardson and get us out of the jam."
"You can't be serious. After all you put that girl through? I'm surprised you're still walking around with testicles. And, see what I mean? My advice was to leave her alone. But…" He shrugged. "Tyler knows best."
"It was her idea. If you don't believe me, ask her yourself. But you won't need to talk to her. I've already smoothed it over. And like I said, sorry about earlier. Night."
I laid down and pulled the blanket over me. My mind went between Holly and Debbie. Debbie was very understanding. Lucky for me I inherited Dad's charm gene.
#
Date night came and Holly and I waited in Dolphin's for Debbie to show up with her new boyfriend, Richardson. We sat next to each other on a padded bench against the wall, with tables lined up every three or four feet apart in front of the bench and chairs on the other side. Holly sipped her Chardonnay as I nursed a beer. Although Debbie had agreed to be a good sport, my nerves were still fraught.
Holly made casual look elegant as she usually did. Tight red jeans with matching high-top Converse sneakers. A red Indiana Hoosier basketball tank top laid over a tight fitting, long-sleeve white t-shirt, complimented by a ponytail pulled through the back of her Cincinnati Reds baseball cap. She may have looked a bit like an elf, but my desire to slide up and down her chimney was extremely heightened. Especially now that Daddy's sleigh had left town.
Debbie walked up to the table. Her eyes were red like she had been crying. She let out a little sniffle.
I leaned over to look behind her. "Where's Richardson?" I asked.
"I dumped him, the cheating bastard. I didn't know if I should come, but I'm too upset to be on my own. I hope you don't mind. I can always go if it's a problem." She wiped her eye.
Holly patted the seat next to her. "Sit down and tell me all about it. Tyler, get Debbie a drink."
"Okay, but don't start without me. I want to hear this." I pointed to Debbie. "Black Russian?"
She nodded.
I went to the bar and got her drink as quick as I could and rejoined the girls. Holly encouraged her to tell the story.
"I just found out he's been two-timing me ever since we started going together. He already had a floozy and he never gave her up."
My chest tightened. Damn! I thought she was gonna be cool. I pleaded with my eyes, but she ignored my looks of desperation.
"He was jumping back and forth between our beds, stringing us both along. Why would a guy do that, Tyler? I don't understand." She looked around Holly at me.
"Umm…I don't know, Debs. I mean Debbie." Holly gave me a sharp look. "I mean, maybe he had a good reason. I wouldn't think it would be a straightforward case. Probably had some extenuating circumstances behind it."
"Like, gimme a break," Holly sighed. "How can cheating on a girlfriend ever be justified?"
Debbie shifted her gaze to Holly. "You mean, you feel that way too? There could never be a reason to date two women at the same time?"
"Of course not," Holly snapped. "Tyler would never cheat on me, would you, lover?"
"Uh, no. Course not."
"What would you do if you ever caught your boyfriend cheating, Holly? What if you found out that he went off to bang some other girl after he'd been with you?" She looked around her again and locked eyes with me.
I swallowed hard.
"Not likely," Holly said. "I keep my boyfriend so exhausted he doesn't have the energy to look at another woman." She turned to me with seriousness in her eyes. "Isn't that right, Tyler?"
I nodded. "Uh, yeah. That's right, babe."
"But just suppose," Debbie insisted.
>
"Okay, if he was that stupid," she held my face with her hand, "I'd cut his pretty little face up and make him so totally ugly that another girl would never look at him as long as he lived." Then she smiled. "But we don't have to worry about that, do we?" She kissed my nose. I'd never seen her hold such a meaningful look.
I stroked her leg. "Course not. Why would I need anyone else?"
"Exactly." Her eyes left me as she released her grip on my face and took a sip of wine. She looked back at Debbie. "Like, how'd you find out?"
"His other girlfriend twigged first and confronted me. I told her she was full of it and to take a hike. Then she described a scar he has that can only be seen when he's naked. It was a perfect match.” She softly cried.
I was at Debbie's mercy. My stomach flipped. I went to take a drink of beer, but my hand shook so bad I set it back down, hoping Holly didn't notice.
Holly put her arm around Debs. "There, there. There's plenty of other schools in the ocean." Debbie rested her head on the front of Holly's shoulder. She looked at me and smiled. She shifted her look downward, gave a few more sniffles and forced out a few more tears.
"Maybe it's best if you cry this out on your own, Debbie," I said. "That's a good way to get over it, you know. You don't want to have to pretend to be upbeat for our sake."
"Don't be ridiculous." Holly shot me a look of disgust. "The poor girl needs our support. It's a nasty shock. She's like totally devastated. We'll skip the go-karts and go out for a nice meal. I'll just pop to the little girls' room and then we'll go." She got up. "Be right back." As she walked away I couldn't even focus on her cute ass wiggling. I felt sick.
"What the hell are you playing at," I snapped.
"Not so suave and debonair when you're on the back foot, eh? I warned you, Tyler. You wouldn't make a choice. You wanted to build this pussy empire and have everything your way. Well, you've had your days of having your cake and eating it too, now it's time to choke on it. I'm not some little rag doll without feelings. I gave you plenty of time. If you dumped me long ago I could have dealt with it. But no. You just kept giving me little rays of hope that maybe you'd be man enough to stand up to Holly and be with me."
"Debbie, please don't do this. We can work this out."
She folded her arms. "What's your idea of working this out? Me on Monday, Wednesdays and Fridays, her at the weekends and probably some street whore on Tuesday and Thursday? You had your chance." Her eyes narrowed and eyebrows held low, her lips pressed tight together. "Hell hath no fury." We sat without speaking any further.
"Ready guys?" Holly stood at the end of the table looking chirpy. I sensed she was on a mission to cheer Debbie up. Debbie was on a mission to destroy me. I guzzled my beer and stood up.
"Looks like I got a date with the two best looking women on the base. Guess I can't complain." I put on a brave smile while nausea took hold.
Holly insisted we went to Pearl's Oyster Grill down in Waikiki. That's all I needed. Two girlfriends, former lovers, both hot, and be force-fed aphrodisiacs when one of them was out to ruin me. It did cross my mind to get them rip-roaring drunk and suggest a threesome. Although Holly might have a few glasses of wine and then drive, she would never drive drunk. And Debbie was too set on revenge to agree to another round of butter-the-muffin.
The girls sat on one side of the booth and I sat opposite. I didn't like the set up, it lent itself too much like facing an interrogation. We ordered and the girls discussed make-up while we waited for the food, which was fine by me. It took me out of the firing line.
A foot stroked my leg. I looked over, expecting the guilty one to give me some kind of smile, but they were looking at each other talking. Neither of them gave a clue who it might be. I slowly leaned down to see whose foot danced dangerously close to my firing zone.
"You okay, Tyler," Holly asked before I got down far enough to identify the foot. I bolted upright.
"Yeah, fine."
The girls went back to talking, this time about boyfriends, which made me uncomfortable. The foot kept stroking me. It drove me crazy not knowing who it was but I was afraid to look again. By rights, it should have been Holly, so it would look suspicious if she caught me looking to confirm it.
The food arrived and the girls decided to include me in the conversation.
"So what do you think, Tyler? Should Debbie give this loser another chance?" Holly asked.
I looked down, spearing my Oyster Rockefeller. "Are you sure you didn't know this guy was messing around on you, Debbie?" I looked up at her. "Sometimes the signs are so obvious, blatant even. Maybe you were living in denial as to what was really happening." I hoped that might shut her up.
"I suppose. But some people are really good liars." She rested her elbow on the table and placed her jaw on her fist, cocking her head to one side as she stared back. "You must know the type, Holly. Good lookin' guy, gift of the gab, flatters you so much you lose track of reality. You feel invincible, believing love will conquer all." She dropped her arm and sat up, straight and stern, still focused on me. "Then you realize that he just talks a lot of shit. Strings you along, saying whatever he has to so you don't rat him out."
"Well, as you can imagine, I've had a few guys like that" Holly said nodding. "Guys will say anything to get in my panties. But I'm a totally good judge of character. I can tell straight away when a guy's lying. A guy tried lying to me once and I smacked him so hard it knocked one of my fingernails off." She reached over and took my hand. "That's why Tyler's so special to me. You'd never lie to me, would you, baby?"
"Course not."
Debbie rolled her eyes. "Of course he wouldn't. You're a really lucky girl, Holly. I wish I had a guy like Tyler. I'd worship the ground he walked on." She looked at me lovingly. "Seriously, I would."
She may as well have stuck a knife in me the pain was that sharp. If she was trying to lay a guilt trip on me, it worked. I felt lower than whale shit. Her sad eyes told a story of pain and disappointment. I wanted to embrace her. She had that soft side I couldn't resist. How was it possible for two women, that I craved so deeply, to appear on the scene at the same time? Either one of them could make me happy in their own right. My lust for each of them made it impossible to choose one over the other.
"If I wasn't already taken, Debbie, you'd be top of my list." Her hand inched toward the center of the table. I had to stop myself from grabbing it.
"Uh-umm." Holly cleared her throat. "I think you two have made your point." Holly slid her plate to my side, got up and moved around to sit next to me. She put her arm on my shoulder. "I'm really sorry about Richardson, Debbie. You want me to like transfer him?"
"No, that's okay. I did come out tonight hell bent on getting revenge. But I don't think I can go through with it. I guess if you really care about someone it's not as easy to destroy them as you first think."
Holly looked around the restaurant to get the waiter's attention. As she looked away, I mouthed 'thank you' to Debbie. Her foot stroked my leg and she smiled.
Debbie's foot let me know she still wanted me. I could have whichever goddess I wanted. I needed to be fair to the girls and make a choice, but it wouldn't be easy.
Chapter 24Holly and I dropped Debbie off at her dorm and Holly invited me to spend the weekend with her. We still had a lot of catching up to do with acts of pre-marital deprivation.
Back at her apartment, she opened a bottle of wine as I sat on the couch, pondering my future. Seeing both Holly and Debbie was sure to end in disaster. Debbie's plan of getting me into a relationship with her was nearly working. She gave me one hell of a fright, and the thought of losing both of them didn't bear thinking about. I would have to choose one and stick with the decision, regardless of the consequences.
Holly came in with the wine and sat next to me. She folded her legs behind her butt and faced me at ninety degrees. We toasted glasses and both took a long drink.
"Mmm…" Holly smacked her lips. "I really needed this. That was some night, huh?"
"You can say that again. Debbie was in quite a state, wasn't she?" I was so glad that Debbie wasn't spiteful enough to go through with her plan. But I wasn't so sure she might not try again at some point.
"Yeah, I like really felt sorry for her. By the way, how did you know what she would have to drink when we were in the Dolphin's? You never even asked her."
"Oh, umm…" I rubbed my fingers over my lips. "We were talking once…and she said it was funny that she's supposed to be fighting communism, but her favorite drink was a Black Russian. It just kind of stuck with me." It felt strange, but I didn't like lying to her. Maybe her dad put a truth hex on me. No, I could still lie, I just didn't like it. And I could still get an erection, so if it was a hex, at least it wasn't the kind that depleted my natural resources.
"Oh." She put her hand behind me and stroked the back of my head. The index finger of her other hand moved in small circles on my forearm. She studied my arm and her finger moving around it as if searching for cryptic clues. "You'd never cheat on me, would you?" Her somber tone suggested it was a serious question which she didn’t know the answer to. She wanted some reassurance as I read it.
I set my drink on her new coffee table and turned toward her. "Why would you even ask such a thing?"
She shrugged. "I dunno. It must be really hard to find out your boyfriend's cheating on you. That made me sad tonight."
She showed a vulnerable side I hadn't seen before. Her head dropped like a kid who just found out Santa Claus didn't exist. Her face stiffened, fighting back tears. She held an innocence as though she believed Ken and Barbie never had sex and Elvis might still be alive. God she was sexy when she pouted; her bottom lip jutted out and eyelids flicked like a neon sign.
Placing my finger under her chin, I raised her head to look at me. "You're the only one I want, babe. You turn me on, you excite me, you're fun to be with, not to mention a fabulous cook." She smiled. "We're meant to be."
"Do you like, love—" She rolled her eyes. "Sorry. A girl shouldn't ask." I melted in her lust filled eyes. "I've missed having you inside me so much. I've like been going crazy." She leaned in, our lips lightly touching as she spoke. "Take me to bed and fuck my brains out."
Trouble Triangle (Tyler's Trouble Trilogy) Page 22
