in whatever position they first made contact, and it was his front porch. There were cars going by and neighbors, some them he’d even known from his childhood and still he would have taken Gwen right against the wood. His… The porch’s…
He tried to stop the movie in his head, the lovely porn one that was only going to torture him. He could and would concentrate on what he was doing at the sink, yeah, rinsing dishes and trying, for once in his life, to be noble. The right thing to do was to avoid complicating her life with sex, his life with sex. The two of them had a messy history and a messy present.
He really had wanted dinner and talking. Those were definitely two things he wanted. She may think he was all about sex, and while he couldn't think of anything else at the moment, he had, a couple of times during the evening, had other thoughts, like that she was smart and funny and as warm as always. Why she thought caretaking was her worst quality was beyond him. More people should be afflicted with that illness. She was just a giving kind of woman. She'd always been generous, with friends, with family, in bed…
He turned the sprayer on and hit the last plate. He ought to turn it on cold and put it down his pants, if he could fit anything else in them at the moment.
Damn. That woman was either the best or the worst thing that had ever happened to him. He was beginning to think she was both.
The rest of her week passed in a haze of lamb and sexual frustration. She’d never thought either would happen to her. She’d come from such a nice family. Isn’t that what people said? Well, not about her. Her dad was gone and Ellen, while not mean, certainly, was a little too wild to be called nice by anybody’s standards.
Watching her floor number light up, she waited for the elevator doors to open, stepped out, and caught a whiff of her hair. She pulled a corky strand closer. Whew, it was very Greek of her to be perfumed with souvlaki. She needed a shower and a Friday afternoon nap... that lasted until Sunday. But first, she needed to check on Missy.
For nearly a week, Missy had been either asleep or gone. The meal coupons were missing, so she’d been eating in the cafeteria. Gwen suspected she’d headed there at odd times to avoid sitting across a table from her mother. Sometimes Missy took her guitar and played in the car. Gwen had spotted her more than once in the parking lot. She’d claimed the graduation present, and Gwen hoped that the next semester she’d claim the college money as well.
It would work out. She and Steve, regardless of anything else, had never been troubled by money conflicts. She sent out a little wish that he didn’t have that kind of luck with the new woman. Regardless, Missy’s college money was safe, and she and Steve would divide up the other assets. She didn’t want to think about it in any detail, the savings, the house. She’d have to let all kinds of security go if she stayed at Belmar and started a career. But there’d be enough. With Steve there’d always been enough.
She passed the hallway leading to the lounge and saw a football game on the big screen and the top of a couple of baseball hats. She would have kept going but something didn’t seem right. It was too quiet. The game was on mute and so were the boys. Heading into the lounge, she saw Jason, large and draped across the club chair, looking like he might cry. "Hey, fellas, team losing?"
Jason sighed. "No, we’re up."
Bryan and Hayden seemed just as unhappy. "Well, that explains the mood. Geeze, nothing worse than your team winning. Because..."
Bryan, slumped in the corner of the sectional, seemed to barely rally enough to answer. "We were cut."
Gwen studied the game more closely and saw a tiger striped logo at the top of the screen. "By the Bengals?"
"By Chi Omikron."
Chi Omikron? Probably not an honor society. Jason and Bryan wouldn’t want to be in that, and Hayden would be crowned their king. Then she remembered the tailgate party, the boys so eager. "I’m sorry. You wanted to pledge a fraternity?"
Bryan sat up straighter. "Not a fraternity, Chi Omikron, the best fraternity at Belmar, probably anywhere."