Chapter 14

On Saturday morning, I slept in and skipped breakfast. A little after ten o’clock, I finally woke up. But then I decided to simply lie in bed. I was so comfortable that I didn’t even feel like jerking off. That’s relaxed.

About an hour later, Gina called.

“What’re you up to?” she asked.

“Nothing,” I answered blissfully.

“Yesterday was Leah’s birthday,” she said. “When I talked to her, she asked about you. I told her you had exams all day, but that you wanted me to tell her ‘Happy Birthday.’ I hope that’s okay.”

“Yeah, thanks.” I’d been so caught up in my own life—not to mention studying for midterms—that I’d completely forgotten about Leah’s birthday. It was her Sweet Sixteen, and I was glad that Gina had covered for me.

“Anyway,” she continued, “I also told her we’d try to call today. Erin and your parents will be over at our house for a barbeque later today; they’re having a party for Leah and a bunch of her friends from school.”

I vaguely recalled Erin mentioning something like that the last time I talked to her.

“Miss Goody Two Shoes went home for the weekend,” Gina said. “So do you wanna come over and hang out?”

“That’d be cool,” I said. “Lemme get cleaned up and I’ll call you when I head out.”

“Okay.”

After I showered and shaved, I got dressed and headed downstairs. Gina met me in the South Carrick lobby and then we headed up to her room. Inside, I pulled up short, in surprise.

“Whoa, that’s new,” I said.

Faith had hung a new poster over her bed. It depicted Jesus looking heavenward and praying. It was a large poster.

“She wanted to hang it on the door,” Gina said sourly. “I told her that if she did, it’d be gone before she could turn around.”

I blinked at her venomous tone.

“I hate her,” Gina said simply. “And she’s starting to figure that out. So we basically don’t talk to each other anymore. She still prays for me, though,” she said, her tone heavy with irony. “Only now, she says things like ‘I pray that some girls at UT will stop acting like harlots’ and ‘Jesus, save certain people from the ways of Jezebel’—whoever Jezebel was. I wanted to scratch her eyes out when she called me a harlot, though. Can you believe that?”

“Holy shit,” I said quietly.

“No, holy bullshit,” Gina said. Then she grinned at her own joke. “Anyway, forget about her. I try to ... every day.”

“When did you want to call Leah?” I asked, changing the subject.

“The party starts at two, so everyone should be at our house by now.”

With that, she walked into the foyer and picked up the phone.

“I’d like to make a collect call,” she said to the operator, “to area code 404...”

As she made the call, I thought about Faith. Then I shook my head in disbelief at her behavior. She was judgmental, but she’d always been nice to me.

Then I thought about my own roommate. I guess I was lucky to live with Billy. Even though we didn’t see each other much, he seemed like a regular guy. And after my first two roommates, I was happy to have anybody who didn’t suddenly disappear.

A moment later, Gina returned to the room, interrupting my contemplation. She moved the phone out of the way, stood on tiptoe to kiss me, and then returned the receiver to her ear.

“Uh-huh,” she said. “No, they weren’t all that hard. I’ve got another one on Monday, but that’s the last of them. I think I did well,” she said. Then she grinned at me. “Hold on a second, Mom. Paul’s here. He wants to say hi.”

Before I could do more than blink, Gina thrust the phone at me.

I talked to Elizabeth for at least five minutes: about school, classes, professors, midterms, and more. Then Leah started pestering her. Elizabeth said goodbye and passed the phone to her youngest daughter.

“Hi,” Leah chirped.

“Hi yourself,” I said. Then I wished her a happy birthday.

While she chattered on for several minutes, I tried not to grin. She talked about friends, clothes, music, and more. Sixteen didn’t seem that young, but to my eighteen-year-old ears, Leah sounded like a kid.

“God, Paul,” she said at last, “I wish you and Gina could be here.”

“Well,” I said, “we’ll be home for Thanksgiving.”

“But that’s a month away. More!”

“I know,” I said, chuckling.

“I was thinking...,” she said, her voice suggestive. “Maybe Gina will let you—”

“Hold on a second,” I interrupted, “Gina’s trying to get my attention.” I was pretty sure Leah wanted to talk about sex. And while I didn’t object to the idea of having sex with her, I didn’t want to make a promise that would cause me problems later.

At my desperate look, Gina smiled and took the phone.

“Hey, Leah,” she said. “It’s me ... No, I didn’t want you to talk his ear off. I mean, he’s my boyfriend,” she said. Then she laughed. “Maybe if you’re good ... maybe... Leah! Maybe, okay? We’ll see,” she said, with finality. Then, “Hey, lemme talk to Mom ... okay ... happy birthday again ... bye.”

Gina talked to her mother for a minute and then asked to speak to my mom. After a few pleasantries, she handed the phone to me. I talked to Mom for a few minutes, filling her in on everything that had happened since our last phone call.

I talked to my dad for a few minutes as well, and I even managed not to blush when he told me how proud he was. Then I talked to Erin. She seemed more grown-up than Leah, but she still talked about teenage-girl things.

Finally, Gina talked to her parents for a few more minutes and then we hung up.

“God,” she said, when she returned from the foyer, “I thought we’d never get off the phone.”

“Was Leah asking about what I think she was?” I asked.

With a mischievous twinkle in her eye, Gina nodded.

“Uh-oh.”

“You made a good impression,” she teased. “I still think she likes girls more than guys, but she seems to like some guys more than others.”

I rolled my eyes.

“After all,” Gina said, “I think she’s predisposed to like certain parts of a guy. She can’t help it,” she added whimsically. “It’s in her genes.”

“Oh really?”

“Mmm hmm. And it’s time for me to reacquaint myself with a certain part of you,” she said softly. Then she tilted her head back for a kiss.

When our lips met, I pulled her against me.

“God, you make me so hot,” she said when we finally broke the kiss. “Even if that does make me a harlot. Now c’mon,” she said, reaching for my belt. “You know what I want ... you know what I need.”

With a knowing smile, I nodded. Coincidentally, it was exactly what I needed as well. As my dick stiffened, Gina sank to her knees. A moment later, she fished out my hard-on and wrapped her lips around the glans.

Sorry, Leah, I thought, Gina got here first ... and she’s oh so good.

As Gina started sucking in earnest, I closed my eyes and stopped thinking, period.

Later that afternoon, Trip and I did a quick workout and then I returned to my room to shower and get ready for Regan and Rod’s party. It started at seven, but Gina wanted to get there by five, to help with the preparations.

The weather had turned cool, so I picked out a pair of khakis and a long-sleeved Polo button-down. Then I called Kendall.

“Hey,” I said, when she answered. “We need to leave in about twenty minutes. Are you ready to go?”

Silence.

“Hello?”

“I’m here,” she said without inflection.

“Well? Are you ready to go?”

“I’m not going,” she said.

“But you said...”

“I know what I said. But I changed my mind.”

For the next few minutes, we went back and forth. I told her that the party was important to Gina, but that didn’t seem to matter.

The guests would be mostly Greeks, she said, and she flat-out refused to go.

I was sympathetic, but my sympathy only went so far. I tried to explain that Greeks were people just like us, and that she’d have fun once she got there, but she wouldn’t listen.

According to her, fraternity guys were all assholes (she actually used the word “assholes”), and sorority girls were all shallow bitches (she didn’t say “bitches,” but her meaning was clear).

“Fine,” I said at last, giving up in disgust. “Don’t go.”

“Do you want to come down here?”

“What for?” I asked incredulously.

“I thought...”

“You thought I wouldn’t go? Just because you’re not going?”

“But ... you’re not like them.”

“I’m a lot more like them than you want to admit,” I said.

“No, you’re not,” she said. “You’re nothing like them.”

“Yes, I am,” I said. “And I’m going. This is important to Gina, which means it’s important to me. And Gina thought it’d be nice for the three of us to do something together, but I guess that doesn’t mean anything to you. If you don’t want to go, I can’t force you. But I’m not gonna live my life based on your petty prejudices. Now, I gotta go.”

Without saying goodbye, I slammed the phone into the cradle.

“What’s all the shoutin’ about, Loverboy?” T.J. asked.

I hadn’t even heard his door open. Normally, T.J. and I ignored each other. Except for a couple of times on the football field, we didn’t get along. So we’d come to an unspoken agreement: I didn’t bother him and he didn’t bother me.

“Trouble in paradise?” he asked.

“Shut the fuck up, T.J., before I—”

“Before you what?!” he sneered, suddenly in my face.

A moment later, Glen appeared in the doorway.

T.J. looked back at him. “What?” he demanded. “He started it,” he added, pointing to me.

“One day, you’re gonna shoot your mouth off, T.J.,” I said, “and Glen’s not gonna be around to keep you out of trouble.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah,” I said. “And I’m gonna enjoy beating the crap outta you.”

“You think you’re so tough, pretty boy?” he asked, in my face again. “Bring it on. I ain’t afraid of you. I’ll kick your ass.”

“Cool it, T.J.,” Glen rumbled. Then he looked at me. “You too.”

“You know, Glen,” I said, “I don’t know what you see in this runt.”

Glen’s eyes hardened.

A half-second later, T.J. shoved me.

Before I could lunge at him, Glen jerked him back and stepped between us. Even though I’d seen the big man on the football field, I was still shocked by how quickly he moved.

“We don’t want no trouble,” he said.

I didn’t think I could make it through him to get to T.J.

“God dammit, Glen,” T.J. blustered, “He started it.”

“I don’t care,” Glen said to his roommate. Then he looked at me again. “Seriously, we don’t want no trouble.”

When I looked into Glen’s eyes, they were resolute. They were also apologetic. He knew as well as I did that T.J. had started things.

“Y’all go on to your party and have a good time,” Glen said to me.

I stared at him for a moment longer, my blood hot with anger.

He nodded; he knew I was going to back down (no matter how much it galled me to do it).

“Next time, I’ll kick your ass,” T.J. taunted.

“Cool it,” Glen said to him.

Then, without waiting for me to retreat, Glen grabbed T.J. and forcefully propelled him into their room. When he shut the door, he locked it as well.

Through the closed door, I heard Glen’s voice.

“Why d’you gotta give him shit all the time?” he asked.

“‘Cause he’s a stuck-up asshole,” T.J. half-shouted.

As I turned toward my room, T.J. was still going, but Glen hadn’t said another word. One day, I vowed, I was going to give T.J. what he deserved. And he wasn’t going to enjoy the experience.

Back in my room, I shook my head to clear it and then gathered my things. Gina had said that Rod’s parents had a pool, so I needed to bring a swimsuit. I threw some trunks, a towel, and a change of clothes into a duffel bag and then headed downstairs.

Even though T.J. had distracted me from my fight with Kendall, I was not in a good mood when I called Gina from the South Carrick lobby.

She heard the tension in my voice. “What’s the matter?” she asked.

“Kendall’s not going tonight,” I said flatly.

“Is she okay?” Gina asked in concern.

“She’s fine, she’s just not going.”

“This is about me, isn’t it?”

“No,” I half-lied. “It’s about Greeks.”

“I’m a Greek, Paul.” Then, “I can’t believe how prejudiced she is. She doesn’t even know these people! I mean, I can understand if someone doesn’t like me because I’m not white. I don’t like it, but I’ve gotten used to it. But God! To not like me because of who my friends are?!”

I started to answer, but she cut me off.

“That’s the last time I try to do something nice for her,” she seethed. “I know who my real friends are. God, she drives me crazy. Oh, forget her. I’ll be right down.”

With a click, the line went dead.

Well, I thought darkly, at least Gina and I are in the same mood. That’s worth something, right?

On the drive to Rod’s house, Gina and I were silent.

Rod’s parents lived in the same neighborhood as Bridget’s family, but Rod’s house was even bigger. It was directly on the river, and Gina told me to drive around back, since the party was at the boathouse. (In reality, their “boathouse” was larger than my family’s house in Atlanta.)

“What do Rod’s parents do?” I asked.

“His grandfather started some oil and gas company, and his dad runs it. They’ve got lots of old money. I mean, Regan told me that Rod’s trust fund is worth four million dollars.”

“Four million dollars?!”

“That’s what I said,” Gina agreed. “Regan’s got a trust fund from her grandfather, but it’s only a million dollars.”

“Only,” I said sarcastically.

“No kidding. I’d like to have those kinds of problems.” As we pulled up to the boathouse, her brow wrinkled in confusion. “What’s she doing here?”

“Who?” I asked.

“Regan,” she said, pointing at a red convertible. “That’s her car.”

“Whose car is the black Porsche?”

“That’s Rod’s,” she said absently. “We’re early, but...”

“Do we need to come back later?”

She shook her head. “Regan sometimes leaves her car here. I’m sure that’s what happened. Jess and Hayley are supposed to keep her occupied till it’s time for her to be here.”

I nodded and then parked the Jeep next to the little red Alfa Romeo.

When we knocked on the boathouse door, no one answered. After knocking again, we waited a few minutes. Finally, Gina tried the door—it was unlocked. As soon as we stepped inside, Gina called out.

No one answered.

We walked toward the back of the house and heard loud music. Then we followed the strains of David Bowie until we got to one of the bedrooms. The door was ajar, but as Gina reached to push it open, she suddenly stopped. Then she gasped and covered her mouth.

When I looked into the room, my eyes flew wide.

Regan and a guy I could only presume was Rod were on the bed. They were both nude, but that wasn’t the shocking part. With her strap-on firmly in place, Regan was on her knees behind Rod.

She was fucking him in the ass.

Too stunned to move, I watched as the Nordic blonde pumped into him. With each thrust, he grimaced in pleasure.

A moment later, Gina turned, her hand still covering her mouth. She urgently gestured back the way we’d come.

“Oh, my God!” she blurted when we reached the safety of the driveway. “We’ve got to get out of here.”

With that, we jumped into the Jeep and sped away. Then we turned into a little park about a mile from Rod’s house.

“Oh ... my ... God,” Gina said again. “Did you see that?”

I nodded numbly.

“Paul, you’ve got to promise me—you can’t say a word about that ... to anyone. Not even Kendall.”

Once again, I nodded, my thoughts still chaotic.

We sat in shocked silence for several minutes, each of us staring at nothing. Then, completely out of the blue, Gina started giggling. A moment later, I began laughing as well.

“Oh, my God,” I said at last.

“That has got to be one of the funniest, kinkiest things I’ve ever seen,” Gina said. “And we’ve seen some pretty kinky stuff,” she added.

“No kidding.”

“I had no idea...”

“It’s not exactly something you talk about,” I said. “I mean, you’ll probably never hear a guy say, ‘Hi, I’m Rod. I let my girlfriend fuck me in the ass with a strap-on.’”

That started us giggling again.

“Jeez,” I said, once we calmed down.

“And did you see the size of his dick?” Gina asked.

“I wasn’t exactly looking at his dick,” I said. I’m sure she figured out that I’d been looking at Regan’s breasts instead.

“Regan said he was big, but ... wow. He must be nine or ten inches,” she mused. Then she suddenly looked at me. “I like yours better, though.”

“I’m glad,” I said glibly.

“But God, he’s even bigger than your dad. Well, longer at least...”

When she trailed off, we sat in silence for a few moments.

“Paul?” she asked hesitantly.

“Yeah?”

“Have you ever thought about ... you know ... with a guy?”

“What?!”

“Have you ever thought about doing it ... with a guy?”

“Are you kidding?” I asked.

“Not by yourself, silly,” she said. “You know, like two guys and a girl, everybody doing everybody else, and—”

I immediately shook my head.

“I’m not talking about doing it back there,” she said. “But maybe just a blowjob.”

“No,” I said adamantly. Then, to my utter disbelief, my dick began to stiffen. I shifted in my seat and tried to hide it. What am I thinking?! I wondered frantically. Perversely, Gina seemed to sense my nascent arousal.

“You’ve never thought about getting a blowjob from a guy?” she asked, her eyes smoldering.

“Absolutely not.”

“I think that’d be cool ... to watch a guy give you head.”

“Gina?! What do you think I am?” I asked, my voice almost strangled.

“I think you’re a guy who likes to have his dick sucked,” she said simply. “I mean, what’s the difference between a girl’s mouth and a guy’s?”

“A lot!”

“Like what? What if you had your eyes closed? Could you still tell if a guy was sucking you?”

“Gina, jeez. Can we change the subject?” I asked plaintively. To make matters worse, I was acutely aware of my burgeoning erection. I’d never, ever thought about having sex with a guy, but when Gina talked about it, her excitement was contagious. Maybe it was simply a titillating fantasy. Maybe it was the thrill of something taboo. Maybe it was because I was a complete horn-dog, and didn’t care who sucked me off.

“Why?” she asked, jerking me out of my confused introspection. “Why is it okay for me to go down on another girl,” she asked, “but when I want to talk about a guy going down on you, you suddenly want to talk about something else?”

“It’s not that, it’s...”

“It’s what?” she pressed.

“I’m not gay,” I said.

“I didn’t say you were. And getting a blowjob from a guy isn’t going to make you gay.”

“Um, yeah. That’s what gay guys do.”

“Um, no,” she said, mocking me. “I mean, I’m bisexual. Why can’t a guy be bisexual?”

“You either suck dick, or you do not suck dick,” I said.

“Then I guess you’re lucky I suck dick,” she shot back.

“That’s not what I meant and you know it.”

“Then what did you mean? Are only girls supposed to put your dick in their mouth? It’s not okay for a guy to do it?”

“No!”

“That’s a pretty big double standard,” she said.

“Why?” I asked in exasperation. “Do you want some guy to suck my dick? Is that it?”

“No, not if you don’t want to,” she said, much to my relief. “But don’t you think it’s kinda sexy to think about it?”

“No.”

“Not at all?”

I shook my head.

“You don’t think about two lips wrapped around your dick, slowly sucking you off...?”

“As long as it’s a girl,” I said.

“What if you can’t see who it is?”

“I’d know,” I said. “Trust me. I could tell.”

“And you know this because of your years of experience getting head from girls and guys, right?”

“You know what I mean,” I said. “I’d just be able to tell, that’s all.”

She looked at me speculatively for a moment.

What was she thinking? Why was she looking at me like that? Did she think I was gay? Did she want to watch some other guy suck my dick? Is that what this was really about?

“Paul?”

“Yeah?” I answered, trying to make sense of my chaotic thoughts.

“What if I wanted you and some other guy to screw me?”

“And...?” I prompted, waiting for the real question.

“Well, what if ... after you two screwed me silly ... what if we wanted to daisy chain?”

I clenched my jaw.

“What if you go down on me, I go down on the guy, and he goes down on you? Remember,” she stressed, “you’d be licking me, so you couldn’t see that it wasn’t a girl giving you head.”

“I’d know,” I said.

“Would you really?”

“Yes!”

“But don’t you think it’d be sexy?” she asked.

“No!”

In spite of my denials, I did think it was sexy, if only a little. Worse, my hard-on gave me away.

Without a word, Gina shifted in her seat and leaned against me. Then she put her hand on the lump in my pants.

“What’re you doing?” I asked, in growing panic.

“If you don’t think it’s sexy,” she practically cooed, “then why’re you hard?”

“I don’t think it’s sexy,” I insisted.

Gina didn’t need Kendall’s insight; she could feel the lie in my pants. With a skeptical grin, she deftly unzipped my fly.

“Gina, don’t...”

“I want to,” she purred. “All this talk of blowjobs has gotten me pretty worked up.”

“Gina ... no.”

“Well,” she said, lowering her head to my lap, “we’ve got to hide out here until Regan leaves Rod’s.” Then she wrapped her lips around my glans. After sucking me for a moment, she came up for air. “Keep an eye out for Regan’s car. Until then,” she said, a mischievous grin in her voice, “you can pretend I’m a guy while I suck you off. You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” She didn’t wait for me to answer before plunging her lips over my erection.

“Treacherous organ,” I muttered.

“Mmm hmm,” she agreed, her lips around my cock. “Vewy tweachewous. An’ vewy hawd.”

“God,” I breathed. “Just shut up and suck me.”

Her lips tightened in a smile. “Yes, siwr,” she mumbled. Then she took me too deep to talk at all.

She was in the mood to suck me slowly, and I was more than happy to oblige her. Fifteen minutes into the blowjob, however, a red blur caught my eye. I glanced up to see Regan’s sports car fly past the entrance to the little park.

“Regan just drove by,” I half-grunted.

Gina let my dick slip from her lips. “Did she see us?” she asked.

“I don’t think so.”

“Okay. Are you ready to come?”

“I’ve been ready for five minutes,” I said.

With a happy sigh, she tried to swallow me whole. Her soft, supple lips worked their magic, and in less than a minute, I was on the verge of exploding. I held her head in place as I rocked my hips, forcing my cock in and out of her lips.

With a grunt, I stiffened and flooded her mouth with hot, white semen. She moaned in surprise at the force of my ejaculation. After two spurts, she swallowed. The next two spurts weren’t as strong, but she swallowed again. As my orgasm subsided, she gently sucked me, taking care to avoid the sensitive glans.

When she finally released my softening dick, she smacked her lips happily.

“God, I love the taste of your come,” she said softly.

I merely breathed hard in reply.

A moment later, I tucked my dick back into my pants while Gina opened her purse and pulled out a hairbrush. When she turned the rearview mirror to examine herself, she chuckled.

“What?” I asked.

“This is gonna sound crazy, but...”

“What?”

“I love the way I look after I suck you off. I dunno,” she said with a shrug. “I kind of glow. And I always have this silly, semi-vacant look in my eyes. I just think it’s funny,” she said, shrugging again.

“I probably look the same,” I said.

“Not really. You look like the cat that ate the canary.”

I chuckled. That’s exactly what I said to myself sometimes.

With a self-satisfied grin, I watched as Gina fixed her makeup and hair. Once we were presentable, I started the Jeep and pulled out of the park.

With a deliberate effort, I banished all thoughts of guys giving blowjobs. I was still disturbed by Gina’s baiting questions—not to mention my own reaction—but I didn’t want to think about it too much. (I might not like the conclusions.)

Back at Rod’s boathouse, his Porsche was the only car there.

“Remember,” Gina said, “you can’t say anything about earlier. Not even a hint. If they find out that we saw, I don’t know what they’ll do. I mean, I don’t wanna be kicked out of Chi O for something as stupid as a little buggery,” she said. Then, to my surprise, she laughed.

“What?”

“That’s a word my mom uses... ‘buggery.’”

“Well, it fits,” I said.

“I’m sure Rod says the same thing about Regan’s strap-on,” she joked.

I felt my face heating, which made her giggle.

“C’mon, pitter-pat man,” she said fondly. Then she put her hand on mine and smiled. “Who needs Kendall?”

Without waiting for a reply, Gina hopped out of the Jeep.

Rod answered the door the third time we knocked (we didn’t dare enter the house on our own—not again). He had a towel wrapped around his waist, and he’d obviously just finished a shower.

Well, I’d probably want to take a shower too, especially after getting fucked in the ass, I mused. Then I tried to hide my shiver of distaste.

“Hey, Gina,” Rod said. Then, “You’re early.”

“Sorry, I thought you knew ... Anyway,” Gina said. Then she gestured to me. “Rod, this is my boyfriend, Paul. Paul, this is Rod Fortner.”

“Paul Hughes,” I said, holding out my hand.

“Yeah, whatever,” he said. “C’mon in. You can hang out while I get dressed. Neil and Margot should be here in a little while.”

With that, he turned and headed toward the back of the house.

I’d known Rod less than a minute, and I didn’t like him already.

Neil and Margot showed up about thirty minutes later.

I’d already met Margot Seaford—she was the blonde who’d been with Gina and Regan when they stopped by the Payton’s RV. Her boyfriend, Neil Lowry, was a carbon copy of Rod. He greeted me indifferently and then promptly ignored me.

While the guys tapped the kegs (which had been delivered earlier), the girls started hanging streamers and decorating.

“What can I help with?” I asked Rod.

“I dunno,” he said. “Why don’t you go help the girls or something.”

Translation: go away, you’re bothering us.

Silent reply: fine, fuck you very much.

I helped the girls hang a big Happy Birthday banner and then the three of us started opening bags of chips and pretzels.

While we did, Gina and Margot talked about who was coming to the party. It sounded like an exclusively Pike and Chi O affair. From my experience during Rush Week, I didn’t think I’d like many of the Pikes.

Maybe Kendall was right after all, I thought. Then I pasted on a smile. Making Gina happy is a good reason to be here, I told myself firmly.

People started arriving a little after seven. Gina introduced me to the Chi O girls and some of their boyfriends (the ones she knew, at least).

When it became clear that my father wasn’t in the same tax bracket as theirs, however, most of the Pike guys dismissed me as so much dross. They weren’t overtly rude about it, but I could tell.

It’s going to be a long night, I silently predicted.

When Regan arrived at eight o’clock, two girls led her into the house in a blindfold. She knew something was up, but she still acted shocked when we all shouted “Surprise!”

Regan professed ignorance about the party, but I was pretty sure she’d known about it. After all, she was at the boathouse earlier in the day, so she must’ve known something was up.

She thanked the two girls who’d brought her. Then she came over to us and hugged Gina. A moment later, Rod possessively put his arm around Regan and led her off to talk to someone else. Gina used the opportunity to introduce the girls who’d kept Regan away from the party until the appointed time.

“Paul,” Gina said, “I’d like you to meet my big sister, Jessica Roedeffer. Jess, this is Paul.”

We shook hands and exchanged pleasantries.

“And this is Regan’s big sister,” Gina said, “Hayley Devlin.”