Chapter 3: Neighborhood Cookout

The men from around the cul-de-sac that I’d just met clustered at the grill, where George Mason, our host, was slow-cooking steak medallions, small chicken breasts, and some jumbo shrimp – the protein for the meal.

Besides George, and his wife Brenda, who were hosting what we’d discovered was a monthly block party, I stood with Bob Wolf – married to Carly; Steve Winter – married to Nicky; and Jim Hicks – married to Darlene. The women were buzzing around between the kitchen and the patio picnic tables setting out side dishes and condiments, and being sure that everything was perfect; Ally was helping, too.

I learned a few things of interest to share with Ally, if she wasn’t picking up the same news. The seven homes on the cul-de-sac each kicked in a hundred dollars to Steve at the start of the year, and that money paid for the services of his landscaper to keep the pretty circle in the middle of the turn-around looking well-maintained. The area was currently a blaze of color from the flowering bougainvillea.

I learned that the house on the other side of us from KC’s was owned by Sven Karlson. He’d no sooner moved in two-years earlier than his company moved him out of the country. He was a bachelor and due back soon. That information verified my own observations that no one was home next door. Apparently, Sven had renters for a year or so, but more recently the house had been vacant.

The gossip among the men boiled down to one or two points for each man. George, the oldest, ran a Ford dealership, but the economy was tanking, and that meant he’d suffer financially as sales dropped until a recovery. Bob Wolf was an investment advisor for Schwab working in part on commissions, and he had the same economic concerns. If the economy tanked, so would his income.

Steve shook his head, “We’re already tanking in my business. The manufacturers that buy from us are slowing down, and so are our sales. We’re shaving our profit margins in order to steal customers from our competitors before they wise up. Everyone is having to be hyper-creative in our work.”

I muttered about the technology and home entertainment sectors remaining strong, and how my work at Geek Patrol hadn’t seen much change. That said, their worries and concerns made me nervous. At least Ally and I had a small cushion in our savings account.

As expected Ally and I were the youngest couple at the gathering, probably by twenty years or more in some cases. The Masons were the oldest. That was to be expected since we’d become financially secure much earlier than most other couples near our age. I thought we were both more mature than the average for our cohort, too.

I’d told the men about my tech work and doing app development, when a racing blur of beautiful and horny woman saw me from the side gate, sprinted across the patio, and threw herself into my arms. If I hadn’t of seen her coming and braced myself, I would have fallen over.

KC threw her arms around me and planted a highly passionate kiss on my lips that made the water in the Mason’s pool start to boil it was so hot. As the lengthy kiss ended, she squeezed me with great affection, and then without a word backed away, turned, and sped off to join the other women in the kitchen.

George, Steve, Jim, and Bob stared at me in disbelief as KC left our area. The PDA had been noteworthy and erotic because of how she flattened herself against me – great breasts and all. Those few seconds had left me both aroused and embarrassed. The other men had been acknowledged by KC with a simple wave, whereas I got the princess kiss.

Steve said in a teasing tone, “I take it you know each other?”

Jim added, “Yeah, fairly well, apparently.”

I chuckled, “Met Sunday. She’s our next-door neighbor as you know.”

Bob shook his head in disbelief, “Yeah, but she has a physical thing going for you. Besides your wife, who I met, KC is the hottest woman in this state, and she picked you to warm-up to – you lucky dog.” I’d met Carly, his wife, and she was no slouch.

Jim was blunter, “Yeah, I pray for an opportunity with her. She’s terribly nice and friendly, too – a cheerleader type. I like that in a woman. Somehow, she survived some asshole ex-husband and came out of her divorce whole. She’s got her act together. Darlene likes her, but they don’t get to spend much time together.”

The other men agreed. I guess that I’d had similar thoughts when I first met KC, but I didn’t say anything to anybody about it. My thoughts weren’t that possessive. I did like having KC as a friend – as Ally’s friend.

KC and Ally came out of the house a few minutes later to announce that the rest of dinner was ready when the stuff on the grill was done. George said, “Then we’re ready, because I’m just keeping these entrees warm.” He started forking the various things on the grill onto a large platter.

As we went to sit, KC embarrassed herself and me so that she could sit right beside me. She was a little put out when I invited Darlene to be on my left – she was cute, and looked pleased that I wanted her next to me. She was in her mid-thirties and probably still got carded when she went to restaurants and wanted a drink.

As at any table with eleven people, there were multiple conversations going on simultaneously. KC, Darlene, and I talked about local schools and town issues, especially on the school board. Darlene and Jim had two ‘tweens’ in the system so she was well-informed about the issues. Darlene mentioned that Steve and Nicky had a teen nearing graduation in the system, too.