Chapter 7

When I stepped out of bed, I felt good. I was happy. I wasn’t locked in like I had been yesterday. The girls were more tightly strung. I could see it in all of them. Renée and Connie had taken the stools with their backs to the bed. Connie’s stiff shoulders belied her graceful confidence. Renée looked lighter. She sat up straight, with perfect posture, actually everyone’s posture was good. Knees were together, not a pair were crossed. Renée gripped her stool with both hands. It framed her bubble butt delightfully. But her knuckles were white. She laughed a tinkling laugh at Pat’s snipe.

“He’s not all erection,” Connie rebuked Pat.

Pat flicked her eyes to me. She had her own stool and sat in a lotus position with her ankles tucked up under her butt. Her hair was tangly, her eyes were downcast, her tongue was venomous. She only looked at me for a moment. She drummed her fingers on the table.

Next to her was Hannah. She looked dour. She had just passed out cereal bowls to everyone. She spun her spoon around her empty bowl, waiting for the Flakes or Oh’s to reach her. Xiomara and Kia had claimed the shower side stools but were on their feet. Xiomara rushed drinking glasses to everyone. She floated, her skirt swishing around her knees, her hair hopping off her shoulders with her steps. Red and amber juices were set before everyone. I could smell apricot.

Kia had been doling out small plates of fruit: pineapple rings and strawberries. She had put down the final plate in front of Pat and turned to Suzi who had picked her perch on the counter by the sink. Kia grabbed one last table setting and laid it out between hers and Xiomara’s, closer to Xiomara with an upset moue. She looked at me. She smiled. She intercepted the flakes from before a grumpy Hannah could take them from Andrea. Kia sat down to fill her bowl.

Suzi looked over the whole table. Her knees were lazily opened though her skirt covered all of her thighs. She was daintily eating spoonfuls of dry Oh’s and washing them down with her amber juice. She was the only one who had started eating. Everyone else seemed to be waiting for me.

I started across the room behind Pat and in front of Suzi. Suzi smirked. Marin and Andrea were across the table. Marin watched me, impassively. Andrea was a rabbit in the eyes of a fox. I smiled. She looked away. I looked across the room. The girls had laid out soap, a washcloth and a towel by the sinks. They had even picked out clothes for me: a black shirt and blue jeans. I stopped.

I set my hands on Pat’s shoulders. She looked up at me like a startled squirrel. Her cheeks suffused as she blushed. Her bright eyes widened. I leaned in, her hair covered her ears, the smell of the alien shampoo was nice.

“Put on a dress,” I whispered.

“What? No.” She retorted. She seemed startled a few seconds later. I hadn’t let go of her shoulders. I wasn’t gripping her. I just lightly laid my hands on her shirt. She stopped her shivering and I felt powerful.

“A dress, Pat, I’ll even let you pick the color if you move quickly,” I summoned the confidence from her nervousness. It was a strange feeling. I liked it. Xiomara clearly liked it too.

“I got dressed the way I wanted to get dressed, Dean.” My name dragged out in her mouth.

“And it’s time you got dressed the way I wanted you to,” I explained, “You don’t want to be the odd woman out, now?”

“I’m not the only one. Andrea’s not wearing a dress!” Pat’s lips squeezed together and her reddened cheeks slowly went white.

“She’s getting changed right now,” This was a ballsy thing to say. I looked up, across the table and into Andrea’s dark eyes. Her mouth vibrated almost open. Marin reached over to touch her back. Andrea darted off towards the lockers. She looked back, I smiled, she turned her back to me and took off her shirt. I saw the strap of her black bra. I turned my eyes back to Pat, “See?”

“No! They all got girly girly on their own,” Pat grumbled. Her arms were crossed and tightening under her breasts, “Why do I have to?”

“Join us ... Join us...” Xiomara spoke like a zombie cultist.

“I’ve got this, Xiomara,” I declared and she sat up sharply. She didn’t smile until Pat looked up at me.

“You so don’t have this,” Pat snapped. She was embarrassed to be that angry. I leaned in once again. I was just inches from her ear and she felt softer under my arms. If I had kissed her, I’d have been ecstatic for hours. If I kissed her, I’d be rewarding her talking back to me. I smiled.

“My girls are wearing dresses today.” The words came to me and I had to soften my smile. The girls all around the table, and Andrea, who was digging through the clothing locker in her black bra and panties, all looked to me. Andrea wasn’t even the one blushing so hard. That was Renée. That was Marin.

“Maybe I’m not your girl,” Pat reached up squeezed my fingers with her left hand and hammered the tabletop with her right fist, “I’m my girl.”

“That might get lonely,” I sighed, “I want you to be one of my girls.” I looked up, Xiomara had a snickering grin. Andrea was fluffing her hair back over her shoulders. Kia was pissed, “Connie, you’re my girl right?”

“I’m so your girl,” She smiled a dark happy smile. She was looking right past Pat and into my eyes. I inched my hips back from Pat, this wasn’t about sex, not entirely, and motivating Pat with my dick in her spine wasn’t going to help.

“Kia, tell me you’re my girl,” If I asked anyone else next she would’ve sparked like a match. I hadn’t wanted to rush back to Kia or to Xiomara. I knew they’d say yes, provided I asked Kia first. Pat knew that too.

“Yes Dean, I’m your girl and you’re our guy,” She had to get that in. That was good and it didn’t hurt what control I had summoned. That was the best thing Pat could hear. I looked left, running my eyes past Renée, she would have twitched, shook her head, not answered clearly. I felt Suzi’s toe run up my spine.