Chapter 8

There was a trampoline place downtown that Bethany and I had wanted to go to forever. Mom worried that we would break our ankles or something, but it was just her being overprotective like usual.

I bugged my brother, Joe, to take us because he did gymnastics with us and had his driver’s license. We said please like a hundred times, so that was how Bethany and I found ourselves squeezed in the back seat of his old beat up CRX to drive there.

“We’re only staying for a while,” Joe warned us via the rear-view mirror.

“I bet you’ll want to stay longer than us,” I teased. “Half the pep squad and most of the cheerleaders go there on the weekends to use the spring floor.”

Mark was sitting next to him in the front seat and laughed. “She’s got a point.”

“You stay out of this,” Joe said, feigning irritation. “I have no idea why you wanted to come hang out with me and my kid sister today. You know you’re gonna run into Sophie and her pep squad Nazis there.”

“I’m in a good place,” Mark said with a secretive smile. “She’s got nothin’ over me anymore.”

It had been a week since Bethany and I had started fooling around together. We had always been touchy-feely, so nobody commented on us occasionally hugging or snuggling up on the couch. I thought of her as my girlfriend, though, almost more than I thought of Mark as our secret boyfriend. She and I had been friends forever, and the physical attraction magnified that for me.

She leaned against me in the cramped back seat and idly traced her fingertip against my thigh. Mark glanced back at us with an indulgent smile, but looked away before Joe noticed. Bethany glanced up at me afterwards with an echoing grin. We hadn’t really talked about it, but I felt a kind of bond between the three of us I’d never expected.

After we pulled into the parking lot and climbed out of the deathtrap my brother called a car, Bethany and I danced our way around the two plodding guys to get them moving faster.

“Come on,” Bethany called as she ran backwards in front of them. She had on a tight pair of black shorts and a bright pink t-shirt that was tight enough to hint at her nice curves. She didn’t have much upstairs, but I loved her gentle swells and tiny tan nipples.

Mark and Joe were both wearing cargo shorts that showed their muscular legs and snug t-shirts. My brother obviously didn’t do anything for me, but it had been a long week watching Mark from my bedroom window. Between pool cleaning and lawn mowing, he had fueled my imagination and led to some wild times with Bethany when we could sneak away for an hour or two. Mark bugged us for details when he knew we’d been together, and Bethany, the blabbermouth, told him everything.

We’d both had an afternoon with Mark as well, but we had to be careful. Between my brother and Mason around our houses in the afternoons, it was too easy to get caught. Luckily, both of Bethany’s parents went out on Wednesday afternoon, so we fooled around over at her house. Mark seemed happy to just let us play around with him without pressuring us to do more. That was fine with me, because I was seriously afraid his cock would split me in half if we went all the way.

When we finally got inside the trampoline place, Mark paid for all of us. He sacked groceries at the neighborhood grocery store, so he had more money than we got babysitting. When he put his arms around our shoulders for a quick squeeze before going in, it felt like we were on a real date.

The place was split between a kids’ area with bounce houses and a ball pit, and a more serious gymnasium with a spring floor, trampoline dodge ball arenas, and a dozen square trampolines laid out in a grid. There was uptempo music playing that kept the energy up while people ran from one activity to the next.

“What’s first?”

“Dodge ball!” Bethany and I shouted at once and dragged the guys over to the first open arena.

There were trampoline lanes for each player and dozens of soft balls. The staff member let us in with the group that had been waiting their turn. Bethany got in the lane next to me, across from the guys, and we gathered our share of balls to start the game.

The whistle blew and balls flew like popcorn in an open pot. Joe was out almost immediately because both Bethany and I let fly at him. I bounced up over the balls Mark threw and Bethany caught the ball some kid whizzed at her. The rapid fire pace continued until it was me and Mark left, each holding two balls and bouncing back and forth looking for an opportunity.

“You’re goin’ down, Squirt,” he growled.

“Come on, Steph!” Bethany yelled from the sidelines. “Girl power!”

I feinted a throw to make him flinch, then rolled on the springy surface and bounced up to nail two quick throws from up close to the line. Mark did an amazing bounce flip to dodge them both and hit me twice in the leg before he landed.

“Oh yeah!” Joe yelled as the rest of the players who had been eliminated came running back in the arena.

Mark bounced over to me and offered a hand to help me up. “Good game.”

I squeezed his hand and gave him my best gonna get you later smile. “Thanks.”

This time Bethany and Joe went on one team so Mark got into the lane next to me. “Hit Joe?” Mark whispered.

“Every time,” I answered as I gathered a couple of balls before the whistle.

This time Bethany nailed me out on the first volley, but Joe went down as well. When we gathered on the sidelines to watch the rest of the game, Joe muttered a curse under his breath.

“What?” I asked him.

He nodded behind us down the center aisle where Sophie and her Nazis came walking up like they were on a fashion runway. She actually had makeup on! That was as dumb as wearing makeup to the beach, where you’d end up looking like a melted snow cone. I just rolled my eyes and turned to watch Mark and Bethany dueling it out.

Bethany had taken gymnastics longer than I had and she had some killer moves on the bouncy canvas. The angled back of each lane had a trampoline that she used to jump against and dodge two fast throws. When she was in midair, she threw straight down and hit Mark on top of his head before sticking her landing.

“Girl Power!” she yelled and bounced around her defeated foe.

“Oh my God,” Sophie snarled. “Mark, why the hell are you playing with these children?”

“I’d rather play with them than play your stupid games,” he answered as the rest of us ran back in the arena.

Bethany gave Mark a high five on her way back to her own lane. I gave her a big hug for winning and then joined my brother to plot against them. Sophie and a couple of her friends stepped into the arena to take the remaining lanes. That led all four of us to nod at each other without a word.

When the whistle blew Sophie had eight balls heading her way. Mine hit her dead in the nose with a hard smack despite the ball’s light weight. Mark couldn’t dodge the balls heading his way from her and her friends, so he joined her at the sidelines, which was probably her plan. I directed my aggression to the remaining pep squad Nazis and between Bethany, Joe, and I they were eliminated in the next volley.

I jumped in front of the next ball I saw so I could get out and join Mark and Sophie on the sidelines. I slipped in behind Mark while he was looking at Sophie, so I didn’t think he noticed me.