Chapter 33

Kim picked me up the next morning and we were both quiet on the way to the stables. It was a little unusual for neither of us to have anything to say. Surprisingly, it wasn’t awkward or uncomfortable. We groomed our horses and went to the outdoor arena. Kim taught me some handling techniques and I tried them before we went on a leisurely trail ride. We went out at a walk and back at a trot and I was happy. I was beginning to feel comfortable in the saddle. Having Kim compliment me on my posture probably helped with that.

We got back to the stables and Kim asked if I would help move barrels into place. I rolled one out to the spot she indicated then stood it up and went back for another. By the time I got two in place, she’d rolled one out, placed it, then remounted her horse. She asked if my watch had a second hand and it did. She marked out a line at one end of the arena. My job was to keep time from when she crossed it going into the arena until she crossed it going out.

Barrel racing. It’s really simple, in concept. You ride in a cloverleaf around three barrels as fast as you can without knocking over a barrel. The first time she did it was at a leisurely pace and I didn’t time it. She rode past the line toward the barrel on the right, circling it clockwise, then back to the barrel on the left, circling it counterclockwise, then around the distant barrel counterclockwise and back across the line. It seemed easy enough. The second time, she showed what Diva could do, accelerating between barrels, cutting around the barrel, then accelerating again. She was flying and Diva was ridiculously fast. I was impressed. I doubted I could have stayed on my horse if it had gone that fast or turned that sharp. On the third effort, she pulled out all the stops and was really flying. She hit the third barrel and knocked it over, raced across the line and pulled up to me.

“You look ticked. Does it matter that you knocked over a barrel?”

“It adds a five-second penalty to your time. When the difference between winning and coming in fifth is less than a second, knocking over a barrel knocks you out of contention.”

“Are you planning on racing someone?”

“Moncks Corner rodeo is in October, six months from now. The thought crossed my mind.”

“I’ve never been.”

“You’ve never been to Moncks Corner or a rodeo?” She was surprised. “Are you even an American?” she joked.

“A rodeo. Never been. I play baseball and eat apple pie.”

“I guess I’ll let it pass, then. Would you set that barrel back up? I want to give it another shot, maybe two. Diva looks good, doesn’t she?”

“You look very fast,” I said over my shoulder as I rode out to the barrel. I set it up again and rode back at a trot.

“Kim, you look really good, riding. I’ve never seen anyone ride like that before. I’m impressed. I’m proud of you.”

“Whether I compete or not, I’m taking you to a rodeo.”

She rode the circuit at high speed again, cutting close circles around each barrel, bumping two but leaving them all upright. Her fifth circuit was her fastest at seventeen seconds. I told her I didn’t think my timekeeping was that accurate. She said we needed a stopwatch. I tried riding around the barrels in the same order and managed to make the circuit in under a minute. I was happy with that and Kim didn’t laugh.

We groomed our horses and drove back to the shooting range. There was a high berm, designed to stop bullets and in front of it, there were a lot of round metal targets and a couple of silhouette targets of deer. There was a covered workbench about a hundred yards away from the berm and targets. Behind the berm was the marsh. We were the only ones there and it was peaceful. Kim was quiet again and I didn’t disturb her. We went to the back of the truck to get Kim’s gear. I finally broke the silence.

“You have a lot more gear for your sport than I do for mine,” I said.

“What gear do you have?” she asked, somewhat mystified.

“Speedos,” I said with a grin.

“You have too much gear,” she answered and we kissed. “Do you know what that was last night?”

Dangerous territory. I didn’t know if she meant the conversation, the drive, our kiss, or something else altogether. “Maybe. Could you be a little more specific? What an American was?”

She looked around but the range was deserted. “When you held me. Do you know what that was?”

“I certainly hope so. If not, I’m really doing it wrong.”

“No, not my boob you doofus. But I guess, yes, in a way, that. You held me like that and it was really nice.”

“I thought so too.”

“But you didn’t try to get me wound up. That was desire without arousal. I like that. I like arousal too but at the right time. I’ve been trying to put my finger on it since last night.”

“Desire, without arousal. Okay. I can see that. Just for the record, I’m in love, lust, and like with you.”

“I knew you were in lust with me. Kind of nice. We haven’t had anything bad happen, have we? We haven’t had any arguments or anything, either, right?”

“No. Not really. Why?” I asked.

“Well, I was just wondering how we would handle something that we completely disagree on.”

“I think we’ll figure it out. If the time comes.”

She pulled a case of stuff out of the truck and handed it to me, then grabbed her rifle. We walked to the covered workbench. She popped open her case and started getting out the gear she’d need.

“What are the biggest questions we’ll have to agree on?” she asked.

“I can list a bunch, actually.” She nodded for me to list them. “What college to attend, whether I should try to graduate in three, that’s a joint decision, in case you didn’t know. What to major in, and what careers we want, where to live, if we want children, and if so, how many, oh, and what kind of car I should get when I get my license.”

“That’s a good list. How about, what do we set the thermostat on? Who sleeps on which side of the bed? How often do we have sex? Those are important too,” she said.

“Anywhere between sixty-five and seventy-five works for me, either side, twice a day except on weekends and holidays.”

“I’m being serious,” she said.

“So was I.”

“Twice a day? When we both have jobs? Twice a day?”

“Once in the morning and once in the evening? Or maybe twice in the evening? Three?”

“You’re an optimist.”

“A man’s got to have goals. Four it is, then.”

She started setting up at the workbench and gave me a target to post at one hundred yards. I trotted the distance and hung the target against a bale of hay. Looking back at Kim, I tried to imagine making that kind of a shot with a handgun. Nope. Not much chance of that. I trotted back.

“Here’s what I’m going to do. I’ve got the gun on a sandbag for stability. I’ll take a shot, then check it with binoculars, adjust the scope and try again. Hopefully, I can zero it in with six or eight shots, but I’ll shoot a couple of dozen to be sure. Ammo is cheap and I’d rather find out now than when I’m hunting.”

She handed me hearing protectors and put her own on, then fired her first shot. She looked through the binoculars, then handed them to me. I told her the shot looked about three inches high and four inches to the left. She agreed and made two adjustments to the scope. She fired another round and I told her it was an inch high and maybe two inches to the left. She made another adjustment and shot again.

“How’s that look?” she asked, handing me the binoculars.

“Pretty close to dead center.”

“Dead is the keyword. If the deer were at three hundred yards, I’d aim a couple of inches high but this is a pretty typical range. Want to try?”

She didn’t need to ask me twice. I took a seat and she gave me a few tips. The table was incredibly solid. I looked through the scope and almost laughed out loud because the magnification made it seem like I was right on top of the target. One hundred yards didn’t look so far away. I took a shot, then checked. It wasn’t as close as Kim’s but not bad either.

I took two more shots and we switched to a prone position, lying next to the table. Kim attached a tripod since we wouldn’t have a bench and sandbag when we went hunting. It was a little more difficult but not bad. I felt like a sniper. We switched from the paper target to the round metal targets. If you hit one, you could hear it ping. It was satisfying and somehow more fun than the paper targets. We each went through a box of ammunition and when I brought the target back, there’s wasn’t much left of the center ring.

“That’s it. You definitely need to go hunting with me. You’d do great. Six months until hunting season. We’ll come out here and put a couple of different guns in your hands and shoot a few more times and see how you do. You’ll be ready for hunting season.”

“Just call me frontier man,” I said, smiling.

“Let’s stick with Aquaman until you get your first deer. By the way, I really like this gun. It has a nice feel to it and the trigger pull is outstanding. This will probably be my first choice when I go hunting.”

“Nice. I’m happy about that. You know, it would probably be a good idea to check messages. Mom was going to call before they started back.”

“We can call from the stables. Then what?”

“Depending on what’s going on with her, I kind of want to go by Mink’s and see about lessons. It’s up in North Charleston.”

“I don’t mind driving.”

Mom had left a message saying they were on their way back but she didn’t say when she expected to be home or when they’d left. We drove up to Mink’s and I checked about lessons. I told Mink I didn’t really want to compete. I just wanted to know how to defend myself. He told me ‘That’s what they all say’ and he said it with a smile. He gave me a form for Mom to fill out since I was a minor. Then told me the rates and asked if I wanted to work with Timex and I said that worked for me.

It only took ten minutes and I was back outside in the truck. We went to a little Greek restaurant Kim knew about. Their souvlaki was amazing. I ordered baklava to go since I’d never had it. I took a taste as Kim was starting the truck and I told her to wait. I ran back in and got eight more, two each for Mom and Dane, Kim and me. Good stuff.

The weather had improved radically from the day before so we drove back to the house to spend some time in the pool. We pulled into the driveway to see Dane rinsing off the boat. Kim went inside to help Mom and I gave Dane a hand. I grabbed the brush on a stick and followed behind where he’d already hosed. Then he came back and rinsed. It was easier with two. That done, we went inside to join the ladies.

Mom and Dane had both done well and caught snapper, grouper, sheepshead, cobia, and king mackerel. Dane seemed happiest they had caught over sixty pounds of sheepshead, a ‘very tasty fish’. He’d cleaned them on the way back but had taken several pictures of Mom, smiling and holding up various fish she’d caught. She caught a lot more big fish than I had and I was jealous. They were packing the fish into freezer bags and labeling them. Mom seemed pretty happy about the whole thing. And then she told us about the wind and waves and almost getting seasick and their decision to go to Savannah.

As she was talking, I couldn’t help myself. I quietly started singing, “Just sit right back and you’ll hear a tale, a tale of a fateful trip, that started from this tropic port, aboard this tiny ship. The mate was a mighty sailin’ lad, the Skipper brave and sure, five passengers set sail that day, for a three-hour tour, a three-hour tour.”

Dane caught it but Kim didn’t. He joined in and we got louder, “The weather started getting rough, the tiny ship was tossed. If not for the courage of the fearless crew the Minnow would be lost.

The Minnow would be lost.” Was there a better theme song than Gilligan’s Island? I didn’t think so.

“Alright, you knuckleheads. You’re ruining my story.”

“I think Christie is really Mary Ann,” Dane said and Kim was totally lost.

“She certainly isn’t Ginger,” I answered and Mom’s story was done.

“I’m obviously Lovey Howell. We’ll explain it to you later, Kim. These two are just being boneheads. What have you two been up to?”

Kim gave her the basic rundown, omitting the obvious. I handed Mom the paper from Mink’s and asked her to sign it. She looked it over, then re-read a section and looked at me.

“This is a liability release. It basically says if you die while boxing, they’re not responsible.” Dane took a look at it.

“Anyone die while you were there?”

“Just one but he wasn’t in good shape, to begin with.”

“It looks good to me, Christie,” he said. “Pretty standard. He’s going to a boxing gym to box. You probably have to sign the same kind of thing if he took dance lessons.”

“I’d rather he took dance lessons.”

“Come on, Mom. Quit messing around.”

“When do you propose to start?” she asked.

“Twenty minutes after you sign that. I don’t know. Soon. I need the release, then I’ll call and schedule. Kim will take me, probably once a week.”

“And you think this is a good thing, Dane?”

“I do. Obviously, it’s your call, but I think it’s good.”

“Did you ever do anything like this?” she asked Dane.

“A little.”

“A little, like the way you played a little racquetball?”

“That’s about right. I was a little better at racquetball.”

“Anything else you care to own up to? If you say you might have cooked a little, am I going to find out you’re a gourmet chef?”

“I don’t think so. I’ve gone hunting, a little.”

“A little?” asked Kim.

“Caribou and elk up in Canada a couple of times.”

“That’s more than a little,” she said, obviously jealous.

“Is that a big deal, Kim?” Mom asked.

“Only about the biggest game in the Americas. You could hunt bear in Alaska, I guess, but some of those caribou and elk are close to a thousand pounds, aren’t they?” Dane nodded.

“How much do the deer you hunt weigh?” I asked.

“A good size buck can top two hundred pounds but not much more than that,” Kim said.

Dane was grinning. “Maybe more than a little hunting.”

“You have to pull it out of him,” Mom said, exasperated and proud at the same time. “Fine.” She signed the release form and handed it to me. “Don’t complain to me when you get your bell rung.”

“I won’t get my bell rung ... probably. We were going swimming. Anything you want me to do, first?”

“No. Is that the end of your day or what? What’s on tap for tomorrow?”

“We did manly things today,” Kim said and I winced. “So, tomorrow, Jack is taking me clothes shopping. We were going to go fishing but I don’t know if there would be any room left in the freezer for our catch. Maybe we’ll just sail.”

“We’ll have room and I’m sure your folks have some room in theirs. In fact, you should take some of this home with you. We’ll be eating fish year-round.”

“I’m going shopping with you tomorrow?” I asked.

“If you want me to drive you home when you get your bell rung.”

“Great. Pick on the little kid, day,” I said and Dane laughed out loud.

“Seems to me, you signed up for this. If you’re going to date Frontier Woman, you’re going to have to frontier man-up,” Dane said.

“Damned straight,” Kim said and then checked to see if anyone notice her curse. They didn’t.

“Okay. Go swim. Dinner here?” Mom asked and we both nodded. “Shopping tomorrow, boxing, fishing or sailing, probably riding again. Does that about cover it?”

“Pretty much,” I said. “I kind of want to go up to USC and talk to someone in their law school. We’re on break this week but they were on it last week.”

“CofC doesn’t have a law school?” Mom asked about the College of Charleston.

“No. But I want to see what is a good undergraduate degree and maybe get that at CofC or wherever Kim goes.”

“You going to drive him, Kim?”

“I’d want to be part of that conversation. So, definitely.”

“And you’re back to work tomorrow,” she said to Dane. He nodded. “Okay, then I’m going to pick a day or let Veronica pick a day and spend it with her. She probably needs a little attention.” I wanted to say, ‘she needs to get laid’ but wisely didn’t.

Kim and I changed and met in the kitchen, then walked out to the pool. She complained that I wasn’t wearing Speedos. About an hour later Mom and Dane joined us.

“What are you two up to?” Mom asked for the second time that afternoon.

“I’m teaching Kim the butterfly.”

“He’s trying to kill me. He’s making stuff up to see how much water I can get up my nose.”

“Alright, how do you do this?” Dane asked so I showed him.

“Feet are easy. It’s a dolphin kick. The hard part about the rest is breathing when your head isn’t underwater.”

“OH! That’s the secret,” Kim said, clearly done with the butterfly.

“Here. Take this kickboard and just dolphin from one end to the other. See if you can find a rhythm.”

He did a pretty good job of that so I gave him the arm movement and told him to try to get three strokes in without breathing. He managed four. I gave him a few tips and he did it again. Then I had him add breathing to it and he managed to get eight or ten strokes in before having to stop and breathe. I gave him a few more tips and corrected a problem he had with timing and let him go again. After a few minutes, he could swim a length, make a turn and swim another length without stopping.

“Not bad,” I said, impressed that he had picked it up quickly.

“I made it, but I’m winded. Is there any part of your body the butterfly doesn’t use?”

“Probably not. You start to get efficient once you get in a groove. Then breathing becomes easier.”

“I felt like I was in survival mode.”

“That probably means you were doing it right. There’s a reason they have a fifteen hundred free but not a fifteen hundred fly. It would kill people.”

“Now that I’ve got the idea, show me again.”

I let her rip for a couple of laps and coasted up to him.

“Looks easy when you do it.”

“When I first started, I asked how many miles Birch had put in on his breaststroke. Take a guess.”

“I don’t know. Miles? Ten? Fifteen, maybe.”

“Two hundred. I haven’t put in that many because I worked on my freestyle more at the end of the season but I know I put in over fifty miles of fly. Maybe a hundred but I don’t think so.”

Kim swam up to me and squeezed my shoulders from behind. I could almost hear her smiling.

“Like that, huh?” Dane said.

“Oh, yeah. Definitely,” she said with a voice rich with pride. That sounded pretty good to me. Who am I kidding? That was the best thing in the world and a guarantee that I’d continue to do the butterfly.

“Maybe I should put in the miles. Think Christie would like that?”

“Nah. You’ve got a boat.”

“What are you talking about over there?” Mom hollered. “I heard my name.”

Kim and I ducked under and swam to the far end of the pool to avoid the rest of that conversation. We tried to kiss while treading water in the deep end. After a couple of attempts, I figured either I’d pop a boner from us rubbing up against each other or we’d drown from laughing. We gave it up.

“Mom’s going to call your folks and invite them for dinner, obviously to enjoy some fresh fish.”

“Yeah. They’ll probably come,” Kim hollered back.

“Do you really want me to go shopping with you tomorrow?” I asked.

“Yes. Whose opinion should I value more?” It sounded like she obviously thought so and I was silly for not knowing that.

“So, we’re going to go to clothing stores, you’ll try stuff on and I’ll tell you what I think?”

“Yup.”

“Okay. If I don’t like something, am I supposed to say that or should I say that I like it.”

“Yup. Honest opinion.”

“I can do that. Can we do something before we go shopping?”

“Sure. You want to swing by Mink’s?”

“Yes, but before that.”

“Sure. What?”

“Your folks will be at work. How about I ride over to your house in the morning and you can try to fuck me silly before we go?”

“You like that idea, huh. Getting fucked silly?”

“It has a certain appeal.”

“I don’t know what time Mink’s opens but the stores open at ten. How long do you think it will take me to fuck you silly?”

“No idea. I just thought it was an idea worth exploring.”

“What a phrase. Who said that, anyway? Oh yeah. Melanie. What a goofball.”

“She was just having fun. Got carried away,” I said and it didn’t seem like she needed much convincing.

Kim looked at me for a minute, debating what to say, I thought. Then she did. “You’re mine, right?” I nodded, seriously. “Good. Then I want you to realize that there are other women out there that don’t care. I don’t mean Melanie. But she did say that. Do I think she would if she had the chance? No. I know her and I think I know her pretty well. Veronica and Cheryl both would take you to bed. I think Cheryl was just having fun but I think Veronica would seriously like to fuck you silly. Don’t be surprised if it doesn’t happen again with someone else.”

“What do you want me to do?” I asked, not really sure at all.

“Don’t take it lightly. Don’t just brush it off. Let’s say we got into an argument. You know, a really good one. Let’s say we weren’t talking for a couple of days or maybe a week. I think I know you pretty well and I think loyalty is way high on your list of qualities. But don’t pretend you wouldn’t be tempted. Look me in the eye and tell me that if we were pissed at each other and Lori threw herself at you that you wouldn’t be tempted. She’s adorable. Tell me you wouldn’t be tempted.”

“I can’t. I can tell you right now, though, that I wouldn’t act on it.”

“I believe you, Jack. Just don’t be surprised when it happens.”

“If it happens. What about you?”

“I think the same. I think I’ve probably had more experience saying ‘no’ than you have.”

“You know what would really be the way to make sure?” I said.

“Jack. Kim. Dinner in thirty minutes and your parents are coming,” Mom hollered. We waved at her.

“What?” Kim asked.

“If you fuck me silly tomorrow. No one could ever top that.”

“You’re impossible.” She stopped treading for a minute and sank, then pushed off the bottom and popped to the surface. “Okay. Do you know what I’m going to try to do tomorrow? Before we go shopping or to Mink’s I’m going to try my absolute best to fuck you silly. I’m going to try to get you to beg me to stop.”

“Damn. I like the sound of that. I don’t think you can but I like that you’re going to try.”

I could see by how she screwed her lips together that she’d made up her mind, no one could change it and she had nothing more to say.

“You’re already laying out a plan in your head, aren’t you? I am the luckiest man in the Lowcountry. In South Carolina. In the US.” She smiled at that and I added, “You are an absolute stone fox and the most desirable woman in the world. I love you. My life is awesome.”

We changed for dinner and had some of Mom’s fresh catch with the McTighe’s. After dinner, Mom and Dane teamed up to play them in a game of bridge. Kim and I watched and I tried to explain what was going on to her but it was happening too fast. We went to the library and I tried to explain bidding. When I thought she understood the basic concepts, we went back in to watch. We picked her dad to stand behind. On the next deal, he showed us his hand and opened with one club. We followed the bidding around the table and Kim struggled but kept her mouth shut. Dane ended up with the bid of four hearts; game. Mrs. McTighe played and Mom put her dummy hand down and Kim was totally confused with that. Her dad explained the concept.

“The first person to bid the winning suit gets to play the hand. Because we’re all following the same bidding convention, by the end of bidding, we all have a pretty good idea who has which cards. The person to the left of the winning bid leads a card. If you have a singleton, you lead that so your partner can take the trick and lead back so that I can trump it. That’s the first couple of choices. Mary and I have been playing a while so we know each other’s bidding patterns. Helps. Make sense?”

“This is going to take a while,” she answered, clearly mystified by the complexity of it.

“It does but it’s fun because of that, Kimmie. You’ll learn.”

We stuck it out for five or six more hands and by the end of all that, she raised her hand, said her brain was full and needed to be excused.

We went to the game room and played pool. Kim had played before but she needed some basic instruction. I demonstrated proper grip and hand formation. She tried and when I put my hands over hers, she pushed back against me, rubbing her sweet ass where it could do the most damage to my concentration. I tried to focus on what I was doing and teach her. That lasted until she looked over her shoulder at me.

“Silly,” she said. “Tomorrow morning, we’ll go shopping and you’ll be silly. Very silly.”

“I want to be silly now.”

“I can feel that, Aquaman. Tomorrow morning.”

That’s when her parents stepped into the game room. I stepped around behind Kim so my boner wouldn’t be obvious. Kim was in her own truck but she left when they did and I tried to calm down, knowing that Kim was going to attempt to fuck me silly the next day. When I finally relaxed enough to leave the game room, I went looking for Mom to ask her how in the world I was supposed to help Kim shop. “Be honest” was all I got out of her before she turned in. Dane had to work the next day.

I left a note on the refrigerator, ‘gone shopping’ and pedaled over to Kim’s house. Her parents went in at nine and that’s when I showed up. Kim answered the door in her sexy prom dress. She had on perfume which was a rarity but it smelled nice. I was clearly underdressed.

“Damn, Kim, you look amazing.”

“Glad you approve,” she said and held out her hand for me to take. I did and we walked back to her room together. “You still game?” she asked, pointing me to a chair.

“I am the gamest,” I said and sat. My pants were already stretched to the max. She put a record on with the volume turned down. I thought it might have been George Benson but I wasn’t sure. I started to stand but she put a finger on my forehead and pushed me back into my seat. Clearly, she had something in mind.

I sat there with my dick trying to find a way out of my pants and she started dancing. She danced for a minute or so and then took her necklace off. I counted how much she had to take off and groaned. Necklace, bracelet, earrings, shoes and too much more. By the time she got to her dress, I would be ready to explode. A guy can only take so much.

She reached behind and pulled the zipper down. Not a big deal unless it takes a minute to pull it all the way down. She raised her arms and let it slide, but it wouldn’t. It hung up on her shoulders and she didn’t do anything to help it. Then she turned away from me and wiggled her butt and the dress started to fall.

“Kim, I’m already silly, and...”

“Shh. I don’t think you want to surrender so soon, do you? Shh.”

No. I didn’t want to surrender. Her dress slid down and she danced in front of me with nothing but her panties, bra and heels. She had been dancing slowly with her back to me most of the time. I watched her unhook her bra clasp and dropped her bra to the floor. Her boobs weren’t large enough to stand out to the side so I leaned left and right to see them. She looked over her shoulder at me and smiled.

She turned around to face me with her arms crossed over her tits. It was terrible. Then she danced closer to me, looked down at my lap and licked her lips. Mercy. “You’re overdressed,” she said and I was naked in about six seconds, my flagpole pointed obscenely at the ceiling. When she danced close enough for me to touch, I reached out but she shook her head.

She dropped to her knees in front of me and licked her lips again. She teased me by moving her hands all around my dick but she never touched it. It bobbed and jerked whenever she got close enough.

“I’m dying here, Baby.”

“I’m not going to use my hands,” she said and took the head of my dick into her mouth. Heaven.

She locked her lips around the head of my dick and sucked, hard. Then I felt her tongue circle it, licking the precum off. I thought she was going to bob down but I didn’t last long enough to find out. She licked the bottom and then sucked hard and immediately got a mouthful. She’d gone down on me before and improved each time. This time she sucked me dry and when I was done, she didn’t take her mouth off of me. Instead, she continued to work her tongue on me. I deflated but only partially. The way she held me with her mouth made it impossible to completely lose my erection.

I was smaller and she worked me into her mouth until I was completely in. She licked the base of my dick and I started to grow back to full size, quickly.

“I’m on sensory overload, Baby. And now, oh, that feels good. I’m hard again, already.”