Chapter 22

As Shayna and I moved along the sidewalk, heading closer to the Winston home, I caught the glint of their backyard pool beyond black metal fence railings. Since a steep downslope cut behind their house, the pool was accessible from their lower level. I was jealous. For some reason, I’d always been fascinated with having a basement. Yeh, I know. Illogical for a cripple in a wheelchair, but there you have it.

Ahead, Beth was bending at the waist.

And that was the last of my brain functions for a while.

“Wow,” slithered from me as my eyes tracked every shiny millimeter of her sleek, suds-dripping frame.

While hosing foamy lather from the wheels of a new pearl white BMW coupe, her gleaming back skin rippled in the sunlight. Beneath skintight pink booty shorts emblazoned with “Princess,” Beth’s little butt wiggled in time with up-tempo dance music.

With every forceful twist of her sinewy slender arms, soap bubbles glinted along their lithe muscles. Air hissed from me when, still wriggling her scantily clad frame, she bent further to scrub the shiny chrome wheel hubs. As Beth’s long, toned legs stretched taut, her shapely ass’s compact lower crescents oozed from beneath the shorts.

With my heart racing, I glanced at Shayna. Also mesmerized, her eyes tracked Beth’s rhythmic motions. Tongue flopping in and out, Shayna panted.

Okay. My fists clawed at the chariot’s sweat-slick armrests. That was enough torment for both of us. Beth was Jimmy’s girl. Not mine. The idea was to relax in the outdoors, not gawk at somebody else’s girlfriend.

With a sigh, I lurched forward, angling for a shallow section of the sudsy waves sluicing down her driveway. At a splash when a tire sank into a hidden dip, Beth peered at us. So much for sneaky.

“Hi, Kyle.” She beamed at me. “I’m glad you’re okay.”

Foregoing a return grin, I glanced up only long enough to flick her a loose-wristed wave. With my head low, I trundled wider to avoid her as she turned off the sprayer and took a step closer. When Shayna suddenly loped to a halt before the chair, I slammed on the brakes.

At the swirling golden glints in her emerald pools, my heart hammered. Really? We’re gonna do this? Really, dog? All Shayna did was snap her gaze to Beth, now another step nearer, before sitting in the water and staring at me.

Yes. Yes, we were.

After furling my brows, I let a long sigh whistle from my lips while looking at my over-optimistic dog. At last, I lifted my eyes to Beth. My pulse sped. Streaked with errant white suds, her lean, tanned frame glistened. Perfection. By then she’d halted close enough for the scent of coconut suntan lotion and—duh, automobile soap to slip into my nostrils.

“I’m...” While speaking in a low, halting voice, Beth let the hose droop in her fist. “I’m sorry, Kyle.”

“For?” is all I managed as I struggled to stay focused on her face.

Under the incessant bombardment of teenage boy hormones, the struggle couldn’t last long. And my gaze flicked to the prominent camel toe in her shorts. As if that wasn’t bad enough, I tracked the fair skin of her small chest peeking from the taut pink triangles with every breath she took. A tiny rivulet of snowy bubbles meandered down her flat stomach.

“For not...” She swallowed. With her face reddening after my eyes returned to hers, she chewed her lower lip. “I mean after ... After you let me pet Shayna. I didn’t ... I wanted to see her, and you, again, but Nina said—”

At Shayna’s forceful nuzzle into my thigh, I raised my palm to cut Beth off. By then, I’d learned a few things. Like the meaning behind that nuzzle and the golden spirals gleaming in Shayna’s wide eyes. With another, longer sigh, I spun the chariot to face Beth. When its motor ceased whirring, I gestured to her home.

“Look. Damn it, Beth.” Even as my body vibrated, Shayna drifted closer to her. “I don’t care about Nina. I care about you.”

“You do?” After the hose dropped to the lawn, she slid her hands along her slender hips.

“Yes.” With a quick nod, I continued. “Yes. You’ve no idea how many times I’ve wanted to roll down here ... And just—didn’t.”

“Why not?” As Beth spoke, Shayna sat on the damp concrete beside a lean, tanned leg.

When Shayna leaned her furry body against her, Beth dropped her outstretched fingers to scratch under Shayna’s upturned muzzle. Normal, right? Yeh, except her pink lips had parted, and continued to glint as they quivered with each gentle rub of the dog’s fur along Beth’s shiny skin. So, not quite normal.

After gleaming up at her, Shayna’s eyes flicked to me. A long, pink wave, her tongue flowed over pearly white canines.

No. This wouldn’t work. No more so than the “Jeri Problem.” For that matter, it was worse than Jeri. As cute as she was, Beth already had the pick of the litter in Jimmy. After leaving her to scan her fancy new—expensive—car and upscale brick-faced house, I exhaled.

“You’re nice, Kyle.”

Even as I gave Beth a polite nod, I narrowed my eyes at Shayna and gestured for her to leave Beth. With her fists bunched and eyes misting, Beth trembled when Shayna stood. Though Shayna paused for a long second, flicking her gaze between Beth and me, she trotted to me as the chariot whirred.

“Yeh, that’s what I’m told,” I replied while starting to turn away.

“Wait! Kyle, please!” As Beth slid forward, she raised her hands towards me. “Please don’t leave. I’m sorry, okay! I didn’t know how you felt.”

“It doesn’t matter,” I muttered over my shoulder while cutting through the sudsy water beyond her car.

“It does matter, Kyle.” Before I could react, she darted past us to stand in my path with her palms shaking on her hips. She was both sexy and fierce. As her little chest puffed out, tensing abdominals rippled under tanned skin. And God help me, how her aqua pools blazed. Yeh, I’d lost. Surrendered to the fates once again. “It matters to me. Please, at least ... At least come inside and talk.”

With a lengthy exhale, I peered at Shayna, who laughed. Well, she didn’t laugh, because dog, but her eyes, still gleaming, now also sparkled. So, yeh, somewhere under all that silken fur, she was laughing in dog language.

“Fine. Okay.” As I spoke, I lifted my palms in surrender. Fates. Beth. What was the difference? I’d given up. “You win.”

Though Beth exhaled and let her hands dangle, she wouldn’t budge until I’d turned to head up her driveway. As the chariot cut a path through the diminishing water, Beth’s soft footfalls splashed behind me. Me alone since Shayna had dropped back to glide along beside her.

Okay, laughing dog. Fine, I got that message as well. She’d won, too. When Beth skimmed by me to open the front door, she caught my sidelong peek at her sleek frame, stretching as she pushed it wider. Did she comment? Nope. Was I surprised? Nope. And as a grin slid onto her face after a slow bite of her lips, I only surged past her.

I mean, let’s face it. One glance at Shayna, loping along beside her, had my chest tightening. At that point, I wasn’t in charge of anything anymore.

Also, once again, insane voice was disturbingly quiet.

After trotting inside, Shayna sniffed at the air while scanning the darker interior. Once I’d thunk-kerthunked over the threshold, Beth closed the door. As she locked it, I too looked around.

The Winston home differed from ours in layout. Before a spacious kitchen at the back of the house, a set of open, broad carpeted stairs led to a basement. At the soft whap of her tail, I grinned as Shayna headed to the left, into a formal living room. She weaved through overstuffed, orange-red flower-print chairs and a couch centered on a low ornate, gold-trimmed dark-wooden coffee table.

Tail flicking, Shayna moved from the living room into a dining room. After a quick glance at me, she darted beneath a polished black-wood dining table before sniffing around high-backed chairs.

While I rolled onwards, Shayna, with her nose to the ground, whipped to the right to explore a large family room. Wide tan suede recliners flanked a matching couch. In one corner, near a game console and smaller monitor, were a pair of pink beanbags. All the other furnishings faced an enormous, wall-mounted, flat panel TV.

Once I’d scanned the ornately framed paintings, the varied collections of artifacts and knick-knacks on shelves around the walls, and the fine furniture, I released a whistling sigh. There was a heck of a lot of expensive stuff.

After halting, I scratched my chin. Beth’s dad must earn a bunch of money at that factory job.

At the entrance to a hallway, the kitchen-side solid, the other a half-wall separating it from the dining area, Beth made a graceful pirouette to make sure I was following. As she settled onto her feet once more with her back to me, I gulped. In the dim home’s interior, the gleam of her sleek frame sent shivers through my core.

With a longer gulp, I glanced at my crotch.

Well, at least that had recovered from the hospital stay. With my teeth clenching so hard my jaw ached, I shifted to loosen my shorts. A sigh of relief slipped from me as my swelling shaft surged free beneath the tightening material.

While passing the open stairwell leading to the basement, Beth slowed to peer down the stairs. Muffled by a closed door at the bottom, sensuous jazz music wafted up from behind it. Although she said nothing, I caught the abrupt tension in her frame. After only a quick glance at me, she turned to head for the kitchen.

An opening to the right, across from the basement stairs, led to a corridor. Along it, several doors were open to bedrooms while a bathroom was at the midpoint.

Once the chariot squeaked onto the kitchen’s black and gold lined white tile floor, I slowed to absorb the view. Beyond a small, round, glossy wooden table, a row of large windows and a pair of glass doors opened out to a balcony. And a breath-taking view of the trees dotting the more-pronounced rise behind their home.

With a sigh, I turned from the impressive landscaping to scan the gleaming, spotless kitchen. Between shiny gray granite countertops, all the brushed steel appliances appeared new. They also blinked with the latest in home-invading, Internet-of-Things electronics. Again expensive. Very expensive.

At a sudden muted clattering from below, I glanced at Beth. After a curt inhale, she rolled her lips and looked towards the basement stairs.

“That’s, uh ... That’s my mom’s”—while she filled two glasses with filtered water from the fancy fridge door, her lower jaw trembled—”um, studio.”

To read this story you need a Registration + Premier Membership
If you have an account, then please Log In or Register (Why register?)

Support the author's future writing by purchasing this book from Bookapy

A Fair Trade

INtrinSicliValud

$5.99