Eggplants and Peaches

As night fell, my thoughts turned to Clay’s imminent return. The girls and I had watched a movie and feasted on pizza, but the time to leave had finally arrived. We quietly dressed and exited the pool house together around nine o’clock. Still time before Clay got home, but I felt the pressure and needed to retrieve my key’s from Erin and get moving.

No one wanted to leave that pool house, and the somber looks on everyone’s faces made it even more difficult. After exchanging phone numbers and pinky swearing to return the next day, Ashley and her friends trudged upstairs to her bedroom to shower and play video games. We all stank in that wonderful way one does after spending an entire day enjoying sex, and I looked forward to a hot shower and a long, dream-filled sleep.

Erin puttered around the kitchen, preparing something for Clay. A quick meal of crockpot chicken that would be hot and simmering when he got home. She still wore the same plaid skirt but had swapped out the wifebeater for a form-fitting t-shirt. She’d seen the girls pass by on their way upstairs and noticed my backpack.

“Leaving so soon?”

I wanted to reply with something spiteful, but I held back. The evening with the girls had elevated my spirit and I wouldn’t let her spoil it by goading me into a fight, so I gave her a half-hearted smile.

“Yeah. It’s getting pretty late, and Clay’ll be home soon, so I’m going to get out of your hair. Ashley asked if I’d come back tomorrow, so, as long as you’re fine with it, I was thinking maybe early afternoon?”

Erin ladled out a spoonful of broth and blew on it. “Here, try this. Tell me what’s missing.” It needed salt, I told her. She dropped a large pinch into the pot, then added another for good measure. “You’ll sleep in the pool house tonight. I’ve put some fresh sheets and things aside for you to take with you. Over there by the door. If you leave me your clothes, I’ll toss them in the laundry for you.”

Why had I ever tried to be civil with her? I slammed my palm on the kitchen island. “Give me my fucking keys, Erin. Now!”

“I can’t,” she said as she rinsed the spoon in the sink. “I don’t have them.”

“What do you mean you don’t have them? Where are they?”

“While you were busy fucking my daughter, I had a couple of the boys down at the dealership come pick it up this afternoon and take it in to get detailed.”

“You did what?”

“Don’t worry. It’s my treat.”

I threw up my hands and spun away from her. “Why do I even talk to you?” I pulled out my phone and swiped through my apps. “You know what? Fuck it. I don’t care. I’m calling an Uber. I’ll go pick it up myself tomorrow.”

Erin didn’t seem overly perturbed. She continued with her meal prep while I struggled with shitty cell service. When the app finally let me input my pickup location, I saw no cars available anywhere in the vicinity. I couldn’t even click through to order. A dialog asked if I wanted Uber to consider service in my area.

“What the fuck,” I said under my breath and opened Lyft instead.

“I don’t think you’re going to get a ride out here. We’re too far out,” she said over her shoulder as she stirred in some dried herbs. “Taxis usually take a couple hours too, if they come at all. It’s a real pain in the ass. I should know.”

I shoved my phone back in my pocket and kicked myself for waiting to the last minute to leave. Fucking idiot. How the hell was I going to get home now? Walk? No way. I thought about calling a friend, but who did I know who would drive an hour to pick me up at nine on a Sunday night?

Wait a minute. Brittney! Courtney had said that Brittney owned a car. When Erin saw me about to fly upstairs, she chuckled.

“Her car’s blocked in the driveway, and I’m pretty sure I misplaced my keys...”

I stopped and turned. She eyed me from the stove, a self-satisfied smile plastered on her bloated face.

“Don’t worry about Clay,” she said. “I’ll keep him busy tonight. Besides, he almost never goes in there anyway. Keep the noise down and you should be fine.”

My backpack slipped from my shoulder, and I only just caught it before it hit the floor. She’d anticipated my every move. Erin turned back to her dinner prep. While she stirred the pot, she shifted her feet and scratched her butt.

“You really did a number on my asshole today, tiger.”

Accepting defeat, I snatched the sheets from the table and retreated to the pool house. Once inside, I silently raged at how foolishly I’d acted. If I’d been smart and planned ahead sooner, I’d be home already. Instead, I’d let my dick do the thinking, and banishment to the woodshed was my reward. Climbing to the mezzanine with the bundle of linens, I flicked on the bedside lamp and made the bed. Then, after a hot shower, I plugged in my phone and laid down.

For a long time, I just stared at the ceiling, the cavernous room so quiet and lonely that I heard the electricity humming in the wall. Every so often, the icemaker in the fridge emptied and refilled itself for another cycle. I took a deep breath and sighed miserably.

My phone alerted, and I reached for it so quickly I knocked it off the table. When I picked it up, I saw a text message.

Brittney: I miss you

Fuck. I set the phone back down. Brittney’s sweet face staring down at me, tears dripping from her cheeks. She’s just infatuated, I told myself. I hoped so, at least. After a while, my phone alerted again. Another text message from Brittney, no doubt. I thought to ignore it but changed my mind.

The new message wasn’t from Brittney and it wasn’t a text. I tapped the notification and an upside down image of Courtney’s pussy appeared, taken from inside the shower by the looks of it. Three animated dots heralded another message.

Courtney: Thinking of you while I touch myself lol!!!!

I threw my arms out to the side and groaned. Another chime.

Courtney: Send dick pic

Followed soon after by a series of emojis including an eggplant, squirting water, and a drooling face. While I stared at the hieroglyphic message, my finger drifted to the screen and hovered over the text area. If I tapped it, she’d know. I set the phone down and curled up on my side.

You’re such an idiot. Just text her back and tell her where you are. She’d certainly come. So, why didn’t I? The answer was obvious. I didn’t want to lead her on. Spending one night with her had been bad enough, but twice in a row?

Ugh! I hated being like that. It felt so patronizing. Did they really need me to protect their feelings? They were old enough to manage their own damned emotions. It wasn’t my job to do it for them. I’d been as explicit as I could possibly be with Courtney. If she chose to ignore me, that was on her, not me.

I stewed with my thoughts for a while, until another alert brought the phone to my face. Another text message, but this one addressed to the group. I opened it. A picture of the four girls, arms over shoulders, smiling into the camera. Sent from Ashley’s phone. Another incoming message.

Ashley: friends 4 ever!

I zoomed the image and stared at their faces, feeling the same loneliness I’d felt in the pool the night before. I wanted to be with them right then. Another message to the group, this one from Courtney.

Courtney: Dick pic

Then a flurry of responses.

What the hell, why not? I put my hand on my cock and worked myself up until the veins popped out, then gripped the base of the shaft and snapped a pic. It took ages to upload. When it did, my phone blew up with overlapping notifications. I set the phone down and flicked off the light.

A message notification woke me. The screen illuminated briefly then darkened and I closed my eyes to go back to sleep. A couple minutes later, another notification. I rolled over and looked at my phone. The clock read one thirty in the morning. I tapped on the notification icon. Two messages.

Kayla: U awake?

Kayla: Nm, gn

I rubbed my eyes and read them again. Before I knew it, I had typed out a response.

Me: What’s up?

My finger hovered over the send button. She would have seen that I’d typed a response, so I sent it, and my heart thumped a little when I did. Her reply came within seconds. She’d returned my dick pic but heavily cropped and zoomed. She’d circled something in the background. The television.

Kayla: U here?

My pulse quickened. I typed a single letter and hit reply.

Me: Y

I stared at the phone for what felt like ages. Then the three dots appeared. They pulsed continuously for several minutes, starting and stopping numerous times. When the message finally appeared, my face flushed. Four emojis.

Eggplant. Peach. Squirt. Question mark.

My heart hammered in my chest, and my hand trembled as I typed out my one letter response.

Me: Y

I set the phone down and sat anxiously on the edge of the bed with my head in my hands, praying she would come. After several minutes, I heard light rapping on the glass and quickly descended into the dim room to open the slider. Kayla slipped inside and I shut and locked it behind her while she waited. Then we went to the sectional together and sat down.

“What are you still doing here?” she whispered, even though she didn’t need to. She wore a long, oversized t-shirt and had an overnight bag slung over her shoulder, which she set on the floor. She regarded me with a quick glance to my groin. I hadn’t bothered to get dressed.

“Long story,” I said. It wasn’t really, but she didn’t need the details.

“Have you been here the whole time?”

I nodded and asked, “Does anyone else know?” She smiled impishly and shook her head. “Clever girl.”

Her smile widened momentarily, then relaxed completely. “I wasn’t sure you’d reply,” she said, sounding nervous.

“I wasn’t sure either,” I confessed.

“You weren’t interested earlier, so I just assumed...” she began, but when I didn’t pick up the thread, she finished the thought. “I don’t know. That I blew it with you or something.”

“What do you mean?”

She looked fearful. “That maybe those things I said...”

“Kayla, hey...”

“ ... might have grossed you out or something.” She trembled with anxiety.

“No, it wasn’t that at all. I was just scared.”

She knotted her thick eyebrows. “About what?”

“That I might hurt you,” I said, and she looked confused. “I wasn’t sure I could control myself. I wanted to fuck you so badly, Kayla, you don’t even know, but I wasn’t sure I’d be able to ... restrain myself enough to not cause you pain.”

Kayla’s eyebrows lifted in understanding, her relief apparent. “Oh my god. I thought you were disgusted by me.”

“Are you kidding? I’m kind of obsessed with you right now.”

That brought her up short. “So, you really liked that stuff I said then?”

“Yeah. A lot,” I said. “It was a huge turn on.”

Her eyes widened. “Really? I thought I was the only one.”

I shook my head and tried not to laugh. “It’s a lot more common than you think,” I said, but her brow knotted. Something bothered her. “What’s wrong?”

“I don’t know,” she said. “I feel like there might be something wrong with me.”

“What makes you say that?”

She gave me an evaluative look. One that told me she hadn’t decided yet whether she trusted me enough to delve into such deeply personal topics. I thought to say something to allay her concerns but changed my mind and sat quietly to let her work it out on her own. Finally, her thick eyebrows parted.