Chapter 7

A hint of sunlight poked past the edge of the curtains, Sunday morning. Pat was laying on his back and I was sprawled across him, most of my body on top of him, and my right leg across the front of his shorts.

His chest was rising and falling as he took deep, slow breaths. I could almost detect a slight buzzy sound like a snore. And under my thigh? Well, it was obvious that a certain part of him was VERY much awake.

Outside of babysitting kids, I had never seen a male of the species undressed. (Helping a 4 year old take a bath before bedtime doesn’t count.) The few guys I had dated? Nothing ever progressed to the point of anything close to touching, looking, or more. Damnit! I was really curious and had no idea how to bring this topic up and not look like an idiot!

“Say, Pat? In the interest of research for my essay, can you strip so we can play ‘show and tell’ for a while?” Right. Like that was going to happen.

Listening to his heartbeat, I closed my eyes and smiled as I remembered the rest of last night. It was like something from a fairy tale.

The fireworks started with a giant rocket shooting high into the darkened sky and the glowing trail faded away. And for maybe 10 seconds, nothing. Then all of a sudden... BOOM!!! There was a giant explosion that looked like when the Death Star exploded in Star Wars.

Happy squeals filled the air.

We were sitting at one of the picnic tables, holding hands enjoying the show and each other’s company. Looking around, I saw people of all ages. From grandparents to young children, enthralled at the pyrotechnic display. I spotted a few of the cheer squad girls sitting with boys, also holding hands. They looked happy. I thought about it, and realized that I probably had a similar look on my face. Pat did.

During the show, music was played through the sound system from the band. It was all marching band stuff. John Phillip Sousa.

Rockets, spinners, sparklers, whistlers, all shot into the sky, brilliant flowers of color and so beautiful. Sometimes there were clusters shot up, and would explode together, reminding me, for some reason, of how when you picked up a dandelion and it had gone to seed, you could gently puff the white strands and they would float off to settle further away on the grass and start growing again. I looked down and saw a few under the table.

I twisted and grabbed two of them. Handing one to Pat I looked at him in the soft light. “Make a wish and blow. But you can’t say what you wished for until after it comes true!”

He closed his eyes for a moment, took a deep breath and puffed at the dandelion that I had given him. Soft white fluffy bits drifted away. Mine followed.

The display ended with a three minute barrage of rockets and boomers all clustered and fired quickly. It ended as it begun, with another ‘Death Star’ explosion.

One by one, the bright lights around the park came on. We had to blink a few times. Many of us stayed to help clean up. It took less than an hour to finish.

“So when are you folks hitting the road again?” This from a man who had helped with the baking contest as a judge. He had a woman with him that I figured was his wife. With them was Carol from the cheer squad and a younger boy wearing a Boy Scout uniform shirt.

“Probably Monday, when I get the next job from the home office.”

“Well, you’re welcome to come over and visit with us tomorrow. If you live here you would know there’s not a lot to do around here on Sunday except go to church. And if you’re not from around here, then you have no clue about anything,” he laughed. “Oh, please forgive my manners,” he turned to me and offered a hand.

“Adam Covington, and this is my wife, Stephanie. You know Carol from before and this is Kevin.” I shook his hand and smiled at the others.

“Patrick and I were enjoying some mighty fine baked goods earlier! All I can say is that I’m glad that Stephanie didn’t enter her chocolate lava cake this year. If she had, it would have been a unanimous decision and then I would be running for my life from the others who lost to her!”

Chocolate is my kryptonite. “It’s that good?”

“Oh my God,” Carol sighed. “It’s so good it’s almost illegal!” Her brother nodded. “Mom makes it and I have to do double workouts for a week because just smelling it when it bakes makes me gain five pounds!”

Pat looked at me and I nodded.

“Sounds good, we just need to know where to go.”

“One of us can pick you up after breakfast. Is 11:30 a good time for you?” It was. “Great. Dress to relax and bring a bathing suit to swim.”

I indicated that I didn’t have a bathing suit, but Carol said she had a few and was certain that one would fit me. Pat could easily just wear shorts. Handshakes and hugs were exchanged and we walked back to the motel. Showers, kisses, cuddles, sleep.

We got up, washed, and started to get dressed. Breakfast was waiting for us to go order it. Pat was wearing jeans and a red shirt that had the company name on the front and the horses and wagon on the back. By now we were comfortable enough with each other that I was wearing a pair of shorts and a sports bra, digging around in my bag to find something to wear.

“Hey, cutie-pie!”

I turned and just managed to catch a shirt that he tossed at me. It was a red company shirt, but smaller. I slipped it on and it was still a little large, so I gathered the hem up on one side and tied it into a knot. It looked flirty and exposed a bit of my tummy. “How do I look?”

“Good enough to kiss!” and he strode towards me. I was not expecting what he did next. He guided me to the bed and I lay back. And then he kissed me.

On my belly button.

He was kissing all over my stomach and poking his tongue into my ‘innie’ and blowing raspberries. I let out a shriek and kicked my feet on the bed, pretending to fight him off, with feeble attempts from my hands.

“Yumm!” he grunted in his ‘Tarzan’ voice. “Me wrong! Not good enough to kiss! Good enough to EAT! Nom, nom, nom, nom!” He started licking and slobbering all over me.

“Woe is me!” I replied. “Entrapped by a savage who wants to devour me! And yet he is unable to complete the task!”

He paused and blushed. “I’m honestly not sure if either of us is ready for that sort of thing, sweetheart.”

I grabbed his face in my hands and looked into his eyes. “What did I say, last night? Green light.” His resistance was weakening. But I didn’t want to push too much and mess things up.

Every breakfast at the diner that day came with a free side of ‘Patriotic Pancakes” to enjoy. What is that? A short stack of pancakes, with the top third covered in blueberries. The rest was lines of sliced strawberries and whipped cream.

I was craving oatmeal, so I ordered that. Pat had an omelet.

Coffee, orange juice, and I was ready for a nap. We felt bad for the people working that day, so we made sure to leave a nice tip. At the agreed upon time, we got picked up by the Covington family to enjoy the day with them.

There were a number of other people there. Assorted family members and friends. Introductions were made. Please don’t ask me to remember their names because it would be an exercise in futility!