Chapter 40

"What are you doing out here?"

I hadn't even heard the door open.

I mumbled something, I'm not even sure what.

"Do you have any idea how cold it is?"

I glanced at the thermometer next to the doorbell. "Thirty-four."

"Thinking of going for a spin?"

I'd been staring straight ahead at Dad's snow-covered Porsche. "No."

Tami opened the door wider, stepped out, and closed it behind her. She was back in her jeans and t-shirt from yesterday. She sat next to me on the porch, leaning up against me and putting her arm around me.

"What's wrong?"

Let's see. I got a freshman pregnant, and, oh yeah, my other best friend just seduced my little sister and turned her into a lezbo. "Nothing."

"Nothing? Nothing! Tony you're sitting outside on the porch in your underwear in sub-zero weather, when inside there's heat and cute girls. What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"You're skin is like ice. How long have you been sitting here?"

A couple minutes. A couple hours. A day. How the hell should I know? "Not long."

"Tony..."

"Okay, I'll come inside." I stood up. It was hard. My bones felt like they were eighty years old, probably the cold. I opened the door. When Tami stood and went in, I followed.

Inside, the four other girls were still sleeping.

"Wait here," I told Tami.

"But..."

"Wait here!" I left her by the door and walked down the hall. I closed Traci's door without looking in.

When I came back out, Tami put her hands on my arms and started rubbing. It felt good. I hadn't realized how cold I was until she got my circulation going again.

"You need a hot shower," she proscribed. "Maybe we could..."

"Not today," I cut her off. "I'll use the one in Mom and Dad's room. You can use the other one if you want."

I turned and went to my room, getting fresh clothes and underwear. When I came out, I walked past her and down the hall again. Mom and Dad's room was at the end of the hall, opposite Traci's door. I hesitated for a minute outside her door, staring at it, then went into my parent's room.

While the warm water played over my body I wondered if I was responsible for Traci's... adventure. I mean, of course I was responsible. I brought Robbie into the house. But maybe I as too casual about sex.

Was I teaching Traci that everything goes?

What was next? Threesomes? Foursomes? Orgies?

Hell, I was thinking about an orgy last night. I practically had one in front of Trace, taking Robbie, Mikee, and then Kelly back to my room.

What comes after orgies. Dogs? Ponies? That was an image I didn't want in my head.

I turned off the water and quickly toweled off, then dressed.

Now what? Do I bust her? Them? Or do I ignore it and hope it goes away.

I felt like I was taking a test I hadn't studied for.

Outside Traci's door I hesitated again, then knocked. "Time to get up," I called.

Tami was sitting on the sofa when I came back to the living room. Her eyes fastened on me and followed me as I walked into the room. I ignored her, or tried to. It was like being a protozoa and ignoring that big eyeball that stared at you from the top of a microscope.

"Everybody up!" I yelled. "I won't look."

And I didn't. I walked to the kitchen and started pouring glasses of orange juice.

"Are you okay?" Tami asked from the kitchen doorway.

"I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?"

"There are four half-naked girls in there, and you're out here, playing waiter."

"I figured they deserved their privacy."

"Where's my Tony and where's your pod?"

"I don't know what you mean." I put the glasses on a tray. "Is everybody decent out there?"

Tami looked over her shoulder out into the living room. "All but Darlene. I think she's waiting for you to catch her in her panties.

"Tell her to hurry up," I said as I preheated the over to four hundred. I pulled the two pans of cinnamon rolls that mom had made out of the refrigerator.

"Tony there's a girl out there waiting to scream when you catch her in her panties, and you're in here hiding."

"I'm not hiding. I'm getting breakfast for my guests."

"You're hiding."

"I..."

"What happened? I thought we could talk about anything. No secrets."

"We can. I just... it's... Sometimes, it's not my secret to tell," I said looking at the floor.

Tami came up to me, put her fingers in my hair, and brushed it back. Then she kissed me. Gently, her lips just barely brushing against mine. "It'd be a hell of a lot easier to love you if you weren't so damn noble," she whispered.

"Yeah, noble." I was so noble, trying to get into the pants of every female mammal in the damn state. So noble that my sister was becoming a fucking queer.

Tami had pulled away from me and gone back to the door of the kitchen. She was watching the living room.

"Fuck!"

"What?" I was surprised. Tami didn't use that kind of language often.

Tami spun, staring at me. "You caught them. Didn't you?"

"Them? Caught who? I don't know what you mean."

Tami came back and captured my face in her hands. "Tony Marion Sims, one of the things I love about you is that you're a terrible liar. You don't like lying, so you don't put much effort into it."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Yes, you do. And when you're ready to talk about it, I'll be here."

She was still holding my face, so I reached up and took hers in my hands. "Tamarone Elizabeth Sharp, do you know why I love you?"

She shook her head. At least as much as she could with it trapped between my palms.

"Cause you're the only girl dumb enough to put up with me."

"Duh, you got that right."

"Ladies," I said after everyone was seated. "Are any of you on the naughty list?"

"The naughty list?" Kelly asked.

"You know. Santa Claus. The naughty or nice list. Which one are you on?"

"I'm on the nice list," Tami piped up.

"Me too," Darlene agreed.

"Plates," I prompted. The two girls held out their plates. I dished up a pair of cinnamon rolls each. "Mom's rolls are special. You have to be on the nice list. What about you?" I asked Zoe.

"Definitely the nice list," she said. "Those smell great."

"They taste even better."

"I was nice," Mikee said, holding out her plate. I gave her and Zoe two rolls each.

"I'm always nice," Robbie announced, I rolled my eyes. I also thought about the picture in my head of her and Traci as a tangle of arms and legs, but gave her two.

"Me, too," Traci said. I reserved comment but dished up her rolls.

"I was borderline," Kelly admitted.

"That's good, cause I only have one left." She pouted as I dished up the last roll. Then I took the empty pan to the kitchen, coming back with another pan. I put two more on her plate and dished up a pair for myself.

"How come she gets three," Traci protested.

"She's cute."

"I'm cute."

"Only in the middle school universe," I teased. "Kelly would be cute in high school too." I laid my hand on Kelly's shoulder. She shrugged it off.

I stared at her back for a second, then sat down between Tami and Darlene.

"Ladies, I must bid you all adieu."

"It's only ten," Robbie complained. "When are your parents coming home?"

"About one. They were going to try that new place on the highway for lunch first."

"We've got hours yet."

"Some of us have to clean the house," I pointed out.

"We could help," Zoe offered.

"Not this time. I'm being punished."

"Is it about me?" Darlene asked.

"Nope. Me. Inappropriate word choice."

"What if I want another seven minutes," Robbie asked seductively.

I pictured her on Traci's bed. "Call Mike."

Robbie seemed surprised.

"You don't have to go home. You can move to Tami's house," I suggested.

"But I never got my seven minutes," Darlene complained. I think jokingly.

"Maybe Robbie or Mikee will share their boyfriends." Or maybe Robbie will take care of you herself.

The girls grumbled, but started gathering their stuff.

It wasn't that I wasn't horny. Seven beautiful girls kept Big Tony up and ready. But I kept thinking about Traci and wondering if my playing around was what turned her into a...

I shook off my thoughts and watched the girls. Six girls, seven minutes each. We had time for three rounds, and I could still get a good start on the house before the parental units showed up. All of them looked like they'd been poured into their jeans except Mikee. Hers were a little baggy. I couldn't believe I was trying so hard to get rid of them.

"Tony, could I talk to y..."

"No!" I interrupted Kelly. "It's time to go home."

Kelly's face clouded, and I realized that she hadn't been hinting at anything. "Kelly..."

She set her face. "No, you're right. It's time to go."

Shit. Shit! SHIT! Something's bothering her, and I snap her head off. Some friend. Big Tony shifted in my pants, and I knew everything was his fault. I wasn't ready for castration, but I decided that from now on I had to control it, not it control me.

The girls all had their coats on. I decided I had to try again. I scooped up Kelly and carried her toward my room.

"Where are you going with my sister?" Mikee asked with a giggle.

In my room I kicked the door closed with my foot before I set her on the bed. I dropped to one knee in front of her. "And what, my fair princess, did you want to talk about?"

"I... it's nothing."

"I don't think it's nothing. I think it's something."

"It's not important."

"Did I ever mention that you're my favorite? Everything about my favorite is important."

"Your favorite is whatever girl has her clothes off at the time."

She had a point. "How'd you get so smart?"

"'Cause you're all alike!" she spat. She jumped off the bed and was gone before I knew what was happening.

We're all alike? We who?

I needed to find out from Mikee or Tami who she was going out with. And I needed to find out fast.

Everyone was outside except Traci. "You might want to go, too. Or go over to Ann's. I'm going to be doing a top to bottom clean."

Traci looked at me funny. "Tony are you mad at me?"

The damn picture popped into my head again. "Why would I be mad at you?" I asked evenly.

"I..." For a second I thought she was going to say something about her and Robbie. I couldn't decide if I wanted her to or not. "I don't know. You just seem..."

"I know. I woke up in a mood," I lied. "Maybe it's my time of the month."

Traci laughed. "I'll go see if Ann is up." She headed down the hall towards her room, probably to get shoes. "Make sure your floor is picked up and I'll vacuum in there too," I yelled after her.