Chapter 11

I did what I could to avoid Elizabeth for the next few days. But, as with most things, it was impossible to stay completely away from her. She glared at me every time I'd see her. I would just smile and try to be as cordial as possible — which pissed her off even more, I think.

I would work out during the mornings behind my apartment to avoid the harsh temperatures of the afternoon.

I was finishing my morning run when I saw Allie, Aaron's sister, sitting by the pool with Elizabeth. I'd met Allie on a couple of occasions at the hospital, but I didn't know her well. She was seven years older than Aaron and while they were close, they weren't companions.

Allie saw me and waved, and I waved back. She said something to Elizabeth and Elizabeth shook her head, but I was already headed to the shower.

By the time I came out, Allie was sitting on my back porch.

"Hi, Allie," I said. "Do you want some water or juice? I don't have much else to offer."

Allie said she didn't.

"I just wanted to say hi," she told me. "Aaron has been driving mom and dad crazy. He wants to go golfing with dad and he wants to try out for football in the fall."

I told her I'd talked to Aaron two nights before. I knew he was itching to get back to normal things.

"He told me his cancer is in remission," I said. "If the doctors say it's OK, maybe he should go golfing a little. I run pretty close to your house every morning. If he wants he can meet me on his bicycle and pedal along for a block or two until he gets tired.

"I won't let him overdo it. Maybe I'll give your dad a call this afternoon." We talked a little while longer about Aaron, but soon Allie got to the point of her visit.

"Beth has changed a lot," she said. "I asked if you two were getting along and she about tore my head off. I don't know you well, but my parents are pretty good judges of character.

"What did you do to piss her off so bad?"

I told her.

"It was a lot funnier in my head," I said. "I've found a lot of things are."

Allie told me she didn't blame me.

"She's treated me like her maid a couple of times, too," she said. "I just told her to go fuck herself. Anyway, I just wanted to stop by. If she isn't too much of a bitch, we'll probably be seeing a lot of each other this summer. I didn't want you to think I was being a spoiled brat, too. I'm grateful for the way you treat Aaron. He's doing so well."

Allie walked off and I could help but admire her butt. It was definitely a nice butt.

A couple of days later, I overheard Elizabeth asking Mack if he could get her opening-night entrance to a new club that was opening downtown. Mack told her he'd try, but not to get her hopes up.

The owner of the club spent a lot of time around the football and basketball teams and he'd offered us first shot at tickets if we'd show up. It was a forgone conclusion that, in Lexington, if the sports stars are there, you're guaranteed a packed house. It took one phone call and I had the tickets that afternoon.

I approached Mack at supper.

"I heard Elizabeth ask you to get these," I told him. "I don't know if you want her going or not, but you can give these to her if you want."

I handed him three tickets for Saturday's opening.

"R.J., why would you do this?" he asked. "She hasn't so much as spoken to you. And you find out she wants something and you get it for her."

I told him I didn't get them for her. I got them for him.

"These are from you," I said, "not from me. I don't even want her to know how you got them. I just want her to know her daddy still loves her even when she's a pain in the butt."

Allie stopped by the next morning to visit me after my workout.

"Are you going to Zep's Saturday?" she asked. Zep's was the new club.

I told her clubs weren't really my thing, but I would be stopping in for a few minutes — I didn't mention that was a condition of me getting three other tickets.

"Beth's dad got us primo seats," she said. "They're in the VIP section. That's usually reserved for jocks and local celebs. It's supposed to be...

Allie stopped in mid-sentence.

"You got the tickets, didn't you?" she asked as it dawned on her. "Wait until she finds out these are from you. I've been telling her all week she's wrong about you."

"These are from Mack," I said. "You might think you know me, but you really don't. I don't think I'd do this for Elizabeth. If you'd asked, I probably would have. And when she asked Mack, I knew he wanted to do this for her. I just made sure he could. I just hope you have fun."

Allie told me Elizabeth was taking her and one of their other friends, Courtney, and meeting another friend there.

"Courtney and Jenny haven't met the new Beth, yet," she said. "I figure there are going to be fireworks if she starts her prima donna act with them."

"I told a couple of my friends from the team to look out for you guys," I said. "If any creeps start getting grabby — and you don't want them to — just find one of the big guys and they'll handle it."

Allie told me I was a pretty useful friend to have.

True to my word, I stopped by Zep's on Saturday and I met Courtney and Jennifer. They seemed nice. I spent a half hour there before I'd had enough. I said my goodbyes — and I noticed Beth was already a couple of drinks into her night.

I spotted Allie who looked like she was putting away the liquor pretty quickly, too.

"Who's driving tonight?" I asked.

She said Beth was the designated driver.

"She's already had a couple of drinks," I said. "If you guys get ready to go and she's loaded, give me a call and I'll come get you."

Allie said she would.

"Promise?" I asked. "Aaron's pretty fond of his big sister, and I think she's pretty cool, too. I don't want anything happening to her."

Allie told me she'd handle everything and watch Elizabeth.

"It'll be alright," she said. "If it isn't, I'll call."

It wasn't Allie who called. It was the owner of Zep's who rang my cell phone a little after midnight.

"Hey, man," he said. "You gotta come get this girl. She's drunk. She's nasty and she's starting fights — with guys. I was gonna call the cops and toss her out on her ass, but one of your friends asked me to call you first."

I told him I'd be right down, but I didn't know if I'd be much help.

Elizabeth was everything he'd said and more.

She'd pissed Allie and the rest of her friends off earlier in the evening and they were avoiding her.

"So, Mr. Perfect is coming to baby sit me," she said. "Did daddy send you to watch his little girl?"

I told her the owner of the club called me to get her before he had her arrested.

The owner had put Elizabeth in his office with one of the bouncers — a guy who worked at the club Cody sang in, so at least I knew him.

A couple of my friends joined me — as did Elizabeth's erstwhile companions, Allie, Courtney, and Jenny. The other three girls were as drunk — but not as belligerent — as Elizabeth. Tom VandeVender stood at the door shaking his head.

"Dude, this is one seriously whacked out chick," he said. "They cut her off at the bar, so she was going table to table stealing drinks."

Elizabeth was demonstrating her knowledge of four-letter words throughout our brief discussion of what to do with her.

"Maybe the cops are best," Tom offered. "But she told me she's only 20. I know they carded the hell out of me and told me if they caught me drinking they'd prosecute me."

This was not the sort of publicity Zep's wanted when they offered me the tickets. I looked at the women.

"Can she go to any of your houses?" I asked.

Allie told me she was supposed to stay at Courtney's, and Courtney told me there was no way in hell Elizabeth was coming to her house.

Jenny said Elizabeth wasn't welcome with her, either.

"She was hitting on my boyfriend all night," she said. "I'd strangle her in her sleep."

Well shit.

"OK, Princess," I said. "I guess it's up to me to keep your ass out of jail. But I swear to Christ, Miss Ferguson, if you so much as say one thing that pisses me off, I'll drive you to the jail myself and Mack can come get you in the morning."

At the mention of Mack's name, Elizabeth stopped cursing.

"The only reason I'm down here is so Mack doesn't have to come pick your drunken, obnoxious ass up at the jail and take you home," I told her. "So, you're going to pull yourself together. We're going to walk out of here to your car. I'm going to drive you home and you're going to bed. You don't want your dad seeing you this way. I don't want to be associated in any way with your dad seeing you this way. But I'll take my chances with Mack before I put up with any more shit from you."

Elizabeth nodded.

I asked if the other two needed a ride and they nodded.

So I became a chauffer for the evening. I dropped Courtney and Allie off on the other side of town before beginning the drive home.

Elizabeth was overly friendly most of the 20 minutes home. And by overly friendly I mean she was overtly flirting.

"Are we gonna fuck when we get home?" she finally asked.

I told her I had a pretty solid rule about screwing people I didn't particularly like.

"You don't like me," she said. "But I bet you'd like this."

And she slipped her skirt up to show me she'd lost her underwear somewhere. I began to wonder if she'd already had sex a time or two this evening.

"At least let me pay you for the tickets," she said. "What do you think? A blowjob for your kindness. I love to suck cock."

The fact her pussy was still out in the open — and she was playing with it some — had me half hard. Her willingness — perhaps even eagerness — to blow me had me full bore. Hell, I doubt she'd even remember it in the morning.

"Let me blow you now," she said, and started to move her head toward my lap.

If it weren't for the seatbelt, I have no doubt I would have let her.

But she was got tangled up in it and about strangled herself. It brought me back to my senses for long enough to stop my little head from overriding my upper head.

"I'll make you a deal, Elizabeth," I said, holding her shoulder to keep her from dive bombing my pecker. "Anytime you're sober and you make that offer, I won't turn you down. But I won't take advantage of you when your inhibitions are lowered."

Elizabeth looked at me through bleary eyes.

"So you won't let me suck you?" she said. "Are you a fag?"

I assured her I was as heterosexual as anyone she'd met.

"I just have higher standards maybe," I said, hoping the conversation was at an end.

I parked Elizabeth's car and helped her out. I was trying to figure out how to get her up to her room and into bed without waking the Fergusons.

"C'mon," she whispered, tugging at my hand. "When I used to drink in high school, I'd just sleep in the pool house. Mom and dad's room is on the other side of the house."

I figured she'd be passed out in 10 minutes anyway.

"OK, you can sleep there," I told her. "I'll take the couch. You can have the bed. I'll leave a note for your dad so he doesn't worry."

Elizabeth headed to my apartment and I went into the Fergusons. Mack and Ellie were both in the living room.

"Uh, hi," I said.

Both looked at me startled.

"You're not Elizabeth," Ellie said.

I told them I was, in fact, not Elizabeth.

"Elizabeth is, how should I say this, um, intoxicated," I said. "She is quite intoxicated. I'd asked some of my friends to watch out for her and they called me to come and drive her and her friends home. Allie was going to call me, too. I told them if things got out of hand, I'd pick them up."

Mack asked where she was at this point.

"Given her level of intoxication and her, uh, general disposition, when she wanted to stay at the apartment, I did think it was in my best interests to argue," I said. "I promise I will not take advantage of your daughter. You don't need to worry about that."

Ellie glanced at Mack and laughed.

"R.J., you silly boy," she said. "My daughter is over there right now trying to stay awake long enough to take advantage of you. She figured out you got the tickets and I saw her mind start to work.

"She's found a use for you. Now she's going to reel you in. When I heard you leave I figured it was something like this. You'd be a nice summer play toy for her. You'd be great for her image. But come fall, she'd toss you aside like yesterday's paper. I've seen it before."

I told Ellie I didn't think that was the case.

"She's been a little grabby," I said. "But I think I'm safe. If you want me to bring her over, I will. I just wanted to avoid a fight that would wake you up."

Mack was shaking his head.

"Ellie's right," he said. "I know she's home fine. That's what I worried about. I'm not crazy about my daughter sleeping with anyone. But I can't stop her. She's an adult in all ways but maturity. You're an adult, too. Just watch yourself."

I assured them again that I'd be on the couch.

"As I mentioned to her," I said. "I'm not interested in sexual union with someone I don't particularly like — even a nice looking woman like your daughter."

By the time I returned to my apartment, Elizabeth was asleep on the couch, dress hiked up to show her smooth mound and her tank top pulled to her waist. About the only part of Elizabeth that wasn't visible was the area between her ribs and her belly button.

But she was fast asleep — or passed out — on the couch. So Ellie could rest assured my virtue would remain intact for another day.

I thought about given her shaved box a quick lick, but I figured that was tantamount to rape. Also, you can't be too careful. She was a snob, but from what her friends had told me, she might have been willing to slum last night. I mean she was hitting on me, right? There was a good chance some guy — or maybe a few guys — had already left a deposit there.

I covered Elizabeth with a blanket and went to bed. Elizabeth was still on my couch when I got up for my Sunday run. My car was still at Zep's, so I jogged down to pick it up. Elizabeth was gone when I returned.

The Fergusons stopped every Sunday to see if I wanted to go to church with them. Ilsa's death had driven me further from faith, so I always declined. Today was no exception.

I figured with Mack and Ellie at church and Elizabeth nursing what I hoped was the queen of all hangovers, I could spend some time in the pool. I've never been a fan of swimming for exercise, but I enjoy being in the water to relax. I was napping on a lawn chair in the sun when Elizabeth emerged from the house. I opened my eyes to find her seated in the chair beside me.

She looked like hell, so I got up to get her a bottle of water and some Gatorade from my fridge. Mack and Ellie were soda and beer people.

"I've heard that drinking Gatorade the next morning will help," I told her. "It puts back some of the stuff your body lost. Good old fashioned water is pretty good, too, I guess."

She actually looked grateful when she took the drinks and we sat in silence for a few more minutes.

I had started to doze again when Elizabeth started talking.

"I guess I made an ass of myself last night," she said. "I remember just enough to be ashamed."

I told I didn't know about shame, but I knew she should apologize to a couple of her friends.

"Do you expect an apology, too?" she asked.

I told her not to waste one on me.

"Miss Ferguson," I said. "You already know I got the tickets for your dad. My sole purpose in the early hours this morning was to protect your parents from heartache, to protect your friends from drunken driving, and to protect my good name. The fact you received benefit from my actions was purely ancillary. Your parents thanked me last night; their appreciation is good enough for me."

"I at least want you to thank you for your hospitality," she said with a small smile. "I would have thanked you another way last night, but I couldn't seem to stay awake. You were kind to cover me up — and to bring me something for my hangover.

"I've been a royal bitch, I know. And like daddy says, 'That shit don't fly here.' I would like to start over, but that's not reality. So I'll ask you to forgive my previous actions and perhaps we can at least get along this summer."

She extended her hand to me.

"My name is Elizabeth," she said. "My friends call me Beth."

I didn't see any harm in a truce — although I was hardly a warring faction.

"That sounds like a good idea," I said as I took her hand.

"My name is R.J.," I continued. "You may call me Mr. Hartley."

Even with her brain soaked in alcohol, Beth got the joke. Well, at least she rolled her eyes.

Beth got up a few minutes later to change into a bathing suit and hit the pool. I was content on the lawn chair. She spent a few minutes trying to splash me, but it seemed any quick movement on her part sent shock waves to her head.

In a little while she was back on the lawn chair.

"I am so glad I threw up at the club," she said. "I have a terrible hangover, but it's not the worst one I've ever had."

I told I wasn't sure that information was a good or bad thing, but it really would have sucked if she puked in my apartment.

Beth chuckled.

"Just so you know," she said. "I do remember the car ride home. And I remember the deal you offered. Because we're starting fresh, I'm going to let you off the hook — today. You really should have been quicker to get back to your apartment. I was feeling very, uh, frisky last night."

I gave her my best "no-shit" look.

"R.J.," she said. "I like sex. I'm not very good at dating, but I like sex. I'm also very good at sex. I don't have a lot of inhibitions anyway, but when I've had a drink or two, I'll let you do things you've only dreamed of.

"We're going to be around each other a lot for the next couple of months. I'm going to tease you unmercifully. I want you to be warned. But I promise, almost any time you want, I'll let you play."

"Let me get this straight," I said. "I'm supposed to risk the relationship I've built with your parents — and any trust they may have in either of us — so I can be one of the guys you screw this summer?

"Beth, you're a beautiful woman. But I'll pass."

I got up and headed back to my apartment. I hadn't passed the threshold before Beth was in the door, too.

"I think you misunderstand," she said. "I am offering you unlimited sex — almost any time you want. But I operate strictly on the buddy system. I'm extremely careful. If I'm having sex with you, I'm not having it with anyone else. I ask the same in return. Either is free to break off at any time for any reason. It is possible I might ask you to consider adding a third party to our fun. But that's optional and either of us can veto the idea. There are a couple of things I'd like to try, but none of my 'friends' has been open to the idea.

"Jenny's new boyfriend was my old friend from last summer. Jenny was mad because I was flirting with him last night. I started flirting with him to teach him a lesson. He wanted to play our game and date Jenny. That's how people get hurt."

"I've had exactly seven sex partners. I can tell you almost everything about their sexual history. I will tell you everything about mine. If you accept, I expect you to tell me everything about yours.

"A couple of guys haven't gotten the point. They got more involved than I wanted, and they didn't understand our relationship was only short-term, and when it was over, they were disappointed.

"So I want to be upfront with you. Although it might be fun to go out to dinner and maybe see a play, it certainly isn't a requirement. I don't expect flowers. I don't expect gifts. I don't even expect you to remember my birthday — although it's in June. I'm offering all the privileges and none of the responsibilities of having a girlfriend. No real feelings. No attachments."

As Beth was talking, she had removed her swim top and slipped her bikini bottoms off.

"I'm offering you access to these," she said as she cupped her breasts.

"I'm offering you access to this," she said as her finger slid between her lower lips.

"I'm offering you anything I can do with this," she said as she opened her mouth and swirled her tongue at me.

"I might even offer you access to this," she said as she turned around and spread her cheeks to show me her puckered rosebud. "But, judging from the size of the tent in your swimsuit, that we'll have to discuss. At the end of the summer — or maybe before that, if practice takes up all your time come August — we'll call it off. If neither of us is attached at Christmas or next summer, we might start again. Or, maybe we won't."

I looked down, saw my hard-on and I realized I was seriously considering Beth's offer.

"It is a tempting offer," I said with a gulp. "Very tempting indeed. But that doesn't change my initial misgivings. What about your parents? Mack told me last night he couldn't keep you from having sex. But I got the distinct impression he hoped if you had sex it wouldn't be with someone he had to see every day."

Beth agreed that could present an issue.

"But I saw the look mom gave me when I came in this morning," she said. "She already thinks I screwed you last night. If she thinks it, you bet daddy thinks it by now, too.

"If we're up front with them and we both tell them we are going into things with our eyes open and we fully realize it will be only a summer fling, they might surprise us."

I had to chuckle.

"Maybe we should just see if we can get along for a few days first," I told her.

"See, you're already off the path," Beth said. "We don't have to get along. We don't have to be nice to each other anywhere except in your bed — and with certain acts there, we can dispense with niceties as well."

"So, you think your parents would be OK with us glaring holes through the other during the day and screwing our brains out at night?" I asked. "I think that might stretch their affability just a touch. You really need to put your goodies away. It gives you a distinct advantage in our negotiations."

Beth grudgingly put her swimsuit back on.

"How about this," she said. "We give it a one-week trial run your way. It might be nice to mess around with someone I can stand to be around outside of bed.

"But even if we can't get along, I hope you'll at least try a one-week sample my way. But either way, I'm going to tempt you with my goodies as you call them every chance I get. I like the way it makes you blush."

I told her we'd see how the next week goes.