Chapter 10

"Are you sure?" said Porter to Sammy, looking at the VW car key in his hand.

"Yup. Blythe has a curfew, and Bobby and I want to spend more time here with our sweeties. So if you can take her and Julie home, I'll come get the bug from you tomorrow."

"I could take Blythe home," offered Freddy, who had an arm draped over her shoulders. Blythe didn't seem to mind, but she'd also had a couple glasses of wine.

"No, you may not," said Julie. "Maybe if you ask her out on a proper date sometime, and Sammy and I approve of where you plan to take her, and you provide a certificate from your doctor, stating that..."

"Alright, alright, I get it," Freddy hastily said.

"Besides which you've been drinking," Bobby said, "Are you okay to drive yourself home?"

"I think he drank the same glass of wine for a couple hours," said Blythe.

Freddy grinned and nodded. "So can I call you sometime?"

"Um, not at home," said Blythe, with a glance at Bobby. "But you can talk to me at school. I'd like that."

"Where your chaperones can supervise us?" he said, a bit sarcastically, looking at Sammy and Julie.

"No ... it's just..."

"Sometimes it's hard for Blythe to get time on the phone at home – her mom uses it a lot," said Bobby. Sammy gave him a sideways glance, wondering how he could know that.

"Oh. Okay then," Freddy said, not sounding like he completely believed that story. "I guess I'll see you at school then," he said.

"Why don't you walk Freddy out, Blythe?" said Sammy.

As they turned towards the house Julie caught Freddy's eye and gave him a look that said 'you better behave!' He rolled his eyes in reply.

"I think Morton and I are going to head out too," Patty said, surprising the others. "Collette, could I talk to you for a minute?" She'd tried to catch Collette all night but had been unable to corner her alone.

"Sure," she replied, and followed Patty to the far side of the pool.

"Collette ... are you going to tell Bobby?" she asked, eyes pleading for a 'no' answer.

She sighed. "No, I'm not going to tell on you, Patty."

"Oh, thank you," she gushed and hugged Collette, who stood stiffly in her embrace.

"We'll talk about this again, Patty – maybe after my last class the next time you're on campus?"

"Okay, I'll meet you there. Oh, thank you! I'm so sorry for putting you through this."

Collette turned and sadly looked at Bobby, laughing and joking with Dave and Sammy. "I'm not through it yet, Patty."

"Okay, the microphones are in place, and I'll turn them on when they show up," said Ron Harris.

"Is that hide-out going to work for you?" asked Raul. He'd emptied out a deep supply cabinet and drilled a couple peepholes in the doors. It sat just outside and faced Raul's office. There was a step stool inside for Harris to sit on.

"It's perfect. I can hear through the mikes, and keep an eye out through the peepholes. Pete will be outside listening as well, so he can come in or call for backup as need be."

"I'll be in the van, watching through the windows," said Pete Riordan.

The windows of Raul's office overlooked the back lot where cars waited for service or pick up by their owners. The nondescript van blended in with the other vehicles pretty well.

"Now what?" asked Raul.

"The glamorous part of police work," said Harris. "We wait."

Everyone had left except the pair of siblings and step-siblings, who were chatting and lounging around the pool before going to bed. Sammy pulled Collette aside.

"Is something wrong? You seem tense or something."

Collette looked at her searchingly before answering. "Yes."

"Can I help?"

"I don't know. I have to tell Bobby something, and I hope he doesn't get too upset."

Sammy put her hand over her mouth. "You're not breaking up with him are you?"

"No; I least I hope not."

"Then what is it?"

"Sammy, I have to tell him that I ... I cheated on him." Sammy's eyes hardened. "If it makes any difference, it wasn't with a guy," Collette added hastily.

Sammy blinked. "You had sex with a girl?"

"Yes," Collette said sadly.

"Well, that's not so bad, is it?"

"I don't think Bobby will see it that way. You know how big he is on being faithful. And I didn't talk about it with him first."

Sammy looked thoughtful. "I may be able to help."

"How?"

"Remember when we talked about how you wanted to be with Dave again someday, and Bobby said he wasn't ready for that kind of open relationship?"

"Yes."

"Well, Bobby and I have been talking about it, and we wanted to talk to you and Dave about it again."

"You mean you and Dave swapping with Bobby and me?"

"Yes, but ... maybe more than that."

"'More' how?"

"Saying it's okay for some of us to be together, even if we're not all four together at the time."

Now it was Collette's face that hardened. "You mean you and Bobby could ... could get together at your house anytime you feel like it?"

"If you couldn't accept that happening at all, it won't happen. We'd have to see what everyone's comfortable with. If you say only when we're all together, then that's it. If you say Bobby and I can get together, but only on Thursdays when there's a full moon, that's fine too. It'll be whatever everybody wants or nothing."

"How does this help with me telling Bobby about my having sex with a girl?"

"I thought as part of bring up the swapping and sharing subject, that I'd tell Dave that I'd had sex with a couple girls."

"Wait ... you mean he doesn't know you've been with Blythe?"

"Or Julie," Sammy added. "I thought I would tell him about them, and then bring up the idea of swapping with you guys – that way I wouldn't be the only one in our relationship having fun with other people from time to time."

"So you're offering Dave my ass to make up for you screwing Blythe and Julie, and so you can have Bobby?"

"Pretty much," Sammy said, with a grin. Then she sobered. "Collette, Dave's not spending as much time with me as he used to. Since they won the championship and he got the Jeep, he's been hanging out with jocks and cheerleaders, and going on long rides ... I still love him and don't want to break up with him, but I get a little lonely sometimes."

"Then he's being a dumbass," Collette said. "But I don't know if he'd agree to doing stuff when we're not all together. Hell, I think I'll have to think about it, too. I mean, I trust you, Sammy, but you and Bobby have a history - and Bobby falls in love too easily. If you guys start sleeping together by yourselves, Dave and I could get pushed aside."

Sammy smiled. "Bobby and I are already in love, you know that. But not the way Bobby loves you - and not the way I love Dave."

"I don't know, Sammy. I don't know."

The two girls looked contemplatively at each other.

"Well, let's go spill the beans about our lust with the ladies," said Sammy.

The boys could tell something was up by the girls' demeanor when they rejoined them. When she had their attention, Sammy began.

"Guys, and well, mainly Dave, I need to tell you about something that happened recently. It happened on one of those afternoons when you were out driving around in the Jeep."

Dave tried and failed to not look defensive.

"I was home with Blythe and Julie, and we were talking about boys and stuff. And I told them I was kinda missing spending time with you, like before you guys won the championship."

She looked up at Dave, her face expressionless. "Then Julie told me that you were taking girls with you on some of your rides."

Dave looked startled. "Sammy, I haven't been..."

"It's okay, Dave, I trust you. I don't think you've been screwing around, but it still made me a little mad that you hadn't told me. And that's when ... what I need to tell you about ... happened. I had sex with Blythe and Julie."

Dave blinked. "Oh."

"I should have told you about it right away, but I was a little mad at you for not telling me about the girls in the Jeep, and you spending less time with me, and I was horny. But, I don't want any secrets between us, so I want you to know it happened."

There was an extended silence as everyone waited for Dave to respond. Eventually he said: