Fit for the Job (26 page)

Bodie sighed and looked up at her. “All right. I’m listening.”

“So Dad doesn’t like me where he can’t watch me, but if you think about it, he’s always gone working, so it’s you and Evelyn who watch me, right? So if he trusts you and Evelyn to watch me, what difference does it make if we’re here or back at the house in Providence?
Please
, Bodie. I don’t want to go back yet. I love it here. Just one more night. Can’t you at least ask him?”

Bodie took a sip of coffee. “I’ll call him, but—”

“Yay!” Sassy shouted.

“Don’t yay yet,” Bodie said. “I’ll call him, but if he’s working, he may not even get to his phone for hours. If he doesn’t call me back before it’s time to go, then we have to leave as planned. So get your stuff ready anyway.”

“Call him now,” she said, bouncing on her heels. “Go call him!”

“I just sat down!”

“I’ll go up and get your phone,” Sassy said.

Bodie stood. “You will
not
.” He turned and trudged toward the stairs.

“Ha!” Sassy laughed. “I knew I could get him to do it.”

Bodie reached the bedroom and dug his phone out of his bag. He sat on the end of the bed, rehearsing what he was going to leave as a message to Eben. Sure, he’d love to stay another night. Shit, after last night, he wanted to beg for it himself. But he doubted Eben would comply.

“Yeah, Bodie?”

Bodie was stunned when he heard Eben’s voice. “Eben? I didn’t expect you to answer the phone.”

“We’re doing a wardrobe change. What’s up? Is something wrong?”

“No, everything’s good. Sassy asked me to call you. I’m sorry, she was adamant. She wants to stay another night. I know it’s probably too late to arrange that, and you probably want her home. But I said I’d ask.”

He heard Eben mumbling to someone else. “Yeah, hang on,” he said to whoever it was. “Yeah, Bodie, did she have a good birthday?”

“Yeah,” Bodie said. “She’s having the time of her life.” Okay, a bit over the top, but hell, a little pressure couldn’t hurt his...or rather Sassy’s cause.

“The cabin’s secure and all? She’s not giving you a hard time?”

“No, she’s been great. She’s having a lot of fun. She’s really happy.”

“Uh...okay, Bodie. I’ll arrange it. But I want her back tomorrow.”

Yes!
“Absolutely,” Bodie said.

“I’ve got to go, Bodie. Give Sassy a hug for me.”

The line clicked off.

Bodie left the room, then made a show of looking downtrodden as he trudged his way slowly down the stairs.

Sassy’s eyes were wide and serious as she watched him move over and retake his chair, picking up his coffee cup off the floor.

“Well?” She moved over and knelt in front of him. “Did you leave a message?”

He shook his head.

“What does that mean? He said no?”

“It means I didn’t leave him a message.”

“Why not? Bodie!”

“I spoke with him.”

“Ah, shit,” she said, falling back onto her butt and hugging her knees. “And he said no.”

Bodie took a slow sip of his coffee, letting out a sigh. “You’ve got one more night.” He winced, as Sassy let out a high-pitched squeal, jumping to her feet. “Ow,” he said, covering his left ear with his hand.

Sassy jumped around, shaking her hips, then leapt on Jay, giving him a hug.

“Easy!” Jay said. “You still have to keep your promise and go jogging on the boulevard with me next week.”

She let him go. “You’re holding me to that?”

“You said,” he pointed to her, “that if we got to stay another night, you’d jog with me next week.”

“You’re a slave driver,” she said.

“This is nothing. Wait until I get you in the gym.”

Sassy’s eyes widened. “No way, I’m not going to the gym with you. You’ll have me looking like Evelyn.”

“Hey!” Evelyn said, taking another chair. She sipped her coffee, grinning. “There are worse things than being
perfectly
fit, kid.”

Sassy laughed. “Oh, ego much?”

“She is, though,” Jay said. “Evelyn’s in great shape.”

“Don’t tell her that,” Sassy said. “She already thinks she’s awesome.”

“Thank you, Jay,” Evelyn said, and smirked at Sassy.

“Yeah, well,” Sassy said, “
Bodie’s
not gonna be in shape much longer if he keeps skipping the gym now that
Jay’s
around.”

Bodie’s gut lurched.

“Sassy,” Jay said. “Zip it.”

“Whoa,” Bodie said. “What was that supposed to mean?”

Sassy gave him a sweet smile, batting her eyelashes. “Just saying, Bodie. You used to spend all your free time in the gym and the pool. But lately you’ve been elsewhere.”

“Sassy!” Evelyn said. “Remember what I said about respecting people’s privacy?”

Bodie met Jay’s eyes across the room.

“I didn’t tell her anything,” Jay said. “She tricked me.”

Sassy giggled and fell onto her back. “I did. I tricked him. It was awesome.”

Bodie frowned at Jay. “She
tricked
you?”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Jay said, and reached down to tug a lock of Sassy’s hair. “And you mind your words, Sassy, or I’ll take you back home right now.”

Sassy sat up and looked at Bodie. “It’s no big deal, I don’t
care
, Bodie. I don’t care that you like Jay and I don’t care that you’re gay.” She rolled her eyes. “Everyone is gay.”

Bodie saw Jay and Evelyn exchange a glance, both of them stiffening. They were uncomfortable, he supposed, but he’d dealt with Sassy’s taunts and trying to get inside his head for weeks. He wasn’t so easily rattled.

“Well. I’m glad you don’t care,” Bodie said to Sassy. “But
everyone
isn’t gay.”

Sassy grew still, fiddling with the hem of her pants. “Everyone
I
know is.”

Bodie laughed. “No they’re not. Evelyn’s not gay. Your parents aren’t gay.”

Sassy stared up at Bodie for a long time, expression quizzical.

“So what should we do today?” Evelyn asked suddenly. “We could go swimming in the river, it’s hot out.”

Sassy kept staring at Bodie.

“Sounds good to me,” Jay said. “We’re gonna have to go out and grab some more food, too.”

“Hey Bodie,” Sassy said softly. “I want to tell you something.”

“What is it?”

Sassy shuffled over and surprised the hell out of Bodie by taking his hand. “I’m sorry I’ve been so awful to you,” she said, her blue eyes glimmering.

The room went still. Bodie waited for Sassy to laugh, to make it a joke. But she held his eyes, expression deadly serious. Bodie squeezed her hand. “You haven’t been awful.”

“I have.” She nodded. “And I’m sorry. I promise I won’t give you a hard time anymore. I know you’re just trying to do what my dad asked. I know it’s not your fault.”

Bodie smiled. “Thank you, Sassy.”

Sassy stood abruptly and bounced toward the bedroom she shared with Evelyn. “I’m gonna take a shower, Jay made me get all sweaty and stinky.” She paused and turned back. “Should I put on my bathing suit?”

“Sure,” Evelyn said. “We’ll go swimming.”

Sassy disappeared inside the room, then reappeared with a towel and some clothes, heading toward the stairs. She trotted up, then disappeared into the bathroom.

Bodie let out a long sigh. “Holy shit.” He looked at Jay and Evelyn. “That was...very uncomfortable.”

“She’s not stupid, that one,” Evelyn said.

“But she’s still a kid,” Bodie said. “We shouldn’t be having conversations with her about our private lives.”

“I agree completely,” Jay said. “But I can’t help it if she works things out for herself.”

Bodie shrugged, then nodded.

“Well,” Evelyn said, standing, “I’m gonna go get changed. Swimming’s a good idea, right?”

“As long as I don’t encounter any toads,” Bodie said.

Chuckling, Evelyn disappeared into her room, closing the door.

Jay met Bodie’s eyes, and stood. They both smiled. “So,” Jay said. “One more night.”

Bodie stood and walked over to him, slipping his arms around Jay’s waist. “One more night,” he said, nuzzling the back of Jay’s ear.

Jay trailed fingers up Bodie’s arms. “I can’t believe I’m getting paid for this.”

Bodie chuckled. “Do you feel like a prostitute? Or a pony?”

“I feel like the luckiest hooker pony that ever lived.”

They released each other when they heard the shower turn on upstairs, then the sound of Sassy singing.

“Guess we better go get changed,” Jay said.

Bodie stared at him a moment longer. It was stupid, but knowing he had to be around Jay all day and not touch him seemed grueling. He leaned in, and grasping Jay’s chin, gave him a deep, tender kiss, letting it linger for a long time. When he pulled back, Jay looked breathless, but his expression was pinched with something like worry.

“What’s wrong?” Bodie asked softly.

“Nothing,” Jay said. He looked into Bodie’s eyes. “It’s just that you keep kissing me like that.”

“Is it too much? Am I crowding you?”

“No. I just think I’m starting to like it too much.”

“You like my kisses too much?” Bodie laughed.

“I like all of this too much,” Jay said.

Jay’s allusion to their growing connection made Bodie’s gut twist. “Can you elaborate on that?” Bodie asked. “How much is too much?”

Jay leaned in, giving Bodie a quick kiss. “I’m gonna stop talking and go get changed before I step in a big pile of my own stupid.” He gave Bodie a smile, then moved toward the stairs.

Bodie finished his coffee as he watched Jay go up the stairs and disappear into the other bedroom, closing the door.

He let out a long breath, easing back into the chair.
Damn
.
What’s happening here?
He’d just wanted Jay so damn bad he’d gone into it full force, holding nothing back, things like outcome and future conveniently absent from his thoughts.

But the outcome was obvious, wasn’t it?
You’ll have to give him up. Once it’s over...it’s over.
But how the hell was he supposed to do that, when this felt like the best damn thing that’d ever happened to him? No one had ever made him feel like this.

He second guessed himself, wondering if his own emotionally sheltered life was the reason he was responding so intensely to this new, good thing. Perhaps this sort of connection happened to Jay often, and it wasn’t a big deal to him. Not as big a deal as it was to Bodie.

But Bodie couldn’t buy his own bullshit. He saw the way Jay looked at him when they made love, and it wasn’t just fuzzy reception on Bodie’s part. Jay felt the same way he did, and that was both wonderful and terrifying. They had the summer. Maybe by the end of it, Bodie would be tired of Jay. Maybe his feelings would ebb somewhat. It was still so new.

But he’d felt
new
before, and it had never been like this. That was like comparing a rain shower to a hurricane.

As he moved up the stairs and went into his room to change, he tried not to think about it, to push it out of his mind. But he had a sad, achy feeling when he went back downstairs and met up with the others.

As they all made their way down the path toward the river, he stared ahead at Jay, who was dressed in swim trunks with a towel wrapped around his bare shoulders. There wasn’t a thing about Jay that Bodie didn’t like. Shit, he even liked his shoulder blades, the way they shifted within his back muscles as he walked. He wanted to bite down on one of them, and thought maybe he’d do that later tonight, when they were finally alone in his room.

Yeah, sure. I’m gonna get tired of him. Real soon. I’m drooling over his damn shoulder blades.

The truth hit him hard. Whether it was two days, two weeks, or two months until he had to say goodbye to Jay...it was gonna hurt like hell.

****

For someone who’d told Jay she didn’t like swimming, Sassy was certainly enjoying the water. They’d been in the river most of the morning, and now it edged toward afternoon. Jay and Evelyn sat on the bank, watching Bodie and Sassy race each other across the river, then back again, repeatedly. Sassy tried to connive various perks and favors out of Bodie each time on the condition that she won the race—things he might allow her in the future, like trips to the movies or the chance to check her email.

Bodie didn’t comply, but needn’t have worried, as his muscular body glided through the water far stronger and faster than Sassy’s. But though he was faster, he did let her win every other time.

“So I guess Bodie doesn’t know,” Jay said softly. “About Eben and Ingrid.” He looked at Evelyn. “You heard what he said to Sassy, about her parents not being gay.”

“Yeah, I caught it, all right,” Evelyn said. “I was afraid we were gonna have a surprise confession from Sassy for a minute there.”

“Why do you think she said that to Bodie?” Jay asked. “About how she was sorry for being shitty to him or whatever?”

Evelyn shrugged. “I’m not sure. Maybe she thought Bodie did know. And discovering he didn’t know made her realize it’s not a whole big conspiracy against her. That other people, other family members even have been just as out of the loop as she was.”

Jay shook his head. “It’s such a weird messy situation. Do you think she’ll forgive them? Think she’ll resolve this thing with Eben soon?”

Sighing, Evelyn stared out at Sassy in the water. “I hope so, Jay. I really do. Because this punishment of hers, this confinement, it’s making her nuts. It’s making everyone nuts. And I fear enjoying her freedom these past two days is only gonna make it worse when we get back to Providence.”

Jay nodded. “Well, I’ll try to keep her as occupied as possible with working out. But I suspect she’ll get tired of hanging out with a thirty-year-old aerobics queen soon enough. She needs to see friends her own age.”

“She made this bed, don’t forget,” Evelyn said. “You can’t blame Eben for not wanting to let his career blow up in his face. I mean, it’s ironic. Sassy’s threatening to ruin Eben’s career if he doesn’t give up her trust fund. But if not for Eben’s career, Sassy wouldn’t
have
a trust fund to blackmail him for.” She turned to Jay. “It’s nice to have someone else to talk about this to finally. Someone who knows. I love Ingrid and Eben, and I don’t exactly consider it a burden to keep their confidence. But it’s just...nice. Being able to talk about it with you.”