Sue and Tom (4 page)

“I’d like to learn how to scuba dive,” Gina said. “But I have a real fear of being down deep in the ocean and my air running out.”

“Speaking of the ocean, sex in the ocean would be good,” Mike said. “A little salty but good.”

“Ocean sex isn’t all it’s cracked up to be,” I said.

“How would you know?” asked Tom.

“Well, let’s just say that salt isn’t one of Vagina’s friends
—and neither is sand.”

“That’s what you have a big blanket for,” Tom said.

“Yeah, but you gotta stay on the blanket,” I winked.

“I’m with Sue on this one,” Gina said. “Just thinking about all of the different organisms in the ocean getting inside of me. Yuck! I’d be afraid of getting some kind of infection. And pool sex isn’t much better. The chlorine isn’t exactly good for the vagina either.”

“If you ask me, probably the best water sex is in the shower—as long as you don’t slip,” I said.

“Yeah, wasn’t it Cookie who slipped in the shower and bruised her tailbone?” Gina asked.

I nodded. “And she went out and bought some anti-skid stickers to put on the bottom.”

Mike and Tom shook their heads.

“Well, well. We’re learning a lot from these girls tonight, aren’t we, Tom?”

Tom laughed. “Yeah. And I’m thinking I need to go buy some anti-skid stickers on the way home.”

I playfully nudged Tom. “This is one horny table.”

Thank God the waiter arrived or I think we would have had to take turns slipping inside a nearby closet for a quickie.

Chapter 6

Tom

I took Sue’s arm and helped her into the car. It doesn’t take much booze to get her drunk. We always teased her about it in high school. Some things never change. When she started to slur her words, I knew it was time to head home.

Gina laughed. “Sure you don’t need any help?”

I shook my head. “Chloe’s still at her dad’s and Sue was planning on spending the night at my house, so I’ll just take her there. She’ll be fine.”

“I had forgotten how little it takes her to get drunk
.” Mike laughed.

“Well, she had a ball,” Gina said. “But she might feel like crap in the morning.”

I followed Gina and Mike out of the parking lot, and when I looked over at Sue she was slouched against the car door, sound asleep. I listened to her putt-putt snore on the way home. It was kind of funny, actually. I kept thinking how mortified she’d be if she knew she snored.

***

Dinner with Gina and Mike was great. I hadn’t laughed so hard in all my life. I kept playing the conversations over in my mind. Like the conversation about what girls talk about.

“You know,” Sue had said. “Sex. Good sex. Bad sex. Penis size.”

“You actually talk about penis size?” I asked.

“Yeah,” Sue said. “And vibrators. “Cookie says a vibrator is the only remote she and her ex didn’t fight over.”

We all laughed. Cookie was a character, and listening to Sue describe Cookie asking the girls at a recent luncheon if they thought a finger in the butt hole during a blow job was a good idea made my sides hurt from laughing. Sue gets really loose when she drinks and things that she normally wouldn’t say just sort of slide out. I like that silly side of her.

Then Gina brought up periods, and how girls spend a lot of time talking about them.

“You mean Blowjob Week.” Mike laughed.

Gina smacked his arm. “Well, I’m sure if you were bleeding from your penis for a week every month it’s
all
we’d hear about.”

By the time I pulled into my garage, I think I had laughed even harder the second time around just replaying the conversations in my mind.

***

I carried Sue into the house and up to my bed. She started to stir when I laid her down. I debated whether to undress her or just put her in bed as she was. I took off her shoes and she cracked her eyes.

She moaned. “Aren’t you going to join me?”

“Are you sure you’re feeling up to it?” I asked.

She started taking off her dress. “Got any peppermint schnapps?”

“I’m not sure you should have anything more to drink.”

She ran her tongue over her lips and pointed her finger at me. “It’s not for me; it’s for you.”

I had no idea what she wanted to do with the peppermint schnapps. But by this time, my groin was aching to find out.

***

Sue

I knew I was a little tipsy. Still, I was as horny as hell. Not only does alcohol make me playful, our dinner conversation didn’t help. Besides, I had read something in a women’s magazine and I was dying to try it. Tonight seemed like a good night, especially since I had let my inhibitions down.

I smelled my armpits. Still smelled like vanilla lavender. I grabbed by purse, which Tom had thrown on the bed when he carried me upstairs, and yanked out a small vial of perfume. I put a dab behind each ear. I didn’t want to overpower him with scent.

By the time Tom returned, I was completely undressed and waiting on top of the sheets.

Tom held up a bottle of peppermint schnapps. “Found some.”

I held out my hand. “Give it to me and get undressed.”

I watched as Tom unbuttoned his white shirt and slid out of it. Then he unbuckled his belt and dropped his pants. His package was bulging beneath his boxers.

I laid back and opened the bottle of schnapps. “Pour this in my belly button and then sip
it.”

I tried to keep still as Tom filled my
navel with the schnapps. Then he sat the bottle on the nightstand and leaned down to sip it. That magazine article was right. He was driving me crazy with desire. When he kissed my breasts and then blew on the spots he kissed with his peppermint-tinged lips, I thought I would go insane.

I lifted his head. “Kiss me.” And when our mouths found each other, I could taste the peppermint on his tongue.

“I’m going to sip some more,” he said.

I could feel my desire for him building as he filled my belly button and sipped the schnapps once again. The things he was doing to me felt incredible and I couldn’t take it anymore.

“Please,” I begged. “I need you.”

And when he slid inside me my whole world turned upside down.

***

Tom

I filled the coffee maker with water. Last night was full of firsts. I had never drunk peppermint schnapps out of anyone’s belly button or rolled around so passionately in my bed that I actually fell out of it while screwing. It sounds more painful than it was. We ended up on the floor and, except for some minor carpet burns, it was the best sex I
’d ever had.

I had decided to let Sue sleep in. I figured she was probably feeling pretty rough. I knew she had to be home after lunch because Chloe’s dad was dropping her off at 2. I was heading out of town in the morning for a conference, so I wasn’t going to see Sue until next Friday. After last night, maybe that was a good thing. I never thought I’d say this, but it’s not as easy for me to hit the sex replay button as when I was younger. The replay button needed a rest.

I heard her moans before I saw her. Sue walked into the kitchen wearing my dress shirt from last night. Her hair was a tangled nest but she still looked damn sexy.

Sue rubbed her head. “Do I look as bad as I feel?”

I smiled. “You look great.”

“Yeah, right. Don’t lie.”

“O
kay, you look a little rough, but you still look sexy.”

Sue smiled. “My head is killing me. How much did I drink last night
, anyway?”

I filled up a mug with coffee and handed it to her. “Don’t you remember?”

“Kind of lost count after the second bottle of champagne. But I didn’t forget what happened when we got back here.”

I smiled. “You were great.” I wrapped my arms around her and kissed the top of her head. “What do you want to eat?”

“Anything. I need to take something for this headache but I don’t want to take it on an empty stomach.”

“How about an egg sandwich?”

Sue sipped her coffee. “An egg sandwich would be perfect.”

***

Sue

I watched as Tom flipped the egg in the cast iron frying pan. “There’s something else I remember from last night.”

“Oh yeah,” Tom said. “You mean how great of a lover I am?”

“Well, that’s true. But I’m talking about your ex.”

“Ah, Rachel. Figured we’d have to have that conversation sooner or later.”

Tom handed me my egg sandwich. “Mustard or ketchup?”

“Mustard.”

Tom got the mustard from the refrigerator and some fresh strawberries.

“This looks delicious,” I told him. “Thank you.”

Tom refilled his coffee mug and sat down across from me. He took a deep breath. “Okay, about Rachel. Yes, we were engaged. And, yes, I called it off about a month before the wedding. I just couldn’t go through with it.”

“Did you love her?”

“In the beginning, yes. But definitely not at the end. I should have called it quits long before I did, but I felt stuck. And I felt like a jerk for letting it go on like I did. But God, there was just no way I wanted to grow old with her. And, honestly, I can’t believe I even got with her in the first place. She’s not my type at all.”

I sipped my coffee. “So how did you meet
, anyway?”

Tom ran his fingers through his hair. “Her dad and I are on the YMCA board. He introduced me to her at a charity event. Anyway, when I broke it off, Rachel went berserk. Threw all of my stuff out of her apartment window, started calling me all hours of the night.”

“So she didn’t take it well?”

“That’s putting it mildly. She was more pissed than a bull charging a waving flag. I offered to reimburse her parents for the wedding deposits, but Rachel said she wasn’t some kind of charity case and that I could stick my money up my ass. I was just glad the whole thing was over. It’s a part of my past that I’m not too proud of.”

“Well, from the look on Rachel’s face last night, I’d say she’s still carrying the torch for you.”

“Well, she might be carrying it, but it hasn’t been lit for a long time. I’m sorry I hadn’t mentioned the engagement and near-wedding before. I guess it’s just not something I like talking about. But I would have eventually.”

I could feel the sting in my eyes and I was sure they were glassy. “You can’t keep things from me, Tom. Not something that important.”

“I’m sorry, Sue. Honestly, I would have told you. I know after what happened with Steve you probably have trust issues. Guess I just wasn’t thinking about that. I should have.”

“Well, there is a way you could make it up to me.” I smiled.

“Name it.”

“How about some shower sex?”

Tom smiled. “I thought you’d never ask. But just so you know, I don’t have any anti-skid stickers to put on the floor.”

“Somehow I think we’ll manage,” I said, running up the stairs as fast as I could.

Chapter 7

Tom

Klondike and I were walking through the park when we ran into Judy. Judy was with Gina’s mom when she died unexpectedly in New York. I used to see them walking in the park nearly every day. Now, Judy walks alone. I feel sorry for her.

She stopped and waited for me to catch up. “Hi, Tom. How’s everything?”

“Not bad. How about you?”

“Really missing Betty.”

I nodded. We started walking together. “Guess you heard I’m seeing Sue.”

Judy smiled. “Yes, Gina stopped by and filled me in on everything. I’m happy for both of you.”

“Guess you’re excited about Gina moving back home, huh?”

Judy smiled. “I am, but I just hope she knows what she’s doing. She’s spent years building her career, and to walk away from that to start over here, well, I can only say one thing, she must really love Mike.”

“I don’t think she ever stopped.” I wasn’t sure how much Gina had told Judy. Like if she knew about the rape. And if Gina hadn’t, then I didn’t want to be the one to tell her.

“Guess all that praying we did for good sperm for Gina worked out,” Judy laughed. “Just not in the way we thought it would.”

I scratched my head. I had no idea what Judy was talking about. I guess she noticed my puzzled look because she explained.

“Betty had all of us at card club praying that Gina got good sperm. That’s when she was going to get pregnant with donor sperm from a sperm bank. Well, she got good sperm. At least I think Mike’s got good sperm. But it didn’t come from the donor whose profile she had chosen from the bank registry.”

I laughed. “Yeah, no need for donor sperm now.”

“Do you want kids?” Judy asked.

One thing I’ve learned about older people is that they ask very personal questions no one my age would. Just like this question. It’s a pretty damn personal one. And if I had been younger, I would have been embarrassed to answer. But now what the heck.

“Well, to be honest, Judy, I would have loved to have had kids. Truth is, it’s not in the cards for me. Chances are slim that it would ever happen. I had testicular cancer.”

Judy’s jaw dropped. “I’m sorry, Tom. I had no idea. Me and my big mouth.”

I held up my hand. “No, seriously. Don’t worry about it. Hey, I’m alive, aren’t I? It didn’t kill me.”

I think Judy was glad we were near the turn-off to her car.

“This is my stop,” she said. “I’ll see you and Klondike again, I’m sure.”

Klondike and I continued down the stony path. I passed a group of kids playing in the field and it made me smile. I always thought there would be a little me running around. And then when the chances grew slim, I set that dream aside. But I couldn’t help wonder
ing what my kid would look like if Sue was the mother. Damn, I think we’d make some good looking kids.

***

Sue

I was upstairs putting wash away when I heard Gina call from the bottom of the steps. She was headed back to Florida and wanted to check in before leaving for the airport.

“I’m in my bedroom!” I yelled.

Gina walked in and gave me a hug. “You feeling okay?”

“It was a little rough this morning, but I’m feeling better now.”

I grabbed my sheets to put on the bed and Gina went to the opposite side to help.

“I figured. You were pretty toasted last night. Course, you
don’t need much,” she laughed.

I threw the sheet on top of the bed and Gina pulled it toward her. “Just tell me that I didn’t totally embarrass myself.”

“No, nothing to be worried about,” said Gina, grabbing the comforter off the floor. “Besides, you were having a great time, and you deserve to have a great time. Tom is so in love with you.”

I pulled the comforter toward me. “You think?”

“Definitely.”

Gina and I sat down on the bed.

“Omigod,” I squirmed. “I gotta tell you this before Chloe comes home. So you know that magazine article I told you about?”

“You mean the one about the sexy stuff you can do with your man?”

I nodded. “Yeah, that one. Well, we did the peppermint schnapps thing last night.”

Gina’s eyes widened. “Was it good?”

“Better than good. Tom sipped the schnapps from my belly button and then kissed my breasts and blew on the spots he kissed. Christ, I’m getting horny just thinking about it.”

Gina laughed. “Man, you got it bad.”

“Jesus, Gina. I had no idea sex could be this good. The more I’m with Tom the more I realize what a lousy lay Steve was.”

Gina laughed. “Well, since you’re kissing and telling, I have to tell you about dessert.”

I nodded.

“Last night after we got home, Mike tells me that we’re going to have dessert in bed. And I’m thinking that’s kind of weird because he’s got this hang-up about eating in bed. I think it goes back to when he was a kid and his mom never let him eat in bed. Something about crumbs and ants and, anyway. So we go to bed and we get undressed and he takes this box of chocolate truffles that he apparently bought earlier and stashed in his nightstand drawer. And, oh my God, just thinking about it gets me excited. He tells me that we’re going to eat the truffle together and he places the truffle into his mouth and motions for me. We kissed to share it. And the truffle just melted and our tongues were chocolaty and it was so freakin’ hot.”

I rubbed my hands together. “Oh. My. God. I have to try that.”

“I swear we’re worse than when we were seventeen,” Gina said.

“Way worse.”

“So did you talk about his ex?” Gina asked.

“Yes. He told me about the engagement and how he called it off a month before the wedding. Sounds like it was a lot of drama.”

“Well, she didn’t look like someone I’d want to cross. Definite bedroom eyes that could turn serpent in a second.”

“So when do you think you’ll be back?” I asked Gina.

“Not for a couple of weeks. I have that horrific college rape case I need to work on. But I have all of the house contractors lined up and they should begin renovations sometime next week. I gave them your number and Mike’s. I have a lot to figure out and a lot to do.”

“Well, whatever you need me to do from here
, just let me know.”

Gina hugged me. “Thanks. You’ve done so much already.”

We heard Chloe come in the back door and rushed downstairs to see her.

***

Tom

When Klondike and I got back from the park, he headed for the sofa. I ran upstairs to shower, and when I lifted the toilet seat to pee there was a Post-it note stuck to the underside.

Have a fabulous trip. I miss you already, Sue

I pulled off the note and stuck it on the wall. Only Sue would think to put a Post-it note on the underside of a toilet seat! God, she makes me smile.

It reminded me of our toilet paper conversation earlier. Sue went to the bathroom and laughingly complained that the toilet paper roll was on wrong. I had it overhang and she thought it should be under hang. Anyway, that led back to our toilet seat up or down conversation we had days earlier when I left the seat up and she nearly fell in. I smiled remembering it.

“Look,” she had said. “You have to learn to put the toilet seat down. I got a wet ass!”

I laughed. “You didn’t look before you sat?”

“No, but that’s beside the point. I shouldn’t have to look because the seat should always be down.”

I smiled. “Look. I’m a guy. And I’m used to living alone. So, naturally I keep the seat up.”

Sue gave me her pouty lips. “Well, will you try to remember to put it down?”

“I’ll try to remember.”

I jumped in the shower and as I remembered the great shower sex we had that morning, I remembered that I needed to get some of those anti-skid stickers. It can get pretty slippery if there’s nothing to hold onto and things get pretty fast. And they always seem to get that way with Sue.

***

Klondike watched as I packed my suitcase. Sue had volunteered to watch him while I was away. She said Chloe would love having him for the week and I was happy I didn’t have to board him. He hates it at the kennel. And when I pick him up, he’s always hoarse for a day or two. I have a feeling he barks non-stop.

I was going to drop him off later tonight on my way to the airport. I had a late flight.

I figured we’d get some dinner, watch some TV, and head over to Sue’s about eight.

***

Sue

Chloe heaved her backpack onto the table. “Hi, Mom. Aunt Gina. How was your weekend?”

I hugged Chloe and kissed her cheek. “Great, but I missed you.”

Gina hugged Chloe, too. “I wish I could stay, but I have to get to the airport. I’ll see you girls in a couple of weeks. When’s Tom bringing Klondike over?”

“Klondike’s coming?” Chloe asked.

“Actually, he’s spending the week. Tom has a conference and I offered to keep Klondike so he wouldn’t have to go to the kennel.”

Chloe did a fist pump. “Awesome.”

“Tom’s dropping him off around eight.”

Gina turned toward the door. “Well, have a great week. Call me if anything comes up.”

“Don’t worry about the house,” I yelled after her. “I’ll check on the contractors.”

***

I could tell by the way Chloe chewed her bottom lip and wrung her hands that she wanted to talk to me about something. I sat down at the table across from her. “What’s on your mind, Chloe?”

“Why do you think something’s on my mind?”

“Because I’m your mother and I know these things. So let’s have it.”

Chloe sat up straight. “Well, there is something I wanted to talk to you about. It’s
, uh… well, Rob. Rob asked me out, and I really, really, really want to go.”

I took a deep breath. I wasn’t surprised. I knew by the way he was hanging around it was only a matter of time. But I wasn’t ready to deal with this quite yet. “But you’re only 14. He’s 17. That’s three years older
, in case you didn’t count.”

“He just turned 17, so it’s really only two years older,” Chloe said. “Besides, you and dad were six years apart.”

“True, we were. But six years’ difference when you’re 23 is different than being six years apart—or two—when you’re fourteen. And besides, he has a car.”

“Duh, yeah
, Mom. How else would we go out on a date if he didn’t have a car?”

“I don’t know, Chloe,” I said. “I don’t like cars. Things can happen in a car.”

“Mom! Things can happen anywhere. Besides, you dated when you were fourteen, so why can’t I?”

“That’s beside the point.”

“No, it’s not, Mom. You dated when you were 14 and you turned out just fine.”

“But I wish I would have waited to date a couple of years. Look
, Chloe, things can happen fast at your age.”

“You’re talking about sex.”

I could feel my face warm up. “Yes, as a matter of fact I am.”

“Look, Mom. It’s not like I don’t know about the birds and the bees. Besides, I’m not going to have sex until I’m married.”

I smiled. “You say that now, but in the heat of the moment, that can get tossed out the window pretty fast. I just think you should wait. At least another year.”

Chloe pushed out her chair and stood up. “You and Dad just don’t understand. You’re ruining my life.”

“Oh, so you already asked your dad?”

“Yes. And he said no. Said he was going to start a DADD group.”

“What’s that?”

“Dads Against Daughters Dating.”

I laughed a little.

“Don’t laugh. He told me he didn’t want me to date until I was at least 16.”

“Well, maybe that’s not a bad idea.”

“I’m the only one of my friends who isn’t allowed to date. Do you know how uncool that makes me?”

“What happened to ‘The Nerds Rule’?”

Chloe crossed her arms. “I’m tired of being a nerd. For once in my life I want to be one of the cool kids.”

Chloe grabbed her backpack and stumped upstairs. I heard her door slam and thought about going after her, but decided instead to let her go. She needed time to cool off. Maybe in a couple of hours we could talk, but I knew my daughter and talking now would only make things worse. She might have her dad’s looks, but she has my stubbornness.