“All right!” Deke whooped, pumping his fist skyward. “Let's get this party started!” He bounded back to his truck, keys jangling, and executed a practiced reverse, the trailer's wheels cutting twin grooves in the soft earth as he backed it toward the water's edge. The pontoon's metal frame gleamed in the afternoon sun as Deke hollered commands, his voice echoing across the lake while the other guys trudged through ankle-deep water, muscles straining as they guided the boat into the shallows.
“What's wrong?” Wendy asked, her watermelon-scented breath hot against his ear as Graham watched them with vacant eyes, his shoulders slumped like a deflated balloon. “Aren't you glad we're here?”
He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose where pressure had built to a throbbing crescendo behind his bloodshot eyes. “Sorry... I just... I have a massive headache. Like someone's drilling through my skull.”
“Well, don't worry.” Wendy nuzzled the tender spot where his neck met his shoulder, leaving a sticky pink lip gloss imprint on his skin. “I'll make you feel all better real soon.” She slid her hands under the back of his sweat-dampened shirt, her cool fingertips raising goosebumps as they traced the knobs of his spine. “Tonight...” She trailed a sharp, pink-lacquered nail down his vertebrae. “...isyournight. And I have anamazinggift for you.”
Graham's lips curved upward mechanically, the smile—never reaching his bloodshot eyes—felt painted on.
Probably because it was.
5
Ryan didn’t join the othersin unloading the pontoon boat. Instead, he lingered near the porch, watching as Wendy gathered the girls together to check out the water. As they prepared to enter the lake, the girls removed their crop tops, revealing full breasts beneath skimpy bikini tops that clung to their moist skin. Ryan's gaze fixated on them, his eyes heavy with lust.
“So, you tap that yet?”
Leaning against the porch rail, Graham rubbed his eyes again. “What?”
“Wendy,” Ryan said. “You guys have been together over a year, right?”
“So?”
“Who waits a fucking year to nail their girlfriend?” he snorted. “Especially when she’s practically throwing it at you?” Ryan smirked. “The chick wants it bad.”
Graham frowned. “How do you know?” Grahamknew.Wendy was always trying to get it from him. He supposed it was obvious to everyone else as well.
“She isn’t exactlysubtleabout it, dude. And she’s always talking to Jess and the other girls about how she wants to jump your bones.” He shook his head, ogling the hot young women. “What’s the hold up?”
Graham was not in the mood for this. “What do you care?” He wished he could snap his fingers and make everyone disappear—especially Ryan.
“Just asking. I don’t know any red-blooded American man who would turnthatdown.” He nodded toward Wendy, who was currently bent over, running her hands through the water, her cutoff shorts riding up enough in the back to give the young men a glimpse of her firm ass cheeks. He looked up at Graham, squinting dubiously. “Youdostill like girls… don’t you?”
And there it was—thefishing.After eight years, Ryan wasstillsuspicious of Graham.
Get over it already,Graham wanted to tell him, but at the same time, he didn’t want to draw attention back to that day in his bedroom.
“Yeah,” Graham said, his voice stiff. “I do.”
Ryan looked doubtful, then shrugged. “Then why the hell don’t you give her what she wants?”
“Relationships aren’t only about sex.” Graham was tired and just wanted to go back to sleep.And dream?He shivered… not with dread, but an inexplicabledelightthat he found disturbing.
“You’re eighteen, Bro,” Ryan snorted. “So, yeah, it pretty much is. And if a hot chick like that isn’t getting it from her BF, she might startgettin’ itsomeplace else.”
The warning fell flat: if sex was so important to her that she would cheat on him, then he didn’t want to be with her.
Do you, anyway?
At the beginning of their relationship, Graham convinced himself that his interest in her was genuine. But when she tried to move things forward, Graham pushed back. They kissed, held hands, and he even felt her up a few times—because she put his handsthere. However, it didn’t take him long to realize that all her touching and kissing did nothing for him; she hadn’t sparked a single erection since they started dating. When he did get off—alone—it wasn’t thoughts of her or any other girl that got the job done.
Graham sighed. “If I have to…shag…her to keep her faithful, then maybe we shouldn’t be together.”
“Seriously, dude?” Ryan eyed him with growing suspicion. “All she wants is somedick.And you can’t give it to her?” His eyes narrowed. “Why is that, exactly?”
“Why are you so invested in whether or not I give herdick?”Graham asked, irritated. “How is our relationship any of your business?”
“Don’t get your panties in a twist,” Ryan scowled. “I ain’t the only one wondering why you’re notmanningup.” The emphasis onmanningsaid it all. “But maybe you should—before people starttalking.”
