The Science of Loving (23 page)

I jumped in the shower without thinking, letting out a girly squeal when the frigid water bitch slapped me—
Bitch slapped?
I’ve been spending way too much time around Danny; my inner voice was beginning to sound like her. If I wasn’t careful, I was going to end up with intimate piercings and covered in tattoos—I scraped my scalp vigorously then turned to my body, noting more than a few tender spots. I wasn't sore exactly—okay I was sore, but in a good way—and the water burned where it struck raw patches. Muscles unaccustomed to use were tight, and my groin felt deliciously bruised. All in all, I could finally say I'd been well used and thoroughly debauched.

I was just bundling my dirty clothes in my towel when the fem-bots strolled in. “Hey guys,” I said, not wanting to be rude.

“Hey.” Suzi grinned. She was by far the nicest, if not too terribly bright. The others’ just ignored me.
Like I care.

Mat was waiting tensely outside. He blinded me with a broad smile when he saw me and I melted—then frowned.
Wasn’t I mad about something?
But it was impossible to be mad at someone who looked and smelled so yummy. “Hey baby.”

“Hey.” His eyes roam over me, his smile widening when they reached my curls.
Shit, my morning fuckhead. You rat bastard.

“I should be mad at you.” His smile faltered.

“Should be? Does that mean I’m forgiven?”

“Yes, not that you deserve it. Good thing you’re so pretty.” I swiped at him lightly. I couldn't bring myself to beat on him the way Danny did.

“Care to share what offense my manly charms have overcome?” he said as I made a half-hearted attempt to escape his ogre arms.

“I looked in the mirror.” His smile returned full force then grew so wide his eyes crinkled. “I can’t believe you let me walk around like that. It’s your fault you know. It must've been all that hair pulling last night.” The fem-bots walked out just as that comment left my mouth. Shit.

“But baby, you wear just fucked hair so well,” Mat drawled, tugging one of my curls, earning me another round of nasty looks from the lingering bimbos. Awkward…

“That wasn’t just fucked hair. That was rode hard and put away wet hair,” I hissed making him laugh. “Thank God, everyone was still sleeping when we walked over here—oh, shit, Danny… She’s going to tease me for months.”

“Naw.” The bald headed freak grinned. “Years.” That damn smile didn’t leave his face the entire walk back. Jerk.

There was more activity around us now. Our fellow campers were emerging from their tents and RVs, turning wisps of smoke into clouds as campfires were stirred back to life. Pots clanked and excited Spanish blared from a radio tuned to a Mexican station. Avery cut a forlorn figure as we approached, huddling dejectedly under the canopy. The men didn’t acknowledge each other. Mat just continued on to the camper’s open door, dragging me in after him, the spicy scent of chorizo immediately making my mouth water.

“Morning,” Mat said to the others already ensconced at the table then turned into a moaning zombie. “Mmmm… coffee.” Playfully crowding Carmen where she stood at the stove scrambling eggs.

“Morning
mijo
,” she said, offering him a cheek, his bulk taking up all the space while he fixed our coffees.

Even though he’d doctored mine just the way I liked it, guilt ruined my first sip. Here we were getting all cozy, while Avery sat alone outside. “Shouldn’t we let Avery know there’s coffee?”

“No,” They all spoke at once like a Greek chorus. Uh oh.

“That shithead started his douchery first thing this morning, complaining how he had to sleep in his car because Biggie’d refused to be his wingman last night. That whole ‘
bro’s before ho’s’
bullshit.” I glanced at her folks; I couldn't believe she talked like that in front of them, though come to think of it, Mat spoke pretty freely as well.

“He just looks so sad out there all alone.”

“
Mija
, you have a tender heart. But hearts live in the moment, and a generous heart is easily betrayed. Think about last night, what would’ve happened if Matty’d done what Avery wanted? What state would your heart be in today?” I understood Carmen’s point, but it didn't make me feel any less guilty. I stared moodily into my coffee, my favorite morning ritual ruined; every drink, every meal had only one first sip, one first bite.

“Honey, we all make choices,” Stewart said, taking up the banner. “Last night Avery chose to behave offensively, showing not only a lack of respect for Mat, his employer, but for you and your feelings as well. Consequently, we’re choosing not to associate with him.”

Driving the point home, Mat added. “He expected me to dump you and help him score with those girls. He knew without all this hotness backing him—” Danny snorted when he paused briefly to vogue. “—he didn’t have a snow ball’s chance in hell of getting laid.” Okay, maybe he had brought this on himself, but…

“I know you’re right, but it still feels wrong.”

“Eat
mija
, I’ll bring him some breakfast then we’ll break camp. I’m sure the RV will close up properly, but I’m glad you’re here just in case.”

Breaking camp was for the most part uneventful. Mat turned into ‘Anal Boy’ as Danny called him, chasing everyone away so he could pack in peace. I helped Carmen secure the RV, which did as it was told, and Avery snuck away without saying goodbye.

Since Brett was on top of Danny’s gear, it didn't take long to get packed once everyone got out of my hair—figuratively speaking—
well, shit, I guess I can't fuck with him anymore; I really owed him for last night.
Owing Danny’s boyfriends was almost as bad as owing Danny—sucked the fun right out of the relationship. Damn.

“Come on kids let’s make the rounds before we leave.” This too was part of the James camping ritual: Making the rounds to bid a final farewell to all the new friends made during our stay.

“Yeah, I know a certain little princess who’d be heartbroken if Shrek here didn’t say goodbye.” Danny grinned.

“You’re just jealous.” With fists on my hips, I struck my best heroic pose. “Princesses and fair maidens find me irresistible.”

“Big deal. A disturbing number of them find me irresistible as well.”

“Yeah, but chat-room posers don’t count. You realize, most of them are forty-year-old-tweaker-parolees sporting government jewelry, and living with their moms; right?”

“Hey, I met Brett in a chat-room.”

Shaking my head at Brett, I motioned towards Danny. “See what lurking on-line gets you?”

“Six feet of awesome?”
Nice sucking up.

“Maybe, if by awesome you mean six feet of prison tats and bad attitude.” Danny turned walking backwards long enough to flip me off. “My point exactly,
cholla.
”

The first stop was the fem-bots, three sites over. Apparently, they were breaking camp as well. Hopefully, we could just wave and keep going. “Hey girls.” Mom waved. “We just wanted to say goodbye before we head out.” Shit, they were coming over.

“So you’re heading back to San Diego?” Mandi looked at me expectantly.

“Yeah.”

“Great, I’ll friend you when we get back, maybe we can hookup.”

“Sorry, I don’t do Facebook anymore. Too many problems with unwelcome advances.”
Hint…
hint.

“I know what you mean,” Suzi said, wide-eyed and nodding. “There was this guy who friended me on Facebook, he was like a friend of a friend, of a friend… ya know? Said he was a student then turned out to be like this fifty year old guy who hung around colleges trolling for chicks. So now every time I do a status update, like from Starbucks, he shows up.”

“So you’ve stopped doing updates?” Angie asked.

“No, how else would anybody find me?” Suzi said, appalled.

God, the look on Angie’s face. I hooked an arm around her neck, murmuring, “Just let it go, babe.”

“So Danny what’s the name of your shop? Maybe I’ll check it out. I’ve been thinking about getting my nipples pierced.” Tori’s sly tone put paid to her sincerity, but Danny never passed up an opportunity to promote her shop.

“
The Flash in the Hand
.” Danny fished out a card. “We only do custom ink. Although there are portfolios on hand to show the kind of work we do, we don’t duplicate any of the designs.”

“Well, it’s getting late and we still need to say bye to a few other people,” Mom said, taking the reins, moving us along.

“I don’t understand why anyone would get their nipples pierced,” Angie said with a shudder once we were out of earshot.

“Nipple piercings can be very stimulating during erotic play, and some of the jewelry’s really cool.”
Shit, I don’t want to know what Danny’s had pierced.
Don’t ask babe; please don’t ask…

“Do you have any piercings? I mean besides the obvious.”
Motherfucker
.

“Of course, I had to find out what all the fuss was about.”

“I didn’t know that
mija
.”
Oh terrific, now Mom’s joining the fun.
“So would you recommend it?”

“Oh, yeah.” Danny smirked. She knew she was making me uncomfortable and enjoying the shit out of it. “You should come to the shop and talk to Carla.”

“But don’t you worry about them getting caught on things? Getting snagged on your clothes or a stray button?”
God, you’re killing me Angie—
although, I’d wondered about that myself; not so much the nipples, but the stuff further south.

“Not any more than my earrings. You just have to be aware. Your bra will protect you from a lot of that stuff. So other than rough sex—I have seen some injuries from practices at the more extreme end of the BDSM spectrum: using excessive weights, catching on paraphernalia—you’re most likely to have problems while you’re healing, especially if you’re sensitive to nickel.”

“Mat! Mat!” Rescue came barreling at me in the form of a four-year-old bundle of energy, and I didn’t hesitate to scoop her up, and hang on for dear life. “Hey Princess. Did you sleep well?”

“No, Carrie and Brian wouldn’t behave. Sometimes they’re so immature.” Megan sounded so much like a little grownup; I wondered who she was parroting.

“Were they picking on you?”

“No, they’re too busy picking on each other so Mom made me sleep in the middle. Every time Brian said something Carrie didn’t like, I got squished when she hit him.”

“Yeah, siblings can be a pain sometimes,” I said more for Danny’s benefit. “But it gets better after you grow up. Take Danny and me, we get along. Now, I only want to throttle her about every other fortnight.”

We walked over to the older Garrisons kicked back in a couple of camp chairs. “We just wanted to say bye before we head out,” Mom said, extending her hand as Mark got to his feet.

“Well, it was certainly a pleasure meeting you all. I’m sorry you missed the kids. They went to the falls.” I didn't know if he meant his kids or the grandkids, probably all of them.

“Mark, do you think your son and daughter-in-law would notice if my son stole Megan?” My Dad was a funny guy.

“Tempting, but this beast has already found his beauty.” I gave Megan a series of loud smooches, turning her into a giggly mess before setting her down then laid a possessive arm around my blushing Beauty.
Yeah, sweetheart, you’re stuck with me.

After a bit more small talk, we continued on our farewell tour; Mom waving to various people as we wandered among the sites. Miles and Joe weren’t home, so Mom left them a note with our contact information.

When we got back, Angie stood nervously next to my Lexus—
I’ll bet she’s wondering if there’s gonna be another James-Family-Hug-fest… Hell yeah—
Dad started it off, opening his arms wide, scooping her up. “Well Angie. I guess this is it. I can’t thank you enough for coming. I know we’ll be seeing a lot more of you in the future.”

“Yes
mija
, don’t be a stranger. You call if Matty gets a case of the stupids, and I’ll straighten him out,” Mom said, taking her turn. Releasing a somewhat stunned Angie, she pulled me into a hug and muttered in my ear, “Don’t screw this up.”
Hey, I’m not that bad.

“Later Brain, Sasquatch.”

“Twerp.”