Uninvolved (24 page)

Kyle's schedule
took pressure off of having to see him all the time
. Becka wondered if they had more time together if she
would have ended things with him by now
. That's not really something she could have ever brought up to him
.
Like,
hey
,
if you worked during the day maybe I would
dump you
. That probably would not go over well. This week
,
Becka was cool with it. Dave and Kyle did not have the same nights off
,
so she had someone to hang out with four nights.

When Kyle was off, other than the occasional party at his parent's
,
they mainly stayed in. Dave on the other hand was always game to go out. Since Becka had been neglecting Dave
,
she let him decide what they were doing that night.
He wanted to meet girls
,
so they strayed from the normal places he usually liked and went to Jillian's. That way
,
if Dave did not meet any girls on the club floor
,
they could still play in the arcade section.

Becka had been dying to go out. Lucy was still all shacked up with Curt
,
and Crystal had been busy. Becka loved an excuse to get dressed up and had
a
new skirt that was too short for work. It was black with little blue polka dots
.
She
paired it with a black tank top and blue wedges. Dave was waiting on her
,
so she went with wet hair and almost no makeup. Dave drove
,
so Becka used the mirro
r
in the visor to put on some powder and plum lip gloss on the way.

Becka dragged Dave up to the club floor first since that was where
,
in her experience
,
most girls tended to hang out.
He was not much of a dancer
,
but Becka was so she did her best to dance around him and make him look good. It was so worth it
,
considering how uncomfortable she could tell he was. The look on his face was priceless. After a couple of songs
,
Dave followed Becka off the dance floor to the bar. While they waited for their drinks
,
Becka pointed out a couple of girls that had checked him out while they were dancing.

Taking his drink with him
,
Dave went over to introduce himself. Becka hung out at the bar watching him. Dave was really good at talking to girls in bars. It was talking to them the next day that he had no interest in. Dave seemed to be good so after Becka finished her drink
,
she went a danced for another couple of songs.
A couple of guys tried to dance up on her
,
but Becka wasn’t a fan
of
random guys grinding on her so she did her best to push them off. Unless Becka was out with a date
,
she liked space when she danced. Feeling hot and wanting another drink
,
Becka went back to the bar.

"Can I buy you a drink?"

Becka turned to the source of the voice. It was Mike,
Nate
's roommate.

"Ah, Mike, right?"

"I was wondering if you would recognize me."

He bought Becka's next round
,
and Becka
went back with him to his table.
Nate
was not with him
,
and Becka did not ask where he was, even though she wondered. There were two other guys and a girl named Jess at Mike's table. The girl seemed annoyed when Mike brought Becka back with him. Mike and Becka talked while she sipped her drink. He seemed curious about her
,
which made her wonder what
,
if anything
,
Nate
had said about her.

Dave came over not long after to check on her, joining them after a bit. This seemed to please Jess
,
who in no time was all over Dave. Becka wondered what her deal was. It was getting late
,
and Mike asked if they all wanted to go back to his house and get in the hot tub. Dave was down
,
but he had no idea Mike was
Nate
's roommate. When Dave wasn’t paying attention
,
Becka
asked Mike if
Nate
would be there.

Turned out he was out of town. Becka couldn’t help but feel bummed that she wouldn’t get to see him. Part of her was trying to figure out why Mike was inviting them over if
Nate
wasn’t going to be there. For someone who was currently cheating on her boyfriend
,
going home with another guy should not have been a big deal
,
but it was. Also, Becka could not figure out
if
Mike was just being friendly or hitting on her. If he was being friendly
,
Becka was cool with that
.
If
it was the alternative
,
Becka could not help but wonder why?

Mike was really good looking. He, l
ike
Nate
,
clearly worked out. Mike could easily have any girl in this place
.
It
was strange to her that he seemed so intent on her. Becka didn’t think it would be a good idea
,
but Dave really wanted to
so
she agreed. Dave went ahead and rode with Jess while Becka took his car and swung by their house first to get a bikini. Mike had mentioned he had some spare suits but using a spare suit sounded pretty skeevy to Becka.

Becka sent
Nate
a text telling him she ran into his roommate and was heading over to go swim in his pool. She was shocked when her phone rang almost instantly from him.

"
Nate
?"

"Becka don’t go over there."

"What? Why not?"

"Just promise me you won't go over there."

"I can't do that
.
Dave was with me and rode over with some girl. I have to go
.
I'm his ride
."

Nate
was quiet on the other end
.
For
a moment
,
Becka thought their call was disconnected.

"
Nate
?"

"I'm here. I just wish you wouldn’t go."

"Why?"

Nate
took a deep breath before he replied
,
"
My ex and I broke up when I found out she h
ad been cheating on me with
another friend that lived with Mike and I
."

"Oh my
G
od
.
I'm so sorry.
"

"I guess I just feel weird about you being there without me. Mike's pool parties can get crazy."

"I wouldn’t have texted you if I was planning on doing anything stupid."

"
You're right
.
I don’t know why I freaked. If you end up going and stay the night
,
you can sleep in my room if you want. Preferably alone."

"Dork
.
Where
are you anyway?"

"My grandmother died
.
I'm home for the funeral."

"Whoa
,
Nate
.
I'm so sorry for your loss."

"Thanks
.
Well,
I should probably get going. You can
,
um, text me a picture of you in a bikini if you want to cheer me up."

"Deal
.
Talk
to you later."

Becka changed into a jade colored bikini and snapped a couple of pictures to send him.
Nate
's text response was
DAMN! Wish I was home. Private pool party when I get back?
Becka giggled and
,
after grabbing her toothpaste
,
a
towel
,
and a
change of clothes
,
headed over to his house. Becka could hear splashing and noise from the pool when she pulled up so
,
instead of walking through the house
,
she
grabbed her bag and headed to the side gate.

There were at least ten extra people in the pool that had not been at the club. Dave saw her walking up and boomed a
“
HEY BECKS
”
in her direction
,
causing everyone else to look at her. Thanks Dave
,
Becka thought silently as she set her bag on a chair. Mike got out of the pool and walked over to her. Becka did her best not to ogle his chest as drips of water ran across his abs. Becka felt awkward taking off her clothes in front of him but did it as gracefully as she could
manage
.

Once he saw her in her suit
,
Mike murmured
,
"
Nate
is one lucky guy."

Becka gave him a look like
“
did you really just say that
?”
and laughed.

Mike shrugged and offered her a beer.

It was March in Phoenix
,
which can be pretty cold once the sun has gone down. Normally
,
it would be pretty crazy to be night swimming
,
but Mike's pool was heated
,
and he had these outdoor space heaters set up around the pool deck. All in all
,
it was almost balmy. Becka spied an open pool float with a drink holder armrest and waded over to it. Once she was in
,
a couple of guys who had not been at the club came over to flirt with her.

Becka looked around for Dave and found him in a grotto type cut up under the waterfall making out with Jess.
Bummed she wouldn’t be able to have him run interference with this unwanted attention
,
Becka was about to get out when Mike swam over and told the guys she was taken. That seemed to be enough for them
,
and they swam away. Mike stayed though and talked with her, which made Becka wonder if he meant taken by him.

Becka doubted it
,
considering Mike had to know what had happened with
Nate
's last girlfriend. He was probably just looking out for
Nate
. Becka
then
told him that she had talked to
Nate
and told him she was coming over. This seemed to surprise Mike
,
who asked what
Nate
had said when she told him that
.
Becka blushed
,
telling Mike that
Nate
had told her their pool parties could get crazy and to behave
.
Oh
and that she could sleep in his room if she wanted.

"If you wanted?" Mike asked surprised
.
"Where else would you sleep?"

"He didn’t mean that
,
" Becka could guess what Mike was implying
.
"He meant if I didn’t go home. Like his bed here or my bed at home."

Mike laughed and nodded and went to grab both of them another beer.
Becka was getting pretty drowsy considering it was late and she was all comfy floating in the pool. Becka went to check on Dave and could not find him. Mike looked down and mentioned that Dave had gone inside with Jess like thirty minutes ago. He then laughed as Becka started fuming that the whole reason she was still awake was to make sure he didn’t drown.

"Oh that’s the only reason
?
T
hat hurts
,
" Mike said somewhat suggestively.

"Um Mike
.
I'm not sure what you are thinking
,
but I like
Nate
so I hope that's cool
‘
cause I'm just going to go in and go to sleep."

Becka was not expecting him to pick her up and hug her. She went to push him off
,
but he just laughed and
,
setting her down
,
explained that he had been trying to hit on her all night to see if she was a jerk and would cheat on
Nate
or not. Since she wasn’t
,
Becka had passed some sort of random test she had not been aware was happening.
Which made Becka wonder what
Nate
wo
uld think if he ever found out about Kyle?