Crumbly Writer’s Stories
		“Normalcy Is Harder Than It Looks”
		Book 3 of “The Catalyst” Series
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Chapter 10:  A Few Side Trips

           

The next morning I woke early, taking in the early morning sun out the window. I seemed to have awoken with a particularly hungry early morning boner, and now I had to decide who to awaken with it. I grinned as I reviewed the various targets around me, but finally settled on Jennifer, lying off to the side. I remembered how I’d been unintentionally avoiding her and how I’d been putting off our first time for fear of hurting her. I remembered when she’d shattered her arm, and even if I wasn’t directly responsible for it, I continued to feel guilty about it.

Deciding it was about time I addressed it, I tried to slowly climb over the intervening figures. I disturbed a couple, but they just grumbled sleepily and went back to their slumber. When I finally got to the end of the bed, Jennifer was watching me warily. I smiled at her, arched my eyebrow and made my erection jump. She got the idea as a big grin spread across her face and she welcomed me to join her with her one available arm.

I lay against her and we began kissing wordlessly, ignoring the bodies around us. She was responsive, though she was fairly timid, as was I, although mine was based mostly on my fear of injuring her again. However, she directed my hand to her breasts and set the pace by using her own hand to show me just how hard she liked it. After we’d been at it for a while I pulled back and silently motioned my head, asking if she wanted me to head south for some preliminary prep work. She shook her head, for what had become obvious reasons. Each of my girls found the added benefit of full body contact with me to more than make up for the lack of oral stimulation. I kind of missed it, though, as I’d always loved the time I spent between the thighs of my many lovers. Well, there’s always my shower time fun, I consoled myself.

Seeing she was ready, I watched her as I gently eased myself into her. I thought it was silly to do this silently, when I could always gab away all I wanted on my own private channel.

‘Jennifer, I just want to say I’m sorry it’s taken us so long to get to this stage. It isn’t that I haven’t wanted to. It’s just—’ I began.

‘Shh,’ she consoled me. ‘I’m well aware of what you’ve been going through. I’m also aware of how busy you are and how little free time you have to spread between your many appreciative fans. I’m glad you’ve finally decided to bequeath me a little of your time. As I said before, I won’t break and I have it on good authority you are generally very gentle in your lovemaking, so I’m not worried in the least. Now make love to me, Alex, I’ve been waiting for this for a long time.

‘This means a lot to me, not just because I’m dying to make love to you, but because it is such a big event in each of your girls’ lives. I’m anxious to utilize the increase in my abilities to help you in the future, since I haven’t been able to contribute much yet.’

At this point I saw the flaw in my plan. Conversing telepathically while making love meant your partner was also free to talk without being restricted by heavy breathing, breathlessness or insensibility. I leaned in and kissed her, hoping to get her back on track. It seemed to work, as she turned her attention to the kiss, and eventually to our lovemaking.

Despite her professed lack of experience she was a wonderful lover—not because she knew a lot of tricks, but because she was loving, gentle and sensitive. But most of all, she appreciated everything I did with her. It seemed like she was constantly sighing and moaning, again mostly silently. I did most of the work, but she kept busy grabbing my buns or arms. She kept trying to look into my face while we made love, and apparently she’d been talking to the others about it since she seemed to have picked up their techniques for doing so. But, knowing how difficult it was for them, I gently kissed her, then moved my head beside hers and whispered how wonderful she was, and how wonderful she was making me feel, and how wonderful she had helped make my life. She ate it all up, though I meant every word, even if I didn’t always follow up the idea with actions.

We made gentle love for a long time. The alarm finally went off while we were still going at it, causing me to look up. When I did I saw the others in the bed actively watching us. However, Cate tapped her wristwatch, letting me know I had to hurry. She then pointed at the shower, letting me know I’d worked up quite a sweat and I definitely needed a shower afterwards. As a result I picked up the pace.

Jennifer was definitely ready when I started moving faster. She threw her head back and started matching my strokes. I hadn’t noticed her thrashing around under me like the others, but I wasn’t sure whether that was due to her being quieter or the fact that she hadn’t cum yet. However I continued working us both up to a big finish.

Soon we were going at it at a steady rhythm, though we still kept it gentle and loving. But we’d been working at it long enough we were both ready to get off. I could feel myself getting ready, so I leaned down, kissed her lovingly, and simultaneously bit her lip and twisted both her nipples. That set her off, and her going off set me off as well. I proceeded to shoot off into her. Although I’d gotten used to whatever happened in my own head during these sessions, that certainly wasn’t true with her, as she started to thrash violently then seemed to pass out. I finished thrusting deeply into her, draining what felt like the last of my soul into her, then rolled us over so I could lie beside her and wait for her to recover.

It took several minutes, and I hurried it along by whispering to her both verbally and telepathically. When I saw her starting to respond, I kissed her so she’d awake to that sensation.

“Wow! That was certainly something,” she said when we finally broke so I could see how she was doing. “The others told me what it was like, but I hardly dared dream it would be like that for me. It was so much more. I’ll always cherish this moment, Alex.”

“Really?” I asked with a grin. “Even though you only had a single orgasm? It was a big one, granted, but still, I’m used to giving people more than just one when I make love to them.”

“What the hell are you talking about?” she asked me in response. “I was coming almost continually. I was afraid I was going to have to ask you to quit, but each time I came it felt better than the time before. Hell, Alex, I may not react like I did at the end, but don’t you think I didn’t cum. I loved every moment of it.” Here she kissed me. “Now, when can we do it again?”

“Not now, you two love birds, Alex needs to get his ass in gear if we’re going to make it to school on time,” Cate said, goosing me from behind. “Come on, brother of mine, let me wash off some of those love juices of yours.”

---

“OK, look,” I said after a mostly silent trip to school, “it’s clear that everyone here is as nervous about our coming trip to St. Louis as I am, so let’s talk this out.”

“Uh, OK,” Kitty hesitantly responded, her voice sounding a little unsure.

“It’s really not necessary for you both to come,” I continued when it became obvious that they weren’t going to launch the discussion themselves. “Chalise, you don’t really need to be there,” I tried to reassure her, although I was pretty sure that no one there really believed it.

“No, I want to come,” she responded sincerely, leaning between the seats so I could hear her clearly. Cate shifted over in her front passenger seat to give her plenty of room, even though the seat belts didn’t allow either one much leeway. “I want to see you doing what you do. This is important to you. You’re giving up your college and career opportunities to pursue this mission of yours, and I want to show my support. This is just my way of doing that.”

“Actually, it’s more likely to just be us just sitting around,” I pointed out, meeting both her and Kitty’s eyes in the rear view mirror, my way of warning them both what they were in for, “followed by a brief moment of craziness when someone shows up leading to a whole lot of discussion about things you aren’t really a part of. After all, I don’t want you to feel left out or ignored.”

“Frankly, I don’t care whether you cater to me or not,” Chalise responded quickly. “This isn’t about me, it’s about you. I want to see what you do, how you operate, how you relate to them. I want to have a better understanding of exactly what it is that you do. Right now, I have this general understanding of what you do to all these women, but I’d like to see it in practice to I can appreciate what it involves and how you deal with it. This is important, not just to you and whoever you may meet, but to both Kitty and I,” she insisted.

“She’s got you there, bro,” Cate responded, shifting against her door so she could look at me more directly. “It’s fascinating to watch the whole process, and you can really learn a lot by watching it take place.”

“OK, I can accept that,” I told them all before glancing in the rear view mirror again, “but you’re not likely to get any loving tonight. Gail will be expecting some time with me, especially since it’ll involve my boosting her abilities.”

“Alex, that’s not why I’m coming along,” Chalise informed me, her voice a little formal as she shot me a short warning look. Then she gave me a quick wink, negating that very response. “Well, it’s not the only reason I’m going.”

“I agree with everything that Chalise said,” Kitty informed me. “She’s standing up for both of us in supporting you this weekend, whatever it might entail.”

I glanced at Cate to see if she had anything to add, but she just shot me a sly smirk, not bothering to add anything since it was clear they were speaking for her as well.

“Well, I appreciate the sentiment and your faith in me,” I told them both, taking a few moments to meet their gaze again. “I’d love to have you there supporting me, and I hope I can live up to it”.

“So, Betty certainly seems excited about getting together with you,” Kitty teased, shifting the serious discussion into something lighter to get everyone out of their nervous funk. “She’s quiet as a mouse,” she continued, watching my reaction, “but I can imagine that long simmering anticipation and quiet resolve exploding into a wild night of passion.”

I leveled my best steely-eyed gaze at her before responding in a carefully controlled voice. “I do not approach something like that lightly,” I informed her. “I’ve been trying to prevent things from developing unnecessarily if I could avoid it. Now I’m informed that it’s gone beyond that. That now I’m obligated to make love to virtually anyone who shows the slightest interest in me. Well, I’ll just inform all three of you, I’m NOT happy about it. Firstly, we have no idea of the history of the women that might show up, and secondly, making love to that many women makes me no better than the typical rock star or athlete, simply taking advantage of as many people as they can.”

“We understand that, Alex,” Kitty patiently explained, growing serious and speaking slowly. “I’m sorry I was making light of it, but we both trust you to do the right thing. We know you, and we know you aren’t likely to treat it as any other guy would. That’s why we trust you so much. It’s sure to involve a lot of very personal decisions on your part. Particularly about who you will and who you won’t sleep with. We don’t plan on interfering with that. Those are deeply personal decisions and we understand that. But if you are afraid of getting corrupted, you probably have a very reasonable concern. We’ll all try to prevent you from going down that particular path. That’s why we keep stressing that we’ll give you a lot of leeway, just as long as you don’t hide things from us. Between us, your girls, and Cate in particular, I think we can help you avoid falling into that particular trap.”

I considered that for several moments, focusing on the road as we neared the school. “Thanks for putting that into the right perspective for me. I was just perturbed you seemed to think I was taking it too lightly. I’m glad you’re all willing to help me avoid a minefield like getting too egotistical about what’s going on.

“But anyway, we’re here at school, so let’s finish off the day before we focus too much on this weekend.” And so we made our way into the school.

Once more everyone seemed fine, but there was an unscheduled assembly called for all the students. Principal Phillips had a few things to say.

“It has been brought to our attention that there has been a systemic problem of bullying taking place in the school that the administration has been unaware of,” he stated fairly formally while remaining fairly stiff and impassive. There were scattered boos regarding this statement, but most students were more interested in hearing what he planned to do about it than they were in telling him what they thought of his own face saving statement. “We’ve decided to avoid the typical reaction of just instituting a zero tolerance policy, so we’ll listen to both sides, but we WILL take a stand on each and every case. This behavior Will stop!” he insisted, slamming the podium emphatically. “You can make whatever claims you like, but if you are caught abusing a fellow student you will be either suspended or expelled, and if necessary, charges will be filed.”

This statement got a decent amount of applause, although it was still muted since he wasn’t finished speaking yet.

“The initial incident that instigated these actions was complicated, and the supposed victim personally asked me not to overreact. We also don’t want to punish someone who wasn’t properly warned that the actions they’d gotten away with in the past won’t be tolerated anymore. However, that’s the past. We’ll be patrolling the halls more and watching students’ actions much more closely. If you see or hear of any cases of abuse, please report them to one of the teachers or to me. We will take it seriously. This behavior will not be allowed to continue. This is an institution of learning and not a battleground. We will not hesitate to call the police, as they’ve made it plain they see this as an example of a serious problem. If you hurt anyone in this school, you WILL find there are consequences,” he assured everyone, gripping the sides of the podium firmly, leaning over it and staring at what I could only assume were certain select students.

The whole assembly hall broke out in wild applause and cheering. I just shook my head that all these people that had simply watched these behaviors without comment were now so actively opposed to it. However, I was also stunned to learn that there were so many people that were obviously concerned about a problem I hadn’t even realized existed until just a short time ago. I had honestly thought my problems were simply isolated cases concerning only me. It seems I was quite mistaken in this regard.

We were dismissed soon afterwards, although I noticed several people were pulled aside for a stern talking to, including Tyler Cox. I didn’t expect any immediate actions, though. The real test would be how the administration followed up on their promises.

There was quite an eclectic collection at our lunch table, or should I say tables, as we now took over a whole segment of our own in the corner of the lunchroom, even though everyone else would keep glancing over to see what we were doing.

Getting up, I walked over and sat down beside Brian, those near him sliding over to make room for me.

“Hey, Brian, we’re having a big dinner at my house and I was wondering if you’d like to come. My Vietnamese housemate will be cooking so it should be memorable, and it would give you a chance to talk to people in a more relaxed environment.”

He didn’t look convinced and quickly glanced left and right, as if searching for an excuse to back out.

“Hey, don’t worry about who’ll be there,” I assured him, lightly touching his arm in an attempt to calm him. “It’s a thing with the whole lunch table, so everyone here will be there, so just think of it as shifting everyone here to someplace with better food where we can talk more openly.”

He stopped looking quite so panicky after that.

“I definitely would,” he assured me, grinning broadly. “That sounds like a lot of fun. I’m mostly tried to keep my head down and not let anyone get too close while I’ve been here, and I haven’t developed any close friendships as a result. I’d love a chance to get to know everyone better.”

I gave him the details as Darrell sat down across from me. “Am I invited as well?” he asked, arching his eyebrow at me with a slightly pleading look.

“Of course you are, Darrell, you could have come over any time. All you had to do was ask,” I told him.

“I wasn’t sure if the fact I was still living at home might not restrict my access,” he told me, glancing nervously at Kitty. “Chalise has told me about what it’s like around your house with all the people there, and what a great cook Anh and your mom are. I’m eager to meet everyone.”

“Darrell,” I told him, “you’ve already met everyone the day you helped us move things around the house.”

“Yeah, I know, but then we were all busy and I was afraid of offending anyone. This time I can be more relaxed.”

“Well, like I said, anytime you want to come over,” I reminded him, trying to extend him a welcoming smile since I couldn’t exactly give him a reassuring hug.

“So you’re taking my sister for a wild weekend in beautiful downtown St. Louis, huh?” he teased, winking at me. It certainly didn’t surprise me that Chalise had mentioned it to him. She was good at keeping secrets, but Darrell was family. Not that I wanted her to tell anyone else in her family about it, though.

“We’re meeting a friend up there. You remember Gail, don’t you?” I prompted. “She lives up there.”

“Yeah, I remember Gail. It’s hard to miss a beautiful woman that hardcore,” he answered with an honest admiration. “Man, I’ll bet she could slam me to the ground if she wanted.”

“I wouldn’t doubt it,” I said, nodding in agreement.

The rest of the day wasn’t particularly memorable. I didn’t notice any difference in anyone’s behavior, although the halls had more teachers wandering around observing students.

Once school was out I made a hurried exit as I was anxious to get on our way. I’d offered to drive Kitty home, but she’d reminded me that she lived in the opposite direction and that we’d just have to double back. So I simply arranged for Anh to stop by and pick her up. I’d first suggested Natalie, thinking they might get along better, but she said she’d prefer getting to know Anh better, since they rarely got a chance to talk.

As I exited the building, who should I see as I walked to the student parking lot? There stood Detective McCallister, leaning against her unmarked police car. I immediately knew she was waiting for me, mainly because she was watching as I approached her. I glanced briefly at my car and then glanced around for either Cate or Chalise, until I finally spotted my sister watching me nearby but not at my car. I simply nodded to her and signaled that I might be a while, hoping she could understand my unclear signals. Then I walked up to Michelle.

“Good Afternoon,” she said pleasantly. “How’re you doing, Alex?”

“Doing fair to middling, I guess,” I responded noncommittally. “Can’t really complain too much; haven’t been beaten up yet this week, but I still have my fingers crossed on that.”

“That’s good; you wouldn’t want to let your guard down while people still dislike you,” she responded with a crooked smile before pausing. “I was wondering whether you’d care to talk?”

“Do I have a choice?”

“Of course you do; I’m not about to arrest you,” she responded with a smile. “I was just curious about a few things.”

“Isn’t this the point in the TV show the viewer always says ‘ask for a lawyer, ask for a lawyer’?” I replied, smiling at her.

“Probably, you’d think the criminals would figure it out eventually. But it seems the more they reveal on TV, the more infallible they think CSI is and then the criminals just act stupider. But don’t worry, I’m not investigating anything, I’m just curious.”

“OK then, fire away. Oh, and by the way, thanks for speaking to Mr. Jones. He’s finally talking to his wife and daughter, and has even accepted my offer of dinner for his family.”

“You’re taking the initiative, hmm? I wouldn’t have expected that. Guess those that never gamble, never win.”

“And the house always wins,” I laughed briefly. “Go ahead and ask already.”

“Fine. How’s a shy retiring young man suddenly find a whole bunch of older women who are crazy about him? Who move hundreds of miles from their homes to be with him? A young man who also has two girlfriends and a good dozen girls who wish they could be the next girlfriend?”

“I keep asking myself that every day,” I told her honestly. “It’s kind of a convoluted story, but basically I helped the women see simple options for life that they’d been missing. I helped them reinvent themselves, and in return they try to help me any way they can think of. They managed to build up my self-confidence, so now I’m cocky enough to bluff my way through a couple of difficult situations. Now a dozen girls from school think I walk on water, but only because they don’t see me for who I really am. I started dating my girlfriends because the women talked me into going ahead and dating in high school. The girls were the only ones who’d deal with the real me and not the rumors surrounding me. Once we got past that, they basically decided they’d rather share me than force me to dump one of them.”

“Whew, that’s a mouthful,” she laughed. “Speaking of girlfriends, how are you handling the parents?”

“Oh, the mothers both love me to death. The fathers, though, are a work in progress,” I sighed, shrugging. “I’ve arranged dinner with one father where I’ll lay all my cards on the table, but he already knows about all the women in my life. He helped me rearrange my house last Sunday. I plan on meeting with Rodger Jones next week as well. I’m a little more cautious of that one, though. It seems I’ve got a few issues to work through with him. But I’m going to put everything on the table and hope for the best. Chances are the girls will both tire of me beforehand,” I told her dismissively, hoping to get her off of the topic, “since threesomes are notoriously unstable, or simply because they’re in high school and I’m traipsing across the country. Or possibly because they’ve graduated and are attending college, while I’m still living at home. I just figure there really isn’t that much to lose if I’m already facing those kinds of odds if I win.”

“That’s a nice healthy view,” she acknowledged, glancing at me, tilting her head as she considered me. “Have you considered that Mr. Jones could potentially file a charge against you for having sex with a minor in another couple weeks when you turn 18? You could potentially lose a bit more in that case, say maybe several years’ worth,” she suggested rather pointedly.

“Yeah, I’ve considered that. I chose to believe they’ll either accept me or everything will fall apart. Nothing else works out so well for me.”

“Again, you’ve got a nice sense of reality. So, how do you have a godmother who’s never lived near here, has no relation I can see to your parents, who was hardly out of grade school when you were born, and who the rumor mill insists has pledged her life to you?”

“Again, I don’t put much credence in rumors. They’re doing a good job of messing up my life at the moment. Gail met my mother through a mutual friend. My first godparents moved away years ago and never took the job seriously. Gail took an interest in me and takes the role more seriously. As you can see, she tends to come through in a pinch,” I told her, looking her in the eyes and making sure I dropped in a lot of personal details just like Gail had taught me. She laughed.

“That she does, that she does. You’ve got all your answers ready, don’t you?”

“I’ve got to. I keep repeating all the same information over and over again. No one ever asks a reasonable question, like why am I such a dweeb. They’re all more interested in the answers to the crazy ones, like why women who aren’t interested in me romantically are all sex crazed maniacs? And no matter what answer I give, they either don’t believe me or they’d believe me regardless of what I said.”

“You’re pretty quick on the uptake. I really like you. It’s no wonder all those girls feel so dedicated to you. I think I’d like to be friends. If you have any troubles in the rest of your time here, give me a call. Otherwise I’ll give you a call now and then just to check up on you for your godmother…, and  my own interests. Deal?”

“Deal,” I told her, shaking her hand to show how seriously I took her offer. After that I walked over to the car to confront the girls who wanted to know all the dirt.

Cate and Chalise were nervous about my discussion with Michelle, but I hurried them into the car so we could begin our long trip. It would be the three of us in my car. This time Chalise took the front seat, since she usually shared the backseat with Kitty. Gail would be waiting for us, and I hadn’t wanted to bring anyone else because I didn’t want to freak out anyone with a show of force. This was a highly personal thing for each of the women I’d encounter, and they should have my sole attention. The girls had argued that the women would need a fellow Sister there for support, and that Gail didn’t count. Gail meant to act as my guide and protector, but I simply pointed out that when I was going to be traveling later, I couldn’t take everyone along due simply to logistics, and that we had to get used to traveling light.

Once I explained what Michelle and I had discussed, Chalise managed to transfer her excitement to the trip. She was excited, talking about all the things to see there and started rattling away. She kept up until Cate reminded her that I would have to keep my mind free while traveling. She explained once again about my ‘lost girl’, and how I’d been haunted by her ever since. So Chalise and Cate proceeded to talk quietly while we kept a watch out at the nearby cars, trucks and busses.

“You know, it might be easier if you just lay down in the back while I drive,” Cate offered as she watched me stressing over the various cars passing me.

“She has a point,” Chalise offered. “If you were lying down in the back, you could simply close your eyes and talk or sleep without fear of seeing and accidentally activating anyone.”

I considered that thought. “You both make an excellent point. But if we’re going to be traveling this summer after school finishes, I should be aware of what I’m going to be facing. I think the situation where I lost that one girl was just a freak accident with extenuating circumstances. If so, I’d like to prove it to myself. Besides, it’s just a little over a two hour drive. But for now I think I’ve got something to prove to myself.”

“OK, that’s fine, but just don’t make yourself crazy,” Chalise offered. “Don’t keep looking at every car around you, that will just produce what you’re trying to avoid and it’s going to exhaust you in the process. Just relax, play some music, talk a bit, and just focus on what’s in front of you.”

“Thanks. I think that’s perhaps the best advice I’ve gotten for a while,” I told her.

We had fun for the rest of the trip. Cate had initially insisted we keep the radio turned off so I could focus on anyone I happened to see. But I pointed out she’d be the one to suffer if I wasn’t allowed to be any fun during long road trips.

Part way there I got a message from Shani.

‘Hey there, Alex. Just thought I’d let you know, since you were out of the house and we had nothing better to do, a couple of us went over to the after-school events to watch over things as part of Ryan’s outreach program. Anyway, there were a couple of injuries and we were there to intercede. A young man managed to get hit in the head during a soccer game. He was dizzy but there wasn’t any damage so we had him sit it out for a bit, but then allowed him back into the game. However, a girl on another field managed to break an arm. It was only a small fracture and it wasn’t immediately apparent, but we could see it right away and sent her off to Ryan’s hospital after alerting him, so she’s doing OK now as well.’

‘Great. Thanks, you’re being quite effective. I like seeing you getting involved. And thanks for keeping me informed as well. That always makes life easier for me. Let me know if anything else happens, but you have my complete faith and trust to do what is right.’

‘Thanks, Alex. That means a lot to me. But this is really Brooke and Allison’s baby. We were just helping them this time since we didn’t have the usual distractions at home. Enjoy your weekend,’ she told me before we ended our communication.

We didn’t run into any repeats of my lost girl, and soon we were nearing the city limits. I made my way to Gail’s apartment on my own, despite Cate having it already dialed in on the GPS. Getting the directions directly from the source is certainly a help. It was early and I was still feeling fresh, so I thought I was ready to handle anything that might happen. I thought about the people in the cars around us. I was still worried about activating someone, but I could very well be attracting and subsequently losing them again, since most of the traffic was heading in the opposite direction. That was something we’d have to consider in the future. For now it couldn’t be avoided.

We’d discussed where we’d stay overnight. Gail was all for having us stay with her, and it made sense to save money. Besides, she wanted to show off her place to me. I felt badly about imposing on her or having to scatter people all around her small apartment, but Cate won the day by reminding me we wanted to keep a low profile to avoid awakening any nearby Seers. Staying at a public hotel would just expose me that much more, while staying at Gail’s was the safest alternative.

After we pulled off the highway a little past downtown St. Louis, we pulled into a quiet little neighborhood and stopped in at her house. It was actually a small apartment complex, but luckily the building only housed a couple of residents. The little apartment was decorated with photos and basic cop stuff, but was also filled with some beautiful artwork of and by women. Everything from the Georgia O'Keefe like flowers to small sculptures of naked women.

“Wow, there’s no mistaking your orientation?” Chalise stated, shaking her head. “How does that go down with your cop pals?”

“Well, most of my ‘cop pals’ don’t get invited here,” she conceded. “I keep my public life very separate from my private life, as most cops do. My partner knows about my lifestyle, but we don’t talk about it much and I don’t mention it to anyone else. He only knows because I sometimes complain about bad dates, just like he does to me. I give pretty good advice about women to straight guys,” she laughed.

“Great, it’s not like Alex is getting enough of that,” Chalise teased me.

She showed us the large bed in her bedroom, saying there’s almost enough room for all my women here. It was pretty big! I just rolled my eyes as I casually noticed there was already a picture of me on the wall. I wondered where she’d gotten it from and what her friends or dates thought of it, but then I remembered I was ‘officially’ her Godson. That should solve that problem.

“So, could you take us to a lesbian bar?” Chalise asked Gail with a hopeful expression. I was a bit surprised, but decided to see where she went with this before making any comments. If nothing else, I sometimes know when the hell to shut up.

Gail just laughed. “I know of a few. Despite your young age, they tend to be inclusive and wouldn’t have a problem allowing you in if you went during the day and didn’t try to get them into trouble by drinking.”

“Even me?” I asked.

“Sure, all my girlfriends are dying to see who’s stealing me away,” she laughed expansively, feeling free to open up and let her normally guarded demeanor down.

“I’m hardly stealing you away,” I challenged. “I’m merely trying to generate interest in an alternate ballpark for a game or two.”

“I wouldn’t say that,” Cate announced. “Michelle says Gail’s already asking about transferring to our local police unit.”

“Michelle? You mean the policewoman that Alex was talking to earlier?” Chalise asked while Gail suddenly looked sheepish.

“When did you—?” I started to ask my sister.

“You’re not the only one to speak to our local constable, you know,” she told me. “When Gail made inquiries Michelle felt obligated to do a little investigation of her own. She knew if she asked at home they’d all tell you immediately, so she asked quietly at school. Who do you think she’d ask about you?”

“And you didn’t mention this, why?” I asked, glaring at her.

“You seem to be handling her fine on your own. I didn’t think it would make much of a difference one way or the other. Plus I wanted to avoid getting Gail in trouble.”

“Which you’ve now dumped me into,” Gail told her, her face a rich mixture of both outrage and embarrassment.

“Gail?” I asked, now turning my wrath over to her.

“I was afraid of that when I initially talked to her. You don’t ask unusual favors of an experienced detective if you don’t expect questions in return. I’d thought I’d done a fair job of answering them, but I guess not,” Gail admitted.

“She interviewed each of the girls in your group, Alex,” Cate informed me. “I told her I’d answer her questions if she’d promise not to embarrass you by showing up at the house asking questions. She seems quite taken with you.”

“Just what I need, someone else asking questions I can’t answer,” I moaned.

“You know, this bed seems plenty big for four,” Chalise offered from the bedroom.

“Are you asking?” Gail countered with a playful grin.

“Hey, what about the poor innocent sister?” teased Cate.

“You’re pretty innocently involved in Alex’s personal life,” Chalise countered. They all laughed at that.

“There’s always the couch if Cate is too embarrassed by her brother’s romantic involvements,” Gail teased back.

“I’m not missing whatever happens, even if I’m not involved,” my sister complained with the beginnings of a serious pout. “I’ve gotten used to watching Alex fool around. It’s my second favorite hobby.” None of us asked about her favorite, though it wasn’t hard to imagine.

“Fine, it’s settled then. We’ll sleep here. If anyone feels too crowded or just isn’t in the mood there’s always the couch. Don’t worry,” Gail confided, “the couch is quite comfortable; I’ve had several friends sleep there. Granted, it’s usually after I insult one or want to mess with their friend, but still, I’ve gotten no complaints … about the couch that is.”

“Well, we need to unpack and get comfortable, and then we need to think about dinner. Just make sure it’s someplace quiet, discreet and out of the way,” I informed everyone.

           

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