See you all Monday. Hope you're having a lovely weekend.
Chapter Twelve
LEESIE’S MOST PRIVATE CHAPBOOK
POEM # ?,
Saturday I’m strong enough to don
overzie rubber gloves, fill
a bucket with bleach, dish soap,
and the hottest water, open
the window, flick on the fan
and scrub down every inch
of that nasty bathroom.
I changed the water twice,
bleached all the towels
and threw out the rug.
I wipe down ours, too—mine
and Alex’s--for good measure.
“Now keep it clean!”
I scowl and try to look stern
while I serve the guys
grilled cheeses between dives.
Cooper eats four.
Brock and Ethan two.
Michael one.
Seth says, “Thank you,”
after his third.
Gabriel doesn’t show.
“Should I make one for him?”
I sit down with the sandwich
I’m splitting with Alex.
“I don’t think we’ll see him
much the rest of the weekend.”
Cooper tips back in his chair, points
out the sliding glass balcony door.
“Hot babe on our boat today.”
I lean around Michael so see
Gabriel sporting Speedo trunks
lingering with a bikini body
wrapped in thick golden hair.
I don’t let my hand rise to
my shorn head.
“Why do they always go for him?”
Cooper pulls a sad face.
“When they could have”—
he rises, pulls off his shirt—
“all of this?” He turns slowly
so Alex and I can assess.
Alex gives him two thumbs up.
“They must all be blind,
right Leesie?”
I nod. “Especially when you’re
sunburnt like that.”
He grins, flexes. “So I should
go down there and get in his way?”
Alex and I pull faces at each other.
“Ummm…..”
“Traitors.”
Michael gets up from the table.
“We gotta go.”
He’s kind of abrupt, kind of mad,
doesn’t kiss me before they leave.
Driving into Georgetown,
Alex and I crack up over
Cooper. “He’s always like that.
Sweet. Funny.”
“So Gabriel isn’t dating
the Governor’s daughter
or a supermodel?”
Alex shakes her head, but flashes
me a wicked grin. “He could
date anybody. He’s awesome
in bed.”
I try not to choke on the sip
of water I just took. Swallow.
Steady my voice.
“You slept with him?”
She nods, bragging. “Oh, yeah.”
My eyebrows shoot then, “I thought—?”
She shrugs. “Kai and I moved down here
together. Three years I gave that dude.
And that skank Dani steals him. Seth
figured it out first, told me. Before we
could confront them, they
were gone. Our Commonwealth
brothers took Seth into Georgetown
to get him smashed. That left Gabriel
to look after me.”
She smiles. “I was crying on his chest,
and then we were kissing, and then
we were in bed. He’s one I won’t forget.”
“Did it make you feel better?”
I blurt it like a fool.
“He got me through the night.”
“Are you going out?” I touch her arm.
“Am I in the way?”
She laughs. “One nighter. I’m not
his type.” She says it likes she wants
to be. His type.
“What is his type?”
She rolls jealous eyes
in my direction. “Waitresses.
Well-endowed.”
“Isn’t it awkward now?”
Her face grows puzzled.
“I’m too busy being livid
at Kai to worry about Gabriel.”
“Would you do it again?”
I can’t believe I asked that,
but I need to know the rules
in this new kingdom I’m in.
“Maybe. It was good.
But in the morning I felt
as bad as Kai and Dani—
the creeps.” She punches
the accelerator and shakes
her head. “Yeah. I would do
it again. I’m not going to let
Kai wreck my fun.”
Fun? Not love?
Not commitment?
Fun. She pulls in the parking
lot and turns off the car.
“Hey, girl. Let’s shop.”
Okay. Fun.
I buy a white island scarf
with fringe and beads to wrap
my poor head in. It drips
down my back like cloth hair.
Next we find sandals that jingle
with gold charms, a white on white
floral print sundress, spaghetti straps,
and a low, bare back, a padded
underwire bra that gives me
a fake sense of cleavage,
low cut clingy T-s, shortest shorts,
and silky thongs that feel like sin
between my fingertips.
Alex’s phone rings. “Dinner?
Tonight?" A glance at me. "You in?”
I look down at my bags, nod.
“Sounds like fun.”
