“Hold on a sec,” I told Sara. To Christy and Wren, “I’m talking to Sara. I wasn’t yelling, though.”
“Sounded like it to us,” Wren said.
“She was teasing me.”
Sara said something, so I put the phone to my ear again. “Say again?”
“Is it Christy? Let me talk to her.”
I rolled off the bed and held out the phone. “She wants to talk to you.”
“Hello?” Christy looked at me and smiled bashfully. “Uh-huh… We did… Oh, he was wonderful! They loved him… Yeah, he sort of did… No, it was really dumb. Rich was just being protective.”
“He’s a psycho killer!” I said, loud enough for Sara to hear.
“Paul, be nice,” Christy said with a glare. “He is not.”
I grinned to show her I was just teasing. I really did think Rich was dangerous, and probably a psycho killer for real, but he wasn’t unhinged or random about it.
Christy and Sara talked for another minute or two. Then Christy looked at me. “She said you can tell me about her new friend.” She listened and then grinned. “If you aren’t too chicken to let a woman tell you what to do.”
“Give me that.” I almost swiped the phone. Christy’s grin widened, and Wren had to hold back laughter. “All right, you two,” I told them, “get out of here. I don’t need three on one.”
“Hey, it’s my room,” Christy objected.
“But I thought you liked three on one,” Wren said sweetly.
I started to swing the door closed and shove them into the hall. “I’ll be done in a minute. Go back to work.”
“We’re done,” Christy said. “Now we’re tired and want to go to bed. But we’ve been waiting for the last thirty minutes.”
“You gossip like a schoolgirl,” Wren added.
“You should know,” I shot back.
She grinned impudently.
“Tell ’em to give you hell!” Sara shouted through the phone.
“Not you too,” I said.
“Sorry. Us girls have to stick together.”
“Fine. Then I’ll talk to you later.” I wasn’t upset and she could tell.
“Good luck with your new friend. Sorry to hear about Daphne, but…”
“The writing’s been on the wall with me and Daphne for a while,” she said in resignation. “But I’ll let you know how it goes with the other things.”
“All right. Take care.”
“You too,” she said. “And give the little princess a big kiss for me.”
“You can kiss her yourself,” I said. “If she’s interested.”
Christy smirked until she realized I was talking about her. Then her eyes flew wide and her cheeks darkened three shades toward crimson.
“I’ll call you next week,” I told Sara.
“Okay. Talk to you then. Bye.”
“Bye.” I hung up and faced the girls in front of me.
“I can’t believe you said that to her,” Christy said.
“What? She thinks you’re cute. Told me to give you a big kiss.”
She squawked.
“What’s the matter? Are you worried about Wren? She heard the whole thing.”
“I did,” Wren said playfully. “Every word.”
Christy’s eyes begged me to stop talking.
“Oh, relax,” I told her. “You’re a package deal. You come with a girlfriend.”
“She does,” Wren said. “Comes hard, too. I’ve done it.”
I barely smothered a laugh as Christy’s eyes threatened to bug out completely.
“Why are you upset?” I asked her. “You know I don’t mind. I mean, if Wren’s good enough for my best friend, she’s good enough for my girlfriend too.”
“Yeah!” Wren said before my words fully registered. “Hold on! You make it sound like I’m a piece of meat or something.”
“You’re a piece of awesome,” I said hastily.
“That’s better.”
Christy put her hand to her head. “I think I need to sit down.”
“Your department,” Wren said.
“Right. Consoling woozy girlfriend, bewildered by too much sexual innuendo. Can do.”
“Don’t you mean bi sexual innuendo?” Wren teased.
“Oh my gosh!”
I ushered Christy into the room and gave Wren a friendly goodnight kiss.
“We’re terrible,” she whispered. “And I owe you. Thanks.”
“Darn right you do,” I agreed in a low voice.
“Give her a kiss for me too,” she added.
“Will do. G’night.” I closed the door and turned to the little blonde.
“How could you say that?”
“Say what?”
“All of it.”
“Oh, please. You know how Wren feels. And you can deny it all you like, but I know how you feel about her. She does too. She isn’t stupid.”
“No, but… what about Sara?”
“Sara isn’t stupid either. Besides, I trust her.”
“I know, but…”
“Relax,” I said gently, and pulled her into my arms. “You might as well learn now, this is what I’m like when I’m happy and among friends. I talk about sex.” Especially when I’m not getting any.
“But what about privacy?”
“I’m a very private person. But not around you. Or Wren. Or even Sara.
Around your family? Sure. But our best friends? Why? Besides, Wren’s your girlfriend.”
“Stop saying that!”
“Why? She is.”
“No, she isn’t. I can’t have a boyfriend and a girlfriend.”
“That’s the most absurd thing I’ve ever heard. Why not?”
“I just… can’t. It doesn’t work like that.”
“Oh? That’s news to me. I should probably tell my mom. ‘Sorry, Mom, you have to choose. You can’t have a husband and a girlfriend at the same time. It doesn’t work like that.’”
“Don’t mock me,” Christy said.
I abruptly stopped when I realized she was actually upset. “You’re right,”
I said contritely. “I’m sorry.” I grabbed her desk chair and sat down. Then I gently pulled her into my lap. “I forgot about baby steps. I know this is all new to you. I shouldn’t joke about it, either.”
“No, you shouldn’t.”
“I’m sorry. Do you forgive me?”
“You know I can’t say no to you.”
“You can always say no. To me or anyone else. I hope you won’t—to me,
at least—but you can always say it.”
“But will you listen?”
“Yes.”
She waited for more, some kind of excuse or evasion. Her brow furrowed when it never came.
“I’m sorry I mocked you,” I said seriously. “And I’m sorry I teased you about Wren. I was in a good mood and I got carried away. I didn’t mean to upset you.”
“Well, you did.”
“And now I’m apologizing.”
“Just like that?” she asked suspiciously.
“Just like that.”
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah. I told you, I was in a good mood, even before you and Wren popped in. I like Sara. And she likes you. She wants us to be happy.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, she’s given me some good advice about you and me.”
“Like what?”
“Like it isn’t easy being Catholic, that they put a lot of pressure on you.
Also that I need to tell you the truth about myself, that I can’t hide my past from you.”
“No.”
“And tonight… she was teasing me because I said I was wrong about you.”
“Wrong about what?”
“How I thought you were a stuck-up prude who’d never understand me.”
“I still don’t understand you.”
“Maybe not. Not yet, at least, but you’re starting to.”
She nodded.
“I just need to remember that it won’t happen overnight. And I can’t tease you about it when you don’t immediately adjust. That’s why we need to take baby steps.”
“Exactly how much do I need to understand about you?” she asked warily.
“You have no idea,” I chuckled.
“No, I don’t. And you’re starting to make me nervous.”
“Do you trust me?”
“What?”