“That was fun!” Christy said as we pulled away from the parking spot.
“But expensive, even with the discount she gave us,” Brooke added. She looked at me in the mirror. “I promise I’ll pay you back.”
“No need,” I said.
“Exactly,” Christy agreed. “Besides, we’ll pay him back in other ways.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” I said. “No, you won’t.”
“Of course we will. We owe you.”
I spotted an empty parking space and whipped into it. Then I turned to Christy.
“No, you don’t,” I said deliberately.
Her brow furrowed. “I don’t understand.”
“You don’t ‘owe’ me anything. Neither does Brooke.”
“Of course we do.”
“We do,” Brooke echoed from the back seat.
“Let me make this very clear,” I said. “You don’t owe me a thing. Ah-ah,” I said before Christy could interrupt me. “Just say thank you.”
“Of course,” Christy said. “Thank you.”
“We really appreciate it,” Brooke agreed.
“But we’ll pay you back,” Christy added. “We’ll do whatever you want.”
“I hope you do, but one thing has nothing to do with the other. You don’t owe me anything except a ‘thank you.’ You’ve already said that, so we’re even. Anything else is your choice. And especially yours,” I added to Brooke, who’d begun to understand. “That’s what I meant when I said ‘no strings.’”
“I… understand,” she said.
“I don’t,” Christy said testily. To me, “You bought it all and we’re going to pay you back.”
I took a deep breath and kept a firm hold on my frustration level.
“Chris,” Brooke said, “he means we don’t have to pay him with sex.”
“But… he’s my boyfriend. Of course I pay him with sex.”
“That’s different. You do that because you want to,” Brooke said. “And he’s saying that if I want to, I shouldn’t do it because I feel like I owe him for buying me all that stuff.”
“Then why’d he do it?” She stopped suddenly and thought it through. “Hold on,” she said to me, a bit suspiciously, “is this one of your double standard things?”
“Sort of. I don’t like the idea that a guy buying you gifts or dinner or anything else means he’s entitled to something, especially your body. So I hope we have sex, but that’s up to you. And me. But when have I ever said no to a beautiful woman? Whoa, that came out wrong! I say no all the time. Like that flight attendant.”
Christy couldn’t help but grin. “You’re cute when you stick your foot in your mouth.”
“But you get what he’s saying, don’t you?” Brooke said.
“I suppose. We don’t owe him. I get it, but… I’m going to have sex with him no matter what. Duh! He’s my boyfriend. Besides… it’s really fun.”
The girls shared a grin.
Then Brooke turned serious and said to me, “I can’t promise anything, ’cause I still might chicken out, but I really wanna go through with it this weekend. And it has nothing to do with the stuff you bought.”
“It’s ’cause you’re totally sexy,” Christy said.
“That too,” Brooke agreed with a shy grin.
“Besides,” Christy said, “you’re doing this for me, remember? For science!”
“No, I’m doing it for me, ’cause I want to.” She looked at me. “Right?”
“Right.”
“And maybe for science. Just a little.”
“Exactly.”
“Oh, who’m I kidding?” she said. “I’m doing it ’cause I wanna get laid.”
“That’s the spirit!” I said.
We fell silent and traded grins until Christy blurted, “Oh my gosh!” out of the blue.
“What?” Brooke and I said at the same time.
“I can’t believe you bought a butt plug!”
A woman on the sidewalk recoiled and hurried past, but neither girl noticed.
“I know, right?” Brooke gushed. “I couldn’t believe it either!”
“Hold on!” I said before the conversation could shock any more passers-by. “Let’s plan our alibi first. Then we can get excited about our new toys. Okay?”
“Alibi?” Christy said. “We have an alibi. We’re going to the zoo.”
“To see what?” I asked calmly.
“Um… the animals?”
“Just give it up,” Brooke said to me. “She’s terrible at this. Always has been.”
“Terrible at what?” Christy squawked.
Brooke ignored her. “Continue on this street,” she said instead. “Take a right on Park Boulevard. That’ll take us toward Balboa Park and the Zoo. We can check the signs and see what big exhibits they have. I think one is their Asian elephants, but I can’t remember.”
“I’m not terrible,” Christy grumbled. “I just don’t think like you do, Miss Logical.”
“Thank God for that,” I said with a sideways grin.
“Amen,” Brooke agreed. “We wouldn’t love you half as much if you did. Now come on, let’s get our alibi straight and head back to my house.”
“And then can we have sex?” Christy asked. “After all that teasing in the store, I need a wet pussy and a hard cock inside me. Oh, please! Don’t look so surprised! Either of you! I know the words.”
“Yeah, but you never say ’em,” Brooke said. “Well, rarely.”
“Blame him,” Christy said. “It’s his fault. He totally corrupted me. I used to be pure and innocent.”
“Uh-huh,” I said dubiously.
“Don’t believe her for a minute,” Brooke agreed.
* * *
We saw a billboard for the elephants before we even reached the zoo, although we still cruised down Park Boulevard and confirmed it and some of the other exhibits. Brooke even made me stop so she could jump out and grab a fold-out map from a little kiosk.
Then we drove home with the wind in our hair and the radio blaring. The convertible was fun to drive, especially with two pretty girls, but I was ready for more than just jealous looks from the people we passed. My excitement must have been contagious, because the girls were both grinning by the time I whipped into Brooke’s driveway and parked next to her BMW.
“Do you think we should put on a show?” Christy said as we unloaded our shopping bags and took them inside.
“Let’s make something to drink first,” Brooke said. “I bought all the stuff for mai tais. Real ones this time, with orange juice, lime juice, the whole works.”
“Yum!” Christy said, although she tempered her excitement. “And… um… maybe something to eat?”
“I’ll make sandwiches,” I laughed. I was hungry myself, and I’d eaten breakfast later than they had.
“I can do it,” Brooke said.
I shook my head. “I know the recipe for sandwiches. I don’t know the one for mai tais. So you’re in charge of those.”
“Yes, sir,” she said, although it was more offhand than Christy’s usual reply. “Bread’s in the pantry,” she added. “Everything else’s in the fridge.”
“What should I do?” Christy asked.
“Towels and sunscreen.”
She disappeared toward the back.
“Are you okay with everything so far?” I asked Brooke as I found the bread.
“I think so.” She took three plastic plates and cups out of a cupboard and then began handing me ingredients from the refrigerator. “The store was fun, but I can’t believe how much you spent. Chris has always been really bad about money. She has no idea. That was, like, two months’ allowance for me. Thank you again, by the way.”
“You’re welcome.”
“And I get what you said on the way home, but I still feel like I owe you.”
“You don’t.”
“Tell that to my conscience.”
“Okay. But if you want to ‘pay’ me back, pay Christy instead.”
“What do you mean? Like, sex? We do that anyway.” She stopped and stood bolt upright, and the refrigerator door swung closed on its own. “Damn,” she said softly.