Nick Scipio
Swinging for the Fences
Summer Camp Swingers: Christy Series Book 6
Contents
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 29
The next morning Christy and I left a note for my parents and roused a very hungover Erin to drive us to the airport. I knew exactly how she felt, so I fetched her a cup of coffee instead of giving her a hard time. It was only Folgers Crystals, but she accepted it with relief that bordered on religious ecstasy.
“The best part of wakin’ up…,” I joked.
She wasn’t ready for humor. She shook her head, winced at the pain, and closed her eyes instead. Christy glanced at our garment bag and I took the hint.
“Right. Take your time, Er. I’ll load the car.”
She eventually finished her coffee and grabbed her car keys. She drove us to the airport in silence but climbed out to hug us goodbye. Then she collapsed into the driver’s seat and looked miserable until she mustered the willpower to start the car and drive off.
Christy and I talked about everything and nothing during the flight back to Knoxville. I wanted to talk about her decision to “do something” with a guy, but she changed the subject when I steered the conversation toward it.
Lily had left us a message on the answering machine at home. She gave us the phone number and directions to the cabin in Gatlinburg, which actually included the words, “leave the paved road.” I had a good chuckle at that. I was a city boy, through and through.
Christy and I packed a duffel bag with the things we’d need for the rest of the weekend. My eyebrows rose when she added a zippered cloth bag and gave me a “wouldn’t you like to know” smile. As far as I was concerned, the whole weekend fell into that category.
At least we didn’t have to explain to Trip and Wren. They were at his parents’ in Franklin, and we’d let them assume we were spending the whole weekend in Atlanta with my family. I felt a little guilty that Christy didn’t want to try swinging with Trip first, but he still irritated her when he wasn’t thinking.
“Are you sure you’re ready for this?” I asked as we headed downstairs.
“I think so,” she said. “I know you wanted to talk about it,” she added. “Thank you for not insisting. You always know when to force me and when not to. That’s why I trust you.”
“Well, I feel like I’m flying blind,” I admitted, “but I trust you too.”
“I’m glad one of us does,” she said under her breath.
My eyebrows rose, but I kept my thoughts to myself as we buckled our seatbelts and backed out of the driveway. I bided my time and let her work up the courage to say what she was thinking.
“I know you hate it,” she said at last. “Flying blind, I mean.”
“It’s a good way to get hurt.”
“You can say that again. I’m sort of flying blind too. Only, I don’t know how to fly in the first place.”
“You want some advice?” I asked.
“No. I want you to take over. But this is what I’m supposed to do, right?”
“What do you mean?”
“I’m supposed to plan the swinging. I don’t know what I’m doing, though.”
“We don’t have to do this, you know. Lily, Will, any of it.”
“But I want to. And not just ’cause I wanna sleep with Lily.” She looked at me sideways. “I don’t think you understand how hard I try to keep you happy. And that means being a swinger. Like Gina. She’s my competition. I know what you’re going to say.” She mimicked me perfectly, “It isn’t a competition.”
“It isn’t.”
“Only, it is. Maybe not between me and Gina, but between me and myself. You want me to be a swinger…” She sighed in exasperation. “I’m trying, Paul. I really am.”
“I know you are, and I appreciate it. But you don’t have to rush into it. Or do it alone.”
“Easy for you to say,” she grumped, but it wasn’t really an objection.
“Tell me why you’re scared.”
“I don’t know what I’m doing! I’ve never planned a swinging party. Erin says—”
“Hold on. You talked to Erin? When? Last night?”
“No, a while ago. I don’t remember. A couple of weeks. She said I’m supposed to plan everything. It’s the woman’s job— What’s so funny?”
“Forget ‘woman’s job’ and ‘man’s job,’” I said. “You and I decide whose job it is. We can even take turns if we want. Besides, Erin grew up with this stuff, so it’s second nature to her.”
“I can do it,” Christy said defiantly.
I arched an eyebrow and waited.
“Only, I don’t know how. But I can learn!”
“True, but not in a single weekend. And not without guidance.”
She fell silent and then looked up guiltily. “What’re we going to do?”
“That depends,” I said. “How much do you want to sleep with Lily?”
“A lot.”
“What about Will?”
“No! Oh my gosh. I barely know him!”
“No,” I laughed. “Not to sleep with him. Do you think he’ll go along with it? With you and Lily?”
“Oh,” she said, a bit sheepishly. “Sorry. I thought you meant— Well, you know what I thought.”
“Yeah. It was pretty obvious. So, let’s try this again. What about Will? Do you think he’ll go along?”
“Lily does. We have a plan.”
“Lemme guess,” I chuckled, “it involves lots of alcohol.”
“Yes, Mr. Smug, it does.” Her determination turned into doubt. “Promise you won’t laugh.”
“Cross my heart. What’s the plan?”
“Drink a lot, play naughty games, and get naked.”
I waited to hear the rest, but the silence turned uncomfortable.
“You think it’s stupid,” she said.
“No! It isn’t the worst plan ever, but…”
“It isn’t very good either.” Her shoulders fell. “What should we do?”
“I’m not sure. But now that I think about it, the plan might actually work. It depends on Will. A lot depends on Lily too,” I cautioned. “Did you talk to her about sex? In front of each other? Swapping partners? Threesomes? Foursomes?”
“Oh my gosh, no!”
“Right. Okay. So… the plan still isn’t bad, but we shouldn’t get our hopes up.”
“Erin said it was easy,” she sulked.
“It is, but only if you’re talking about swingers who know what’s going on. Lily and Will are regular people.”
“Can’t you just seduce her or something? Then Will could join in. That’s how they do it in movies.”
“Porn movies? Ha!” My reaction stung her, so I changed my tone and explained calmly, “Guys in the real world don’t think it’s cool when another guy seduces their girlfriend, much less in front of them. Real women don’t hop into bed for a threesome when they walk in on their boyfriend with another woman.”
“I know,” she said sullenly. “Only, I thought…”
“Erin made it seem easy. Right. But she was probably thinking in terms of Leah and Mark, or Wren and Trip.” I was hinting, and Christy picked up on it.
“No. Absolutely not. I know you want me to do it with them, but I’m not ready. Not with Trip, especially. So we have to do this my way.”
“Fair enough,” I said. “So, let’s talk about how you want to do it.”
“I don’t know! That’s why it’s so frustrating.”
“Well, the Lily part is easy. We already know she’s interested.”
“Oh my gosh, Paul, my radar goes off like crazy when we’re together.”
I chuckled. “We’ll make it happen.”
“You’ll benefit too. And not just ’cause you get to sleep with her. My libido sort of goes into overdrive, especially when I think about all the things I wanna do.”
“Speaking of which,” I said. “What do you mean by ‘do something’ with a guy?”