“You look like you could use a back rub,” he said.
“Mmm, that feels good. Do that a little harder.” Her speech slurred a little, her eyes closed.
He did, and she seemed to melt against him.
“You like that?” he said.
“Oh, yeah.”
He continued to rub her shoulders.
After awhile, she said, “What time is it?”
“Uh, lessee, it’s about twenty after twelve.”
She clicked her tongue and whispered, “I can’t believe he hasn’t at least called by now. He knows I’ll worry. What if something’s wrong? He said he probably wouldn’t be gone long, and he usually does what he says he’ll do, you know? If he says he’s gonna be somewhere at a certain time, he’s there at that time, y’know? He’s very, uh… what’s the word?”
“Punctual?”
“Yeah, that’s it, he’s that, and he expects everyone else to be, too. That’s why I keep worrying that something’s gone wrong because he’d either come back soon, like he said, or he’d call and let me know he’d be late. He always does that because he knows how I worry.”
Philpott stroked her upper arms, massaged them.
“I don’t even know who to call,” she said. “I don’t have David’s number. He was supposed to meet with David and score some pot tonight. But he said he’d be back soon. He said so.”
Sherry realized that Philpott’s mouth was on her neck and his hands were on her breasts, squeezing them, and she pulled away and stood, facing him as she said, “Philpott! What’re you doing?”
He sat there with his hands held out in space where her breasts had been for a moment, then his arms collapsed at his sides. “Oh, I, um… I… I’m sorry,” he said. His face turned bright red.
“You’re blushing, Philpott,” she said with a smirk.
He tried to smile, but his lips trembled. He bowed his head instead.
She sat down on the couch beside him, turned so she could see his face. “Look, I’m tempted to take you up on it, you wanna know the truth,” Sherry said. “Andy deserves to come home and find me fucking someone. For making me sit up and worry like this, he’s got it coming.”
Philpott lifted his head slowly and said, “Really?”
“But think of what it would do to your friendship with Andy. You guys’ve known each other all your life. You wanna bust up a friendship like that over me? Trust me, Philpott, I’m not that great in bed. For one thing, I don’t give head. I just refuse. I mean, most men won’t go down on women, and I find giving head to be a… well, an unfair thing for that reason. So I won’t do it. You’d be very disappointed in me, Philpott. But thanks for the interest. It makes me feel good.”
In one surprisingly quick and smooth movement, Philpott put his arm across her shoulders, pulled her to him, and kissed her hard.
Sherry started to push him away, but stopped. It was such a sincere and passionate kiss that she didn’t want to interrupt it. It was a very nice kiss, in fact, and after several seconds had passed, she lifted her hand and put it to the side of his face, stroked his cheek with her thumb.
The kiss softened and he put a hand on her neck, stroked her earlobe with his thumb.
When they finally pulled apart, it was Sherry’s turn to bow her head. She stayed that way a moment, then looked at him and smiled. “You’re a great kisser, you know that?”
“Really?”
“Really. I mean… a great kisser.”
He was on her then, his mouth on hers, his hands moving over her body, and for just a moment, she fought him. But the kiss… it was so passionate, so full of life. Finally she pushed him back and said, “Not here. Not with that thing in here.” She glanced at the lump under the blanket on the floor. They stood and she took his hand. “Come on,” she said. She led him through the brightly-lighted kitchen and into the dark bedroom down the hall. She dropped her shorts and slipped off her T-shirt, and she was naked.
“Can we turn the light on?” Philpott whispered.
“Why?”
“Well, I, um… I just thought… “
”What? Why do you want the light on?”
“So… I can see you. I want to look at you, Sherry. I want to see you.”
She laughed a small laugh. “Why do you want to see me?” She was being coy now.
“Because… a girl like you, Sherry… girls like you aren’t with guys like me. I want to see you. So I can remember this.”
“Aw, that’s sweet.” She reached over and turned on the bedside lamp.
His eyes widened as they moved slowly down her body, then back up again. “My God, you’re beautiful,” he whispered reverently.
“And you’re still dressed. Get those clothes off.”
She got into bed as he quickly removed his clothes and dropped them on the floor where he stood. Then he got into bed with her.
Sherry wrapped her arms around him and held him to her. “How long have you wanted to be with me?” she whispered.
“Ever since I met you,” he replied.
“No shit?”
“No shit.”
They kissed as their hands explored.
Sherry started kicking her legs. “It’s too hot for blankets,” she said as she tried to kick them off.
Philpott pulled away from her and sat up. He swept the covers back to the foot of the bed, until they were completely uncovered. He turned back to Sherry, but before stretching out over her, he knelt on the bed beside her and just looked at her.
“What are you doing?” she said.
“I’m sorry, I’m… staring at you.” He chuckled.
“Staring at me?” she said.
“Yeah. I’m… drinking you in.”
“Now you’re drinking me?” She laughed even harder and the movement of her breasts made Philpott instantly hard. She reached out and stroked his cock. “Boy, you really get off on this staring stuff, huh?”
Philpott reached down and spread her legs and knelt between them. He was lowering his face to her crotch when someone pounded on the front door.
“Oh, shit!” Sherry hissed. “It’s locked. Doesn’t Andy have a key? Why is he knocking?”
“You think it’s Andy?”
“Who else would it be at this hour?”
“Shit,” he said as he scrambled off the bed and assembled his clothes. They dressed quickly, bumping into each other a few times.
Finally, they were dressed and in the living room. Philpott flopped onto the couch and looked at the television. Sherry went to the door.
Before she could open it, there was more pounding.
“Andy?” she said.
There was no response outside the door.
“Uh, hello?” she said. “Who is it?”
Another long silence followed and she turned to Philpott with a questioning look.
“Don’t open it,” he whispered.
“Who is it?” she said.
Still no response.
“If you don’t answer, I’m calling the police,” she said.
A strong male voice said, “We’re looking for Arnold Garvis.”
Sherry turned to Philpott with wide eyes. Together, they turned to the lump under the blanket on the floor.
“That’s all we want,” the first voice said. “We’ll just take him and go.”
“Who are you?”
Silence, then: “Secret Service.”
Sherry rolled her eyes. “You’re the secret service?”
“Do you know who Arnold is?” the second voice said.
Sherry looked over at the shape under the blanket on the stained floor again. “Well… no.”
“We do. And we’ve come for him. Just let us get him, and we’ll leave you alone.”
Philpott stood and went to Sherry’s side. “Who are you?” he said.