Be My Friday Night (11 page)

The fact that’d she’d been in a few states of undress in this very same seat probably had something to do with it. Whatever it was, it left Sam feeing jittery. She divided her time between stealing glances at Otto while he hummed to the radio, and glancing anxiously out the window into the darkness.

“Sam, would you like to come on my boat with me sometime?” Otto said. He continued looking forward at the road.

Sam paused. What did
“
come on my boat” mean exactly? She dug her mind out of the gutter, and turned to look at Otto’s profile.

“I’d love to. Um, but I’ve already been on your boat, remember?” she said. The words fell out of her mouth before she could think of a good question to ask. Did he mean for a sailing adventure, or more like a tour of the boat itself? Guys could be technical like that. Sure he’d brought her on the boat, but was it time to learn knots, and stuff?

Otto grinned almost to himself.

“That’s great. Sorry, what I meant to say is I’d really like to take you sailing. Maybe a trip to Catalina, or maybe even down the coast,” he said, giving her a sideways glance.

Sam let his words sit with her. She turned the radio up a bit to match the flush of excitement coursing through her. She’d love to go sailing. She loved the idea of traveling down the coast of California. Maybe one day they’d venture to the Greek Isles.

The fulfillment of such fantasies would involve being with Otto for a prolonged time. Sam was enjoying the present. She’d never had a chance to do so in graduate school. The idea of sunbathing nude on the deck of a yacht with Otto made her dizzy with the wonder of possibility, but it wasn’t what she’d worked all these years for. Sunbathing nude wasn’t a career.

Sam pouted at her silly thoughts as Layla’s car slowed. They'd reached the center of Winthrop. Otto followed suite with his truck. There was a public parking lot for all the shops around Winthrop’s main drag where they both parked.

Willy the Winthrop wildcat, a bronze statue placed in the middle of Winthrop’s town square years ago, glinted in the moonlight. The cat craned its neck upward, snarling at the night sky. The group began to walk toward the statue.

“Willy definitely needs a little decorating. He looks like he needs to go out to a party, and get laid,” said Layla.

“It’s not easy having the most wins in San Diego County. It’s a hard reputation to keep up,” said Randy.

The group pulled their baseball hats low in case security cameras were trained on Willy. They draped the bright orange streamers around Willy’s bronze body. A sparkly cone party hat topped his head. A shiny noise maker was placed in his snarling mouth.

They giggled as they bumbled with the streamers. They waved to Otto as he stood casually against the bed of his truck. He waved them off, and set his face in a frown, pretending he didn’t find any of their actions amusing.

A figure moved in the corner of Otto’s eye. He balled his hand into a fist and began to cough uncontrollably.

Without even looking in his direction they knew this was his signal. In an instant they dispersed away from one another into the night.

Sam knew separating had been part of the plan if anyone came upon them. She wandered the sidewalk alone, pretending to be out on a very late night stroll. The pit of her stomach felt heavy. She wished they’d come up with some sort of buddy system, or at least had brought walkie-talkies. She felt around in her jacket pocket for her cell phone.

Her stomach tightened. She didn’t want to glance back at the statue. She already looked suspicious enough with a baseball cap on walking around Winthrop a little after midnight.

The need overtook her and Sam finally snuck a look toward Willy in all his orange glory. In her humble opinion he looked great. Now if only she could find her fellow heist conspirators.

“Oh my! Watch where you’re going,” said a small shrill voice.

Something warm and fluffy cut Sam off at her shins. She tumbled over what she realized was a small yipping dog.

In an attempt to catch her footing Sam took a few more awkward steps down the sidewalk, desperately trying to get her balance back so she wouldn’t skid onto the pavement.

Sam held out her hands. She was ready for her palms to hit the sidewalk, breaking her fall while simultaneously scrapping the first layer of skin off her palms. Instead, her feet steadied, her body centered, and she stopped mid-fall.

She straightened and turned to face the little woman. Sam’s first reaction had been to run for her life. Instead, she stood still and smiled at the dog; she couldn’t meet the woman’s eyes. Right now, someone could read the trouble in her own eyes. She was suspicious enough, being out after midnight, and having the wrong color skin in the whitest suburb of San Diego County.

Just go with it.
She said to herself.

“Young lady, you really must watch where you’re going,” said the woman. She waggled a finger at Sam.

Sam took a deep breath. She aimed for her best look of surprise.

“You scared me,” the woman said.

She picked up her tiny fluffy dog. It had begun to tremble and shot a terrifying look at Sam. The woman squinted over in the direction of Willy the Wildcat.

“What’s wrong with Willy?” she said.

Sam turned and looked in the direction of Willy, and squinted as well, stalling for time.

“Must be those damn kids from Grover,” the woman said under her breath.

Sam started. She didn’t know what to say. She wanted to jump and defend those damn kids, and she knew if she did, she’d be toast, but she couldn’t help herself, and she found her mouth speaking without permission from her brain.

“It looks like they were only having some harmless fun,” Sam said with an exaggerated shrug as she gritted her teeth in regret of saying anything. She should have just kept walking.

Sam looked down at her attire. She’s slipped into running shorts and an old pair of sneakers. She was wearing her favorite faded red sweatshirt. Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail under her ball cap.

She looked like a late night runner, an adult late night runner. Not some kid who would be immature enough to decorate Willy the Wildcat with streamers and a party hat.

The woman shook her head.

“They don’t teach them respect in that town. It’s such a hippie dippy place. They really let anyone live there. No wonder that nice Ethan Cooke left to coach football here. Winthrop’s a much better place to raise a family,” she said.

The comment pierced like an icicle through Sam’s stomach. If she had been a kid, a naïve, wide eyed kid she might have not noticed the subtle underlying tones of ugliness in that comment. She just would’ve written this woman off as crotchety.

Unfortunately, now she was older and understood what someone meant when they said certain things with a bitter tone. Sam took a step into the streetlight.

“I think the town of Grover is a lovely place. Sure, it’s different from Winthrop, that’s okay though. It’s not very nice being down on a place and its people,” Sam said. Her eyes widened in response to what she’d said. The woman may be cranky and elitist, but she wasn’t worth a confrontation in the street. Sam was trying to pull off a successful prank, not get in a scuffle with the local busybody.

The woman’s eyes widened as well. Sam braced herself.

The woman mumbled something about Sam being right and wishing her a safe night before scurrying off with her dog, leaving Sam speechless under the lamplight.

Sam heard a deep rumbling laugh in the distance. Otto was only a few feet behind her, parked in the darkness of an unlit field to the side of the town.

“I like it when you stick up for our town,” he said with an amused grin.

Sam hung her head in embarrassment.

“Most people don’t like to be accused of being mean. Plus, it isn’t very nice to say rude things about a place, anyway. What’s wrong about being welcoming to everyone?” she said.

Otto pulled Sam close and kissed her forehead before curling a finger under her chin to lift her mouth to his.

“Some people are scared of such welcoming places,” he said after he kissed her soundly.

Sam hoisted herself up to sit at the edge of the bed of Otto’s truck. Where she sat was an unlit area of town. In this situation, the dark felt much safer than being in the light. The stars twinkled above them.

While in grad school she’d gone to a guest lecture by a famous astronomer. He had said the stars and humans were made of the same material. It was all together in one great mass at the moment of the big bang. Humans were made of stars and the stars were made of humanity as well.

The concept had sat well with Sam. It was something she reached for whenever she felt alone or unsure what to do. She liked to believe the stars had at least something to do with it, and therefore she shouldn’t worry. It was her own type of faith, and it brought her comfort.

Had Grover always been a welcoming place for her? She had wanted to leave so badly as a teenager. Maybe she’d made it seem unwelcoming. She’d felt it had been holding her back. It held on while the future tugged her forward. As a teenager, she’d decided Grover and all the people living there blocked her off from everything happening in the big beautiful world.

Now, she’d been out in the world of intellect and culture for a decade. Now nothing satisfied her more, nothing felt more right deep down in her bones than sitting on the bed of a truck with a devastatingly sexy man watching the stars twinkle. At the moment she wasn’t really missing what she’d left back in the outside world.

She laughed a low laugh. It was funny the way things worked.

Sitting next to Otto on the bed of the truck, she looked around for signs of their friends.

“Where did everyone go?” she said. She swung her legs as she talked.

Otto shrugged. He leaned over closer to Sam. She leaned into his shoulder. She mused at the fact her head fit perfectly into the curve under his clavicle and shoulder bone.

“Think they went in the other direction down the hill. Where they parked their car,” he said.

“Do you think we should go help them?” Sam said, not moving her head from its resting place.

“They’ll call if they need us,” he said.

He kissed her temple, kissed the apple of her cheek. She lifted her mouth to his, letting the heat from his mouth seep into her body. Otto placed a pair of strong hands at her hips and pulled her across him. Sam relaxed into his body as she straddled him, letting her hands caress his back and run over his shoulders. She rubbed her hands over his chest. Her fingers lazily contemplated the buttons on his shirt.

She paused.

“What are we doing? I’m your secretary. You’re my boss. You’re a high school principal. We are in your high school’s rival town, and if you’re thinking what I’m thinking this is only going to end in trouble,” she said.

Otto rested on his elbows. He looked into her eyes.

“Sam, it’s you and me. That’s it,” he said.

In the distance, a car started, and drove away.

“Think we’re alone,” Otto said, his voice raspy.

Sam nodded.

She slowly began to undo the buttons of his shirt.

Otto slid a hand down the front of Sam’s running shorts, his hand meeting her where she was warm and wanting. She gasped and bit her lip. His eyes lit up and his hand began to move. She began to undo his buttons. The shirt came free. Sam shrugged Otto from it, her hands running down his bare shoulders. He flipped her and laid her down on the soft flannel shirt, and pulled her sweatshirt off.

Her skin was hot to the touch, and he reveled in the way she enjoyed every moment. Her breasts rose to meet him. He peeled off her thin T-shirt. Let his hands play along the lace of her bra before gently holding her while he released it.

“It’s a new weakness. Lacy lingerie,” she murmured.

Otto grinned.

“I’m interested in discovering more weaknesses,” he said.

His mouth covered one of Sam’s breasts. He coaxed the other one with the pad of his thumb. Sam’s jagged breath cut through the night air.

Otto’s hand wandered lower. He raised his body to admire Sam. Sam looked him straight in the eye, and she let out a small gasp when she felt something crackle like a warm fire between them.

Otto looked down at the filmy scrap of lace that lay between him and being inside Sam. He grinned. He ran a finger down the edge of the scalloped trim.

“I like it. I just don’t want it on you right now,” he said.

Sam pretended to weigh the matter.

“Fair enough,” she said.

He slipped the lace off her body. She reached for his belt, and was able to get it undone. Otto had other plans. He moved his face to where the lace had been.

“Let me enjoy you, and then we can get to us,” he said. There was something primal in his voice. He began to explore.

Sam obeyed. She looked up to the stars and felt the universe wash over her.

Otto moved his mouth against her. She was brought back into her body as she let out a pleasurable breath. He scooped his hands under her and firmly held onto her hips, anchoring her to the bed of the truck. Sam reveled in the pressure of his strong hands as his mouth delved deeper into her. She bucked in spite of herself. Her movement only heightened her ache and yearning as Otto kept a firm hold, determined to finish her.

Sam looked to the stars once more. Her entire body released toward Otto in one pulse. A small moan left her mouth. Her body shuddered. Everything went quiet, and Sam’s body was at peace. Still floating in a fuzzy cloud, Sam looked up to see Otto grinning.

“Don’t look so smug,” she said between breaths.

Otto shook his head.

“I don’t feel smug. That was work,” he said.

Sam sat up and pushed Otto’s bare chest. Otto caught her wrists. He kissed her soundly. Sam broke the kiss, ready to shove him again. He put his mouth to her ear.

“You don’t get it. Who needs the stars when I can watch you,” he said.

Sam stopped. Her body had recovered. Rejuvenated, it demanded more. It rejected her ego, her sense of pride.