“Pete, Petey, Pete,” she whispered. “What we have, who we are, what we do in this world...

Joanna started chasing everyone out, telling them, “I want to lock all the doors and bar the windows against Bev coming back with her little friends.” The cops put in an appearance, but Mr. Linklater, being a mover and shaker in the community, they were willing to take Joanna’s recommendation that she come down on Monday and make a statement.

When the cops had gone, everyone else said goodbyes and left, too. The party had ended, and with some surprise, we noticed that it was nearly midnight.

I found a phone and used it to tell my folks that I’d be staying at Chez Linklater, which I had done before. Most recently, on the night this had all started.

“Is Megan with you?” Mom wanted to know.

“Yeah,” I said. “She’s on another phone talking to her mother.”

Mom laughed at that. “Bring her by for breakfast tomorrow, and she can go to church with us?”

“She’s Catholic, Mom,” I protested. “But I’ll suggest it to her.”

“We don’t have to tell anyone,” Mom answered, and I laughed. Friendly is a hotbed of Latter Day Saints (Mormons), but our church was mainline Protestant. The line about not telling anyone was a family joke.

*

Megan and I ended up in one of the bedrooms upstairs.

It was cold, and we were both wearing shortie pajamas loaned to us by Joanna. Mine were gold and green, and Megan’s, powder blue with white trim. After we climbed into bed, we got naked under the covers again, tossing the PJs onto the floor.

“Can we just hold each other?” I asked, crawling across the queen-size bed.

“Sure,” Megan agreed and glommed onto me with arms that were pretty much as strong as my own.

I had to laugh, hugging her back. We kissed and cuddled for several minutes, something like our behavior in bed on previous occasions, but perhaps missing an element. This felt more like affection and less like passion, and somehow that was okay.

“You’re not mad?” I asked while nibbling on an ear lobe.

She giggled against my neck. “About what?”

“Uh?” I tried to articulate, but she had seized my shoulder in her teeth and pretended to gnaw on my clavicle. It felt silly and sweet. “Maybe I forget?” I ventured.

“Forget what?” she murmured. Then pulled back a little to peer at me through her messy curls.

“Exactly,” I said, and we both laughed, face to face, almost eyeball to eyeball, with our chests, and breasts, pressed against each other.

“My-uh-my-uh, date?” I almost gasped as she changed focus, one hand on a nipple and the other burrowing under me, between my thighs.

“With Lee?’ she whispered.

“Um, yeah?” I grunted.

We didn’t say anything for a while, both concentrating on not thinking. Her skin felt slippery as I lowered my mouth to her breast while her fingers found something to play with—down there.

After a bit, we both gasped, almost simultaneously. It felt good, and we lay in each other’s arms together for several minutes.

“Uh,” I said to her.

“Uh?” she replied.

“About..?”

“Oh,” she murmured. “Have fun,” she added with a giggle.

“With Lee?” I had to know if she meant that.

“Pete, Petey, Pete,” she whispered. “What we have, who we are, what we do in this world, was never meant to be forever.”

I sighed. “I will love you always,” I promised.

I felt her nod against my back. “And I will you,” she said softly. “Just probably not like this again.”

I cried while she held me. Then we kissed again and fell asleep, still cuddled together.

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