#SandyBottom

by Alexi Venice

  Once Kristin’s sandal was secure, she slid off the bed and ran over to the bedside table, where she grabbed her pink phone. “Phone, Mommy!”

  Jen laughed. “That’s right, honey. That’s your phone. Mama is looking for her own phone.”

  Kristin threw her phone into the air and laughed.

  “Oh dear,” Jen said. “We don’t throw phones, sweetie.”

  “Mama Man!” Kristin picked up her phone and ran out of the room toward the kitchen, yelling, “Mama Man. Mama Man!”

  Jen and Kay watched her go. Then, Kay—a genuine, nonjudgmental look of concern on her face—rested her hand on Jen’s arm, and asked, “How do you feel?”

  Jen pressed her eyes shut to keep from crying. “Confused. Stupid. Full of regret.”

  “Does Amanda know…about—”

  “No,” Jen whispered, cutting off Kay, “and I intend to keep it that way. It was a mistake I wish I could erase. There’s no need to talk about it because it didn’t mean anything, and it’s never going to happen again.”

  Motherly worry knitted Kay’s brows. “Something might seem like a good idea at the time, but—”

  “I thought we were broken up,” Jen said in her urgent-whisper-voice for fear Amanda would come wandering in. “That’s why I agreed to look at the job in Eau Claire. That’s the only reason I was with Victoria. You know I’d never do that, right? I’d never slee…have a relationship with two women at the same time.”

  Kay patted Jen’s arm again. “I know, I know. Don’t worry. I don’t plan on talking about it, and I warned your father not to say anything.”

  Jen sighed, her face relaxing. “Thanks, Mom. I just hope Jake and Patrick can keep a lid on it.”

  Kay nodded knowingly. “What are your plans now?”

  “Stay with Amanda, of course. I love her. She loves me. We need to be together.”

  Kay nodded. “I guess that means you’re not moving to Eau Claire, huh?”

  Sadness crept in around Jen’s heart. She knew her parents were excited at the prospect of her return, and she now realized she shouldn’t have raised their hopes. “I wish I could, Mom, but I really like my clinic in San Francisco, and Amanda and I need to be together. Her job is in San Francisco, and, as an elected official, she can’t really leave. I’m sorry.”

  “It’s okay. I understand.” Tears welled in Kay’s eyes. “You need to live your own life. We just want to be a part of it. We want to visit more often, and I hope you set aside a couple of weeks each summer to spend time here at the lake.”

  Jen pulled Kay in for a hug. “I’d like that too. Please come to San Francisco more often. I want you in our lives.”

  “Count on it.” After a minute, Kay said, “I suppose we should join the group and motivate them to leave for Fireside.”

  Jen pushed back and scanned the surfaces in the room, searching in vain for her cell phone. “Yeah. I just wish I knew where the heck my phone was. I had it earlier today. I remember looking at it before Jake and I went out to fix the solar lights, which seems like a lifetime ago.”

  “Yes. The solar lights,” Kay said.

  “Um, I’m sorry we didn’t finish. We were almost done when Amanda arrived. Don’t worry, we’ll do the rest tomorrow.”

  Kay gave her a patient, motherly smile. “I know. Your father picked up the pieces and assembled the light. He said you were 90% finished, but he didn’t want the pieces to get smashed the ground.”

  “Oh. I’ll have to thank him,” Jen said.

  As they left the room, Jen had a panicky rush about her phone. I know it has to be here somewhere. This is so typical—I can’t think straight around Amanda. She casts a fucking spell on me whenever she’s nearby.

  Thirty-Three

  The large Dawson group entered Fireside Bar & Grill and learned from the hostess their table would be ready in a few minutes. They proceeded to the bar where Tommy and Jake took everyone’s orders, and Tommy insisted on paying. The crowd was thin on a weeknight, so they had plenty of room to stand in the bar area while the waitstaff pushed together a few tables, spread the linen, and set the dinnerware.

  Jen was holding Kristin, so Amanda held Jen’s beer, her shoulder pressed firmly into Jen’s arm, as she, Amanda, caught up with Kristin. They were currently comparing cell phones.

  Jen tried to enjoy the moment and relax, but her misplaced phone presaged personal disaster. Mining her short-term memory, she recalled Victoria’s name flashing across her phone screen. While nodding and smiling at whatever Amanda was saying to Kristin, Jen tried to place when and where she had seen Victoria’s text. She knew she hadn’t read it, because Amanda had arrived, but she remembered seeing it populate on the screen. She couldn’t place where she was at the time, however, cursing the fact that she had been flustered and distracted in the milieu of her family welcoming Amanda and Dave.

  The hostess interrupted Jen’s thoughts, informing the Dawson party that their table was ready. The group walked the short distance into the dining area, and the men politely hovered as the women selected seats at a rectangular table, Kristin nestled between Kay and Jen, and Amanda on the other side of Jen.

  Amanda immediately took advantage of her proximity to Jen by casually resting her hand on the inside of Jen’s thigh, drawing small circles with her thumb in the slowest of slow fashion. The ritual was second-nature to Amanda, so she easily carried on a conversation with Tommy and Dave, who were sitting directly across from her.

  Jen poured her beer into a glass and took a healthy sip, finding breathing difficult and maintaining eye contact with Jake nearly impossible, as the sensitive nerves in her thigh sizzled under Amanda’s searing touch. She felt possessed by her soulmate, who happened to be a masterful tease. Jen had been the recipient of Amanda’s discreet caresses in the past, but tonight seemed uncomfortable, and inappropriate, in the company of her family.

  Sensing Jen’s disquiet, Amanda leaned close and whispered, “Is PDA under the table okay?”

  Jen turned her head sideways and said into Amanda’s thick nest of hair. “Keep it PG, foxy lady.”

  “Is that for your family or people in the restaurant? Will they take us out back and pummel us if they discover we’re lesbians?

  Jen laughed. “I highly doubt anyone in this place cares. I think people would call ‘foul’ if anyone showed too much PDA, same-sex couple or not. It’s the Midwest, people don’t generally get touchy-feely in restaurants.”

  “I’m sorry,” Amanda said.

  “No need to be sorry. You’re used to San Francisco. Different ball game there.”

  Amanda left her hand on Jen’s thigh but didn’t resume the circles.

  Above the din of ambient noise in the restaurant and bar, Jen heard her name from a distance, vaguely assuming it was meant for some other Jen, which wouldn’t be uncommon, she ignored it. When the hail from a female voice beckoned closer, however, Jen’s spine went rigid, and her body stilled. Suddenly, a familiar voice right behind her said, “Jen!” in a Hey-are-you-hard-of-hearing! tone.

  Dread washed over Jen, and the beer in her tummy bubbled like a witch’s cauldron. Before turning around, she scanned Jake’s and Tommy’s faces. They looked shocked, confirming her worst nightmare. Victoria .

  Best to meet this head-on but not at the table. Move this away from the table. Continuing to think those thoughts, Jen quickly slid her chair back and stood, turning around to meet Victoria’s surprised expression. Jen stiffened into a granite-like statue.

  Oblivious to Jen’s dilemma, Victoria leaned in and hugged her, but Jen kept her arms at her sides. After a few seconds, Victoria casually released her.

  “You must’ve gotten my text,” Victoria was saying over the thrush of blood in Jen’s inner ears. “We just got here. My clients are in the bar. Can you join us for dinner?”

  Text. Clients. Fireside. Dinner. Double-fuck. “Um…ah…”

  Victoria scanned the large table, her eyes quickly coming to rest on the woman sitting next to Jen’
s vacated chair. Amanda turned around, no doubt having heard what Victoria had just said in her animated voice.

  Don’t introduce Amanda, Jen told herself then hastily suggested, “Let’s go to the bar and chat, Victoria, so we don’t interrupt my family’s dinner orders.” She put her hand on Victoria’s elbow and pushed.

  Victoria didn’t move.

  Jen pushed again, then took a step into Victoria’s body, awkwardly attempting to move her along.

  Victoria stood her ground, her competitive antennae pointing directly at Amanda, and her harsh features drawing tight.

  “Come on, Victoria. We need to go into the bar,” Jen said, using a stern, motherly tone.

  Finally hearing Jen’s desperate tone and sensing her rigid body language, Victoria registered the fear in Jen’s eyes. Her gaze transferred to Amanda’s upturned face then pivoted back to Jen. “Are you going to introduce me to your friend?”

  “I don’t think—” Jen rushed.

  Amanda rose quickly and gracefully, her game-wary face on. “I’m Amanda, Jen’s fiancée.”

  “I’m Victoria, Jen’s lover.” Victoria automatically raised her hand for a shake, but her expression was anything but friendly.

  Jen swooned like she was going to faint.

  Amanda shook her head slightly then regarded Victoria’s outstretched hand as she would a serpent. Whether she believed Victoria or not, Amanda treated her as someone who needed to be disposed of. Quickly.

  Jen closed her eyes, a roaring train thundering through the middle of her brain. She heard a chair scraping against the wood floor and knew without turning back that Tommy was on his way around the table.

  Amanda said in a low voice to Jen, “I don’t understand.”

  Jen cast her what she hoped was an old-news-I-can-explain-later look.

  “Victoria, can we please go outside and talk?” Jen asked. “My entire family is sitting behind me.”

  “I’m comfortable here,” Victoria said.

  “What’s going on, Jen?” Amanda asked, her voice dangerously quiet.

  “Not what you think,” Jen muttered from the side of her mouth. “Let me talk to Victoria, and I’ll explain later.”

  Victoria’s voice turned into a snarl, as she leaned closer, two inches from Amanda’s face. “It’s exactly what you think.”

  Color me dead!

  Amanda regarded Victoria, then said in a menacing deadpan. “I’ve killed three men who tried to hurt Jen. I wouldn’t hesitate for a minute to do the same to you.”

  Holy fuck!

  Amanda’s words struck Victoria like a riding crop, but she raised her brow and hissed, “Funny, because Jen and I engaged in a little S&M last night, and when I hurt her, she seemed to like it .”

  Jen’s body broke out in a cold sweat. “Victoria, please stop.”

  Amanda looked from Jen to Victoria and raised her left fist so fast that neither Victoria nor Jen saw it coming.

  Amanda’s fist was midway through the air on its way to Victoria’s smug face when Tommy’s hand caught it. He quickly pushed his way into the center of the women, turning his back to Victoria and facing Amanda. “Not a life or death situation, partner. Stand down. You and I are going for a walk.” He slipped his arm around Amanda and half-carried her toward the exit.

  Amanda initially resisted, thrashing against his side, but Tommy had such a tight grip that she couldn’t break free without making a scene, and she appeared committed to making a good impression on Jen’s family.

  Acting fast, Jen scooted around Victoria and headed in the opposite direction toward the bar, hoping to lure Victoria with her, leaving a stunned Dawson family in their wake.

  “Did you hear that?” Patrick asked Jake. “Amanda said she’s killed three men, and threatened to do the same to Victoria.”

  “That’s your takeaway from what just went down?” Jake asked, swirling the ice in his glass of scotch.

  “Well, we already knew that Jen slept with Victoria,” Patrick said.

  Jake shook his bleached locks from side to side.

  “Holy shit,” Patrick said. “Amanda is really badass. Good thing Tommy caught her fist, or Victoria would’ve gone down like a rock.”

  “Tommy knows Amanda,” Jake said. “They’ve worked together in law enforcement for years.”

  “It shows,” Patrick said. “What do you suppose is going to happen outside?”

  “Traditional girl fight,” Jake said. “My money’s on Amanda.”

  “I won’t take that bet,” Dave-the-pilot inserted. “Amanda wins every time.”

  ***

  Jen breezed through the bar area and pushed through the glass doors into the parking lot, Victoria hot on her heels. They made it only a few feet onto the asphalt, and Victoria grabbed Jen’s arm, spinning her around. She tried to kiss Jen, but their faces clashed, as Jen turned her head to the side.

  Jen untwisted herself from Victoria’s possessive hug and shook her arms free of her. “Victoria, stop!

  “What do you mean?” Victoria snarled. “You liked it rough last night! And, might I remind you that was less than 24 hours ago.”

  “I know, and I’m sorry,” Jen said in a deliberately calm voice filled with remorse. She couldn’t think of a worse situation in which to find herself. “I didn’t know Amanda was coming here. I thought we were broken up, but she arrived today, and we got back together.” Jen gave Victoria her most earnest and regretful expression—or as close to it that she could muster under the insane circumstances.

  “So, last night was all about using me, huh? Maybe playing a little sex tourist? Your proverbial walk on the wild side?” Under the blue lighting of the parking lot, Victoria looked like vampire.

  “No. It wasn’t like that,” Jen said, her voice squeaking. “I was genuinely interested in starting a relationship. Sure, things moved pretty fast, but that was mostly because you wanted them to. I mean, admit it, Victoria, you practically attacked me, then used me to fulfill your personal kink. I was just another notch in your BDSM bedpost, so don’t try to gaslight me into thinking that you’re heartbroken.”

  Victoria growled, “Fuck you! I meant every word I said about starting a serious relationship”

  “Just drop it,” Jen said. “I’m not trying to accuse you of anything. I was honest with you from the beginning. Over dinner at your cabin, I talked about Amanda almost the entire time, explaining I was still in love with her—”

  “— ad nauseam, ” Victoria interrupted. “You obviously have a thing for women with long, black hair.”

  Jen shook that off. “And, last night. Well, last night, I sort of got the vibe that you liked that I couldn’t commit to you.”

  “Oh, how convenient for you.” Victoria’s lips thinned and her eyes narrowed like she was going to bite Jen’s neck, her tanned skin taking on a ghoulish glow under the streetlamp.

  “It wasn’t ‘convenient,’” Jen stammered, “it just….happened.” Suddenly, Jen caught Amanda in her peripheral vision coming around the corner of the building, Tommy chasing her. “Oh shit!”

  Amanda’s warrior instinct had sprung to life, and her thirst for battle propelled her toward Victoria. She didn’t slow or hesitate as she lunged for Victoria, her fists flying like she was in an MMA ring. Amanda and Victoria crashed and tumbled onto the grass berm at the edge of the parking lot.

  No stranger to getting physical—and getting off on inflicting pain—Victoria quickly kicked her legs, sticking her knee between Amanda’s thighs and maneuvering for dominance. She didn’t throw punches but instead employed wrestling moves that looked practiced and well-honed.

  Their black manes—Victoria’s straight and Amanda’s curly—swung into each other’s faces when they locked in battle. Victoria clinched her dark legs around Amanda’s pale legs and crossed at the ankles, locking Amanda into a hold. Jen had never seen Amanda in the heat of battle, and was impressed by her ferocity, but for the fact that she was getting her ass kicked.

  Their grunts
and growls mixed into a primal duet of rage as they rolled sideways.

  Jen was reluctant to throw herself into the fray, but they couldn’t let it continue. “Oh my God, Tommy, what should we do?”

  “Fuck if I know,” Tommy said. “Victoria looks like a professional fighter.”

  “She’s going to break Amanda’s neck!” Jen exclaimed.

  “I’ll break it up.” Tommy moved closer to their writhing bodies and yelled, “Amanda! Victoria! The cops are coming!” He clapped his hands loudly, but they didn’t pay any attention.

  Jen crouched and grabbed Victoria’s shoulders, but she turned and bit Jen’s hand.

  “You bitch!” Jen screamed. “You bit me!” She pulled her hand back and examined it. There were bite marks across the tops of her knuckles, but the skin wasn’t broken. She shook it out, then turned to Tommy for help.

  He grabbed a wooden-handled rake that was leaning against the fence for the dumpsters and began poking and prodding Victoria, who now had Amanda in a choke hold with her arms, one knee pressed into the small of Amanda’s back and the other leg curled around her. The human pretzel looked not only painful but also deadly, as Amanda’s complexion was turning blue.

  “Victoria! Stop!” Jen yelled.

  Victoria was grunting against Amanda’s struggles, oblivious to Jen’s pleas.

  Tommy jabbed the handle of the rake hard into Victoria’s shoulder then moved to her chest for a few pokes. He was on his way to her face when she suddenly released Amanda, shoved her away, and grabbed the end of the rake from Tommy. In a catlike move, she sprang to her feet, gripping the wooden handle with both hands, shoving and jerking in a tug-o-war with Tommy.

  During their back and forth, Victoria moved wildly, turning her rage on Tommy while Amanda, now on her hands and knees, guzzled air.

  After only a few seconds of battle, Victoria’s wild and powerful jerks broke the metal-tined end loose from Tommy’s grip. As he was reaching for it, Victoria hurled the tines with all her might, striking Tommy in the head, sending him to the ground.

  “Victoria! What are you doing?!” Jen yelled. “You’re killing him! Stop!”