Courting Carlyn

by Melissa Chambers

  I open the door, and it’s a lot nicer than I thought it would be. I’m not sure what I expected. This is a decent hotel, but I’m just not used to this sort of luxury. My dad and I usually stay at places with the words “budget” or “thrift” in the name.

  Trinity sets her big purse on one of the chairs at a table in the back of the room, and then whips both the bottle and an opener out of it. This girl never misses a beat. Ever. She hands them both to Slade. “Open this, please, and I’ll get some music going.”

  “Can we have beer ever? Just once?” he asks, making a face at the bottle, and then opens it like he’s done it a thousand times before.

  She scrolls through her phone and then sets it up on the dock sitting on the desk across from the table. She’s selected a sort of vibey chill-out music that’s super moody, but in a cool kind of way. I’ll admit, my musical tastes lack diversity and are honestly a little weak. I read a lot, and the music distracts me. But I’m really feeling what she’s playing. I think it’s mostly this surreal day digging its claws into me, ingraining all the newness of it into my brain so I’ll always remember it.

  I look at Vaughn, who’s still checking out the place. He tugs on my shirt and leans close to my face. “Are you sure this is okay? Them being here?”

  “Yes,” I whisper back. “It’s totally fine.” I smile at him for reassurance.

  “My lady,” Slade says, handing me a plastic cup filled halfway up with wine. Vaughn gives him a look, and Slade just grins back, like he got a little jab in.

  Vaughn takes the other cup from him and smells it. His nose scrunches up. “Uh.”

  “Just drink it, you heathen,” Trinity says, taking another cup from Slade. She holds it up, and we all follow suit. “Cheers to old friends and new ones.”

  “Cheers,” Slade says, and downs his.

  Trinity rolls her eyes. “It’s not a shot, Slade.”

  “Whatever,” he says, and collapses into a chair.

  Vaughn turns to me and holds up his cup. “Cheers.” We tap them, but neither of us takes a drink. I look down at mine. “I’ve heard it’s bad luck to clink glasses and then not actually take a drink.”

  “I don’t believe in luck,” Vaughn says.

  Slade points at him. “Just keep telling yourself that, because you totally lucked out today.” Vaughn smiles, but says nothing. He’s so modest. It’s really hot.

  Trinity plops down on the corner of the bed. “So, Carlyn. What’s next for you? College?”

  I want to chuckle at the idea of that even being a question, but I realize the two of them may not be going to college. They may be going pro.

  “Yeah. Avery, actually.”

  “Oh, fantastic. You and Vaughn will be there together.”

  “Not if he goes pro,” Slade says.

  I sit on the bed by the pillow, and Vaughn rests against the dresser. “I’m not going pro.”

  “Come on, man. I need you out there. You’ll help challenge me.” He smiles as he says this.

  “You’ll have no shortage of that.”

  “What about you, Trinity?” I ask.

  “Vanderbilt for me,” she says.

  “You’re not going pro?”

  She shrugs. “We’ll see. I’d love to play at the collegiate level first. Maybe I’ll run into you on the court sometime.” She smiles. “I’ll be regretting the work we did today if I do, I’m sure.”

  I huff a laugh. As if.

  “Sit down and stay awhile,” Slade says to Vaughn, and he eyes the corner of the king-size bed.

  “I don’t have the cooties,” Trinity says, and he finally takes a seat.

  “So what are we doing?” Slade says, looking around the room. I suddenly feel like I’m being a boring hostess. But it’s not like I planned for this evening.

  Trinity gets up and goes to her purse. “I’ve got a deck of cards in here. A little poker, maybe?”

  Slade pulls her down into his lap. “I’m good with some poke her,” he says, poking Trinity in the stomach, making her giggle. He slides his hand under her hair, and cups her neck, pulling her in for a kiss that goes on an excruciatingly long time. Vaughn and I inspect our un-drunk cups of wine, and I decide this is as good a time as any for me to take my first sip of alcohol ever.

  Once it hits my taste buds, I recoil from it, the warm, dry flavor assaulting my tongue in a way I wasn’t expecting. Vaughn laughs. “That bad, huh?”

  I glance over at Trinity, hoping she didn’t see or hear that, but she’s so wrapped up in Slade, I think we’re going to have to get a bucket of ice water. Vaughn clears his throat, and the two finally pull apart from one another.

  Trinity is flushed, her eyes heavy, lip gloss smudged. “Cards?” she asks, trying desperately to recuperate from that kiss. What I wouldn’t give for Vaughn to kiss me like that right this minute.

  Slade waggles his eyebrows. “Strip poker.”

  Vaughn tosses a throw pillow at him. “You’re not taking out your Johnson in here.”

  “Who said I was going to lose? I plan to win.”

  Trinity elbows him in the stomach. “You’re such a creeper.” But no part of me thinks she believes that. “We could go swimming,” she offers.

  “I didn’t bring my suit,” I say.

  She digs into her purse. “I grabbed two when I was at the house, just in case.”

  “I’m down with swimming,” Slade says. “If you keep moving around on my lap like that, I’m going to need cooling down.” She grins and does it even more, and he moans and groans like he’s in pain…or something.

  Vaughn turns to me. “Do you want to go swimming?”

  I glance at the two of them flirting shamelessly. “If it gets us out of this awkward room, sure.”

  He smiles. “I’ll go get changed. I brought some trunks just in case.” He must read something on my face, because he adds, “I’ve stayed here a few times. It’s a really nice pool.”

  Vaughn and Slade disappear into the hallway so Trinity and I can change. She tosses me a bikini, and I hold it up. “Oh, wow. I really don’t think I’m going to be able to fill out these cups.”

  She surveys my boobs. “Sure you can. I’ll just fix the tie in the back. It’ll work just fine.”

  I change in the bathroom, and when I come out holding the top of my bikini in place until she can help me fix it, she turns to me, decked out in a bikini with a bod to put Sofia Vergara to shame. She’s not too thin, either…just right, actually. My figure is more boyish, and my boobs are nothing to sniff at. I’m suddenly regretting my decision to go swimming with her.

  She turns me around and goes to work on the bikini. “You’ve got a great figure, Carlyn. Do you do Pilates?”

  “Um, no.” I really don’t want to tell her what my actual workout regime is. Not that I’m ashamed of it or anything.

  “Runner?” she asks.

  “Not so much.”

  She turns me back around to inspect my top. “Perfect. This should hold. What do you do? Barre?”

  I brush the hair off my forehead with one finger. I’ve enjoyed the anonymity of this day. She has no idea of my social standing or even of my cool factor, which is super low. Not that I think she would judge me or like me less, but I really like the mystery of me to her.

  I can’t lie, though. I’m too proud of who I am. “I do Zumba at a community center I work at. I work with little kids, so it’s sort of like, goofy Zumba, but it’s a workout, believe it or not.”

  She smiles so wide, it makes me smile back. “That sounds like so much fun.”

  “Yeah,” I say, my voice coming out as a laugh. “It really is.”

  A knock sounds, but not coming from the hallway. We both turn toward the door that connects to the room beside us.

  “Everyone decent?” Slade asks.

  Trinity opens the door before I can grab a shirt. I know it’s no different than them seeing me in my bikini at the pool, but there’s something about me standing half naked in this intimate room
that sends a little shiver up through my chest.

  Vaughn takes a quick glance at my bikini, and then averts his gaze like he’s caught. I love that I can make him a little nervous at least.

  Slade slides his hands over Trinity’s butt cheeks and squeezes. “We better go soon, or I can’t be held responsible for my actions.”

  Vaughn glares at him. “Oh, yes you can.”

  I keep my grin to myself. He’s a really great guy…watching out for creepers even when the advances are wanted, in Trinity’s case.

  The pool is nice, especially for one that’s indoors. We aren’t alone, though. A few couples looking to be in their thirties or so hang out at the end of the hot tub, some of them in the water, and others milling around, drinking beer out of cans.

  Trinity pulls off her sundress and walks down the stairs into the water. She wades around. “Mmm, bathwater.”

  Slade follows her in, and before I can blink they’re back at it. I sit on a lounge chair. “I think I’m okay for now.”

  Vaughn sits beside me. “Yeah, there’s not enough chlorine in that water to clean up whatever’s happening there.” Trinity has her legs wrapped around Slade who is backed against the side of the pool. It’s not even embarrassing anymore at this point.

  I look at Vaughn. “Is it weird that I’m just used to it now?”

  “Yes, but so am I.” He lifts one eyebrow at me, and then looks back at them.

  I giggle a little. “Trinity is really…” I have no idea how to finish that sentence.

  “I know. But actually, she’s just like everyone else.”

  I look at him, interested that he sees the same thing in her that I do. Well, of course he does, but still, it’s a little funny. “Did you ever date her?”

  He winces just a little, but enough that I catch it.

  That weird tingly thing happens to my throat. “Ah,” I say.

  “No, not ah. Not anything serious.”

  “But you hooked up?” I ask.

  He sort of squints funny, and then wiggles a little in his seat. “No, not really.” I don’t think I need to know more here. I find myself leaning a little away from him. He looks over at me. “Like, a long time ago. We were kids.”

  I want to say that we all still are kids, but I already feel frumpy enough right now as this sophisticated girl makes out with a guy across the pool from us.

  “I’m sorry this night is sort of weird,” he says. “I didn’t mean for them to come back here with us. Trinity bullies her way in when she wants something.”

  “It’s not weird. It’s fine. I’ve been enjoying the whole day. She’s great, really. He’s a good friend of yours?”

  “I guess…off the court. Though he’s on my nerves today.” He narrows his gaze at him.

  “Why?”

  He rolls his eyes. “He wants my room. He won’t shut up about it. He doesn’t get that…” He shakes his head. “Anyway.”

  He’s so cute. All I want to do is kiss him. “Where would you sleep?” I ask all innocently. He cuts his eyes over at me, and I break open in a smile. I’m not ready to end this night and separate from him. “You can give it to them. Clearly they’re desperate for it.”

  He looks at me like he’s considering it. “I can’t.”

  “Why not?”

  “You know why not.”

  I point at the two of them. “At this point it’s a public safety hazard. You must make this sacrifice for the health of the guests at this fine hotel.”

  He looks at me again, really thinking about it this time. “I wouldn’t try anything on you, you know.”

  “Oh, I know. Trust me. I can’t even get you to look at me since our little talk with Nancy, much less try to have sex with me.” He searches my eyes, not saying anything, but I think he wants to say something…do something. And I very much want to do something, too. But that’s out of the question for a million reasons. Just being with him sounds good to me, hanging out, sleeping in the same room. I backhand him on the leg. “Come on. The sooner we make this happen, the sooner we can go back to my room, get in our pajamas, and see if there’s a decent movie on cable.”

  He grins a little. “There’s never a decent movie on cable.”

  “Okay, then, a crappy movie on cable.”

  “You’re sure about this? There’s only that one bed in there.”

  “It’s a king. We’ll put a pillow wall between us.”

  “Yeah, because we all know how impenetrable those are.”

  I laugh. “Well, there’s more than a pillow wall at stake here, and I respect that. I respect your desire to play tennis at Avery, although I don’t understand it. You were unbelievable on the court today, just the little I saw. I swear, it was like watching Federer or something.”

  He looks down at his lap. “I don’t need anyone to understand it.”

  We let silence sit between us as I determine that I’m not going to bring this up again. I’ll have to let Jeffrey know he’s on his own trying convince Vaughn to go pro. “That’s fair enough. Now, please, go give him your key so we can leave this pool. It was steamy when we first walked in here, but I’m about to work up a sweat watching those two.”

  He looks at me, his expression dead serious. “You kill me when you say stuff like that, Carlyn. Do you know that?” he asks, leaving me with my cheeks burning and my mouth open, but he doesn’t wait for my answer. He walks over to where they’re in the pool and bends down to talk to them. They break out in grins.

  Trinity swims over to me, resting her elbows on the side of the pool. “Thank you so much for letting us have the other room. It’s been months since we’ve been together. It’s why we can’t keep our hands off one another.”

  “I totally get it,” I say, but I really don’t. Huan and I were apart for months at a time, but when we got together, we were more like distant cousins. Kissing distant cousins. Eww. “I’ll wash this bathing suit and return it to you in the mail if you’ll send me your address.”

  “Oh, please. Keep it. Burn it. Whatever.”

  I don’t push the issue. She may not want it back after I’ve worn it. “Thanks. I’ll put your purse in Vaughn’s room. I think we left the doors open.”

  “That’d be awesome. So we don’t disturb you when we come in.” She waggles her eyebrows, and my face goes warm again. “Ooh, and grab the book out of there. I brought you the one I was telling you about.”

  “Really? I can just take down the name and order my own.”

  “No, I’m done with it. I’ve got what I need from it.” She reaches for my hand, and I give it to her. She squeezes it. “It was so great hanging with you today. I loved it so much.”

  I smile crazy big, missing her already. “Me, too.”

  “I’ll find you through Vaughn. I’ll be in touch soon.”

  “Okay, but I’m not really connected this summer. I can’t get service on my phone in the country.”

  She blinks, letting that sink in. “You’re kidding. I think I might kind of love that.” Slade comes up behind her, engulfing her body in his, and she closes her eyes, taking him in with a huge smile.

  “Nice to meet you, Carlyn,” Slade says, “You’ll take care of Vaughn this summer?”

  Vaughn makes his way back toward me, hands pocketed, looking preciously sheepish.

  “Absolutely,” I say.

  Slade holds up a hand in a wave. “Night, guys.”

  Trinity turns around and the two of them are back at it before we can even walk away.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Vaughn

  It’s so weird walking into a hotel room with Carlyn. I mean, we did it earlier tonight, but that was with other people and before it was agreed that we’d be sleeping in the same room tonight. This time it seems so…real.

  She lays her key card on the desk. “I’m going to drop Trinity’s purse off in there before we shut the door.”

  “I’ll take this wine back to them. They need it more than we do.”

  She smiles. “I
think they’re doing just fine without it.”

  I can’t be sure what’s up with Slade tonight, but I highly suspect part of why he’s all over Trinity is for my benefit. I want to pull him aside and tell him he can relax, that I’m not into Trinity like that, but our relationship doesn’t work that way. We don’t lay our cards on the table like Jamison and I do.

  Regardless, Carlyn seems to find it amusing…hot maybe? She seems looser tonight than usual, more flirtatious. Trinity sort of sets that kind of mood in a room, anyway. Typically, I’d be all for it, but I need tonight to remain as friendly and casual as possible given Carlyn will be feet from me in the same bed all night.

  I set the wine bottle and two of the cups on the table in my room. Carlyn puts Trinity’s purse on the edge of the bed and then turns to me. “Okay, this might sound weird, but Trinity told me to get a book out of here that she brought for me.”

  I huff a laugh. “I can’t imagine a book that you and Trinity would have in common. What is it?”

  She pulls it out and holds it up. “The Art of Centering.”

  “Like yoga and stuff?” I ask.

  “She says the key to a good toss is to center yourself.”

  “Hmm,” I say, thinking about that.

  “Is that what you do on the court when you toss?”

  “I focus, take my time, try to forget about the people watching.”

  She squints at me. “I think you might be centering, Vaughn Yarborough.” There’s something a little thrilling that happens inside me when she says my name.

  She heads back to the other room, so I say, “I’m going to get changed and stuff.”

  “Me, too.” She closes the door behind her with a smile, and I collapse onto the bed. I think I’m a glutton. All I had to do was tell Slade and Trinity to fuck off. They could have gotten another room. I’m sure this place is expensive, but they could have gone to a cheaper hotel. I know that to them, this was a simple solution, but for me, this is more complicated than that damn Rubik’s Cube Carlyn has.

  I can’t touch her. That’s been established…agreed upon, actually. I change and brush my teeth. As I stand in front of the mirror, I get a hard look at myself. “Don’t be a dumbass,” I say aloud, and then turn the light off.