The Science of Loving

by Candace Vianna

  “Your turn.” I handed her the lotion. “Be sure to cover my ink well, otherwise the sun will fade it.” I closed my eyes and I gave myself over to her hands as the sun warmed my face and chest, contentment filling me. Her touch glided over my bulk as she followed my shoulders up my neck. When her fingers caressed my head, goosebumps cascaded down my body. “Baby, your hands feel so good.” She methodically coated my back and sides before her hands fell away. A shadow briefly crossed my face when she moved in front of me, surprising me with a feathery kiss just like I’d given her before doing my face. She stroked down my throat and around my neck. I kept my eyes shut, not wanting to break the spell. I remained still, letting her trace the ridges and curves of my body, her fingers trailing down my torso to the top of my shorts before she finally leaned away.

  “Arms,” I whispered without opening my eyes. Delicate fingers worked lotion into my hand, my wrist, my forearm, past my elbow. She worked her way up exploring my art, stroking the ink all the way up over my shoulder then reached for my other hand. Only after she was finished did I opened my eyes. “Thanks baby, that was transcendent.” God, it was fun making her blush.

  I passed a sandwich and water bottle to her before settling on the warm towel to munch contentedly, the activity around us blending together in drowsy mussitation: the splashing falls, people laughing, kids squealing, an intermittent breeze sighing through the trees. I finished the last bite of my sandwich, washing it down with a long drink. I stretched out with a salacious smile, locking my hands behind my head, enjoying the exquisite pink creeping sweetly over Angie’s skin when she realized I’d caught her watching me again. Life was good.

  “I figured I’d find you here.” Danny said, kicking off her flip-flops, and rolling her eyes at my pointed look. I’ve told her repeatedly not to wear flip-flops on the trails—well, she better not come crying to me when she got snake bit or stuck by a cactus spine—she stripped, her belly button winking and sparkling from the center of an intricate tattoo accentuating the slight rounding of her tummy. Like most in her profession, tattoos coiled around her torso, and twined down her limbs. The filigreed interlocking designs had synergistic quality, accenting her body’s lines and curves, making her appearance every bit as striking as mine. She was an Aztec goddess, six feet fierce and darkly golden—and wearing damn little right now. I glared at several guys—okay, three—checking her out.

  “Let me get wet. I’ll be right back,” she told Angie, before stepping on my belly, forcing out a grunt. Brat.

  “I’m not the only one that might want to cut back on the lattes,” I called after her, earning a backhanded bird. I scooted next to Angie when Danny climbed out of the pool after a quick dunking. I knew she hadn’t brought her own towel; she never did, always preferring to steal mine. But I wasn’t annoyed this time since it gave me a good excuse to share with Angie.

  “So what’re your folks up to?” Angie asked.

  “Oh the usual: Pestering our neighbors, making friends. Scaring Republicans.”

  “Uh oh, we’d better not introduce them to my parents then. You can’t get much redder than my mom.”

  “What about your Dad.”

  “He’s politically agnostic. I think he’d like to chuck the lot of them and move to New Zealand.”

  “I hear New Zealand’s nice.” Danny settled her sunglasses back on her face and stretched out.

  “This is the first time I’ve seen all your tattoos.” Angie seemed more comfortable openly checking out Danny’s ink than mine. “I like the way they work together cohesively instead of looking like they’d just been patched together. They kinda flow with your body.”

  That was keen observation. “Angie I think you may have picked the wrong career. You should've gone into art.”

  “I considered it once, engineering too. Thankfully, my mom talked me out of it. Artists need a lot more imagination than I possess. I was only allowed to pursue the life sciences because I promised to stay in academia.”

  “Yeah, where she’d have a lot of control over your career.” Danny had a point. Stephanie was heavily involved in that world.

  “She was just concerned. I was really young. I’d fulfilled all my graduation requirements by the time I was eleven, but my dad said I had to wait until I was fifteen years old to graduate, no matter how much Mom pushed. I think he would’ve made me wait even longer if the school district could’ve figured out what to do with me. Even so, I had most of my undergraduate courses completed by then. He wanted me to have the high school experience: join clubs, go to homecoming, prom. It was a bitter pill for him to acknowledge that I’d never fit in. The faculty found me intimidating and my peers found me confusing. I didn’t know how to talk to them. I was that weird girl in special classes, studying quantum mechanics and existentialism.”

  Her voice was melancholy and she was hiding again. I couldn't imagine how lonely that must've been for her. I was popular in high school, always in the thick of it, circulating easily amongst the different cliques. I played basketball and football, served on several committees and was class president. I went not just to my prom, but three others.

  “I earned a full scholarship to UCSD and completed my undergrad by seventeen, my masters just before I turned nineteen, and got my first doctorate at twenty-one.” So that’s what Bob meant about coming so far, for someone so young.

  “Damn girlfriend you’re like a regular Doo…”

  “Don’t say it. Danny, I hate that show on principle.”

  “Yes, Doctor,” she quipped.

  “Come on, sweetheart; let’s take another dip before we head back to save my folks from a lynching.”

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Drinking in the Woods

  Our camp looked homey in the late afternoon sun. There was a couple sitting with Mat’s folks at the picnic table by our tent. Mat’s jaw clenched when he noticed them, and Danny swore softly.

  “Is there a problem?” I looked from one to the other.

  “Only if you don’t like douchebags,” Danny muttered.

  “Look Matty, who’s dropped in for a visit.” Carmen immediately hopped up, surprising me with a hug. “Angie this is Avery, he’s a colleague of Mat’s, and this lovely young women is Baily; she’s up here camping with some of her friends from SDSU.”

  Avery looked me over as he extended his hand. He was shorter than Danny by a good two inches, conservatively dressed with the hair to match, and I loathe him on sight. He reminded me of the desperate assholes my mother was constantly encouraging.

  “Hellooo… Angie.” Even his voice was smarmy. He gave me one of those weird handshakes I hated, grasping the ends of my fingers limply, instead of shaking my whole hand. And wasn’t he aware boobs usually don’t have much to say?

  Mat dropped a possessive arm around me, and I snuggled into him, wiping my hand on my shorts. Ick, sticky fingers. I turned my attention to Baily. “Hey, so what are you studying at SDSU?” she didn’t seem to hear me at first, her eyes were bouncing between Mat and Danny, which was understandable. Individually, the siblings were overwhelming; together, they were devastating. Especially when not only Mat’s tattoos were on display, but Danny’s as well.

  “What? Oh I haven’t declared yet.” She shrugged. “I just can’t seem to make up my mind.”

  “So you’re a freshman?”

  “No, this is my third year. What about you?” Third year?

  “I’m a biologist most days.”

  “Really? God, I flunked bio twice. So when do you graduate.” Holy smokes.

  “I don’t think you understand Baily,” Danny enunciated slowly. “Angie already has her P.H.D.”

  “Wow, you don’t look that old.” Baily really looked at me for the first time. “You’re going to have to share your secret.”

  “There’s no secret, you just have to be an evil genius.” Danny smirked, patting me on the head.

  “A genius, eh. Well maybe we should call Mensa and see if they’re interested.” Avery was
one of those simpletons that mistook sarcasm for wit.

  Lacing my fingers with Mat’s resting on my shoulder, I said sweetly. “Actually, I’ve been a member since I was four.” Creep.

  Danny let out a whoop, and took off running. I turned in time to see her stagger her boyfriend, leaping into his arms. “Thank you, thank you, thank you.” She punctuated each ‘thank you’ with a kiss.

  “Dude, I thought you couldn’t make it,” Mat said, turning us away from Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dumb.

  “Yeah well, Danny can be very persuasive.”

  “You bet your ass. Never argue with a woman toting an ink gun ‘cause you gotta sleep sometime.” Danny winked at me. “Did you bring our tent?”

  “Yes my goddess, yonder awaits your temple and I’ve already removed your altar from the infidels’ evil influence.” Brett motioned to a small climber’s tent that had gone unnoticed set up behind ours. Mat smiled, pulling me closer. The dangerous glint in his eyes sent delicious thrill skittering up my neck.

  “Cool, that means there’ll be room for me. Lucky for me you bought that extra sleeping bag.” There is no way I was sharing a tent with him. He was the type of guy that would cop a feel while you were asleep then claim it was an accident when he got caught. I'd sooner sleep with Mat’s folks, Tantric sex be damned… Okay, maybe the car would be better. Yeah, with the doors locked.

  “What the fuck Avery. If I wanted you here, I’d have asked. And I didn’t ask.”

  “C’mon Dude, hook a brother up.”

  “You ain’t my brother. The only person sharing my tent is my woman.” A happy glow filled me. He called me his woman.

  “Yeah, I hear you.” Avery’s leer made me want a shower.

  “Keep eyeballing my girl like that and you’ll be hearing my fist upside your head. That goes for my sister too.”

  “No worries Biggie, we have an understanding; my knee and Avery’s nuts are old friends.” Danny said. “Come on Ange, let’s rinse off all this nature.”

  This was the last straw. God, I hated that prick, fucking sales jackoff. He was history, I didn’t care how well connected he was. Either he went, or I walked. And I’d take our clients with me. A salesman was only as good as his product, and I was the fucking product. Without my rep, my partners would be stuck designing mini-marts and photo kiosks, and they knew it. And what was that shit with Danny? If I caught him messing with her, I’d introduce his nuts to a whole new world of pain.

  “Hey you guys!” Baily squealed. Three identical squeals answered. God, it was the gigglers from earlier. There was a brief whispered huddle then they broke, smiling as they walked over. Christ, this trip was rapidly devolving into a disaster. Shit, I should just grab Angie and run.

  “Everyone, these are my friends, Tori, Suzi and Mandi. Girls this is Mat, and … everyone,” she said, making a vague gesture. Was she too stupid to remember their names or just too rude to care?

  “Hellooo ladies. I’m Avery, pleased to meet ya.” Yeah, good luck with that. My mom was looking nonplussed, and my dad’s bland expression told me Avery’d already made his shitlist.

  “Hey. These are my folks, Carmen and Stewart. This is my sister’s boyfriend, Brett. You’ll get to meet Danny when she and my girl come back from the showers.” I put extra emphasis on my girl; I didn't want any misunderstandings. I glared at Mom and she had the decency to look abashed “Expecting anyone else?”

  “Well maybe one or two other groups.” Groups? Motherfucker. “There’s this nice Canadian couple who just got married and another couple from Arizona visiting with their grandchildren.”

  Brett strolled near, mumbling, “Danny so owes me.”

  “Yeah, I think we need to check on them and make sure they’re okay, don’t you?”

  “Absolutely.”

  “Brett and I are going to check on the girls.”

  “Great! We’ll come with.” Mandi grinned, grabbing one of the fem-bots. Tori I think.

  “No, that’s all right.” No fucking way.

  “What if something’s wrong? You’ll need a girl to go in,” Tori said innocently. Innocent my ass.

  “If something’s wrong, being a guy won’t stop me, and I sure as hell wouldn’t send a woman into an unknown situation.”

  “We’ll just keep you company then.” Mandi chirped.

  “Look, Brett and I need to speak privately. Why don’t you just stay here and keep Avery company.” Avery looked at me like I was Santa Claus; but unfortunately, the fem-bots seem underwhelmed. He was already dusting off his best lines when I dragged Brett off before they could come up with any more excuses. Fucking tool.

  “This is so fucked up,” Brett said, none too happy.

  “Don’t I know it. Look Avery’s going to be trouble, especially once the liquor starts flowing. I know Danny can take care of herself, but I’m worried about Angie. I’m strongly considering bailing.”

  “No man, no way. You can’t leave me with your folks. The whole point of me coming up here was because Danny wanted to give you guys some space.”

  “Yeah, and I appreciate that. If it’s any consolation, Mom’s already had a sex talk with Angie, so it’s not like you’re special or anything.”

  “Why is she still here?”

  “I drove.”

  “Yeah, but as smart as she is, I’m sure she could figure something out.”

  “That’s true. She could probably just hot-wire my car.”

  “That’s right. Dude, have you seen her ride?”

  “Oh, yeah. It’s almost as sweet as she is.”

  “I’m guessing I don’t have to warn you about Avery.” Danny fumed.

  “Yeah, I’m sort of a magnet for his type. Promise you won’t leave me alone with him. Who knows, maybe he and Baily will hit it off.” I had a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. “What do you want to bet those girls at the falls are her friends.”

  “Yeah, I’ll take your skank and raise you three ho’s,” she snickered. “You know Mat’s crazy about you, right? You don’t have to worry about those chicks hitting on him, and they will hit on him.” Danny’s faith in her brother made me feel a little more confident, but only a little. I had no claim on him, after all. Heck, technically I wasn’t even his date. I was here at Danny’s invitation. So, we seemed to have some chemistry, and maybe it wasn’t all one sided. But Mom was right; when it came to brains vs beauty, beauty came out on top every time.

  “He was always big for his age, ya know.” She added after a brief silence. “Growing up, people just assumed he was older. And after he hit puberty, he couldn’t go anywhere without women staring.”

  “That must’ve been hard on him; being a kid, yet everyone expecting more.”

  “Actually, he handled it all with pretty good humor. The women were what bothered him the most. I’m not talking about the girls at school, but their moms hitting on him, grown-ass women who should’ve known better. We used talked about it a lot ‘cause he didn’t know what to do. He didn’t want to be rude, but eventually it got so bad he stopped worrying about that, and began speaking his mind. Things got better after that, I guess he felt empowered.”

  “Yeah, he doesn’t seem to have a problem being direct.” My face heated along with the rest of me, remembering just how direct he could be. I showered quickly, but took the extra time to shave and wash my hair. If Mat decided to follow through on his threats, I didn't want sandpaper legs and smelly hair, especially with those bimbos hanging around. “I’m surprised you don’t have the same problem.”

  “Hey, I already told you I don’t swing that way.”

  “I mean with guys… sheesh,”

  “Naw, I purposely scare the shit out of them right out of the gate. Only dumbasses like Avery don’t know to leave well enough alone.”

  “So what does that make Brett?”

  “Brave, very brave.” Danny toweled off, finishing before me thanks to her bikini-waxer, and strolled outside.

  When I finally walked out, I found
Brett, Mat and Danny with their heads together. They broke apart as soon as they saw me. “There’s my girl,” Mat said, kissing my forehead. His smile seemed strained, not quite reaching his eyes.

  “Remember those ho’s we were talking about? You were right, those are Baily’s friends.” I searched his face for a moment before turning to a pissed-off looking Danny. Oh, God, she’d been wrong. He didn’t want me anymore. I should’ve listened to Mom. It was happening just like she said. Now that he had a bunch of pretty coeds to choose from, I was just in the way.

  “Well, maybe this is a good thing.” I looked down, trying to sound hopeful. “It gives Avery someone to bother other than us.”

  “I can handle Avery if he tries anything with you. We stick together. If we need to go to the head, we go together,” he growled. “The thing is, these chicks are already starting the games.” He palmed my face, forcing my eyes up. “Look at me baby. Remember what I said at the falls? All I want is you, preferably naked, but I’ll take whatever I can get.”

  Danny smirked an ‘I told you so’ at me.

  “I don’t think I could handle being constantly hit on like you are.”

  “It actually got worse after Danny started with the ink. I kinda hoped it’d scare them off. Unfortunately, bad boys are hot right now. And since I can’t hit a girl, I’m counting on you to protect me from those skanks concupiscent designs.”

  “Concupiscent?” I said, bemused. “You know, I don’t think I’ve ever heard that word used in a regular conversation before.”

  “Yeah, you notice how smooth I slipped it in?” He leered. “With that big brain of yours, I’m trying to up my game.”

  “So what do we do?”