“Cowabunga!” Reese yelled as he jumped into the hot tub. Water drenched my face and hair.
“Hey!”
“Oops…sorry,” he said with a sheepish grin, settling next to me.
I scooted a few feet away from him, instinctually crossing my arms over my chest.
Jake joined us, shivering from the pool. I still didn’t understand how Mary could give in to him so quickly after the way he treated her over the pregnancy, but maybe it all came down to his good looks and thick charm. “You ladies gotta go cold first, then hot. It’s better that way.”
“We humans are warm-blooded—we don’t like the cold,” I said.
A hand brushed my thigh. I glanced at Reese, who acted innocent.
“Warm me up, wench.” Jake waded over to Mary and wrapped her in his arms. He sat down, swiveled her around so she straddled his lap, and they started making out in earnest again.
“So…come here often?” I said to Reese, a forced laugh escaping my lips as I tried to dispel the awkwardness.
“Yes I do, but I don’t think I’ve seen you here before. And believe me, I would remember.” He broke into a wide grin, creating small crinkles at the corners of his emerald eyes.
“I am memorable, so I’m told.”
“How about you and I create some new memories together right now?”
I laughed. “I don’t think even you can top my first time breaking and entering.”
“You’re a regular felon in the making.”
“Why did you ditch Jaime?”
He sighed. “Can’t you let that go and allow tonight to be about us?”
“Reese, there is no ‘us’.”
“Oh, but there is. You’re here. I’m here. We’re in the hot tub. The mood is right. I want you. You want me…”
I splashed him. “Good try. I may be wasted, but I have regained most of my faculties. Is that a word?”
“Hell if I know. But if you’ve regained them, and it means you won’t have sex with me, I think you should ditch ’em.”
I sputtered, shaking my head. “I know you’re bold. In fact, I kind of like that about you, but what’s that expression…not in this lifetime?”
“Ouch. Let me kiss you then. Just once. That’s all. If you don’t like how it feels, I’ll back off.”
“No.”
“What are you afraid of?”
“Nothing.” A lie. I was afraid.
“Then let me kiss you.” Reese moved closer.
“It won’t mean anything.”
“All the more reason not to be afraid.”
“I’m not—”
Suddenly, Reese’s mouth claimed mine, his arms pinning me to the side of the whirlpool. I registered the oddness of a stranger’s lips, yet for some reason, did not find it unpleasant, just foreign. Why didn’t I—
“THE PARTY’S OVER, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN,” a voice boomed. “PUT YOUR HANDS UP AND SLOWLY GET OUT OF THE HOT TUB.”
Bright lights blared into our face. The police had us surrounded.
36
Busted
Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God! What did this mean? Were we going to jail? Oh my God! Why had I done something so stupid? Shit!
The icy air assaulted me as I got out of the hot tub. I was mortified to be standing there essentially naked. A policeman handed me my clothes so I could get dressed, but trying to hike up jeans over wet skin wasn’t easy, let alone graceful. As my friends pulled their clothing back on, the police grilled the guys.
“You picked the wrong night, didn’t you?” said one cop.
“You the punks who’ve been vandalizing the vending machines?” This came from another officer.
“No,” Reese said calmly, almost with disdain. I shot him a sideways glance, willing him to cooperate.
“Check their pockets. Check everyone’s.”
“Looky what we have here. More beer. You kids don’t look twenty-one to me. Let’s see some IDs.”
One of the cops poured out the remaining beers, the liquid splashing onto the pavement. Bet the country club wouldn’t appreciate them doing that.
“Hurry it up. Now,” The policeman said, his impatience clear.
I explained my identification was in the car, my voice cracking and forcing me to repeat myself. My heart pounded so hard in my chest, I thought it would explode. Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God!
“What are you girls thinking? These guys are punks, but you seem like nice young ladies. Why do you want to get mixed up with this kind of thing?”
I started crying, the fear pumping through every vein in my body finding its escape through my eyes.
“Nothing here, Frank. No cash. If they broke into the machines, the money’s not here,” said one of the officers.
“Alright. Let’s go.”
I brushed away my tears as we walked out of the club to the death sentence that awaited. Three police cars blocked Reese’s vehicle, red and blue lights flashing as they rotated like beacons on a lighthouse. Cherry tops, Pete called them. Their incessant glare hurt my eyes.
“Open the car. We’re going to make sure you and your little friends here haven’t stashed the cash in here.”
Reese opened the car door and the trunk.
An officer shined his light through the car while the others kept an eye on us.
“Well, well, well, what do we have here?” he said loudly. “This changes the whole ball game.”
“What is it, Joe?”
“You all been tooting a little cocaine tonight, eh?” the officer asked.
Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God! I had forgotten the mirror and coke in the car, right in plain sight.
“Whose is it?” Officer Joe demanded.
No one said anything. Come on Jake…it’s yours. Say it’s yours.
“Nobody’s, huh?” he said sarcastically.
What
