Summer Swap 4.6

Right after dessert—chocolate ganache and a perfect dacquoise—Scarlet stood and announced she would do the dishes. Then she turned to Sully. “Do you want to help me?”

Sully showed her an expression of secret reproach, and she flared her nostrils and widened her eyes, beaming telepathic messages to her one-step-behind husband.

“Oh, yeah,” Sully said then, setting down his ice wine. “Yeah, let me give you a hand.” He began stacking dishes.

Cheyenne said, “I’m going to help, too. You guys stay here and talk.” She gestured to Philippe and Paloma and Arlo and Lily and Carla.

Byron didn’t need to be asked, joining in with Cheyenne to gather up dirty serving bowls and cutlery, but as they all went into the kitchen, Carla began to help as well, following behind them. Even Arlo and Lily came along.

In the kitchen, Scarlet scolded them, saying, “What are you doing in here? We said we were doing the dishes, you guys were so nice making such a an amazing dinner.”

“We’re just helping bring the stuff in,” Carla said, adding, “the next time we do this, we should just have staff on the yacht. Cody said he didn’t want them, but…” She shrugged and looked around at all the work that had to be done.

Cheyenne set a stack of plates down, saying, “Don’t worry about it. I like it when it’s just us on here, anyway. We don’t have to watch what we say. Besides, there are like two dishwashers in here.”

Byron said, “There’s four.”

“No, dishwashing machines,” Cheyenne said, and Byron laughed and pecked her lips. Cheyenne hugged him.

Lily and Arlo went into the kitchen, setting their stacks of plates down. Lily muttered, “I’m going to stay and help.”

Cheyenne said, “Oh-no you’re not, Lily.”

“I’d rather stay and help,” Lily said and began rinsing plates.

Arlo stood watching her, the slightest look of concern on his face. “Are you sure?”

“I’m sure,” Lily said, turning and a holding a rinsed plate. She gave Arlo a strange look and Scarlet’s eyes darted from Arlo and Lily to Cheyenne and to Sully. Lily opened the dishwasher, ready to set her rinsed plate in. Cheyenne said again for her to go sit at the table and that they would take care of the dishes. Lily stood scowling with her lips pursed.

Arlo said, “You can stay if you want, but I’d like you to come back with me and sit at the table.”

“Why do I always have to do what you say?”

“You don’t have to do what I say, Lily,” Arlo explained. “If you’d like to stay and do dishes, you may. But I’d prefer it if—”

“I may?” Lily scowled. “You would prefer?”

Arlo said her name in a low warning. “Lily...”

Scarlet looked to Cheyenne, and Cheyenne looked surprised.

Lily said to Arlo, “Lily what?”

“It’s up to you what you want to do.”

“That’s what you say now.”

When have I ever not said that?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” she said. “So, I can do anything I want?”

“You can do anything you want.”

Lily then stood straighter, raised her chin in strange defiance to Arlo, offered out the plate to him with both hands. Then in one simple motion she parted her hands and let the plate drop to the floor where it shattered. Everyone jumped back as chips of china scattered on the floor.

Arlo uttered his wife’s name in stern warning again.

Lily folded her arms and stared at Arlo. “What if I don’t like your rules?”

Arlo looked around at the rest of them like Lily was being crazy. He said to Lily, “I don’t have any rules for you.”

“No,” she said. “No rules. No rules at all. You’ll just let anything happen. Anything. Anyone…”

“Lily, are you sure you want to…”

Lily grumbled as if irritated, pivoted on a heel and stomped out of the kitchen.

Cheyenne showed Scarlet a look of utter shock, her eyebrows lifted high, her eyes wide. Holy shit.

Carla stepped forward and put a hand on Arlo’s back, saying, “I’ll go talk to her, Arlo, don’t worry about it.”

Arlo didn’t look their way but muttered, “I’m sorry everyone.”

Scarlet and Sully and Cheyenne and Byron all muttered things like no need to apologize and don’t worry about it, and Arlo left the kitchen in Lily’s wake.

Scarlet set her stack down, saying, “Wow, that was so weird. I’ve never seen them talk like that before.”

Sully said, “Lily has always been sort of wound up tight, you know.”

Byron said, “Yeah, but we’re on vacation. She should relax now.”

Cheyenne said, “I’m so glad that we’ve been”—she looked up realizing Carla was still there then continued anyway—“what we’ve been doing on the yacht has been kept on the down low, you know?”

Sully agreed with Cheyenne. “They’d have never been able to handle it.”

Carla chuckled as Byron returned from the kitchen closet with a broom and a dustpan,. She said, “Don’t be so sure about that.”

Cheyenne wrinkled her nose. “What do you mean?”

Carla chuckled again and waved it off, saying, “Never mind.” Then she took Byron’s arm. “Leave the sweeping, buddy. There’s a shop vac. Come help me bring it in. It’ll just take a few seconds.”

Byron said, “What’s a shop vac?”

Carla took Byron’s hand, winking at Cheyenne as they passed saying, “A wet dry vac. Guess your sorority never had a decent party.”

“I know what a wet dry vac is,” Byron muttered as Carla led him out to the side deck.

Cheyenne chuckled then when Carla and Byron were gone. “I forgot she was here. Shit, I almost said too much.”

Sully came over, realizing now there was a reason he’d been summoned to the kitchen. “What’s going on?”

Scarlet and Cheyenne stared at him, Sully looking from one to the other. “What is it? What’s going on?”

Cheyenne said, “Sully, have a seat…”

* * *

The breeze from the sea was cooler at night and Byron shuddered as a chill passed through him—but Carla’s hand was warm. There was something he really liked about holding her hand. Right in front of Chey, like it was no big deal. Which was great, because he really enjoyed affection with Carla. She swung their arms between them, doing it playfully, making him laugh. When she let his hand go, he wiped his palm on his short leg. Carla asked him if he thought she had the cooties.

“No,” he said. “I’m all clammy. I ate too much dinner.”

“You’re not stuffed, are you?”

“Kind of,” he said. “Aren’t you?”

“Stuffed? Not yet.”

He lowered his brow, thinking about it, seeing it was a pretty obvious come on, but he didn’t know what she meant. It reminded him of something else however, and he worried about it enough he thought it might be a good time to talk about it. They trotted down the steps together to the deck below, heading into the the hallway that ran between all the lower bedroom suites.

He said, “Hey, wait up a second,” reaching out to touch Carla’s elbow.

She turned, looking sly. “Don’t you dare ask me for a quickie.”

“What,” he said, shocked, bordering on offended. “I wouldn’t...”

“I know you wouldn’t, Byron,” she said. “You’re a good guy. You’re not like that at all. Which is exactly why I find it so funny to get you going.”

“Well, ha-ha,” he said. “I hope you’re enjoying yourself.”

“I kind of am,” she said, crossing her arms, squashing her generous bosom against the fabric of her top. “What’s the hold up for?”

“Oh,” he said, feeling self-conscious about the whole thing now. “It’s nothing, it’s just...” He looked at his own hands which were twisting and gesturing with great discomfort, looking like two ducks shot in the sky by hunters and fluttering to the ground. He closed them in fists and put them against his sides. “It’s just…”

“Go ahead and tell me,” she said, “after what we’ve done, what’s got you so verklempt?”

Byron sighed, looking around to confirm they were alone. He said, “Should anything ever again happen—”

“With you and me?” She wagged her manicured finger in between the two of them.

“Yeah,” he said. “Between you and me.”

“Go on…”

“If anything happens between us again, and say someone else is there...”

“Kinky.”

“It is kinky, and I’m not saying it’s going to happen, I just mean…”

“I know you’re not saying it’s gonna happen, just get to the point already.”

“Okay, if something looks like it were to happen...”

“Between us?”

“Between us,” he said again, now looking at her face. She looked like she could handle anything he was going to say and it gave him confidence. “If anything were to happen between us again and maybe somebody made some implication about us already having been together...”

“You and I.”

“About you and I being together...”

Carla rolled her head back on her neck. “Please get to the point.”

He sighed again and rubbed his head. “Would you just play along?”

“I am playing along.”

“No, in this scenario I’m creating. I’m asking if you would play along if someone suggested that we’ve been together and done things together that you would just nod and smile and not disagree.”

“But we were together. What are you talking about?”

“If someone…”

“Chey?”

“Not Chey, somebody else.’

She snapped her fingers. ‘Oh. Sully.”

“For example,” he said. Though that was exactly who he was talking about.

Carla wagged her palms toward him, narrowing her eyes like she didn’t wanna hear any more lies. She said, “No-no. It’s Sully. You told Sully we did something crazy that we didn’t do, and you’re worried I’m going to out you as a liar.”

“I’m not a liar,” he said.

She smiled. “Yeah, you are. I know exactly what I’m talking about.”

He hissed, “Did he talk to you already?”

She smiled wider. “See? That’s it exactly. No, he didn’t talk to me, I just know what guys are like. Especially guys like you.” She got closer, put her fingertips against his chest and let them drag down in light lines. His skin went to goosebumps.

“Anyway, so would you?” he said, a hint of anger in his voice. Mad that he had to ask this, mad that he lied to Sully in the first place, and mad that Carla was so all-seeing.

She said, “What did we not do, that you want me to say we did?”

“Whatever he comes up with.”

“Byron,” she said, chiding him. “Whatever Sully says, it’s going to be something you told him. So you tell me now. Tell me what we did that we didn’t actually do.” She wriggled in place, getting her posture straight. “I need to be prepared.”

Byron waffled, so insecure about saying out loud the name of the sex act.

Carla said, “What, is it so shocking that I just can’t handle it? Am I going to run screaming from the room?”

“I can’t picture that.”

“Yet you pictured something else. So come on and tell me what was it you pictured us doing that we just didn’t get around to.”

“Well… it’s just that Sully asked me this specifically and it was so obvious I couldn’t believe I hadn’t thought of it myself and for whatever reason…” He threw up his hands, embarrassed by the whole thing.

“What’s so obvious? We had sex, we had lots of fun.” She put her hands on her hips. “You had fun, didn’t you?”

“Of course I did.”

Her eyes went sleepy. “You were a little preoccupied.”

“There was a lot going on that night, Carla.”

“There sure was. Do you really think there’s gonna be another time between us?”

“I didn’t say that.”

“Do you want to?”

He felt stupid now. “I mean, yeah, but I mean…”

“Did you ask Chey?”

“We haven’t really talked about it yet. I mean, I don’t know what we’re gonna do now...”

Carla’s lips thinned, nodding, brain going a million miles an hour. Then she guessed in a low husky voice, “Was it anal?”

“No, it wasn’t anal,” he muttered.

Carla snapped her fingers again, like something just occurred to her, and before she could say anything else that would embarrass him, Byron closed his hand around her small finger-snapping fist. She laughed. He said, “Never mind. It’s not going to happen anyway, this next time.”

“You never know unless you try…”

He felt her breath on his skin, and his goosebumps tightened. He said, “I mean we’re never gonna be in this situation where Sully’s there with us.”

“You don’t see me inviting Sully into my bedroom?”

“You wouldn’t?”

“That’s my business, buddy. What kind of girl do you think I am?”

“Oh, I didn’t mean to imply—”

She kissed the top of his hand and it silenced him. And then, now very close to him, she whispered, “Did you tell Sully you fucked my tits?”

He snatched his hand away from her like she was some treacherous Casanova and he was a Victorian virgin. She laughed at him and clapped her hands quietly. “That was it, wasn’t it?”

Now he laughed too, and palmed his forehead. At least she saw the humor in it. He said, “Yeah, maybe I said that. Okay?”

“Of course you said that. Do you know what’s funny? I don’t know why I didn’t think of doing it.”

“Why would you think of it?”

“You think I don’t like that? I like that.”

“You do?”

“Sure I do. And you know what else?”

“What?”

“I know you’re not a liar.”

“I’m not.”

“I’m not a liar, either.”

“You’re not?”

Carla dipped her chin and looked aside. “No, I am. Actually I lie quite a lot. But listen… You’re not. We’re talking about you.” She crossed her arms and studied him. “This has really been bugging you.”

He nodded, chewing his cheek. “Is that weird?”

“No,” she said. “That’s you. That’s Byron. That’s why people like you. People like me because I lie, people like you because you don’t lie. That’s your game. So I got a solution for you...”

“What’s that?”

She stepped very close to him, smiling, looking in his eyes. Her arms went around his waist and her body pressed against his. She said, “There’s a bedroom door right here, Byron.” She wagged her platinum blond head to the side, the hallway lanterns twinkling in her beautiful, icy eyes. “Come in with me. End the lie. Come in and titty fuck me. I would love that. I want it. Let’s go do it and then you can tell Sully every little detail with a clear conscience.”

“I wouldn’t do that, Carla. I wouldn’t—”

“Sully my reputation? Please. You don’t wanna be a liar, do you?

“Carla, I can’t.”

“You can’t? Come on now, Byron,” she said, pulling him closer to the bedroom door, and her hand slipping along the front of his shorts and grabbing between his legs. She made a small sound of comical shock and said, “That’s what I like most about you, Byron. You’re always hard.”