Jason felt her freeze and made his way slowly back up to kiss her neck. He wasn’t sure what she was hesitant about, but he was going to find out. Somewhere in the back of his mind was the reminder that he was about to make love to Rain, the girl that had always had his heart. He was going to make absolutely sure it was a night she wouldn’t forget.
He suddenly thought of what she might be worried about. He bit her ear gently and whispered, “I don’t know if I have a condom. I’m sure going to check, though.”
She shivered at his breath in her ear and shook her head. “No, you don’t have to worry about that. I’m still on the pill.” She sought his lips with her own, but he held his head slightly above hers and looked into her stormy eyes.
“Are you sure?” he said thickly.
“Yes, I’m sure, I take it every day,” she answered, arching up to him.
“No,” he said, cursing himself inwardly. But he had to know. “I mean, are you sure about
this
?”
In response she covered the distance between their mouths and bit his lower lip, making him groan. She decided she wasn’t going to let her lack of experience or her insecurities ruin this night for her.
And so when he ran his tongue between her legs, she dug her fingers into his shoulders and gave herself over to the powerful sensations. She turned her face into the pillow to try to muffle her cries.
He didn’t stop until she was shaking with tremors and pleading with him to make love to her. As he drove himself inside her, she gasped and bucked. He met her rhythm, trying not to lose control of himself. When she choked back a sob and tightened around him, convulsing with pleasure, he allowed himself to go with her.
They remained tangled together in silence until Jason’s arms grew shaky from his effort not to crush her with his full body weight. He shifted off her gently, pulled the sheet over their sweaty bodies, and gathered her back in his arms.
****
The sun was different. The first early morning rays were shining weakly in the window, which was in the wrong place. Rain blinked groggily and then realized she wasn’t in her own room. And the warm body spooning hers wasn’t Allie.
She and Jason had made love. Their passionate night rushed back to her and played savagely with her emotions. She was exhilarated and fulfilled. But she was also disgusted with herself. Now
she
was the other woman. Great.
Lifting her head gingerly to check Jason’s clock, she saw that it was 5:30 in the morning. Something else was bothering her, and she struggled to focus. Allie! God, not only was she a slut, she was a horrible friend. She had promised to sleep with her every night. Maybe Allie hadn’t noticed her absence.
Rain felt around under the covers until she found her pajama bottoms. She thought her top might be under Jason somewhere, so she slipped out of bed quietly and grabbed his T-shirt from the chair. Trying not to wake him, she opened the door as silently as possible and clicked it shut behind her.
Jason wasn’t a deep sleeper. The sound of the door woke him instantly and he lay motionless for a moment, until he remembered that Rain had spent the night with him. His face broke out in a lazy smile as he waited for her to come back from what he hoped was a quick trip to the bathroom.
His plans to ravish her again were dashed, however, when he realized she wasn’t coming back. He hoped she wasn’t embarrassed or ashamed. He needed to find her alone today and explain his situation to her. He was done with pride or even self-preservation. Nothing had changed, really, in all these years; she was still the one that he desperately wanted. Hopefully now she felt the same way.
****
Allie wasn’t fooled by Rain’s stealth attempt to sneak back into their room. She hadn’t slept since about 2:30 in the morning, when she noticed Rain was gone. Allie had almost panicked upon waking up to find her missing. After quickly checking the downstairs, she had been ready to rouse the guys for a frantic search of the beach when a noise from above made her suddenly suspect Rain’s whereabouts. She had crept up the stairs and down the open hall toward Jason’s closed door. What she heard from the bedroom brought a smile to her face and a flush to her cheeks. She would forgive her friend for leaving her, considering the circumstances. And she tried to be brave and fall back asleep by herself. However, it didn’t work; she found herself opening her eyes every few seconds to check for ghostly apparitions.
So she pretended to be asleep for the moment. She needed to get some rest. Later she would get the story. Curled up with her back to the door, the sheet tucked tightly under her chin, she savored hearing the juicy details she was going to force out of Rain.
When Allie finally got up quite a bit later in the morning, she found the other three gathered in the kitchen and the great room. Rain was making lunch, A.J. was doing something on his laptop, and Jason appeared to be engrossed in the newspaper.
It took Allie a minute to realize that Jason was only pretending to read the paper. His eyes were following Rain’s movements as his foot tapped impatiently. Clearly, he was waiting to talk to Rain.
But what he didn’t realize was that Allie was currently intent on achieving the same exact thing. It was her turn; she had earned it. She sat down at the island and trained her gaze on Rain as well. Popping open a diet soda, her mind began working on various methods of getting rid of the guys for a while.
****
Rain worked industriously in the kitchen, praying her methodical motions hid her inner turmoil. When she had cautiously entered the great room earlier, she had encountered only A.J., who was studying a computer screen filled with numbers at the kitchen table. They greeted each other, but he was absorbed in his work and he didn’t speak much, which suited her just fine. She poured a cup of coffee, sat down at the island, and contemplated taking a shower.
She wanted to look nice when Jason returned from his run, but at the same time she wasn’t ready to wash the night away. She smelled like him, even though she had changed out of his shirt before coming out of her bedroom. And although she was ashamed of herself, ashamed of them both, she was still basking in the glow of incredible sex. It had been amazing, but it wouldn’t—couldn’t—happen again. So she was determined to enjoy the memory to the fullest.
Instead of showering, she lingered over her coffee in companionable silence with A.J. Then she got busy in the kitchen. Despite numerous reminders to the contrary, she felt like the house was her responsibility, and that she was the hostess. She wanted her friends to have nice meals. As she had explained to them on many occasions, she truly didn’t mind; cooking made her feel useful and productive. And at the moment, it was the only thing keeping her sane.
“Lunch is ready. Or brunch, in Allie’s case,” Rain announced.
“Yeah, yeah,” grumbled Allie. “I didn’t sleep very well. As usual.”
Allie’s comment sent a searing jolt of alarm through Rain’s nerves. She focused on keeping her hands steady as she set out plates, but her mind was spinning. Had Allie noticed her absence?
When she sat down at the table, she attempted an innocent smile in Allie’s direction. “I’m glad you were able to sleep in, then.”
Allie gave her a knowing look. “I’m glad about a lot of things.” Her hazel eyes glowed with a mischievous light that made Rain’s heart trip.
“Okay,” said A.J. slowly, glancing at Allie in confusion. “If that’s what we’re playing, I’m glad we got invited water skiing. Are you sure you girls don’t want to come to Candlewood with us?”
Rain shook her head. “No, thanks. We’ll stay here, right, Allie?”
“Definitely,” Allie returned with a grin.
How could she know? Rain studied her food and listened intently to the rest of the conversation. Jason was concerned about leaving the girls alone; Allie insisted they would be fine together. She seemed anxious for them to finish lunch and leave.
“We probably won’t be gone all that long,” Jason commented as he and A.J. gathered their things. “A few hours, tops. It’s going to storm later. At least that should break this heat.”
Allie hopped up from her chair and began herding them toward the door. “You should really get going, then, if it’s going to rain,” she pointed out. “Don’t worry about us,” she called. She peered at them through the open window as they walked across the yard to A.J.’s car.
“Spill,” Allie demanded, turning on Rain as soon as the guys were out of earshot. “I want to hear every detail.” She hurried over to the fridge and opened it. “This really calls for a glass of wine. Damn, though, I just got up. Although I suppose it’s 5 o’clock somewhere. Nah, diet soda will have to do,” she rambled.
Rain just stared at her. Allie suspected, but she couldn’t know for sure. She willed her mind to think of a convincing story. Nothing came to mind. Why couldn’t she be a better liar?
Allie opened two more cans of soda and thrust one into Rain’s hands as she steered her toward the table. “Don’t even try to deny it,” she said gleefully. “Okay, let’s hear it. All of it.”
Rain gulped and decided to give denial her best shot. “If you are referring to the fact that I was up for a while last night, I was having a hard time sleeping. I took a walk.” There, she thought proudly, all true.
“Give it up. I heard you guys.”
A searing heat climbed up Rain’s neck and over her cheeks, all the way to her ears. “You…
heard us?
” Cramps seized her abdomen.
“Well, just for a minute. I didn’t hang out and listen or anything, for God’s sake. Honestly, I was just looking for you. I was more than a little worried when I woke up and couldn’t find you.”
Rain folded her arms on the table and dropped her head on top of them in defeat and humiliation. “Oh, God,” she whispered shakily.
“Okay, you need to get past that part. I heard you guys, realized what was going on, and decided to forgive you for abandoning me. And then I sat up waiting for Brandy to come lure me into danger for the rest of the night. So the way I figure, you owe me.”
Rain mumbled some curse words into her arms.
“I can’t hear you, Rain! Pick your head up and talk to me. I’m dying here!”
Rain lifted her head wearily. “I’m dying too. Of shame. And now embarrassment.” She covered her face with her clammy hands.
“Oh, Rain,” Allie said, her voice filled with sympathy. “Don’t feel bad. You two belong together, anyone can see that. Please don’t cry!”
Rain wiped her leaky eyes. “Sorry. I’m just really tired. I didn’t get much sleep either, actually.” She attempted a conspiratorial grin as the heat began returning to her face.
Allie resumed bouncing excitedly in her chair. “Was it great? How did it happen? How many times did it happen?” Happiness shone in her wide, questioning eyes.
Now Rain’s cheeks were on fire, but she wasn’t going to deny her friend. She began the story with her sudden impulse to walk down toward the lake. Allie drank in every word, sometimes putting her hand over her heart and closing her eyes, sometimes clapping her hands together softly and quickly. Rain found more bittersweet tears filling her eyes as she relived the night.
Allie did not do her happy little clap when Rain got to the part about how she rushed out in the morning. “Wait, you just left? No kiss goodbye or anything? I mean, I appreciate that you were thinking of me, but, really…a few more minutes wouldn’t have made much difference. You should have woken him up and at least explained!”
Rain sighed and finished her soda. “I know, I know,” she agreed, shaking her head. “I just panicked. Not just about getting to you, but about the whole situation. I mean, he has a girlfriend, let’s not forget.”
“How can I forget? You won’t stop reminding me! I’m telling you, she’s history. It’s just that Jason is too nice of a guy to break up with her right after her father died. Why don’t you let me talk to him about it?”
“No!” Rain shouted, a little too loudly.
Allie jumped. “Jeez, tell me how you really feel. I
can
be subtle, you know. He doesn’t have to know that I know what I know.” She drew her eyebrows together in confusion at her last sentence.
Rain giggled. “Please, Allie, don’t say anything. I don’t want anyone pushing him in one direction or the other. He needs to figure out what he wants on his own. And I need to not confuse the issue by making myself available for sex, no matter how great it was.”
“Yes, let’s go back to that part!” exclaimed Allie.
Allie’s cell phone began playing its musical ring tone from Rain’s bedroom. “Don’t move, I’ll be right back,” Allie promised as she ran to answer.
“Mom? What is it? I can’t understand you.”
Something in Allie’s voice made Rain get up from the table. She met Allie as she was coming out of the bedroom, and they walked together automatically to the front of the house.
“What? Talk slower. What do you mean, they’re missing?”
Now Allie’s voice was getting high and squeaky. She was breathing fast and flapping her free hand while the other one gripped the phone. Rain led her outside.
“No. No. This isn’t happening. How long has it been? Oh God, I knew something like this would happen.”
Rain stood across from Allie and looked into her wild eyes, trying to discern from one end of the conversation what was happening. Her best guess was that the twins were missing, and she prayed she was wrong.
Allie had turned a sickly pale. “I don’t know!” she cried into the phone. “I knew this would happen eventually. I’m being punished, I knew it would happen. I deserve this.” She dropped the phone and collapsed on the front stoop, sobbing.
The phone lay on the ground, so Rain snatched it up. She said “Hello?” tentatively as she rubbed Allie’s back, but she found she couldn’t hear Mrs. Beauchamp over Allie’s wails. Rain hurried away from the house, clutching the phone. “Mrs. Beauchamp? It’s Rain. What’s the matter?”
Mrs. Beauchamp explained the situation in her own frantic voice. She had been putting away laundry while the boys were playing in the TV room. Her husband was bringing in groceries and so the front door had been open and unlocked for a few minutes between trips. When she had finished putting the clothes away and gone to check on the twins, they were nowhere to be found.