She rolled her eyes. “Oh God, the naked man. That one’s the worst.”
I laughed. “Why? Because it works?”
She scrunched up her face. “I have to admit it has worked on me in the past. I mean, the guy’s naked. Half the work is done for you already. It’s kind of hard to say no. But when it doesn’t work, it’s so cringey.”
I tipped my head from side to side. “It’s risky. I’ll give you that. You have to know your audience. But big risks can reap big rewards.”
“Waiting for your girlfriend to leave the room and then stripping naked to surprise her when she gets back is so unoriginal though. You men have no new material. I swear you could go back twenty thousand years and peek into a cave and find cavemen drawing penises on everything and doing the naked man and the helicopter.”
I pulled her foot closer and laughed. “Hey, don’t knock the helicopter. It’s the first move we learn. It can be a good icebreaker.”
“The helicopter should be banned over the age of eight. I’m just going to spare you the illusion right now. No woman is sitting around with her girlfriends going, ‘Gurl, it was the sexiest helicopter I’ve ever seen. Totally broke the ice.’”
I chuckled and ran my hand up her smooth calf, rubbing the muscle. I pictured that delicate ankle on my shoulder where I could kiss it, run my palm down the outside of her thigh, pull down those light-blue lace panties…
She smiled. “Have you ever seen the buttback whale?”
“No.”
“Now that’s a rare sighting.”
I took her other foot and started working on it. “What is it?”
“It’s when you’re in a pool or a lake or something and you— You know what?” She waved me off. “It’s just better if you see one in person. I’m not going to ruin it.”
I laughed. “What? You dangle buttback whale in front of me and then just take it away?”
She shook her head. “It’s too magical. If I tell you, it’s just going to take the wonder from it when you finally see one.”
I started to tickle her. “Tell me.”
She shrieked and tried yanking her foot away, and I held her tighter. “What is the buttback whale, Kristen?”
“Okay! Okay! I’ll talk!” She twisted and giggled and I stopped tickling her, but I kept her foot.
Her dress had inched up her thighs in the struggle, and I gave the bare skin an appreciative glance. She saw me do it.
She smirked at me and tugged the fabric down. “All right, the buttback whale is when you pull your swim trunks down under the water and then you come out like a whale breaching the surface, flashing whoever is in the pool with your butt.”
I grinned. “How have I never heard of this?”
She shook her head. “No idea. You men are always looking for ways to moon each other. I’m sure it was a man’s idea.”
“I’m going to do it to Brandon the next time I’m in a pool with him.”
She put her arm back behind her head. “Oh, well make sure you give me a heads-up. It’s been years since I’ve seen a buttback whale.” She gave me a wry grin.
I hoped it meant she wanted to see my bare ass.
When I pressed both thumbs into the ball of her foot, she bit her lip. “Damn, you’re good at that.”
You should see what I could do with the rest of you.
I kept circling my thumbs. “So what about you? Any tricks of the trade?”
She snorted. “I’m a woman. I can go into a bar penniless wearing sweats and a questionable rash and come out with leftovers and a buzz.”
I was laughing at this when her cell phone rang. She reached for her purse and fished out her phone. “It’s Tyler.” She didn’t answer it. She turned off the ringer.
“You’re not going to answer it?” She didn’t answer the last time he called either.
She didn’t make eye contact with me as she put her phone back. “Nah.”
When she finally looked at me, we gazed at each other for a moment.
“Why?” I asked.
One little three-letter word. Such a loaded question. I didn’t want to talk about Tyler. I wanted to talk about why she was ignoring him when she was with me.
The first time had been noteworthy. But this was a statement. Even if she was busy, she still should have answered, just to make sure it wasn’t an emergency. He was in a war zone.
She pulled her feet from my lap. “I just didn’t think you’d want to sit here and listen to me on the phone.” She shrugged.
I wasn’t buying it. I called bullshit. “And what about the other day? That’s two calls you missed. It’s hard to call on deployment.”
“We were watching a movie,” she said defensively.
A weak excuse. A movie we’d both seen half a dozen times. We weren’t even paying attention to it when he’d called. We’d been talking.
“Why aren’t you answering his calls when you’re with me?” She was too honest to deflect a direct question.
I might be reaching. I might hate the answer. I might be totally out of line, but I had to ask it. I had to know if time with me was as important to her as it was for me.
For me, even the seconds mattered.
She stared at me, her lips slightly parted. I could see her struggle with the answer.
Tell me.
Then she looked over my shoulder.
The tow truck had pulled into the lot.