"I was just wondering," Austin asked quietly, "Is Barbi still around? I thought maybe she was, like, just passing through or something."
Barbara was caught off guard. "No, she's...she lives...right down the hall. You should...stop and see her sometime. She's shy, but...I know she'd like it." Barbara's heart was racing. She felt so warm and tingly she wondered if her blood had boiled. "You liked her?" she asked.
"Sure. What guy wouldn't?"
"That's sweet," she said. "You say the nicest things." She nervously fumbled with her purse. "I'm gonna be late for work..."
"Okay, Mom. Tell her...I might stop by tonight. Are you wearing your sexy underwear to work?"
Barbara looked stunned, by both of the things he'd said. "Does that girl of yours tell you
everything
?"
"She can't help it, I think."
He and Barbara both smiled. Kelsey had succeeded in lightening the mood even when she wasn't there. Barb unfastened two buttons at the top of her dentist office uniform dress, giving Austin a peek at the low-cut lacy bra inside, an unlined one that you could see her dark nipples through. "I only wear things like this when I feel sexy," she said, giving him a twinkly eyed look that let him know it was because of everything that had happened between them over the weekend. She rose up on her tiptoes and gave him a soft kiss on the cheek — for all her leggy looks, Austin still had a few inches on her.
As she drove away, she wondered about the craziness of hiding behind the Barbi persona to do something she shouldn't be doing. Then she thought about Kelsey's mantra — it's all good, just have fun and enjoy it.
—
Alicia drove over to the farm for lunch. She had Mondays off, and was eager to talk to Margie about everything, even though she knew it would be awkward. Ryan would be there too. She always loved seeing him in his work clothes at the farm, all dirty and muscly. Seeing him like that two days after they'd fucked each other so thoroughly would be...interesting.
Margie greeted her on the front porch and they hugged, longer than usual.
"Ryan's out getting supplies," Margie said. "He said you and I should talk alone, but I think he was nervous about seeing you."
"Uh oh," Alicia said, fearing the worst. "Should I be worried? Are we okay?"
"We're fine! Really!"
"It was so odd driving past the girls' house just now."
"Good memories, I hope?"
Alicia smiled a shy smile. Margie smiled, too, and ushered her inside. "I was worried our friendship would change, but this feels the same," Margie said. "Want a beer?"
"One of your home brews? Sure! I know what you mean, though. I was so nervous driving over here."
"Seeing the guys might be strange."
"Yeah," Alicia said, glad that Ryan had bolted.
"So...we kinda...did a lot of stuff, with each other."
Alicia took a big swig of beer and smiled. "The kids call it fucking, I think."
"I know! Isn't that weird? Did they used to call girl stuff that when we were younger?"
"
Was
there even girl stuff when we were younger? I heard about it at college, but I never saw anything. It always seemed like something that wasn't real."
"I don't know how Kelsey and those girls live together," Margie said. "Do you think they just wear each other out constantly? I'd be sore."
Alicia giggled nervously and took another sip of her beer.
"So...wanna talk about...the big stuff?" Margie asked.
"We should...I think," Alicia said, looking shy.
"Ryan told me that you guys talked about...continuing."
Alicia looked horrified. "I didn't mean just him and me!"
"Oh, no, I know you meant all of us," Margie said.
"If you think it's horrible, it's fine. We can forget it."
"We're both in, if you guys are. We decided being swingers is too much fun to say no to."
"Really?" Alicia said, looking surprised. "Joey and I...we want to, too, but I didn't think you guys would want to."