Get-Together Summer (5 page)

Simon flushed and pulled away, biting his lip. It was
disconcerting to realize how comfortable he'd actually been,
leaning against Dirk, with Haley's hand on his face. "I really am
fine," he mumbled, sullen. "I was just tired. It's not a big
deal."

Haley drew in a breath like she was going to say
something, but Dirk reached to put a hand on her shoulder and she
cut herself off. The look she gave Simon was searching, though, as
if she still didn't believe his excuses. (And really, he knew, she
wasn't wrong, but that was the last thing he wanted to admit to,
especially in front of Dirk, but even more than that, especially in
public, where anyone might see or hear.)

The walk back home was agonizingly slow. It felt as
if someone had maliciously doubled the distance it had been to walk
there, each block twice as long -- maybe even three times! -- as
they should have been. Simon let himself lag behind, staring at
Dirk and Haley, walking shoulder-to-shoulder before him. Every now
and then Haley would glance back, as if to make sure he hadn't been
left behind, but the look on her face just made him feel worse. It
wasn't hard to read the concern on her face, especially when he
knew her so well. The last thing he'd wanted was to actually worry
her.

Dirk only looked at him once, as they were heading up
the stairs and into the house. His expression was unreadable, but
something about it was almost solemn, weighted in a way that Simon
could feel settling on him like a tangible force.

Once inside, he thought about fleeing to his own
room, but Dirk simply kissed Haley's cheek and said he would get
dinner started, then strolled on to leave them both alone in the
wide entrance hallway. Haley watched him go, but when Simon began
to edge for the stairs, she turned on him, crossing her arms
again.

"Simon, come on," she said. "If there's something
wrong, tell me."

"There isn't." He stuffed his hands into his pockets
now and hunched his shoulders. It went against all of his instincts
as an Oakley, with all those years of his father urging him to
stand up straight and to carry himself with pride, but he didn't
really want to meet her eyes. "I just didn't sleep that well,
that's all. That's not a crime, is it?"

"I never said it was." She took a step towards him,
uncrossing her arms to reach for him again. "Come on, Simon--"

Her fingertips brushed his cheek lightly and it took
more effort than he wanted to admit to not just jerk away. Even
then, Haley pulled back a little, though she didn't yet drop her
hand. He still couldn't quite meet her eyes, even though he could
feel the weight of her gaze on him. When he still refused to say
anything, though, she sighed and crossed her arms again. The move
looked almost defensive now, as if she were attempting to tuck
herself up smaller before him. "You know, you can always say no,
right? Dirk's not trying to bully you or anything. He's just that
sort of guy."

I don't want to hear it, Simon thought, but all he
managed to say was, "He's too loud."

"He's enthusiastic," she said, and ran a quick hand
through her hair. "I didn't really like it that much at first
either, okay?" She made a brief face and shrugged. "He comes on
really strong sometimes. But if you give him a chance, he's a
really easy guy to get to know. I think the two of you could be
good friends." The look she gave him was anxious, and she made a
half-aborted move towards him, her hand half-rising but not quite
touching his.

Briefly his earlier fantasy flashed through his mind,
the sprawl of Dirk's legs around him and hard arms wrapped securely
around him from behind. He shook his head fiercely to clear it.

"Really," Haley protested. "He's
really not a bad guy under all of the posturing, no matter what
he'd like you to believe. Or what
you'd
like to believe."

He gritted his teeth before he could find the will to
speak again. "It's really fine," he said. "I'm just not feeling
well. For real. It's just a headache. Because I slept badly."

She tilted her head. He knew the look on her face too
well: not quite disbelief, tempered by a heavy layer of concern.
There were some downsides to knowing someone this well, and being
known in return. "Go lie down then," she said finally. "We'll call
you when dinner's ready, and if you're not hungry, we'll save some
for you, all right?"

"I don't want leftovers," he said, but it was a weak
complaint, more grateful for the excuse she was handing him. Haley
rolled her eyes but waved him off, turning back to the kitchen.
Simon went about halfway up the stairs, going slowly as possible,
then crouched down, straining his ears. The rest of the house was
silent enough for their voices to carry:

"So, how was it?"

"He's still upset about
something
, but he won't
tell me. I think maybe he's scared of you."

"Scared? Seriously?"

"He's not really used to people that his father
doesn't introduce to him. You'd know what I mean, if you met any of
his 'friends.'"

"Don't care for them much?"

"They're awful!" There was a sharp
note in her voice, rising close to true distress, and Simon winced
to hear it. "It's like you can
see
the slime coming off of them, it's so gross. I'm
surprised they let
me
still talk to him. He's
my
cousin, but they act like they've got more right
to talk to him than I do!"

Simon swallowed and began to creep
slowly down the stairs, one at a time, keeping his body pressed to
the railing. The resentment in her voice surprised him; he'd always
known she wasn't too fond of his friends, though he'd never really
bothered to ask
why
.

"You
are
his cousin, though, so who the
hell's gonna tell you no?"

"You don't know these people!"
There was a thud, like a stomping foot. "They're just -- they're
gross! They're gross, and their parents are gross, but Uncle Walt
eats it up because he needs that ego boost or something, and
they're not even
his
friends. Even Mom likes it sometimes, you know? It's like if
you have enough money, then that suddenly becomes an excuse to
ignore all the things you don't like ..."

"Aw, babe, it's not that bad."

"How is it not?! I'm so tired of it--"

He heard a shuffling noise, and the metal clanking of
pots, and the rustling of drawers opening and closing. "You turned
out all right, I think. If you were really as snobby as the rest of
them, I wouldn't be here."

Haley sighed, loud enough that Simon could hear it
clearly. "Or maybe I'm just a bored rich girl looking for a quick
fling with a bad boy."

"That's all right too."

"Is it?"

"Yeah, so long as there's only one 'bad boy' and by
'fling' you mean for a pretty damn long time. Years, maybe."

There was a pause, and then Haley laughed; it was a
bright sound that startled Simon to hear, and he shrank further
against the railings for a moment. "Stupid, you don't get to just
redefine things to suit you."

"Maybe I do, what about that?"

There was a pause and rustling, and then Haley's
voice, more breathless: "Hey, come on, what about dinner?"

"Ovens take a while to preheat. We'll be waiting for
a bit."

"Not that long!"

"I don't take nearly as long, baby."

She burst into laughter again, quickly followed by
Dirk doing the same. Simon made it to the bottom of the stairs and
continued to creep slowly along the wall. "Oh my god, you really
just said that, I can't believe you! How am I supposed to take that
seriously?"

"Maybe you shouldn't, and that's when I'll catch
you."

Simon stopped just short of the corner that turned
into the kitchen, listening to the sounds of rustling, and then the
sound of a kiss, soft and long, punctuated beginning and ending by
a few stray giggles. "Dirk, come on ..."

"I'm trying to." He sounded piteous now. "But I need
your help with that."

"What are you -- hey! Put me down! Dirk!"

There was a thud and a clatter, and Simon dared to
peek around for just a moment. Haley was seated on one of the
counters now, with Dirk leaning up between her legs, and she was
flushed and scowling, though her eyes were bright. It reminded
Simon too much of his dream, and he ducked out of the way before
she could glance around the kitchen at all.

"You're awful. What if Simon came down?"

Simon went very still, his breath catching in his
throat. His chest felt like some icy hand had reached inside and
given it a hard squeeze.

"We can be quick," Dirk wheedled. "If you can be
quiet, I'll make it fast for you."

"What if I don't
want
fast?"

"Then don't worry about him and have fun with
me."

Simon pressed his back hard against the wall,
covering his mouth with a hand, as if he could suffocate himself.
He heard them kiss again, slow and lingering.

"But what if he really did see ..." She sounded more
uncertain now, wavering in the face of whatever Dirk was doing to
her.

"I don't know." There was an odd note in Dirk's voice
again, something teasing and something probing. "I think maybe
you'd like that, Haley."

"Wh-what?"

"You like pretending you're such a good girl, don't
you? But you're kind of into that sort of thing, you can't fool
me." There was a creak and then the smooth hush of skin sliding
over skin. "I think you'd like it if someone saw you like this, or
maybe even later on, all spread open ... or maybe not just anyone,
but someone specific?"

She whimpered, a small strangled noise, and Simon
finally dared to peek around the corner again.

Her dress was hiked up, the hem over her breasts and
a corner of it held in her mouth, as if to keep it in place. Dirk
was rubbing his hands up and down her sides, from just under her
breasts to the bend of her knees, spread around him. Her face was
flushed and her head was turned slightly aside, like she couldn't
quite look at what he was doing to her. He leaned forward to press
his mouth over the curve of one breast, just above the cup of her
bra, and sucked hard for a moment; when he pulled away with a wet
pop, there was a bright red mark left on her white skin.

"You'd definitely like it," he crooned, his voice
low, and this time when he smoothed his hands down, he hooked his
fingers into the band of her panties and tugged. She lifted her
hips at that, letting him slide them down and off her legs before
dropping them to the floor. "You're kind of a show off, aren't you,
baby? You know that's how I first noticed you? Some hotshot rich
pretty girl thought she'd be better at shooting than I was? You
can't just let that sort of thing go."

Haley mumbled something, then let
the dress slip from her mouth to repeat herself. "I
was
better at shooting
than you."

"But you were bragging about it so
much," he purred. "It was like nothing could touch you, huh? But
everyone was looking at you when you did those demos, and I think
you liked it. I think you like when there are people looking your
way. But maybe you're used to it too, huh? Maybe it's because
you've decided to ignore them all unless it's the one guy you know
best." He turned his head and nipped her ear, following when she
shivered and jerked back. "What
if
that pretty cousin of yours also decided to look,
huh? What if he just happened to poke his head in and see you like
this?"

His arms slid up and back; there was a snap, and her
bra came loose abruptly. He only pushed that up, with the folds of
her dress, leaning to rub his cheek against first one nipple, then
the other. Haley caught his shoulders for balance, squeezing her
eyes shut and moaning. She was blushing harder now, squirming in
place, until Dirk had to catch hold of her hips to keep her from
slipping off the counter.

"Everyone looks at you because you're pretty," Dirk
murmured, his voice muffled now as he nuzzled between her breasts.
"But you expect that, don't you? You like walking into a room and
knowing everyone's eyes are drawn to you. People look at you and
they want you, and that's what you like, right? But he's pretty
too, isn't he? All of you Oakleys, you're all so goddamn pretty,
it's like you don't even have to think about that. Maybe you'd
rather think about this instead, think about him looking and seeing
you like this. What if he liked it, huh? What if he was watching
right now, touching himself because he was looking at you?"

She shivered hard and hunched her shoulders, turning
her head away; her blush spread down to her breasts. Dirk kissed
the top of one, then the other, and his voice was richly amused. "I
think you do. You like just imagining it, you want him to be
jacking off to you like this. That's what you're doing right now,
aren't you?"

"N-no ..." Haley squirmed in place, her fingers
flexing on his shoulders. She was blushing harder than she had been
the first time Simon had watched them. "I, I really am worried if
he catches us ... h-he might be upset ..."

"But are you worried enough?" He reached up and took
her chin delicately between his fingertips, turning her back
towards him. She blinked slowly, flushed dark pink, lips parted.
"You just say the word, baby, and I'll back off."

Haley bit her lower lip, then let her teeth rake
back, leaving it plumper and redder than before. "Dirk ..."

He leaned up and kissed the tip of her nose. "Or we
can keep going, if you like that."