The Barter System (29 page)

He didn’t tell her about his
deep love for her, he wouldn’t put that on her hurting heart.  “I want to take
you out, dinner and dancing and laughter.  Then I want to bring you back here
and make love to you until you fall asleep.  To prove to you how beautiful you
are, how kind, how generous.  I want to do that until I have to let you
go.”    

They held one another for a
long time and at last, he kissed her and she smiled.  They dressed together, he
wore pressed Wranglers and dress boots with a black button-down shirt. 

She pulled on tight jeans
and a snug black sweater with heeled ankle boots, pulling her hair back in a
loose braid.  Her eyes hurt so she didn’t wear any makeup but lip gloss.  He
took her hand and opened the bedroom door. 

His sons were sitting in the
living room.  As one, they stood and approached them.  Each of them took one of
her hands and starting talking softly, talking together, “We’re so sorry,
Riya.  We had no right.  Please forgive us.  Our father raised us better than
that.  It was a shock, seeing someone so familiar and caring with him.  We
loved our mom but she was never that way with him.  In the ten years we saw
them together, she never fought for Dad like you did.  You’re a good woman. 
Extremely hot, as well, if I might add.  Good going there, Dad.  Screaming
orgasms…I could have gone my whole life without that visual.  Give us another
chance to show you our charming sides.  We do have them.  Say we’re forgiven.”

Riya leaned up and kissed
each one on the cheek, “You’re forgiven.  I won’t be here much longer.”  She
took a deep breath and cursed the tears gathering in her eyes, “You need to
remember him better than you have.  If you’ll give me your word, we’ll pretend
like none of this ever happened.”  At their nod, she smiled sadly and went to
the kitchen. 

“Dad?  Is she in love with
you?  She’s so sad.”

“She loves each of us enough
to hurt her.  This is wearing her down, hurting her in small pieces.  Help me
make her laugh tonight and we’ll be square.”  He clapped his sons on their
shoulders and led them out of the house. 

Everyone piled in Lucas’
Excursion and he drove them into Billings.  They went to a steakhouse and he
finally got Riya to start eating.  His sons regaled her with stories of their
youth, and of Lucas, and by the time they ordered coffee, she was smiling
again. 

Becca and Sharon had a
million questions for her, fascinated with her work and research.  “My biggest
question, after you’ve told us how many applications you received, is how the hell
did you narrow it down?  I know why my sister and I would choose Lucas but
we’ve known him our entire lives.” 

She cleared her throat, “The
first thing I had to do was separate the liars; there were a lot as you can
imagine.  It was a long process.  I got some hate mail from the ones I
rejected.  Then I selected those men I found physically attractive.  Out of all
I’d received, I found less than five hundred physically attractive.  Not that
the others weren’t good-looking men, I just tend to be picky, I guess.  For
instance, I don’t actually prefer blonds, sorry Matt.” 

They all laughed.  “I also
have a height thing.  I wear heels and I don’t want to feel like I’m walking
around with my little brother.  I realize this all sounds very shallow, but I knew
that in order to get what I needed, I was trading something as well.  I wasn’t
going to commit to my side of the deal with someone I truly didn’t have an
attraction to.  Out of that five hundred, I divided them into age and a bunch
of other smaller details.  After a month, I realized there was one group I
always seemed to go back to.  My “first choice” batch.  There were less than
ten men in that pile. 

“Of those ten, I originally
only needed six.  I changed that to eight based on two men I felt had a
particular something I needed for my dissertation.  Each submitted an
application, a photo, a criminal background check, medical history…and my
personal favorite, an essay.  Of the men I chose, I believe it was their essays
that decided it more than anything else.

“Each person will be
numbered in my final dissertation.  Redacted versions of their essays and
applications will be included.  There will be nothing to identify them to the
dissertation review committee or to anyone in the public.  But I will always
know them, perhaps differently than anyone else because I was in their lives
for such a short time.  Each has given me what I needed for my research.  I, in
turn, gave them more than I expected.  Turns out, I gave each little pieces of
my heart.” 

She smiled at Becca and
Sharon, “I would not recommend it.  I don’t know if I would do it again if I’d
known then what I know now.”

Tia asked her gently, “What
do you know now, Riya?”

“That it is
possible
to fall in love with many people and give them a piece of yourself they earn
from you…a piece they can never give back to you.  Not that you want it back
because it
belongs
with them now.  That I somehow perfectly chose a
handful of men out of thirteen thousand I could easily fall in love with and
who would love me well in return.  That part is getting…painful.” 

She pasted a bright smile on
her face and fanned herself.  “Wow, enough about all that.  Are we going
dancing?”  Following her lead, they all changed the subject and requested the
check.  Lucas’s hand held hers fiercely and she took strength from him to keep
it together.

They drove to a huge red
barn in the middle of nowhere everyone swore was a bar.  By the time she
entered the double doors, she was so relieved to have noise and smoke and music
that she was smiling for real. 

The DJ was blasting
Play
Something Country
and Lucas pulled her to the dance floor and two-stepped
her around until she was laughing and flushed. 

His sons appeared at the
edge of the dance floor and she was struck by how attractive all of them were. 
Women were all over the twins and eyeing Lucas hungrily, likely wondering who
the hell she was and how she’d managed to get him out in the world. 

When
Come a Little Closer
started, Lucas pulled her in close and guided her easily with his arms around
her.  He whispered in her ear about how good and kind she was.  That she’d come
out of all this stronger, not weaker, strengthened by the love of the men who
were fortunate enough to love her for a little while.  To never doubt what
she’d given each of them in return. 

Halfway through
Cowboy
Take Me Away
she excused herself to wash her face.  Once she had herself
together she put her shoulders back and told herself to go out there and have
fun. 

The women pulled her out to
line dance.  She watched the steps a couple of times and then was doing it like
she’d known it for years.  Glad to have pretty women laughing on the dance
floor, the DJ followed up with a dance version of
Cotton-Eyed Joe
.  She
focused on the steps and soon all the women were laughing as they danced. 
Everyone hit the floor when
Sweet Home Alabama
started playing, Lucas
spinning her around the floor and watching her smile.

They closed the bar and
drove to Lucas’ house with the radio blasting, all of them singing along.  They
said goodbye in the driveway and watched as everyone piled in their vehicles
and drove away.  The twins would be staying at Matt and Tia’s but said they’d
all see her tomorrow.  

Lucas loved her all night,
over and over, watching her come and making her scream.  When she finally
started to drift to sleep, she whispered how much she would miss him. 

He spooned behind her and
held her until he crashed, waking at dawn to love her down again.  When she
climbed over him and rode him hard, he shouted her name to the ceiling and put
bruises on her hips from gripping her so hard. 

When they woke up much
later, she asked him to do her second survey and he nodded, kissing her
gently.  She went to grab her laptop and climbed back in bed beside him,
sitting back on the pillows fully naked.  He propped himself on his hand and
watched her work until she was ready for him.  She had reading glasses perched
on her nose, her hair wild and loose around her. 

SURVEY TWO         

Subject Name:  Lucas

What is the most common phrase you use
for intercourse?
 

Making love…especially now.

What is the primary trait that attracts
you to a member of the opposite sex?
 

Generosity.  I never realized how
important it was.

When was your first sexual encounter?
 

When I was seventeen.  It was my first
time with my late wife.  I would wish it away but then I wouldn’t have my boys.   

Do you remember details of that
encounter?
 

The bed of my first truck, lying on
blankets.  Hot summer night and mosquitoes.  But I was in love and thought I’d
never be happier.  I was wrong.

Have you ever had contact with your first
sexual partner after the first time?
 

I ended up married to her.      

How often do you masturbate?
 

Used to just tune out the need, stroking
off was rare.  Now I have a feeling it will be hourly.          

Do you have a scenario to facilitate
masturbation?
 

I do now.  A beautiful woman riding
hellishly fast with her long hair streaming out behind her.       

Have you ever engaged in sex with a
person you did not know?
 

Never.

Where is the most unusual place you've
had sex?
 

In the cave on the ridge behind my house
with a wood nymph.         

How many casual sexual encounters have
you had in the last year?
 

None.  There was nothing casual about my
sexual encounter.           

When she received the email
from the next subject, she put her hands over her face and cried.  He held her
and soothed her, made love to her again then made her get back to work. 

Hi, Riya:

Looking forward to meeting you, I’m
currently on leave from a gunshot wound to the shoulder but I’m almost 100%
again.  I’ll grab you from wherever you want or send a car for you.  Just let
me know.  Be safe traveling.  There are too many psychos out there.  Ric

SURVEY ONE

Subject Name:  Ricardo

Subject Age:              31

Subject Career:  Police Officer

Marital Status:  Divorced

Children (Y/N):  N

Annual Income:  75K

Location:  Los Angeles, CA

What was your primary motivation for
applying to this study?
 

Honestly, my first thought was how hot
you were.  Then I read your essay guidelines and realized you were brilliant. 
So I’m very curious about you.           

What do you hope to gain by your
participation?
 

Maybe learn things about myself I didn’t
know before.          

What is one thing you wish the
investigator to know about you?
 

I’m not the stereotypical Hispanic loser
that treats women like dirt.  Or the abusive cop type.  I’m actually a nice guy
who has a huge respect for women.    

Do you have any negative assumptions
regarding this study?
 

I worry I won’t be as into you as I was
my ex-wife, I’m still destroyed over her leaving me.  Worse would be falling
for you.  Losing another woman would suck.

What is your most secret sexual fantasy?
 

Cuffing a woman to the bed while I do
whatever I want.