Trouble Triangle (Tyler's Trouble Trilogy) (16 page)

"What I mean is, I know a few things about weaving tangled webs. I've done some web weaving myself. We've all made mistakes. It doesn't matter to me what you've done in the past." I pulled her toward me and rested my chin on top of her head.

She wiped her eyes with the back of her hands. "Do I act gay in bed?" It sounded like she was fishing f
or a compliment or reassurance.

"Quite the opposite." I got up and grabbed a box of tissues off the counter and handed them to her. I got her another glass and poured her a fresh whiskey, handed it to her, and sat back down. "So, you
wanna
tell me about it?"

She sighed and swigged her whiskey. "You know the TV evangelist, Cornelius Knig
ht?"

"Isn't he that guy that smacks people on the head?" I sipped my drink.

"It's not head smacking, you dope. It's the laying on of hands. Anyway, that's my dad. He—"

"Wait a minute, you never told me about that. I asked about your dad, and you just said he's on the road a lot. I thought he was a trucker."

She wiped her eyes with the tissue. "I wanted to make sure you weren't after me for my money." She sighed. "He's like totally rich. He's been pressuring me to get married, and wants me to bear him grand
children."

"Umm…did you know that you can't do that if you're a lesbian?"

"Duh."

She pushed her whiskey away and stood up. She walked into the kitchen, turned the stove on and boiled the water in the kettle. She pulled a jar of instant coffee out of the cupboard and
aimed the label toward me with her eyebrows raised. The mountain grown richness looked somewhat inviting, but I was quite happy with the whiskey. I shook my head. She returned moments later with her cup of coffee in hand and dropped back into her chair. "Daddy thinks the world of me and I don't want to disappoint him."

"Wait a minute, if he's loaded, why did you join this sailing club instead of your local yacht club?”

She drew a deep breath. "I shamed the family name. I went out drinking one night, and I had to pee, like really, really bad. But there wasn't a bathroom like anywhere. So I squatted next to a Mercedes, and some guy got a picture of me taking a tinkle." She sipped her coffee. "The guy knew me and my dad and blackmailed us. Daddy had to pay him like five thousand dollars for the photo, and to keep it out of the scandal sheets."

"Wow. So your pussy's worth five thousand dollars?"

To my surprise, she smiled. "You should know." She paused a moment and I mentally agreed. "Daddy said I needed to keep a low profile for a while. I was always under the microscope as a famous preacher's daughter. I needed a break, so I joined the Navy." She rubbed the back of her neck. "About a year ago, he started saying that I should have myself straightened out by now. Anyway, he wants me to present him with a husband and grandkids."

She sipped her coffee. "Then, I started trying to find Mr. Right, but they were all jerks. I told one of my friends at the time about it, and the next thing I knew we were doing lesbian things. I realized I didn't have the pressure when I was with her. It was just a bit of harmless fun." She tore her tissue into small pieces. "I relaxed because I knew it was a short term thing, and I didn't have to worry if she was the one or about getting pregnant." She raised both hands to the heavens and looked toward the ceiling. "It was like an escape from the pressures
of the great Cornelius Knight."

I lit a cigarette. "Debbie being the friend, right?"

She nodded. "Then she started getting all clingy and wanted a full-blown lesbian relationship. One night she said she loved me, and I freaked. Daddy would kill me then disown me if he knew. I told her to leave me alone, and I just pretended it never happened."

I grabbed a tissue and tried to wipe some of her mascara off. "If you're so afraid of your dad, why did you take the chance of getting kicked out to help me."

"After our first date, I liked you. You treated me really nice and special. I didn't want to see you get kicked out. Besides, I'm a risk freak and I have a thing for younger guys." She stopped a moment and looked deep into my eyes. I saw a twinkle from her inner most being. I sensed maybe she was falling in love with me, then she returned to her business-like manner. "I'm pretty smart, so putting those papers together, and pulling it off was almost like having an orgasm. Didn't you notice how great the sex was when we were doing that?"

"It's always great with you, babe." I leaned in and kissed her. A feeling of closeness washed over me. That must have been exceptionally difficult for Holly to admit. She confided her deepest secrets in me. I respected that and felt even closer to her now. It couldn't have been easy for her. Wow, a preacher's daughter. No wonder she's so wild.

"I bet you've never been to bed with someone who's done lesbian things before, have you?" She dipped her head and smiled nervously.

I resisted the temptation to say I was experienced in corking lesbians and would she care for a threesome. Instead, I shook my head. I got up and picked her purse up off the floor on the other side of the room, brought it back to the table, and sat down. I took a drag off my cigarette and rested it on the edge of the ashtray then pointed to the purse. "May I?"

She nodded, which indicated the ultimate show of trust. To be allowed to search through a woman's handbag was like giving Jesse Jackson the key to rummage around Klan headquarters.

I dug around and found her glasses. I put them on, resting them halfway down my nose, and looked over the top.

"Miss Knight, you've been a naughty girl. This is going to hurt you a lot more than it does me, but you need to be taught a lesson." I stood up and pointed toward her bedroom. "Now get in that room. You're going to get a spanking, and then we're having a gay check."

Holly smiled, got up and walked to the bedroom. Just outside the door, she dropped the back of her pants to give me a flash of that cute bare ass. I chased her in.

#

Holly dropped me off at my dorm the following morning. After I told Mark snippets of the night before, he waited in the room while I showered and changed, then we walked to the shop together.

"You certainly like your women volatile, don't you? A bit of the ole rough and tumble, eh?" Mark said.

"I had the perfect chance last night to dump Holly. She
fessed
up about her relationship with Debbie." I shook my finger in scolding fashion. "I could've used the old, 'You're a lying lesbian' line, and dumped her. She wouldn't have had the nerve to rat me out after that. And she thought I might be a gold digger. As if I'd be that shallow." I shook my head. "The perfect reasons laid before me."

"Why didn't you do it? Couldn't bear the thought of having to actually work at a relationship with someone who has a brain?"

I smacked him on the back of the head, looked at my watch, and pointed to a bench just off the walkway. "We got time, sit down." I pulled out a cigarette and lit up. "She was vulnerable. It would have been like kicking a puppy with a broken leg. Besides, she's not so bad, really. I saw a side to her last night I hadn't seen before. Actually, I really like her."

"Tyler, I'll give it to you straight, dude. The chick's unbalanced. She slapped you, your other girlfriend, and punched mine. And for something that was totally true. I mean, I think the girl has mental issues. Yeah, she's got a hot
bod
, and I think you've done well to get a piece of that tail. But a relationship? Come on, man, get real." He reached down, picked up part of a leaf from a palm tree, and ripped off little bits of it.

"After you two left," he continued, "Debbie said how much she liked you, and wanted you guys to be a couple. Okay, Debbie's a bit unstable herself, but I think if you went out with her, she'd straighten up. She really is a nice girl."

"I know, but Holly and I connected last night. Besides, she's blackmailing me." I took a drag.

"They're both blackmailing you, and interlocking pubic hairs doesn't count as a connection. You want my advice?"

I nodded.

"You've had your fun with Holly, and now you got the perfect excuse to get rid of her. And she's not going to do anything about it. She's not your type, man. She's a violent control freak. I think you should hook up with Debbie. You two are so alike. Or, dump '
em
both and stick to fucking whores and strippers." He stood up and looked at his watch. "Come on, we better go."

#

I went down to the
geedunk
bar mid-morning to get a drink and a candy bar. I stood at the coke machine putting the change in.

"Sorry about last night."

I turned. Debbie stood next to me. I hesitated answering, trying to decide if I wanted to let her off the hook so easy. "Yeah, me too," I said as I punched the Coke button.

"I was a bit drunk. I shouldn't have confronted her like that, but I'm paying the price." She folded her arms and leaned against the coke machine.

"
Hungover
?" I asked.

She rubbed the side of her head. "Well, yeah, that too. Knight transferred me to the lagging shop. So, I guess we won't be sharing any more morning
ciggies
before work."

"That's a shame. I'm sorry about that, Debs."

"I think you should come around tonight so I can give you a proper apology? You will do that, won't you?"

Shit. Here we go. "You're still blackmailing me, then?"

She nodded.

In that case, it was kind of justified. Holly had duty so she'd be in the admin building all night. If I had to do it to keep Debbie sweet, tonight was as good as any. "Fine. I'll bring some beer. What time?"

I had showered, shaved, and put on my best pair of jeans. I came out of the liquor store on base
with a twelve pack of Coors.

To keep Holly, I had to keep screwing Debbie. In some ways I resented her. It's a pretty poor show when you have to threaten someone with under-handed tactics
to keep them in a relationship.

Nevertheless, I couldn't take the chance of upsetting Debbie or making her mad. There was too much at stake. Most of our nights together consisted of shot-gunning beers, telling each other dirty jokes, and then going at it like rabbits. If I wasn't cheating on my girlfriend, it would've been perfect. I had to keep reminding myself I was a victim in all of this and had to suppress my joy in two hot chi
cks digging the shit out of me.

As I walked to her dorm, I knew she would be lighting candles, making her brown room as romantic as possible. I liked that about Debbie. She could turn drab into erotic with strategically placed candles and burning incense. She'd wear teasing clothes that revealed enough to get the blood pumping. Anticipation of her hot, suppl
e body put a spring in my step.

"Hey, sailor, my bicycle seat needs adjusting. Got time to have a look?"

I turned to see Holly's red Mustang crawling along the street. She pulled up and stopped
and I walked over to the curb.

"Hi, babe." I rested my arms against the passenger door and leaned through the open window. Even though I hadn't done anything wrong yet, I felt guilty. I reminded myself that I was like a kidnap victim, merely fucking my captor for
survivial
. "What are you doing here? I thought you were stuck in the admin building for the night."

"They switched my duty nights, so I'm off tonight." She pointed at the beer. "What are you doing with a twelve pack?"

"Ah, me and Mark were just
gonna
knock back a few cans in the room. He's a bit low tonight, so I
gotta
try and cheer him up."

"Oh, blow him off. Come on, get in. We'll go back to my place, and I'll make Grandma's spaghetti for you. I know how much you like that."

You have got to be kidding me
. "What a shame. I'd love that, but I already ate." I rubbed my stomach and puffed out my cheeks. "I'm really full."

"Never mind. We'll just have a few bevies. If you're good, I'll take you to bed. If you're bad, I'll still take you to bed, but I'll have to teach you a lesson first." She smiled.

My mind shifted to Debbie. She'd go mental if she
I knew I ditched her for Holly.

"I was just going to have a few beers and go to bed. I'm a bit tired." I stretched my arms and faked a yawn. "Mark and Lori are having a few problems, and he wanted to talk about it. Sorry, babe, maybe another time."

"Oh, come on, Tyler. You look really handsome tonight and I need a man." She rubbed her hand between her legs. She leaned over toward me, her blouse unbuttoned enough to reveal her cleavage. I could just see the top of her red bra. "Chambers, get your ass in the car," she demanded. "I'm so horny I could fuck a cat toy."

I never heard her say fuck before. I didn't know what this cat toy thing was all about, but it obviously had something to do with pussy, and
it certainly sounded exciting.

"Okay, you win. Can I just run up and tell Mark I can't make it tonight?"

"You got two minutes, lover." She looked at herself in the rear-view mirror.