Page 36 of Chasing Lynda

He sets his glass back onto the table. “Then why did you try to approach her anyway?”

I shrug. “For the same reason you did last night when you saw her on the beach during your run. Because she looked lonely and a little scared and so fucking beautiful at the same time. That’s why I went to get the ice cream, to have an excuse to talk to her. Exactly the same thing you did when you went to get her backpack from the lost and found.”

Zane considers that for a short moment. “You’re right. I wanted an excuse to talk to her. She didn’t look like she wanted to be around other people but at the same time she looked so lost. I really wanted to talk to her. So what happened? Did she tell you to shove your ice cream where the sun don’t shine?”

His grin makes me laugh. “Actually, no. I didn’t have the chance to talk to her. By the time I got the ice cream, she had left. I saw her walking off the pier and on the beach with the same guys we found her with later on. I thought she was with them, that she was here with friends after all, so I let it go.”

Carter pours refills for everyone before setting his dark eyes on me. “Ok, so you saw her first. Are you trying to call dibs or something equally childish?”

I shake my head. “No, dude. We aren’t in middle school anymore. I’m just telling you that I noticed her and I was gutted when she ran at the beach later that night and then excited when I saw her earlier on at the contest.”

Dodge snickers at my words. “That’s a fucking way to put it! Even though I have to admit, her tits are phenomenal.”

I can’t contain an eye roll. “And then you say I’m the man-whore! But yeah, sure. Any of us would have to be blind to not notice those tits.” I look at each of my best friends. “What I was trying to say, before I was rudely interrupted, is that I noticed her just as much as you guys did. That I voted for her not just because she has the sexiest tits I’ve seen in years, but because I wanted to get the chance to talk to her; and I still do. I had no idea that I’d have all this competition though.”

Zane gets the gist of what I’m trying to say. Again, it’s the elephant in the room. Something we never talk about. “You’re right, Bennett. We don’t want her to be another Chrissie,” he states.

Silence descends between us as we look at each other. To my surprise, Dodge is the first one to talk. “I mean, we aren’t fifteen anymore, right?”

Zane nods. “Yup. And hopefully Lynda wouldn’t try to use sex to destroy our friendship.”

Carter sighs, running a hand through his blond hair in his typical nervous tick. “I don’t think it would be the same thing. We didn’t grow up with Lynda, so there shouldn’t be any possessiveness or deep-rooted feelings there. And as long as we’re upfront with each other about it, I don’t see why this should be a problem.”

Dodge agrees. “Right. We all have a lot more experience now. We aren’t teenagers losing our V-cards to a conniving, lying bitch who tried to use her pussy to have us at each other’s throats.”

I try to lighten the mood in the room when I realize that they’re all thinking about that summer of a long time ago. “Ha! Nothing creates more of a bond than losing our virginity to the same girl.”

Dodge grinds his jaw at my jibe. “You talk about it as if it was a rite of passage, Bennett. But she made us all believe that she was in love, while two-timing us—”

Zane interrupts him. “Two-timing? More like four-timing! She fucked us all and tried to make us jealous. She thrived on creating conflict between the four of us. And then she chose you, Dodge.”

There’s something haunted in Dodge’s gaze. “She did. But y’all know that it was never smooth sailing. You guys, and Mitch, weren’t the only ones she cheated with. I thought it was because we were too young for something so serious. You can’t promise forever to someone when you’re fifteen or sixteen. I didn’t want to lose her at first, so we agreed on an open relationship. I mean, truth be told, I was curious about experiencing sex with someone that wasn’t her; but after finding her in bed with Mitch, I realized that Chrissie was never going to stop sleeping around.”

I set down my empty glass. “The only bright side on her cheating with that douche, is that he won’t know what hit him until she chews him up and spits him right out.”

Zane agrees. “True. But somehow I doubt that Mitch has the brain power or the emotional capability to even get hurt by someone cheating on him. Plus, if you ask me, it would only be karma since he didn’t care about fucking your fiancée.”

Dodge looks around the room, meeting each of our gazes. “I never thanked you for stepping aside all those years ago, guys. And for tolerating her for my sake. After how it ended, I—”

I stretch to clap his good shoulder. “Dude, we’re brothers. No woman will ever change that. I don’t know about the others, but I slept with her all those years ago, because ... I mean, pussy, right? What fifteen year old wouldn’t jump at the chance? And I asked her about you back then but she’d promised me that there was nothing between the two of you or I would’ve resisted the temptation.”

Carter intervenes. “She said the same to me. I think it’s safe to say that she just wanted to sample all the options before making a choice.”

I chuckle at his choice of words. “You make us sound like frozen yogurt, dude!”

Carter smiles. “Yeah, that’s a fucking good metaphor. She wanted to try all the different samples before buying.”

I can’t resist the opportunity to tease him. “Really? And who would be vanilla then? You, Carter?”

He flips me off but there’s no heat in his reaction. “Fuck you, Ben! But no, seriously. Let’s leave the past in the past. Truth be told I’m not surprised that, like then, we all feel attracted to the same woman.”

I agree. “Me neither. So, what are we going to do? We don’t know Lynda like we did Chrissie. So I don’t really mind if we all go for it. There’s nothing wrong with showing her a good time and have a little challenge between the four of us.”

Zane sighs, exasperated. “What? Do you want to compete for her? As if that ever goes well in movies and books!”

I laugh at his preoccupied tone. “That’s because in those stories people lie about it. We just openly compete for her. She gets to choose. She could choose one of us or none of us. Like that, there’s no reason to fight. It isn’t a game or anything else. Just normal dating. The only difference is that we all get to pursue her and we all know what the deal is. So there’s no chance of manipulation and when she chooses me, you guys can’t be mad.”

Dodge laughs at my provocation and for the first time since his engagement went down in flames, the tension seems to leave his large frame. “The fuck she’s gonna choose you, loser! I’ll have you all remember that some of you might’ve kissed her but she kissed me!”

---