Page 6 of Embracing Trust

As we take our seats at the table with our friends, Mark takes a pull from his beer bottle and then turns to Julia. “Did you know Merilee swears she can beat me in a game of pool?”

Julia smiles, so mischievous and sexy. “I’m sure she could, Mark. She’s pretty good.”

Mark rubs the scruff on his chin and turns to Merilee. “Where’d you learn to play pool, darlin’?”

What the hell? Is he trying to act like some cowboy?

Julia smirks. “Oh, there’s a lot of stuff she knows how to do that would surprise you…darlin.’”

I practically choke on my beer at Julia’s remark.

Mark leans in even closer to Merilee, his eyes fixed on hers. “Oh? Is that so? We should go play pool sometime and have a few whiskey paralyzers.”

Those within earshot howl with laughter. The whiskey paralyzer events happened on a senior camping trip, right before graduation.

Merilee gasps. “No! Absolutely not.” She clenches her hand to her heart and laughs. “I can barely drink whiskey to this day.”

Of course, her comment sends more laughter through the group. I catch a glimpse of Julia and her smile is genuine, her eyes warm and bright, tension fades.

“Hey, Kevin, since you’re marrying Amy now, is her mom still mad at you?” Brad calls across the table.

Kevin smirks and shakes his head, and he rubs the label off his beer bottle. “Yeah, pretty sure of it.”

Mark wiggles his eyebrows. “Mommy walked in on Kevin and Amy.” He puts his hands on his hips, shakes his index finger, and purses his lips as he impersonates Amy’s mom. “Oh, Kevin…you terrible boy. What are you doing to my daughter?”

Kevin grins. “Shut your hole, White.”

Brad gives a fake pout. “Poor Kevin.”

“Hey, Julia. Have you ever been back to Cedar Lake?” Amy asks as she looks at Merilee. Both girls crack up when Merilee snorts.

Julia grins and shakes her head. “I was definitely feeling no pain.”

“I didn’t mind it,” I add, as I waggle my eyebrows.

“Our friend Julia did her best impression of a skinny-dipping mermaid,” Merilee says and takes a pull from her beer bottle.

“It was dark,” Julia insists, “and no one could see me. Besides, someone dared me.”

“Dared you?” Brad asked, incredulously. “Who would do that?”

“If Mark wouldn’t have touched my camera.” Julia grins. She runs her finger around the top of her margarita glass, gathering the salt and popping it into her mouth.

How the hell did that look so damn sexy?

Mark pulls his Mr. Innocent act. “It was just sitting by your tent, waiting to be used.”

“That’s how Julia got such a good grade in her photography class,” Merilee says and downs the rest of her beer.

“Yeah, ole Mr. Hanson really liked Jules after that,” I tease as I study her. I hope she’s enjoying this as much as I am. We had so many good times with this group of friends.

“We had to learn to use film cameras and I brought the camera from school on the trip. Mark took my picture, and I didn’t know it.”

“I swear I didn’t know it was the school’s camera,” Mark says as he holds up his right hand as if taking an oath.What an asshole.

“You’re just a pervert, Mark,” Julia teases.

Mark has a shit-eating grin on his face. “You can image Julia’s surprise when they start developing their film in the darkroom and the pictures come out from her little exhibition.”

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