Page 42 of Only One Bed: Anthology Vol. 1
In The Cards
Sarah E. Lily
Grunting from exertion, whilst trying to spit out tendrils of curly red hair that had invaded her mouth, Emme tossed her well-loved black camera gear bag into the backseat of Kendall’s dusty red truck, “I really appreciate this. It means a lot, honestly.”
Kendall’s mischievous top lip curved in the right corner, “Hey, it’s not that big of a deal. It’s going to be a beautiful day, might as well be on the river. Plus we haven’t hung out since Sierra’s engagement barbeque.”
Emme’s stomach dropped a bit. That damn smirk. That damn swagger. It had been a killer in college, and it appeared it had exactly the same effect on her now, that it had when they were rushing to biology class, drinking cheap beer, or chilling out to perpetually sad indie pop music. Who knew swagger aged well, like whiskey?
Dragging the toe of her neon pink sneaker through the gravel, turning it into a parking lot Zen garden, the photographer collected her secret self. “I know, but you guide people on the river all week...and they actually pay you.”
“I told you not to worry about the money. It’ll be fun. I haven’t actually camped out since my brother’s bachelor party, where the highlight was his best friend getting drunk and pissing in the food cooler. This is bound to be better. Although I should have asked, do you have a habit of peeing in coolers?”
Emme half snorted, half giggled, “I can guarantee that nothing of the sort will happen on this excursion. The strongest thing I packed was soda that wasn’t diet.”
Kendall covered her mouth feigning shock, “Emme, I believe you have gone to the dark side.”
Emme wrinkled her nose at Kendall, then turned to finish loading her things into the truck, smiling the whole time and trying to remember the last time she felt nervous excitement.
A memory of their senior formal popped into her head, a kaleidoscope of Polaroids cascading through her mind. She had spent weeks looking for the perfect dress, something that said, “I’m a woman and I’m proud of my body but I don’t give a fuck what you think of my body.”
Something blue that definitely had nothing to do with the fact that Kendall had once told her that blue made her green eyes glow. Two days before the dance she’d stumbled across a vintage, indigo, sequined creation that molded to her hips as if it was second skin, the bodycon design hinting at the curves that lay beneath. The big night came and when she’d slipped that damn dress on, she felt radiant, excruciating excitement, and for an evening, unstoppable.
She was a goddess in that thing.
It was going to be one of the last nights the class would be together before graduation and the inevitable natural scattering of newly enlightened minds into the world. She knew Kendall would be there with Marina, and Emme had her date Tyson, but if for a few minutes she glowed and Kendall noticed, all the nervous buildup would be worth it.
Everything would be worth it.
Kendall had stared so much that Emme was pretty sure she remembered her stepping on Marina’s feet during a slow song. After the dance, Emme and her show-stopping dress went home alone, to the dismay of Tyson, a cutie from her art and theory class. He was nice but it just didn’t feel right. Not because he was a guy, because goodness knew she liked guys just as much as she liked girls, but because he wasn’t her.
He wasn’t Kendall.
And years may have passed, but still no-one was Kendall. Their ride to the boat dock wasn’t far, but it was long enough to allow Emme’s attention to linger on the way her friend worked the stick shift.Christ on a cracker. When did changing gears become so hot?What else could those hands do?Emme thought to herself.It’s been five fucking years since college, and she still does this to me.
Morning sun cascaded through the window creating a delicate pattern across the river guide’s neck. Emme watched the pattern, noticing how the dappling of the light across Kendall’s rich brown skin resembled a delicate piece of lace. She focused on the visual, cataloguing it in her mind. Something so beautiful needed to be remembered.
“Em, you okay?
“Yeah of course, why?”
“You’re pretty quiet over there.”
Just busy salivating over your damn sexy neck.
“Yeah, no, I’m just enjoying the sun.”
Kendall glanced over at her passenger with a puzzled expression, “Okay, well we’re here and you’ll get plenty of sun. I hope you brought sunblock because if I remember right, you go from red to lobster in 60 seconds.”
“Yep, still true. The curse of being a redhead.”
Emme quickly unbuckled and hopped out before Kendall could notice that she was undeniably the color of a tomato. No, make that a humiliated tomato and it had nothing to do with the sun.
After taking a couple deep breaths, she pulled it together and headed around the bed of the truck to get her next set of instructions from her guide. With all the deep breathing required to be around Kendall, she resigned herself to the odd hyperventilating moment on this trip.
Kendall was already preparing to unload the canoe, loosening red and green striped bungee cords.
“Can I help?”
