Calmly, Carefully, Completely(98)

I’m happy to be * whipped. Logan walks over and high-fives me, and Emily grins at Reagan. “Thanks for taking one for the team,” I say to Paul.

It won’t be hard on him. The girl is gorgeous. “The things I have to do so you guys can have sex.” He hitches up his jeans and makes a production of helping her pick out a piercing. He takes Friday with him when he goes behind the curtain because we have learned through the years that you don’t do intimate jobs without a girl present. Kind of like a male gynecologist always having a female nurse in the room. He comes out a few minutes later, and the girl is walking funny.

She leaves, and Paul sits down and then starts to laugh. He throws a napkin at my head. “You guys suck,” he says.

Friday stands up and says, “Let’s go get a hot dog.”

“I got a hot dog for you,” Paul says.

“Promises, promises,” Friday chirps.

He grabs her in a headlock and rubs the top of her head with his knuckles. “I’d hook you up if you liked dick, Friday.”

Friday makes a face like she smelled something bad.

Friday isn’t a lesbian, but Paul thinks she is. When she first started, he hit on her pretty hard, and she started talking about one of her girlfriends one night. He assumed she’s gay. She and I were working late one night, and she admitted to me that she’s not. She likes men. It’s just easier working around a bunch of them when they think she’s a lesbian. I haven’t set Paul straight yet. It’s too funny watching him with her. She’s one of the guys, and I like her that way. I couldn’t think of her as a girl if I tried, and that was before I even met Reagan.

Friday takes Emily and Reagan with her around the corner to get a hot dog. They leave, and I can’t keep from laughing while Paul watches the sway of Friday’s ass. He grins at me and shrugs.

“Dude, you’re not getting in her pants,” I say.

“I can look,” he tosses out, still grinning.

A boy runs in the door carrying a box. This happens a lot in our neighborhood. Kids need to eat, and they take any opportunity they can to make a buck. “Do you want to buy one?” he asks, and he shows me what’s in the box.

“How much?” I ask.

“Five dollars,” he says.

I give him a ten and reach into the box, pulling my purchase out.

“You are not bringing that thing home with you,” Paul warns. “What if it’s sick?”

Oh shit. What if it’s sick? I stuff it into my hoodie pocket, making sure it can breathe. “I’ll take it to the vet.”

“You better do that before you give it to her. Her dog just died, dummy.”

“Fine. I’ll be back in a little while.” I turn back to Paul. “Do you have any cash?” I grin at him.

“Fuck, it was cheaper for me when you were in prison,” he grouses. But he reaches into his pocket and pulls out his wallet.

“Tell Reagan I’ll be back in a few,” I say. I walk out, keeping a gentle hand around the bulge in my pocket. The one that’s purring. Not the other one.





Reagan



It feels kind of strange going out the door with Emily and Friday, but they’re both parts of the Reed family, and I want to be a part of it, too. “I think Paul was checking out your ass again,” Emily says to Friday. Friday twitches her hips in the short skirt that flares around her hips. It’s very Marilyn Monroe, with the ties that go around her neck and the short, belled skirt.

Friday shakes her head. “Paul thinks of me as one of the guys, no matter what I wear to work.”