Boom

Chapter Six

Tomorrow, Megan thought as she and Oliver stood in the glass-walled, two-person shower of the master bathroom, I'm going to be dead on my feet.

Actually, she thought the phrase "two-person" didn't do the shower justice. It was more like a party shower, not quite big enough to adjoin a locker room or a gymnasium, maybe, but plenty spacious to comfortably accommodate a half-dozen naked people as long as one didn't mind brushing up against the occasional elbow, breast, or buttock. In a house that was charming for its simple, old-fashioned character, the shower in the recently remodeled master bathroom stood out as a modern—and joyously hedonistic—addition. She had always thought it somewhat ridiculous when she saw a couple filmed while having sex in the shower, or soaping one another down afterward. She'd tried it a couple of times with Oliver, as well as previous boyfriends, and hated it. Fitting two people under a single stream of water was tough, and the footing was unsound; Oliver had slipped once when they tried it in their apartment while still living together, and, as he fell, knocked Megan's legs out from under her causing her to topple over on top of him.

But this shower was different. With its multiple showerheads, all blasting out ridiculously hot jets of water, and two built-in tiled benches to have a seat on should one prefer not to stand the whole time, it seduced those who used it into spending massive amounts of time within its bright, steam-filled confines.

Tonight, however, with their lovemaking over, and both of them pretty tired by now, Oliver did not offer to wash Megan's hair or her back, nor did she ask if he wanted her to scrub his shoulders, as each might have done were it not nearly four in the morning. Instead, both were working diligently—and independently—to sluice off any lingering post-coital sweat; then, they were going to sleep.

"This is my third shower today," Oliver remarked from his side of the shower.

"It's my fourth," Megan answered.

"Your fourth?"

"One this morning, one this afternoon, one before we went out, this one now," she explained, though even as she spoke these words she remembered that, technically, it was already a new day. Indeed, sunrise was not that far off; but she saw no need to amend her statement.

Oliver asked, "What was the one this afternoon for?"

"After I got home from the gym," Megan said.

"The gym," he mused.

"Yes, the gym—it's that place I go so you won't be disgusted by me."

"Not this again," Oliver muttered. "I really didn't mean to hurt your feelings."

"No, it's all right."

A couple of months ago, while in bed, Oliver had been kissing down a nude Megan's back when he stopped and noted, very casually, that she had lately gotten a little bigger around the thighs. She hadn't taken it well, especially because Megan herself had noticed a slight swelling but didn't think Oliver would; that he had taken note of her weight gain suggested to Megan her husband took a more exacting view of her body than he had led her to believe. On top of that, dating back to the earliest days of their relationship, Megan—knowing that Oliver was inclined to have a soft stomach no matter how many sit-ups or crunches he did each morning—had gone to great lengths to reassure him that she liked a guy with a little bit of belly on him, the better for her to poke and pinch. Now he was criticizing her? How dare he? But she'd redoubled her efforts in the gym anyway, and made sure he knew how much trouble she was going to in order to stay desirable to him.

"Megan," he began.

"Really, it's all right. It's my job to be hot. I mean, what else could I possibly do with my life?"

"I'm sorry," he said, "for the millionth time."

Megan looked over her shoulder at him. He was not washing himself now, just standing there, soap in hand. His expression was troubled.

I need to let this go, she told herself. He didn't mean any harm. He's too good a guy for me to hold something like that against him.

"I forgive you," Megan said. "I just like to mess with you."

"Yeah—I can tell."