Bennett The Brave

Chapter 32

Chapter 32

Neal grinned wickedly at me, his bright eyes shining in the moonlight reflecting off the water. I'm not sure whether I felt acutely embarrassed, highly amused, or deathly afraid. We both turned in the water, to look up at Lizzie, seated in her Adirondack chair on the dock, looking like the goddamned Queen of Sheba, gazing benignly over her subjects.

"Come on in, Liz," Neal spoke in a low, conspiratorial tone, "the water feels real nice."

"Nah, I'm good," she said, as if completely disinterested, "besides, with the amount of sperm floating around you two right about now, I'd probably end up pregnant."

A little snort came out of my nose, which caused all three of us to laugh, but the laughter subsided quickly and fell into an awkward silence. It felt like something needed to be said, but I felt at a total loss for words. Somewhere, deep down inside my stomach, a strange brew of thoughts and feelings swirled, doing nothing to relieve my confusion. One thought did rise up out of the soup, and it kind of bothered me. Not being quite sure how to deal with it, I went with my first instinct to be sardonic.

"Hey..." I said, making a dramatic gesture of squaring my shoulders and sticking my hands on my hips, "Did you come out here just to spy on us?"

"Pfft, puhleeze," she waved me off dismissively, "it's not as if you two aren't the worst kept secret 'round these parts, but no, I was already sitting out here having a quiet moment when you two love-birds waded out for your little tryst." She said it humorously, but I detected a slight edge to her voice.

"Jealous?" Neal arched an eyebrow at her. Lizzie rolled her eyes and gave a derisive cough.

"Duh, you little fucker," she laughed, "I've been chasing Bennett ever since I figured out that boy parts fit into girl parts. You come along one summer and the next thing I know, you two are banging like screen doors in a wind storm." With that revelation, with everything suddenly out in the open, any trace of anger in her voice, evaporated. Still, it took me a moment to process everything before I could speak.

"What?" I gawped. Not one of my genius moments.

"Fuck it," Liz said a little impatiently. She rose up from her chair, tossed her towel over it, and jumped into the water, wading up to us. I glanced over to Neal, who seemed far more amused by the situation than I. As Liz approached through the water, I felt very anxious, almost as if my friendship with Lizzie was on the line. My chaotic state of mind didn't get any better when Lizzie went over to Neal and they embraced like they were two lost war-buddies finding each other again. They touched foreheads.

"Hey bitch," Neal said quietly.

"Hey numb-nuts," she said back.

"We good?"

"Yah," she nodded, "we good." With that, Liz let him go, wrapped me in a breathtaking hug and spoke softly.

"Don't look so god-awful worried, Bennett," she breathed into my ear, "I see what you two have, and I wouldn't dream of messing that up. That's not what friends do." She leaned back and looked at me, the moon reflected in the deep wells of her eyes.

"Thanks Liz," I said, with a sigh of relief.

"I only ask that you be careful, Bennett," she said, deadly serious, "You don't want to end up pregnant."

Neal's little snicker couldn't be contained, in moments he was full-on belly laughing, assuring Lizzie would join in. It took me a few of seconds of blinking and glancing between their two, mirthful faces, before my brain completed its calculations and allowed me to laugh along with them. I mean, it still felt kind of awkward, but we were all laughing and giggling, which is better than nothing.