Under Normal Circumstances

Not Enough Reg to Go Around

"You bought the frilly pink gingham two piece with the halter top?" I asked her quietly and received an animated nod from her. "And what are you hoping to accomplish with that?"

"It's not what I'm going to accomplish, it's what you- and these, are going to accomplish," she clarified as she nudged my boob.

"Leave them out of it!" I crossed my arms over my chest.

"Leaving them out of the suit would definitely get his attention but I don't think it's a topless lake-"

"Oh my god, Grace, shut up," I was mortified and so red in the face I could feel it. "I don't know what the heck you're up to, but I already have his attention, alright? He is mine. To use one of dad's fishing metaphors, I had him on the line, I reeled him in, got him in the net, then the boat and then into the cooler, he ain't getting away."

"I know, but there could be some girls here who've known him longer, maybe had eyes on him. You wanna show them just how nonexistent their chances are."

I curled my lip at that. "I don't care about that!"

"Well, it'll still be fun for him and you if you wear it," she wagged her eyebrows at me before walking off to put her bags down.

I watched her for a moment, dealing with Billy, talking to Peter, and I could not wrap my head around what she was doing. What was she trying to encourage here? Slivko and I were as affectionate as ever, what did she want me to do, wind him up to the point that he'd just have to take me behind some tree or in a backseat with all these people around? No thank you.

As much as I loved and adored him, there were still a few things I was holding onto. Things I didn't want to sneak around and hide, a few things I felt were too intimate and special to dole out before two people made a promise in front of God and government that they would be best friends forever and willingly be punished if they broke that promise. It was a trust that they wouldn't take all your heartfelt secrets you shared only with them and their intimate knowledge of you and go off into the big wide world with it, telling other people about it, or comparing you to someone else. A trust that they loved you so much for who you were that they'd bind themself to you till death do you part without any working sexual knowledge because it wasn't what was important.

But still my mind went off to the memories of when he hummed against my lips as he kissed me in my room, his lips on my neck that one time, and the recent development of the gentle tug on my hair. And then my imagination spun it all together, happening at once in a frilly pink two piece swim suit, held up by a simple bow knot that, with one tug on a string-

"What are you thinking about now?" Slivko startled me so bad I jumped a little.
I looked up at him, really looked at him. The blond hair skimming his forehead in the gentle breeze, the curiosity and mischief in his beautiful eyes, and the soft easy smile playing on his lips.

"Nothin'," I said, shyly looking down and biting my lip.

"You are a terrible liar, Maybelle Driscoll," he chuckled at me, taking my hand in his.

He walked me around as more and more people started to show up, introducing me to other vendors they'd worked with or see at events regularly. A nice lady even gave us free popcorn which we ate as we meandered around the cars. He'd tell me a bunch of things about them that I wouldn't remember, but I loved hearing him talk about the things he liked.

It wasn't just older people there, though, and it wasn't just men. There were young girls, pretty girls, some hanging on a young man's arm, or an older one for that matter, and some floating around with friends. The most intimidating were the ones who were there for the cars and talked to Slivie in that language I wasn't fluent in. But there was abundant comfort in the way he made it obvious we weren't related and weren't just friends by the way he held my hand or my waist, fed me popcorn, or even just that unmistakable grin of a man in love.