That's What friends are for

Chapter 6

In the span of the half hour we were home together, Mom asked several times if I was seeing Lucy. I was pretty sure she suspected I was glad she was going away for reasons other than her happiness. That suspicion was confirmed when Mom hugged me goodbye and said,
"I'm proud of you, Lauren. You're only eighteen but more of a man than your father ever was. He was already a dog in heat by your age. I don't know what I was thinking when I married him. But you're not like him, and I'm sure Lucy sees that and knows how special you are." She paused and with a sly smile added, "I think you've proved yourself a good man. Maybe it's time you were rewarded for it."
After she left, I did a few things around the house she'd asked me to do to get them out of the way, showered, and threw on a pair of shorts and a T-shirt. I figured I would just chill tonight and watch some TV. Lying there, I replayed Mom's words and couldn't help smiling.

I had no doubt that was Mom's green light to go for it, without being awkward about it. Her words had put me in a better mood. Because of my father's bullshit, I had promised Mom that I would be better and hold to values he never had, but she had officially let me off the hook.

Not that I wouldn't have had Lucy over tomorrow anyway, but Mom giving me her blessing removed any feelings that I wasn't doing the right thing.

She was right. I had earned it, sitting home whacking off while all my friends had already been getting laid and having fun. Even Mila, the indifferent tomboy who didn't give a rat's ass what she looked like or what people thought of her, had found guys to mess around with.

I frowned at that last thought. It wasn't a good one, especially seeing how good a friend Mila was. I'd never once thought I was better than her or anyone else, but that was what it felt like. It also sounded like something Lucy would say when making fun of other people, which she did frequently.

Mila had made that remark today, that I was different around—

I jumped when my cell rang from the coffee table in front of me. Grabbing it, I saw it was Normani, who after Mila was pretty much my closest friend.

"Hey, what's up?" I answered. "You got nothing better to do on a Saturday night besides calling me?"

"Hey, Lauren." He didn't sound happy. "Hey, man, I need to talk to you."

"What about? I—" I stopped when I heard several people laughing and yelling in the background. "Where are you?"

"I'm at Mackerel Cove in Jamestown."

"Mackerel Cove? Hey, Lucy was up there today."

"She still is. That's why I called you."

"What's going on?" I sat up on the couch.

"Look, Lauren, this really sucks for me because you know you're my bud, but I'd be an asshole if I didn't say anything."

"About what?" I felt my stomach tighten. "What's going on?"

"Me and Dinah ran into Lucy and her friends up here when they were cleaning. She said if we helped out we could hang out with them at her uncle's house on the beach, and party. So that's where we are now and ... Lauren, you know Luis is up here, right?"

"I ..." I took a deep breath. "Normani, get to the point."

"Point is, Lucy was drinking from the time we got to the house at five and she was out of control. Hanging on all the guys, dancing around. Shit, she took her top off at one point."

"Normani, are you fucking with me?" Even though I was pretty sure I knew the answer, I had to ask.

"Lauren, we've been friends since fourth grade. You think I'd joke about this?"

"No, I ..." I swallowed hard. "What about Luis?"

"Well, after she pretty much cock teased most of the guys there with some bumping and grinding. She pretty much gave him a damn lap dance, then grabbed a bottle of Captain someone brought, and the two of them went into the house."

I closed my eyes and rubbed my throbbing temple. Normani was right; there was no way I would think he would lie to me about this.

"Hey, you there?"

"Yeah," I said softly. "She knows you and I are friends and she did it anyway."

"I said something to her and she said for me not to be a bitch and say anything."

"I can't believe this."

"Yeah, well, believe it, because then she told me if I was a good girl and didn't tell you, she'd hook up with me next weekend up here and she'd make it worth my while."

"She ... what?"

"She was drunk, so maybe she didn't mean it, but you should have seen her, Lauren. You never wanted to hear it, but I knew she was a little wild—but man, there was a point I thought she was looking for a damn gang bang."

"Did you tell her you were calling me?"

"No. I didn't want to get her going, but she made a couple of cracks earlier that she was going to be staying at your house tomorrow night. According to her, you've been good and she figured she would throw you a bone."

"Throw ... me ... a ..." My temple was throbbing harder, my shock having turned to anger.

"I feel like a dick doing this over the phone, but I'm stuck up here with Dinah and we're hanging at her cousin's tomorrow. I wanted you to know before she saw you tomorrow."

"I ... I don't know if I can say thanks," I said in disgust.

"I get it. But we're tight, Lauren, and this is bullshit. Dude, I don't care how hot she is, I wouldn't fuck that slut with someone else's dick. Who the hell knows where she's been?"

"I know where she won't be," I told her. As bad as I wanted to finally get laid, there was no way in hell I would get used like this.

"Good, and if she asks, you can tell her I told you."

"She'll figure it out. I'll call her tomorrow. I don't even want her coming here."