Chapter Sixteen: The Back of My Knees
The dolphin felt sorry for me. Either that or his/her high-pitched squeaks were dolphin for “hey, don’t puke in my sea! I live here you human dork.”
I was standing on the bottom rung of the railing (better to keep the vomit off the deck), leaning on my elbows. This gave me a birds eye view of the dolphin, the ocean, and the pollution I had just evacuated from my stomach. I wiped my face with the back of my hand and took a few deep breaths.
“Nick?” Scratch that. I feel sick again.
“Nick? Man, I’m sorry.” You’re sorry? As soon as I can open my mouth without threat of anything else following, other than a few cuss words, I’ll tell you how sorry you are going to be.
“Really. I didn’t put that condom in there.” Yea. Right. “I used one of my nice handkerchiefs for a basket liner, and I guess the condom was caught in it...from before.”
“Before?” I was curious. One should have all the facts before throwing someone overboard.
“From before...my boyfriend. He gave me the hankies ... on a special occasion and...”
“That’s good enough.” I really wasn’t interested in any gory details.
“But it worked! I mean, it really blew their minds!” Mine too.
“Michael.” What could I say? This had been my idea, but now it was getting out of hand. “I’m starting to think this was a bad idea. I’m not sure I can handle this.”
“Handle this? Handle what, the guys thinking you’re gay?” He sounded pissed.
“This was just suppose to teach Kevin a lesson!”
“I see. I’m just here to teach Kevin a lesson.” What bee had gotten into his bonnet? “Just as long as it stays within a comfortable range. Nothing too severe. You wouldn’t want the guys to REALLY think you’re gay. Right?”
I had offended him. Shit. I had no idea where I had slipped up, but par for the course Nick had found that banana peel.
“I’m sorry. I’m not feeling well.” And Nick can always find an excuse. “That just startled me. I wasn’t expecting it.”
“Me either.” I couldn’t see his face, he was behind me, but I could tell from the tone of his voice that he was still miffed.
“Michael, I knew when I got in this that the guys would have to think I was ... experimenting. But..”
“But?”
“I guess I just wanted them to think I was seeing you, thinking about stuff. I never thought about them thinking we might be ...”
“Having sex?” Stomach alert! Stomach alert! All passengers, please clear the deck.
“Yea.” I swallowed, hard. “I never thought that far, and I never thought ...” Just do it, Nick. “ ... about how I would feel.”
“I see.” The breeze ruffled my hair. The dolphin left for cleaner waters. Time stood still. I dropped my head and caught sight of my watch-face. Three minutes. Five minutes.
“You want to stop?” Did I? Did I really? And how would we get out of this? “It’s OK. Really Nick. And I can think of some good reason ... like you were my cover for a guy I’m seeing in Florida, maybe he’s married or something. So I needed you to ...”
“NO.” No. No way. I wasn’t going to be saved again, and not by a Richardson. “Will you still go through with it?”
“If you want to, but Nick you need to make sure. If we back out now it will be OK, but if not we really have to see it through, until Kevin gets it.”
“I know.” Time to decide Nick, time to make a stand. “I wanna finish.” I almost threw up again, but I’m blaming it on the ulcers.
“Good timing.” Good timing? What the hell is Michael talking about? I was about to turn and ask him that very question when he touched the back of my knee. My left knee, to be exact. I think it was just a finger tip, just a soft touch, nothing major. Some people wouldn’t have noticed it. I did.
Everyone has their spot. Kevin’s is his earlobes. Kristin just looks at them and he melts. Once, when he was almost awake but not quite, AJ wet his finger and flicked Kevin’s lobes like a girl using her tongue (so AJ told me). The impact was interesting. Kevin’s face went all red, he giggled and squirmed, and he moaned, and then AJ stopped and we got the hell out of there.
My spot is my knees. To be specific, the back of my knees. I can’t stand to have them touched, unless I want them to be touched. And, I might point out, this is only with someone very special, and in a very private place. I don’t want to get too graphic, but it usually involved nudity and a condom.
So, Michael was touching the back of my knee. If he didn’t stop I was going to find out how I felt about several things. So was Michael, and the experience might not be as pleasant as he was hoping.
“Michael!” I needed him to stop.
“MICHAEL!” AJ need seemed more significant. And startling. I fell backwards off the rail, right into Michael’s arms.
“NICK!” I didn’t do it on porpoise, I mean purpose! I was a bit rattled. Not Michael.
“AJ. Did you need something?”
“NICK. I need Nick.” Considering the situation this request made my nerves tingle, and not in a way that having whipped cream licked off your backside does.
“We were about to...” I have no idea what Michael had cooked up but AJ was in no mood to hear it. He grabbed my arm and yanked me towards the stairs.
“HEY!” I hate to be yanked.
“Shut up Nick. We have something to talk about.”
“AJ, what the hell are you ...” Michael to the rescue. Damn, and I as doing to well on my own.
“Don’t you...” This looked bad. AJ and Michael. AJ fisted his hands and Michael followed suit. Oh, how sweet. They were about to fight over me. Not for the same purpose of course, but it was sweet none-the-less.
“It’s OK Mike.” Super Nick saves the day! “AJ just wants to talk to me.” It was time. I had to do it. I had to make this work or die trying. Of course if AJ didn’t like what he was about to hear I would die. Luckily for me I have my funeral all planned.
-