Be My Friday Night (9 page)

* * *

O
tto didn’t say
much during the drive home. The radio played old country music, and Sam was left alone with her thoughts.

So maybe Otto isn’t fling material. If he had been I would’ve kissed him years ago.

The problem was he left Sam in a melted puddle in some moments, fiery in others, and also brought out the playful quirky version of herself she’d left behind a few years back. She wasn’t quite sure what was going on, but she knew it was a good thing. Good in an “it felt like her heart was leaping off a cliff, and everything was going to be okay” kind of way.

In the dark of the night, cliff jumping felt more exciting than scary. Otto was the one thing in her life she wanted to become more complicated. She leaned over toward him. She lifted her face toward his.

“Don’t take me home please,” Sam whispered in his ear.

She waited a beat for his answer. Her heart was free falling, screaming about how this had been a terrible idea.

“Sounds like a plan to me,” Otto said. His eyes stayed on the road, but his voice was filled with anticipation.

Relieved, Sam nodded and scooted closer to him. She kissed him on the cheek, and then on the neck to show her approval.

“You need to stop it, or I’ll have a hard time getting us home,” he said.

She kissed him again, this time on the corner of his mouth.

“I’ll just pull the truck over,” he said, settling.

Sam laughed out loud. Her laughing turned to shrieks of amusement when Otto pulled the truck over to the side of the road and began driving down a path lit only by the truck’s headlights. He drove them to the top of a small hill. Below, lights twinkled on the surrounding hills. Besides the distant lights they were alone.

He turned the ignition off and sat silently. Sam looked out toward the view and just marveled at it all. She felt small compared to the dark shadows of the mountains around her. This didn’t bother her, for the first time in as long as she could remember she didn’t feel alone.

Deep down, part of Sam knew every conversation she and Otto had had at Zelda’s over the years had led up to this moment. Whether her time with Otto really was just a fling or something else, sitting with him in the dark was exactly where she wanted to be. She rested her head on Otto’s shoulder.

He wrapped his hand around her and pulled her close. She looked up at Otto and he met her with a kiss. Warmed by his body and breath, she snuggled into him.

The kiss grew from warm to inviting. Sam rested her hands on Otto's chest and soon buttons were being undone. Otto kissed down Sam’s neck. When he could go no further he shrugged her cardigan off and pulled her tunic over her head. He paused to admire her breasts held in a black lace bra.

Sam beamed from the inside at Otto admiring her. She'd bought the new bra a few days ago, something out of character for her. The lace made her feel like a goddess, and she inwardly praised herself for what would have once seemed like a frivolous purchase.

Sam found Otto’s hand and placed it where his eyes lingered. His warm palms met her aching nipples. He pushed his fingers under the lace and caressed where she yearned for him. He placed the other hand around the back to unhook the lace.

Sam couldn’t help but grin when her bra didn’t come off with a one handed attempt. Otto reached the other hand around and pulled Sam closer. Sam felt the pressure of her bra release, and Otto found her nipples with the pads of his thumbs. Sam marveled at Otto’s face. He looked up and caught her and did the same to her. She looked away quickly, suddenly shy. When she looked back his eyes were hot. He grinned.

“Yes?” he said.

Sam nodded. In response Otto took his mouth to her breast while he continued to stroke the other with his thumb. Sam leaned back into the steering wheel and let the pleasure surge through her body. She looked down again to watch Otto. She gasped when he began to slip off her tights.

She groaned as his mouth left her, but she was willing to move her body to better let the tights peel off her body. Once off, he simply slid her lace underwear to the side and slid his finger inside her. He returned his mouth to her breast. Sam could only enjoy. He was hitting all the good spots.

With eyes closed, she leaned against the cool car door. Her legs flew in completely different directions but she didn’t care. The awkward positioning left her body alert. All the sensations shooting through her held extra sparks.

The rhythm was so sweet Sam almost didn’t want to lose control, but her body had other ideas. Something took over. She let out an exalted breath and her body came for Otto, aching and thrusting toward him. Sam moaned in appreciation and some disbelief. Otto kept his hand in her and met her mouth for a kiss.

Sam was flushed with what felt like light surging through her. Otto's eyes were still hot. He began kissing down her neck again. Each kiss felt like a pleasurable spark of electricity. He savored her breasts which were now full and ready for receiving. He then ventured further down. Sam had never had so much time spent on her, and she tensed for a moment in reaction to the attention.

“What’s wrong Sam?” said Otto. His eyes were warm, and Sam’s heart melted a little when she saw flickers of vulnerability wash over him.

“Nothing! I’m just not used to, well, all the action being on me,” said Sam.

Otto reached up and kissed her again.

“Are you enjoying yourself?” he said, he kissed her neck.

“Are you kidding?” she said, not even embarrassed by the breathy way the words left her mouth.

“Well, I happen to like watching you enjoy yourself, and I have an idea of how to make you come again and then maybe even again,” he said.

“Oh well, I’d love for you to show me,” said Sam. Her hips instantly relaxed. Otto began kissing down her body again, the second time feeling even sweeter than the last.

He cupped his hands under her bottom, and smoothed them up her hips to slide the already crumpled piece of lace that had been her underwear down her legs. He held the shred of lace and looked at it approvingly, making Sam laugh. He returned his attention to her and slid one finger inside her. She was now wet and throbbing. She welcomed him into her. He used his other hand to gently part her. When she was ready, he slid his hand out of her and tilted her to meet his mouth.

Sam groaned. She let herself feel him for a few seconds before she began to move against him. Something burst through her body. She tried to grab onto the fabric seats, her hands slipping over the rough material. He brought her so close, and kept her there. Half of Sam didn’t want it to stop. The other half, well, there wasn’t much Sam could do but just let go.

She cried out. The pleasure pulsated through her. She caught her breath and shifted her body. She met Otto’s eyes. They were still hungry, yet more playful. Sam couldn’t help but laugh.

“What?” said Otto.

Sam continued to laugh and shook her head.

“That was, well,” she said.

“Well what?” said Otto.

Sam gave him a mischievous grin.

“Very nice,” she said.

The look on Otto’s face said he was going to take Sam’s sarcastic compliment. Every little bit of it, and Sam felt her heart break a little bit, first for him, then for her. It was too bad this wasn’t meant to last, but maybe if it had been it wouldn’t have been quite as nice. She scooted next to him and rested her head on his chest. They sat in the quiet for a while, and Sam began to doze off.

When she opened her eyes she felt the truck moving under her. Warm air from the heater blew onto her bare legs. Otto still held her with one arm, and was steering the car with the other. She jolted up quickly, the seatbelt across her waist bringing her to an abrupt stop.

“You put my seatbelt on me,” she said.

Otto shook his head.

“Actually, you put it on yourself. In your sleep,” he said, keeping his eyes on the road.

Sam nodded in agreement with Otto’s words. It sounded like something she’d do in her sleep. She slowly began to pull on her tights. She held her crumpled underwear in her fist.

Otto stopped the car in front of her bungalow. Sam faced him with sleepy satisfied eyes.

“I’ve never fooled around with my boss in a pick-up truck before, I should really do it more often,” she said. She bit her lip, trying not to giggle.

Otto gave her a lazy grin of satisfaction, though she noted there was still a spark in his eyes.

“I've never fooled around with my secretary, and I think I'm going to go to bed with some fantasies of her tonight,” he said. He leaned in and kissed her. When Sam came out of the kiss she felt even drunker on Otto than before.

She whispered good night to him and slipped out of the truck. She padded down the path toward the porch. She climbed the steps and turned to give Otto a final wave.

Otto waved back. He sat in his truck, not starting it until Sam walked into the house.

Things were never going to be the same, and by morning all of Grover would be watching. Sam and Otto weren’t going to tell anyone, but somehow everyone would know.

S
am couldn’t help
but act like everything was normal. Truth was, everything was normal. Besides the fact Otto had kind of rocked her world a few hours earlier the night before, everything was the same, except for maybe the lightness of her steps. It was nice having this secret. Everything looked normal, and in all ways everything was extraordinary, and no one knew but her and Otto.

That’s why she wasn’t quite sure what to think when she handed Otto his Yosemite National Park mug full of piping hot coffee and he asked her to the football game that night. She blinked at him a few times. He frowned in response.

“Sure,” she said quickly.

“Great, I’ll pick you up at 7,” said Otto.

As Sam added the raw sugar to her own coffee she wondered what her problem was. The sinking feeling in her stomach made it all too clear. Being Otto’s date would be like taking a graceful swan dive right into Grover’s gossip mill. She was about to make it too easy for everyone.

Sure people had seen her and Otto out to dinner, and driving around in Otto’s pickup but something about going to the football game together made their affair official. It also made her a moving target. Plus, everyone would be able to tell he’d given her multiple orgasms. They’d just know.

This was a bad idea. She needed to cancel with him. She’d come up with a decent excuse. She turned in her office chair toward his door.

The door was already closed. His voice carried through the door and she could tell her was on the phone. Otto never closed his door, and Sam took that to be an indication that he didn’t want to talk about it.

Really, she didn’t want to either.

* * *

O
n Friday night
, Sam put on a brave face. She played Bonnie Raitt’s “Let’s Give Them Something to Talk About.” She was sipping her second glass of wine while she simultaneously moved to the music and attempted to apply eyeliner.

“Look at you,” Holly said from the doorway. She wore a slouchy knit sweater and held a mug of steaming tea. Her red hair tumbled over her left shoulder.

“Come dance with me,” said Sam. She reached for Holly, and the two of them began to shimmy to the music.

“I used to do this. Get all dolled up for the Friday night game, so I could sit in the stands and look pretty, like a good coach’s wife,” Holly said as she slowly spun around.

“I wish you’d come tonight. Support your big brother. It’d mean so much to him,” said Sam. She did a wiggle with a salsa step. The dancing helped ease her nerves. She wouldn’t have minded support from Holly, too, but she wasn’t about to admit it.

Holly stopped dancing. A worried look crossed her face as she considered the option.

“You had fun at the school board meeting,” said Sam.

Holly shook her head.

“That was different. I got to sit in the back row for that. No one noticed me until I stood up and cheered. I’m still not even sure what came over me. Tonight, I feel like I’d be the center of attention, for all the wrong reasons,” she said.

“It would mean the world to the boys,” Otto’s voice said from the doorway.

Sam shot around to see Otto leaning on the doorframe, an amused smile on his face. Sam slapped a hand over her unlined eye, and grabbed her pillow with the other hand, hurling it towards Otto.

“Get out! Go wait in the parlor like a normal suitor,” she said as Otto caught the pillow and began to laugh.

“Okay, I’ll leave you to your dance party, but hear me out Holly. The guys want to win this game for you, and it would mean the world if you showed up,” said Otto before he retreated to the living room.

“Shit,” said Holly under her breath.

“Feel free to borrow anything out of my closet,” said Sam as she began lining her second eye. Sam had fully accepted her fate as the Henry girl who’d returned home for a bit, and was sleeping with Otto Harrison before she left again. If Sam could do it, Holly could accept her place too. A little wine always helped. Sam refilled the glass and put it in Holly’s hand.

“Get ready. We’re going out,” said Sam.

Holly raised her eyebrows and sighed.

“For you, I will, because you’re being like this, and I’m enjoying it very much,” said Holly. She took a deep gulp of wine.

* * *

T
he night was chilly
and the air smelled of rain. Layla had joined the three of them on the way out.

“Randy’s been annoying me all week about the game. I really don’t want to hear it from him if I don’t go,” she said.

On the walk to the football stadium, the four friends laughed and talked about what crazy jobs they had, the fact they had signed up to help guide adolescents through their teenage years.

They had taken the back way by the locker rooms. It was their escape route for the sakes of Holly and Otto. Holly was in no mood to listen to parents tell her how sorry they felt about the collapse of her marriage. She couldn’t decide which would be worse: the people who wanted to voice their concerns for her, or the pitying stares. There were sure to be many of both. She kept reminding herself out loud over and over that she was doing this for the team’s morale. They’d all been abandoned by Ethan.

Otto had no desire to hear the complaints of parents about the new coaching staff if the game didn’t go perfectly.

The light still glowed from the boys’ locker room. Loud male voices echoed toward Sam, Otto, Holly, and Layla. One in particular was louder and deeper than the others. As they grew closer, they could tell it was Randy.

“He loves this so much,” said Holly.

“I didn’t want it to come about this way, but I’m so glad he’s head coach. He deserves it,” she said. She looked away as her voice began to crack.

Sam and Layla put their arms around her. Otto looked toward the locker room, and then looked toward Holly.

“I think it’d mean a lot if they knew you were here,” he said.

Holly waved the idea away, but it was too late. One of the boys poked his head out to see who was talking.

“Hi Mrs. Cooke,” he said from under his helmet.

Caught, Holly waved and walked toward the doorway. She walked now toward Gus’s voice. It was his turn for his pep talk.

She stood quietly in the doorway. Holly was struck by how the boys watched him with such an intense energy, it was almost overwhelming. She had no idea how the boys had reacted to Ethan; she’d never listened in to a pep talk by him. She’d always waited, sitting patiently, looking pretty, in the stands.

But now it didn’t matter what Ethan had said to the boys once upon a time. Ethan had left them. He had left her. Therefore, he no longer mattered.

“We’ve gotten to know each other over the past week, and I don’t take that lightly. What those guys out there don’t understand is how we all showed up for each other this week. I showed up for you. You showed up for me. We all showed up for Randy. No one can take that away from us, showing up. I sense that many of you feel abandoned,” Gus stole a glance at Holly, now leaning in the doorway. Holly didn’t dare move, she didn’t dare breath.

“But we can’t control that, or who abandons us. What we can control is when we decide to show up, and to know who shows up for us. The other team doesn’t understand that, they have no idea what they’re up against. They don’t understand the strength you gain from being left and showing up anyway.”

From under their helmets came a deafening roar.

Randy lifted an arm over the helmets and placed it in the center of the group. Gus followed suite as did the players.

“Who are we?” said Randy.

“Grover, Grover, Grover,” the boys chanted.

“Let’s do this for Holly,” said Randy. He looked up at his little sister and smiled.

“Holly!” the boys yelled with the zeal of the spited.

Holly took a step back in surprise, and let out a laugh of appreciation.

Randy walked out of the locker room and gave Holly a hug.

“I’m so proud of you,” Holly said.

Randy gave a quick nod. He turned his attention back to his players before they could see his eyes.

Two by two, the players walked out in silence. Only their cleats clicked against the asphalt. The enthusiasm of the past few minutes now bottled up inside them as they walked to the field.

Gus walked out last. He shared a fist bump with Otto, and waved to Sam and Layla, but what Sam noticed especially was the way Holly beamed at him, and the way this stopped him in his tracks.

In the distance the chants of the fans in the stands came to Sam’s ears.

Grover, Grover, Grover.

“You think they would’ve figured out how to get the guanacos part in there too,” Sam said shaking her head as they began to follow the team and walk toward the field.

“They could start making guanaco sounds. I’ve read they snort when upset,” she said.

“I’ll assign finding ways to bring guanaco snorts into our cheer for extra credit,” said Layla dryly. In the distance the crowd roared as the team took the field.

* * *

S
am
, Layla, and Holly entered from behind the bleachers at Otto’s urging, and a few students received the shock of their young lives. The teenagers were attempting to woo one another and steal kisses under the bleachers only to be interrupted by the voices of their principle talking to Ms. Carey, Mrs. Cooke, and Sam Henry, Mr. Harrison's new secretary who wore the cute outfits.

“I’m glad they’re young with strong hearts, we almost gave a few of those kids heart attacks,” said Sam.

“Striking some fear into their hearts is good for them. It’s better they believe I may be lurking around any corner,” said Otto as he led them up the bleacher steps. Sam gave him a playful smack on the shoulder.

The group clunked up the metal steps taking them from the darkness behind the bleachers to the silvery beams of the stadium lights. Sam quickly crossed her arms. She didn’t let her hands hang carelessly at her sides the way Otto’s did, waiting for the cue to grasp Sam’s hand.

She still wanted Otto to be her secret. No matter what was speculated due to the amount of time they spent at each other’s sides, she wasn’t about to give everyone the satisfaction of knowing she and Otto had something going on. Her body filled with fear.

She felt sick to her stomach. She was being cruel and she hated it. She just couldn’t bring her hand down to Otto’s. There were those who said people were too busy thinking about themselves to think too hard about you. Those people had never lived in Grover.

On the way to finding their own spot in the bleachers, the group bumped into some football parents who wanted to hold council with Otto. They were still wary about Gus’s coaching credentials. Gus had won over the town in general during the school board meeting, but there were always the skeptics. Ron Upton stepped into Otto’s path, and put his hand on Otto’s forearm in a forceful kind of handshake.

“Son, I’m sure you know I’ve gone over this with Randy, and well, he just can’t seem to get it through his head about Gus. We’re just worried Randy doesn’t have the experience when it comes to talking to recruiters. What experience does Gus have at all? We hear he used to be a ballet dancer,” he said, gaining some chortles from the other dads he sat with.