Page 21 of Conception
Sunny whips her T-shirt off and throws it at me. “Come on, chicken. It’s just the four of us, and if you recall, Sam already saw your nipples this morning.”
I look to Sam, whose head swivels around in every which way except for mine. Considering he seems more embarrassed about it than I am, I decidec’est la vie. I drag my top off and shimmy out of my shorts, feeling practically naked. But Sunny was right. As sweat droplets race down my back, the breeze is welcome against my bare skin.
Joe lets out a low whistle. “Damn, babe, you had to let her borrow that one?”
“Can I look yet?” Sam yells.
“Sure, Sam. Soak it all in,” I tell him.
Sam’s fisherman’s hat nearly falls off his head with how fast he swivels it towards me. He echoes Joe’s whistle. “Killer, babe. Fuckin’ killer. Sure you don’t want to forget the city slicker you met yesterday and repeat the glory of the summer of ’75 with me?”
Ah, the summer of ’75. Before I can reminisce, Sunny chimes in.
“Wait a minute. The summer of ’75? Was that the summer I was grounded for the whole month of June—”
“—for hitchhiking to Johnson City with Patti Hartsock to see Kiss in concert,” I finish for her. “Not my fault you weren’t around to tell.”
“It was Gene Simmons! And you know what, for one month’s grounding, it was sooo worth it,” she says, sighing with a wistful smile.
Joe rolls his eyes, and Sam sticks his tongue out in perfect Kiss fashion.
“Sunny, you should have been grounded till you were eighteen! Do you know how many girls go missing when hitchhiking? You can’t get into cars with complete and total strangers.”
“Oh, Lord. Not the serial killer spiel again.” She drops Joe’s hand and inches towards Sam, a sickeningly coy smile crossing her lips. “So, Samuel, what did you mean about revisiting the past in 1975?”
He coughs, casting me a pleading look. But I have no shame from it, so I shrug, keeping silent, and letting him field this one.
“Uhh, well, umm…” He places a hand on the back on his neck, rubbing, and stalling as he tries to figure out how truthful he wants to be. “Well, you were grounded, Joe was always working at Mickey’s, and I happened to run into Amelia on the way to the movies.”
Sunny looks back and forth between the two of us. “You guys went on a date in ’75? And you never told me?”
“Hey, you’re the one who decided Gene Simmons was worth risking your life for.”
“He was! Still is, too.”
I roll my eyes and ignore her Gene Simmons obsession. “Anyways, Jaws had just come out and you know how much I was dying to see that. I just didn’t want to go alone. So, when I saw Sam, I asked him if he wanted to come. If you remember, sixteen-year-old Sam was totally cute.”
Sam grins. Then his nose scrunches up as he processes my words. “Hey, what do you mean sixteen-year-old me? What about twenty-one-year-old me?”
I cross to him and pat his cheek. “You’re still adorable, Sammy. But I’m quite sure that night we both realized we’re better off as friends.”
“Hey, that was my first kiss! I’m a lot better now,” he says. “I’ll prove it!”
“I think you’ve been proving it ever since with Tanya, Brittany, Brooke, Meredith, and who was the last girl? Oh yeah, Bridget,” Joe chimes in.
“Helpful, man. Real helpful,” Sam mutters.
Sunny’s still a step or so back. “Wait, wait, wait.Youwere the girl Sam couldn’t stop talking about?”
“Sunny…” Joe warns just as my eyes widen.
I thought this was playful banter, but now, I’m wondering if it’s more, and if so, I really don’t want to give Sam the wrong impression.
“Sam, it was just a movie…nothing more. You know that.” I stare at him.
He takes his hat off, shakes out his hair, then sets it back on top of his head. “Yeah, Sunny, Amelia here was lucky enough to be my first kiss.”
“But you said that girl—”
