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"Thought you didn't want to go nude in front of the other guests," I said.
"I've been thinking I might give it a try. As part of my self-liberation campaign."
Damian snickered. "Yeah, Mara, you get as liberated as you want."
I flashed him a scowl, which he saw since the ass was still peeking through his fingers. Then I pulled Mara into the corner farthest from Damian and whispered, "He might've seen what we were doing a minute ago."
She glanced at Damian. Though her cheeks turned a little pink, she shrugged and said, "So what?"
"You're seriously okay with that."
"Uh-huh." She wrapped her arms around my neck and smiled. "You make me feel brave and sexy and safe."
"You don't need me for that. Youarebrave and sexy, all on your own."
Damian pretended to gag. "If you two are going to make out, I'll head back to the games before I hurl all over this nice shiny floor." He looked at Mara. "I really didn't see whatever you two were doing. I heard weird squeaking noises and thought I should check it out. You were both standing there naked when I walked in."
Squeaking noises? I kind of remembered something like that, but my brain had been offline at the time. Mara's skin must've squeaked on the stainless steel fridge.
"Get out of here," I said, waving for Damian to leave.
He grinned and skedaddled.
"What should we do?" I asked Mara.
She puckered her lips like she was thinking hard, then she smiled again. "Let's take a shower."
I scooped her up.
Damian ducked back into the kitchen. "I've got a sudden yen for cleaning a kitchen."
My best friend was offering to clean up after the mess I'd made with Mara, which I hadn't even thought to clean up myself. My brain still hadn't ramped up to full power yet.
"Thanks, man," I said. "You're an awesome friend."
"Not really. I just don't want to eat food that was made on the counter where you two got it on."
He smirked and winked.
I carried Mara upstairs to our room, where a nice, big shower stall waited for us.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Mara
After our shower, Ollie and I headed back outside. Ollie had started to put his clothes back on, but I assured him he didn't need to do that for my sake. I'd gotten used to spending my days surrounded by naked people, and seeing Ollie in the nude was hardly a terrifying experience. I didn't blame him for thinking he shouldn't go naked in front of me, considering how things had gone when we first met, but I didn't want him to change his ways to suit me.
So now, we were participating in a game of miniten---Ollie in the buff, and me wearing shorts and a tank top. I wore sneakers, but Ollie chose to go barefoot. The game pitted the two of us against Ruth and Sylvester Norris. That sounded like an easy win for us. Two fit twenty-somethings against a pair of senior citizens? Piece of cake.
Not so much, as it turned out.
Today I learned never to underestimate anyone because they're over seventy. Ruth and Sly---Sylvester asked me to call him by his nickname---beat me and Ollie, barely letting us score two points in the whole game. Miniten might be a more laid-back version of tennis, but the Norrises decided to turn it into an acrobatic performance. They leaped up to smack the ball with their thugs.
I wondered why Ruth had bothered with a bra when we were playing an easygoing sport, but she did more than leap to hit the ball. She also spun around, dodged right and left, and even dived for the ground to hit the ball when I got my angle wrong and sent it barreling straight for the grass. Sly did the same and more, leaping sideways with his feet off the ground to whack Ollie's shot before it flew out of bounds. The Norrises won and celebrated by cheering and giving each other high fives.
Ollie had chastised the young guys yesterday who had played rough. But then, one of them had slammed into me. Ruth and Sly didn't do anything like that, and they never went overboard in their enthusiasm to hit the ball and win the game.
After the game broke up, I needed a trip to the bathroom. When I returned to the lawn, I glanced around to search for Ollie.
