Chapter Four
Eve and I raced through the house. I checked the bedrooms beyond the bathroom, Eve checked the kitchen, neighboring laundry room and adjacent garage.
When we passed each other in the kitchen she said, “I’ll check the back yard,” and fluidly opened and slipped through the back door.
I pivoted and rushed out the front door to the cul-de-sac.
The street was quiet, lit by the amber glow of the streetlights.
I felt displaced. After experiencing magic, the animation and sudden sentience of a carnival animatronic juxtaposed against this seemingly mundane night on a peaceful suburban street on a late summer night…
it was hard to fathom that these two realities existed not just side by side, but within one another.
A car drove by on the perpendicular street, and I continued my sweep for Hyde.
He had to be somewhere. I pondered the likelihood of needing to get in Eve’s work truck and go driving around the neighborhood like Hyde was a lost dog.
What would happen if we couldn’t find him?
If sunrise came and went and a partial mechanical bull was just abandoned somewhere in the road or in someone’s lawn?
Eve’s shriek pierced the night when I was two houses down the road. Heart pounding, I ran to the gate. What I expected, I couldn’t say. Perhaps an injury, an unconscious Hyde. Was he human or machine at this point? Could he malfunction?
When I came around the corner of the house, nothing could have prepared me.
Eve wasn’t screaming out of terror or fear, but squealing in…
delight? Her legs were draped into the pool, a smile wide across her face as she kicked and splashed water toward Hyde whose head and shoulders were above water as he laughed.
His curls were weighed down with the water.
I noticed, almost as an afterthought, the pile of his clothes on a lounge chair.
He was naked.
“Found him,” Eve said when she saw me. She had a bottle of Fireball next to her and took a swig of it.
I pointed to his pile of clothes and raised my eyebrows.
She nodded and fanned herself in an exaggerated fashion.
Following the edge of the pool, I made my way around and sat on the edge of the pool beside Eve.
Where she had her legs dangled freely in the water, her polished toes kicking the water gently, I crossed my legs in front of me.
Eve rested back on her hands behind her and looked over at me.
It struck me how polar opposite our body language was.
I was closed off, my legs and arms crossed, holding myself together. She was a picture of leisure.
“I wasn’t expecting a free show tonight, were you?
” She whispered under her breath to me. I shook my head.
We watched Hyde as he climbed out of the water, taking the steps on the opposite shallow side of the pool.
He walked out with a straight spine, not using the stainless-steel handrails, and walked up to the apple tree.
Eve elbowed me and gawked. To be transparent, I didn’t need her to point it out to me.
His ass was toned and his legs would’ve made Michelangelo toss out his David sculpture.
On his right cheek, there was a brand that matched the design on the mechanical bull - a J and B snuggled up against each other.
Hyde plucked one of the Gala apples and took a deliberate bite.
He let out a soft moan at the taste. I had to admit, it was hot. Was I drooling?
Suddenly, I had an epiphany. I couldn’t figure out how Hyde was meant to be an answer to my wish, but maybe it was a sign that Eve and I were never meant to be together.
I’d be lying to myself if I didn’t admit that even though I’m proud to be bisexual, a heteronormative life would be somewhat socially simpler than a sapphic one.
Not that Hyde could be a romantic partner in any way that mattered, he was temporary.
Eve had temporary all the time. She fluttered from one lover to the next and why couldn’t I do that?
Maybe casual is what I needed. Maybe, I thought, maybe those bundled up bubbling feelings for Eve in my chest would fizzle out.
Maybe Hyde was a way to blow off some steam and let go of this debilitating desire for my best friend.
While I was lost in these thoughts and theories, I failed to register Eve getting up and walking over to Hyde until she was mere inches from him.
She guided his hand holding the apple to her mouth and had her eyes locked on his as she took a bite.
Hyde brushed a section of her hair behind Eve’s ear.
The wind was knocked out of me. I could have sobbed; I was alone.
Hyde looked over at me and smiled.
If you had the opportunity would you take it? The voice of the lemonade woman at the fair sounded through my head. Followed by Hyde’s voice, I’m here to make your wish come true.
And then, louder than the others, Eve’s voice: What did you wish for?
Before I could talk myself out of it, I took a swig of Fireball. The burn was like a slap in the face, but I let the sting drive me.
“Let’s get this party started,” I announced, kicking off my shoes and shedding the flannel tied around my waist. Hyde gave Eve a smile and dove back into the water.
Eve and I locked eyes; hers were wide with her eyebrows raised.
I pulled my shirt off over my head and caught her staring at my breasts.
Next, my pants. I shimmied out of them and tossed them to the side.
Eve was watching me, unmoving, silent. The forgotten apple Hyde left in her hand, the white meat beneath the red flesh exposed from the two bites.
I picked up the alcohol and drank one more pull from the handle.
I shuddered as the warmth ran down my veins.
Hyde was in the pool looking at me, hands outstretched.
One more look at Eve and I tilted my head, an invitation.
She snapped out of whatever trance she had been in and took one more bite of apple then nodded.
And with that, I jumped into the cool water.
When I reemerged over the water’s surface, Hyde was there, his hands on my hips.
I clung to his warmth, his steadiness. I tried to not think too much about his nakedness and how I could feel him there against me slightly in the water.
I’ll say this much, he was toned and firm everywhere.
“Make some space!” Eve said, but before I looked over at her I was covered in the splash of her cannonball.
Her pile of clothes was next to mine, her black cowgirl hat on top.
Eve broke the water, and her hair was slicked back, her makeup all wet and I wanted to trace her eyeliner with my thumb, drag it across in a messy black smudge to intersect her cheekbone.
Then I noticed her bare shoulders. Of course, I knew Eve often went braless, and she had been wearing a top that would not have lended well to bra straps, so I shouldn’t have been surprised that her breasts were fully exposed.
I turned away from Hyde a bit, embarrassed that I hadn’t been brave enough to strip fully, and nervous that I would have to retroactively remove my wet undergarments.
Hyde pressed up against me from behind, Eve closing in from my front.
She hooked a finger under my left bra strap.
“Commit to the bit, Mads,” she said, her eyes dark and hungry.
Was she flirting with me? Or just teasing me like a friend?
Throughout our friendship, Eve was always the one who would choose “dare” instead of “truth”, always pushing me outside of my comfort zone.
Hyde’s mouth was on my ear, his whisper a boost of confidence, “Carpe Diem.” Seize the day, walk through the doors that the universe opens for you… these were the messages I’d been told throughout the day.
Eve’s eyes dipped to my mouth and back to my eyes.
What did you wish for?
Hyde came around to the side, Eve and I on either side of him but our eyes remained locked.
I reached back and unclasped my bra. Eve’s finger was still hooked around my shoulder strap and the sudden slack in tension led to her arm dropped and pulled my bra down with it.
I watched her gaze drop to my chest, the back of her knuckles slowly cascading down.
I inched closer, our legs brushed against each other as we stayed afloat.
Something in the shift caused a shudder to pass through Eve. With a sudden shake of her head, she jolted toward Hyde, grabbing him around the neck and pulling herself up into a kiss. And she really threw herself into it.
The soda can in my chest trembled, it shook violently.
She was just looking at me like she wanted to kiss me, not Hyde. And her hand was still touching me, a constant stream of electricity pulsing through the contact.
Eve and Hyde broke apart and Hyde turned to me, his mouth on my neck.
Eve’s eyes darkened, her lips swollen from kissing Hyde.
He bit down gently on my neck under my ear.
I couldn’t help the moan that escaped me.
The sound had an effect on Eve, pitching her toward me.
She rolled her wrist, rotating the knuckles around and then splaying her fingers and flattening her palm against my breast. A squeeze, and I knew.
Eve wanted me too. This was well and good beyond the realm of “just friends”.