Chapter 19

The party was in full swing by the time they reached the pool deck. A woman with a badge and clipboard moved to stop Erin, then saw Geno and stepped out of the way. Max blew her a kiss as he passed.

Jordan bulldozed a path straight to the bar. Sid was bringing up the rear, his hand in Maddie’s. Before he reached the group, Jordan was already collecting out shots.

“Two tequilas a piece,” he said, “Boys vs. girls. Watch and learn.”

He handed each of the guys two shot glasses, then picked up a slice of lime. He lifted the lime to Deanne’s mouth and made her hold the rind side between her teeth. He downed one shot, the other, and then pressed his mouth to Deanne’s to bite the lime. When he was done, he spit the lime away and went back in for a kiss.

Max crowed. “I hope someone photographs you doing this, Sid!”

“You’re the one with no date!” Sid shot back.

Geno put his hands on Erin’s shoulders and pushed her forward. “You can borrow mine. We just friends,” he said. Erin’s eyes went very wide. Geno spun her back to face him. “But I do it too, okay?” She looked very alarmed, but nodded.

Sidney picked up a lime slice and a napkin. He put the edge of the napkin against Maddie’s chest, just above the top of her dress. Very gingerly, he tucked the napkin between her skin and the fabric. Her stomach dropped as his fingers brushed the top of her breasts.

“Just in case,” he said, handing her the lime.

“Wait, wait! Go one at a time! I wanna see this,” Cynthia shouted, already holding her lime. She nodded to Sid and Maddie. “You guys first!”

Sid glanced around, then looked at Maddie. He raised his eyebrows really high and made a ‘Here we go!’ face. He drained both shots and stepped into Maddie. He wrapped his arms all the way around her back, dipped her so low she was horizontal and bit into the lime. A splash of juice ran onto Maddie’s chin as she fought the urge to laugh. He came up with the lime in his teeth, pulling her to her feet.

“Woooo,” she said, steadying herself.

Sid had the lime in his hand. “Wait...” he said, and gave her a very gentle, very juicy kiss. He licked her bottom lip. “I missed a spot.”

“Oooowwww!” Jordan yelled. “That’s how you do it, boys. Let’s see what you got.”

Cynthia and Kris were next. Kris obviously did not like tequila, and made a face after each shot. Cynthia pushed his hair from his face. He really went for the lime, grabbing Cynthia hard and pulling her into him, their bodies practically slamming together. She hitched her leg up over his hip like they were doing the tango.

“Okay, Erin. You ready for back-to-back action?” Jordan gave her two limes.

“Geno should do like 10 shots really, two isn’t going to do a thing for him,” she laughed, then popped the lime in her mouth.

Geno toasted her with both glasses, then opened his mouth as wide as he could and poured both shots in at the same time. He picked Erin up, lifted her over his head, and slowly slid her body down against his until the lime met his upturned lips. He put her down laughing and wiping juice from her face.

“Saved the best for last,” Max winked at Erin as she put another lime between her lips. Max threw back one shot, then the other. Then he pulled the lime from Erin’s mouth, tilted her over his knee, stuck it in the top of her dress and pressed his face into her cleavage.

“Aaaggghhh!” she squealed.

Max spit the lime out, but kept her there. “See what you’ve been missing?” he teased, and stood her up. She shook her whole body.

“I have lime juice all down my dress!” She slapped him on the arm.

“Then we need more shots!” he yelled.
___

Jordan ordered another round – and got 10 shots. He’d forgotten there were only four girls. He looked at Max, who looked at Erin.

“Can you handle both of us again?” he asked.

“One shot each, and yes,” she nodded deviously. “I am going to have my way with both of you.”

By now, people near the bar had caught on to their game. Most of them had seen Max pillaging Erin and turned to watch. For round two, they had spectators.

Sid was gripping Maddie’s hand a little tighter. She knew he had a lot riding on his image, and that he knew almost everyone at the party. Sponsors, media, executives… he was back on his guard, after the fun they’d had before. She squeezed his hand in what she hoped was a reassuring way.

What am I going to do? she asked herself.

Deanne and Jordan were up first. She got ready like wasn’t a foot taller, like she could ever reach his face without standing on something. He took the lime, looking at her curiously. She picked up her shot glasses, tilted them toward the group, then drank them both in quick succession. When she had tossed them on the bar, she reached out and pushed Jordan – hard. He fell backward into a chair, Deanne threw one leg over him and sat right on his lap. The audience whistled and applauded as she bit into the lime.

Maddie gave Cynthia a pleading look. Cynthia handed Kris his lime – he was perfectly happy not to wait for their turn. She evicted Jordan from his chair and had Kris sit down. She walked around behind him, trailing a hand across his chest. Both shots went down, she leaned over the back of the chair and pressed her lips to the lime in an upside-down Spider Man kiss. Kris’s knuckles went white gripping the arms of the chair. They got catcalls from the peanut gallery.

Erin got the idea and quickly moved to be next. She handed one shot to Max ‘for safe keeping’ and handed Geno a lime. She took a few steps back from him, tapped her shot glass down on the bar and then drained it. Then she ran the distance between them, jumped and wrapped her legs around Geno’s hips. He caught her and she was biting the lime before he could even regain his balance. The crowd whooped. For good measure, he put one hand on her ass.

She climbed down, looked around and held up a single finger to Max. Seconds later, she was back, dragging a deck chair. She pulled it right up in front of Max and pointed for him to lie down. He practically jumped onto it.

She stepped over, straddling him with one foot on either side of the chair. She theatrically took his hands and shoved them under his butt so he couldn’t touch her. Then she undid an extra button on his shirt, exposing his throat and a sliver of his chest. She put the lime in his smile.

Erin winked at Max, then tossed back the shot. She leaned down, took the lime from his mouth, folded open his collar and squeezed it on his neck. Then she put her knee down, stretched her body out against him and slowly licked the juice from his skin. Max’s hands were out in a second, pinning her to him. Everyone whistled and hollered.

Okay, here goes, Maddie thought. She pressed the object in her hand, hoping she’d come up with something good. Suggestive, but certainly not throwing him on the ground and licking him in front of everyone. Though I’d like to.

Sid looked nervous, but he was gamely holding his slice of fruit. Maddie gave him a little nod. He put the lime in his mouth. More people had been attracted by the crowd, and quite a few were now waiting to see what she’d do.

Maddie took her time swallowing one shot, then the other. She put the glasses down, and stepped close to Sid. She held up the object in her hand for everyone to see – her room key. She gently leaned in, used her mouth to take the lime without touching him, and then slid her keycard between his teeth in its place. Then she walked away, like the she was going inside.

There was a beat of silence, then the crowd blew up. Maddie turned back around and did a little curtsey. Sid took the key from his mouth, held it up again, and the slid it into his pocket.
___

“Amazing.” He was shaking his head at her. Maddie was holding a beer, though she could still taste the tequila. “I can’t tell you how scared I was there for a minute,” he laughed before pressing into her. “Though I was pretty desperate for you to have your way with me in a pool chair.”

Maddie smiled. “We could always bring one inside.”
____