"Your mom tells me you'd like have a party," Bobby said. He was sitting at the breakfast table, sipping coffee with Kelsey, Kay and Sharron.
"What do you think, Daddy? Doesn't it sound fun?" Kelsey asked.
"It does, but have you thought about it from all the different angles?" he asked. "Mixing your younger friends with older generations from the same, small community can be risky. We can invite all our friends, but some of them might not want to be involved."
Kelsey looked like she wasn't really sure what he meant.
"Take Olivia for example," Bobby said. "She'd probably lose her job at the school if word got out about her swinging. Most of our other friends need to be careful too. We can certainly invite them, but it would be great if you could have a heart-to-heart with your young friends about it all. Discretion and privacy is very important as people get older and established with careers and families. I know
you
get it, but I'm not sure how much your friends have thought about it."
Sharron was listening intently, excited by the prospect of meeting some of the adult swingers, and fascinated by Bobby's businesslike way with it all. She'd thought maybe swinging was all just wild, teenage-like coming togethers, but there was obviously more to the lifestyle than that.
"Yeah, I'll definitely talk to them," Kelsey said. "This is cool, Daddy, I'm glad you told me this. I'll only invite a few of my friends. Brie, Charity, Raymond...maybe Austin," Kelsey said, glancing at her mother. "And Koop and Happy. I'll have to talk to them, too, but I'd really like for them to be a part of it.
"You really like this Koop guy, huh?" Bobby said. "I thought he was nice, too."
"He's awesome, Daddy. And Happy's super nice. His wife died a couple years ago, really sad, that memory disease thing.
"I didn't meet him when I was at the shop," Bobby said. "How old is he?"
"Mid-fifties I guess," Kelsey said. Her gaze shifted to Sharron. "He's tall, probably six-three or six-four maybe. Nice and slim. He's got those great smile-lines next to his eyes..."
"If you're trying to get me to come to your party you don't have to work that hard," Sharron said, looking a little embarrassed that she was so ready for something so wild.
"I was thinking you and Happy might make a nice couple," Kelsey said.
Sharron chuckled. "Strip me and throw me into a house full of naked men. Doesn't sound like the best way to find a future husband."
"You'd be surprised, Honey," Kay said to her. "When Bobby and I were younger we were involved in lots of parties with single people. Quite a few nice relationships were born on those nights."
"I won't be divorced for months and...why are we even talking about this?" Sharron asked. "Isn't recreational sex enough for a while?"
"Sure it is, Honey," Kay said. "A nice party will be a good next step for you. If you think about all the men as potential mates it'll just spoil it. Just walk down the stairs in something sexy and have fun."
Sharron got a sudden jolt of nerves. She hadn't thought about making an entrance at that kind of a party. Did Kay do that, she wondered? Float down the big staircase in flowing chiffon lingerie?
"Kelsey, don't be putting ideas in that man's head about Sharron," Kay said. "If something's meant to be, it'll happen naturally."
"Yeah, I know, Mom," Kelsey said, wondering if Koop had said anything to Happy.
"Good. So, are we all on the same page then?" Kay asked everybody. "Sounds like we may have a summer soiree to get ready for."
"Yay!" Kelsey said. "Can we do it Friday? Raymond's leaving Sunday for his new job in Brooklyn."
"Kelsey! You want to do it that soon?" Kay said. "Well, if it's for Raymond, I guess we can make it happen."
"Oh my God!" Kelsey smiled. "It's gonna be the best night
ever
! Brie and Charity are just gonna
flip
when I tell them!"
Sharron smiled at Kelsey's youthful enthusiasm, but she too was flipping a little inside as she thought about what Friday night would bring. Would she be passed from man to man, from woman to woman, all of them with nothing but pleasure on their minds? It sounded like heaven to her at the moment, but it was pretty far out there from who she used to be. She'd have to work on her frame of mind, and her confidence, to pull it off.
Bobby smiled at Kelsey, too. The mention of Brie and Charity was enough to send his mind to a happy place. Kelsey had forgotten to mention Trina, so Bobby didn't yet know the captain of his daughter's high school cheerleader squad would be there, looking even more stunning as a twenty-two year old than she did when she had all the fathers enthralled.
As Kay cleared some dishes from the table and walked to the sink she was fantasizing about the two new men, both of whom she'd be meeting for the first time on Friday. Koop with his tattoos, and all six-foot-four of Happy. She'd always loved big men, especially the slim, well-built ones who towered over her five-foot frame.
Yes, Friday would be interesting, for everybody. A new kind of party at Kay and Bobby's house. An intermingling of generations and an entry point for the inexperienced. Kelsey's enthusiasm was contagious.
—
The next few days were nearly mind-numbing for Sharron. Phone calls with the lawyer, an uncomfortable phone conversation with her husband, and nearly continual daydreams about what Friday night would be like. She wondered about nearly every couple she saw, if they were swingers, if they were sexually open, if they would be walking into the house on Friday and fucking her. It was a crazy, almost overwhelming feeling — would she survive the build-up, let alone the actual event?
The way Kay prepared fascinated her as well, cutting off sex with Bobby until the night of the party. "It makes it all so much hotter if I haven't gotten any in a while," Kay had said. "You two can still have fun. I won't mind."
Sharron could sense that Bobby liked to abstain beforehand too, so of course she followed their lead — the evenings leading up to the party were simple lying-around-naked-watching-movies affairs.
Kelsey had been busy too, getting her friends prepared as best she could. She'd talked to Raymond and Trina individually, about what to expect and about how important discretion was to the older participants. What happens in the house stays in the house, she told them. They seemed happy to oblige, not wanting anything to get out about them, either.
Brie and Charity felt the same way. Charity in particular was relieved to hear everyone was wanting discretion. As loose as her morals had become lately, she still had a lot of Christian Midwesterner in her blood. Being in the middle of any kind of sex scandal would horrify her.
Kelsey's last stop was Koop's Crawlers. She drove over first thing in the morning and was glad to find the men alone, reinstalling an engine they'd rebuilt. It was hanging from a chainfall, being slowly lowered into position when she walked in.
"Hi you guys!" she said. "Holy shit, that's cool!" She stood and watched as the silvery chain flashed through Happy's hands with a high-pitched metallic whir. The engine moved slowly downward. Koop was under it, guiding it onto the input shaft of the transmission.
"Hold it," he said. "Give me another inch."
Happy pulled the rattly chain slower and the engine slipped into place.
"Got it," Koop said. "Is it on the mounts?"
"Yup," Happy said. "Lookin' good."
Koop rolled out from under the Jeep on his creeper, sat up and wiped his hands on a rag.
