My Only Talent Ch. 18

Again there was that disappointing emphasis on the word 'you', but I didn't mind much. "Actually, I am dating one of Nora's friends, not her, and I never realized Alley could be so fetching!"

"No shit Sherlock! She's the hottest thing I have ever seen."

I considered her signals for him. "Buddy, you need to ask her out, tonight."

"Aren't y'all going back to Austin tomorrow?"

"Yep. But she comes home to visit her parents all the time, and if you are smart, you will come see her in Austin, too."

"I don't know if I really have a chance with a class chick like that."

"Trust me buddy. If you chase her, you can catch her." He looked very thoughtful.

The girls joined us and we went out the door. There was a big crowd of guys waiting for the girls, and if Bigun hadn't been there, it might have been a problem. His protective nature kicked in, and with an arm around Alley, he easily stared down and dispersed the crowd. Alley seemed to lean on his shoulder pretty hard, and when he put her in the back seat, he kneeled down and they had a whispered conversation while I put Nora in the front seat. I clapped him on the shoulder and invited him to come down to Austin to visit me, if not Alley. He said he would be in touch.

We drove away, and both girls sighed. Me too.

"Well, I hardly knew I was going out with the two hottest strippers in Texas tonight, but I liked it!"

Alley spoke first. "Nora, Bigun asked me out, he is coming to Austin before Christmas and then we are going to spend some time here after I get back from school." A big Suzie signal for him filled the car.

They gave each other high fives. Alley looked at me. "Robbie?"

I smiled. I'm just waiting for Nora's answer?" Alley screamed, but Nora just smiled.

We dropped Alley off at her house, and got back to mine about 3:30 AM, and everyone was asleep upstairs except the dogs. Eldee met us in the driveway, scolded Nora briefly with a look and a snort, and then fell into step with her. The other three waited until we were all inside, then took up positions by the back door and settled down for the night. Nora paused and gave me a brief and way too chaste kiss, and then ascended the stairs with Eldee right at her heels. I sat down at the table for a while with my Grandma's box of fudge, to try to stave off my hunger pangs and survive until dawn, and then went to bed, too.

Alley showed up for the drive back to Austin about noon, and Grandma insisted that we make some turkey sandwiches to take with us, plus a big bag of cookies. Nora seemed genuinely upset to say goodbye to Eldee, and Eldee actually whimpered, something she never even did when she was having her puppies. Mom and Dad, and Grandma and Granddad all fussed over Nora: Grandma even gave Nora her potato salad recipe, and then we finally got into Alley's car. In a few miles we were all almost somnambulant, but Alley's driving seemed fine. We got to Jay's in about an hour and a half, and loaded him up too. Nora wrapped back up in the afghan my Grandma had given her, and curled up next to me, apparently planning to sleep all the rest of the way back. I put my arm around her and leaned back in the seat, ready to relax and enjoy. Nora shifted around until the blanket covered us both. Alley laughed, and then, under the blanket, Nora touched my junk!