Raincoating Ch. 02

"It's no bluff, honey," Jack shouted into the mic, rolling with the offer I know he wasn't expecting. "I'll write you a check right now if you agree to Conner's terms. Since I haven't paid him all he's due for his services, I can verify that he's got the money coming to him... and I'll give that thousand dollars to you if you do as asked. Oh, but one more thing... because Conner fought so hard for us to do this co-ed Raincoating tonight... you know he's the world's biggest champion of gender equality, ladies and gents... that's why Conner's making the same offer, of course, to our winning man, Geronimo!"

Conner didn't see that coming, I could tell. I kept smiling and looked behind me as Geronimo joined the cheering. He shouted his own name even louder and the crowd erupted into more laughter. He bounded up the steps and found his way to the on-stage group fast. Without waiting for another word from Jack, he popped the buttons on his raincoat and held the flaps apart by the full length of his arms. Three of the guys almost doubled over with laughter, as did Jack, but Geronimo had an awe-inducing body, in its way. Wide, but not fat, very hairy, and shiny all over with his sweat. I covered my mouth and nodded as Geronimo looked to me for approval. He had an erection, too, and the ladies seemed to like that, although it was a bit on the snub-nosed side.

I don't think I'd ever seen anyone so confident with his appearance. Maybe Geronimo was faking it, or maybe he took some comfort in all the other naked bodies around him. I was envious of that. I didn't want to have everyone gawking at me the same way. Filming me with video phones and snapping pictures that would end up god-knows-where.

I looked to Rory and saw him smiling. Forgetting his own embarrassment, clapping along with the crowd at Geronimo's shamelessness.

I waved Jack over, and he gave me the microphone when I reached for it.

"I'll make a deal with you, Conner," I said. Some of the women shouted out their support, which made me laugh. They must have had jackass exes, too. "You can keep your money. I'll take my coat off and join the other ladies... and the cute guys up here... Geronimo and all his awesomeness..." I had to wait for that roar to fade a bit. "Even better, I'll give my prize money to the five ladies who played the game with me. Split it up even between them... if you come up here and join all of us in the buff!"

It got very loud, and suddenly, to my delight, Conner was the one who didn't want to be on stage. He smiled the whole time, extremely uncomfortable, and then just shook his head. A very slight motion, just enough to signal he was declining the offer. The crowd turned on him, jeered him, and then they looked back to me as I gave them my "I tried my best" expression.

I put the microphone back to my mouth. "I've seen Conner naked. I can't say I blame him for refusing." That went over very well, except with Conner himself. He seemed to slink away, wearing a murderous look on his face. I wasn't worried. I realized his bullshit could never outlast me, that people would eventually see through it, and more than that, I was a hell of a lot braver than he had ever been.

I nodded along and walked over to where Rachel stood. My fingers were nervous, but even as they tripped up a bit, they kept at their work—unbuttoning my red raincoat.

"That's okay, Conner. You don't have to accept my offer. I'll accept yours."

I looked to Rory, who seemed as stunned as Rachel. Then, I tossed the microphone back to Jack, who caught it clumsily, before I peeled open the leaves of my raincoat.

I turned to face the crowd as they boomed out their encouragement. I blushed from head to toe, as red as my coat, and felt like I was going to collapse from my crumbling nerves. As strange as I felt, as embarrassed and ridiculous and regretful as I probably should have felt, I couldn't do anything but laugh. I slung off the raincoat and Rachel took it from me. I turned to Rory, making sure he could see me. I hoped he was as forgiving as I was about how my body compared to the other women. I shook my ass for the audience and they applauded me louder. I could see a dozen flashes over my shoulders, including Jack taking another picture with the camera. I turned around and put one arm around Rachel, the other around Geronimo, and I found it hard to stop smiling.

I didn't believe I was going to go the rest of my life feeling like I had done the right thing, but in the moment, I was proud of myself. Let them look if they wanted to look. I had done something I never believed I could, and that was some victory. Jack made sure I got the money Conner had promised me in front of everyone, and I made good on my word to split my own prize money between the other girls. It probably wasn't enough for a car, and I never saw Sunny again—except for in that video that unfortunately leaked online after all—so I'm guessing she didn't use her part of the money on tuition, but I know Jody bought herself a sexy raincoat with her share and Rachel put hers toward some nice headshots.

I made good on another promise, too, and by the time we saw daylight again, Rory had no doubts whatsoever that his body was everything I wanted.