SSS(SS) - Part 23

“It’s open.”

Sal lets herself in and slams the door, turning the lock. Half a second later, the doorknob wiggles. Meri pounds on it.

“You can’t run from me! I’m like a velociraptor in Jurassic Park! I can open doors!”

“That doesn’t make sense,” Sal snaps.

“Let me in!”

“Jesus.” Sal puts her back to the door and sighs. “Oh, shit. Sorry.”

Athena’s just standing there in nothing but simple, gray panties and white ankle socks. There’s a lot of freshly-folded laundry on her bed and she’s holding a T-shirt that she was obviously about to put on before Sal arrived.

Sal covers her eyes, but she can't unsee Athena's creamy skin and bare breasts. “Sorry.”

Athena shakes her head and pulls her shirt on.

“I’m decent,” she says dryly, and Sal moves her hand.

On the other side of the door, Meri lets out a groan of frustration and stalks away.

Sal sighs in relief. “It’s a lot out there,” she tells Athena.

“That's why I only come out for food,” Athena says, taking a stack of laundry and carrying it to her dresser. Sal’s not going out of her way to look, just like Athena’s not going out of her way to give a show. She bends to put away the clothes, and her tee rides up, exposing her pale thighs.

Sal looks away and folds her arms.

“You want to get out of here?” she asks.

“What do you mean?”

Sal hesitates. “Just what I said. Leave the house.”

“To where?”

“I don’t know. The diner? Friscos? The biker bar? Do they do food?”

Athena stares at Sal, suddenly unreadable.

“You mean to go eat,” Athena says.

Suddenly anxious, Sal braces herself.

“Yeah,” she says.

“You and me.”

Yes.”

“Like a date.”

“Is this a problem?” Sal asks, annoyed.

“No,” Athena replies with a shrug. “Do you know when the last time a girl asked me on a date was?”

“Yesterday,” Sal says hesitantly, raising an eyebrow.

“Tenth grade,” Athena says excitedly, vanishing into her closet. “Are you taking me somewhere nice?” she calls out.

Baffled, Sal has to laugh. “Isn’t Meri all over you? And I heard some stuff about you and some of your other officers. What are you talking about?”

“Meri sneaks into my bed. And other stuff is other stuff. CCL stuff. I almost forgot what a date was,” Athena says, and Sal can hear her moving hangers in her closet.

“So you want to go?”

“Of course!” Two hands shoot out of the closet, each holding a dress on a hanger. “Which one?”

“You’re wearing a dress?” Sal asks.

Athena’s face appears. “Can’t I?”

Sal rubs her face. “It’s fine. Whatever you want.”

“Can we drive to Chickton? I know it’s like an extra twenty minutes, but they have a surf and turf place.”

“Sure,” Sal says dazedly.