Skintight by Susan Andersen Page B

her.”
    â€œGet out!” Carly laughed, but sobered when Treena’s immediate response wasn’t to crack up. “Are you serious?”
    â€œYeah. I am.” Pulling her right knee up and hugging it to her chest, she slowly straightened her leg until it stretched straight up, toes pointed, over her head. Balancing on her left foot, she flexed the right one and told her friend about that morning’s exchange in her apartment. “You should have seen his face, Carly, when I came down on him for his behavior.” She lowered her leg, then repeated the hamstring stretch with the left. “I have a feeling, though, that it wasn’t my wrath that got to him. I think it was knowing that he’d genuinely hurt her feelings.”
    â€œI think those two get off on hurting each other’s feelings.” Then enlightenment dawned. “Ahhh. Shades of junior high school, you think?”
    â€œYes. The old switch and bait—tweak the braids of the girl you wanna kiss, so she doesn’t figure out she’s got the power.”
    â€œYeah, they hate it when a woman’s got her hand firmly on the joystick, don’t they?” Carly said. She laughed. “Well, actually they like that part. It’s knowing she has control of it—and therefore of them—that makes ’em crazy.”
    Treena nodded, although she couldn’t truthfully say she had an abundance of experience with that particular power. “I’m not sure what Ellen’s feelings are in the matter. She plays her cards much closer to the vest than Mack does.”
    â€œYes, she gets a lot of mileage out of acting all cool and refined, which probably contributes to the driving him bananas factor.” Carly grinned. “She loosens up a lot more when it’s just us girls, I’ve noticed.”
    â€œYes, I’ve noticed that, too.” The audience out in the auditorium laughed at the comedian’s closing joke, and thunderous applause broke out. “Sounds like Harry’s in even finer form than usual tonight,” she observed as thetwo of them walked over to join the other dancers lining up in the wings. “So, what do we do? Anything?”
    â€œWell, I’ll tell you right now that I’m not willing to tackle Mack.”
    â€œI know. Even thinking about saying, ‘You dying to do the hootchie-kootch with Ellen, Mack?’ makes my mind—” She shook her head in hopeless bafflement. “God, makes it simply…”
    â€œBoggle,” Carly supplied.
    â€œBig time.”
    â€œYou’d think it would be easier with Ellen, though, wouldn’t you?” Carly demanded. “I mean, what woman doesn’t want to hear some guy’s hot for her? But—”
    â€œIt’s that generational thing.”
    â€œExactly! I sure can’t conceive of telling my mother that some guy’s itching to get his hands down her shorts.” Her laugh went a little wild. “But then you’ve met my mom—we both know she’d prefer to pretend I was delivered by the stork…with none of those messy, undignified bodily fluids involved.”
    â€œWhereas my mother’s grounded firmly in reality. Sex, however, is not a subject to be discussed with one’s daughters, as far as she’s concerned. I think the sum total of The Talk with me and my sisters was, ‘Boys only want one thing. Don’t let them have it.’”
    â€œEllen is a lot more approachable, though,” Carly said.
    â€œYes. Definitely.”
    â€œSo…”
    â€œYou and I will stay as far away from her and Mack’s sex lives—or the lack of one—as we can get. Am I right?”
    â€œOh, yeah. Right as rain, toots.”
    â€œOkay, then.” The comic exited stage left, and themusic introducing the troupe swelled. The chorus line began moving forward as those in front swept onto the stage. Treena turned to give Carly