Fire Down Below Read Online Free PDF Page B

his
life. In truth, his friendships sounded superficial to me.
    “What about you?” he asked. “Have
you told your friends anything about me?”
    “Lots,” I said.
    “Such as?”
    “I told them that you want to be a
writer, that you’re really into the outdoors, that you’ve got a gorgeous ass,
and that we basically can’t keep our hands off each other.”
    Ben peered over his shoulder,
trying to catch a glimpse of his butt.
    “Do I really have a gorgeous ass?”
    “It’s yummy.” I gave him a little
slap.
    “I’m nothing but a sex object to
you. Admit it!” Ben said in mock injury.
    “Afraid so.”
    He got up to go to the bathroom,
wiggling his butt a little and looking coyly over his shoulder at me as he walked
away. When he was gone, I pulled the sheets over myself and rolled onto my
side, letting my eyes wander around his tidy bedroom. Ben was far neater than I
was. It was just as well we never hung out at my place, because I’m sure he’d
be unable to cope with the mess.
    I tried to imagine Ben meeting
some of my friends, wondering what they’d think of him. Ben would be mortified
if he knew some of the intimate details I’ve shared with my girlfriends. You
always hear about men’s locker room talk where they tell each other about the
women they’re having sex with, but I suspect women give far more away. With men
it’s all crude, but women will tell each other everything with no detail too
small. I’ve had friends describe they’re boyfriends’ penises to me down to the
skin color, shape, and taste—though admittedly if they’re describing it that
much, it’s usually because there’s something wrong with it.
    “Listen Kate,” Ben said, when he
came out of the bathroom. “I should probably let you know that my old
girlfriend is going to be there on Saturday. It’s no big deal. We have a lot of
the same friends is all, but I thought you should know.”
    “Oh, what’s her name?”
    “Wendy. She’s very nice. We don’t
hang out anymore, but we’re still friendly when we see each other.”
    I digested this information, not
quite sure how I felt about it. I didn’t feel jealous, which surprised me, but
maybe it was because Ben definitely seemed over her. I have to admit I was curious
to see what she looked like.
    “How long did you go out with her?”
    “A year. We broke up about five
months ago.”
    In truth the only question I
really had was if the sex with her was as good as it is with me. I knew I
couldn’t ask him though. Ben was too discreet for that. He’d probably get angry
at me for even asking. 
    “Thanks for telling me.”
    “Sure, like I said it’s no big
deal.”
     
    ***
     
    Ben picked me up on Saturday. I
wound up having to work that day, but I left a little early. He came in and sat
on a stool waiting for me, taking in our messy kitchen with an expression on
his face as if he’d just swallowed a slug.
    “You guys should clean up in here
more often. It’s gross.”
    I was standing in front of the
mirror in our dining room, pulling the sides of my freshly colored jet black hair
up with two daisy styled hair clips. “I know. We take turns cleaning, but none
of us are any good at it.”  I picked up my requisite tube of red lipstick and
put some on. When I was done I turned to face Ben. “How do I look?”
    “Great....” I saw his eyes flicker
over my nose ring. He seemed to have an issue with the small silver ring I wore,
but was too polite to come right out and ask me to stop wearing it.
    “Did you get the cake?”
    “Oh, that’s right,” I say, heading
over to the fridge. The coffee shop I worked at also sold cakes and so I picked
one up to bring to the party tonight. I opened the refrigerator and pulled out
a large white box marked “K-K-Kate – C- C-Caramel!!” A little joke from one of
the bakers. I heard Ben gasp in horror behind me when he saw the mess in our
fridge and quickly shut the door.
    “Would you mind carrying it?” I
asked,