They both looked over at Lynn, waiting for her story.

"Well?" Matt asked.

"Well what? I'm not part of this game!" Lynn answered.

"Oh, so now you're not part of this game. You can't just put your two cents on one subject and not another!" Matt quipped.

"So, no football captain in your past, huh?" Chris smiled.

"Uh-uh." Lynn shook her head, then smiled. "Cheerleader."

"Behind the bleachers?" Matt kidded.

"No, up at summer camp. We were both camp counselors. Funny what you can accomplish in one of those little rowboats in the middle of the lake on a hot summer night!" Lynn smiled, remembering fondly. "And oh, what a pair of pom-poms she had!"

"Ohhh!" the other two both moaned, throwing their napkins in her direction.

"Well, that's enough openness for me for one night," Lynn said as she examined her watch. She stood and stretched. "I'll clean up the dishes. You guys can keep playing."

"What time is it?" Chris inquired.

"Past ten. Early cla.s.s tomorrow?" Lynn asked.

"I never schedule my cla.s.ses very early. I'm not exactly a morning person," Chris replied. She scooted back from the table. "But it is getting pretty late. I'll help you with the dishes and then I'd better be on my way."

"Yeah, I'm pretty tired myself," Matt said and started cleaning up the game.

"There's really not many dishes. Don't feel like you need to stay and help," Lynn said as she gathered the various dishes around the kitchen and stacked them at the side of the sink.

"Well then, two should make it go faster, huh?" Chris replied as she turned on the water, picked up the first dish, and proceeded to rinse it. The problem was, Chris thought to herself, that she really didn't want to go home.

Lynn opened the dishwasher and slid each dish in as Chris handed them to her. Within minutes, the kitchen was clean.

"See? So much quicker with two!" Chris remarked, then realizing that it was time for her to leave, felt a loneliness overcome her. She stood there, drying her hands over and over again.

"Yeah. Usually Matt helps though. Where'd he go?" Lynn said as she walked over to the gla.s.s door. Looking out, she watched as Matt leaned against the railing, staring out into the darkness. Chris joined Lynn at the gla.s.s to see what she was observing.

Lynn put her arm around Chris's shoulder, giving Chris a shiver down her spine, and softly spoke. "I'm really worried about him. He's really taking this whole thing much too seriously. I wish that I could be there every minute his parents are here, but I can't."

"That's what he's got me for, Lynn. I know that I'm a complete stranger, but please know that I understand this isn't a game, and I'll do my best."

"I believe you will," Lynn said as she squeezed Chris's shoulder, then released her arm. "Thanks again for doing this."

Chris unlocked the door to her apartment and set her backpack on the couch. She listened to the silence. Realizing how empty it made her feel, she flipped on the television and plopped down on the couch. She had never minded being alone before. How could things change so quickly? She had only known these people for two days, really less than two days. Maybe it was just that she hadn't let anyone in for so long.

During her youth, she wasn't allowed the luxury of close friends. She always knew that in a short time her family would be transferred to yet another location. Chris had learned quickly to keep people at arm's length. This avoided any heartbreak when she would be pulled away to start over again. Now she had friends, well, not close friends, but friends that she did things with. But she couldn't think of any she wanted around all the time.

Chris stretched out on the sofa and buried her face in the pillow. She felt so comfortable with Matt and Lynn. Well, she had felt comfortable with Matt. Lynn made her feel comfortable and uneasy at the same time. She thought back to how she froze when she had been alone with Lynn before dinner, and the contentment that she felt later, when Lynn had her arm around her shoulder. Warm and content. Still feeling these sensations, Chris drifted off to sleep.

Chapter Four.

Chris walked down the wine aisle in the grocery store. Matt had requested that she bring wine this evening, her donation to the meal that he was preparing. However, she had forgotten to ask what they were having, and therefore found herself staring at the wide array of selections.

"Red, I believe, goes with Italian food."

Chris turned to find Lynn next to her, with a shopping basket containing various salad items.

"I wasn't sure if he told you what he was cooking," Lynn added.

"No, he didn't," Chris answered. "How much wine do we need?"

"He's a good cook, so you don't need to be soused to eat it, if that's what you're asking." Lynn chuckled.

"Well, I was trying to be polite, but that is what I was getting at." Chris smiled.

"Don't get more than one bottle. First of all because I can't drink too much before I play tonight, and second, if Matt drinks too much you may find out more than you really need, or want, to know."

"You have to play tonight? As in, aeplaying around'?" Chris asked with a mischievous smile.

"See, now Matt gave you the wrong idea about me! I'm not a nympho or anything!" Lynn explained, "I play at the Rainbow Room, it's a gay bar." Realizing this didn't sound any better, she added, "I mean I sing. Well, I play guitar and the keyboard too, but I basically sing."

"You see, I learn something new every day. I didn't even know there was a gay bar around here!"

"Yeah, well, we don't really advertise, we don't want to attract the riffraff."

"Do people just sit and listen, or is there a dance floor?"

"You ever try to keep a gay man from dancing?" Lynn chuckled.

"So* you must sing Broadway songs, huh?" Chris laughed.

"No, no Broadway tunes, that's how we keep most of the gay men out." Lynn laughed at the stereotype and wondered if Chris really believed it. "There are a few gay men that come in, like Matt, but it's basically known as a lesbian bar."

There was a moment of silence, Lynn guessed because she had said the word "lesbian," so she broke the uncomfortable pause. "So wine, salad, bread, and Matt's manicotti, sounds like a feast, huh?"

"Well, what are we having for the most important part of the meal?" Chris asked. Lynn looked at her quizzically.

"Dessert," Chris answered. "The most important part of the meal is dessert!"

"Oh G.o.d, a woman after my own heart. Bless you!" Lynn smiled. "Well, Matt doesn't really eat sweets, thinks they're bad for you or something." Lynn rolled her eyes and continued, "But I, on the other hand, think that they should have their own place in the food groups. How about ice cream?"

"You won't have to twist my arm! What flavor?"

"Let's go look," Lynn said. Finding the freezer aisle, they stood gazing at all of the cartons.

"What do you think?" Lynn asked. "Do you want a one-mile-run ice cream or a five-mile-run ice cream?"

"Excuse me?"

"That's how I judge what flavor to get," Lynn explained. "I love sweets, but I also know how much exercise I'll have to do to make up for eating them. It's kind of my trade-off. Call it ice cream for miles!"

"So you run? I love to run. I bet it's great living on the beach, running along the water every day."

"Yeah, I run every day after work, kind of a stress reliever. I work out at the gym too, but not every day, maybe two, three times a week."

"Every day after work, you mean you run in the middle of the night? Is that safe?" Chris asked.

"Oh, the singing thing. That's not really a job, just kind of a hobby. Monday through Friday I'm a waitress at the Blue Moon Cafe, the restaurant just on the other side of Matt's shop. It's only open for breakfast and lunch, so I'm out of there about two in the afternoon."

Chris nodded in understanding and looked back toward the ice cream. "So, what's your favorite?"

"Definitely pralines and cream, a lot of people go for something chocolate, but not me. And your favorite?" Lynn asked.

"I'm the person for something chocolate. Rocky Road," Chris answered.

"Well, I say we get both. I mean, Matt's parents will probably be over and want something sweet, don't you think?" Lynn tried to justify the purchases.

"Oh, definitely!" Chris agreed and reached into the case for the containers.

"Here, let me." Lynn smiled as she took the containers from Chris's hands. "I hear that you're a struggling student."

Chris let Lynn purchase the ice cream along with the salad ingredients while wondering to herself if Lynn was any better off financially working as a waitress. The two walked out into the parking lot, climbed into their respective vehicles, and drove toward the house.

Lynn rolled down the window and turned on the radio. Her stomach growling, she reached into one of the sacks, took out a carrot, and took a bite. Could Matt and Chris really pull off this escapade? She wondered if Chris was overwhelmed by the situation. She didn't seem to be, but some people put on a good front. She knew that she was going to have a hard enough time pretending for Matt's parents that he and Chris were a couple. She hoped that they wouldn't run into any of Matt's friends while he and Chris were entertaining his parents. Lynn made a mental note to ask Matt if he had clued any of his friends in on his scheme.

Chris rolled down the window and breathed in the crisp evening air. She looked over at the bottle of wine that she had purchased and wished that she could have a gla.s.s before she stepped into another question-and-answer series. What she really wanted was to drink the entire bottle, to relieve the uneasiness in her stomach. It's funny, she only felt this nervousness when she was alone with Lynn. It hadn't really bothered her to learn that Lynn was gay, or had it? Brushing off the nerves, she pulled up in front of the house. Taking another deep breath, she grabbed the wine bottle and walked to the door.

Lynn opened the door and ushered Chris in before her. "Hey, Matt! Look who I found at the grocery store."

Matt looked around the kitchen wall and rolled his eyes. "What a coincidence," he mumbled.

Lynn gave him a dirty look for what he was thinking as she brought the sacks of food through the living room. Chris followed Lynn into the kitchen and took the lid off of one of the pots to check out the contents. The creamy Alfredo sauce made her mouth water. "If you guys keep feeding me like this, I'll never want to leave."

"Tomorrow night, it's your turn to cook!" Matt joked as he stirred the pasta.

"Yeah, you'd better be joking." Chris laughed. "You two wouldn't want to eat anything I can cook!"

"You've been on your own for a while. What do you eat if you don't cook?" Lynn asked as she removed the contents of the plastic bags.

"A lot of salads, sandwiches, nothing that takes too much effort."

"It's different when you're alone too," Matt commented. "Who wants to do all this cooking for just one person, right?"

Chris nodded, salivating as Matt stirred the sauce. Lynn tore off two chunks of French bread and dunked them in the cream as Matt went over to the refrigerator. Lynn quickly popped one of the pieces into her mouth and offered the other to Chris. Smiling, the woman opened her mouth, letting Lynn place the bread on her tongue.

Matt turned at the sound of her moans of delight. "Hey! What's going on?" he exclaimed.

Lynn looked innocent as she went back to preparing her salad, leaving Chris to fend for herself. Chris could not answer as she was still savoring the bite. She simply shrugged and smiled. Matt looked at one woman and then the other, then went back to his search in the refrigerator. Lynn glanced back and gave Chris a wink. Chris felt her face turn red, and not understanding her own reaction, quickly turned away.

"Well guys, I need to get going." Lynn slid her chair back from the table and stood. "I just hope that I'll be able to sing with this hill stomach. Another great meal, Matt!"

"Thanks. Have a good practice," Matt said with a wave goodbye.

Chris looked up as Lynn opened the sliding gla.s.s door and stepped into the house. "Hey, what about*"

"I'm sorry, I'm just too mil for ice cream right now, but you can go ahead if you want to!" Lynn said apologetically.

"Wait a minute," Matt called to Lynn. "Ice cream? Oh no, have you corrupted her already?"

Lynn stuck her head back out the door with a mischievous smile. "Depends on what you mean by corrupting her!"

"Lynn*" Matt glared at her, remembering their conversation in the kitchen the first night.

"I'm just teasing! Can't you take a joke?" Lynn laughed, shrugged her shoulders, and glanced over at Chris.

Chris smiled. Matt mumbled something under his breath and swallowed the last drop of wine from his gla.s.s.

Lynn grabbed her keys and headed out the door. "Shoot!" she said to herself as she looked at her watch and realized it was later than she thought. For some reason she wasn't as excited as usual about going to practice. She wanted to stay home. Why? she wondered. It was just going to be another evening like last night, Matt and Chris trading details about their lives, pretty boring. Actually, Matt's life details were boring, but she was interested in learning more about Chris. And that smile. Oh brother! Lynn slapped herself on the head*she's straight, she's straight, shes straight, she repeated to herself. She drove into the bar parking lot and saw all the other band members' vehicles in the lot. Parking quickly, she jogged to the door.

"You're late!" Nikki called from the stage. "You're never late! What's the matter?" Nikki was the lead guitarist and the other vocalist in the band. Tall, thin, much too confident, and bis.e.xual, Nikki did not appeal s.e.xually to Lynn at all. Lynn could never get involved with a bis.e.xual. The concept was totally repellent to her. She and Nikki flirted while playing on stage, but that was as far as it went, and Lynn had made that clear to Nikki the first time they played together.

"Nothing is the matter, I just lost track of time, that's all," Lynn answered as she climbed the stairs to the stage. Strapping a guitar on, she said h.e.l.lo to the rest of the members, and went right to work. "Okay, let's start with the usual songs, and we also have that special request that I faxed to you guys yesterday." And with that said, the practice began.

Chris and Matt stared at each other. Two hours of making small talk was wearing on them. Chris felt like she knew everything that she needed to know about Matt. She was bored, she was tired, and she wished Lynn was there. Lynn would have broken the silence with some witty comment or sarcastic remark.

"We need to get out of here." Matt stood suddenly.

"Yes, we definitely need to get out of here," Chris agreed as she pushed out her chair. "Any place in particular?"

"No*any place that you usually hang out?"

"I actually never just hang out. My life for the past four years has been eat, study, sleep, eat, study, sleep."

"Well, the place that I usually hang out is a gay bar, and I don't think that you would feel comfortable there, so*"

"Is that where Lynn plays?"

"Yeah, the Rainbow Room."

"Let's go there. I don't think that I'll feel too uncomfortable."

Matt tried to hide the shock he felt. Most straight people wouldn't go near a gay bar. Chris must really have an open mind. He was glad that he had found her.