Trouble Triangle (Tyler's Trouble Trilogy) by Travis Casey Page B

kind of surgery to remove—"
    "Okay, okay," I interrupted. "I get your point. Maybe it was a poor choice of words. But how else can I shake her?"
    "Get her to dump you," he said matter of factly . "Pick a fight with her until she gets so mad she tells you to get out. Or tell her you know about her past with Debbie, and you'll tell the Navy she a lesbian and get her kicked out if she doesn't back off. Or take her to a strip joint, get up on stage and start stuffing a stripper while she's watching." Mark rolled over on his back and started kicking his feet up and down on the bed. "That's if you can get it up!" He laughed and kept kicking his feet. "Man, I loved that."
    I laughed too. "I suppose it was funny. It wasn't at the time, though. Fucking jarhead." I smacked his leg. "Thanks, buddy. I needed the talk. I don't know what I'd do without you. But, I have to face it. She's got me by the balls."
    "I wasn't much help on this one. I don't think you actually need a girlfriend. You seem to do a pretty good job of fucking yourself on your own. So you going to see Holly now?"
    "No, Debbie said she wanted to see me. She probably wants to tell me if she's gay or not."
    Mark grabbed the pillow from behind his head and hit me with it. "You're unbelievable."
    " Laters ." I got up and left.
    #
    I arrived at Debbie's dorm. She welcomed me with a warm smile and a kiss on the cheek. She looked sexy in high, tight shorts and an orange halter top. She brought out a few beers from her mini-fridg e and we sat down at her table.
    "I hope you don't think I've been avoiding you," she said, "but I've been doing a lot of thinking lately."
    "I thought you would be." I cracked my beer open and took a drink. "Just let me say, I really enjoyed our night together, and I respect whatever you decide to do."
    "Thanks, I know you will." She placed her hand on mine. "I don't think I'm really gay. I think—"
    "What a minute." I held my palm up. "Before you switch back, any chance of a threesome?" I smiled.
    She swatted her hand at me. "I knew I could count on you to come out with something like that. No." She sipped her beer. "I've never had a lot of boyfriends, but the ones I did go out with always treated me like shit. Holly was the first person to ever treat me nicely in a relationship. Overbearing, but nice. I think feeling like I was special for the first time may have misguided me."
    "You mean Holly was nice to you?"
    "You sound surprised. I know she can be demanding at times, and she does like to control the relationship. She's five years younger than me, but she was so authoritative. That was fine. I liked someone being forceful with me, it was quite a turn on. It made me feel like she really cared about me. Has she ever said anything to you about having gay experiences?"
    "Are you kidding? No, and I've never asked. So what happened after Holly?" I took another sip and it was going down smooth.
    "Another girl came onto me, and I reciprocated. It didn't last long. I was on the rebound and, well, it just didn't work out. We're still friends. It was an amicable split. Then I met Lisa. I really fell for her, and then she did the dirty on me."
    "So what made you think that maybe you're not gay?"
    "After Holly, the sex was never as good. Sometimes I didn't even enjoy it. I began to realize that I was more in love with the idea that someone actually cared about me, and not so much the sex or the lifestyle. I felt needed and loved. That's all I wanted out of the relationship. So, when Lisa dumped me, I started wondering what it would be like to have sex with a guy again. I wanted to see if I enjoyed it. It had been so long, I had forgotten."
    I lit a cigarette and she slid the ashtray over.
    "I've come to the conclusion that anyone can treat you like shit. Male or female. So I'll just have to take the chance. Yes, the night with you, I must admit, I enjoyed the sex more than I did with Lisa."
    "And you're sure about this?"
    She nodded. "Yes. So, how are you