The Scavenger Hunt Ch. 03

So, yeah. A bit of a delay on this one. Real life, blah blah blah. Anyway, here's Chapter 3! You met the first main female character -- Taylor -- in the last chapter, and in this chapter you'll meet the other one. This chapter ties directly into Chapter 7 of Brad's Road Trip, where you can find the actual story that gets a Cliff Notes retelling in this chapter. I think I've been detailed enough here that you don't NEED to read the Road Trip chapter, but, ya know... go read it anyway.

Thanks to samuraisan, who is my long time beta reader and now my editor too. He's a great guy with a shit ton of stuff going on in his life that still makes time to clean these stories up for me, and also finds a lot of logic holes that sometimes slip through when you write multiple chapters over years and years (how many years, we won't get into). Also, big thanks to Thatsbogus, who is an author on this site as well. Go check his stuff out. His beta reads are invaluable to me, and every time he publishes something, it gets me re-inspired to fire my own writing back up (so send him feedback begging him to write new stuff)!

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The Scavenger Hunt: Chapter 3

Frat Folks--

Taylor Greene, Soccer Skills Coaching, Objective 4. Saturday night/Sunday morning on the team bus back from Asheville. If you need confirmation, one of her teammates saw.

TT

They were being pretty secretive about all this, and I still didn't know how they'd confirmed Brianne. I wasn't going to make it easy on them, but without me giving them something, confirming would have been impossible since it was on a bus ride. So, I told them someone had seen -- let them figure out who.

I obviously knew Jamar had seen, but I didn't want his unable-to-keep-a-secret ass involved in the fraternity game, so I didn't mention his name. He'd told me that Jaleesa was actually the one who told him about it. And when I'd noticed him looking and thought Jaleesa was asleep on his lap... well, her head had been in his lap, but she wasn't asleep. I told him I didn't need details.

I shot the e-mail out while sitting in my Motor Skills classroom, about 10 minutes before the class started. I'd also transferred the frat's original e-mail to a file on my laptop, so I went in and drew a line through my Soccer class and Objective No. 4. I'd only had the list for a week, and I'd already satisfied two of the eight objectives and knocked out two of my six classes. At this rate, I'd be done well before the May deadline.

The classroom door opened, so I quickly shut the file and closed my e-mail. A few of my classmates streamed in, and the professor followed. Today was the day he assigned us our group projects. The class was about motor skills and development, and one part of the class focused on disabilities that deprived children of learning those motor skills, including ways to help those children stay as active as possible.

I was assigned a group of fourth graders at a local elementary school, and our activity was swimming. Now, I knew very little about swimming -- I could swim, but I doubted any swim coach would be impressed with either my speed or my technique. When I found out who my partner was, though, I became a lot less worried.

Carolina Atlantic didn't have an official swim team, but we did have an intercollegiate club team, and Lexi Briggs was one of its best athletes. She'd been swimming competitively since she was five and actually co-taught an intermediate swim class on campus.

She was built a bit bigger than your average swimmer, but her largish breasts and thick thighs didn't hurt her speed. She had shoulder-length brown hair and a nose ring. Her face was somewhat plain, but she was still plenty attractive. And, since we were partners for our project, she was walking over to me.

"So, how much do you know about teaching special needs kids how to swim?" she asked me with a grin as she sat on the front of my desk.

"I'm the world's leading expert," I replied, knowing she knew the truth. "Of course, I know you barely even know what water is, much less how to swim."

"Exactly," she said. "So, I'll let you handle this one and just get out of your way. I'll of course take the credit when you impress everyone and earn us our A."

We laughed together and she grabbed a seat next to me.

"Aww," I said. "I kind of liked having your ass right there at arm's length on my desk." It was forward, for sure, but I didn't want to waste time. As far as my frat challenge was concerned, I'd gotten the best possible partner. There were other doable girls in this class, but when I thought about her body and her athleticism, Lexi was probably the hottest girl in here. So really, what was the point in being shy about it? Worst case scenario, she'd get a little offended, and I'd apologize and say I was just screwing around.

"Yeah, well, you're going to get to see it in a bikini a half-dozen times over the next few weeks," she replied with a grin. "So stop complaining."

And that was just about the best-case scenario.

"Well, that's something to look forward to," I answered. "Thanks for that image. That's all I'll be thinking about until... when's our first session with the kids?"

"Won't be for a couple weeks," she said, though I did notice her blush at my compliment. "How comfortable are you in the pool?"

"I don't sink," I said. "That's about all."

"You should come to my swim class on Thursday morning at 11, then," she said. "I'll get them started, then work with you a little on the other side of the pool. Give you some ideas as to what we'll be teaching the kids."

"And the bikini, that'll be there, too, right?"

She blushed harder and chuckled. "Maybe if you're good."

"I can be better than good," I said. "The night before that, we have a game against VMI. If you come, I'll show you just how good."

"Well, even without that incentive, I'd be there," she said. "The swim team runs the ice cream stand at home games to fund our trips."

"Save some for me," I said. "I'll be the sweaty guy who just hit a homer to win the game."

"I'll try to come watch a little of it," she said. "Listen, I'm really glad I got you as my partner. I know you don't know a lot about what we're doing, but I can show you. I was afraid I was gonna get one of these football jocks who wouldn't even show up or help me do the research that goes with it. I know you'll at least do your part."

I actually was a pretty good student. Most of this stuff came pretty easily to me, and when it didn't, I wasn't afraid to buckle down and study until it did. Most college athletes had a nasty sense of entitlement, especially those on scholarship. The Marines had broken me of that early.

"That's true," I said. "But only because you promised me lots of time with you in a bikini."

"You're incorrigible," she laughed.

"Hey, just being me and showing a little appreciation for a fine female form."

"I didn't say it was a bad thing," she said with a wink.

She might need a little more softening up, but I was confident I could use her to satisfy this class. I didn't know which objective I could use her for -- she wasn't married or foreign, and she obviously wasn't a professor. I didn't know if the frat would count her as an athlete because her sport was just club, but even then I already had Taylor for that one.

The only ones that left were the public venue, in a class, and the threesome. Lexi didn't really strike me as the threesome type, the frat hadn't told me what the public venue was yet, and doing something with Lexi during this class would be next to impossible. Still, I'd try to figure something out.

I thought I'd made some real progress for the day, but then I went to the first day of the soccer coaching class. Of course, I knew Taylor was going to be there, but when I saw who she was sitting with, I stopped dead in my tracks. A vivid memory of last summer filled my mind, and I almost laughed out loud. Taylor saw me and waved for me to come sit next to her. I waved back, but I shook my head and sat down near the door, earning a glare from her. The person sitting with her hadn't yet seen me, and until I knew what I was going to do about it, I wanted to keep it that way.

I was hoping the teacher wouldn't make us do the little lame introduction thing teachers like to do on the first day of a class, but of course, she did. When Taylor's friend stood up and told us about herself, all I learned about her that I didn't already know was her last name and her major. I tried to keep mine as short as possible, but if she had any kind of memory at all, she'd remember me.

Class let out a little early, and I finally decided to confront the situation. I walked over to Taylor, who was not happy.

"What was that?" she asked, slugging me in the arm. "We mess around one time, and you suddenly don't know who I am?"

I was caught off guard for a moment, but I suddenly understood.

"Oh, no, Taylor," I said. "That's not why I didn't sit with you. I just noticed that you had a friend, is all."

"Beth?" she asked. "Travis Temple, this is Beth O'Neil. Beth, Travis. Now, what the fuck is going on?"

I finally made eye contact with Beth, and I could tell in an instant that she knew me. Her breasts were store-bought and still a size too big for her diminutive frame, but the similarities ended there. Her hair was dirty blonde now, as opposed to the obvious bleached look she sported last summer, and she wore a lot less makeup today than she'd been wearing that night. I didn't remember thinking she was the least bit attractive the first time we met -- right now I was having a hard time keeping my eyes off of her. The biggest difference, though, was her attitude. When we'd first met, she was pissed off at the world and wasn't afraid to let everyone know it. Today, even without speaking, I could tell she was happier and much more at peace.

"Wow," Beth said. "I had no idea THIS was the baseball player you fucked the other night."

"Wait," Taylor said. "You two know each other?"

"Yeah," I said. "Look, Taylor, I'm sorry. Please accept my apology, okay? I'm not the type to blow you off. I was fully intending to come sit with you." I lowered my voice a little and leaned in where only the two of them could hear me. "Maybe even tease you some during class, get you all worked up."

She shuddered briefly, but responded quickly. "So, why didn't you?"

"I just needed a minute to process... her," I said.

"Beth?" Taylor asked. "How do you know each other?"

The other girl opened her mouth to answer, but this wasn't the place. "Not here," I said. "I have accounting in an hour, then I'm free till practice at 4. What about you guys?"

Neither of them had any more classes, so we agreed to meet at a bar just off campus after my class.

Accounting was awkward, especially since Brianne didn't show up until five minutes into the class, so I couldn't ask her about T.J. beforehand. She walked up to me right after to clear the air.

"I'm sorry, Travis," she said. "I guess I should have texted you, but I didn't think he'd do that."

"It's all right," I said. "My jaw was a little sore for a couple days, but it's over with. Why did you even tell him?"

"I didn't," she said. "He called the next night and asked me straight out if we'd fucked. He wouldn't have asked that out of the blue, so obviously he already knew. Lying to him would have been pointless."

"I know," I said. "I figured that's what it was. Did he tell you how he found out?"

"Not really," she said. "He just said some guy told him. Did you tell anyone what we were doing?"

"Not until after T.J. hit me," I laughed. "I had to explain it to the guys sitting next to me. What about you?"

"No, not before or after," she said. "I don't know who could have told him."

Something made me stop. I wasn't exactly being truthful -- I HAD told someone we'd had sex, but... no. No way could that be it.

"I'm sorry about that, Travis. I broke off whatever there was with him after I heard what he did. We don't even have to have sex anymore, but I hope we'll still be friendly with each other."

"Who says we don't need to have sex anymore?" I asked. "I had fun, you had fun, and T.J.'s already done the worst he can do."

"Why don't you come by tonight after practice, then?" she asked. "I can think of a dozen different ways to make it up to you."

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"Wait... he's THAT guy??!!" Taylor asked, saying it loudly enough that everyone in the bar thought I was indeed that guy.

But I wasn't.

"No, I'm not that guy," I replied. "That guy was my wingman."

We were sitting at a table at Twitty's, one of the most popular bars near campus. I sat alone on my side, with Taylor and Beth on the other side. Taylor's face was pure amusement, but Beth wouldn't meet my eyes. She bored a hole through the table as she nodded.

"And I must say," I added, "that for someone who looks nothing like a pitbull, you do a pretty badass impression."

"She tells me all the time that was the best sex she's ever had, and it's not even close," Taylor said, earning an elbow to the ribs. Taylor was at least nine inches taller and had probably 50 or 60 pounds on Beth, so I don't even think she noticed.

"Yeah, I heard," I said. "So did a bunch of people on the beach that night, and if the stories are true, I think Charleston PD, too."

Beth blushed fiercely, and Taylor giggled.

"I've heard this whole story more than a couple times," Taylor said. "But I wanna hear it from your angle."

Beth frantically shook her head no, but I smirked at her and started.

"So, last summer, I go down to Charleston with my cousins and a couple of their friends. We hit this spot called the Windjammer, right on the beach. About an hour after we get there, these two smoking hot women walk into the place. Now, I'm less than a month out of the Corps, feeling horny and lucky and thinking I might have some game."

"We start talking about it, and my cousin points out how the redhead is open and friendly, but the blonde in the pair is cockblocking dudes left and right. I know I'm gonna need some help. The only other single dude in the group is Brad, a guy who served under my cousin overseas. He was on some kind of gigantic, badass road trip and had stopped in to reminisce and talk some business. So, he says he'll get my back. I choose the redhead, and off we go."

"Yeah, why did you choose the redhead, anyway, huh?" Beth interrupted. "What was wrong with me?"

"Truthfully?" I asked. "I'd gotten shot six or seven months prior, and had no desire to get shot at again. It looked like you could kill someone with those daggers you were firing. Even without talking to you, I could tell you were cocked and loaded and just looking for a target to ambush. I was looking to get laid, not get laid out."

She looked at her shoes.

"Anyway," I continued when she said nothing. "We go over there, and this woman starts blasting away at both me and Brad. I'm ready to walk away, but Brad insists, and we sit down. Now, I start working my game on her friend, Christine, and she's buying it. But every time I start to move in to kiss her, Beth notices and wrecks it. Brad's working his own game like a champ, and it's distracting Beth some, but finally she gets fed up with it and gets security over there to make us leave."

"I didn't know the security part," Taylor said. "You must have been a huge bitch that night."

Beth blushed and opened her mouth to say something, but nothing escaped her lips. I tried to help her.

"Christine told us she was having a real rough time," I reasoned. "You never really know what people are going through under the surface." Beth looked up at me and smiled demurely.

"She was," Taylor agreed, taking her friend's hand. "But that's over now."

"So Brad pays the bouncer to tell Christine where we're sitting when he gets an opening," I continued. "He does, and a few minutes later, I've got a lap full of hot redhead. We're ready to leave when Beth figures out where her friend is, and she comes over and tries to get all biblical on us, demanding that Christine leaves with her. Brad takes the lead and tries to diffuse it, but the woman won't shut up or go away, so finally he has to get up and shout her down in front of the whole bar. Risky move, shouting down a lady in the South, but it worked."

"She's waiting for us when we get outside though, and her and Brad go another couple rounds. The rest of us left while they were arguing, and I ended up getting some nice action from her friend. Nothing like what I heard happened with Brad and Beth, though."

"It still gets her hot and bothered," Taylor said. "When she's right on the edge, all I have to do is mention Brad's name, and she cums like a faucet."

"Taylor!!" Beth shouted, clearly not wanting her friend to share all the bedroom details. I just about choked on my water.

"So you're the reason I had to mess up a perfectly good blanket the other night," I said, looking directly at Beth.

"So what if I am?" she challenged.

"That's great," I said, raising my glass. "I just thank you for sharing."

Beth stared at me for a long hard moment, then raised her glass and clinked it against mine.

"I just toasted a dude drinking water," Beth said. "How lame."

"He has practice," Taylor said, one athlete sticking up for another. "Can't be showing up for practice with alcohol in your system, even if it's just one beer."

I nodded. "How is Christine, anyway?"

"Still in Charleston, working for the Chamber of Commerce," Beth said. "She actually got engaged to an old boyfriend a few months after she met you."

"Cool," I said. I'd only met up with Christine one other time, and I had no plans to do so again -- she was fun, but it was never more than a casual attraction for me.

"What about Brad?" Beth asked. "I didn't give him any way to contact me."

"I know," I said. "I offered to give him Christine's number, but he said it was probably for the best. You both got what you needed, but it was almost too intense of an experience and best to just leave it where it was."

"That's probably true."

"Anyway, last I heard he was back home in Idaho, working on his business degree. He's actually going to get into business with my cousin."

Taylor's phone rang, and she had to go outside to take the call, something about a class. That left Beth and I alone at the table.

"So, the world is not as big as you once thought, huh?" I asked, and she grinned shyly at me.

"Guess not," she said. "Wow, this is so embarrassing."

"I'd imagine so," I said. "You probably never thought you'd see me again. Or any of us, really."

"I didn't, no," she said. "But not just that. You know all about me and Taylor, too?"

"I actually know nothing about you and Taylor," I said. "She just told me to pull out because she promised. She told me it wasn't a guy she'd promised, but that was it. I didn't know it was you until she just spilled it, but that's all I know."

She raised her eyebrows, but in lieu of an actual response, she took a long drink of her beer. I recalled during our first meeting, she was drinking something fruity, so even her beverage choice had improved.

Obviously, Beth didn't care that Taylor and I had fucked on the bus. Hell, since Taylor had limitations on what she could do, she obviously had permission. Just watching them together, it was obvious they cared for each other. How deep did that go, though? I had so many questions, but much to my surprise, there was one I wanted to ask more than the others.

"Will you have dinner with me this weekend?" I asked.

The question surprised Beth, too. She smiled as she took another drink.

"You already bagged one of the lesbians, so now you want the other one, huh?" she asked.