Peter turned to the naysayer, smirked, and said, "Give it a rest, Leslie! You are just jealous of me. Why don't we have a push-up contest to see which one of us is the strongest?"
Instead of a verbal reply, Leslie dropped to the ground. The young man dropped beside her, and once they were both in position, the competition began, with one of their peers counting off each push-up. As they passed fifty, though, it seemed like the event could go on forever. Then, suddenly, someone shouted, "Hey! You two had better give it a rest. The Commander could show up at any minute, and then you'll both be up shit creek!"
"I'm not stopping until I've put this punk kid on the ground!" Leslie snapped.
"Whatever." Peter laughed and said, "I could do this all day, and it'll be a cold day in Hell before I lose to a girl in a strength competition!"
Leslie suddenly looked up in Crystal's direction. A shark-like Cheshire's grin appeared on her face, and she said, "Hey, there! I see the way that you are admiring me. I recommend that you don't fall in love with me, though. I'm like a wildfire, and a little thing like you would be consumed in no time!"
Crystal smirked. She hadn't been watching Leslie. She had been watching Peter. The boy didn't have Nathan's poise or Eric's wild personality, but he seemed to have a cool personality. Furthermore, the way that he carried himself made her want to scream.
She tried to ignore Leslie, but the woman was persistent. Finally, she abandoned the competition, stood up, and walked over to where Crystal was standing. Leslie was taller than she was. She had a thin frame and long legs. Her medium-sized breasts were pressed flat to her chest by a sports bra and barely noticeable beneath her army-issue camo shirt, but her nipples stood out like sore thumbs.
When she reached Crystal, she sniffed her body and asked her if she was with Nathan.
Crystal frowned. "How did you know that?" she asked.
Leslie: "You smell Nathan."
Crystal: "You smell, too."
Leslie: "Like what?"
Crystal: "Sweat."
Leslie laughed and said, "What you meant to say is that I smell like a man, isn't that so?"
Crystal shrugged. "How many push-ups have you done so far?" she asked.
Leslie grinned and said, "Seventy."
Crystal: "Do another hundred. Don't think I didn't see you slacking off just now."
Leslie: "I could do another hundred, but wouldn't you prefer it if I taught you how to shoot a gun instead?"
***
In the study - Nathan and Arnold were sitting on the sofa. Nathan lit a cigarette and threw his lighter to his brother, who caught it and used it to light his own cigarette. After taking an initial drag, Arnold said, "I'm glad that you brought Crystal with you. Are the two of you very serious?"
"We are married," Nathan replied. "So, yeah. I would say that we're pretty serious."
Arnold was so surprised by what his brother had said that he began to cough on the smoke that he'd just inhaled. Once he was able to talk, he said, "That was quick. Does Father know?"
Nathan: "No. And I don't want him to know yet."
"That's good." Arnold nodded and said, "He always wanted you to marry Hellen. She left for four years, though, so, understandably, you didn't wait for her. Of course, there will be trouble in a year - when she returns…."
Nathan nodded and asked, "Is Leslie's back?"
Arnold: "She is. She almost died, but two foreign girls sacrificed their lives to save hers."
Nathan: "Did they know that she's bisexual?"
Arnold smiled bitterly and shook his head. "These days, she's practically a lesbian," he said. "I can't remember the last time I saw her with a man, but I plan to remedy that."
Nathan thought that Arnold was probably the only person in the world that could hold Leslie down, but he didn't seem interested in the task. Leslie had been sent overseas to train, but she had spent the entire time flirting and fucking. Girls went crazy for Leslie, even the ones that didn't know her true identity. When she was younger, she would have been kicked out of school a million times if Arnold hadn't been looking out for her.
Nathan: "Do you have any plans for her?"
Arnold: "I'll set her up on a blind date in a couple of days."
Nathan gasped. He knew that Leslie was a Man-eater, and he pitied whoever was set up with her. "We should go and see her," he said.
Arnold nodded and said, "Why not?"
****
The atmosphere at the shooting range was unusually lively. Crystal raised the gun and squinted as she set the sights on the bullseye. Leslie put her arm around Crystal's waist, held her hand, and adjusted her position. Leslie's chin was resting on Crystal's shoulder, and they were close enough to hear each other breathing.
Crystal was uncomfortable with such an intimate gesture, especially from a girl. She looked sideways at Leslie and then back at the target.
Leslie pressed herself against Crystal's back and whispered in her ear. "Are you attracted to me?" she asked.
Crystal gasped in surprise and said, "I think there has been a misunderstanding." She tried to pull away, but Leslie held her in place.
Leslie: "I'll tell you a secret."
Crystal: "Go ahead."
Leslie: "I prefer women over men, and I think you might too..."
Crystal was shocked by what she'd just been told. The men around them were cheering at the girls, but they stopped immediately when Nathan and Arnold emerged from the house. Arnold took one look at the situation, and he saw all that he needed to see to understand exactly what was going on. "Leslie!" he growled. "Let her go!"
"What did I do?" she replied innocently. Then she reached up and tweaked Crystal's nipple through her shirt. "She has a nice figure. Don't you think so?"
"You!" Crystal exclaimed. She pulled away from Leslie, turned around, and tried to slap her across the face, but she grabbed her hand.. This caused the men around them to laugh harder than ever, so Arnold commanded them to do ten laps around the nearest mountain.