"You know I want it to be good," she teased.
"It's all good." ExLax grinned as he kissed her again.
They were interrupted when his pager started buzzing. "It's Bongo. I need to call him," ExLax explained. Since the movie was almost over, the two stood up and headed for the lobby.
"Hello, Bongo?" ExLax spoke into the payphone as Melinda stood next to him.
"ExLax? How's the movie going?"
"Great, then you called. What's going on?" ExLax heard his friend talking with someone in the background.
"ExLax, can I talk with my sister?"
"Sure, Michelle. Here she is," and handed the phone to Melinda. She stared up in confusion at her new boyfriend, but he only shrugged.
"Mel, I don't have too much time, but I need you to go and get Kute_Tush and bring him and my purse to the police station, okay?"
Melinda's jaw dropped. "What are you and Bongo doing at the police station?"
ExLax stiffened when he heard Melinda's last comment. She talked for a few more minutes before hanging up the phone. "So?"
"I'll tell you on the way to my house."
ExLax parked his Camero next to Michelle's convertible. Just as they were walking up to the house, Kute_Tush came running out.
"Do you know where Michelle is? Have you seen my car? Where's Michelle?" Kute_Tush glanced at the couple. "Why are you two holding hands?"
"Yes, no, in jail, and because that's what couples do," ExLax answered.
"JAIL?! What is she doing in jail?"
Melinda grabbed his arm and led both guys over to her car. "She's there because your car was returned and she couldn't reach you on your cell phone. So they drove down to report that the car wasn't stolen anymore."
"But when the cops pulled over your reported-stolen car, neither Michelle nor Bongo had their licenses, so the cops took them all in," ExLax chimed in.
"Who returned my car?"
"Brenda."
Bongo and Brenda were singing silly songs as they say in the holding cell with a very quiet Michelle. It had been almost an hour since they talked to Melinda and ExLax.
The outer door finally opened and the guard unlocked the cell door. "You three are free to go. Your friends came and told us the whole story. We are very sorry for the misunderstanding."
Michelle nodded. "That's okay. We know you are only doing your job."
The trio were led out to the waiting room where ExLax and Melinda were cuddling on the couch and Kute_Tush was filling out paperwork to get his car out of the impound lot. The handsome pilot looked up as they walked out and opened his arms as Michelle ran into them.
Brenda sighed as she watched her sisters with the men they loved. Bongo heard that and pulled her out of the way to stand on the other side of a soda machine.
"Feeling left out?" He asked.
"A little."
Bongo grinned as he leaned closer. "Well that's not good. Not good at all." And he kissed her.
She got a little nervous when his hand crept under the edge of her shirt. But she should have known better.
"AAAAAHHHH!!!! Stop tickling me, Bongo!" Her shrieks of laughter alerted the others as to their hiding spot.
"Brenda."
The couple behind the soda machine froze as Kute_Tush's voice cut through the air.
"Yeah?" She slid out to face him.
He just sighed as he looked at his girlfriend's sister. "Melinda told me what happened, so I'm not going to yell at you."
Relief colored the younger girl's face. "Thank you so much, Kute_Tush! I am so sorry that I took your car. Bongo even yelled at me."
"Bongo yelled at you?" Melinda asked.
"Yeah, right before ExLax kissed you at Rockets," Brenda replied.
Both ExLax and Melinda blushed as the entire group turned to stare at them. ExLax just grinned and kissed Melinda as everyone else cheered.
The cheers died down as the officer returned with Kute_Tush's car keys. "Here they are, sir. You're very lucky your car was returned so quickly."
"Yes, I am," Kute_Tush replied looking over at Brenda.
"Oh, and here's the ring that was still in the glove compartment." The officer handed Kute_Tush a small velvet jewelry box. "We pulled it out for safekeeping."
Brenda and Melinda looked at each other in excitement before looking back at their older sister.
Kute_Tush turned the box over in his hands before looking at his girlfriend. "You want to know the real reason why I freaked out when my car disappeared?" Michelle nodded. "Not that the car was gone, but that this was still in there and not on your finger." He smiled and got down on one knee. "I was planning on doing this tonight, but knowing you and how crazy this day has been already, this will do perfectly. Michelle, I love you with all my heart. Will you marry me?"
Tears trickled down her face as he opened the box to reveal a beautiful diamond. When she smiled and whispered yes, he slid the ring on her finger and stood to kiss her. Then they were surrounded by the other four who offered hugs and congratulations.
"Kute_Tush, I am really sorry, and I promise to never touch your car again."
"I accept your apology, and I will let you touch my car again." He held up his hand when her face lit up. "As my future sister-in-law, I am very happy to accept your offer to wash it every weekend until school begins again in the fall."
Brenda's jaw fell and she was about to protest when she realized that it was the least she could do, and nodded. He gave her a quick hug before leaving with Michelle.
"Cheating on me already?" Brenda turned to see Bongo standing behind her. She smiled, and feeling brave, wrapped her arms around his neck. He leaned down and before he could kiss her, ExLax yelled at them to hurry up.
When she didn't move, Bongo looked at her. "We have to go, Bren."
She shook her head. "Let's just stay here. I don't want to ride with those two lovebirds."
"What's our other option? Wanna *borrow* another car?" When Brenda blushed, Bongo dropped a kiss on her nose, bent down, and slung her over his shoulder. He carried her over and tossed her in the back of Melinda's car and climbed in after her.
"I'm so glad that we finally got rid of those two," ExLax commented as he spread a blanket out in the girls' backyard.
"I'm not sure what was worse: the dirty jokes or the stupid ones." Melinda helped smooth the blanket down. They were far enough away from the house that the only light they had was from the moon and stars.
They sat together on the blanket and were content to just hold hands and look at the stars. ExLax was the first to break the silence.
"Why did you say that you'd be my girlfriend when you like Bongo so much?"
Melinda looked over at ExLax. "I do like Bongo, but I've realized that I only like him as a friend. He and Brenda are so much alike." She looked down at their fingers that were still laced together. "I've always liked you as a friend, but lately I've been wanting more than just to be your friend."
He smiled and squeezed her hand. "Today certainly was interesting, wasn't it?"
Melinda laughed. "Well, Kute_Tush will have his work cut out for him with my sister, but she'll keep him happy."
ExLax reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box. "I got this for you earlier this week, even though I believed that you still liked Bongo more than me."
She opened the box to find a simple gold ring. It was engraved with a string of hearts. While he watched her, she read the inscription. Friends are friends forever...
"Michael W. Smith," she murmured.
"That's right," ExLax replied as he placed the ring on her finger. "I got this for you because even if today never happened, I wanted you to know that I'm glad we're friends."
Melinda looped her arms around his neck and kissed him. "Well, we are more than friends now, aren't we?"
She could see his grin grow in the moonlight. "Yup, we're friends with benefits." And kissed her again. "I love you, Melli."
"I love you too, ExLax."
