Joyce was so excited her hands were shaking while she wrapped the long, rectangular box in shimmery gold paper. She couldn’t wait to see Avery’s face when she opened the box, which, would be any second.
After taping the last flap on the end, she jumped up from the couch to answer Avery’s rhythmic knock on the front door. As she pulled the door inward, Avery’s face lit up, and she laughed as she stepped over the threshold.
Gripping the front of Joyce’s shirt, she said, “That is some smile, Joyce Peterson,” before tugging her forward to give her a brief kiss. “What are these mysterious plans you cooked up for today?”
“That will be revealed, after,” she pulled Avery into the doorway of the living room, “you open that.”
“Joyce…” Avery looked between the large golden package and Joyce with her eyes watering. “What is that? What did you do?”
Instead of answering, Joyce led her into the living room and they sat side by side on the couch in front of the large box on the coffee table. Avery looked between her and the box again, then hesitantly sat forward and picked the box up, feeling its weight, before she set it down again. After ripping one corner of the paper, she looked back at Joyce, bit her bottom lip with a huge smile pushing her cheeks into her eyes.
With an excited hop to the edge of her seat, Joyce placed a hand on Avery’s back and encouraged her to tear into the surprise gift. “You’re killing me here. Open it.”
“Okay, but brace yourself. I might have to tackle you if this is what I think it is.”
Joyce watched with her excitement causing her right leg to bounce on the ball of her foot. Avery was very slow in tearing the paper along the side, revealing just a two-inch line of the printed box underneath. And when the nature of the contents was revealed, she released a sound between a laugh and a squeal and quickly tore the rest of the paper off.
“Wow.” She ran her hand over the high-gloss image of the metal detector on the top of the box, then spun and threw herself at Joyce, who fell backwards with a hard laugh as Avery landed on top of her. Saying a single word between rapid kisses on her lips and cheeks, Avery told her, “I love you so fucking much,” then she engaged Joyce in a deep, head-spinning kiss.
After a few minutes, Avery pulled away, lightly panting and her eyes pink with emotion. “Thank you. Where are we taking it?”
“You’re welcome, sweetie. I thought it might be fun to take it along the lakeshore, maybe close to the marina. There’s one more thing in the box.”
With curiosity pinching her brow and excitement curling her lips, Avery hopped up and looked at the box to see how best to open it. After finding the tabs on the side, she lifted the top of the box, and released a quiet gasp. Joyce watched with pride as Avery lifted the custom-printed tee shirt and tank top out of the box to look at the details.
The front left breast had a circular printed badge with Metal printed in the top of the outer band and Hounds printed in the bottom of the outer band. The center of the circle had a nice full-color drawing of a rocky shoreline and waves splashing against it and curling above a small treasure chest with gold coins spilling out of it onto the shore. The back of the shirts featured the same logo, just much larger.
“Joyce, these are…” Her voice cracked, and as she turned to face Joyce, her jaw trembled and tears streaked down her cheeks. “I can’t believe you did this. They’re amazing. How did you do this? Did you draw this?”
“Oh, no, I’m terrible at art. I commissioned a friend to create this for you. He’s a talented digital artist and designs logos and packaging for businesses all the time. I just gave him a suggestion for the scene, and this is what he came up with.” After wiping the tears off Avery’s cheeks, she kissed her lips, and asked, “Ready to be an official Metal Hound?”
“Are you going to be one with me?” She held the shirts out to Joyce, as if for her to pick one.
“Those are yours. I ordered myself a tee shirt, just in case you were willing to let me join the club.”
Avery released an emotional laugh and sniffled. “It’s not a club without two or more people.” She looked down at the shirts again. “This is the most amazing thing anyone has ever done for me.” She looked up with fresh tears in her eyes. “Thank you isn’t enough to convey how grateful I am and how much this means to me.”
“After you showed me your little treasure box and told me about the Metal Hounds, I just couldn’t get it out of my head. I knew before I left your house that day that I was going to buy you a metal detector. While I was browsing blogs and review boards, trying to decide which one to get you, I kept seeing different club badges and logos and thought, Avery needs one of those too. The metal detector arrived over a week ago, but I wanted to wait till the shirts came in to show it to you. I’m really glad you like the design.”
“I love the design.” She pulled her tank top off over her head and slipped into the white Metal Hounds tank top. As she smoothed the fabric over her chest, her eyes fixated on the logo on her left breast. “I really love this. And it fits perfectly. Okay,” she pulled Joyce up from the couch, “where is your shirt?”
“My bedroom.”
Avery tugged her out of the living room so quickly she had to skip to keep up with her. And as soon as they entered her bedroom, Avery ripped Joyce’s tee shirt off over her head, then took the Metal Hounds tee shirt off the hanger, hanging from the doorknob. As soon as she was dressed again, Avery pulled her into the bathroom, and they stood side by side looking at each other in the large vanity mirror.
“It only took us three weeks to become that couple.”
Tilting her head to look at Avery straight on, Joyce inquired, “And what does that couple mean?”
“The couple that dresses like each other. We might as well go out and get matching velour jogging suits after we go metal hunting.”
Joyce’s head fell back with a bellowing laugh, and Avery giggled as she took her into her arms and kissed the underside of her chin.
“I think we’re more of a tee shirts and flannels kind of matching lesbian couple.”
“You’re right. I think velour is reserved for elderly heterosexual couples. Okay, tee shirts and flannels it is. That’s going to be fun. Cozying up in matching flannels next to a bonfire drinking hot apple cider while we watch the sun set against the autumn leaves. Will you carve a pumpkin with me?”
“Of course.” Joyce lightly tugged the collar of Avery’s tank top, and asked, “Are you ready for your Metal Hounds initiation?”
“Does the initiation involve super-hot sex with the entire club?”
Joyce laughed hard, spawning a devilish grin on Avery’s beautiful cranberry lips. “You know, I think it just might. But only after you’ve tested your skills with your new metal detector.”
With her lips hovering in front of Joyce’s, Avery cooed, “I understand you need to make sure I know how to use the equipment first,” then she firmly gripped Joyce between the thighs, and added, “I’ll try not to disappoint you.”
After clearing the ball of heat suddenly restricting her throat, Joyce answered, “I believe you’ll prove to be more than competent in the utilization of any equipment you decide to wield.”
Her lips lightly brushed Joyce’s, as she quietly asked, “Any suggestions on what equipment I should utilize after I’ve proven my competency with the metal detector?”
The heat was rapidly spreading from the point of Avery’s gently massaging fingers on the seam of her jeans, down her legs to turn her knees to liquid, and up into her chest, further restricting her breathing and increasing her heart rate a beat. All she could vocalize was, “Surprise me,” then Avery tempted her into a kiss.
Through the haze quickly forming over her brain, Joyce registered the hard edge of the vanity as it dug into the top of her ass. Then she felt cool air on her burning skin as her pants were unbuttoned and the zipper tugged down. Avery’s hand slipped below the waist of her underwear, and her head fell back with a sharp moan and stars shining behind her eyelids. While Avery’s hand masterfully played her nerves like a harp, sending enchanting waves of vibrations through her body, her lips layered kisses across her neck, like she was crafting an invisible necklace made from her love.
When the harp’s song reached the crescendo, Joyce’s body and voice were not shy about applauding the master behind the instrument. Weak and gasping for air, Joyce rested on Avery’s shoulder while her lover tenderly held her and rubbed her back.
“I love you, Joyce.”
“I love you too, Avery.”
She inhaled sharply as her still vibrating nerves suddenly burned up the oxygen in her lungs. After a few more breaths, strength started to return to her limbs, so she traced her hand across Avery’s hip to the button of her shorts. But as she tried to pry it apart, Avery took her hand and kissed it. Joyce lifted her head with a pout, and Avery smiled as she leaned in and kissed her flipped out bottom lip.
“If I let you inside there right now, we will never make it to the first official outing for the newest chapter of the Metal Hounds club.”
“Okay, sweetie. Let’s go play with your new toy.”
It was the perfect time of day with perfect weather for taking a stroll along the lakeshore to hunt for bits of unseen metal. It was low-tide, so the greatest depth possible of shoreline was available to them, and the sky was crystal clear with plenty of sunlight to illuminate all of the little nooks and crannies between the stones, ranging from sand kernels to dumpster sized boulders. The metal detector was pretty easy to use and it only took a few minutes to read the manual to understand the controls and readings.
While Avery took her first steps over the rocky shore, carefully stepping over large rocks and driftwood, Joyce watched with pride and affection swelling in her chest. Avery looked so happy she was as radiant as the sun shining above them. And she looked so damn cute slowly swinging the metal detector side to side, sniffing out any possible sign of metal.
When the detector got a strong reading, Avery jumped and practically squealed. “Joyce! I think we got something.”
Biting her lips to suppress a laugh, Joyce stepped closer to look at the little display screen with her. She was definitely receiving a returned electromagnetic field, indicating metal was under the search coil. With a short-handled shovel in her gloved hands, Joyce squatted and moved the rocks and sandy dirt around. Not finding anything on the surface, she pushed the blade of the shovel in a few inches before a rock obstructed her path. She pulled up on the earth and sifted through it with her gloves.
“There! In your left hand.”
Joyce lightly brushed the object off as she stood up, then smiled as she held out an old rusty nail to Avery. “You nailed your first metal hunt. Nice work.”
Avery cracked up as she took the nail to look at it. “I don’t know much about nails and how corrosion can change their shape, but this looks kind of weird. Is this a modern nail, or maybe something older?”
“Corrosion can definitely make it tricky to tell. But if you really want to know, I know a few people in town we could ask.”
“Yeah, maybe. Okay, bag it. Let’s keep looking.”
Joyce obliged Avery’s request to store the nail in the fine-mesh bag they brought for their finds. And after using her foot to smooth out the shallow hole she created, they moved forward. After ten minutes of gently swinging the search coil side to side, they had another hit. And this time, Joyce had to dig a few more inches before she found the object.
“Oh, nice.” She swiftly stood up. “Now, I know for a fact this is old. Hang on, let me clean it off so you see it better.” Joyce walked a few paces to rinse the dirt off in the lake, then held it out to Avery, asking, “Okay, what do you think it is?”
“I have no idea. It looks like a flattened whistle.”
“It’s a cigar cutter.” Joyce took her right glove off and put her pinky finger in the opening, and explained, “You would put the tip of the cigar in here, pinch the ends, and it would cut the tip off.” She pulled her pinky out, and pointed to the other end. “This would have been worn on a pocket watch chain. And by the looks of the shine and tarnish, I’m willing to bet this is sterling silver. If that’s the case, this would be worth, oh, maybe a hundred dollars or more. We’ll take it to Nancy and David Henderson. They’re antique appraisers and have a nice shop in town.”
“Wow. Can I hold it?”
“Yeah, of course.”
Joyce gave her the cigar cutter to look at, and while she examined it, she noticed Avery’s jaw slightly trembled and she inhaled sharply through her nose once before clearing her throat.
“This is really cool.” She looked up and Joyce clearly saw the emotion in her eyes and in her cheeks. “Joyce, thank you for doing all of this. No one else has understood or appreciated the story about the Metal Hounds or that box like you do. Pretty much anyone I’ve shared that stuff with just teased me about it. I feel so,” she cleared her throat, “fulfilled, I guess is a good word.”
“It’s a great joy for me to make you happy, Avery. And I’m quite relieved we found something besides a nail or other junk metal.”
While using a knuckle to dig at the tears sitting in the corners of her eyes, Avery released an emotional laugh, and answered, “I would have been happy with the nail. The cigar cutter is pretty awesome though.” She offered it to Joyce, and asked, “Do you want to trade? You can do the detecting for a bit and I’ll do the digging?”
“Sure.”
After stowing the cigar cutter in their mesh treasure sack, Avery gave Joyce the metal detector, then slipped into the leather gardening gloves and held the shovel at the ready. Over the next hour, they found a handful of rusted beer bottle caps, a couple more nails, a few fishhooks, and a bent and slightly rusted motorcycle license plate.
After rinsing the plate off in the lake, Avery thoughtfully said, “I wonder how a plate from New Mexico made it all of the way up here.”
“I think you could come up with a few stories to explain it. Actually, I know it’s a bit off brand for you, and it might not yield as much revenue and traffic, but a blog about your Metal Hounds adventures could be pretty entertaining.”
While still looking at the plate, Avery agreed, “That does sound like fun.” Avery looked up with a smile. “And hobby blogs can be surprisingly lucrative. And if I’m able to take the metal detector with me on trips, or rent one somewhere else, I could add links to my corresponding blog posts on both sites to generate click-through traffic.” She put the plate in the bag, and told Joyce, “Thanks for the idea. I’m going to do it.”
“I can’t wait to read it.”
Avery’s cheeks blossomed as she lightly bumped Joyce’s hip. “The tide is starting to move in. I think we can call this a successful first outing of the Metal Hounds and go find a spot to enjoy that picnic you packed.”
“Okay, sweetie.”