The sobs continued for the better part of five minutes and then began to peter out. She clung onto him almost desperately, her arms going around his back, her hands moving up and down on his shoulder blades. He whispered soothing things into her ear, telling her it was going to be all right. Finally, she became capable of coherent speech.
“I’m sorry,” she said against his neck. “I’m usually much more in control of my emotions.”
“It’s okay,” he told her, still stroking her back. “You’ve had a hell of a revelation.”
“Yeah,” she said bitterly.
“What are you going to do now?” he asked her.
“Well ... I’d say I was going to give him back his ring, but he never fucking gave me one.”
“Yeah ... I guess that eliminates that step,” he agreed. “So, you’re not going to see him anymore?”
“I ... I don’t know,” she said. “I’m very confused right now. I don’t know what to think, what to do. Part of me keeps trying to say that you’re full of shit, that I’m in a perfectly happy relationship, but ... well ... most of me knows you were right. I think a part of me has known it all along.”
“I think maybe you’re right,” Jake said. “That would explain why you always refused to talk about the relationship. You knew it was wrong.”
“Yeah,” she said with a sigh. And then she adjusted herself a little, probably trying to shift and release the embrace they held. But as she did so, her hand slid under the water to brace herself. And as it did, it brushed across the bulging erection that was tenting out his bathing suit. She jerked her hand away the moment she realized what she had touched, but her eyes grew wide. She looked up him, startled.
“Uh ... I’m sorry,” he said weakly.
“You ... you have a boner,” she said, her voice full of wonder.
“Uh ... yeah,” he said. “I’m sorry. It’s kind of a ... a natural response when ... you know ... a girl in a bathing suit is...”
“I gave that boner to you?” she asked.
“Well ... yeah, kind of,” he said.
“Wow,” she whispered, still full of awe, not the least bit angry. “Does that mean ... you know ... that you’re attracted to me?”
“Yes, I’m attracted to you,” he said. “You’re a very beautiful woman. It’s only natural that...”
“Kiss me!” she suddenly said.
“What?”
“Kiss me!” she said again, putting her arms around his neck. “Don’t you want to?”
“Well...” he said, uncharacteristically awkward all of a sudden. What the hell was going on here? “Uh ... I hadn’t really ... I mean...”
She took matters into her own hand, or at least her own lips. She leaned forward and put her mouth against his. Her tongue slid out and forced its way between his teeth. On reflex, he put his own tongue out to meet it. The two organs began to dance. She was not the best kisser in the world, but she was certainly enthusiastic about it. They swirled tongues and pressed lips for the better part of a minute. As they kissed, her hands began to move up and down his back.
Finally, they broke the kiss, but she did not let go of him.
“Laura,” he breathed. “What’s going on here?”
“I ... I think I’m making a pass at you,” she breathed back. “Am I doing it right?”
“Uh ... yeah, you’re doing just fine, but ... why are you doing this?”
“Can I touch it again?” she asked.
“What!?”
“Your boner,” she said, her left hand dropping below the water line. “I only got a quick feel of it the first time.”
Without waiting for the answer, her hand found the bulge in his suit again. This time she grasped it and began to squeeze and palpate it. He groaned at the sensation, feeling his rational self, the part that wanted an explanation for this behavior, starting to move toward the back seat.
“It’s so big,” she whispered. “So hard.”
“Yeah,” he grunted, “but...”
“Let’s go upstairs,” she said.
“Upstairs?”
“To your room,” she said. “Take me up there and ... and fuck me.”
“Why?” he asked again, holding onto his self-control by the slimmest of margins.
She gave a little growl of frustration and then looked him in the eyes. Her hand was still squeezing his manhood through his shorts. “Because I want you, Jake,” she hissed. “Jesus Christ. Are you going to make me beg?”
“You want me? When did this happen?”
“I’ve been hot for you for several months now, but I’ve been keeping it hidden. I think it started about the time we really started clicking together as a band. I’ve been pushing it to the side all this time, not letting anyone see it, because I didn’t want to be unfaithful to my fiancé.” She barked out a laugh. “What a joke that turned out to be. And I didn’t think you liked me—not that way anyway, but when I felt your boner, when I realized that you really are attracted to me ... for God’s sake, Jake. Why are we still sitting here?”
“I’m not sure this is really a good idea, Laura,” he said. “We have to work together. Shouldn’t we maybe take things kind of slow if we decide to go down this road?”
“Do you like me, Jake?” she asked pointedly.
“Yes, of course I like you,” he said.
“Are you sexually attracted to me?”
He looked down to where her hand was still gripping him. “Obviously,” he said.
“Then let’s not think. Let’s fuck. Do you want to do it right here, in the hot tub? I’ve never done that before.”
“It’s not all it’s cracked up to be,” he said.
“Upstairs then?”
“Laura, listen...” he started.
She kissed him again, driving her tongue into his mouth. With the hand that was not stroking his erection, she grabbed his hand and put it on her breast. It was a soft, very squeezable breast. He longed to see it bare, to touch it.
She broke the kiss and then removed her hand from him. “Upstairs?” she asked again.
He nodded. “Upstairs,” he agreed.
Getting there required a little bit of logistics. First of all, Jake had to wait for his hard-on to deflate a bit. Even with the towel and the robe, a noticeable bulge would have been present. Second of all, everyone except Stan and Cindy were still awake. Celia and Greg were watching TV in the entertainment room. The Nerdlys were on the computer. Though nobody would think twice about Jake and Laura coming in from out in the hot tub, the eyebrows would certainly go up if they were seen going upstairs together.
Jake created a distraction. The Nerdlys were not much to worry about since they were absorbed in whatever they were doing, but Celia and Greg were another story. From their position on the couch, they would only have to turn their head the slightest bit to see someone going up the main staircase. He went over and talked to them, asking Greg about an idea he had been tossing around about investing in a golf course project just north of Coos Bay.
Greg, quite animated when discussing this possible project, did not notice at all when the small, redheaded figure in a robe and bathing suit went creeping up the staircase. Celia, on the other hand, heard the small squeak of a stair riser under foot and looked up just in time to see a pair of pale, feminine legs disappearing over the first landing. She bit her lip a little, but said nothing.
When Greg’s enthusiasm finally ran its course, Jake excused himself.