A Week and a Half Later
Saturday
After Gina and I broke up, I was a little down, and Dad wanted to cheer me up and do something fun before Sarah and I left for college. He wanted to go to the lake house for a long weekend, and asked Sarah and me if we would be O.K. if he invited Linda, Ariel and Dana. Sarah was fine with it, and asked if Steve could come, and Dad said yes.
I was a little worried about spending the weekend with Dana, much less Ariel, but ultimately agreed. During my month with Gina, I had limited contact with Dana. We texted a few times, and ran into each other around town, including a couple of times at Orlando's when Gina and I came in during her shift, and once when we were both at the same movie on a date. Dana was with the guy she was hanging with at Dennis' party, a guy named Kevin, who had graduated from North a couple of years ago. But she was true to her word, and never did anything to interfere with my relationship with Gina.
When we broke up, I resisted calling Dana right away, figuring that it would make me look too needy. Now, it had been almost two weeks since we broke up, and I had no idea what would happen at the lake house. There was the potential for lots of fun, but also frustration, if Dana, and Ariel for that matter, wanted to just be friends. I probably should have called her before the weekend, but I found myself being reticent. Of course, she didn't contact me, either, so I wasn't sure what the weekend would bring.
When the time came, we loaded up a couple of cars and drove up on Saturday morning. We could have squeezed into the SUV, but decided to go in two cars for comfort and flexibility. Dad and Linda went in one car with Ariel, and Sarah drove the other car. Steve sat in the front passenger seat, and Dana and I were in the back.
Sarah was blasting her crappy music, and even Steve complained about it, but not too vigorously. I could tell that he was really into Sarah, and she had told me how much she liked him. She had wondered whether it would last to the end of the summer, and if so, whether it would be able to last when they both went back to school.
Even though Dana and I hadn't really spent any time together in more than a month, it was almost as if the separation never happened. Dana leaned her head against my shoulder in the back seat, and I couldn't help but be intoxicated, again, by her scent and her beauty. She had cut her hair a little, and looked a little more sophisticated, but just as hot, if not even hotter. She was wearing a low cut top, and as a result, I was treated to a very nice view of her cleavage. Knowing how carefully Dana planned things like that, I took it as a good sign.
Sarah drove and we sat silently, unable to talk due to the music. Eventually, I put my arm around Dana, and she cuddled close to me, putting one hand on my knee. More good signs. We both dozed off, until the car stopped at a rest area. Apparently, Linda needed to use the bathroom, so we made a pit stop. Steve, Dad and I went to the men's room, then waited for the women. Dana was the first to come out and she came over to me.
I asked her if she wanted some coffee, which she did, and we went to the Starbucks and I bought us drinks. As we walked to the car, Dana asked, "Are you O.K.? I heard about the movie theatre fight."
"Yeah," I responded, amused if not surprised by Dana's intelligence gathering ability. "We ended on a good note. We just weren't meant to be a couple."
"I'm surprised," Dana responded, "you seemed happy."
"We were," I said. "But even though we were friends first, it just got weird. We would have great discussions, great sex, then start bickering over stuff. She started getting jealous if I so much as talked to another girl. It's better this way."
"I'm a little surprised you didn't call me right away. You know I would have been there for you."
"I did know that," I said, "but I decided that I wanted to deal with it on my own. Then Dad planned this weekend, so I figured we would have plenty of time to talk."
She smiled at me and said, "And not talk," giving me that look that I hadn't seen in a while. She squeezed my hand.
"And what about that Kevin?" I asked.
"Yeah, he was actually a pretty good guy. I did sleep with him that night after the party, and we went out a couple of times, including that movie you saw us at, but it never really clicked, so we aren't seeing each other anymore."
That we were both free of relationships remained unsaid.
We piled back into the cars and finished the drive up to the lake house. When we got there, we unpacked the cars. Dad said that he and Linda would, of course, take the upstairs bedroom and suggested that Sarah and Steve take the big downstairs room. He then suggested that either Ariel or Dana could take the single bedrooms and I could sleep on an airbed in the living room, or Ariel and Dana could take one room and share the bed or use the air mattress, and I could take the other room.
I had a brief flash of them sharing a bed, which gave me a pleasant warm feeling as the two Angelo beauties looked at each other and Ariel said, "We can share a room, and let Jack have the other one."
Dana gave me a look that suggested strongly that no one would be sleeping on any air mattress that weekend. Ariel also smiled at me. Her role in the weekend continued to be somewhat mysterious.
We moved our bags into the rooms, then came out and unpacked the food and drinks. Steve and I filled a cooler with ice, beer and bottles of water and then went to change into swimsuits. When I came out of my room, the beer cooler was gone and the house was empty, so I grabbed a towel, my iPod and a book I was reading, and went to the lake.
Sarah was sitting on a chair next to Steve, who was rubbing sunscreen onto his fair skin. Dad was rubbing lotion onto Linda's back. Both Ariel and Dana were lying face down on their chairs, with their bikini straps down to prevent tan lines. They both asked me to apply sunscreen to their backs, so I did, first to Ariel, feeling the strength of her shoulders and back, and then to Dana, feeling her supple strength and soft skin. I was wondering if I was going to be "entertaining" both sisters this weekend, because otherwise someone was going to be left out. I pretty much assumed that Dana and I would hook up, but Ariel was another question.
I jumped into the lake and started swimming laps, thinking about how much had changed in the few months since Memorial Day weekend when I last was at the lake house. When I stopped doing laps, I noticed that Steve and Sarah were in the lake, making out. Dana and Ariel were still lying on their stomachs, providing me with a view of their two different but beautiful asses, and Dad and Linda were gone.
I left the lake and dried off, went to my chair, put on my iPod and started to read my book. The book drew me in, and I was totally engrossed, when a shadow crossed the page I was reading. I looked up to see Dana's voluptuous body looming over me. I had trouble taking my eyes off of her breasts, which were barely being supported by her red bikini top. I realized how much I missed them, and the rest of her. She bent over, I'm sure purposely giving me the impressive top view, and pulled my earbuds out. She gestured at a small rowboat that was tied up in the lake.