Dean loved spring break. Now in his first year of college, he was starting to branch away from his family, but he still spent his break with them, enjoying the week of respite at their private lake in North Carolina. His parents had been renting a 3 room cabin near the small lake for almost 20 years now. Dean had gone to the quaint house every year since, and always had a good time. There was so much to do; he could fish in the lake for catfish, drive to the drive-in theater down the road and get fro-yo from Giovanni's stand on the way back, take the motorboat down the tributary and relax in the overhanging trees on the bank, letting the breeze wash across the water and over his muscled body. Now that he was older, he would bring a case of beer with him, and even invite his younger sister Carla on occasion, just to have someone to talk to. Dean was a Marine for 6 years, and when he returned from Afghanistan the first thing he did was rent the shore house for a month, just to calm his tattered nerves from his 3rd deployment.
The best thing about the lake house, though, was Shannon. Shannon Corolla was the daughter of the family that rented the only other home on the lake. The home was a mirror image of theirs, but on the opposite bank. Unless Dean wanted to walk the half mile around the water, the only way to the other home was by boat. Dean had first met Shannon when he was 13, and her family began renting the home for the same break. She was from Michigan, which was hundreds of miles from his home in Maine, but the one week they spent together each year soon became the best week ever. Then he joined the Corps, and he was gone every Spring Break week for the next 6 years. Now 24, he was going back for his first break since. Coincidentally, his College break was the same as his high school break, and he hoped that Shannon, now 22 and a college senior, would also be so fortunate. It turned out she was.
The first thing Dean saw when he stepped out of his truck was a beautiful redhead standing stark against the dark water. She was on the pier of their lake house, pitching pebbles into the lake. The motorboat from the other house was docked next to her. She turned swiftly when she heard the door of his truck slam. From the expression on her face, she was as surprised as Dean was about how much they had changed. She was now at least 5'10", with ginger hair falling well fast her shoulders. Her button nose was still covered with freckles, and her jade eyes were still as piercing as ever, but they emanated a different feeling now. She was definitely a woman now, and her well-developed body showed it. Her legs were long and slim, terminating in a gorgeous round butt. Her waist was firmly muscled, leading up to a pair of perky breasts that were just about a handful for Dean's massive hands. Her lips parted into a smile after a long pause. He expected she was sizing up him as well.
Dean had changed in the Corps. He went in weighing 180, and now was almost 200. He had replaced his slim 6 foot runner's frame with a massive linebacker body. His shoulders and back were broad, and his waist had expanded almost 4 inches just because of muscle. He could no longer pull of the skinny jeans and skate shoes look, and now wore more conservative t-shirts and boot cut classic fits which hung off his hips. From Shannon's response to his change, he had definitely changed for the better. However, he was no longer the flawless model he had been before the Corps. He limped slightly from healing shrapnel wound to his ankle. The doctors at Bethesda assured him that he would walk normal within a couple months, and he swore that he would. The ankle didn't bother him as much as the jagged hole in his chest from the SVD round that almost ended his life on his first tour. The sniper had shot him right through the soft part of his IOTV body armor, and he spent 6 months in and out of the hospital, alongside a year recovering the strength in his chest.
"Hey stranger" said Shannon, flipping her hair behind her with a deft swoop of her head
"It's been a while." Dean replied with a confident grin.
He watched her eyes travel across his body. "Too long D." She returned his smile with one of her own, adding a little sass to it.
He stuttered a bit at her bold attitude. She's changed a lot more than he thought.
"Yea... just glad to be back."
"I heard from your parents about it. Are you doing ok?"
"Yea yea. I wish I could run, but this ankle's giving me trouble. I'm just glad that part of my life is over with."
"Are you done with the Marines for good?"
He thought for a minute. He wasn't really sure. Dean loved the Corps, but he thought somewhere that the pints of blood and ounces of flesh he gave was enough for him. However the career opportunities for re-upping were very attractive.
"I'm considering staying in. I might go the officer route, but I'm done fighting."
She smiled broadly, placing her hands on her hips and cocking her butt to the side like an anime character.
"That's great. I always knew you'd be great in the military. I think it's kinda hot." She tousled her hair nervously.
Wait, he thought, Is she flirting with me? Dean had always been attracted to her. Actually, there was a good year when he believed he was in love with her. He convinced himself it would never actually happen, especially after she ranted to him about all of her boyfriends and lovers. He was actually scared off, being very unexperienced at the time, and not wanting to listen to her casual exploits.
"How have you been?" He asked.
"I've been good. I'm a Biology major at Columbia. Aren't you going to Colorado State?"
"Colorado School of Mines." He replied "I'm a Civil Engineering major."
"What do you want to do with that?" she asked, but she seemed distracted, as if the conversation bored her.
"I'm not really setting any goals outside the Corps. I'd rather just stay in and get a nice pension. How about you?" He tried to turn the conversation on her, to keep her interested.
"I want to get my masters in Bio Engineering. I want to study the implementation of pharmacological effects on human diseases. In lay terms, I want to find natural cures to ailments."
"That's so cool." Now Dean had nothing to say. Shit, he thought, It's gonna be awkward.
"So" she stated, digging her bare toes nervously into the ground, which was half sand and half grass. "Got any plans tonight?"
"No!" he said, a little too enthusiastically.
Her face brightened, cheeks flushing red. "Great!" Dean noted the matching enthusiasm in her voice.
"Did you have plans?" He asked, attempting to distract her from her obvious embarrassment.
"I was going to go see a movie at the drive in. But..." her voice trailed off
"You want some company?" He finished her sentence.
"Would you go with me?"
