I was glad when he had, and not just because it was fun. Brock seemed a little different this trip. Maybe a little more… reserved. Or something. He was still one of my two best friends in the world, but it made me wonder what was going on in his life. For over a decade, we’d known every single thing about each other. Now, we barely saw each other.
It sucked.
But that was how life worked. Even Peter Pan, or three Peter Pans, had to grow up eventually.
Jessie finally finished up. “Would you like us to get you another bottle?” I asked, and then laughed when he flipped me the bird. Maddie had no idea since he was behind her.
But she blushed anyway. “I just didn’t want to get burned.”
“Need help with any other spots?” I offered.
Her smile was pink and pretty. “I’m good.”
Behind her, Jessie smirked. It looked weird on him. He stood up, took two running steps, and dived over our heads into the water. I briefly considered punching him in the nuts as he sailed overhead, but that seemed a bit of an overreaction. Plus, it might derail my plan to make Maddie think that I was trustworthy enough to anoint her beautiful body with lotion, too.
Maddie hurried over, which, I couldn’t help noticing, made her lovely breasts bounce. “Is he okay?”
Brock looked up at her with surprise. “Of course.”
“But… it’s the shallow end.”
“It was a shallow dive,” I said. “Trust us, we know what we’re doing in the water.”
We spent the rest of our time in the pool proving exactly that to her. Earlier, we’d had to play it safe, but now we were free to dive off the high dive, do flips, handstands, and whatever we wanted. It was fun, like when we were teens.
And it was even more fun because Maddie was there. No use showing off unless there was a beautiful woman nearby.
Maddie more than fit that bill.
The urge to show off came back, in a big way, at the beach volleyball court in the afternoon. Maddie and Gina had spread out towels under a large umbrella, and they watched with wide eyes as Jessie and I took on Doug and Brock. At least I think their eyes were wide. It was a little hard to tell since they had sunglasses on.
Once, when the ball went sailing over Doug’s head and he had to chase after it, I did a series of backflips and a roundoff. It felt good to run and tumble in the sand with the surf pounding nearby. When was the last time I’d done that?
Maddie and her sister both looked impressed when I jogged back to the court. Jessie rolled his eyes, but Gina asked me where I’d learned to do that.
“Circus camp,” I called back.
“Really?” Maddie’s mouth was a little pink circle of shock, and I longed to ravish it with my mouth.
“Yep.” I’d tell her the story later. I’d grown up in Vegas, and I’d begged my dad to let me go to any shows that had acrobats or trapeze artists or anything like that. My aunt and uncle—Doug’s parents—had even funded a few summers at circus camp when my dad had put his foot down.
After we played two games, we stopped to down some water and to flirt with Maddie and Gina. Err, talk to them, I meant. When we started up again, Doug suggested mixing up the teams. That in itself was strange. He and Brock were always on the same side. But I shrugged, and a moment later I was standing next to my cousin. It felt weird to see Jessie on the other side of the net. I’d have to watch myself to make sure I didn’t accidentally pass the ball to him.
But I’d known Doug my whole life, and I’d played opposite him enough times to know his style. We worked well together although Brock and Jessie kept tying up the score.
All was well and good until Doug went all protective.
The next time it was our turn to serve, he called for a time-out, and we grabbed our water bottles. And then he warned me off Maddie.
“What?” For a moment, I thought I’d misheard him.
“She’s a nice girl. Leave her alone.”
I raised my eyebrows. “I am leaving her alone. Do you see me anywhere near her?”
“I heard you three were all over her at the pool this morning.”
Man, there were spies everywhere. “We were just swimming.”
“Fine. But just keep in mind that she’s a nice young woman. She’s not into the shit you three are.”
“Neither are you,” I countered, “and we’re still friends.”
“You can be her friend, but nothing more.” Wow, that was pretty direct for usually mild-mannered Doug groom-to-be.
“Nothing’s going on. As you pointed out, she’s a good girl.”
Doug looked skeptical. “You have a tendency to turn good girls into bad ones.”