Hiking the mountain trail.

Chapter 5 – Lake House Vacation (continued)

“I think I’d like to come with you.” Chloe said, as she went to her bag and retrieved her hiking boots and an empty fanny pack. “I can put my hair in a tail and braid it later once it’s fully dried.” She added as she sat on the bed to change her footwear.

“Alright.” The redhead said, looking mildly disappointed, though she didn’t voice it.

“Don’t worry.” Jason assured her. “If we need privacy, Chloe will give it to us. Though I’m sure she’d love to watch.” He added playfully, nudging the Navajo girl with his elbow.

“I don’t think I’m kinky enough for that.” Kate admitted. “Too much Irish catholic in me.”

“That’s fine.” Chloe quickly replied. “Jason can just tell me about it later, if you’re okay with that.”

“I’m okay with that.” Kate nodded.

The two girls hugged as Jason moved to the door and led the way down the stairs, where they found Heather waiting on the couch. She stood up, already in khaki shorts, a button-up top and her own hiking boots with a shoulder bag next to her. “I’m coming with you nerds.” She insisted.

Jason sighed, but didn’t argue. He hoped Chloe would help him find some privacy when it came to it, otherwise he supposed they’d just improvise, maybe postpone the event.

After filling up water bottles and canteens, and packing some trail snacks, they told Lena they were heading out, and Alex confirmed that she wasn’t coming with them. Then they applied some suntan lotion to their exposed arms and faces, and calves in Heather’s case, and exited the lakeside door with Kate in the lead, where the sun was warming up the mountainside as they started off around the lake towards one of the harder hiking trails.

They’d been walking for only a couple minutes before Chloe nudged Jason’s arm. “You should use that stamina perk again to keep up with Kate.” She whispered once he turned her way.

He nodded, “Good idea.” He agreed.

He checked his phone, saw his battery was still mostly full from that morning, and navigated to the branching effects tab and selected the Enduring Stamina effect before pocketing the phone once more. He looked ahead at Kate and Heather, neither of whom seemed to have noticed what he’d done.

By the time they left the trees and started up the rocky slopes, the sun overhead was almost oppressively warm. He caught himself watching Heather’s ass and legs flex beneath her sky-blue khaki shorts, and quickly shifted his gaze to Kate, whose clothing did a better job of concealing her figure, but her muscles shifting were still quite prominent as she moved steadily higher along the trail in front of them.

“You perving already?” Heather asked, apparently having caught him watching Kate.

“Don’t be mean, Heather.” Kate told her, scowling over her shoulder.

“Hey, I meant it playfully this time. Even I can admit you’ve got one helluvan ass, Cherry.”

The redhead blinked, blushing heatedly at the unexpected compliment, and then turned and resumed hiking forward, unable to come up with anything to say in response.

Jason watched the exchange, then turned as Chloe moved forward, coming up behind Heather just as the blonde cheerleader started moving again, only to yelp as Chloe slapped her ass. “Yours isn’t too bad either.” She said, when the younger girl spun, her retort dying on her lips when she saw it was Chloe who’d spanked her and not Jason.

“When did you get so flirty, Tiger?” The blonde asked after a moment, her voice strained.

“Something about being up here at the lake has been a bit freeing.” The Navajo girl shrugged, leaving Heather and Jason to share a look before they both followed after the Irish and Navajo girls along the trail.

After that, they didn’t talk much for a while, but continued following the pace Kate was setting. Chloe started struggling first, and took off her jacket, tying it around her waist, baring most of her arms to the late morning heat.

“Jeans may have been the wrong pants for a hike.” Heather pointed out.

As soon as Heather turned away, Jason decided to activate his Enduring Stamina effect, setting it for 2 hours, for the moment.

They took their first break at the top of a rise where there were several large stones smoothed down into makeshift seats and a railing that had been put in place to help prevent hikers from tumbling down the hillside while taking in the view. The lake was a glittering expanse from their vantage point that extended to a line of tiny trees, campsites, and other lake houses on the far shore. They could even see where the mountain continued to rise, looking unnaturally close as green trees and grey stone gave way to snowy white slopes of the nearby ski resort almost a thousand feet above their current elevation.

They broke out some trail snacks from various pockets and pouches as they sat in a loose semi-circle and recovered some energy. “How you holding up?” Kate asked Chloe after about a minute while munching on something from a plastic Ziploc bag.

The black-haired girl shrugged. “I’m okay for now. Not going to make it to the top. I’ll probably turn back at some point, me and Heather can go back together when I get too worn out.”

“I’m not leaving Kate and Jason out here alone.” The blonde retorted.

“We’ll be fine.” Kate assured her.

“You need a chaperone.”

“Why?” Kate frowned at the cheerleader. “We can both take care of ourselves.”

“To… to make sure nobody tries anything freaky.”

“Maybe I want him to try something freaky.” The redhead insisted. “Ever think of that?”

“You remembering Dick-Head here already has a girlfriend?” The blonde hissed back.

“Can we not fight?” Chloe asked.

Kate sighed, “Maybe you should tell her, Jason.” She muttered.

“Tell me what?” The cheerleader glanced at him, one eyebrow raised.

Jason looked to Kate, then Chloe. Both of them nodded, so he faced Heather, “I’ve learned Stephani is catfishing me.”

“Catfishing? Is that…?”

“She’s not who she says she is.” Kate supplied, “And has been deceiving Jason about her true identity from the beginning. So he’s kind of a free agent now.”

“Kind of?” The blonde still looked displeased by the revelation.

“Stephani doesn’t know that Jason knows about the deception.” Chloe cut in. “We’ve made plans to try to expose the truth, and maybe get Jason a little recompense.”

“I guess that explains why he’s been more fucking flirty lately.” Heather acknowledged, grudgingly.

“But yeah, I don’t need you to protect me from him. If we want to do something, uh… intimate. That’s our business not yours.” Kate said while blushing heatedly, unable to meet Heather’s gaze.

“Fine.” She grumbled. “Shall we move our asses while there’s still fucking daylight?” The cheerleader moved away from the rocks and back onto the trail, leading the way as the three of them quickly followed.

“She seems pissed.” Jason’s best friend turned girlfriend murmured after another minute of hiking.

“No kidding.” His potential lover replied from his other side. “Maybe we should hold off on our plan. You need to smooth things over with Heather first.” She added.

“Next time we stop for a rest, give me some time alone with her, and I’ll see what I can do.” He suggested.

The next break area didn’t have quite the same breathtaking view, but it was a nice clearing with shade over a set of benches carved from old tree stumps. As they approached, Jason pulled his phone from his pocket and stealthily activated the Suggestive Receptivity trait on Heather.

Without saying a word, Chloe and Kate moved ahead to the furthest bench while Jason followed Heather to the spot she’d chosen. “Need something, Dick-Head?” She growled.

“I need to apologize to you.” He said, earning a surprised glance from the blonde cheerleader. “You must feel like I used you for my own selfish reasons. That was never my intention. I really was trying to help Kate improve her confidence in her self-image. And part of that was showing her that she does turn me on. That I wanted her.”

“You still got her to agree to let you stick your dick in her.” She snapped back.

“You know she’s had a crush on me for years, right?”

“What does that have to do with…”

“It took me a long time to recognize it, and it wasn’t until after I learned the truth about Stephani that I was free to do something about it. But you know this hike wasn’t my idea?”

“I still don’t see what that has to do with…”

“Kate invited me. She suggested it. She wants this, if anything even more than I do.”

Heather had no response to that, merely frowned at him. “She thinks it would be sweet if we shared our first times together.”

“The fuck?!” Heather sprang to her feet. “You?! Are a virgin?! Dick-for-brains, pervert incarnate?”

Both Kate and Chloe glanced their way with amused grins at Heather’s raised voice.

Jason just shrugged, “Honestly, Heather, I never understood why you perceived me as some unusually horny guy. The fact that I’m living with three hot girls and barely even flirt with you most the time is probably a lot more restraint than most men my age would be able to manage. Can you at least admit that?”

The hazel-eyed girl sighed, and sat back down, a thoughtful expression on her face.

Jason thought now might be the time to push her.