Dinner

Grocery shopping went smooth and quick. Each couple split up with a list and reconvened only to find all of us bought five or six additional things, some of us the same thing.

"These buffalo pretzel bites are fucking amazing," I said, holding up the bag.

"I know!" Robert agreed enthusiastically. He gave me a fist bump.

"OK, but we don't need two bags," Ariel said. "Put yours back." She took the bag from Robert who quickly snagged it right back.

"Fuck no, we're going to need both of these," he said, tossing the bag back into the cart.

"Honestly, we might have to come back to get more later in the week," I added. Ariel and Chelsea rolled their eyes at our antics.

By the time we got back, Lisa and Chris had returned from the beach and were taking showers. We decided to do burgers and hot dogs and soon the other six of us were at work making dinner. Chelsea and Lauren cut the veggies while Ariel packed the ground beef into burgers. Robert and I fired up the grill but mostly drank and joked around while Liam went out of his way to help out. We laughed and joked and caught up. Robert made jokes about how Lauren needed to be careful with the knife around her boobs because they might deflate.

"Go ask Lisa and Chris how many burgers and hot dogs they want," Chelsea instructed me as Robert and I cracked open another beer. I knocked on the door to the Master Suite.

"Come in." Lisa's voice rang through the door. I turned the knob and pushed. The door stuck, probably expanded from the humid seaside air. I gave it an extra shove with my shoulder and it popped free. I nearly fell into the room like Kramer, holding tight to the door knob to steady myself. I gathered myself to find Lisa bent over her suitcase, her body and her hair both wrapped in a white towel.

"Hey, umm," I began, trying to form a sentence while secretly wishing Lisa would bend over just a bit more so that towel would ride up and expose the bottoms of her ass cheeks. "How many burgers and dogs do you guys want."

Lisa stood up and turned around, a flimsy, frilly black thong hanging from her finger. "I'll just take one burger, please."

"Do you want cheese?"

"Yes!"

"What kind?"

"Provolone." Lisa rubbed the towel over her hair then pulled it out, letting the damp strands fall across her shoulders. The towel was pulled tight around her bust, showing a slight crack of cleavage and now I was secretly hoping that her excessive movements would cause it to fall free. "Chris!" she shouted right as the door opened.

"What?" Chris asked, annoyed at Lisa screaming in his face as he stepped out into the bedroom butt ass naked. I got a glimpse of a bit more than I was hoping for before he saw me and grabbed Lisa's towel to wrap around his waist. I just laughed and shook my head.

Why couldn't that have been Lisa?

"How many burgers and dogs do you want?" I asked.

"Give me two burgers and two dogs." I laughed and shook my head again. Chris could eat like he was in a Coney Island competition.

Robert and I got to grilling and drinking. Mostly drinking. Chelsea came out multiple times to make sure we hadn't set the burgers on fire or burnt the hot dogs and I'd be more annoyed about it if we hadn't set some of the burgers on fire and burnt some of the hot dogs. In the end, though, we had more than enough to eat and everybody dug in.

It was just like every time we hung out as a group. Beers were cracked, wine bottles were popped and the house fell silent save for a few scattered moments of laughter as one of us, usually Robert, cracked a joke at someone's expense. Liam fit right in and even fired back at Robert when Robert tried to tease him about not eating buns with his burgers and dogs. Robert nearly choked on his potato salad and could only shake his head and laugh in acknowledgement that it was a good one.

After dinner we attacked the dishes. Chelsea and Lauren took turns handwashing and drying while Ariel loaded the dishwasher. Robert and I were on "put things back in the cabinet" duty. As usual, Lisa and Chris sat and watched the rest of us do all the work.

"Liam, pack up a cooler," I instructed the newcomer. "There's ice in the freezer. Load up that blue one by the stairs."

"Are we hanging by the pool tonight?" Ariel asked.

"Better," I replied. "We got the Fire Permit. We're building a bonfire."

"Did you get wood?" Robert asked, clearly excited.

"There's wood outside, down underneath the deck," I answered. We heard a yelp by the sink area and everyone turned to find Lauren had splashed water all over herself. The white tank top she was wearing became transparent and clung to her shapely breasts.

"Wet t-shirt contest on the first night! Alright, ladies!" Robert yelled. He started splashing water at Ariel who let out a shriek and batted him away. Lauren clung her arms tight to her chest and scurried off downstairs.

"I'm going to put on a sweatshirt," Chelsea said. "It's chilly out there."

"I'll grab my speaker," I said, following Chelsea to our room. I gave her a light tap on the ass as I walked past her into our room. She looked back at me and rolled her eyes but I could tell she enjoyed it.

"So what do you think of Liam?" Chelsea asked.

"He's fun. And he seems really nice," I replied. "He fits in well. He really got Robert during dinner. I thought Robert was going to choke to death. What about you? Have you talked to Lauren at all about him since we got here?"

"No, I haven't," Chelsea replied. "I do like him though. He's tall. And hot." I laughed.

"That's kind of Lauren's thing, isn't it?" I asked.

"For the most part," Chelsea said.

"What do you mean for the most part? All the guys she's dated have been tall and hot."

"Yea, that's true. But It's not the only guys she likes. We both know she had a crush on you when she first met you. Probably still does."

"I think we both know that was probably mostly due to me being in your dorm all the time and her long distance relationship going to shit. A long distance relationship with a tall, hot guy, I might add."

"I don't know, she still tells me all the time how I'm lucky I found such a hot guy."

I nearly burst out laughing. "She probably told you that one time and barely thought anything about it."

"I don't know," Chelsea said. She grabbed my shirt and pulled me to her. "I'm the one that has to listen to all of the girls talk about your abs." Her hand slipped up my shirt and her fingers grazed across my stomach. "Lisa is always telling me how she wishes Chris had abs like that. And Lauren says she wishes she could rub her hands all over them."

"Well, if I told you all the things the guys have said they wished they could do to you, you'd probably never speak to them again." Chelsea giggled, her hands sliding out from under my shirt.

"Do you think they all crush on everyone?" she asked. "Like, do you think that Robert crushes on Lauren and Lisa and Ariel crushes on Chris and Liam?"

I thought about it for a moment. "Probably," I responded. "It's hard not to. All the girls in our group are super hot and even I can admit that the dudes are pretty good looking."

I could see Chelsea's wheels spinning.

"What?" I asked.

"Nothing," she answered, shaking her head clear. She smiled at me. "Let's head to the beach."