Wednesday Morning

I woke up the next day the same way I had the past three days - hard as a rock. I rolled over, reaching for Chelsea but I came up with a fist full of bedsheets.

Ugh, I groaned as I rolled out of bed. I pulled on a pair of shorts and, after seeing how little they did to hide my tenacious boner, looked for my sweatshirt. It was nowhere to be found so I had to settle on a t-shirt. I headed upstairs to find Robert, Lauren, Chris, and Liam in the kitchen. The smell of fresh-cooked bacon filled the open floor.

"That thing for me?" Robert asked, looking at my crotch.

Dammit

"Or maybe it's for Lisa!"

I just shook my head.

"Where's Chelsea?" I asked. Robert nodded toward the sliding glass door to the deck where Chelsea was sitting on a deck chair, draped in my sweatshirt, coffee mug in hand. I grabbed a few slices of bacon and headed outside.

"Hey there," I said as I sat down next to her. I was immediately struck by how wonderful she looked. I always thought she looked cute in my sweatshirts, especially when she wore shorts short enough to get hidden under the baggy hem. Her sexy, toned legs were bare and crossed and I couldn't keep my eyes off of them.

"Hey!" Chelsea greeted. "Sorry I slipped out on you. It was just so nice out, I wanted to sit and enjoy the sunrise."

"It is a hell of a sunrise," I agreed, looking out at the pink and yellow swirls on the oceanic horizon. I handed Chelsea a slice of bacon. "How is everyone today?"

"It's been a bit awkward," Chelsea replied. "But Robert has kept it light."

"He's always good for that. Everyone seems to have a bit of an extra pep in their step this morning."

"Yea," Chelsea agreed. "I don't know if it's from the whole date thing last night or if it's because we didn't drink our faces off but everyone has a bit more energy. They're all ready to go."

"It's probably a bit of both. What's the plans for today then? Back to the beach?"

"Lauren said something about wanting to go in the hot tub but it seems that the beach is the plan for now."

The sliding door opened and Chris stepped out. He was wearing a swimsuit with no shirt and carried a bottle of sunscreen that he placed on the table next to me. I didn't need to look at Chelsea to know she was watching him.

"I'm not interrupting am I?" Chris asked.

"No, not at all," Chelsea answered quickly. I shot her a side-eyed look and she rolled her eyes at me.

"I can help you get your back if you need," I offered. "In fact, I'll even do your front if you'd like."

"Hell yea, dude," Chris responded. "You get my chest while I get my legs."

"Deal," I said with a laugh.

"I'll leave you two to do... whatever it is you're going to do to each other out here," Chelsea said. "I'm going to get my bathing suit on."

"Oh, come on," I joked. "You can get his ankles."

Chelsea headed back inside and there was suddenly a silence on the deck. It wasn't a tension, at least none that I felt, but we both knew what the other was thinking and seemed to wonder whether the other would bring it up.

"So..." Chris finally said, just before I was going to get up and go back inside. "You know... Lisa and I obviously talked about how your date was and everything and I think we are all cool and everything."

"Yea, we're definitely cool, man. I'm glad you and Chelsea had a great time together. I had a lot of fun with Lisa. It seems like it went well for everyone."

"Yea, definitely. Umm, she did tell me that you guys almost, you know, had sex. She told me she would have done it if the cop didn't show up and I just wanted you to know, like, Lisa and I don't keep secrets so she tells me everything and I wanted you to know that I know and that I'm cool with it all. Like, even if it had happened, I'd be alright with it. I can't say that I'm not happy it didn't, but if it did, it would have been OK. It's totally cool."

"Thanks, man," I said. "Yea, things really heated up. It was all up to everyone I guess, what the rules were and everything, and I haven't been on a first date in a long time, obviously, so I didn't really know, like, would I be comfortable sleeping with a girl on a first date? My first thought is probably not but, if it's a girl as gorgeous as Lisa and she's naked and sitting on my lap, that probably changes the dynamics a bit."

Chris laughed. "I get it, man. It's hard for me to say with a straight face that I wouldn't have done the same with Chelsea. I just wanted to let you know we're cool and that I really appreciate you taking care of Lisa and showing her a fun time. I'm glad she ended up with you last night."

"Thanks," I said, rising to my feet. I opened my arms to give Chris a hug.

"Ah, I'm all greasy, you don't want to hug me," Chris said, extending his hand for a shake. I grabbed it and pulled him in for a hug,

"Fuck it," I said. "I need to lotion up anyway. I love you, man."

"I love you too, dude."

When we both broke the hug, we gave each other one last affirming nod then headed back inside.