back to the country club ... (two threads become one)

Abbie turned her head and saw Aguri and Kei embracing. There was something unusually intimate about the hug -- whatever emotions yielded that hug were different from whatever had fueled the last hour of their group adventure in the woods.

Aguri and Kei didn't see Abbie watching them. They released their embrace, and began to look for (and then put on) their clothes.

Jake had followed Abbie's gaze and was also observing the other couple getting dressed. He stared a bit at Kei, still astonished by her physique, but now equally amazed that she was just ... a normal woman getting dressed, and somehow no longer the statuesque model he had been fucking all afternoon.

"Should we ... do the same?" Jake quietly whispered to Abbie. Abbie nodded and stood up. Jake's eyes followed her for a moment, and then even quieter, he added, "I feel weird that we're not talking to them."

Abbie looked back at Jake, but moved ahead to approach Kei. Kei had pulled her pants back on and was holding her top in her hand.

"Hey, so ..." Abbie began.

"Ah," said Kei, smiling at Abbie. The situation was unusual, of course. They had all just been naked together, having sex in multiple positions and configurations -- but now that it was over and they were getting dressed, Kei's toplessness almost seemed inappropriate ... except for the fact that Abbie was still completely naked herself.

Abbie glanced back at Jake, who was pulling his pants on, essentially leaving Abbie as the only one without clothes. She rolled her eyes, unconcerned with her own nudity.

"That was a lot of fun. I just ... I wanted to say it. You guys are ... thanks, I guess."

Kei smiled. "Our boys are shy." They both looked at their partners, silently pulling clothes on, making every effort to avoid eye contact. "They do not deserve us."

Abbie thought about Jake. "Oh, I don't mind. I think he's okay."

Kei winked at her. "You. You are the spark. Such a beautiful woman." She leaned toward Abbie and surprised her with a brief but tender kiss. "We will see you at the wedding, no?"

Abbie nodded. "Yeah. I mean ... yes. We'll see you there."

Kei turned away and walked to Aguri. She pulled her top over her head and fastened it behind her. Abbie smiled, then went back to Jake, who was holding her dress out for her.

"Here you go," he said. "Can I help you get back into it?"

"Of course," Abbie replied.

Kei and Aguri left the cabin first. The atmosphere of the moment seemed to suggest that it would be two couples (rather than a group of four) walking back up to the country club together. Abbie watched as Kei and Aguri, hand in hand, disappeared behind a swath of trees.

After a pause, Abbie said quietly, "Her voice."

Jake quickly reacted. "Yes! I mean, her accent, her -- do you speak French? I don't speak French, and I didn't know what she was saying half the time. And how often do you see an Asian woman with a French accent? It was just ... I don't know why I'm talking so fast or saying so much."

Abbie laughed. "You've been all pent up. Get it out. Say everything."

Jake smiled. "This was all so wild. There were a lot of things I wasn't saying."

"I'm sure! And you're not alone. My mind was swimming in thoughts the whole time."

As they talked, they made their way back to the path. They left the house behind them, moving up the hill and along the trail toward the country club.

"What were you thinking about?" Jake asked.

"You know me, I'm always curious about people." Abbie looked off in the distance, not necessarily looking for Kei and Aguri, but half dreaming about where they were or what they were saying. "Such an interesting couple. She's so elegant and controlled."

"And controlling?"

Abbie nodded and shrugged. "Maybe. She knows what she likes."

"And what about him?"

Abbie looked at Jake with a smirk. "Boys are weird."

Jake playfully nudged his hip against Abbie, bumping her off her footing for a second. As she caught her balance, she also saw something moving off to the side.

"What was that?" Abbie asked, pointing.

Jake looked. "It's ... other people. But not the two we were just with."

Abbie and Jake kept walking, but soon saw the figures of two young women pushing past branches and making their way back to the trail. After a few moments, they caught up with the main path, and saw Jake and Abbie.

"Hey," said the taller woman. She had dark hair and wore a red dress, dark tights, and boots.

Abbie smiled and waved. "Hi, I'm Abbie."

"Maya. And this is Sydney."

"Jake," Jake offered with a nod.

"Were you just ... in the woods?" asked Abbie.

Sydney's cheeks were turning red, but she remained silent. Maya spoke. "Yeah, we ... we got bored with the party and stole some champagne." She held up the empty bottle. "Went for a little escape. And you?"

Abbie looked at Jake. "Just a walk. Beautiful grounds, this whole place."

Sydney kept almost avoiding eye contact with Abbie. Clearly she was drawn to looking at her, but at the same time, appeared very nervous.

"We found this strange little cabin down the way there. Totally abandoned. Kind of creepy, to be honest." Abbie was being truthful while also avoiding mention of the main event of the past hour at the cabin.

Maya smiled. She looked at Sydney, who shook her head quickly as if to silence whatever Maya was about to say. Either Maya didn't understand or ignored the cue.

"Yeah, we saw the cabin. Looked pretty interesting ..." Her eyes moved from Abbie to Jake and back to Abbie.

Abbie took a deep breath, beginning to wonder if these young women had seen anything.

"Just now?" asked Jake. "Or ...?"

"Yeah, about twenty minutes ago, maybe?" said Maya. "We were walking around and saw it from afar.

"But ... from the front?" said Jake, awkwardly trying to confirm that Maya hadn't seem them.

"No," said Maya playfully. "From the side. And the back." She looked at Abbie again, and then, indicating Abbie's body, played up her word choice. "And from the side ... and from the back ..." Maya bit her lip and blinked slowly.

Abbie smiled. "Ah. I see." She looked at Jake who was mildly embarrassed, but not ashamed. Abbie shrugged. "What can I say? We thought the party up the hill was boring too."

Maya nodded. "I mean, wow. You guys were fucking into it. I know you probably weren't looking for an audience, but damn, it was one hell of a show." She turned to look at Sydney. "Wasn't it, Syd?"

Sydney shyly nodded. "Come on, Maya, let's get back."

Abbie put her hand on Sydney's arm, and felt her stiffen up. "Hey, it's nothing."

Sydney looked at her arm where Abbie was holding her. She slowly lifted her head up to make eye contact with Abbie. She smiled and relaxed a little. "It wasn't nothing to you. I could tell." She started to move away, but turned back to add, "And it wasn't nothing to me either."

As Sydney and Maya walked away, Abbie and Jake could hear a few last words of their conversation.

"Maya," said Sydney. "We have to remember to tell Lucille what we saw. She said that last night she saw a couple doing it in an elevator at the hotel. Is public fucking like a trend now?"

"Apparently we now have a fan following," Abbie said with a grin. "What have you turned me into, Jake Lewis?"

Jake looked at her in shock. "Me? I'm quite sure it's the other way around, Abbie Andrews!"

"What do you think they saw?" Abbie asked, looking ahead to Maya and Sydney. The girls were still in sight, but they couldn't hear them any longer.

"I don't really want to think about it."

"You heard her just now -- her friend saw us in the elevator yesterday." Abbie squinted at Sydney. "I think she was in the elevator too. I think we saw her last night."

"The hotel is full of wedding guests. We're bound to keep bumping into people."

"Maybe ..." started Abbie, but she stopped.

"Maybe what?"

"I don't know."

"Maybe we should be careful who we get ourselves mixed up with?"

Abbie shrugged. "Maybe we should. Or maybe the adventure is not worrying about it! Besides -- do you think it could possibly get any wilder than what we just did?"