the men gossip about the women

[NOTE: This chapter happens in parallel with Staci's story.]

Jake pulled a bottle from a nearby cooler, twisted off the lid, and walked slowly to join the other men. What he wanted to do was to sit with Abbie. What he definitely did not want to do was sit by himself in the middle of a giant boat. And what felt more awkward (of the available other options) was to attempt to mingle with Staci and her girlfriends. Therefore, he concluded, the path of least resistance was simply to try and be 'one of the guys' with this cohort of men he didn't know and probably wouldn't ever see again after this weekend.

"Hey, Jake!" Phil said cheerfully. "I kinda hoped this wouldn't happen -- you know, the social scene splits on gender lines -- but it's inevitable, right?"

Jake nodded. "Yeah."

Phil looked past Jake at the group of women at the other end. "Staci's so good at holding court down there, it's no surprise all her friends are drawn to that. Hell, I'm drawn to that."

Jake's eyes darted around the group, just taking a quick mental note of who was around, and trying to remember names. Danny, Arthur, Rick ... Jake mumbled greetings and waved his beer bottle at the group in a bland cliché.

Karl, the last of the men Jake had met earlier, raised his beer in return. "Welcome to the party, Jake. Grab a seat."

Jake settled into a nearby lounge chair, trying to appear at ease despite feeling out of his element. The sun beat down warmly, and a few of the men had already shed their shirts to bask in the rays.

"So, Jake," Rick began, leaning forward with a mischievous glint in his eye. "Tell us about this girlfriend of yours. Abbie, right? She seems ... interesting."

Jake took a swig of his beer, considering his response. "Yeah, Abbie's great. She's smart, fun, always up for new experiences." Despite how intense things got in the car, Jake kept some distance in summarizing Abbie for the group.

Danny, lounging shirtless with his muscular frame on display, shook his head ruefully. "I still can't believe I struck out with her at the country club. Usually I've got better game than that."

"Maybe you're losing your touch, Danny-boy," Karl ribbed good-naturedly.

"Not likely," Danny retorted. He took a few steps away from the group, staring openly at the women sunbathing on the other end of the deck.

Karl leaned back, his gaze fixed on Melanie's form at the far end of the boat. "I'm telling you, that Melanie is something else. That white bikini looks incredible on her."

The other men followed his gaze, appreciating the view. Melanie's full curves were on display, her ample breasts straining against the white fabric.

"She's definitely got some assets," Rick agreed with a grin. "Can't ignore those."

Karl chuckled, taking a swig of his beer. "Oh, man, to get my hands on that body. Tits that don't quit."

The guys laughed, shaking their heads at Karl's boldness.

"Hey, a man can dream," Karl defended, holding up his hands.

"Dreams can come true," Phil said, his eyes on Staci.

Rick finished his beer, dropped the bottle on a nearby ledge, and cracked open a second one. "No kidding, they sure can."

"What, you and that blonde?" Arthur quipped.

"Fuck yes, me and that blonde."

"I only ask this because a big theme of this weekend is marriage, but ... aren't you married?" Karl asked.

Rick sighed and then took a long pull on his beer. "Yeah. I'm married. But that's not the dream I'm talking about, my friend. Phil, maybe don't listen to me for a little while."

Phil laughed. "You've never had any influence on me, and that's not going to change today."

Rick nodded and chuckled. "Good. Because right now, I'm not thinking about my marriage. I'm thinking about 'that blonde' and ... and if I'm being honest, I'm thinking about how good she smells."

Karl laughed. "... the fuck?"

Rick looked at Karl. "Yeah. She smells amazing. I don't know if it's perfume or shampoo or mouthwash, but it's intoxicating."

"It's the beer that's intoxicating, dude," Arthur said.

Rick took another swig. "Yeah, that too. But damn, Taylor is fine."

"Yeah, you two weren't exactly subtle in the limo," Arthur remarked with a smirk. "I thought you were going to rip each other's clothes off right there."

Rick grinned unapologetically. "What can I say? We got a little carried away. But you should have seen us at the country club earlier. We found this secluded little spot outside ..." He trailed off, his eyes glazing over slightly as he remembered the heated encounter.

After a brief silence, it was Jake who spoke up next. After all, Jake remembered how he and Abbie were actually watching Rick and Taylor, imagining what they might have been up to. He was curious how accurate their imagination had been.

"You know, um ..." Jake began. "I'm not sure that secluded spot was, uh, quite so secluded."

Karl laughed. Rick turned toward Jake, eyebrows raised. "Oh no?"

"Well," Jake said, taking a deep breath. "Abbie and I were outside for a bit ... and we might have seen you."

"Might have?" Rick said dryly.

"More like actually saw you." Jake laughed and drank his beer. "I mean, we didn't see details, but we saw you two kinda fooling around a bit."

"But you didn't see details?" Arthur said. "I think the details are the whole point, aren't they, Rick?"

"They sure were to me," Rick replied with a smirk. Unfiltered, he went on to share some of those details with his friends. "Her tight little body on mine, her hands were all over me, all over my chest, my crotch. Those fingers, so eager to play. She's a fucking great kisser, too, and just couldn't get enough. Didn't mind when I put my hands on her, her tits are small but perfect, a little more than a handful, just perfect. Her ass is fucking tight, she clearly has to be a runner or something. Fuck ... I swear, if we weren't at a party, if we could have just been alone ..."

"If you weren't, you know, ... married," Karl teased.

"Let's be honest, Karl my boy," Rick said calmly. "That doesn't really seem to be an obstacle today, does it?"

"Damn, Rick, you move fast!" Arthur exclaimed. "Feeling her up at the country club, practically dry humping in the limo. You don't waste any time, do you?"

"Hey, when opportunity knocks, you've got to answer," Rick replied with a grin, leaning back and taking another pull from his beer. "Taylor's fucking hot, she's into me, and we're on a boat in the middle of nowhere. Carpe diem, my friends."

The guys chuckled, shaking their heads at Rick's brazenness. Jake found himself intrigued by the man's cavalier attitude. In a way, it was similar to Abbie's endless sense of adventure, though somehow Abbie always seemed more wholesome in her approach, even when it led to some very not-wholesome activities.

"Speaking of opportunity knocking," Karl said, turning his attention to Arthur. "Seems like you and Emily were getting pretty cozy on the limo ride over."

Arthur shifted in his seat, a slight flush creeping into his cheeks. "Ah, I don't know about that. We were just, you know, next to each other. It was a tight car."

"Uh-huh, sure," Rick teased. "And the way she was leaning into you, laughing at all your jokes? That was just friendly conversation?"

"Uh, sure. That's what it was." Arthur said, a small smile playing at his lips. "I mean, it's not like we were groping each other like some people." He shot a pointed look at Rick.

Rick held up his hands in mock surrender. "Hey, no judgment here, man. Everyone moves at their own pace."

"So what do you think of her?" Phil asked, genuinely curious. "Emily, I mean. She's one of Staci's closest friends."

Arthur considered for a moment. "She's really sweet. Smart, too. I mean, I don't know her much, but you can tell. And, I mean, obviously she's beautiful."

Jake noticed that one of the guys had been conspicuously absent from the conversation -- and to his surprise, it was the one who had seemed, on the surface, to be most likely to participate in a horny conversation about the hot women on the other end of the boat.

"Say, Danny?" Jake called out. "You've been quiet."

The other guys looked up and saw Danny, a few feet away, staring down at the far end of the boat. He'd been watching something -- or more likely, someone.

"Yeah," Danny said. He kept watching for a moment, but then turned back to the others. "Yeah," he said more quickly. "Just got lost in the moment, you know?"

"Oh really?" Rick said. "Gotta assume that by 'the moment,' you mean you were ogling someone down there. Who was it?"

Danny chuckled and walked back to his friends, falling into a lounge chair and drinking his beer.