The Florida Trip Pt. 01

This is it! Welcome to Part One of The Florida Trip. This is intended as a direct sequel to my previous Trip series, The Baseball Trip. Think of this as The Baseball Trip: Season Two. You don’t have to read the original story to get what’s going on here, but it’ll definitely help. Everyone is over the age of 18.

6 months later

It was the coldest winter I could remember. Snow started piling up in early October and stayed through spring. The wind blew icy, biting. Even inside my little apartment, heat blaring, I was cold. Like the chill had settled into my bones.

It was early February and I was lying on the couch, watching a meaningless basketball game and wishing it was baseball instead. The windows rattled with the cold. It was only 4 o’clock, but the day was already dark and brooding.

My roommate Julia’s cellphone started to sing through her door. An upbeat tune that made everything else feel even flatter. Julia and I had been close friends once, but we hadn’t been the same since the previous summer.

We’d gone on a road trip together — six baseball games over eight days across the American Midwest — along with my friend’s younger sister Kelsey and her best friend Sarah. All of us squished together in Julia’s tiny Volkswagen Beetle. Through a series of circumstances even I have trouble accepting in retrospect, I ended up hooking up with the terminally sexy Sarah. Then bombshell beautiful Kelsey. Eventually athletic, incredible Julia joined in, too.

Then we got back home, and everything broke apart. Sarah went back to her boyfriend. Kelsey went off to school and met someone, too. As for Julia, I asked her for a real relationship and she shot me down. Hard.

We both moved on. I started dating a girl named Alyssa in October. Julia got a boyfriend a few weeks after. We pretended like everything was OK. But the two of us were living with a sort of zombie friendship that looked like it was fine and acted like it was fine but was clearly dead inside.

Through the bedroom door, I heard Julia answer her phone with a shout. A cry of joy like I hadn’t heard in a long time from my dour roommate. She babbled excitedly — bubbling like a teenaged girl getting asked to the prom. I did my best to pay attention to the TV. I couldn’t help but try to listen in. After about twenty minutes I heard Julia stop talking.

“OK,” she said, “Yes. I’ll ask him.”

Julia stepped out into the living room.

“What’s up?” I asked, barely looking up from the game. It was a safety mechanism I’d picked up after our road trip. Even though she’d crushed my feelings, I couldn’t help but still crush on Julia. She was super pretty — lithe and fit with tied-back brown hair and bright green eyes. God, she even moved like an athlete: every motion fluid and confident. We were both with other people, but I couldn’t help but still have feelings for my oh-so-fuckable roommate.

“That was Sarah,” Julia said. I spun my head around like it had been set on a spring. “I think we need another road trip.”

*

This was the story as Julia explained it to me. Sarah was at art school and miserable. Classes were tough, and the other students were snobs. Then, when she needed him most, Sarah’s stupid boyfriend split. It wasn’t a big surprise, really. Sarah had cheated on him the past summer (with me, natch), after she’d halfway sort of broken up with him for being a tremendous jerkwad. Great romance, this was not.

Still, it was one more weight on a set of shoulders that were already slumping and suddenly Sarah was shot. She’d called Julia just to say hello and, out of nowhere, she’d broken into tears. They talked for a while, and then they had an epiphany.

I’m not sure how it came up. I guess the skies parted? Like a golden gift from the heavens the idea just appeared? I don’t know. But somehow Sarah and Julia decided that the only cure for the February blues was for all of us to just jump into a car and go.

I hadn’t spoken to Sarah since the baseball trip (or Kelsey, for that matter). The thought of seeing the sexy brunette again got me all jostled — like getting psyched up for a scary ride. Excited about the idea of it, terrified of the actual event.

Would Sarah and I pick up where we left off? What would happen if we did? Worse, what would happen if we didn’t? Would Kelsey come along, too? I got so wrapped up in all the questions I lost track of Julia, waving at me from the far side of the couch.

“Earth to Ben,” Julia said, “Dude, when you get back to the planet let me know. I have to give Sarah an answer. Are we going on a road trip or not?”

I mean, seriously, did Julia really have to ask?

*

“A road trip?” Alyssa asked. She tossed her red hair back out of her eyes. “Wait, is this going to be another one of your rolling orgies?”

My girlfriend and I were eating dinner at some little taco joint on Elmwood. One of Alyssa’s places — I could never remember the name. They served mediocre tacos and strong margaritas. Played loud guitar music and had pinatas hanging from the ceiling. You know the place.

As I said before, I’d met Alyssa back in the fall. We had the same Modern Poetry class and she did a wicked imitation of our Professor that made me shoot soda right out of my nose. Well nothing says relationship material like a guy snarfing his drink all over a table at the Student Union. Alyssa clearly agreed, and we’d started dating soon after.

Alyssa was clearly too pretty for me. Her long red hair came with the expected complexion — pale skin and freckles everywhere. Best of all, she had this wicked little smile that seemed to scream danger in all the best ways.

I’d told Alyssa about my sex-crazed summer early on in our relationship. Her reaction had been surprising: she was into it. It turned out my girlfriend had a bit of a wild past. And a not-too-tame present, as well. Alyssa asked me about the baseball trip all the time. She almost seemed more obsessed with it than I was.

“It’s really happening,” Alyssa said, waving a tortilla chip in the air while she spoke, “Another fuckfest on America’s highways. I always dreamed I’d be here for this moment.”

“It’s not a fuckfest,” I said, “Just some old friends getting together for Spring Break.”

“Wait,” Alyssa said, “Are Sarah and Kelsey coming, too?” The two girls — buxom, brunette Sarah and beautiful, blonde Kelsey — had become almost legends to Alyssa, I think. She’d met Julia plenty of times but the other two participants in my epic road trip were mostly myths to her. I’d shown her pictures a couple of times, but they didn’t do my companions justice.

“Actually, the trip was Sarah’s idea,” I said, “I’m not sure about Kelsey — she’s being cagey. Super serious boyfriend. Super stressful classes. That kind of thing.”

“Sarah’s the really sexy one, right?”

“Well…”

“And Kelsey’s the really pretty one?”

“I mean, compared to you she isn’t that…”

“Oh my God, yes! I think I might cum just sitting here thinking about it.”

A couple of tables turned around to look at us. Alyssa laughed. I shrugged. Slowly, they all turned back to their dinners.

“Don’t get too excited,” I said, “Julia’s got her boyfriend, Brandon. Kelsey and her guy, Kevin, are apparently attached at the hip. Only Sarah is single right now, ironically. Anyway, that’s why I wanted to talk to you first. Make sure it’s OK.”

“Awww, asking my permission?” Alyssa asked, “That’s cute.”

“Actually, I was hoping you’d come along,” I said.

“Wait. Seriously?”

“Don’t be mad. I thought you might…”

“Mad? Hello? This is, like, the best day of my life! Oh my God. Where are we going? Should I even bother to pack clothes?”

The tables all turned to stare at us again. I could only smile and shrug.

*

So, my girlfriend was going. We just didn’t know where yet. Baseball was again, the obvious first choice.

“No baseball,” Julia said.

We were sitting on the couch together, spitballing ideas. Both of us covered in clothes like we were about to brave a blizzard. Sweaters, jeans, and thick wooly socks. Julia looked severe — her hair was up in her every-present ponytail — but she was smiling. It wasn’t just sharing the same piece of furniture, I felt closer to my roommate than I had in months.

“We did baseball last time,” Julia said, “Besides it’s too cold. We need to go now. Not in April.”

“You love baseball,” I said, “I thought we’d go down to Spring Training. It sucks here but this is, like, the nicest time to be in Florida because it’s warm but not too humid.”

“Look, I promised Sarah a nice trip and that’s not baseball,” Julia said, “Besides, we owe her for dragging her around last time. And there’s no way we can convince Kelsey to come if it’s sports.”

“Alyssa wants to come, too,” I said, “And I bet if Kelsey comes her boyfriend Kevin will join. What about Brandon?”

“Yes, my boyfriend will be joining us,” Julia said, “No, that is not an excuse for us to go see Spring Training.”

“Fine,” I said, “But then what?”

We got off the couch, fired up the computer in my bedroom, and started doing research. I kept waiting for Julia to grab her glasses so she could see the screen. She’d gotten contacts a few months before, but I still wasn’t used to it. Seeing her face without the frames.

Julia and I laughed and shoved each other over the keyboard like old times. If I’d thought planning a trip would have fixed us, I’d have suggested it a long time ago. We were “Julia and Ben” again. Benlia. Jublien? I don’t know. It was too awesome for me to care. But while the friendship thing was promising, the trip planning was not.

Anything East Coast was too cold. California and Las Vegas were too expensive and too far for a drive. Julia made it clear that Sarah had been promised a road trip — no planes allowed. I pushed for a boat trip, but that got torpedoed. I fought for Mardi Gras, but that was a no go, as well.

“It’s too soon,” Julia said, “We won’t have time to plan, let alone drive. Besides, my tits are too small for Mardi Gras.”

“New Orleans should be so lucky to see your boobs,” I said, “I gave them an A+, remember?”

Julia punched me in the shoulder. We stared at the screen, blankly. Then Julia’s head popped up like her timer had just gone off.

“Wait a minute,” she said, “Maybe you weren’t far off with Florida. Like you said, it’s warm but not blistering. And it’s just on the far edge of drivable.”

“Baseball?” I asked.

“I’m going to shove a bat up your ass,” Julia said, “No. The other thing that’s in Florida.”

“Gators? Crazy people? Wait, I know, basketball!”

“Disney, you doofus,” Julia said, her eyes alight, “We should go to Walt Disney World.”

*

I’ll admit, I didn’t really see the appeal of going to Walt Disney World at first. It seemed like a great place for two groups: people who had an eight-year-old child and people who were an eight-year-old child. What was a group of crazed college kids going to do at Disney?

“You don’t get it,” Julia said, “This isn’t like, Six Flags or whatever. Disney is… It’s not just rides. It’s the characters and the atmosphere. The whole feeling of the place. OK, you said it’s for children and it totally is. But that’s kind of the point? You get to feel like a kid again with all that unspoiled wonder and awe. The sense that there really might be magic in the world.”

“They should hire you to write the brochures,” I told her.

“Trust me, when I tell Sarah and Kelsey they’ll flip out. And when you get there? You’ll see it too. I promise, Ben.”

Sure enough, when Julia called Sarah to tell her about our plan, she screamed so loud I heard it all the way across the room. Kelsey, who to that point had been wishy-washy about the whole trip thing, agreed to go as soon as Julia said the word ‘Disney.’

With that level of enthusiasm, how could I possibly say no? I figured, well, the girls all put up with baseball for me. The least I could do was endure a corporate, cartoon rat and his animal kingdom.

We found a surprisingly affordable deal online. Two rooms and five nights at the Happiest Place on Earth was, somehow, within our reach. The five of us — me, my girlfriend Alyssa, Julia, her boyfriend Brandon, and Sarah — all agreed to pile into Julia’s tiny Beetle, once again. Kelsey decided (insisted, actually) that she and Kevin would go in their own car and we would all caravan down to Orlando together.

Surrounded by such freezing cold, the thought of warm Florida seemed almost impossibly good. And while Disney may not have been my first choice for a vacation, I was more than happy to sacrifice if it meant seeing my friends again. Everything was set. Of course something had to go wrong.

*

This time it was my fault. Sort of.

Two weeks before our trip, Julia’s boyfriend Brandon came over for dinner and… other things. Brandon was a nice guy, really. Good looking with that permanent stubble-beard thing going on. I tried hard to hate him, but I couldn’t.

We all ate dinner together. Afterward, the amorous couple went back to Julia’s bedroom. I knew what that meant. I turned on the TV as loud as I could. The last thing I wanted to hear was the sound of Julia and her boyfriend fucking. It reminded me too much of our own previous adventures.

If all of this sounds petty, well, I suppose you’re right. I had my own girlfriend after all. I doubted Julia enjoyed hearing the two of us from her bedroom, either. I could rationalize it all I liked, but it didn’t change things. The heart doesn’t have ears or understand language. It doesn’t ‘do’ logical arguments. The heart just yearns.

I was midway through the midnight SportsCenter when Brandon came back out into the living room. He was wearing boxers and nothing else. I couldn’t help but be jealous. I mean, I’m still in pretty good shape, but that dude was freaking cut.

Brandon sat down next to me, pulled a pillow over his lap, and sighed. “How’d the Sabres do?” he asked.

“Lost one zip.”

“Fucking hell,” he said. The room was dark, and the TV lit us both up bluish. Something about the way Brandon stared off at the TV seemed sad.

“Hey man, can I ask you something weird?” Brandon asked. “Julia told me you two were, like, together. Before we met.”

“I don’t know if I’d say together,” I said, “We hooked up a couple times. It wasn’t anything serious. Just something that happened that, honestly, probably shouldn’t have. We’re just roommates, man, trust me. You’ve got nothing to worry about.”

“Sure, but… OK this is awkward. I’m sorry. When you two were together. Like, intimate. I was just wondering if she was, like, I don’t know…”

“Aggressive as fuck?” I asked. When we’d hooked up over the summer Julia had nearly killed me. People thought I’d been ravaged by a wildcat after a night with Jules. Maybe they weren’t far off.

“Ummm, no?” Brandon said, “Really super passive, actually. I mean, she just lays there like she can’t wait to get it over with.”

“Yeahthat’swhatImeant,” I said, the words spilling out faster than I could gather them, “I was being sarcastic. You know? Like how the big guy from Robin Hood was called Little John. It’s a joke.”

“Oh.”

“She was the same way with me. Totally. Never said a peep.”

“Yeah, man. Sure,” Brandon said. We sat in silence for a while. Watching the television like it would tell us all the answers. My breath shallow in my chest. Finally, Brandon got up and stumbled back to Julia’s bedroom. I sighed in relief and went back to SportsCenter, so happy that I’d somehow escaped my miserable mistake. God, I thought, could you imagine if he hadn’t bought it? I’d be a dead man.

*

Brandon broke up with Julia the next morning.

I was out for an early morning class, so I missed the fireworks. I came home to a living room littered with spent tissues and a pretty, red-faced girl watching hockey on TV and sniffling.

“What happened?” I asked.

“I don’t know,” Julia said, she didn’t look up, “He just woke up this morning and…”

“I’m so sorry, Julia.”

“Did he say anything to you?” she asked.

“No,” I said, too quickly, “We talked a little last night after you two… We watched TV. That’s all, I swear.”

“Fuck him,” Julia said.

“Brandon?” I asked.

“No, Jack Eichel. Yes, fucking Brandon! Stupid asshole.”

I sat next to Julia and tried to comfort her, but it was like hugging a triangle. All sharp edges and odd corners. I felt terrible, but I also didn’t want Julia to know exactly how terrible I felt. I’m a bad friend, is what I’m saying. But I did my best.

We spent all day on the couch together, drinking hot cocoa and staring at the TV. It was oddly comfortable — this shared, miserable silence. Then we were watching some dumb afternoon gameshow and they gave away a vacation in Hawaii. Julia gasped and leapt to her feet.

“Our trip,” Julia said. “Fucking hell. That asshole waited till, like, right before we leave. It’s like dumping me the day before my birthday.”

“Fuck Jules, with all the… I didn’t even think about the Florida trip.”

Once again, we were about to leave on an expensive, expansively planned road trip and we were short one member. Losing Brandon meant losing his money towards gas and hotels. Plus, now we had an extra five-day Disney ticket that no one was using, which felt wasteful. It seemed to me that Brandon ought to shell out for his last-minute change in plans.

“Even if you could convince him, I don’t want his fucking dickwad money,” Julia said.

“Fuck, Julia, I’m really sorry,” I said.

“It’s not like he was my soulmate or anything,” Julia said. She flopped back down and dug her feet under my legs. It was kind of affectionate, sort of aggressive. Typical Julia, in other words. “I’m sad he’s gone but whatever, I’ll get over it. We need to find another person for the trip, though. I don’t think I can afford to go, otherwise.”

“What about your friend Mel from Notre Dame?” I asked, “I bet she’d love to come along.”

“She’s in Australia with her boyfriend. Some guy she met last summer, like, right after we left. I guess he’s from down under and she’s off meeting his family?”

“Holy shit. Seriously?” I said, “Wow, good for her.”

“And bad for us,” Julia said, digging her toes deeper into me, “You sure you can’t think of anyone else?”

“I’m sorry. I’m blank. Maybe I should call Jim?”

“Very funny. I’ll see if Sarah has someone.”

Julia reached for her phone and texted Sarah. As it turned out, she did have someone: her little sister. Well, not so little. The girl was about to go to college the following fall. It seemed like having Sarah’s sister around might be a damper on things but, well, I couldn’t exactly complain. This trip was going to be awkward enough.

That night, Julia, Alyssa, and I began packing for just the three of us. Julia seemed surprisingly upbeat throughout the process. I thought maybe she had Disney-brain: that state of mind that said nothing mattered, so long as you were on your way to the Magic Kingdom. A bomb could go off in the apartment, but who cares because Mickey! I worried that maybe once we got on the road, she’d start to feel the sadness.

“Do you want me to be sad?” Julia asked

“Of course not,” I said, stuffing a stack of shorts into my suitcase.

“Well there you go.”

“Stop haranguing your roommate,” Alyssa told me, then sidled over to Julia and gave her a kiss on the cheek, “Just be glad we’re escaping the snow.”

Well I couldn’t argue with that.

*

That night, Alyssa and I lay in bed, held awake by the anticipation of leaving for Florida the next morning. The heat was on full, we were wearing thick pajamas, and we were covered in blankets. Somehow, we were still shivering. We couldn’t even fool around, we were both trying so hard to stay warm.

“So you all just piled into Julia’s little Beetle?” Alyssa asked, staring up at the ceiling.

“I’ve told you this,” I said.

“I know,” Alyssa said, like a child eager to hear her favorite fairy tale, “Tell it again.”

“The four of us squeezed into that little car, yes,” I said, “And I guess, being so close together, something happened.”

“Do you think it’ll ‘happen’ again?”

“Small car. Long drive. Maybe. Do you want it to?”

“You made it sound so exciting,” Alyssa said, “All of you together like that. You wouldn’t mind if we, like, fooled around a little, would you? Both of us, I mean. Nothing serious. Like we talked about before.”

About a month into our relationship, Alyssa had told me about some hookup party her friends were having, and I’d balked. Alyssa got angry, gave me the whole “we’re dating, but you don’t own me” speech. If I couldn’t handle it, well, there were plenty of men (“grown-ups” was the word she used) who would.

We were clearly at a breaking point. So, with nothing left to lose, I’d told Alyssa about the baseball trip. How I’d gone on this wild journey with three women and no strings attached. And I told her the truth, that at the end of the trip I’d learned that I wasn’t meant for long-term relationships. That having fun was more important than having feelings.

I got so into my story, I was sure it was the last conversation I’d ever have with Alyssa. Instead, she seemed impressed. Like she was seeing me in a totally different way. And so we agreed that, in the future, it was fine for both of us to fool around. With caveats, of course.

I’d never had an ‘open’ relationship, so Alyssa helpfully explained the ground rules. The big one, like most things where sex is involved, was consent. No one could do anything without their partner’s permission. We had a whole big talk about it and afterwards I felt both very mature and also very horny.

Despite all that setup, neither of us had done anything. In fact, since we’d started dating, I’d only been with Alyssa and she’d only been with me. But that door had been left open with the understanding that Alyssa would, again, want to step through it. And I could either come along or be left behind.

I looked over at my redheaded girlfriend. She was super pretty and so out of my league. Alyssa smiled at me, coyly. She wasn’t really asking me a question.

“I don’t see any harm in doing a little bit,” I said, “So long as everyone is into it.”

Alyssa cheered and clapped a little. She leaned over and kissed me on the cheek. The peck on the cheek turned into a kiss on the lips. Deftly, Alyssa slid her hand down, under the waistband of my pjs, and found my cock. The redheaded girl smiled at me — that dangerous, sexy grin — and stroked me hard.

Alyssa slid her bottoms off and climbed up on top of me. Another kiss on the lips. Alyssa didn’t even bother taking my pants off. She just steered my cock to her waiting pussy. Slowly backed down.

“I want… I want Julia to lick my pussy while I ride your cock,” Alyssa said. My eyes went wide, and I looked over at our door. It was shut tight, but still. I knew Alyssa was bi. She’d told me she had a crush on my roommate (who could blame her, really). But I didn’t expect it all to come out like this.

“I’d think that’s up to Julia,” I said.

“Ohhhhh FUCK!” Alyssa said, sliding all the way down my shaft. She leaned back and started to rub her clit.

“Yessss…OH! That fffffeels so good,” Alyssa said. Her eyelids fluttered shut and I thought she might be imagining it right there — my athletic roommate licking my girlfriend’s snatch while she rode me.

“I think… Oh I think I want to lick Kelsey’s pussy while you fuck her, too,” Alyssa said. She was rubbing even faster now. Her hips bucking. Head lolled back.

“You haven’t even met Kelsey,” I said.

“Going to be so SO gooooood…” Alyssa said. Her body crested and she froze. Tits pointed to the sky and shaking. Alyssa leaned forward. She hung her breasts over my head, inviting me to suckle. I took her little pink nipple into my mouth. Tried my best not to bite down while Alyssa began pumping her tight ass up and down. Working my cock. The dregs of her own orgasm now hungering for the beginning of mine.

“What about you?” Alyssa asked, “You want to fuck Sarah while you lick my little pussy? Oh, I bet you do.”

The picture filled my mind as soon as my girlfriend said it. The image of it gripped me as tightly as Alyssa’s sweet snatch squeezing at my cock. I groaned.

“That’s it,” Alyssa said, “Attaboy. Think about it. I’m riding Julia’s face while you’re plowing me from behind. Little Kelsey is licking your balls and all you’re going to do is… CUM! Oh FUCK!”

My cum raced up my shaft and filled Alyssa’s pussy. She’d barely ridden my dick at all. She’d given me more than I could take, all that talking. Pleasure exploded out of me as I blasted into my girlfriend’s snatch.

Alyssa started to laugh. Rocking back and forth on my cock as she milked me for every last drop. My dick went soft and Alyssa fell off to my side. Gasping. She reached for a tissue to wipe herself off. Handed me one, as well. Still chuckling.

I rolled over and kissed Alyssa on the mouth. She grabbed my cheeks and held me there, staring right at me with her pale green eyes.

“This trip is going to be AWESOME!” she said.

*

That night, I dreamt about being back in Julia’s Beetle. On the baseball trip. Nothing sexy at all was happening. Instead, I found myself in the backseat, smushed against the window with nowhere to go. Julia honking the horn. Beep beep beep! I twisted and bent in my seat, trying to get comfortable. It was hot and the air was short. Gasping.

Burning.

Beep! Beep! Beep!

I woke up with my back aching. My phone alarm blaring. Just the idea of being in Julia’s little car had given my body flashbacks. I switched off the beeping alarm and lay back. Tried to catch my breath. God — what was going to happen to me when I was actually in the car? The last time there’d been four of us and we’d barely fit. Now we were five. Alyssa and I’d fantasized about fucking around on the road. How were even going to fucking fit?

My girlfriend rolled over and rested her head on my chest. “How did you all fit in that little car?” Alyssa asked. Clearly my psychic abilities had reached a whole new level overnight.

“Like I said, it involved putting our parts into each other’s parts. Purely for convenience of storage,” I told her.

“Uh huh.”

We slowly rolled out of bed and got dressed. The sun wasn’t even up yet, but we couldn’t bear the thought of turning on a light. When we walked out of our room, we saw that Julia’s door was already open. Her luggage was gone.

We didn’t even bother with coffee. We just clambered down the stairs, suitcases bouncing behind us. I was nauseous with the early morning wake up. The adrenaline of the upcoming adventure. The fear of how overstuffed Julia’s Beetle would be.

But when we got outside — under the cold, still-dark skies — Julia’s car was nowhere to be found. Instead, my cute roommate was standing there on the sidewalk, smiling from ear to ear.

“I have a surprise for you guys,” she said.

“If it’s lube we already brought two tubs-worth,” I said. Alyssa punched me in the arm. Julia turned to the side and pointed at the car parked across the street from her. Some shiny, white van-like thing that none of us would be able to afford for another ten years post-graduation.

“Did you hire a limo?” Alyssa asked.

“It’s my brother’s. He said we could use it,” Julia said. She ran over and posed in front of the car, arms outstretched, like she was giving it away on a gameshow. “Isn’t it great?”

Our new ride was a Honda Odyssey, bright like it was right off the lot. It was a monolith. A monument to the momentousness of our trip. It shone like a pale beacon under the starlight.

“I told my brother about everything with Brandon and the trip and how my little Beetle was barely adequate, and so he drove his car up here last night.” Julia’s eyes were shining as she said it. Her voice thrummed with excitement. “Isn’t he like, the best brother ever?”

We had to agree that he was. We put all our things into the trunk and the back was still so empty I almost ran upstairs to grab more stuff before Alyssa stopped me. The back seats had more legroom than our living room couch. It was like moving from a studio apartment to a mansion. Almost overwhelming to find ourselves with so much space.

Julia grabbed the wheel, of course, while Alyssa took shotgun. I got in back, but it was hardly a sacrifice. More like being chauffeured than suffering in the shit seats.

“It’s really comfy back here,” I said, “Maybe a bit too comfy.”

“Looks perfect to me,” Julia said and stared back at me, knowingly. She didn’t need to speak the warning for me to hear it clearly.

*

We drove down to New York City in darkness. Near silent. Like sneaking into the city. I dozed in and out through most of it. By the time I was wide awake again, we were turning off the highway. The sun sneaking slightly above the horizon.

As we slowly wended our way around Manhattan, it began to rain — a morbid, drizzly thing. One last eff you from the northern weather gods. With the wet and the early morning sun, I could hardly tell one street from another. But Julia navigated it with ease, taking every turn with absolute assurance.

Then we slowed and I saw her standing on the side of the street: Sarah, the sexiest woman I’d ever seen. She was next to an anemic looking tree, under a blue umbrella, wrapped in a tan heavy coat. She could have been wearing a burqa — I felt like I’d have recognized her immediately.

I felt my heart ache a little, seeing Sarah again. Then that desire got washed away by a wave of guilt. My girlfriend was in the car with us, for God’s sake. All other conversations aside, I couldn’t just openly perv on another woman.

Julia double-parked in front of Sarah’s apartment. We opened the doors and climbed out. I was stiff in more ways than one, and I slowly made my way over to Sarah. We hadn’t spoken in months. Would this be as awkward as I feared?

“Ben!” Sarah wrapped herself around me. Her ample chest pressed into me through all those coats. I could smell her vanilla perfume. Feel the warmth of her cheek against mine.

Sarah had grown her light brown hair a bit longer. Her face looked a little thinner, like stress had worn her down. But her body, wow, it was still as amazing as I’d remembered. Maybe even a little better. Curves in all the right places.

Sarah pulled back and smiled. Those deep brown eyes shining back at me. God, even with the obvious exhaustion — the tension — that girl looked so good. Oh so sexy Sarah. Being in her arms now, it felt better than I’d ever remembered.

“It’s so nice to see you,” Sarah said. She started to move forward, like to give me a kiss.

“Hi, I’m Alyssa,” my girlfriend said, getting between us. The redhead extended her hand and Sarah shook it. “I’m Ben’s girlfriend.”

“It’s nice to meet you,” Sarah said, genuinely.

“Uh huh.”

Sarah turned and found Julia, hugging her with almost the same excitement as she’d shared with me.

“You look good,” Julia said, “You lost some weight?”

“Just a little,” Sarah said, “You lost your glasses!”

“I got contacts,” Julia said.

While the girls talked, Alyssa and I started loading Sarah’s suitcases. But as we did, I felt another pair of eyes on me. I looked up and saw a young woman staring at me, standing by the brownstone steps.

This had to be Sarah’s younger sister, Chloe. She was wearing a purple raincoat that went down to her waist, a pair of tight blue jeans, and tan strappy sandals. Wishful thinking, I suppose.

I went over and introduced myself. She was slightly shorter than Sarah. Slimmer in face and build. And chest. But the resemblance was still uncanny.

Then Chloe turned and reached down to get her suitcase and Oh My God. While Sarah’s backside was merely nice, Chloe’s was clearly incredible. Round and thick — even under denim it looked amazing. I say this as someone who is usually more into the T than the A: Chloe had an ass for the ages. Almost the perfect upside-down heart shape and plenty prominent.

I stared, dumbfounded for a moment. I felt Alyssa brush against me none too subtly. I startled and turned to pick up Sarah’s suitcase. Like that had been my intention the whole time.

“Amazing, huh?” Alyssa asked, following me back to the trunk of the Odyssey.

“Yeah, look at all the room we still have back here,” I said. Alyssa waggled her finger at me and skipped away.

“It is a really big car,” Sarah said, almost wistfully, watching as we reorganized everyone’s things.

“I know, isn’t it awesome?” Julia said.

Sarah started to climb into the backseat, but Alyssa stopped her.

“I want to sit with my boyfriend,” she said. Sarah nodded dumbly.

“Come sit with me, Sar,” Julia said, “We have lots to catch up on.”

I climbed into the back with Alyssa and Chloe. Sarah’s younger sister took the third row to herself while my girlfriend sat in the bucket seat next to me. There was less room for all of us in my apartment, I swear.

Julia got behind the wheel and keyed the ignition. As we started to pull out, Alyssa gave me a wicked look. Before I could blink, the saucy redhead leapt into my lap.

“Oh no you don’t!” Julia said, slamming the brakes. She adjusted the rearview mirror and looked back at us, sternly. “This is my brother’s car and I promised he’d get it back in one piece. No food, no drinks and definitely none of our usual… shenanigans. We get one stain in this car? He’ll kill me. And I’ll take all of you idiots down with me. Understood?”

Alyssa glared up at the mirror for a moment, like she might put up a fight. But then she meekly slid off me and settled into her own seat. “Understood,” she said, pouting.

“Shenanigans?” Chloe asked.

“Julia’s rules,” I said, “No shenanigans, hootenannies, or ragamuffins allowed.”

“I knew I should have left you in Buffalo,” Julia said. She put the car back in drive and peeled off.

*

The next stop was New Jersey so we could meet up with Kelsey and her boyfriend, Kevin.

We went over the George Washington Bridge, as empty as I’d ever seen it, and got onto the Parkway. Soon we were slowing, once again, into a very different neighborhood than the one we’d gotten Sarah at. Tall old oaks and even larger houses. Bright white shutters and shining, obsidian BMWs.

It was weird pulling up in front of Kelsey’s place. I’d spent half my high school years there, hanging out with her older brother, Jim — my former best friend. He and I had barely spoken since the baseball trip. We weren’t completely on the outs, but the friendship was clearly terminal and neither of us was interested in taking the time to resuscitate the patient.

I got out of the car and pulled my jacket tight across my chest. The weather had cleared, and the sky was bright, ice blue. Sarah got out of the other side of the car and we both walked up the driveway to Kelsey’s door. I’ll be honest, my heart was pounding in my chest. Seeing Sarah again had already gotten my engine going. My anticipation for Kelsey had me absolutely racing.

The door swung open and there she was. Like I said, Sarah was the sexiest woman I’d ever seen. But Kelsey was the most beautiful. Time dulls things. You tell yourself that nothing is as intense as you remember it. When I saw Kelsey in the open doorway, it all came flooding back.

Blonde, incredible Kelsey. I mean, wow. She’d cut her blonde hair to shoulder length and it looked good, accentuating the almost impossible beauty of her face. Kelsey was no Sarah in the curves department, but it seemed like her chest had filled out a bit since I’d last seen her. She was wearing a bright yellow sweater and dark blue jeans. Dress-down casual Kelsey looked better than most people did in their finest.

She gave us both a tight hug. We stepped back and stared at each other, grinning like idiots. Kelsey’s bright blue eyes shone, like they could warm the world. Lord knows I started to feel a bit sweaty just looking at her.

“I can’t believe this is happening again,” Sarah said.

Kelsey stiffened slightly. “My boyfriend, Kevin, is upstairs finishing off a shower,” she said.

I looked over at the pile of suitcases sitting behind Kelsey in the foyer. “Let me help load your car,” I said.

We each grabbed a bag and went down the front steps. As soon as Kelsey walked onto the lawn. Julia shrieked like a pre-teen girl at a Taylor Swift concert. I never knew my tomboy roommate could make such a sound.

“Little slut!” she screamed and raced up to Kelsey, wrapping herself around the blonde girl like a snake on its prey, practically tackling her to the ground.

“Be quiet!” Kelsey said, then more softly, “Shut up about that stuff, seriously.”

“What, are your parents home?” Julia asked.

“No, it’s just… Kevin,” Kelsey said, “He thinks I’m a nice, wholesome girl and I don’t want you guys convincing him otherwise, OK?”

Julia nodded understandingly, but I could see a little bit of disappointment in her eyes as she let Kelsey go.

Alyssa and Chloe heard the commotion and came out of the car to say hi. I swear I saw Alyssa go weak in the knees when she saw Kelsey for the first time.

“I thought you were exaggerating before,” Alyssa whispered in my ear, “I mean, Sarah’s cute and all, but Kelsey? Holy fuck! I think you might have sold her short a bit. I didn’t think there were people who really looked like that without retouching.”

After I introduced Alyssa to Kelsey, Chloe went up to her to say hello. “Wow,” the beautiful blonde said, “You’ve really grown up Chlo.” Sarah and Kelsey had been friends as kids, so clearly Kelsey knew Sarah’s younger sister, too. They gave each other a tight hug.

“Seriously, you look really good,” Kelsey said. Chloe blushed a bit and smiled. “I didn’t realize you were coming. What happened to Julia’s boyfriend? Brandon?”

“He’s dead, hopefully,” Julia said. Kelsey’s eyes went wide. Still a bit innocent, I suppose. “We broke up. Well, he broke up with me. Ben scared him away.”

“I did no such thing,” I said, as if I had no idea what she was talking about. But deep down I felt like I did know, and it scared the hell out of me.

“Well anyway, he sucks,” Julia said.

“I think we can all agree with that,” Sarah said.

Finally, Kevin came down the stairs, carrying the rest of the suitcases. He looked exactly like the pictures I’d seen of him — tall with light brown hair, jutting cheekbones, and big blue eyes. People like this weren’t supposed to exist, but here they were in suburban New Jersey, willing to be spotted with us lowly peons.

Kevin had a firm handshake and a boyish, charming smile. Damn, Kelsey had done good. I could tell my girlfriend felt the same way. Already flushed from meeting Kelsey, she went practically ruby red after Kevin gave her a hug hello.

“Wow,” she said to me, “I mean, wow.”

“I know,” Julia said, “there’s still so much room in the Odyssey. We could probably all go in the one car.”

“That’s OK,” Kelsey said, “I think it’ll be easier if I ride with Kevin in his car. That way we can switch things around, if needed. Besides, why crowd in if we don’t have to?”


“Why indeed,” Alyssa said, grumbling to herself.

With everything loaded, we reassumed our seats in the Odyssey — Julia driving with Sarah up front and me, Alyssa, and Chloe in the back. Kevin slammed the trunk of his little blue sedan and climbed into the car with Kelsey. He leaned out the open window and gave us all a thumb’s up.

We were finally — FINALLY — ready to begin our road trip.

*

Julia got back on the highway, heading south to hopefully warmer weather. We spent the first few hours of our epic drive ice cold. Like we were all starting from scratch. Julia blasted the tunes. I stared out the window. Lumps of grey snow piled everywhere. Trees looked more like twigs. No one sat on each other’s laps or even gave each other a longing look. We were five friends, siblings, and lovers on a long drive. Suddenly feeling like strangers.

Even with the early start, we still had two long days of driving ahead of us before we arrived in Orlando. The plan was to marathon 10 straight hours and stay the night in Florence, South Carolina. This meant being absolute road warriors — no sightseeing or nothing.

“You can pee when I stop for gas,” Julia said.

“What if I have to go before then?” Chloe asked. Julia reached back and handed her an empty water bottle. Chloe looked at it like it was radioactive.

“Whatever, dude,” Julia said, “I use it all the time.”

“I wish I could tell you she’s joking,” I said, “I really do.”

Chloe eyed the car window nervously, like she might be thinking about how to climb out.

*

When we got to Maryland, we stopped for gas (shout out to the Chesapeake House Service Area!), allowing Chloe to leave Julia’s urine bottle on the floor of the car. I went in to get some snacks and found Kelsey already in there. The beautiful blonde was eyeing up the various sizes and flavors of Snickers, like trying to memorize the labels for later.

“Kevin had to pee,” Kelsey said, “He’s such a road trip lightweight.”

“He seems nice,” I said.

“You’ve barely met him,” Kelsey said, “You’re just using the ‘guy way’ to tell me he’s fucking hot.”

“That he is,” I said, “Seriously. Nicely done.”

Kelsey gave me a little curtsey. She’d dressed down to a light pink t-shirt, like she was already preparing for the warmer weather to come.

“Alyssa’s very pretty,” Kelsey said, “I’m almost jealous.”

“Nothing to be jealous of,” I said, curtseying back to her, “You’ll always be my little slut.”

“You have to stop saying things like that,” Kelsey said, shushing me.

“You mean he really doesn’t know?”

“That I went full nympho on a summer trip last year?” Kelsey said. Almost growled. “No, I can’t imagine why I’d tell him that.”

I held up my hands in mock surrender. “Alyssa knows,” I said.

“It’s different for girls,” Kelsey said, “I bet she thinks it’s hot, all the stuff you did.”

“No, she’s… Yes, OK, she totally does,” I said, blushing a bit.

“If Kevin knew? I mean, if he even suspected? Girls aren’t supposed to do stuff like that, you know.”

“Your boyfriend should like you for who you are, Kelsey,” I said, “Not the person you want him to think you should be.”

“And that’s how Alyssa feels about you?”

At that moment, Kevin came over and joined us in the candy aisle.

“Hey guys, what’s up?” I had to concede — he really was the dictionary definition of a hunk with a broad, muscular chest and a playful smile. I hoped my heterosexuality could take the hit.

“Just catching up,” Kelsey said, “I’ve known Ben for a long time. He was best friends with my older brother growing up.”

“And you guys did that whole baseball thing last summer. I remember,” Kevin said. He cocked an eyebrow. “All of you squished into one car for a whole week. I imagine it was pretty hard not to end up doing something dirty.”

“Nope. Not a thing,” Kelsey said.

“Totally chaste,” I said.

Kevin nodded thoughtfully.

*

When I came back from getting snacks, I found my own Alyssa sitting behind the wheel. She gave me a wild grin and stuck her tongue out at me. “I get to drive,” she said in sing song.

“What the hell, Julia?” I said, “Last time you let me drive, like, once the entire trip. But you trust my girlfriend already?”

“It was twice,” Julia said as she got into the backseat, “I’m not a crazy person, dude. I need to rest before I swerve us into a Jersey divider somewhere in Virginia.”

Chloe had already taken shotgun, so I climbed back into my bucket seat in the middle row. I looked over and saw Sarah sitting next to me. She smiled and ran her hand through her hair, tucking it behind her ear, shyly. I smiled back, like a couple flirting across a crowded room. There was nothing between us.

The tires screeched as Alyssa rocketed out of the rest area and back onto the road. As we went south, it seemed the seasons, themselves, were passing us by. First the snow disappeared. Then the grass turned greener. The trees began to bud. Alyssa lowered her window and let her red hair ripple back in the wind like a bright, crimson streamer.

Sarah made a show of studying the road as it went past. But I kept catching the sexy brunette staring over at me when she thought I wasn’t looking. I took it as a chance to start a conversation.

“So, what happened with Robbie?” I asked.

Sarah shook her head. “It’s fine. Totally expected, honestly. I think we’re just two very different people. That’s all.”

“He’s an asshole,” Chloe said from the front.

“That was always my feeling,” Julia said from behind us.

“It’s fine, guys. Really,” Sarah said, “Honestly, it’s nice to be single for once. We’d been together for so long, Rob and me. I think I need the time to be myself. Figure out who I am, rather than just being some dude’s girlfriend.”

“Amen to that,” Julia said.

“Same here,” I said. Alyssa tried to reach back and swat me, but she missed.

“Maybe you girls are on to something,” Alyssa said. She gave me an ugly look in the rearview mirror.

“What about you, Chloe?” Julia asked, “Are you gloriously free from the restrictive grips of our male oppressors?”

Sarah started to giggle.

“Sort of?” Chloe said, “I am in a relationship, just not with a boy. Her name is Jessie.”

“Sounds awesome,” Julia said without missing a beat.

*

We stopped at a McDonald’s in Virginia for lunch. Afterwards, for the first time, Kelsey was willing to be separated from her boyfriend. Instead, Chloe went with Kevin in the other car. I suppose Kelsey was comfortable with that arrangement, knowing that Sarah’s sister wasn’t into guys.

Julia must have been feeling guilty about before because she now gave me the keys, joining me up front. Kelsey got in next to Sarah, while Alyssa took the back row — a place I’d already come to think of as the napping spot.

Once we got back on the road, I did my best to focus on driving. I wasn’t used to such a large car and it felt more like steering a boat. Having Julia watch my every move didn’t help — she acted like I was holding her newborn child: every move I made seemed to elicit an angry tut or an elongated sigh.

Yet I could only focus on one thing: what was going on behind me.

It started with some light chatter. Alyssa asked Kelsey the usual questions — where was she going to school, what was she studying — that sort of thing. But as the conversation kept progressing, the questions got more risque. My girlfriend giggled. Tossed her hair. As I watched, agape, the mindless small talk transformed into full on flirting. My red-headed girlfriend was clearly putting the moves on beautiful blonde Kelsey!

“So, have you like, ever been with a girl before?” Alyssa asked, winking at me in the rearview.

Like I said, I knew my girlfriend was bi. Before she was with me, she’d been with another girl. And, I mean, it was Kelsey. Even straight girls fell for Kelsey. So, it’s not like I was really shocked. Kelsey, on the other hand, did not seem pleased to be caught up in the racy conversation.

“It’s awesome, right?” Alyssa said, “Girls take you to a totally different place than boys. Not that I don’t love a good hard dick. I mean, nothing beats that. But sometimes you want someone who’s put in serious hours on the equipment, y’know?”

“Oh, I totally know what you mean,” Sarah said.

“What about you Kelsey?” Alyssa asked, “Wouldn’t you agree?”

I gave Julia a knowing look, but she just glared and pointed me back to the road. Then she leaned in and whispered in my ear.

“Don’t worry, I’m keeping my eye on them.”

“Thanks, roomie.”

“I mean, if they ruin my brother’s upholstery…”

By the time we parked at the restaurant for dinner, everyone was feeling more than a little aroused. Alyssa and Kelsey from their flirtatious conversation. Me, Julia, and Sarah from having to listen to it. Even Kevin and Chloe seemed a bit worked up from the other car, which was interesting.

We stopped at an Outback Steakhouse in Lumberton, North Carolina. We were only an hour away from our hotel, but we were all beat and starving so it was time to rest, regardless of logistical convenience. Alyssa grabbed my hand as I got out of the car. Kelsey reached for Kevin, while Sarah and Chloe held hands, too. Poor Julia was the only one companion-less. I extended an arm for her, but she slapped me away. She smiled as she did it, though.

Inside, we got a big table for all seven of us. Somehow, I hadn’t realized what a huge group we were until we were all seated around the table. We felt like a little, college-aged, army corp. All hopped up on hormones and ready to hit the battlefield.

After hours upon hours of sitting it was still oddly nice to sit, especially in a place that wasn’t moving. Being in a restaurant, looking at a big menu, somehow it helped me feel like a human being again. Build back the equilibrium I’d lost from long hours in the car.

I intentionally sat myself and Alyssa away from Kelsey, hoping to give the beautiful blonde a break. Fortunately, Kelsey seemed way too captivated by her own boyfriend to notice if anything was up. Trying to help with the beautiful blonde, however, sat me right next to sexy Sarah. The buxom brunette kept catching my eye and smiling at me. I guess I wasn’t the only one in the relationship getting some outside attention.

Alyssa looked over at Sarah and frowned. Then she stood up and announced, loudly, “I’m going to the bathroom.” She grabbed my hand and pulled me off with her.

“I don’t think you need my help to…” but I couldn’t even finish speaking before we were gone. Alyssa dragged me down the darkened hall to the restrooms. There was the usual communal men and women’s rooms, but in the center was a door marked with the word “Family.” Alyssa swung open the door, slammed it behind her, and clicked the lock closed.

Before I could ask what was going on, my redheaded girlfriend jumped against me, slamming her lips onto mine.

“Fuck, I want you so bad,” she gasped, then jammed her tongue in my mouth. She ran her breasts against my chest. Her hands danced down my sides. Her sex pressed into mine almost as hard as her mouth was against my lips.

“Here?” I managed to choke out. Alyssa responded by shooting her hand down my slacks and grabbing my member. Her knees went weak.

“God, I love that big cock,” she said, then groaned. I was already rock hard, but somehow I still managed to expand in my girlfriend’s eager hands. I reached into her pants and found her pussy — open and dripping. “Fuck that’s nice. Oh, Ben.”

Our pants were too tight to allow much moving. It was mostly us just gripping each other’s organs as hard as we could. It felt so good to have Alyssa holding my cock. Her pussy suckling at my fingers.

Breathless, Alyssa pulled away. She shook herself off and straightened. Pulled her hair back. 


“Fuck, we need to get to that hotel fucking fast,” she said. She gave me a quick kiss on the cheek and bounded out of the bathroom.

When we got back to our table, there was no hiding that we’d been up to something. Julia gave me a thumb’s up, but Sarah wouldn’t meet my eyes. Cutely, Kelsey and Kevin excused themselves a few minutes later. But they returned soon after, looking barely disheveled. I doubted she’d given him more than a kiss. Still, it was sweet to be someone’s inspiration. Chloe and Sarah got up at one point, as well, but I’m pretty sure they were just going to actually use the bathroom.

When dinner finally showed up at our table, we were too hungry to keep being horny. Everyone ate in silence. Whatever talking we had left in us had been drained by the long drive.

It felt like a quick meal. We stumbled out of the restaurant feeling like hours had passed. I took a deep breath and looked around. Stretched my tender legs. The sky was pitch black. The parking lot smelled like tarmac and pine. But most importantly — the thing that had me thrumming from the hairs on my skin to the marrow in my bones — it was warm. Not hot. Not yet. But comfortably, wonderfully warm.

I looked around and saw my old friends standing next to me. These people I’d bonded with so closely once before. It felt like stepping back into a wonderful dream, only to discover that this was the reality. The cold loneliness the mirage. Like I’d rediscovered my happiness, here, in some random rest stop in the middle of North Carolina.

I hugged Alyssa tightly and took a deep breath. As if the evening air could cleanse my very soul.

*

Julia got behind the wheel of the Odyssey once again. Sarah got in the passenger seat while Chloe, Alyssa, and I retreated to the back together. Kelsey rejoined Kevin in his car

I’d thought eating would reinvigorate everyone, but instead it seemed to have sapped the last of our energy. We let the road noise lull us as we went. Thinking about our little make out session at the restaurant — hoping Julia couldn’t possibly be that attentive — I reached over for Alyssa’s hand. She just snored slightly and turned onto her side. Well, so much for a more exciting evening.

The last hour of driving seemed to take as long as the entire day. Finally, we reached Florence, South Carolina and pulled into our hotel parking lot. Compared to where we’d been that morning, in NYC, the building was tiny. But out here it looked like the tallest thing for miles. I shook Alyssa awake and we unfolded ourselves out of the car. Bodies aching. We’d been sitting for almost a day straight and all I could think about was resting.

We waited outside while Julia and Kelsey went into the lobby to check in. I was in far better financial shape than I’d been the previous summer. I’d taken a part-time temping gig — answering phones for a reinsurance office when I wasn’t taking classes — and so I had some spending money this time around. Of course, looking back, I was still broke as hell. But, at the time, I was starting to see my wallet thicken and it filled me with cash-based confidence. It’s how I could justify the trip to Disney in the first place.

But we still couldn’t afford to get individual hotel rooms. It’s why we needed Chloe to replace Brandon in the first place. We literally could not afford to lose the extra person. Stuffing seven people in a room, though, was not an option either. So we split into two groups and called it good enough. Whatever money we had, we wanted to save it for the Happiest Place on Earth.

Julia came back outside holding the keys like she was showing down her five-card stud hand. I saw she was smiling broadly and I couldn’t figure why.

“Dude,” she said, “They have a pool!”

*

We parked the car, got what we needed from our bags, and tromped up to our hotel rooms. Kelsey, Kevin, and Julia went to one, while Alyssa and I followed Sarah and Chloe into ours.

We had the standard tiny room with two double beds and a bathroom so small that sitting on the toilet put your feet in the shower. The whole place smelled like old carpet and fresh aerosol. As soon as we walked in, Alyssa flopped down on the bed like a corpse.

“Chloe and I will change first, then you and Alyssa can go,” Sarah said. She started walking into the bathroom.

“I’m not even going to bother with pajamas,” Alyssa said, face planted in the pillows.

“Neither are we,” Sarah said, “Just bathing suits.”

“What?” Alyssa’s head popped up, “Are you crazy?”

“Alyssa, there’s a pool,” I said.

“Ben,” she stood up and took my head in her hands like I was an idiot child, “It feels like it’s after midnight and I’m exhausted. How are you all not exhausted?”

“First of all, it’s only 9. And second of all…” I looked her straight in the eyes, “There’s. A. Pool.”

“Oh, fuck. Yes,” Alyssa said, the knowledge slowly seeping into her mind. “Why didn’t you say so?”

*

When we met downstairs in the lobby, I had to laugh. Sarah, Kelsey, Julia, and I were all wearing the same exact suits we’d bought the last time we were all together. Sarah in her dark green one-piece and Julia in the verdant one with crisscrossed straps in the back. Kelsey had on one of the bikinis she’d bought, a yellow one that was probably the most conservative of everything she’d gotten way back when.

Alyssa was also in a bikini, a little blue one with buckles on the sides of the bottoms and no shoulder straps on the top. Chloe, on the other hand, had something on that was much like her sister’s — a red one-piece that looked like it was made more for athletics than attraction. Also, Kevin and I both had on trunks. Not that either of us cared. I could tell he was appreciating the women around him as much as I was.

Damn. Why did we need to go anywhere? I could have just stayed in that lobby for hours, staring, and felt like my vacation had been worth every expense.

Alyssa, her body freckled from head to toe. I knew what she looked like under that suit and I couldn’t help but imagine undoing those buckles on her bottoms. Sliding that top over her shoulders. Julia so athletic and lithe. Her little boobs did their best to show in her suit. So in contrast with Sarah — of course, sexy Sarah — her massive breasts practically bursting. I couldn’t stop appreciating her curves. She was a little slimmer in her stomach than I’d remembered, and it made her assets seem to expand outward all the more. Chloe had about three-quarters of her sister’s chest, but it hardly mattered with that full, rounded bottom of hers poking out. She could have been wearing a barrel and I’d have noticed her perfect posterior. And Kelsey, of course. Kelsey was just so beautiful. The supermodel body with the starbright smile.

“So, we swimming or what?” Chloe asked.

“Yeah,” Alyssa said and snickered, “Swimming.”

We invaded the pool, a horde of horny college kids come to break down each other’s doors — rape and pillage in all the best sort of ways. We greeted the over-chlorinated water with a chorus of splashes and girly squeals.

Chloe and Julia raced each other end to end. Sarah and Kelsey sank to the bottom, holding their breath for as long as they could. I settled back against the side of the pool, letting it all drift away.

Then Kevin found a beach ball. He pretended to toss it to Kelsey, but he threw it to me, instead.

“Hey, that’s not fair,” Alyssa said. I whipped the rainbow-colored ball right past her and back to Kevin. He held it right above Kelsey’s head. Grinning dastardly. As Kevin and I tortured our girlfriends (all in good fun, I swear), Sarah, Chloe and Julia swam off to the side wearing bemused smiles.

“Not really regretting this whole ‘single’ thing right now,” Julia said.

“Me neither,” Sarah agreed.

Kelsey leapt at Kevin, but he arced the ball back to me. The blonde girl hit the water with a frustrated grunt.

“I know how to solve this,” Alyssa said. She swam over, pulled Kelsey to the side, and whispered in her ear. The blonde nodded, seriously. They paired off — Alyssa in front of me while Kelsey went to Kevin. I wasn’t sure what the plan was. It seemed like Alyssa’s idea was to just stand there and stare at me?

Alyssa shifted her shoulders. Her blue bikini slid down. Slowly, my amazing girlfriend’s incredible tits slid into view. Freckled skin. Erect nipples. Her pinkish globes of pleasure slid out in all their glory. I stood slack jawed. Alyssa was the better side of a B and her breasts really were close to perfect. Perky and soft.

Somehow, I wrenched my eyes over and saw that Kelsey was giving Kevin a similar show. Though I could only see her back, my knees buckled with the thought of what he must be seeing. I glanced back and saw the beachball was gone.

Alyssa cried out in triumph, then skittered away. “Catch me if you can!” Her bare breasts bouncing as she went. And then Kelsey was off as well. Both of them jiggling in concert around the pool.

“I take it back,” Julia said, eyes fixated on the action in front of us, “Single is overrated.”

“Fuck yeah,” Chloe said, similarly entranced.

I tried my best to take off after my girlfriend, but I suddenly felt heavy in the water. My body’s reaction to Alyssa and Kelsey’s display certainly didn’t make me any faster. Kevin and I both sort of drifted around the pool. Looking at each other with a mix of humor and frustration.

As if we’d arranged it, Kevin and I leapt forward in unison, trying to catch the girls as they pranced around the pool like mischievous nymphs. I spun left to go after Alyssa while Kevin went toward Kelsey, of course. Did we really want the ball anymore or were we just hoping to catch our topless girlfriends? I mean, did it even matter?

I reached for Alyssa’s arm, but she slipped away and fired the ball over to Kelsey. She grabbed it out of the air, then spun out of Kevin’s reach. Both girls cackled. Kevin and I froze in place. Like tigers, we waited. Haunches tight. Ready to pounce.

Again, we attacked to no avail. How were these women so quick? We settled back into the center. And then Kevin said the word that rocketed everything to the next level.

“Switch!” he shouted. Without warning, Kevin dove toward my girlfriend. I had no choice but to chase Kelsey.

I’d like to think I heard a gasp come from the corner where Julia, Chloe, and Sarah were standing. I’d like to believe that the lights suddenly went brighter, the music ratcheting up an octave. But there was no music. The lights all stayed the same. And that gasp could easily have just been the gurgling of the pool water.

Instead, we both leapt forward like it was nothing. The two girls froze in surprise. Kevin quickly wrapped himself around my topless girlfriend. I did the same to Kelsey. The beautiful blonde’s bare breasts pressed against my arms. Butt cheek grinding on my erection. Her breathing came fast in my ear. Arousal? Exertion? Fear? Maybe all of it. I know I was feeling that way. A sick mix that made my stomach flop while my cock held hard.

The beach ball sputtered into the center of the pool, forgotten. Kevin and I stood on opposite ends of the pool holding each other’s significant other. Alyssa looked at me from across the water, her eyes wide. Red hair plastered against Kevin’s rugged chest. We froze in shocked silence, as if none of us could understand how we’d ended up this way.

Chloe broke the standoff. She jumped into the center of the pool, grabbed the ball, and took off. “Mine!”

But what really made things interesting was what Julia did. As Chloe leapt for the ball, my cute roommate reached out to grab her. But instead of getting skin, Julia caught the back of Chloe’s swimsuit. SNAP and Chloe was as topless as the rest of us.

The teenage brunette looked down at her now naked breasts in shock. Everyone seemed staggered with the same surprise. Chloe had nice breasts, no doubt. She was no Sarah, but that girl had a pair of tits to rival any I’d experienced. They’d probably have been the biggest boobs I’d ever seen, if I hadn’t already spied her older sister’s.

Had Julia exposed Chloe on purpose? Or was it an accident? I’ll never know. But if we hadn’t sparked ourselves up already, everything was now fully aflame.

Chloe spun around, not even bothering to pull up her top. The beach ball forgotten, she tackled Julia and tore the athletic girl’s top right down, exposing my roomie’s sexy little titties. The two of them started wrestling, writhing. Splashing and screaming. It was clearly all in good fun. Mostly.

I stood, stiff in so many ways, holding half-naked Kelsey in my arms. Kevin did the same with Alyssa. All of us sort of entranced. Terrified to move forward. Afraid to stop.

Sarah was off to the side as well, jaw agape as the two girls wrapped around each other for leverage. “Fuck it,” she said, “Keep your hands off my sister!” Sarah dove between them trying to pull the women apart. There was a cloud of water, flailing arms and legs. And then all three of them stood staring. Panting. And Sarah was now topless, as well.

“Holy fuck,” I heard Kelsey gasp. She ground her backside into me even more urgently.

The comparison between all of the tremendous chests became clear. Everyone there had a rack worth displaying, none of them came close to competing with Sarah. It wasn’t just that Sarah’s breasts were big — there’s plenty of enormous boobs out there in the world. It was the size combined with the shape. The quality that matched the quantity. That girl was sex on a stick.

My distraction — the whole room’s really — gave Kelsey the chance to finally slip out of my grasp.

“Revenge!” she cried and jumped on Sarah’s shoulders.

Seeing that Kelsey was free, Kevin let go of Alyssa, as well, and soon all the girls were chasing after each other, breasts bouncing in the water. So many shapes and sizes and all so wonderful. Kevin and I remained to the side, forgotten, silently enjoying the show.

There was some semblance of sides for a moment. As if the girls were still playing instead of taking the opportunity for some secret groping. Then they all came together in a massive, topless scrum in the center of the pool. ‘Accidental’ feels copped all around. Little gasps and screams. Wet bodies writhing in the water. My dick couldn’t get any harder, but it tried anyway.

The women all broke into peals of laughter and fell apart.

“Whew,” Alyssa said, “Definitely time for the hot tub after that.”

*

We all settled into the roiling, soothing heat. I noticed not one of the girls had stopped to adjust her state of undress. Not that I could see much around the foam. The thick bubbles kept me from ogling much at all, actually. I couldn’t complain — I was relying on that same camouflage for my own arousal. I had barely been able to sneak out of the pool as it was. Not that I really thought anyone would be scandalized. I mean, really. A bunch of half-naked women gave me a hard-on. What a scandal. Still it somehow seemed safer to keep things in the bubbly shadows. For the moment.

“God, it’s good to be back together with you guys,” Sarah said. We all nodded in agreement.

The room went silent. Just the white noise of water. I found a jet and shifted to get it on my lower back. I lolled my head onto the tile. Stared up at the fluorescent lights and sighed. I was tired. Invigorated. Strung out from all the ups and downs of the day.

I heard something that sounded like a gasp. I shot up and looked around the hot tub, but I saw nothing. Probably just jacuzzi noises.

An arm shot across my stomach. Reached straight down and grabbed my aching cock through my swimsuit. Holy fuck!

I looked over to my left. Sarah! The sexy minx. She gave me a guilty smile and gestured for me to stay quiet. Then she sort of nodded her head over to the other side of the tub. Alyssa was sitting across from me, between Kevin and Kelsey. Both her arms were outstretched under the water. Almost as if she was… Holy FUCK!

I could tell by Kelsey’s face. The way her mouth hung slightly open. Brow furrowed. It looked like Kevin was fairly focused on what was going on between his legs, as well. My redheaded girlfriend was working both of them. A sexy little smile played on her lips.

The water was frothing enough, of course, that I couldn’t be exactly sure. Kelsey and Kevin could easily have been working themselves. I didn’t think so, though. In fact, I was pretty sure that Kevin was reaching over to return Alyssa’s favor. But the water made everything unclear. Thus no one could notice, either, that Sarah had now slipped her hand under the waistband of my suit and taken hold of my bare cock. Lovingly stroking me up and down.

Well, my girlfriend had said she wanted us both to fool around. So, dutiful boyfriend that I was, I shifted over to give Sarah better access. Then I slid my hand down her stomach and into her own center of pleasure.

Sarah sighed deeply as my fingers found her hungry puss. I knew the water couldn’t be doing much for her lubrication, but she was still plenty slippery and certainly eager. Her snatch squeezed around my digits. I’d forgotten how tight Sarah was. Always talking about her tiny pussy — she wasn’t kidding.

“God, I’ve missed this,” Sarah whispered in my ear, giving my dick an extra hard squeeze as she said it. As I explored Sarah’s sweet interior, I remembered how she liked to taste herself before rubbing off. But I couldn’t think of a way to give her a sample without taking my hand out of the water. As open as we all were, we were all still pretending at propriety. Sort of.

I looked around the tub — it seemed like everyone was enjoying each other now. To my right, Chloe and Julia were sitting awfully close to each other. Heads resting on each other’s shoulders. Kelsey was lying back. Her chest red. Alyssa was smiling from ear to ear, arms moving up and back in unison. The queen on her throne. She saw me looking and gave me a little wink.

For a moment I felt a twinge of jealousy, but then Sarah sped up and I lost focus on anything but her nimble hands. I did my best to find her pace with my own fingers. Pressed her clit with my thumb. She grunted as I made contact. Her bare breasts shook slightly. Oh, to take one into my mouth. But that would have shattered our unspoken rule, where everyone was getting off with someone they shouldn’t, and the only way to make it OK was to pretend like it wasn’t happening. What goes on beneath the bubbles, stays beneath the bubbles.

I felt my ecstasy go from impending to reality. My cock swelled. Sarah arched her back, then fell forward. Her head landed on my shoulder. Her whole face screwed up in pleasure. Then she shivered and went slack. Her orgasm finally triggered mine. She barely even had to stroke me. My cock exploded and the pleasure swallowed me whole. A stream of my semen splashed against Sarah’s hand. Raced into the warm water.

Sarah laughed a little, quietly, then kissed me on the cheek. When I looked up, it seemed everyone had hit their peak and were now on the descent. Kelsey and Kevin laid back, eyeing each other around my girlfriend. Alyssa had a self-satisfied look in her eyes. Like a cat after sneaking a snack off your countertop. Julia and Chloe both leaned against each other. Eyes closed.

“Well,” Alyssa said, “That was fun.”

“The pool,” Sarah said, “Yes. Good to get a swim in after such a long day.” She slowly pulled the straps of her suit back up over her shoulders. The other women followed her lead, slowly covering their chests. What a shame to see them go.

“And the hot tub,” Alyssa said.

“Right,” Kelsey said, “So relaxing.”

“Definitely,” I said.

“But we have a long drive in the morning,” Julia said. “So we should go to bed.”

“For sure,” Kelsey said.

We all slowly slid out of the water and stumbled to the elevator. Tired, post-orgasm. Under-exercised and overstimulated. We dragged ourselves down the hallway and up the stairs until we finally made it to our respective rooms. Like jellyfish on land — undulating across the faded, checkered carpeting.

I wanted to talk to Alyssa. It seemed like we should have some sort of post-mortem or something. I mean, she’d always said that was the point — to share everything. But then there was the bed and we were both lying down and as the words formed in my mind I found that I was already asleep.

In my dreams we were back in the hot tub. But now everyone was naked. Kelsey, Sarah, Chloe, Julia, Alyssa. Even Kevin. Bodies pressed warm and wet. I felt Kelsey’s lips on mine. Julia’s breasts in my hands. Sarah’s mouth on my cock. Her sister helping to stroke me.

I looked over and saw my girlfriend kissing Kevin. I tried to reach out, but she danced out of my reach. I was falling backward into the water. Crashing under the weight of four beautiful, female bodies.

I had one last coherent thought before slipping into unconsciousness: we were already so deep into everything, yet our Florida trip had barely even started.