Leia and I are extremely handsy in the hot tub, enough so that it's hard to pay attention to anything but her hand on my thigh and occasionally my cock. She acts if it's an accident but after the fifth time, I'm pretty fucking sure it's not. But I'm the exact way with her underneath the hot jets. I touch along her hips, play with her bikini bottoms, run my hand along the exposed skin of her back.
But we're actually not the most handsy couple here. That title actually goes to Juliet's friend Brooke and her girlfriend. They've taken a bottle of booze from Mr. Anders' liquor cabinet and have decided to get fucked and they've both have become rowdy. Seth joins in with the drinking, much to Max and I's dismay.
When we arrived, I thought that Max and Jules would be all over one another in their typical fashion after they made up last week but Jules is more focused on her friend's behavior. I know how much she cherishes her friendships and she cares about reputations between her friend groups. Because it's clear Brooke is one side and us guys are on the other.
Leia "accidentally" grazes my crotch for the sixth time and my entire focus goes back to her and her only. I feel my face flush but at least everyone here has a flushed face because of the hot water we're soaking in. Clearing my throat, I lean into Leia and whisper in her ear, "You're not making this easy for me."
Leia chuckles and puts her mouth next to my ear. "Just making sure you're getting my signals."
We pull away but to stare into each other's eyes. Fuck she's gorgeous. Glancing at her lips, I choke out, "I think I am."
She smiles wide. "I think you are too."
Not liking this blue balls act anymore, I bring our lips together as any contact with her is pure ecstasy. Leia's tongue begs for entrance and I indulge my girlfriend. For a pure minute we're tasting and biting one another before we're splashed on our faces.
Breaking apart, Max grumbles across from us, "Hey horndogs. No fucking in the hot tub."
Seth snickers as Leia wipes the water off her face. "No, no. Keep going, it was quite a show."
It's my turn to splash Seth. "Creep," I say as I feel my entire face burn.
He only laughs at my attack. "Well since I'm the only lone wolf here, my attention is elsewhere."
"You're not a lone wolf," Jules chimes in. "You're happily in a relationship."
"I'm alone right now," Seth clarifies. He splashes the empty spot next to him. "John will be over here in an hour or so still so in the meantime I gotta what all you horny bastards until he arrives."
Leia leans into me and curls into my side. "Sorry," she apologizes. "We'll cut it out."
While I certainly do not want to cut it out, we probably should while in a public setting. Seth is about to quip to her when Brooke groans loudly and holds the bottle of booze out in front of her. "Why am I the only one drinking? Let's get fucked!"
Across from me, I catch Jules' grimace. "Why don't we cut that out?" Jules asks calmly despite her nervous features.
Brooke's girlfriend snorts, already drunk. "Brooks was right. You are uptight."
As Max gets pissed at the jab at his girlfriend, Jules just blinks at her. "What?" she asks, clearly upset at the remark.
But the couple only glances at one another and starts laughing. As Jules' face starts to burn from embarrassment, they stand up in the hot tub and slip out, announcing to all of us as they grab towels, "We're gonna get something a little stronger."
"Brooke-" Jules starts but her friends stumble back inside.
After the sliding door closes, silence follows our own group and we all subtly turn to Jules. "What the hell?" Seth asks for the group. But Jules won't look at any of us. With her cheeks red, she abruptly stands and mutters she'll be back. Once she's back inside, Leia, Seth, and I turn to Max. "What was that?" Seth asks him instead.
With his eyes on the house windows, Max replies, "Neither of them will admit it but they've been drifting apart and Jules wanted to patch things up tonight."
"They seemed fine when they arrived," I say as I glance behind my shoulder.
Max only shrugs. "Girls are different," he says.
Leia chuckles. "Really now?"
Max's eyes snap to hers. Even though I know she can hold her own, even she flinches under his gaze. "I'll revise my statement," he sneers. "Jules is different. She always wants things to be perfect and the second they're not she gets fussy."
"Well I'm on Jules' side," Seth says as he leans back. "If I was losing touch with one of you guys, I'd be prickly too."
Trying not to think about how in four months we'll be graduating, Max adds, "She also hates being called uptight. Ever since her brother died, she gets more antsy about things like this."
Seth and I shout at the same time, "What?"
Max looks at us like we're insane. "You guys didn't know?"
"I didn't even know she had a sister until Thanksgiving," I counter.
"When was this?" Seth asks.
Max shrugs. "Jules was a freshman. He overdosed his first year at college."
Five years ago, I think. We were still in middle school at the time and... Fuck, I remember now. "Holy shit," I say as I remember when our entire school assembled in our auditorium to talk about the effects of drugs. News went around that a local boy died from a drug overdose and that we should all steer clear of drugs. "That was Jules' brother?"
Seth goes to sit on the edge of the hot tub and reaches for his phone. "What was his name again?"
"Tony," we hear from the sliding door. All turning, we see Jules walking back out, still on edge from being with Brooke inside. "Anthony Robert Anders," Jules says as she climbs back into the tub.
"Why didn't you tell us?" I ask her carefully.
Jules meets my glare and shrugs. "Well it's not really a secret and I don't like talking about it. It's not really something you bring up in daily conversations."
"Shit Jules," Seth says as he equally stares at her like me. "I'm sorry for your loss."
She shrugs again. "Thanks I guess. He's in our entryway if you wanna meet him."
Seth, Leia, and I stare at her in shock but Max only snorts. "That's dark babe," he laughs.
Jules leans into her boyfriend and shrugs... again. "I mean it's true. His ashes are on the mantel."
As Max kisses her temple, Seth says, "So a dead brother and a sister that hates you, any more siblings you wanna tell us about?"
Jules laughs which brightens her mood a bit more. "No. It's just us three."
There's a lapse in conversation so I jump in, "So what's for dinner tonight?" Thankful for the change, Seth starts rattling off what he wants to eat and I catch Jules' stare across from me. She mouths thank you to me and I nod. Anything to help a dear friend.
***
After everyone is cleaned up and after the food arrives, I corner Jules in the kitchen while everyone else focuses on the food. Her hair is still wet from the shared shower she took with Max making her blond hair a shade darker. From wrangling a drunk Brooke and Eliza and bringing up her dead brother, Jules hasn't been herself all night.
"Are you alright?" I ask quietly.
She pauses and glances over at everyone at the kitchen table. "I'm fine. Tonight isn't what I expected it to be," she says honestly. Jules sighs and turns to me. "But I'm happy for you and Leia. I'm happy you're happy."
"I am," I say as my heart warms just thinking about Leia. But I can't be fully happy. Not yet at least. "You make me talk about my feelings. You should take your own advise, Jules."
Jules frowns. "Maybe tomorrow. I just want to watch a movie and go to bed," she says as her eyes land on Brooke and Eliza.
"Well if you need help with anything..." I say as I don't want to step over her relationship with her best friend.
"I'll let you know," Jules gives me. I nod though I'm not satisfied. Before we join the others, Jules reaches out and grasps my hand. "Thank you," she whispers.
Squeezing her hand, we head back to the others when the doorbell rings. As John joins us, he glances around the table and smiles, "So what did I miss?"