Okay, here goes nothing. I'm hoping everyone enjoys this chapter. I promise that the next chapter will be more Rhia/Max centered than this one. I wanted to post what I had so far, though. Hopefully, I'll be able to update midweek.
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Rhia
I woke up with an impending feeling of dread. Today was the day I would find out if I was pregnant. Most of me wanted this to be a false alarm, but a tiny part of me wanted this to be a baby. I had been dating Dane for three years, and marriage was a topic Dane liked to avoid at all costs. I should have left him two years ago when he dodged me the first time I'd brought it up. I'm not sure why I was still in this relationship. On some level, I knew I was only with Dane to prove to myself that what I'd had with Max had been a fun time, and nothing more. I knew better, though. Having a baby might mean I would have to give up Max altogether. It also might be cause for me to enter into a marriage with Dane that neither of us wanted.
After last night, I knew beyond certainty that Max would be the only man I ever loved. I had wanted to let him take me so badly, but it wouldn't have been right. Oh, Max, if only this kid were yours.
I looked at the empty bed next to me. Dane was awake already. I heard water in the bathroom. I wondered if that was him.
There was a knock at my door. "Come in," I yelled. The door opened, and Bria was standing there.
"You still need my help today?" she asked.
"Yeah," I replied. "I definitely need moral support."
"When do you want to do it?" She asked.
"Let me get a shower, then I'll be ready."
"Sounds good," Bria said, closing the door as she walked into the hallway.
A few minutes later, Dane walked out of the bathroom. His towel was wrapped around his waist, and his hair was wet. His shoulders were broader than Max's, and his abs more defined. He had a nice tan already, after one day at the beach. He was definitely hotter than Max, to everyone but me, that is.
That body of his came at a price, though. He was adamant about going to the gym and watching what he ate. Sometimes it annoyed me so much, I just wished he'd get fat and give up. I certainly did not frequent the gym. I ran on my treadmill every morning, and tried my best to eat healthy, but I wasn't obsessed.
"Morning," he said, as he unwrapped his towel from his body and got dressed.
"Morning," I said, getting up out of bed and heading for the shower. He grabbed me on my way past and kissed me passionately. I kissed back after realizing what was going on, but my heart wasn't in it. There was no denying that he was nothing like Max.
When he pulled away, I said, "That had to be gross for you. I still have morning breath."
He smiled. "It was fine, I just had to check something," he said in a way that made me wonder what he was thinking.
I entered the bathroom, and locked the door on both sides. It worried me sometimes, because the lock on Max and Cassie's side stuck. I really didn't need Max walking in on me this morning.
After finishing my shower, I found Bria. She was on the back patio, admiring the view. Most of the others had gone down to the beach already. "Want to do this in my bathroom?" she asked. "I wouldn't want Max or Cassie walking in on us. Dane, either."
"Sure," I said. She was right. I didn't want anyone to know.
"Here goes nothing," I said to myself as I shut Bria's bathroom door and peed on the stick. Afterward, I opened the door to an anxious looking Bria.
"Five minutes," Bria said, sitting on her bed. I sat down next to her. "It'll be okay, you know, even if you don't want to marry Dane," she said.
"I know," I answered. "I just dread all the explaining. Especially to my parents. My mom already thinks it's terrible that I sleep with him regularly."
The timer on Bree's phone went off. It was time to check. "Before I look at this, can there be a false negative?" I asked.
"Only if you don't wait long enough to take the test," she said.
"It's been ten days, and I should have gotten my period yesterday," I explained.
"You should be fine, then," she comforted.
I picked up the stick and looked. It had one line. "One line means not pregnant, right?" I asked her.
"Yep," she answered.
"I'm not pregnant," I said flatly.
"Is that what you wanted?" she asked me, looking confused.
"I think," I said, as a tear slid down my face.
"Oh, Rhia, honey, it's okay. You'll have babies someday, and with someone you love," she soothed.
"I know," I said, sobbing. What was wrong with me? Did I want a baby that badly? I hadn't thought so. It wasn't like I'd miscarried or anything. I just wasn't pregnant. Still, the tears kept coming.
"I'm going for a walk," I said. "I won't be long."
Bria shook her head up and down. "Okay, and I'll clean all of this up," she said, motioning to the pregnancy test.
I just needed some time away. I walked out of the house and onto the beach. I turned left, and kept walking. I had seen two people walking toward the house, but I hadn't been able to tell who they were. I didn't even care. I walked even faster. The further away I got, the better off I was.
Max
Everyone was down at the beach except for Brent, Krissy, Bria, and Rhia. It was a hot, sunny, day, the perfect kind of day for laying out and playing in the waves. We had forgotten sunscreen, so Jake and I had volunteered to go back to get it. As we were approaching the beach house, I saw Rhia walk out of the house and continue walking down the beach. I wanted to call out to her, but we were too far away. Besides, Jake would think I was weird. I hadn't really seen much, but from the way she walked, I thought she might be stressed. I wondered what had happened. Dane was down at the beach, oogling my girlfriend, so he was probably not the cause.
We walked into the house as Bria was coming down the stairs. Maybe she knew. "Hey, I just saw Rhia run out of here. Is everything okay?" I asked, aware that Jake was giving me a strange look.
Bria gave me a similar look, and said, "She just wants to be alone for awhile. She just received some news that seemed to upset her a little. She'll be fine," she said. I had to find her. I wanted to fix what was wrong.
"I'll be back," I said, running out the door, leaving Jake and Bria to look after me wearing looks of confusion on their faces. I headed in the same direction I had seen her walk. I just kept walking and looking. Finally, about eight houses down, I found her, sitting in the sand, hugging her knees. Her head was resting on her legs.
"Hey," I said. She looked up at me. Her cheeks were tearstained, and her nose was running a little. She had bloodshot eyes, and her hair was sort of messy. Bria was right. This girl did not want company. "What's wrong?" I asked.
"I don't want to talk about it," she whispered.
"I'll leave," I said, turning around to leave her alone.
"Wait," she said, reaching out her right arm toward me, "stay."
My heart leapt in my chest. I stopped, and turned back toward her. "What do you want me to do?" I asked. By the looks of things, she didn't want anyone trying to solve her problems. She just needed a shoulder to cry on.
"Just sit with me, and hold me," she said quietly. I sat down behind her and put my legs on either side of her. She leaned back to lie on my chest. My back rested against a sand dune. I wrapped my arms lightly around her. She reached up and put her hands on mine. We stayed like that for what seemed to be an eternity. I loved her so much. I had to tell her. Somehow, now didn't seem like the right time. Soon, though. I couldn't wait much longer.
I think we both dozed off, because the next thing I knew, I heard a voice exclaim, "What are you doing with my girlfriend?" Ugh. It was Dane. I opened my eyes to see him looming over us, blocking the sun.
"I found her here, " I explained. "She was sad and needed a friend."
He looked skeptical. "Sad about what?" he asked.
"I don't really know," I said truthfully.
Rhia stirred in my arms. "Dane, it's nothing. I was upset about something. Max helped me through it. We'll talk later. Go get a shower," she said flatly. She didn't seem too happy with him at the moment.
"Okay," he said, and walked back toward the house.
"Wow," I said with awe in my voice, "you really have him whipped!" I said.
She laughed, and stood up. "I guess we should go back, anyway," she said. I nodded. "Thanks for helping me," she went on.
"I didn't really do anything," I answered.
"You did more than you know," she stated. "I know you're too polite to ask, but I was crying because I wasn't pregnant."
WHAT? She had thought she was pregnant? "Really?" I squeaked.
She smiled. "Our condom broke a little while back and I was waiting for my monthly friend. When my friend didn't show, I took a test. It was negative. I thought that's what I wanted, but I cried anyway. I guess I wanted a baby more than I thought."
"Do you want Dane's baby?" I asked.
"Right now, his is the only offer on the table," she answered. Come on, Max, I thought, say something. Tell her she can have your babies.
"He's not the only fish in the sea," I offered, unable to tell her exactly what I wanted to tell her. I was so mad at myself. What was I afraid of?
We walked back to the beach house, talking very little. When we did talk, it was about everything but our attraction toward each other. I still didn't know quite what had happened between us last night. I remember her ripping my boxers off, though. That part came back to me when I woke up naked this morning. I was sad that I'd missed it.
Cassie
I laid on my beach towel, soaking up the rays, and thought back to the night before. I had been having a pretty fun time with Max and his friends. Then, Max had spotted the jerk hitting on Rhia. He had asked Dane to do something about it, but Dane refused. He said Rhia thrived on sticking up for herself, and that she didn't need any help. He asked Joey and Brendan, and they said something very similar. Max looked furious. I whispered into his ear, "Let's go find a quiet corner to be alone," but he didn't even acknowledge what I'd said. He was still looking over toward Rhia. He really made me mad sometimes. He was always paying attention to Rhiannon. Why? I wondered. Then he took off, without a word. I stared after him.
"He's a little too interested in my girlfriend, don't you think?" the voice said. I looked up at Dane, who was staring down at me like he couldn't get enough. I had stuffed myself into the halter minidress I was wearing. It pushed my boobs up to my chin, giving me great cleavage. Dane was staring now. At least someone had noticed. Max definitely hadn't.
We had all been drinking. I was feeling pretty good, and I tended to be more forward when that happened. Dane was pretty messed up, but it was nice to have someone notice me. Lately, I had been feeling slightly neglected. "I heard what you said to Max," he said. "We could find a dark corner."
"No thanks, " I said. I wasn't the type to cheat, even when I was tipsy. Although, he was really hot. Right afterward, we heard a ton of commotion from the middle of the room. A few seconds later, Rhia ran over and told us that Max was getting kicked out, and she was taking him home. Really? He was going to ruin my night by playing knight in shining armor to someone else's girlfriend? When she asked if I'd wanted to go with them, I'd declined. I was determined to have fun tonight.
I turned and looked at Dane. He'd be fun to play with, since my boyfriend had chosen to leave me all alone. I walked up so that I was brushing against him. "Let's dance," I said. He smiled, looking like the cat who had swallowed the canary. He took me out on the dance floor, and made sure that our bodies rubbed together with every move. It was starting to turn me on.
A slower song came on, and he wrapped his arms around my neck. We stared into each others' eyes. He was actually pretty cute, now that I was paying attention to him. "Can I kiss you?" he asked. I really didn't think it was a good idea. We were both with other people, and all of our friends could see us. My anger toward Max prevailed, though.
"Sure," I said, "but make it count." No sooner were the words out of my mouth, and his lips were on mine. He kissed me passionately, hungrily, like he couldn't get enough of me. I thrust my tongue into his mouth. I was so turned on. Max never kissed me like this. Dane's hands caressed my butt, my thighs, and my back, before finding my breasts. He had a hand on each breast, massaging them, making me weak in the knees. I could feel his bulge against me. If we had been somewhere private, it would have been game over. I had a feeling sex with this one would be to die for. Suddenly, I realized it was very possible that our friends might have caught our little show. I pulled away and waited for him to calm down.
We stood there for a minute before I said, "Listen, I'm with Max. I was just feeling a little neglected tonight, and you were a fun distraction."
He nodded in agreement. "Same here. Rhia has been distant for the past couple of weeks. I thought bringing her to the beach would make it better, but it just seems to have gotten worse. You were a great release for me, in more ways than one. You have killer boobs, and a talented mouth," he said.
At least he agreed with me. I was hoping the rest of the week wouldn't be awkward because I'd been weak and horny. So far, though, everything was back to normal. Dane hadn't done anything but steal a few looks in my direction today, which I was used to by now.
"Hey," someone said just then. I looked up to see Dane there, a hunger in his eyes.
"What's wrong?" I asked him.
"They're together again. I just thought maybe we could take a walk?" he asked hopefully. I was wondering if 'take a walk' might be code for something else, but if Max was chasing Rhia again, I didn't have much to lose.
"Sure, " I said, standing up. My bikini left little to the imagination. Dane couldn't help but stare as I picked up my belongings and put them in my beach bag. I had my cover up with me, but I threw caution to the wind and chose not to put it on.
We had walked a good distance when we came upon a playground. There were no children in sight, so Dane sat at the bottom of the slide. We had been talking about Max and Rhia, and our relationships with them. It was amazing how similar their sexual preferences were: neither liked oral sex, both wanted to kiss during orgasm, and both seemed to think simultaneous orgasms were the norm. It was almost like...... nah, they hadn't been involved with each other. They were just friends who seemed to enable each other, that's all. Their age difference alone made that scenario almost impossible.
I stood, not knowing where to sit. Dane was staring at me. "Let's go back," I said anxiously. I was very tempted to go sit on his lap and see how far we could go and still be discreet. I was on the pill. The only person he'd slept with in years was Rhia. We could do this, and no one would be the wiser, I thought.
He hadn't budged. "Come help me up," he said. I walked over to him, giving him my hand. He pulled me down onto his lap. Uh oh. I could see the tent in his pants. He put his lips on mine and enveloped me in a kiss filled with desire. I turned my body to straddle his, and managed to get his friend out of his trunks. It didn't take much before he was inside me. Whoa. He was definitely bigger than Max. I moved my body slowly, making him moan from the intensity. I couldn't get over how different this felt.
He reached up to kiss me. The change in position lit me on fire. "Oh, Dane, don't stop," I breathed. We continued this way for what seemed like eternity. He could really hold his own for a guy in his thirties. Finally, I was ready for release. I moved a few more times before pleasure engulfed me. "I'm almost there," he said, as he shuddered underneath me, letting out a moan laced with desire. As the warmth from his release filled me, I screamed in ecstasty one last time.
I didn't want to disconnect, but I knew it was time. It had felt so wrong, yet so right at the same time. I wasn't sure what Rhia's story was where Max was concerned, but I really hoped she wasn't interested in him for the sex. Dane was a master, while Max seemed like an apprentice.
"We can't do anything like this again," I said. I'm pretty sure I was only saying it because it sounded good. In reality, I would have done him again on the living room floor of the beach house with everyone watching.
"I agree," he said, as he squeezed my ass. I guess he felt the same way.
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Next: There will be at least one party game in the mix. Stay tuned.
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Please don't forget to vote. Also, let me know if you liked the Cassie/Dane combination. I contemplated whether to have them hook up. What do you think? Cassie will probably not be a regular POV. I am planning on throwing in a few other POV's here and there, just to break the story up a little.
I hope everyone is happy with Rhia's test results. Just FYI: I never intended to make her pregnant. It wasn't even part of my original plan, but I thought it would add to the story. I'm glad you guys felt the same way I did. :-)