Caught (6 page)

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Chace

The three of us are jacked up in the cab of my truck, bombing over the dirt road that leads to Finley’s lake house.  It’s our last weekend before I take off for the remainder of the summer.  While the Cape league is going to be huge for my potential baseball career, I hate the thought of being away from Finley.  She plans to come spend the week with me before school starts, so at least I have that to look forward to.  She’ll be in Boston, and I’ll be in Connecticut once the school year starts, so we’ll be making a go at the whole long distance thing, but I have no doubt that we can make it work.

We had a blast at the cabin after floating down the river, but for the remainder of my time here we planned on spending it at the lake house.  There’s no place I’d rather be.

“Ohmigawd, Chace!” Quinn screams.

My heart drops to my stomach and I slam on the breaks, thinking that someone must be dead.  “What?” I ask, slightly breathless.

“Jesus, did you just pee a little?” She laughs. 

“Well, usually when someone yells in a car, it’s not a good thing.”

Finley looks at me, her eyebrows upward in a suggestive manner.  “Have you met Quinn?”

I ease onto the gas.  “Guess you got me there.”

Quinn makes a nonchalant waving motion with her hand before directing her attention back to me.  “Well now that you have your balls back, can I tell you what has me so excited?”

“What?”

She looks out the window and points in the direction of the woods.  “The road over by the edge of the tree line hasn’t dried out from last night’s rain yet.”  She turns back towards me, a slow grin spreading across her face.

Finley, wedged between us, looks back and forth at our faces.  “Nu-uh.  No way.  Last time we went muddin’ we got stuck for three hours.”

She was totally right.  I sucked at muddin’, and I had about a ninety percent success rate of getting us stuck.  “That’s the fun in it though, Fin.  Besides, Greg and the guys are coming up in an hour.  All we’ll have to do if we get stuck is give them a call for a tow.”

“When we get stuck,” Quinn corrects.

Finley sighs.  “You two are nuts.”

Quinn does a Napoleon Dynamite style, “Yes!” just before I turn right and head straight for the pit of mud resting right at the forest edge.  She bounces up and down in her seat.  “Muddin’ gives me a full on girl boner,” she says in her monotone voice.

Finley looks over at her.  “You are so strange.”

“And you’re my friend, which makes you guilty by association.”

I hit the gas, causing us to lurch forward.

“Hang on to your tampons, Fin!” Quinn yells. “We’re about to get dirrrty!”

“Filthy,” I chime.

“Too dirty to clean my act up!” Finley adds on cue.

Quinn starts signing in her best Christina Aguilera voice just as we pile through the mud.  My foot presses down on the gas, causing mud to fly up all around the truck.  Quinn is laughing like a maniac and Finley’s hand it gripped tightly on my thigh.  We’re just about through the thick of it when I hear my engine kick into high gear.

“Oh shit,” I spit out before jerking the steering wheel to the side, hoping to prevent ourselves from getting stuck.  But my wheels spin, coming to a complete stop and sending our heads forward.  Quinn is laughing so hard she can barely breathe.

“See? When,” she manages to croak out between giggles.

I glare in her direction as she clutches her stomach, continuing to laugh at my misfortune.  “Smart ass.”

Finley looks over at me.  “Do you want to call Greg, or should I?”

“I’ll call.”  Grabbing my cell phone, I carefully hop out of the truck, doing my best to avoid the mud pit that is swallowing my truck.  I turn around and help Finley down, setting her on the solid ground.  We walk around the front, inspecting the situation as I come around to the passenger side.  “Careful getting out,” I holler to Quinn. 

She pops open the door.  “No shit, Dicknose.  This ain’t my first rodeo.”  It happens in slow motion.  Her foot slips off the running board that is coated with mud, and she lets out a yelp before falling face first into the pit of filth.  Finley gasps beside me, and we both stand in silence.  Unsure of what to do, or say.

“What the frack?” Quinn says, pushing herself up.

Her legs are covered in mud, with a just a few smudges covering her cheeks.  “You okay?” I ask hesitantly.

“Of course I’m okay, it’s just mud.”  She picks up a handful and chucks it in my direction.  I sidestep just in time, avoiding getting my board shorts dirty, and Finley screeches.

Quinn smiles, her mud covered face making her teeth seem whiter than normal.  “You scurred of a little mud, Fin?”

Finley takes a tentative step backwards.  “C’mon, Quinn.  Don’t.”

Quinn gets on her hands and knees and crawls in our direction, my face frozen with a perma-grin.  “Don’t what?” she asks through her smile.

“I see that look on your face.”

“What look?”  Quinn asks innocently. 

Finley takes another step back.  “The one that you get whenever you’re about to do dumb shit.”

“Is your craydar going haywire right about now?” Quinn asks through her smile.

“My what?”

“Your craydar.”

“What’s that?”

“The radar that detects crazy bitches.”

Curious, Finley tips her head to the side.

“Because Imma ‘bout to go crazy on yo’ ass!” Quinn goads as she jumps from the mud and grabs Finley’s arm.  She hauls her down into the pit of mud before Finley even realizes what’s happening.  My mouth hangs open as I watch Quinn grab two handfuls of mud and smear them along Finley’s legs and exposed stomach.  Finley acts repulsed for a moment before joining Quinn in the bliss of the moment.  They’re throwing mud at each other, having the time of their lives, and there I stand like an idiot watching.  It’s when Quinn pounces on Finley that I realize I’m enjoying the sight.  The two girls in my life, my best friend and my girlfriend, rolling around in the mud together. 

They’re still laughing, covered from head to toe in mud, when they turn around and look at me.  Quinn elbows Finley, nodding in my direction.  Her eyes meet mine just as she wipes her cheek with the back of her hand.  “You okay, babe?”

It’s as though her words thaw me from the frozen state I’m in as I watch them rolling around.  “Yeah, I…” I clear the frog from my throat. “I’m fine.”

Quinn laughs. I know she’s onto me, and I have to grab the bull by the horns before she decides to tease me relentlessly.  “I’ve gotta say, girls,” I call out to them, “that was just about the hottest thing I’ve ever seen.”

*****

An hour later, Greg and the boys are finally pulling up in Greg’s jeep.  He hops out and assesses the situation.  Looking at me, he leans over and whispers, “Why are the girls all muddy?”

I give him a pointed look and he instantly knows.

“Damn you, Chace Donahue.” He looks over at the shady spot where the girls are perched.  “I want to be you when I grow up.”

I reach over and give him a shove.  “Don’t be such a dog.”

“I can dream,” he laughs, turning to shrug at me.  “Now let’s get you hooked up and hauled out of here.”

It takes all five of us guys to get the truck out of the damn mud, and by the end of it we’re all just as covered in mud as Quinn and Finley.  “Alright guys,” I yell once we’re unstuck and Finley is perched in the cab of the truck. “Our asses have a date with destiny!”

“There’s gonna be strippers?” Greg asks excitedly.

I face palm myself.  “Seriously, Greg?”

“I thought it was a valid question.  Maybe you’ll let Quinn finish this time.”

Giving him a death glare, I flip him the bird.  He smiles and blows me a kiss before reaching into his pocket and taking out his cell phone.

“What the fuck are you doing?” I ask, only mildly curious.  I really don’t care all that much, I just need to have conversation.  The silence is deafening.  It says so much without saying anything at all.

“I’m just hopping on Tinder for a second.”

“Tinder?”

“Yeah, it’s an app to find broads to hook up with.”  He turns his phone towards me.  “Check it out.”

I look down at his screen, which is showing a picture of some random girl.  “I don’t get it.”

“I swipe yes or no.  Then if she likes me too, we can chat, I make empty promises, and I get laid.”

Shaking my head, I ask, “Have you used this before?”

“Well, yeah.”

“And you’ve gotten laid from it.”

“Well, no, but you’re missing the point, Chace.”

“There is no point, Greg.”

“Alright, it’s just fun to look at the chicks on here.  Like check out this one.”  He shows me a picture of a cute blonde.  “I’d cuddle the shit outta her.”

I laugh.

“This one’s definitely a virgin.”  He shows me a picture of a girl dressed like a school teacher before swiping yes.  “V-cards never stopped me anyway.”  He laughs.  “Roses are red, tulips are cool.  Here comes Greg with his deflowering tool!”

Everyone laughs at his impromptu poem.

“This one.” He leans towards me so that I have a better view of his phone.  “Like, whoa, she’s got a big forehead.”

“That’s not a forehead, that’s a fivehead,” Quinn adds, casually walking by and hopping into the truck.

I shake my head and laugh before getting back behind the wheel and continuing onward to our destination.  We got stuck just a few miles from the lake house, so it only takes us a few minutes to get there.  Once I throw the truck into park, Quinn and Finley jump out of the truck and take off towards the lake, stripping their clothes off as they go.  My heart catches in my throat until I realize they are wearing their bikinis underneath.  Seriously, these girls are going to be the death of me.

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Quinn

Falling in the mud was never part of the plan, but I’ve learned throughout the years that when it comes to the three of us, it never does. Sometimes you just have to go with the flow and make the best of it. That’s exactly why I pulled my uptight friend Finley in with me. What I didn’t expect was Chace to be so approving of our mess making. I shouldn’t be surprised. He is a typical male with apparent raging hormones after all. Can’t blame him for that.  I’m sure if I had a penis it’d enjoy watching two girls slathering each other with mud as well.

Thankfully, even though our plans were sidetracked, we’re still able to pull off the surprise. Greg, being the noble guy he is, keeps Chace occupied in the lake while Finley and I sneak off to put the final touches on the decorations and to throw on some dry clothes, of course.

“I hope he likes it,” Finley says worryingly. She’s always over-thinking everything.

“He’ll love it.” I rub her shoulder, reassuring her. I can tell she’s stressed, but I think it’s more because Chace is leaving for camp tomorrow, and after that the two will be parting ways for college. Tonight is one of the last nights the three of us may have left together. It makes me sad, too. But I’ve been trying hard not to think about it.

The doorbell rings. “I’ll get it.” I turn and head for the front door. There are a good twenty people standing on the porch. It makes me happy and proud for my best friend that they all showed up to celebrate…and drink. Tonight isn’t just a happy birthday get together for Chace. It’s also us congratulating him on all the success that’s to come. He’s going to go far. I just know it. I always have.

“You guys know the routine.” I push the door open and they all scatter inside the house.

“He’s coming,” Finley squeals. “Everyone hide.”

I watch as they all duck behind the furniture, and I find a secure place in the far back. I don’t want to be front and center. That’s Fin’s job—the devoted girlfriend. I peek around the wall, watching as Chace plows through the back door. His hair is wet and laying in every which direction. He’s shirtless and his chest still has droplets dripping down. I gulp at the sight.

“SURPRISE!” Finley yells, jumping out in front of him. The rest of us follow suit.

“You’re the fuckin’ best.” Chace wraps his arms around Finley, lifting her to his chest. At first she tries to fight it, since he’s wet and all, but quickly gives in. I don’t know why she even tries. I’m sure it’s impossible to resist him.

We all instantly break out singing ‘Happy Birthday’, and I watch as the happy couple stands next to each other watching as we do. Finley leaves his side to light the two candles on his cupcake cake. The cupcakes are all white and in a circle with red icing strategically drawn over them, making the whole thing look like a huge baseball. She lights the one and nine candle and carefully grabs it, making her way to where Chace stands.

“Make a wish, birthday boy,” she says.

I expect him to say something cheesy and slightly romantic like, “All my wishes have already came true when I found you.” In fact, I dread him saying something to that extent, but to my surprise he doesn’t. Instead, he actually bows his head, closes his eyes, and then blows out the candles. I let out a sigh of relief and turn to head for the radio. We need some tunes. Some very loud ones. I hear Finley let out a shriek and turn to see what the fuss is about.

Chace has smeared icing on her face and now is kissing it off. I’m pretty sure if that was me, shrieking wouldn’t be the noise I would be making. Fuck, I need to get a grip. I plug in my iPod and scroll through my playlists. The Dirty Heads
My Sweet Summer
blares through the speakers, and I throw my hands up and begin dancing in my own little world.

“Keg’s here!” Greg yells, heading out the back door with half the party following him. Yeah, they are definitely not here for the cake.

I head to the kitchen to pull out my stash of Parrot Bay. I’m not in a beer mood, and I definitely won’t be mixing the two like I did at the last party. I didn’t learn my limits, but I did learn my lesson. And in my book that’s close enough.

I open the freezer, grabbing the bottle, and then open the fridge to get the orange juice.

“Come to momma,” I say, pushing the doors shut. Turning around, I run smack into Chace’s now dry, but still very firm, chest. “Whoa. Sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry, Q. You said come to momma and I listened.” He’s wearing a perma-grin on his face. He’s happy, and it makes me happy. Then he gives me the biggest bear hug ever. I want to hug him back as he pulls me off the ground, but my hands are full. I extend my arms out to my sides to keep from touching Chace’s bare skin with the cold beverages I’m holding. He slowly lets me drop, but doesn’t pull his hands away. “Thanks.”

“For what?” I shrug, acting oblivious.

“Do I really need to explain?”

I bat my eyes in response. He sighs and lets out a laugh. “Boy, do I feel sorry for the sucker who has to see those pouty eyes. He won’t even stand a chance.” I begin to smile, but then remember the stance I’m supposed to be taking, and return to a full on pout. “Thank you for all of this. I know you had a part in this surprise party. It means a lot.”

“That’s what best friends are for, right?” I shrug with a smile. He looks stunned momentarily before his face smooths out.

“Yeah.” He coughs, clearing his throat. “Right.”

I want to tell him how bummed I am he won’t be around for his actual birthday. How it will be the first time since we’ve been friends that we won’t be hanging out that day. I want to tell him that everything about this day was my idea, but I’m not in the business of stealing other people’s thunder. There’s so much I want to tell him, but I can’t. I missed my chance to do so the day Finley stepped into town.

I plan on getting myself shmammered pretty quickly. I’m more than ready to just let loose and not think. Lately, I’ve been hating the whole thinking thing and vow to turn my brain off until college starts and thinking becomes necessary again. With each drink I make myself add more liquor. At first it’s a conscious decision, but now it’s more of foggy measurement on my end.

I dance on a few tables throughout the night. I enjoy the attention the guys yell my way as they beg me to take it off. I never will, but the idea of them wanting me to is fun. I kiss a few of the guys for the hell of it as well. Everything I do is to prove to myself that I can have it if I want it. But for the life of me I can’t make myself go after it. Or crave it.

Finley sways through the door, drunk as a skunk.

“Quinn!” she yells. “Where’s my Quinny the pooh?” She starts laughing and then snorts. “Quinny the pooh. Get it?” She snorts again.

“Oh, lookie here. I think someone hasn’t been introduced to their limits yet.” I smirk.

She puts a hand on her hip. “Whatcha talkin’ bout? I’m perfectly fine.” She holds a straight face for two seconds before she bends over and cracks up again. Chace is behind her and he just shakes his head.

“I’m going to miss you,” she says, throwing her arms around me. Then she takes a long sniff and pulls her head back. “But I won’t miss your smell.” She leans down, sniffing again. “You stink.”

“Thanks, hookah.” I playfully push her back. “You stink, too.”

She drops her nose to her shoulder and sniffs. “I do stink. We smell like fishy water.” She turns and glares at Chace. “Why didn’t you tell us we stank?”

He holds his hands up in defense. “Who’s to say I think fishy girls are smelly?”

Fin cocks her head to the side and makes a weird clucking noise. “Well played Mr. Donahue. Well played.” Then she twists back to me and links her arm in mine, pulling me behind her. “Come on. Let’s go take a shower.”

I turn, looking back over my shoulder and catch Chace watching us with bugged out eyes and his mouth hanging open. I can only imagine what’s going on in that mind of his. I follow Finley up the stairs as we head for her room—the huge room that seems bigger than my whole house. We make our way into the bathroom, and she turns the water on before we both start stripping. We’ve both seen each other naked before, so it’s no biggie. But neither of us have been up close naked. Then I realize we both still have our swimming suits on. No need for nudity. The bathroom begins to fill with steam, and we both step into the hot, inviting shower.

This oughta kill some of the drunkenness we’re both feeling. Finley shoots soap my way and it lands on my stomach. She giggles as I tell her thanks and begin to use it to wash my body.

“Ahem.” We both stop moving as Chace’s voice fills the bathroom. From each side of the shower we peek around the curtain, only revealing our heads. “Everyone has basically left already,” he says, glancing back and forth between the two of us. He’s drunk and horny.

Bless his little heart.

I watch as he adjusts himself and my eyes are frozen on what’s beneath those trunks of his. I bite my lip and look back up. His eyes are on me once I return. He has a slight smirk on his face since he just caught me checking out his package.

“Why don’t you join us?” Finley suggests, and my mind goes blank. This can’t be a good idea. One guy in a shower with two girls. Two basically naked, drunk girls. My mind is now going all over the place with the possibilities. I want him to join us, but I don’t. Finley shouldn’t. What is she thinking?

“Are you sure that’s a good idea, Fin?” I manage to squeak out.

“Of course it is.”

“I’m game if you guys are,” Chace says with a smile plastered on his face. A smile that says all his fantasies are about to come true. That might be the case, I’m just not sure how it will all play out. We both pull our heads back inside the curtain and Finley makes her way towards me, lightly wrapping her arms around me. The way we’re standing reminds me of one of the many poses we’ve used when modeling together.

“We’re waiting for you,” she says with a seductive voice I’ve never heard before. It must be her bedroom voice.

The curtain pulls back and Chace steps inside—buck ass naked.  My smart ass mouth can’t even say anything. If I tried, I’d just stutter. I’m shocked and turned on at the sight. I always imagined what it’d be like to have him standing naked and in front of me, but it never could compare to reality. Once he realizes that we aren’t naked he doesn’t try to cover himself in shame – instead he steps in front of the water and dips his head back, allowing the water to free fall down all his ridges. Maybe I’m drunker than I thought and I’m just imagining all of this. Maybe we’re all too drunk.

Finley’s hands start rubbing up and down my sides. “You like what you see, Quinn?” she whispers against my neck. I want to take my eyes off Chace and look at her, maybe even lie and say no, but I can’t move. I do like what I’m seeing, and I’m finding it hard to feel bad about it. Chace looks at us and watches as his girlfriend’s hands lightly roam my body. Fin had told me once that she thought it’d be hot to hook up with a girl, I just never anticipated on being that girl or that she’d be willing to share Chace. But I’ve come to a conclusion that drunken Finley equals kinky Finley.

She wraps her arm around the top of my head and pulls it to the side, right near her face. “This is the last night we have together. Let’s make it count.” Then she places her lips on mine. It’s weird and different, but I don’t pull away. I open my eyes and look at Chace. His eyes are fixed on us and he seems to be breathing heavily. I look down and moan as I see him touching himself. Knowing that this is turning him on makes me want to strip Finley down and make-out with more than her mouth.

But I don’t. In all reality, he’s the one I want to be touching.

Finley pulls away wearing a seductive smile. She walks towards Chace, and the nerves soaring through my body intensify. She places a hand on his shoulder, trailing it down his arm as she slides in behind him. Peeking out from behind him, she moves her hand down even more and wraps it around his dick, taking the place of his hand.

Jealousy instantly smacks me full on. She can touch him however and whenever she wants, and I’m instantly filled with greed. Seeing it play out in front of me has all my emotions heightened. I want to jump out of the shower and run for the hills, never to face them again. But for some reason I can’t move. Something inside keeps me planted in that spot, eager and curious of what’s to come—where this is all heading.

Chace’s head falls back and Finley begins taunting me. “I know you want to touch him, Quinn. I can see it all over your face.” She places a kiss on his bicep and quickens the speed of her hand.  I turn my focus to his face, mesmerized by how sexy he looks in this moment. “Do it,” Finley urges. I jerk my head at her in shock and confusion. She’s telling me to touch her boyfriend. “We’ve already crossed the line, Quinn. No backing out now.” 

Chace’s head lifts and he eyes me. He’s not discouraging me. The way he’s looking at me makes me feel like this is what he wants—that maybe he wants me this way too.

Chace and I stay silent, allowing Finley to instigate and persuade us both into this. I don’t know if this would have happened with us all sober. No, I know it never would have. Finley’s too put together when she’s sober. And now I know why she refrains from drinking much, if any. Apparently tonight she lost focus on her limits. But in this moment I don’t care.