Frozen Barriers (23 page)

Dinner is more pleasant than I imagined. His parents don’t poke or pry any more than concerned parents would. Travis asks me to sign the
Globe
feature article for him and says he is framing it for his sports wall. Jeremy gives Travis a pensive look since he has never been asked to sign anything before. Travis then tells him, and I quote, “You’re my fuckin’ son. I can get an autograph whenever the hell I feel like it. This girl, she’s not only destined for the fuckin’ Olympics, but she’s the first girl to get invited in to meet your mother and me. That my boy, makes this autograph worth a million bucks.”

I feel bad not gorging myself like the rest of them do. Jeremy was right when he said she would try to get me to eat way too much food. I manage to appease him and eat a decent amount of pasta, salad, and half of a meatball. After eating all that and washing it down with a smooth Cabernet Sauvignon, my stomach is ready to burst.

Grace doesn’t allow me to help with any of the cleanup. She says the boys handle the kitchen cleanup since she slaved over the cooking all morning. Jeremy kisses me on the forehead as he leaves to help clear out the dishes. I notice his mother wiping at the corner of her eyes as they disappear into the kitchen.

After dinner, I relax in the living room with the girls. Sue has been relatively quiet all night, which is unlike her. Courtney tells her mother about my skating ventures to Europe and how someday she hopes to have the chance to see it. Europe is a photographer’s dream come true. I wish I could have had more of an opportunity to see its history and landscapes while I was there.

Taking me out of my train of thought, I hear Grace ask me a question. “Emily, I can’t help but notice that necklace you are wearing. Is that a hockey stick?”

My heart swims with happiness as I think back on Friday night when Jeremy gave it to me. “Yes, Grace. Jeremy gave it to me when he asked me to be his girlfriend. I thought he was pro… well, I wasn’t sure what he was doing. I mean, he was down on one knee and holding up the black box with the necklace in it. I didn’t know what to think. When he opened the box, he asked me if I’d be his girlfriend and escort him to the Monarchs home opener.” Grace and Courtney stand and run over to me, checking out the shimmering necklace around my neck.

“Travis!” Grace yells. “Travis, come in here. You have to see what Jeremy gave Emily.”

Courtney chimes in by asking, “So, where did you go? What did you do after that?” Oh my gosh. You’d think I was the first girl he ever brought home. Apparently, this family doesn’t have many steady relationships, or this wouldn’t be considered big news.

I’m not about to burst their happy night, so I say, “Well, he asked me on the beach at Plum Island at sunset…”
Queue awws.
“…then he took me to dinner at The Black Cow, and we went for a walk along the boardwalk.” I purposely omit that he proceeded to play
Twenty Questions
with me and gave me the best orgasm with his mouth since the dawn of time.
Yeah, that last part I’m keeping to myself.

The guys pile into the living room, and Grace pulls Travis over to show him my necklace as Dave and Josh all cough what sounds like “pussy whipped” into their fists before taking their seats next to us girls. Dave moves over next to Sue and says something quietly into her ear. Turning her head as they stare into each other’s eyes, she nods and they stand to leave the room and head downstairs. Weird. Oh, well. Josh eyes them leaving and I have to think whether he knows about them sleeping together and if that is why she is so quiet. I remember they dated in high school, so I guess it can be awkward, but then again, I’m not exactly a relationship expert.

Jeremy sits next to me, wrapping his arm around my shoulder. Leaning in, he whispers, “Did you bring your swimsuit?” I nod yes as I glance over at him. “I’m about to head back to the garage to change if you want to join me in the hot tub.” He winks at me. “Not sure if anyone else is going in, but I am for sure.”

I can’t argue. Soaking in a hot tub sounds absolutely wonderful right now. The nights have been getting significantly cooler around here, and the relaxing air jets will do wonders for my tired muscles. Standing to leave, Jeremy grabs my hand and excuses us from the family conversation, saying we are going to change and use the hot tub.

I grab my suit from the car on the way back to his place and use the bathroom before I change. I pull my long hair up into a loose bun on top of my head before adjusting the straps on my bikini, making sure everything is contained where it should be. Slipping on my flip-flops, I make my way back into the living room where Jeremy is sitting on the sofa playing on his phone. Hearing my flip-flops, he turns his head to look my way, and his jaw instantly drops.

“What?” I ask as if I don’t know what prompted his jaw to drop. I deliberately brought my Victoria’s Secret string bikini with black and white stripes and turquoise blue ruffles outlining the top triangles and bottoms that hardly leave anything to the imagination.

“Emily, are you purposely trying to kill me? Oh my God! We’ve got to go now before I untie everything on you, and we never make it to the hot tub,” he says as he pulls my hand toward the door.

Laughing under my breath, I follow his lead. I can’t help but notice his perfect abs and chiseled arms right before me. He thinks he’s having a hard time controlling his desires. I want to tell him it’s a good thing we’re heading into the hot tub, because I’m already wet just thinking of all the fun things I can do to his very lickable body.

I make it to the backyard without any issues controlling my libido. Fido stays down like a good dog. It isn’t hard, no pun intended, considering the minute I round the corner from the garage I see the rest of the crew already in the hot tub.
Well, that kills any pool action with Emily.
I’m not surprised they are all in there, though; we typically do this on Sunday nights once the weather cools. It’s even more fun when there’s a fresh coating of snow on the ground, and we all make a mad dash for the hot steaming water while our feet are numb from standing in the snow. Dad sets up strings of twinkling white lights on the bushes surrounding the hot tub, and with the snow, it’s actually really cool.

Dave shouts from inside the tub, “C’mon, you two love birds! Get your asses in here, and please, make sure everyone knows whose legs they’re touching when in the water.”

A muffled groan sounds from my throat. “Really, Dave?” I ask as if I expected anything less.

“Hey, I’m just saying if people start getting frisky in here, it’s better to know beforehand, right?” Dave holds his hands up innocently as he takes a pull from his beer can. Courtney kicks Dave’s shin and tells him to stop being gross. If he so much as tries to touch my little sister, I will cut off his hand. Although, Josh is the one having more trouble than me right now as he watches Dave snuggle into Sue’s side. It also appears she might be in fact rubbing more than his leg under the water. Hey, I’m not going to judge. I’ll probably be doing the same thing to Emily once we’re in there. The bubbles and foam create a nice barrier to conceal actions, and the dark night sky is an added bonus.

Hopping in first, I make sure to sit next to Dave and put Emily beside Courtney. Dave gives me a stink eye as if wondering why the hell I’m sitting next to him.

Laughing, I say, “Oh, like hell I’m putting Emily next to you in here.” Dave shrugs his shoulders and leans back to put his arm around Sue. Emily and Courtney must see the same thing as me, because not a minute later, they get a nodding smile from Sue, confirming what I can only assume is that they are a couple now. I eye Josh at the other corner of the tub, while Courtney and Emily whisper something to each other. Josh is running his hands through his hair, sighing in frustration, and then he leans back and shuts his eyes. I’ve never understood his thought process with Sue, but he thought she would have been better off without him after he started working for the Massachusetts State Police. When he broke up with her, I knew it hurt him more than her. He’ll never admit it, but I know he still loves her. Love, it’s a funny thing sometimes.

Everyone goes quiet suddenly, and Emily slides over while rubbing my leg. Slowly moving her hand higher, her fingers move like spider legs creeping under my board shorts. She finally makes contact with my cock. I shoot her a look, silently asking her what she thinks she’s up to.

Leaning up to my ear, she softly nibbles at the bottom lobe, making my eyes roll into the back of my head. “It’s just us at your place tonight, right?” she asks softly. Nodding yes, I pull my arm around her waist, feeling her heart rate accelerate, as her body is now flush against me. She grabs my cock, whispering, “I think I need to feel this inside me tonight.”

She moves away from me slowly. Our eyes meet, and hers say everything. She’s taking control, and she knows she wants this. I ask her silently with my eyes so no one else in the hot tub knows what’s going on. She nods yes before sliding back to talk to Courtney. What just happened here? She tells me she’s ready to have sex with me tonight, and now she’s over talking to Courtney. Again I say, what a
cock-teasing vixen!

I run my wet hands through my hair as I let out a bated breath, knowing she’s making me wait. Reaching over to wrap my arm around her, I move closer toward her and kiss behind her shoulder. She continues her conversation with Courtney about sights around Paris, completely ignoring my advances. I take my opportunity for a sneak attack and slide my hand slowly from her waist under her bikini bottoms and over her sensitive area. She yelps, and her body goes rigid as she realizes now everyone knows what I just did. Smacking my chest, she jumps out of the hot tub and wraps a towel around her. Her face is bright red, and she takes off toward the garage after picking up her flip-flops.

“Good job, Jeremy,” Dave says. “If I were you, I’d be making my way up to your place to apologize to your girl.” Really? Dave is giving me relationship advice?

“Dave, you’re my best friend, so don’t take this the wrong way, but you’re the last person I want relationship advice from. I’ll handle my girlfriend my own way, got it?”

Tipping his beer can in the air toward me, I know he gets it. “Touché.”

As Courtney heads across the tub to talk to Sue, Josh moves over to my side. His eyes fixate on Sue and Dave across from him before he turns his head toward me. “Sometimes we tend to overlook what’s right in front of us. We let go of the only thing that allows us true happiness. When it’s too late, you know you can’t take it back. Don’t make that mistake with Emily. If you care for her the way I think you do, never allow yourself to think she’s better off with someone else,” he quietly says. While staring at Josh, I want to ask him why he ever thought letting Sue go was the right decision at the time. Sometimes I think he thought at some point she’d come back to him, and now he knows she’ll only be a friend.

I’m unsure of what to say or what to do to help ease his remorse; I just know I’ve got to go and talk to Emily. I’ve been sitting here in the hot tub listening to Josh for way too long. Pushing myself out of the hot tub, I quickly run the towel over my body, wiping off some of the dripping water and then slip into my sandals. Running up my stairs two at a time, I storm into my place, shutting the door behind me and making sure to lock it, just in case. I see my bedroom light on at the end of the hall, and I figure Emily must be changing. Shit. Why couldn’t I just keep my hands to myself in the water?

“Em?” Nothing.
Sigh.
I start walking toward the light, and when I enter my room, the sight before me makes my heart jump into my throat. Standing there in front of my full-length floor mirror, looking at herself is Emily. She’s wearing a matching black bra and thong with lace bows attached above her ass crack along with sky high black heels and black thigh high nylons. “Holy shit,” I mutter, slowly entering the room. How long was I out there for?

“Like what you see?” she asks, finally turning her head in my direction as she slowly rolls up a black thigh high nylon on her leg that’s perched on my storage trunk.

“Uh, Emily, what’s going on? I thought you were upset back there in the hot tub.” Then the realization hits me. “Wait. You did that on purpose?” I ask as I cross the room, now almost standing in front of her.