Love's Harmony Ch. 07

The next thing she knew, she was being picked up off the lounge. As she felt herself rise and strong arms under her, her eyes flew open as a startled shriek escaped from her lips. Her surprised gaze fell on Brian's laughing face as he lifted her out of the lounge. "Time for a swim, sweetheart!"

"Brian ... no! Put me down!" she said, kicking her legs as her arms went around his neck. Their eyes locked at the simple touch, hers startled at the look he suddenly gave her . . . unleashed passion burning there. He stopped at the pool's edge, simply holding her in his arms. She watched him for a long moment, her body suddenly on fire where it pressed against his.

"Throw her in, Brian!" came the call, suddenly breaking the spell they had both been under.

"Brian!" she wailed once more, her legs kicking again. "Put me down!"

"Okay," he said, suddenly releasing her. A startled scream resounded as she fell, bottom first into the cold water. She came out from under the surface sputtering, her hair streaming into her face.

"Brian! I swear!" She could hear laughter as she went under once more, throwing her head back and running her hand down the back of her hair to get it out of her eyes. When she came back up, Brian wasn't standing on the edge anymore. He was in the process of jumping over her, a huge splash drenching her once more. "Now, you're mine!" she swore, laughing as she jumped on top of him, holding his head under the water.

Suddenly, the water erupted as the rest of the band jumped back into the water: A.J., Howie, and Kevin. Nick had already reached them, pulling her off the top of Brian as he came out from under her, sputtering for breath. She pushed away from Nick, laughing as she kicked clear from the oncoming group and swam for the opposite side. Just as she thought she had made it clear, she felt strong hands on her ankle, pulling her back into the group. She looked over her shoulder, seeing Brian's hand on her leg. "Oh, no you don't," he said, pulling her towards them. She laughed, kicking at him as her arms pumped harder to swim away.

Just as she got loose, Kevin reached out for shoulder, missed and grabbed the string tie to the top of her suit instead. As she swam out of their reach, it suddenly gave way and stayed in Kevin's hand. At their uproar, she turned to see him holding it triumphantly over his head. Her mouth fell open as her arms instinctively crossed over her chest. The guys were either laughing or whopping loudly and she feel her face turn red at the embarrassment of the situation. She looked over to where Fatima had been, but she had already gone in. She could hear Kevin saying, "Look what I've got!" And then, "It was an accident, I swear!" and then he burst into laughter.

"Guys," she said, taking a step towards them and then, remembering her situation, stepped back again. "Guys," she pleaded. "Give me back my top!"

By now, they were passing it around between them and she couldn't help but laugh with them. "Guys . . ." But they weren't listening and she knew she wasn't in the position to bargain with them.

"What'll you give us if we help you out?" Nick teased her, coming closer to where she stood.

She tightened her hold around her chest, staring at him as he approached. "Nick," she called. "That's close enough!" She laughed and then said, "Nick, please help me out. Give me my top."

He shrugged his shoulders at her, saying, "I don't have it."

"Go get it," she pleaded. "Please . . ."

"Now, why would he do that?" Howie said, coming over to lean his arm against Nick's shoulder. "For once, we have you right where we want you." They both laughed for a moment as she looked at them, trying to muster the best evil look she could. All it succeeded in doing was make them laugh even more.

"Okay, that's enough," she called over their shoulders to where Kevin stood with A.J. Brian had gotten out of the pool and stood drying off with his towel. "Guys, I have work to do."

"Bullshit!" A.J. called back. "You've been out here goofing off with us. Now, all of a sudden, you have work to do." He laughed, grabbed the top from Kevin and swam for the steps. He sat on the second step, twirling her bikini top around one of his fingers, taunting her. "Come and get it," he challenged her, knowing full well that she wouldn't.

She quickly looked around at the guys, knowing they weren't going to give in and no one was here to help her. Refusing to stay trapped in the pool all afternoon, she crossed over to the closest side of the pool, dropped her hands from her breasts, hauled herself out of the pool and turned to face them. All of their mouths dropped open, none of them able to say anything as they gawked at her. She strode over to where A.J. sat, grabbed the top out of his hand and gave his head a small push. "Jerk," she muttered, grabbing her towel as she passed by where she had left it.

Wrapping the towel around her chest, she turned once more to where they still stood in the pool, she said, "You guys need to get a life." As she strode past where Brian stood, she gave him one good shove, sending him flying into the pool along with his towel. She laughed whole-heartedly as she left the pool area, still recalling the shocked looks on their faces, especially Brian's. It had done her heart some good when she had shoved him into the pool. She wanted him to feel some of her frustration.

Suddenly A.J. was there beside her. "Jen, I'm sorry. We shouldn't have done that. I apologize." She stopped suddenly, looking back at the pool where he had left his friends. Kevin, Howie and Nick were horsing around again, but she could see Brian standing in the shallow end, watching them as he wrung out his now soaked towel.

"You should be," she said, looking back at A.J. Nick burst out of the pool and ran up to them.

He grabbed her into his embrace and swung her around in a circle before putting her down again. "Hey, you're not pissed are you?" he said, smiling down at her. His eyes bore into hers and she smiled back at him.

"Yeah, as a matter of fact I am," she told him. "You guys act like a bunch of high school kids . . ." She stopped for a minute, feigning innocence as she added, "Oh that's right . . . you just were a high school kid."

He shook his head and laughed. A.J. watched the two of them bickering back and forth and suddenly felt left out in the cold. Where he had wanted to talk to Jennifer and apologize, the moment had been snatched out of his hand quickly and he wasn't sure how that made him feel. He placed his sunglasses back on before turning back to pool, throwing one last look behind him at Nick holding Jennifer close.

"I can't believe you said that!" he said, tickling her through the towel that was still wrapped around her chest.

"Well, it's the truth!" she argued, laughing as she tried to twist away from him. She noticed that Brian was still standing in the shallow end of the pool, his eyes watching them and then suddenly she leaned in towards Nick, kissing him lightly on the lips. Where she had just wanted to show Brian that two could play at the game she felt he was playing with her, suddenly became more real. Nick quickly took her in his arms, and she stood, encircled by his warmth, feeling his desire for her as he held her close and they kissed. She was breathless when they stopped and she stepped away from him, her eyes flying back to the pool where Brian turned away from them then, his eyes hidden from her gaze.

"Jen . . ." Nick began, his eyes searching hers.

She turned towards him again, wondering if this is where she belonged. Maybe she had been wrong about Brian. But how could that be? "I'm sorry Nick," she said. "I shouldn't have done that."

"Yes, you should've," he said, stroking her arms gently. "I should've done it a long time ago."

"Nick," she said. "I have to be honest with you. I . . ."

He cut her off quickly. "I don't want you to say anything right now," he said, placing a finger on her lips. "I just want you to know that I'm here and that I care about you." He stopped for a moment, searching her eyes. "I really do."

She just looked at him a moment, desperately wishing that it was Brian, not Nick, standing here saying these things to her. "I know," she said, turning away from him as she headed back to her room. She turned back to face him once more, "I don't want to hurt you Nick."

"You won't," he said, watching her walk away. He turned back towards the pool, seeing Brian's eyes on him and he knew it wouldn't be long before they had to talk about it. And he wasn't sure he wanted to confront his best friend about it . . . not sure at all. What he didn't know is that A.J. was watching them as well.