Friends First

Robbie, of course, didn't dare imagine his friend was up to anything like what she really was doing as he returned to his room. Though his heart was full of the joy that can only come with the sense of having made a new best friend, he reminded himself with every step not to repeat the mistakes he'd made with Martine. It's different with women. They can have a deep emotional conversation with anyone, anytime. Don't be a fool and think she's falling for you! That sense of urgency to guard his heart that he'd been feeling for weeks was running higher than ever, even as his arms prickled with the lingering sensation of wonder at holding Mary Beth however fleetingly. Losing battle or not, he remained determined to fight on as best he could.

For all that, when Robbie got back to his own room, he knew there was no chance of getting to sleep just yet. Once he had the door locked, he unbuckled his belt and gave in to the feelings he'd been trying so hard to fight off.

He closed his eyes and remembered...Mary Beth's breasts had felt utterly divine pressed up against him for those few beautiful minutes. It was ever so easy to imagine how much better they would feel in his hands, not to mention the pleasure his gentle fingers could give her. There she stood, just before him, nude and uninhibited, grinning down at his hands as they massaged her breasts just right, occasionally laughing and wiggling at the sensations he inspired. Her dark ringlets fell enticingly over her shoulders and down her bare back, demanding attention even now, but even that couldn't divert his loving gaze from her curves and bush, which he was sure was of the same lush dark shade. Now he saw himself running his fingers through the dark curls, and her squealing and moaning as he probed ever so gently, and he set about rubbing up a storm as he imagined stroking her into a lather. Woefully unaware that Mary Beth was riding her own imagination of him into an orgasm down the hall, he soon came to the imaginary grunts and screeches that he didn't know he'd have been welcome to hear for real.

Once his orgasm passed and the room came back into focus, Robbie once again found his resolve. It wasn't to be, and he ought to be grateful that such a wonderful woman wanted to even be his friend. With that settled, he put her from his mind and went about the business of getting ready for bed.

But no sooner was he under the covers with the light out than his mind once again wandered to the memory of her breasts pressing against him.

In the morning, Robbie was at least able to put his dilemma with Mary Beth from his mind. For the moment, he had a bigger problem: just what would Jed have to say to him? Though he didn't regret his subterfuge, he had his heart in his throat as he approached the restaurant for breakfast duty.

But to his shock, Jed was all smiles with him. "You got me good, man," he admitted. "Pam wouldn't even tell me what I really said, she said it wouldn't be appropriate for the workplace. Whatever it was, at least that lady'll always remember me."

"You can say that again," Robbie said cautiously.

"Speakin' of ladies, Robbie," added Barry, "When are you gonna ask Mary Beth out already?"

"What?" Robbie forced a smile and did his best to sound easygoing, and failed miserably.

"She's crazy about you, man!" Jed said. "Everyone's saying so, even some of the guests yesterday thought you guys were a couple."

"Really?" Robbie certainly wanted to believe it.

"Just yesterday, when the rest of us were at the pool, she was wishing you were there," Barry said.

"That's right," Jed added. "You're a lucky guy, Robbie. Don't blow it, huh?"

Robbie didn't have any shifts in common with Mary Beth for the day, so he had until their swimming date after lunch to ponder the news. Could it be true? He had to admit he had no way to prove it wasn't, and hadn't she always been friendly and cheerful with him? But she was like that with everyone, and why would Jed wait to encourage him until after what he'd pulled yesterday? Would Jed pull a dirty trick like that?

Of course he would, Robbie reminded himself through the happy visage he kept with all the guests. Especially after yesterday! And yet, the flicker of hope that it might really be true just wouldn't go away, all through the quiet morning shift. She had, after all, invited him to join her at the pool, a fairly intimate move that she must have realized would put ideas in a guy's head. That nearly settled it for him - at the very least, she was comfortable enough with him that he could ask her this afternoon. With that on his mind, he was free to enjoy the pleasantries with the guests and the unexpected camaraderie with Jed and Barry, and feel at one with the stubborn promise offered by the early spring weather out the window. Wasn't late March always like that! The last gasp of winter, but the promise of spring wouldn't quit, with April just around the corner...

April.

It occurred to Robbie just as he was pouring a second cup of coffee for a middle-aged couple from back East, and he managed to keep his cool and nod his acknowledgment of their thanks. Then, with the coffee pot empty, he had an ironclad excuse for retreating to the kitchen.

"April fool's!" he muttered under his breath in the loud anonymity of the kitchen as he waited for a cook to refill the coffee pot. Too clever by half, old Jed was. We'll see who's the biggest fool, won't we? Robbie thought, and he put on his waiter's smile and returned to work.

Mary Beth's heart had been flying high all morning. Even a boring shift setting up the ballroom and listening to Geoff regaling Chad with another story about his conquest of Dawn had failed to shoot her spirit down. Now with their date for the pool fast approaching, she felt downright giddy as she gave herself the once-over in the pink flowered bikini she'd never let the other guys see her in. Dawn had assured her they would not be at the pool this afternoon, though, so the coast was clear for her to knock Robbie's socks off.

Would it actually do that? She couldn't help wondering as she stood hands-on-hips and assessed her reflection in the mirror. Did her breasts sag a bit too much in the top? Wasn't her belly a touch too large to pull off this look? And did she trust the bottom part to keep everything covered? Then again, it might not be a bad thing if it did betray a few curls here and there - if Robbie was the sort who wanted his women looking bald as coots, he wouldn't be right for her anyway.

Mary Beth took a deep breath and told herself to stop being so self-critical...after all, Robbie would have hangups about his own body too, and he wouldn't be assessing her like a judge at a pageant. That idea made her laugh, and she had her confidence back as she pulled on a long t-shirt and grabbed up her towel for the walk to the pool.

When she blossomed forth from the women's locker room, Robbie couldn't help but let his guard slip a bit. He could feel the goofy grin on his face but trying to hide it was hopeless. "Well, hello!" he said, and he was vaguely aware that he was crossing his legs just in case there was an even more visceral reaction to hide.

"Hi, Robbie." All Mary Beth's earlier reservations were gone once she saw the way he was looking at her. "Glad you could make it this afternoon. We've missed you so many times before!"

"Sorry, I guess I'm usually just too tired after my shift," Robbie lied.

He didn't realize he'd been averting his eyes until Mary Beth said, "Don't be shy, Robbie, okay?"

"What do you mean?" Now he did look at her, only just winning the battle to look only at her face.

"Oh, you know what I mean! If I didn't want you to see me like this, I wouldn't have invited you to come swimming, would I?"

"Good point," Robbie chuckled. "So I guess it's okay if I say you look beautiful?"

"Thank you, and of course it is!" She held her hand out. "Join me in the pool?"

"I'd love to." Robbie took her hand and stood up, and side by side they slipped into the warm water. "Oh, that always feels so good after the lunch rush, doesn't it?"

"I thought you were always too tired to come here?" Mary Beth reminded him.

"Oh, right. True, it's just...well, I meant I'm sure it would always feel this good if I got here more often." Robbie was all too sure she knew the truth, but it was too late to come clean.

"It does," Mary Beth said. "I wish you would join us more often. It gets lonely with the others being their usual selves, you know."

"Don't tell me Geoff even whines about nice guys here?"

"Especially here!" Mary Beth said. "Think about it, Robbie, we're all half-naked, of course he's got something to prove!"

"And I'm sure he gives you just as many furtive looks as the other guys, right?"

"Probably more. But I do my best not to notice that."

"I do have to admit, it's hard not to look," Robbie quipped. "I'm sorry if..."

"Robbie! Stop apologizing!" Mary Beth helped herself to a hug, which Robbie eagerly returned in spite of himself. He could feel his resolve melting by the second, and he couldn't have let go for anything.

Mary Beth didn't let go either. "How are you feeling, Robbie?" she asked.

"Comfortable." It was the only word that came to his mind, and he was surprised to find it was true.

"Me too," she said. "Last night was so nice. I'm glad we finally had a chance to get to know each other better."

"Thanks. Anytime you want to get together to talk..."

"Only to talk, Robbie? Are you sure?" Mary Beth pulled back just far enough to look him in the eye, and she was ready to kiss him at the first sign that he'd welcome it.

April Fools, Robbie reminded himself, and he forced himself to say, "Yes, only to talk. I'm not Geoff, I'm not trying to push you into anything, I promise!"

Though she could feel him getting hard against her leg, Mary Beth didn't argue the point and reluctantly let him go. "I never thought you were playing his game, Robbie. I just meant, you know, if you want to explore more..."

"Let's be friends first." Until after the first of April, anyway. "We both said last night that was a good thing, didn't we?"

Mary Beth nodded. "Sure." She was tempted to remind him that they had already been friends for two months. But she knew a lost cause when she saw it.

She didn't try to touch him again for the rest of the afternoon, which was spent in pleasant conversation, and contented herself with admiring his lithe, wet body and with the memory of what she'd felt against her leg. That lovely memory served her well when she finally got back to her room, having told Robbie she wanted to take a quick nap before dinner duty. She didn't even try to nap in reality, but she did make good use of her bed just the same.

Mary Beth would have welcomed Robbie back in her room that very evening. But when Barry and Chad invited one and all to join them for cards and beer in the staff lounge after dinner, Robbie was the first to say yes. Dawn declined because there was a movie she wanted to watch on television. Though Mary Beth didn't recognize the movie, she gladly accepted the invitation to join her.

So Robbie found himself keeping up his charade on his own with the guys.

They almost made it too easy. "Heard you went swimming with Mary Beth," Jed said almost as soon as they'd all opened their first beers. "You like what you saw?"

"Of course," Robbie said. "Beautiful."

"You ask her out yet?" Chad asked.

"Nah," Robbie said. "Playing hard to get, you know?"

"Man, don't pull a Geoff on her!" Barry said. "Aren't you the one always saying women don't like that?"

"I never told anyone to play hard to get," Geoff said. "I just said -"

"Man, shut up!" Chad said. "You're all about telling everyone how to manipulate women!"

"He's right, Geoff," Robbie said. And yeah, I know I'm always saying women don't like it. Just that this is such a small community, you know, if it didn't work out..."

"If she liked me the way I hear she likes you, I'd make sure it worked out," Jed said.

"I plan to," Robbie said. "But you know, I'm also the one always saying friends-first."

"Aren't you already friends?" Chad asked.

"That's the problem," Geoff piped up. "The friend zone."

"I sure hope we are, and you know I don't believe in the friend zone," Robbie said.

"I wouldn't make a girl like that wait, man," Jed said. "You know, I might just give her a try myself if you don't."

"Then may the best man win," Robbie said with a triumphant smile. "Now are we here to play cards or not?"

Down the hall, Mary Beth did her best to lose herself in the movie. But the moment the credits rolled, Dawn wanted to hear all about the latest with Robbie.

Mary Beth didn't really mind; it was a relief to open up to someone about it. "I knew he was shy," she said in conclusion to a brief summary of the afternoon, "But if I didn't know better I'd say he was pushing me away."

"It sounds to me like the poor guy is terrified," said Dawn, who of course knew he had every reason to feel that way.

"Terrified of what?" Mary Beth suddenly felt awfully frustrated. "He knows me well enough to know I'm not the type who'd hurt him, and now he knows I know what it's like to be hurt." She looked down at the bed, lost in melancholy thought.

Dawn, feeling horribly guilty, took her friend's hand. "Robbie's a sweet guy, he just doesn't want to get hurt. And I think he also might be afraid you're going to think he's like Geoff!"

Mary Beth laughed. "As a matter of fact, we talked about that! If you don't mind my asking, Dawn, if you know what he's like..."

"It's a long story," Dawn said. "Let's just say I love him in spite of that, not because of it. And it has been good for our relationship that we were friends for so long, even if he does tend to be a jerk about it."

"If you say so," Mary Beth said. "I guess you'd know about being friends first."

"If he said he wanted to be friends first, that's really not such a bad thing, is it?"

"I guess," Mary Beth said. "It's just, we get along so well, the attraction's there, and we already were friends! I can't help thinking he's trying to put me off, and I can't figure out why."

"I know what you mean. Some people get awfully scared when they fall in love, you know."

Mary Beth nodded. "So true, and Robbie and I both found that out for ourselves so recently." She stood up. "Well, I'm on breakfast duty tomorrow. Thanks for listening to me whine."

Dawn laughed and hugged Mary Beth good night, and they were still wrapped up in each other's arms when Geoff stumbled in the door. "Aw, man," he said. "Five more minutes and you'd have stripped down to your undies for a pillow fight!"

Mary Beth and Dawn laughed, the latter keeping to herself that Geoff quite possibly wasn't joking, and Geoff ducked into the bathroom.

Dawn saw their guest to the door, wishing her good night and good luck. She was just returning to the bed when Geoff came bounding out, shaking the waterdrops off his freshly-washed hands. "Care to go out with a bang?" he said, reaching out for her.

She swatted his hand away. "Geoff, how can you expect me to want to make love when you're playing such a cruel trick on our friends?"

"Only me?" Geoff demanded. "Weren't you the one who got Mary Beth in on the joke? What do you mean 'our friends', plural, anyway?"

"I think she really does like him, Geoff, and anyone can see he likes her. Destroying that is just wrong."

"Who says they won't end up together anyway?" Geoff flopped down on the bed and unbuckled his belt. "Robbie can take a joke, and you know he's got it coming."

"Geoff! Isn't that just the sort of thing where you always whine about how nice guys don't do it and they still don't get the girl?"

"Exactly. Look at Robbie. He's so repressed you might even think he's gay if you haven't seen the way he looks at you and Mary Beth when your skirts are swirling. The man needs to learn, unless you want to be friendzoned for two or three years, you have to pretend you're not as nice a guy as he is. Maybe now he'll learn."

"Geoff, that's disgusting." Dawn crossed her arms and sat down on the edge of the bed, facing away from Geoff as he got up to finish undressing.

"Can't argue with success, can you?" Geoff, down to his boxers, shuffled across the bed and slipped his arms around Dawn from behind. Though she wanted nothing to do with him at the moment, she allowed it, reasoning that she had nowhere else to go tonight and she'd known what she was getting into when she gave in to him in the first place. "Don't you remember how we fell in love?" He kissed her neck just the way she loved it, and to her considerable frustration, it worked as well as ever as she let out an involuntary coo.

"I remember suspecting you were trying to manipulate me back when we were just friends," Dawn said once she'd regained control.

"Can't manipulate a girl if she doesn't want to be manipulated, can you?"

That was a bridge too far. Dawn wrenched his hands apart and stood up. "Oh yes you can, Geoff, and you know it! Even if you didn't know it then, you know it now!"

"Well, you fell for me too, didn't you?" Geoff remained defiant, though Dawn could see hurt in his eyes - the same hurt she remembered from whenever he'd seen her with another guy while they were friends. "I mean, it took a while, but that's nothing for true love! Don't you remember our first night, the way you fell into my arms and knew I'd been right all along?"

Dawn glared at him. She had only the fuzziest memory of that night, when she'd been quite drunk and heartbroken over an ex who'd gone back to his high school sweetheart. The one and only thing she clearly remembered thinking as she gave in to her friend was, given how long he'd obviously been pining for her, at least he'd never dump her.

A year and change later, he still hadn't. And she did like the stability he offered. But another thing also hadn't changed. From that morning when she'd woken up hung-over and naked in Geoff's bed, she'd told herself time and again that since they'd been good friends, in time she would fall in love with him as well. It had never happened, and now she was sure as ever that it never would.

But it wouldn't do to tell him that now, when they were in the middle of nowhere and had to spend at least the next few months working together every day. She also didn't care to lose him as a friend, as she knew she would if they broke up. Dawn had long since made up her mind, there was no such thing as a friend with whom she'd had sex - she just wasn't capable of putting that genie back in the bottle.

At least Geoff wasn't bad in the sack.

"Yeah," Dawn finally said. "Yeah, I should've seen long before how right you were for me."

"But I was worth the wait, wasn't I?" Geoff scrambled off the bed and pulled his boxers down, and Dawn willingly took his hard cock in both hands. It certainly beat sleeping alone.

So did his gentle hands pulling her top off and expertly undoing her bra in a graceful motion even she couldn't do herself. Once again she was quietly impressed at his adept touch with her breasts, which he now worked into a wonderful lather while also kissing her neck. Dawn could only just remember to stroke him just the way she liked, which she was still a bit embarrassed that she'd had to ask him to show her.

The first time they'd made love sober, Dawn had found herself wondering just how many times Geoff must have imagined caressing her body before he'd ever even seen it. She never had asked him, and certainly she wasn't about to do that now. The whole idea made her feel a bit guilty about how enamored he'd always been with her when the feeling still wasn't mutual in her heart of hearts. It had at least always turned her on full-blast. No matter what she did or didn't feel about Geoff, there was nothing like being kissed and touched all over the place by someone she knew was crazy about her.