Rub-a-dub-dub in a Vail Hot Tub

Crystal frowned.

"That sounds like Rochelle and Valerie. They change boyfriends about every six weeks or so."

"They could be. They do act the part."

"So, how does a woman find the right man?"

"I think it's like you said -- It'll happen when it happens."

Crystal sighed.

"Maybe someday. Hey, tomorrow's our last day. What do you think we should do?"

We ended up going to another ski resort and looking around. It was much the same as ours, just on a different mountain. The prices were about the same. We did pick up some brochures about their summer program though. Lunch was another pizza, and then we went back to the lodge to pack. The bus would take us to the airport after breakfast the next morning, and Crystal said she didn't want to rush. We'd agreed to dinner that night in one of the restaurants in town.

At six, I was standing in the lounge waiting for Crystal. It seemed a little odd that this was the last time we'd be together and all we'd be doing was eating. I felt there should be something more. What had begun as a rather strained relationship between two people pushed together by their friends had become a true friendship, at least to me. I wasn't sure about Crystal. She'd shared a lot with me over the past few days, but she was still a little distant.

I was looking for another sweatshirt and jeans. What I saw was a sleek, black velvet dress cut low enough to show me some soft cleavage, black stockings and black heels. Her dark brown hair fell in rippling waves over her bare shoulders, and her face...her lips were a shade of muted red and her sparkling eyes were highlighted by some expertly done makeup. Crystal was grinning as she walked up to me.

"You look like you don't know me."

I laughed.

"I'm not really sure I do. Are you Crystal, or did you hide her somewhere and take her place?"

"I'm Crystal, but this is the Crystal I don't show much. I told you about that, remember?"

"You should show this Crystal more often. You're gorgeous."

"No, I'm not. I'm OK, but I'm not gorgeous."

"That's not what I'm seeing."

She looked at me and arched her perfect eyebrows.

"Does this mean you're going to try to get me into bed after dinner?"

"No, it just means I'm gonna be really proud that you're sitting at my table tonight."

"Well I'm pleased that you feel that way. Now, I'm starving. Help me with my coat and then let's catch the shuttle into town."

The dinner was great, expensive like all the meals in town but great. Like every other time we'd eaten out, Crystal asked the waitress for a separate check. She said it wasn't a date. We were just two friends eating together so she should pay for her own meal. Like every other time, I let her. At the lodge, we didn't go outside. We took a table in the lounge and ordered coffee.

Crystal didn't seem to want to talk much. She'd answer my questions, but that's about as far as it went. I asked her if I'd done something to upset her.

"No, it's just that I'm going to miss all this when I get back to Louisville.

"Yeah, I know what you mean. All the snow is beautiful, and the lodge is pretty great too."

Crystal looked at me. Her face was as serious as when she'd told me about how she grew up.

"That's not what I mean. What I mean is...oh damn, I shouldn't even be thinking this way."

"What way?"

"I know you were just being nice to me since our friends sort of hooked us up. I do appreciate that, and I'm going to miss it."

I smiled.

"Crystal, yes, they hooked us up, but that's not why I did things with you, well after that first night anyway. You're a smart girl and I like you."

"I know you do. You like me as a friend."

I suppose the feeling had been slipping up on me over the past few days and I'd ignored it, but now it hit me and it hit me hard.

"What if I said I'd like it to be more too? You sound like you want it to be more."

She shook her head.

"I don't know, I really don't know. I do and then I think of what happened before and then I don't. Then, I do and then I think of Mom and everything she went through and then I don't again. It's been driving me crazy all day knowing this is the last time I'll see you."

I stood up and held out my hand.

"Let's take a walk outside."

The view from the deck of the lodge was one you might find on a Christmas card. The full moon cast it's light on the pristine slopes of the mountain and the valley below, and highlighted the cloak of snow on every tree. The few stars that shone bright enough to overcome the moon and the lighting around the lodge were diamonds in the black sky.

I gently squeezed Crystal's hand.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?"

"Yes, it is."

"I could almost live here if it wasn't for the cold and the snow. I don't even like the few cold days we have in Nashville. I'm not sure I could take that for six months out of the year."

"I'm the same way. When it gets even cool, I freeze, and snow... ugh."

"It was fun here, though, wasn't it?"

"Yes, it was."

I put my arm around Crystal's waist and gently pulled her close.

"Crystal, I'm going to miss a lot of things from this week too. I'm going to miss seeing you in your jeans, sweatshirts, and running shoes. I'll miss the way you talk with me. I'd like for that to go on if you would. No promises, no strings, and no trying to get you to do something you're not ready to do. I'd just like to keep seeing you."

She looked up at me, and I saw a tear trickle down her cheek.

"Are you sure you really mean that?"

"Just as sure as I am that mountain will be there in the morning."

}{

I woke up from my daydream and saw Kristy curled up in one of the living room chairs fast asleep. She didn't take as many naps now as she did last year, but she would still fall asleep after playing hard. I understood that. I could have used a nap myself, and would have stretched out on the couch if Crystal hadn't yelled at me from the kitchen.

"Have you seen the cake mix I bought last week? I'm sure I put it on the counter when I got back."

I walked into the kitchen and then to the pantry. Even after all these years, Crystal still doesn't know how to keep things where she can find them. Sometimes it's a pain in the ass, but it's one of the things that I love about her.

"It's right here where the cake mix goes. I put it there when we put things away."

"Oh, I guess I should have looked there first. You need to start the grill. Sharon and Bill will be back from shopping in an hour. I have to bake Kristy's birthday cake and get everything else ready while it's baking."

I went out on the deck, filled the grill with charcoal, and started it burning. Then I sat down in one of the chairs and started remembering again.

}{

That night, so many years ago, Crystal had put her arms around me and hugged me.

"I was hoping you felt that way. I want it to go on, and...and I'm ready for it to be a lot more."

I kissed her there under the sparkle of the sky diamonds and staring eyes of the snow covered mountain and snow clad trees. When I eased back, she was smiling.

"If that's the start, I can hardly wait until the end."

I undressed her that night in my room, slowly revealing the woman I'd known for such a short time but had developed feelings for I wouldn't have believed could happen so quickly.

In her bra, panties and stockings, Crystal was erotic. Without her bra and panties she looked delicate, sensuous, and vulnerable. I kissed her again, then laid her on the bed and took off my clothes.

She snuggled up beside me when I eased down beside her. Her breasts pressed into my side as she moved her fingers through the hair on my chest. I stroked her back and then cupped one soft, smooth hip in my hand.

"Crystal, are you sure about this?"

I felt her hand tickle my belly as she searched for my stiffening cock.

"Remember what you said about the mountain being there in the morning? I want you to be here in the morning too."

That first time was an exquisite experience in how a man and a woman can make each other feel. Each caress to her firm, yielding breasts caused a little moan to slip from Crystal's throat and then an answering stroke to my cock. My kiss to her small nipples stiffened them and caused another moan. When my fingertips found the soft bush on her mound, Crystal opened her thighs, then sighed when I traced the length of her soft lips.

The same fingertip slipped between her lips and stroked the wetness inside, then found her entrance. Crystal covered my mouth with hers then, and moaned around our touching tongues when I eased it inside her.

When her hips began rocking slightly, Crystal whispered, "I don't want you to hurt your ankle. Let me do this."

I felt her soft thighs moving over mine as she straddled me and the soft curls over her sex brushed against my rigid cock. She bent down, locked her mouth on mine again and sent little shocks through my body with her tongue. Then, she raised up and reached between us. My cock jerked at her touch, and then I felt Crystal moving the head between her warm, wet lips. She found her entrance and slowly lowered her body. I felt her rippled passage sliding down over my cock, further and then further still until she was sitting on my thighs.

She began riding me then, just raising her body and then lowering it until her soft ass cheeks touched my thighs again. I found her breasts and gently squeezed them, then brushed her nipples with my thumbs. Crystal caught her breath, and her hips jerked a little.

The end was exhilarating. Crystal eased down to take her weight with her arms and began to stroke faster. She was breathing rapidly already, and began to pant when I lightly pinched her nipples. She gasped when I pulled on them a little.

"Oh God, I'm there."

"It's hard to describe the feeling except to say we both became one then. Both of us shuddered as it started as a little tremor, then gasped as it became overpowering wave that crashed into our bodies and minds. Crystal thrust her body down over my cock just as it spewed my seed inside her. She cried out then, and I felt contractions massaging my cock as it spurted again and again. Crystal kept stroking until she couldn't hold herself up any more. She collapsed on my chest and buried her face between my neck and shoulder.

"Mmmm...that was fantastic."

"Yeah. I don't remember it being so great before, but then, it was never with you before."

Crystal sighed and sent goose bumps down my arms.

"Let's just stay like this all night."

Well, we tried, but when she went to sleep, I gently rolled her onto her back and covered her up. The next morning, we skipped breakfast. Crystal said she wanted one more time since it would be at least a week before we'd see each other again.

I drove I-65 enough in the next six months I could have gotten from Nashville to Louisville in my sleep. Six months was what it took to convince Crystal I couldn't live without her and to convince both sets of parents we were right for each other. We were married on the third of June and spent our honeymoon back in Vail at the same lodge. This time, instead of snow, everything was green grass and wildflowers and wildlife to be watched in the mountain valley. There were also couples to be watched, and we had some good laughs speculating about which guys would get lucky and which, like Jack and Kirk did that week, would strike out.

Yes, both of them did strike out, but it wasn't for lack of trying. They were just up against a couple of professional flirts. By the end of the week, Rochelle had met the ski instructor and promptly dumped Jack. Valerie had tripped in the lounge and made a trip to the first aid station. According to Crystal, first aid wasn't the only thing he gave her, and he kept giving it to her for the rest of the week.

The grill was glowing red with coals, so I walked back inside.

"The grill's ready. Where are they?"

Crystal smiled.

"They're always late, but so were we. Have you forgotten?"

"No. We had some great times, didn't we?"

"We still do when I can get you away from the computer."

I walked over and patted Crystal on her jean-covered ass. Her jeans were a couple sizes bigger than when we met as were her bras, but she was just that much more sensuous and desirable.

"Maybe they'll leave early and we can have a little fun tonight. I cleaned the hot tub yesterday. You can put on your white bikini and we'll play."

"Uh-uh. No bikini. Not where the neighbors can see my tummy."

I cupped her breast through the T-shirt and bra and felt the nipple rise.

"I'll turn out the light so they can't see. It'll just be you and me."

I stroked her stiffening nipple.

"We'll have a rub-a-dub-dub, just us two in the tub."

Crystal pulled my hand off her breast and grinned.

"You go rub-a-dub-dub some tenderizer on those steaks. When they leave, we'll see how it goes. I can't find that old bikini, and it wouldn't fit my boobs and butt anymore anyway. If you turn out that light and talk to me nicely, I might be convinced to not wear anything. How would that be?"

As I rubbed the tenderizer into the steaks, I was smiling to myself. The girl I'd thought was a "plain jane" had become first a friend, then a beautiful, sensuous woman, then the love and lover of my life. I guess it was like she'd told me back then. If it was going to happen, it would happen no matter what we did. We tried for four days to make it not happen, and it happened anyway. I guess fate is like that. I'm glad it is.