The Warmest Winter, Day 03

"Depends on what you mean by longer..." he began, then explained the plowing situation. Cassie looked pleased, Veronica looked unsurprised, and Jenny was unreadable. Maybe he had pushed her away a little too hard yesterday; now she wasn't close enough for him to observe what she was going to do next. What was that adage? Keep your friends close... Besides, he was starting to like her as much as Veronica and Cassie.

"So, who here is most likely to get cabin fever?" he concluded. Cassie and Jenny zeroed in on Veronica, who sheepishly raised a hand.

"She's the only non-geek," Cassie supplied.

"I am not a geek," Jenny objected.

"I dunno," Mike said, "Veronica was getting pretty good at Duck Hunt. I think you may all be geeks."

"I am not a geek!" Jenny repeated emphatically.

"Something wrong with being a geek?" Mike countered.

"Yeah, Jenny," Cassie joined in, playfully. Even Veronica folded her arms in mock indignation, giving Mike a fantastic view of her cleavage, again.

"Well, no... but, I... it's..." After a reluctant sigh, Jenny muttered something.

"What was that?" Veronica prodded.

"I said, 'As soon as the snow started, my first thought was "Winter is coming".' Happy now? I am a geek. I'm a geeked-out geeky geek. My favorite show is the Big Bang Theory and I can follow most of what they say, even the physics. If I met a Star Trek captain, I'd kidnap them." Whatever she was going to say next was squeezed out of her lungs by the hug Cassie gave her.

"So proud of you," Cassie said, "You can have cookies now!"

"That one I don't get," said Jenny to Mike.

"It's meta-geekdom. 'Join the Dark Side. We have cookies.' Geeks had memes long before the Internet was invented."

"Ah. I've got a long way to go."

"But very well, you are learning, young padawan."

The rest of lunch consisted of Cassie coaching Jenny on the tenets of geekdom, with Veronica and Mike just sitting back and listening.

"You gonna join, too?" Mike asked.

"Eh," Veronica shrugged, "I'll take it in small doses. A little geek goes a long way for me."

Lunch wrapped up when Cassie went back to cooking and Mike had to admit he still had more work to do. Jenny wanted to keep going withA Clash of Kings.Veronica sighed, then decided to try her hand at Pac-Man.

*****

A couple of hours later, Mike headed downstairs to keep Veronica company again. Before he even reached the bottom of the steps, he noticed an increase in the humidity, with the unmistakable whiff of sweat on the air.

Sure enough, Veronica had changed into her exercise clothes and was in the middle of her cool-down stretches. Mike leaned against a wall and watched, as she had not noticed him yet. Her neck-length blonde hair was held back by a sweat band, and she wore ankle-high socks with tennis shoes. Her body was about as open as before, but her gym shorts showed the specific curvature of her rear end so much better than a pair of cutoffs, and to Mike's delighted surprise, her workout t-shirt was even tighter than the one she was using for daywear.

They really weren't kidding about taking care of themselves, Mike observed. Veronica's workout shirt was covered in sweat. For that matter, so was she. Her stretches were nearly as strenuous as her exercises. Mike didn't think that some of the positions she got herself into were even possible, let alone achievable with the ease Veronica displayed. He was so wrapped up in appreciative reverie that he forgot to watch her eyes.

"Like what you see?"

"Hmm, what?" Mike said, and Veronica laughed, "Oh, I, uh, didn't want to disturb you."

"You mean you didn't want to stop the show."

"It's not like that, really."

"That's a shame."

My god,Mike thought,She's flirting with me!He smiled.

"Well, maybe a little," Mike conceded, "You are, after all, 'hot, sexy, gorgeous, pretty, beautiful,' and of course, adorable."

Veronica smirked. "I'll get you for that."

"Looking forward to it."

"Good. You're keeping me company in the shower."

Mike's brain spun for a second. "Come again?"

"Oh, not like that," Veronica said, "You're not that lucky. I mean, I get in the shower and shut the curtain, and you talk to me while I'm in there. Once I'm done, you leave so I can get dressed again."

"Sure, I guess."

Once Veronica's shower got going, they started talking about, of all things, Pac-Man, until:

"Is that a sunlamp?" Veronica finally looked up.

"Yes it is," said Mike, "shall I turn it on?"

"Oh, yes please, I love those!"

"All right; let me know when it's at the right setting." He turned the dial on the wall slowly.

"Ooh, there, perfect!"

The sunlamp was positioned inside the bathroom curtain line. Mike explained why he was so proud of its placement. Full bathrooms he had been in his entire life had lighting flaws. The shower was dark. The light was on the other side. So not only was the inside of the shower curtain wet, the darkness and moisture encouraged mildew and such. He cleaned as needed, but would rather it be prevented or at least slowed down.

Placing a sunlamp on the inside of the shower curtain helped dry off the curtain when the shower was done, helped keep the parts of a person warm that weren't in the shower water directly, and lit up the showering area a bit better.

And now that Veronica was backlit by it, Mike saw another incredible advantage. He could see Veronica's naked silhouette against the shower curtain, which had a translucent but not transparent texture pattern. He could see her form and her every movement, but she couldn't see him.

"I've been meaning to ask," he said, trying to conceal the rising lust in his voice, "I'd have asked sooner, but you asked about the sunlamp. Why do you only turn the water on for short bursts?"

"Oh, that?" Veronica asked, "It's something the Germans do, to conserve water. And I figured, since we don't have connection with public waterworks, and I've got the sunlamp to warm me while the water's off, it's a good idea."

A very good idea,Mike thought, as Veronica began to lather up her breasts. The pressure in his pants was getting uncomfortable. But she wasn't going to open the curtain until he left, right? His thoughts got daring.

He had been seated on the toilet lid the whole time, so now, with the slightest of movements, Mike unbuttoned and unzipped his pants, slowly, talking about this and that to cover the sounds. He was immensely thankful that he had forgotten to wear a belt today. At last, he was free, and he wrapped his hand firmly around his rigid member, and began to stroke himself, eyes locked onto the erotic shadowplay in front of him. He had to take it slow, though, because large and quick movements were probably still visible behind the curtain.

"No hurry, just curious," Mike said carefully, "But how much longer will you be?"

"Hey," Veronica said, "I will take as long with my perfect shampoo as I want. And you will wait, because you said you would."

"No problem; like I said, no hurry," Mike said, with absolute sincerity. She was bending over to soap up her legs.

In his hormone-swayed state, Mike had forgotten a couple of key details. Firstly, he did not actually know how much the curtain concealed from inside the shower. He had only ever seen the bathroom empty from that side. And secondly, the fluorescent bathroom light was far brighter than the sunlamp, which means his body was an even starker contrast with the bathroom than the shadow of Veronica which had turned him on so much.

Veronica could not believe her eyes. Mike was stroking himself, right in front of her, looking right at her through the curtain. She started to play with the idea of simply ripping the curtain back and exposing them both, so to speak, but decided to do something different than usual. One thing she could not help, though, was to glide one hand down to her pussy and slip a fingertip inside. From outside, it would look like ordinary lathering, but inside, it felt so- damn- good.

Okay, so he liked getting a show, huh? That, she could do.

Veronica re-soaped nearly her entire body. She turned and faced away. She didn't need to see him anymore; it was too much of a tease for her. Besides, with the water off, and knowing what to listen for, she could tell what was going on.

Mike was enthralled. Veronica was driving him crazy, and the slow rhythm he had to maintain was excruciatingly divine. His pulse was racing now – she had been caressing herself in front of him for almost ten minutes now. Between the sunlamp, what steam her shower produced, and his struggle to not be seen or heard, he was starting to sweat.

Veronica strained to hear, and then it happened: a sudden, sharp intake of breath. That would only happen if he had started to exert himself, as they weren't talking at the moment. And suddenly, she knew what she wanted. She wanted to see it, to seehimlusting for her. She wanted to watch him cum. She wanted to smell all of his sexuality, to taste him.

She turned the water on again, letting her hair rinse out. This put her profile in view of Mike, and his mouth watered further at the renewed view of her bust. Veronica knew for a fact he could see what she was doing, and it turned her on. As her hair was being rinsed out, she slid a hand back down again, and this time, slipped an entire finger into her soaking folds. She threw her head back, and began to finger-fuck herself.

Seeing her masturbate, to his shock, Mike was nonetheless relieved by the shower water noise. He increased his pace. He wanted to groan at the swell of sensations he had ached for.

Veronica had been turned on for most of the day, now. After their touching earlier, his obvious attraction to her, and the incredible extra energy she always got from a workout, she had been ready to climax since she got into the shower. Now, she finally let herself go.

Mike saw Veronica's legs straighten with tension, her arm increase its motions frantically, and her head whip back again. She was coming. Right in front of him, this gorgeous woman was getting herself off. He didn't care about making noise anymore. If she asked what he was doing, he wouldn't be able to answer. If she snapped open the curtain, he wouldn't be able to stop.

"Mike?" He froze. Apparently he had been wrong about what it would take to stop him.

"Yeah..." Mike was swiftly trying to shift mental gears without a clutch.

"I'm done now."

"Yeah..."

"Can I have some privacy to get dressed?" Veronica felt a little bad about teasing him like this, especially since she had already gotten off, but it was just too much fun.

"Right. Okay. I'll see you in a few." He shut the bathroom door behind him.

Mike had a burning desire to expend some spare energy before he went back upstairs for his final work segment of the day, so he got out the paddles and a Ping-Pong ball. When Veronica came out of the bathroom, his erection, which had been subsiding, began to slowly regain its composure. Lucky for him, the Ping-Pong table obscured him enough to keep his sexual interest a secret, or so he hoped.

Veronica got excited at the prospect of playing against Mike. Then again, she was excited anyway.

"How much experience do you have?" Mike asked.

"Counting yesterday? Yesterday."

"Got it. Okay, we'll use my house rules. I don't know if anyone else plays it this way, but it's how we'll play it here:

"First person serves. A serve is the ball either hitting the paddle, your side of the table, then the other person's side; or you can bounce the ball once on your side, and hit it like a regular shot. A regular shot is how all other Ping-Pong shots go: the ball hits your paddle, then your opponent's side, then they do the same.

"If you hit your side, they get a point. If you hit the net, they get a point. If it hits your side once, and then anything else, before you hit it back, they get a point. If you return the ball and it fails to hit their side of the table-"

"They get a point," Veronica said.

"Exactly. You must win by at least two points with a final score of at least twenty-one."

"Basically, there's a rhythm and you get penalized if you screw it up."

"Exactly, and the object of the game is to get the other to screw up the rhythm as much as possible. There's other rules, but I'll cover them as we go."

"Fair enough. So what's my handicap?"

"None."

"Oh, come on!"

"All right, fine," Mike said, and thought for a moment, "Okay, how's this: Truth Or Dare Ping-Pong. If you want to negate your opponent's points, ask them Truth or Dare. A True answer is one point, refusal to answer is two. An accomplished Dare is seven points, and a failed or refused Dare concedes the game. One request each is allowed whenever any point is scored."

"Ooh, I like these stakes! But for a start, you take an automatic minus two points, for messing with Pink Floyd."

Mike laughed. "Okay, fine. Your serve."

At first, the game was played without the extra rules, just straight Ping-Pong. Veronica had natural talent, but as they say, old age and treachery will beat youth and skill every time. Mike had a technique of alternating the ball from one edge of Veronica's table to the other, making her run back and forth to return the ball. Mike, on the other hand, stayed mostly in the middle. Veronica shot Mike especially venomous glares when he would bounce the ball off of the table edge, or worse, the corner, which made it careen away at an odd and virtually unhittable angle.

The score quickly became ten to three in Mike's favor. While Veronica caught her breath, which made her bosom heave tantalizingly to Mike's eyes, she said, "Dare."

Mike decided to see if she was really flirting with him, and whether they had the chemistry he felt earlier or not.

"I dare you," he said, "to take off your shirt and play the rest of the game like that."

"You're a cheeky one, aren't you?"

"Think of it this way: I'll be distracted by seeing you in your sports bra, which still covers more than a bathing suit, so your modesty's intact. You'll be cooler as you play, and the tightness of your shirt will no longer constrict your movements. I'm doing you a favor here."

Veronica gave Mike a long, appraising look. "You're either very clever or very bold."

"They are not mutually exclusive." Veronica smiled when he said this, and he smiled back.

Without further ado, Veronica gripped the hem of her shirt with her hands, and pulled it above her head. Of course she had noticed Mike's hard-on while they played, and took it as a compliment. She still felt bad about teasing him so mercilessly, but not enough to get this overwith quickly. Besides, the sweat really did make the shirt a bit sticky.

Mike had to brace against the table as Veronica slowly peeled – yes, "peeled" was the right word, he thought – her shirt up, revealing her full, round breasts, confined but straining against her bright blue sports bra. Once again, he saw her hardened nipples, even through the thick material. So, she was getting a kick out of this, too. This could be fun. He managed to compose himself as she tossed the shirt aside.

"The score is now three to three," said Veronica, "We are even."

"Truth," Mike declared instantly.

"Okay, what's your question?" Veronica asked, placing her hands on the table, leaning in and emphasizing her cleavage to Mike. It could have been innocent, but they both knew it wasn't. Neither of them noticed the question was directed the wrong way.

"Not that it matters," said Mike, "But as a guy, I have to know..."

"Implants," said Veronica, "What? Every guy gets the same look when he asks, and they all preface the question the same way. I'm a natural D, and these are just double Ds. It was a stupid college dare, and I got a top-rate surgeon to do it. Sometimes I can't even find the scars."

"I'd hara-kiri before I touched such beautiful breasts with a blade," Mike affirmed. Veronica actually blushed.

"Thanks," she said, "But I still like them. My two to your three. My serve?"

It was, and play resumed. The score reached fourteen to seven in Mike's favor.

"Dare," said Mike.

"But that'll put me back to zero!"

"I said Dare."

"All right, fine!" Veronica huffed.She was getting quite worked up now, for various reasons. She barely thought before she declared, "I dare you play the rest of the game in your boxers."

Mike froze. He was all for the direction things were going. After his mysterious encounters the past two days with Jenny and Cassie, some straightforward sexual flirting and antics was pretty damn welcome. But if he stripped to his last layer, his protruding boner was going to be, to put it lightly, noticeable.

"If you don't do it, you concede. I thought winning is what you do." Mike glared at her for that.

"Now who fights mean?" he asked rhetorically, but grinned. It was the smile of the hungry cat to the oblivious mouse.

When Mike reached behind his back and pulled his shirt off over his head, Veronica practically heard cheering inside her head. His chest wasn't as hairless as she liked in a man, but his cut was clear and distinct. This man was no office jockey. It had seemed suspiciously farfetched to her, him doing all the heroics he did to get them to safety during the blizzard, until that very moment. She never doubted it again.

Mike tossed his shirt over to land on top of Veronica's, a perfect shot. Then he stepped back from the table, and turned around. Veronica licked her lips unashamedly as she got a glimpse of Mike's butt. She appreciated a good, tight butt on a man; that's where the fine thrusting muscles are, the ones that really make a man maneuverable in the sack.

When Mike turned back around and threw his jeans over with the other clothes, Veronica barely managed to suppress a groan. God, she wanted him so badly. But what would he think of her? They'd only known each other three days. Did she really want Mike to be like all the other men, or would she wait this time? As tempted as she was, there was something she needed more.

"I want to ask you a Truth question."

"I've done mine for the round."

"The rules only say we get a question each, not to whom." They weren't actually following the rules at this point, but neither noticed or would have cared.

"...All right."

"If we were dating, what date would this be? I'm asking the sociologist here."

"Ah. There's a lot of norms to consider. I'll use mine. Lemme think... a date can easily have three meaningful hours of contact, but can still be called that with far less. This level of nudity is equivalent to, say, first or second base, depending on a few things. Off the top of my head, I'd say roughly the third or fourth date. Why do you ask?"

"I decline to answer," Veronica countered coyly.

"So that's how we're playing it, huh? Okay, you're at minus three and I'm at fourteen."

The game progressed, and Veronica used only Truth to quell Mike's score. He declined to adjust hers, mainly because of two things. Firstly, he rather liked the way the Dares were going. Secondly, she was starting to play better. Her learning curve was steeper than her physical ones. The score became eight to seven in Mike's favor.

The rounds were lasting longer now. Both Mike and Veronica were getting aggressive in their gameplay. Watching her move and her breasts bounce, seeing the steel in her eyes and hearing her grunt with effort, Mike's hard-on continued to be a presence.

She overshot once, giving him another point. Nine to seven. It hit Mike's erection, dead center.

"Sorry!" she said, "You need anything for it?"

"It didn't hurt," Mike said, "Wanna kiss it better?"

"You wish," she playfully shot back, folding her arms. That gave Mike an idea.

There was a shot he knew, which could embarrass an opponent so badly, the rest of their game would suffer. You hit the ball slightly faster and at a steeper angle, dead center. The change of speed causes the opponent to miss; the angle makes it fly into or right by their face. It's the Ping-Pong equivalent of the ball running through a first baseman's legs. If he adjusted it right, it might hit the underside of her chin, not too hard, and then...