Make It Last (Friends & Lovers 1)

“Nope,” he replied. “I’m all yours.”

“Okay. One o’clock will be perfect.” She tip toed up to give him a quick kiss before turning to go back to the kitchen. “I’ll see you then.”

Chapter Six

Briana and Kent were among the first people to arrive at the gravel pits. They parked along the side of the dirt road and unloaded the stuff from the car. Kent grabbed the charcoal grill and started walking.

“Hey, Bree, if you can bring the bags and blanket, I’ll come back for the food and charcoal,” he grunted back at her, as he carried his heavy load.

“Okay,” she replied, grabbing the backpacks and following him down the lane.

Once they reached the end of the path, they walked through a hole in the chain-link fence. It opened up to a large pool of crystal blue water.

Kent walked up to their usual spot by the water and set the grill down. He turned and stopped to kiss Briana’s forehead before heading back to the car to get the rest of their stuff.

She set up their blanket and put their backpacks down to hold it in place. It was a pretty hot day already, so she pulled her hair back into a ponytail and put her sunglasses on, then applied some sunscreen and chapstick. When she saw Kent coming back in through the fence, she went over to grab a bag from him.

“Kara texted and said that she and Pete are almost here. They just stopped to put ice in the cooler.” Briana said.

“Sounds good. I’ll just get the charcoal started. That way it’ll be hot enough to start cooking when everyone gets here. If you want to jump in while you have the place to yourself, go ahead.”

Briana loved swimming, and Kent knew she cherished these moments of solitude in the water. Pretty soon the pits would be filled with people, so she decided to take him up on his offer.

She looked out over the water as she shimmied out of her cutoff shorts, so she didn’t see the look on Kent’s face as he watched her get undressed. She took her top off next, then ran to the water and dove in.

She swam around, enjoying the feel of the cool water on her hot skin. When she came up for air, she turned back to say something to Kent, and saw that Pete and Kara had arrived. They were setting up next to Kent. She swam back towards the shore to get out and join them.

She walked out of the water, her hair slicked back with droplets cascading down her body.

That was the image that greeted Colin when Rich ushered him in through the fence. He stopped abruptly. Rich ran into his back, and Colin stood there, mouth open, as he watched her.

“Dude,” Rich yelled. “What the hell?”

Briana looked up at the sound of Rich’s voice and saw Colin watching her. The look on his face was enough to make her body tingle, and she couldn’t help but feel some satisfaction in the stupefied look on his face.

Kent looked up at Rich’s shout as well, and was less than happy to see the way Colin stared at Briana. The only one who seemed oblivious was Rich, who was still trying to shove Colin through the gate.

“Colin, I can’t walk through you, dude.”

Rich’s voice finally registered, and Colin said, “Sorry, man,” as he got out of the way.

Briana walked over to her friends and pulled Kara off to the side. “What the hell is Colin doing here?” she asked, trying to keep her voice down. “Did you know he was coming?”

“No, I had no idea,” Kara replied. “I’m sure Rich invited him. It’ll be fine. There will be so many people here that you’ll never have to talk to him.”

Kara walked back over to finish setting up her blanket and unpacking her things. Briana watched Colin and Rich go up to Pete and slap hands to say hello. They all started talking, probably catching up since they last saw each other, and she took the opportunity to look Colin over while he was distracted.

He wore solid blue swim trunks with a tank top in the same shade. His arms looked really good, toned and tan. She felt that tingle run through her again and she couldn’t help but remember what it felt like to touch his body.

Back when she’d the ability to touch him whenever she wanted, she’d always loved to run her hands over his back and feel the taut muscles underneath. She’d always thought his body was amazing, thanks to the training he’d had to do every day.

She looked around and realized that there would be a lot of eye candy for the ladies today. Between Colin, Kent, Rich, and Pete there wasn’t an inch of body fat. She couldn’t wait until it was time to go swimming.

Maybe she would just enjoy the day and not worry about Colin. The town was small, but it was big enough for the both of them. Since they were bound to run into each other often, she might as well make the most of it.

Kent started grilling the food as the rest of the people started showing up. Everyone cracked open the beers and malt beverages. Kara put on some tunes and everyone started to enjoy the water and the company.

Briana was sitting on her blanket talking to Pete, when they noticed Kara walking over to where Rich and Colin stood talking.