Chapter 10

“This is the best day ever!” Lori danced around in her tight blue denim shorts and a pink spaghetti-strap top. Jeff noted she wasn’t wearing the cotton bra-like-thing she normally wore. Her pinpoint nipples pushed out the fabric covering her barely-there breasts.

“She’s definitely in a better mood today,” Shelly murmured to Amy and the two of them giggled.

After their parents finally got moving and out of the resort, their day in the big park flew by. The theme park was absolutely packed with people. Despite that, the group had slipped easily from one section of the park to the next, riding the rides and seeing the shows thanks to the reservations they had set up months earlier.

Shawna gave Jeff a sideways glance and tilted her head at Lori. “All this from just snogging her bits? Not even a proper tonguing?”

Jeff smirked in embarrassment and refused to meet her eyes. Shawna was shameless in her pursuit of intimate details. It really seemed to get her hot when Jeff told her about what happened with each of his cousins. Like the night before with Amy, then the morning ambush in the shower by Shelly, and then Lori’s curious explorations afterward.

“We didn’t have time for more.”

“Maybe we’ll make time for her later,” Shawna whispered in his ear, followed by a lick.

The castle at the center of the park rose above them while they waited for the rest of the family members to show up. They’d planned to all meet up at the castle and then find somewhere to eat dinner together. Amy and Neal leaned back against a low fence next to a stream. Shelly and Lori had bent over the fence to look at the ducks swimming by.

Jeff was scanning the crowds for their parents when he heard Neal shouting.

“Hey! What the hell, dude?” Neal said. “You can’t just take pictures of girls like that.”

Jeff immediately walked over to see what was going on. Shawna was at his side looking like a pissed off mama bear.

There was an older guy with a high-end camera standing next to Shelly and Lori. He was glancing around at the people turning to stare at the disturbance.

“I didn’t take any pictures. The shutter sticks. I was firing off some random shots to clear it,” he said and turned to go.

“No, you were taking close-up shots of my friends’ asses while they leaned over the rail.” Neal pitched his voice to be heard by the crowd around them.

Jeff stepped in front of the older guy and crossed his arms to block him leaving with a hard expression on his face. Shawna made a grab for his camera, but he jerked it away.

“Why don’t you just show us the snaps then,” Shawna said in a loud, clear voice. “If you weren’t perving over these girls, prove it!”

At that point, a couple of uniformed security guards approached. The older guy glanced around nervously, then heaved the camera over toward the stream. Shawna stepped on a knee-high stone planter and launched herself after it, catching the strap just before crashing into some shrubbery. A moment after she disappeared, her hand pushed up through the greenery, clutching the camera in triumph.

The older guy tried to run, but the security guards had obviously seen enough. They brought him to the ground and had him cuffed in seconds. The speed that things happened at that point blew Jeff away. Employees swarmed the area, all smiles and gentle pressure to turn people away from the disturbance while the two security guys hustled the creepy old guy away.

Shawna extracted herself from the bushes with Jeff and Neal providing assistance, the camera still clutched in her fist.

“Look at this,” she growled as she flipped from picture to picture, all of them candid pictures of different younger women and girls. “That perv had a busy morning.”

A woman wearing a suit approached their group with a reassuring smile on her face and a photo badge in her hand. “My name is Ellen Comansky and I am one of the security directors here. May I see the camera, please?”

Shawna handed it over while the rest of the group shifted nervously. Shelly had Neal’s hand in a death-grip while Amy rested her hands on Shelly’s shoulders. Lori squeezed between Jeff and Shawna who hugged her close.

“We’ve had an eye on this guy for about an hour. We were just discussing on how to take him into custody,” Ellen said and then gave Neal with a reassuring smile. “You beat us to the punch when you called him out, but we’ve got him now. Thanks for stepping up when you saw something wrong.”

Neal just blushed at the compliment.

Ellen looked at Shawna with a grin. “And thanks for grabbing that camera before it hit the water. That was a spectacular jump! Did you get hurt?”

“No worse than the grass rash I get playin’ football. I’m a goalie,” Shawna said as she showed the light scratches on her forearms.

“I bet your team loves you,” Ellen said with a laugh. “Are you guys here in the park alone?”

“Naw,” Jeff said. “We’re supposed to be meeting our parents here for dinner. They should be along anytime.”

Ellen waved over a muscled guy who was dressed like a tourist and handed him the camera. “Take this for processing. I’ll be along later.”

“Yes, ma’am,” the guy said and headed over a bridge and into the crowd.

About that time, all the parents showed up and Ellen explained what had happened to the stunned group of adults. Her description made it seem like Neal and Shawna were superheroes. She scanned all their wristbands with her phone just in case the police needed our statements after they left.

“You’ve got some great kids here,” Ellen said in parting. “To show how much we appreciate them, we’re going to comp your whole stay at the resort and the parks.”

“Seriously?” Uncle Bob gasped.

“Seriously,” Ellen said and a smiling nod. “Have a nice night.”

After Ellen departed, the parents got the story again as the group headed to dinner. The park was too packed to find anywhere good to eat, so the group walked to the buses, still stunned by the events of the afternoon and their suddenly free vacation. Instead of heading back to the resort, the group took a bus back to the shopping and entertainment area again they’d visited.

During the bus ride, Jeff noticed that Neal’s father, Richard, had thrown his arm casually across Nessa’s shoulders. Nessa was snuggled into him like they had known each other for much longer than a day or two. Jeff grinned when he realized his own arm was around Shawna’s shoulders in much the same way. Lori was sitting on the other side of Shawna, and the two of them had their heads together in a serious conversation.

Neal had both Amy and Shelly tucked into his sides. The three of them were sharing more laughter than words. Jeff grinned at Neal and nodded his approval. Neal was smiling when he silently mouthed, Help me.

Jeff chuckled silently. He leaned closer to speak directly to Neal. “Just do what they tell you and you’ll be fine.”

Lori and Shawna took Jeff’s hands when they got off the bus. Amy and Shelly held Neal’s the same way. Their parents were laughing and bumping into each other in the easy way of good friends. The whole group descended on a pricey seafood restaurant and Dad swiped his band at the sensor at the hostess stand to get on the waiting list. It was a long list judging from the number of people standing around the entrance.

Before Dad even had time to turn around, some guy in a suit came out and led their group upstairs to a private dining room. The food was fantastic and the dessert was even better. Jeff, Lori, and Shawna shared this amazing concoction of ice cream, dark chocolate cake, and raspberries. Shawna and Lori spent too much time trying to put whipped cream on each other’s noses than eating, which Jeff used to his advantage as he scarfed most of it down.

“So thanks to Neal and Shawna, now we all get the royal treatment,” Nessa said as she sat back in her chair with a glass of wine raised to the table. “Cheers!”

“Cheers,” the others echoed, even though most of the people around the table were drinking soft drinks instead of wine.

“So are we heading back to the park for fireworks?” Mom asked the group.

“To be honest, I’d rather go back to that club from last night,” Aunt Jackie said. “Can you kids stay out of trouble if we let you go with Jeff and Shawna?”

Jeff grinned at Shawna. “How about a dip in the pool?”

“Good idea,” Amy answered. “My feet are killing me.”

“I told you not to wear sandals,” Aunt Jackie said to her daughter.

“Okay, then, we’re heading back to the resort. See you late again?” Shawna asked.

With nods all around, the group split. The parents headed back to the club while the rest went to pick up the bus back to the resort. Jeff got pulled along by a surprisingly excited Lori. The smirk on Shawna’s face indicated they may not be doing much swimming.

On the bus, Jeff ended up sandwiched between Shawna and Lori. Lori pulled his arm over her shoulder and hugged it tightly. Jeff leaned over to kiss her hair and hugged her back. She smelled like flowers and sunshine. He happened to glance down and through the gap in her spaghetti-strap top saw her bare nipples grow into pinpoints. Shawna kept dropping little kisses on his neck from behind, her own arm draped around both Jeff and Lori.

“Do we have to go swimming?” Lori whispered loud enough for both Jeff and Shawna to hear.

“Why?” Shawna whispered back. “Got something else in mind?”

“Maybe?” Lori whispered back and flushed a deep pink as she hugged Jeff’s arm.

“Whatever you two want,” Jeff said as he followed his own advice to Neal.

“Would you look at that,” Shawna whispered, drawing Jeff’s attention to the other three.

“Holy shit,” Lori breathed.

Amy had an amused smirk on her lips while Neal was busy kissing Shelly. They parted the long, deep kiss and Shelly immediately looked at her sister. Amy simply nodded. Then Shelly looked around to Jeff, worry evident in her eyes.

Jeff shrugged at her nervous reaction and said, “Go for it. He’s a good guy.”

“You know he’s a virgin, right?” Shawna whispered to Jeff.

“Not for long,” Jeff snickered.

The bus got them back to the resort, eventually, and then the six of them wound their way through the paths back to their rooms. Neal and Shawna promised to come up as soon as they had showered and changed clothes. That just left the four of them heading into the explosion of clothes and shoes that Jeff shared with his cousins.

“First dibs,” Amy said as she ran to their bathroom.

Shelly ran toward the adjoining room and its bathroom before Jeff could do more than draw a breath. He shook his head and sat on the clothes covered chair where he’d started his morning. Lori plopped down and wrapped her arms around his neck before resting her cheek against his shoulder.

Jeff rubbed her back and shoulders. She hadn’t worn any kind of cover-up or sunscreen so her shoulders were a little pink from the sun. He rested his lips against her salty forehead while he continued to trace his fingertips around her back. She was thin enough he could trace her muscles and spine.

Lori let out a long, slow breath, then tilted her face up to kiss his neck. She started dropping feather-light kisses from his shoulder to his ear. His physical reaction to those sweet kisses was soon pressing into her ass.

“Did I do that?” she whispered with a look of amazement on her face and then wiggled her butt against his lap.

“Yes,” Jeff chuckled.

“You really think I’m sexy?” There was clear disbelief in her tone.

“I don’t care how old you are. Your ass looks great in those shorts,” he said seriously and moved his hand down to cup her denim cover posterior.

“Good enough for a creep to take pictures of it, apparently,” Lori said and put her cheek back on his shoulder.

That cooled Jeff off like a bucket of ice water. “Sorry,” he said and moved his hand up.

“No,” she gasped as she sat up to give him an intense stare. “I like it when you do that. You don’t make me feel icky like he did.”

“Yeah, but it’s the same thing.” Jeff suddenly felt a bit of a creep himself.

“No, it’s not,” Lori insisted. “What’s my name?”

Jeff quirked his eyebrows at the weird question but answered it anyway. “Lori Angelo.”

“Do you love me?”

Jeff didn’t hesitate because of the serious look on her face. “Of course I love you. Even more after this trip.”

“Would you ever hurt me?”

“No, never.”

“See? I’m a person to you. You care about me and not just because I’m your cousin or have a nice ass.” Lori shook her head and looked at the ceiling. “Shawna is so freakin’ smart. She explained how some people fixate on certain things because they are messed up in the head. I wasn’t a person to that creep. I was an anonymous ass in tight shorts that he wanted to use to get himself off. He would have sold those pictures of my ass all over the Internet and never once thought about how it would hurt Lori Angelo.”