Chapter 6

We stripped down to our underwear with little fanfare. I was wearing briefs (for which I was very thankful--they hid the bulge better), while Nat was wearing a lacey pink bra and high-cut panties. No, I have no idea what her bra size is; I don't do her laundry, and I doubt I could tell even if I was looking directly at her. Which I wasn't. We weren't exactly looking at each other, but we certainly weren't looking away, if that makes any sense at all. Actually, that probably makes more sense than anything I've said so far.

I slipped off my briefs and tossed it onto the rest of my clothing as she unfastened her bra. Walking slowly toward the pool, I decided against a dive--it was probably no more than five feet deep. I waded in instead, then swam toward the waterfall--I wanted to see if there was anything behind it. Ducking through the falling water, I saw a small alcove, slick with water spray. No portal to a magical realm or mythic monsters waiting to drag me away. Oh well. Another fantasy shattered. Sliding back into the water, I swam through the waterfall toward the shore, where Nat was just heading toward the water after folding her clothes neatly. I surfaced just as she reached the water's edge. "Come on in, the water's great," I said cheerily.

"Is it deep enough to dive into?"

"Better not."

"Okay." With that, she slipped into the water. I watched her for a few seconds to verify that she could handle herself in the water, then started paddling around lazily.

Quick impressions from that second or two before she got in the water? Long, straight blonde hair released from her french braid, shimmering in the sunlight. Small, creamy white breasts, with puffy pink nipples. Not much color on her body at all, though her arms and legs were tanned from playing tennis. A light dusting of hair above her crotch--if she hadn't been so pale, I would have missed it.

"Glad you came along?" she said lazily, paddling over to me.

"Yes. It's a lovely day you borrowed from summer," I said, moving my arms and legs just enough to keep my head above water.

"Find anything behind the waterfall?"

"Nope. Just a small hideaway."

"Show me?"

"Sure."

We swam over to the waterfall, and ducked under. I levered myself up to the alcove, then helped pull her up. The alcove was large enough for us to stretch out while sitting next to each other. Both of us was carefully *not* looking at each other again. I shifted to get a crick out of my back (while strategically concealing more of my reviving erection), and my hand brushed against hers. Neither of us moved away, and a few seconds later, she leaned her head against my shoulder. We sat in an oddly comfortable silence for a few minutes.

"This is nice," she finally said. "Weird as hell, but nice. You'd never have convinced me a few days ago that I could be alone with a guy like this. Or a girl, for that matter."

"Really?" I asked curiously. "Not even with one of your friends?"

"I'm fine if it's just changing in front of each other or sharing a bathroom. But, sitting together like this, without anything on? No way."

"Color me flattered."

She moved closer to me. "The best thing is that I know you're attracted to me, but still won't do anything unless you know I want you to," she said huskily.

"Nat, please... don't."

She moved into my arms, our faces almost touching as the rest of our bodies came into full contact. "Just hold me like this for a while," she breathed. "Then, if you still want to, you can tell me that you want to be just friends."

I could feel her soft breasts pressed into my chest, the now-stiffened nipples making themselves known. The slight tickle of hair and warmth of her mound on my stomach. She, in turn, could undoubted feel my throbbing shaft pressed against her thigh. I could see a mixture of playfulness and passion as I looked into her eyes, and the passion gradually replaced by embarrassment and resignation as my erection slowly softened.

"It's not you, Nat," I murmured. "I love that you feel so comfortable around me, and I enjoy being around you too. It's just that, like it or not, I'm still hung up on my ex." I smiled sadly. "If we were to try being more than friends, you'd know--as soon as the glow wore off--that I'd only be using you to replace her. And that's not fair to you."

"How can you have so much self-control?" she said, wonderingly.

"Because if I didn't, I'd end up hurting a very good friend of mine," I replied, staring deep into her eyes. "That's more than reason enough."

We gently disengaged ourselves, and left the alcove. The day might have been unseasonably warm, but the shadows were already well lengthened by the time we emerged out of the pool and dried ourselves off. We made our way back to the main trail and the road in silence, and boarded the bus just as the last sliver of the sun sank below the horizon.

"Tell me something," she said five minutes into the bus ride.

"Hmmm?"

"Is this a good time to cash in my rain checks?"

"If you like."

"Okay. First off, why didn't you just tell Anya what you told me today?"

"I don't feel the same way toward her. She presumed that I'd be falling over my feet to please her, just because she deigned to be interested in me. Even without her every move reminding me of my ex, Anya just rubbed me the wrong way after a while. It might sound callous of me, but I didn't care if I hurt her or not."

"What was her name?"

"Katherine. Kathy for short."

"Does she look like Anya?"

"Close enough to be her sister."

"So, your little outburst at Anya yesterday was a way of taking out your frustrations on Kathy," Natalie said softly.

"What would you have me do?" I replied, more sharply than I had intended. Taking a breath to compose myself, I continued in a more normal tone of voice. "I'm not perfect, and I never claimed to be. If she had treated me the way you did, I'd have gotten over her resemblance to Kathy in time. But she didn't. She tried to play me the same way Kathy did. Yes, I should have broken it off with Anya without yelling at her, but I'm not a saint, Nat."