Chapter 2

When I woke up the next morning, Sunday, I was a little disoriented. I was on my left side, with my back to the wall and my arms around Gina. It took me a moment to realize that I wasn’t in my room at home. When I did, I grinned to myself. Call me goofy, but I was excited to be living in the dorm. Sure, it wasn’t as nice as my house, but it was still my first home away from home.

Gina stirred when I kissed her shoulder. Then I reached up and turned off my alarm (it was only a little after six; the alarm had been set for six thirty). Since my room faced east, pre-dawn light was already filtering through the blinds. I don’t know why, but I’ve always been an early riser, and the sight of the sun’s light filled me with the urge to get moving.

I kissed Gina again and she mumbled something. We didn’t have to be at our parents’ hotel until eight, so I figured we had a little time to fool around. Well, my morning hard-on figured we had time to fool around a little. So I pressed it against the soft swell of Gina’s ass. Then I reached under the covers and cupped her breast.

“Izzit time to get up?” she asked groggily.

“Not yet.”

“Mmmmm. Okay. G’night.”

Instead of letting her go back to sleep, I nuzzled her warm neck and inhaled her scent. Then I kissed her again.

“Mmmmm, tha’ feels nice,” she mumbled.

When I ran my hand down her flank and rested it on her hip, she snuggled back against me. I gripped my erection and gently probed between her legs. Once my dick was comfortably nestled between her soft thighs, I returned my hand to her hip. Then I walked my fingers up her arm and gently cupped her breast.

“Mmmmm,” she murmured.

Her nipple grew erect when I gently tweaked it. Then I began dry humping her ass. As she slowly awoke, I continued fondling her breast. When she yawned and stretched, I ran my hand down her side and let it rest on her hip.

“You’re so hard,” she said softly.

“Mmm hmm.”

“What time is it?”

“A little before six thirty,” I said.

“That’s too early.”

I kissed her shoulder again and then let my right hand drift toward her sex. “No it’s not,” I whispered. “It gives us just enough time to fool around before we have to meet our parents.”

“But what if I wanna sleep?”

“I have ways of making you horny,” I said in my best faux-sinister voice.

With that, I gently slid my hand lower. My fingertips brushed over the short hair on her mons but quickly reached the smooth skin of her labia. She sighed and parted her legs.

At first, I gently rubbed my fingers in circles over the base of her clit. Her pussy was still dry, so I concentrated on getting her worked up. After all, I didn’t want to rasp my fingers over her sensitive inner folds.

After a few minutes, she sighed again and spread her legs further. When I tentatively slid my finger lower, I felt her heat and nascent moisture. She whimpered as I ran my middle finger along her dampening slit. As I spread her moisture, I pressed my hips against her ass. Then I started kissing her, concentrating on her shoulder, neck, and the sensitive spot behind her ear.

For the next several minutes, I teased her clit and slowly worked my finger into her. The whole time, I continued kissing her.

“Oh, God,” she breathed, “that feels so good.”

“Mmm hmm. Welcome to North Carrick, Miss Coulter,” I said. “My name is Paul, and I’ll be providing your wake up call this morning.”

“Mmmmm, nice.”

“And if you’d like, I can provide you with breakfast in bed.”

“Breakfast in bed?”

“Yes,” I said. “You can enjoy your breakfast of champions in an extensive range of positions. In addition, it comes complete with a high-protein vitamin injection.”

“A high-protein vitamin injection,” she echoed with a sigh. “Mmmmm.”

“Yes, Miss Coulter,” I said. “Your server will provide you with unlimited use of his injection tool.”

“Mmmmm,” she purred. “I think I’d like that.”

“Yes, of course, Miss,” I said. “Now, if you’ll just lift your leg, I’ll be happy to insert the injection tool.”

When she raised her right leg, my dick sprang forward. I pulled my finger from her drenched pussy and reached between us. She gasped when I began rubbing my glans over her labia. Then I set the tip at her opening and eased forward. The crown parted her lips and then slid into her. I hooked my right hand behind her knee and pulled her leg up so I had a better angle. Then I began thrusting.

“Yes,” she hissed. “Your ... injection tool ... is wonderful.”

“Thank you, Miss. And if I may say so, your pussy is also wonderful. It’ll be my pleasure to inject you this morning.”

At that point, we stopped talking. The bed squeaked as I fucked her, but at the time, I didn’t care. All I cared about was her pussy and how it surrounded my cock with warm wetness. I could almost feel the flutters when her muscles contracted around me. As I pumped into her, she arched her back and groaned softly.

“Oh, God,” she gasped. “You’re ... hitting ... that ... spot.”

Instead of answering, I continued thrusting. For the next few minutes, I merely plowed into her and concentrated on her reactions. When I felt the first quiver of her orgasm, I grinned to myself and began kissing her earlobe. With a low groan, she reached the point of no return. Her pussy clenched my cock and I had to force my way into her. Then I draped her leg over my hip and reached for her pussy. As her climax peaked, I began rubbing her clit, sustaining the peak and even driving her higher.

At first, she tried to stifle her scream by clenching her teeth, but the sensations of her orgasm were too intense to suppress. When another wave of pleasure washed over her, she cried out and clutched at the sheets, her back arching as ecstasy battered her senses. As her pussy spasmed around my invading organ, I felt a gush of moisture. She cried out again, softer this time, and then went limp.

“Oh, God,” she panted. “Oh, God. Oh, God. Oh, God.” When she calmed down a little, she looked over her shoulder at me. “Oh, my God. That felt so good.”

I nodded.

Then she reached back to caress my face. “Keep fucking me,” she said.

“You’re not too sensitive?”

“I’m sensitive, but I want to feel you come inside me.”

“You want your ‘high-protein vitamin injection’?”

“Mmm hmm.”

“Your wish is my command, Miss.” With that, I resumed thrusting.

She tensed up as the sensations overwhelmed her. “Oh, God, my pussy is tingling all over.”

“Good tingling, or bad tingling?”

“Good,” she said quickly. “Very good.” Then she put her hand on my hip and drew me forward. “Keep fucking me. It feels so good.”

She grimaced when I slid into her, but her expression softened as her pussy gradually became less sensitive. When I cupped her breasts and started thrusting quicker, she put her hands over mine and urged me on.

In a few short minutes, I was ready to explode. With one final jab, I buried myself inside her and erupted. She groaned low and soft as my come bathed her inner walls. I held on and simply closed my eyes in bliss. When my orgasm subsided, she turned her head and we grinned at each other as we panted.

“We hope you enjoy your stay at North Carrick, Miss Coulter,” I said facetiously.

“I will, thank you. The service is excellent.”

When Kendall called us at the hotel, shortly after ten, we headed over to campus. It was just as crowded as the day before, with people and cars all over the place. We parked in the garage and then walked up the street to the Andy Holt Apartment building.

As soon as Kendall saw Gina and me, she ran toward us. I caught the tall girl in my arms and easily lifted her off her feet. When I set her down again, I gave her a sound kiss (a chaste kiss, of course, since we were in front of our families).

“Hi,” I said.

“Hi yourself.”

For a moment, I gazed into her bright blue eyes and it seemed like all was right in the world. Then she blushed and turned to Gina. The two girls hugged each other in greeting.

“How was moving in?” Kendall asked Gina.

“Horrible. My room’s ugly.”

“It’s not so bad once you get some posters up and decorate a little,” Kendall said.

“Well, it’s still ugly,” Gina said.

“You’ll get used to it,” Kendall said.

Behind us, our three families were greeting each other with hugs and handshakes. When Erin and Leah let go of Drew, he came over to me. As he extended his hand, Kendall and Gina went to greet the others.

“Hey, Paul,” Drew said, his voice deep and even.

“Hey, Drew.”

Instead of gripping my hand and trying to crush it—his handshake was almost as strong as my own—he simply squeezed once, firm but not challenging. As our eyes met, I silently chuckled at the memory of him confronting me about Kendall. He’d been a little drunk at the time. Worse, I’d convinced him that trying to bully me wasn’t going to work (I dropped him with a wrestling take-down).

Surprisingly, he hadn’t been bitter about it. And when he realized that I wasn’t going to take advantage of his sister, we became friends. Gazing up at him as he towered over me, however, I knew I’d probably have a tough time taking him down again.

“Don’t even think about it,” he said with uncanny insight.

“Not on your life, Drew,” I replied. “Not on your life.”

“Good.” Then he leaned down conspiratorially. “Kendall would kill me if you and I got into it again.”

“You and me both,” I said.

“That’s for sure.”

“Drew,” his father called from the other side of their truck. “Let’s get the Scout and this trailer unloaded before it gets any hotter.”

“Okay, Dad,” Drew said.

“Kendall,” Adam said, “go get your room key and find out where we need to take all this stuff.”

“Okay, Daddy.” Then she turned to Gina. “You wanna go with me?”

“Sure,” Gina said.

Then the two girls waved to me and headed toward the apartment building’s lobby.

For a moment, I watched Kendall as she walked away from the parking lot. She was as tall as I, with long, long legs that ended in a gorgeous ass. Even wearing a pair of Bermuda shorts, her legs looked good. Then my eyes rose to her flared hips and narrow waist. From behind, I couldn’t see her breasts, but I could still remember what they felt like: soft, round, and full. Since the day was so hot, she had her dark hair pulled back in a ponytail, which swished as she turned her head to talk to Gina.

“Hey, man,” Drew said softly, “do I stare at your sister like that when you’re around?”

“Sorry, man,” I said, feeling my face heat.

Then he laughed. “It’s cool. Kendall is hot, though,” he said. “It’s too bad she’s my sister.”

“Dude, it’s not like you have any shortage of girls.”

He shook his head. “Nope. Speaking of which...” Then he leaned close again. “Is Erin still serious about that Sean guy from camp?”

“Yeah,” I said. “I think she is. Sorry.”

“No, no problem. It’s cool,” he said. “I just don’t wanna horn in on some other guy’s territory, you know?”

“I know.”

“She was pretty hung up on him when we were at camp.”

“Yeah,” I said.

“That’s cool. I’m sure he’s a nice guy.” Then, “Good for her, I hope she’s happy.”

“I think she is.”

“How about Leah?” he asked. “Is she going with anyone?”

“Not that I know of,” I half lied. A week before, Leah and I had had sex, but we’d done it with Gina’s consent (and later, with her participation). And while I knew Leah was interested in me, the Coulter sisters had a rule about not stealing each other’s boyfriends. In reality, I think she enjoyed the sex with me, but she was more into girls (and the occasional guy, such as Drew).

“Cool,” he said.

“What about Trish?” I asked. Drew normally hung out with Trish Delozier when he was at camp.

“She’s just my summer girlfriend,” he said. “It’s cool. Neither of us really want a heavy commitment, so we just get together while we’re at camp.”

“Oh.”

“Besides,” he said, “I like to keep my options open.”

“Uh-huh.”

“So if Leah’s available...,” he said.

“Good option,” I finished.

“Yep.”

“Are you talking about us?” Leah asked as she and Erin joined Drew and me.

“We sure were, darlin’,” Drew said, affecting a drawl. “I was just tellin’ Paul how hot you look in those shorts.”

Erin snorted with laughter, and if it weren’t for Leah’s dark complexion, her cheeks would’ve been beet red.

While we waited, Drew just about charmed Leah out of the shorts in question.

About fifteen minutes later, Kendall and Gina returned.

“I’m in apartment 304,” Kendall said.

“Super,” Adam said, “we won’t have to wait for the elevator.”

“She always manages to get rooms on the lower floors,” Drew explained ruefully.

I nodded. I’d stayed in both her rooms in Clement Hall (but her parents didn’t know that, of course).

“And we always end up taking everything up to them by the stairs,” Drew continued.

“Aw, Drew,” Leah said, “that shouldn’t bother a big strong guy like you.”

“Oh, it doesn’t,” he said. Then he turned to me. “But just once, I’d like to load all her books and stuff on one of those carts and ride the elevator. Just once, you know?”

“I know, man,” I said. “We had to haul all my stuff up to the fourth floor yesterday. Except my free weights, that is.”

As we opened the U-Haul trailer’s doors, he looked at me and furrowed his brow. “What’d you bring weights for? Why not just work out in the Sports Bubble?”

The Sports Bubble was between HPER (the Health and Physical Education Recreation building, but everyone just called it “hyper” or the “hyper building”) and the student aquatic center, and it was literally a big bubble. Imagine a building-sized inflated white bubble of plastic fabric—that’s the Sports Bubble.

“I guess I wanted to have some weights in my room,” I said, trying not to sound defensive.

“What’d you bring?” he asked.

“A curling bar, a couple of dumbbell bars, and about two hundred pounds of plates. Why?”

“Dude,” he said as he picked up two milk crates full of books, “two hundred pounds is nothing.” Then he indicated my chest and shoulders with a glance. “You know that. Besides, they’ve got every weight machine you could want in the Bubble. And HPER’s got a weight room full of free weights.”

“Yeah, I know,” I said as I grabbed two milk crates myself. How many books does one person need? I wondered as I got a glimpse of the inside of the trailer. Then I returned my thoughts to the conversation with Drew. In reality, I knew about the Bubble, but I hadn’t known about HPER’s weight room. Since I’d been to UT so many times, I had skipped the campus tour during Freshman Orientation. In retrospect, that had probably been a mistake. “Hold on,” I said, “how d’you know all this, Drew?”

“I just know it, I guess,” he said. “I’ve got a couple of friends who play football here, though. And I’ve seen the weight rooms on recruiting visits.”

“Recruiting visits?” I asked as we all trooped, ant-like, toward the apartment building.

“Yeah. For football.”

“Oh. Yeah. Okay.”

“They’re not official recruiting visits, though. I can’t have those until my senior year actually begins. But I’ve already talked to the linebackers coach. Twice.”

“Drew’s one of the top linebackers in the country,” Adam said from ahead of us.

“Dad, you don’t know that for sure,” Drew said.

“I know what your coaches say,” Adam said. “And I know what the scouts say. Those scouts see a lot of football players, son.”

“Scouts?” Leah asked from behind us.

“Dad,” Drew protested.

“Drew had college scouts looking at him all last year,” Adam said proudly, ignoring his son’s grumblings. “They said he’s one of the quickest linebackers they’ve seen, especially for his size. And he was only a junior then.”

“Dad, c’mon.”

“After we got home from camp,” Adam boasted, “Drew even got a phone call from Coach Majors, UT’s Head Football Coach.”

“Really?” Leah asked. “Cool.”

At that point, we reached the building. The fire escape door was propped open, and we weren’t the only people using the stairs to move belongings into the apartments. With each of us carrying boxes or crates, however, the conversation died. On the third floor, Kendall led us toward her apartment. As she went to put her key in the lock, the door swung open. A tall, buxom blonde stepped back, surprised.

“Kendall,” she said. “Hi.” Then she realized there were a bunch of us in the hallway. “Y’all come on in,” she said, stepping back.

“Thanks,” Kendall said.

“Phoebe and I took the back bedroom,” the blonde continued. “So you and Abby can have the front bedroom. Okay?”

“Sure,” Kendall said as we all filed into the apartment and then turned left to head down the hall.

Once we stacked our boxes in the first bedroom, we all crowded into the living room.

“Everyone,” Kendall said, “this is Vivian Fourier. Viv and I went to school together in Chattanooga.”

“Hi, Mr. Payton,” Vivian said as she stepped forward and shook Adam’s hand. Then she turned and greeted Melissa. “It’s good to see you again, Mrs. Payton.”

As Kendall introduced the rest of us, I studied Vivian. She was about as tall as me, with long, tanned legs, a slim waist, and full, attractive breasts. With a start, I realized that she was practically a blonde version of Kendall. (Vivian was actually a bit slimmer, with slightly smaller breasts.) Finally, I tore my eyes away from the blonde girl as Kendall turned to introduce me.

“And this,” she said, “is my boyf—” Flustered, she darted a glance at Gina. A half-second later, she looked at her parents. “Um ... this is my boyfriend, Paul,” she said at last.

Gina’s and my parents knew about our three-way relationship with Kendall, but Kendall’s parents still thought I was her boyfriend and Gina was simply her friend. I was pretty sure that Kendall’s mom suspected what was really going on, but she kept it to herself. Drew probably knew as well, but he hadn’t said anything either.

“Hi,” I said, extending my hand.

“It’s good to finally meet you,” Vivian said as she shook my hand. “Kendall’s told me so much about you.” With a warm smile she squeezed my hand once, released it, and then turned to Kendall. “Hey, I wish I could stick around, but I’ve gotta go meet my boyfriend. Just put your stuff in your room and wherever else you can. Phoebe and I figured we’ll just sort things out when we all get our stuff here. Okay?”

“Okay,” Kendall said.

“It was nice to meet y’all,” Vivian said with a smile. Then she turned to Kendall. “Phoebe and I cleaned the place last night, so it should be spotless.”

“Thanks!” Kendall said.

“Ugh. It was horrible. And Phoebe’s a neat freak. So we scrubbed the place top to bottom. Anyway, I’m already late, so I’d better run. Have fun moving in,” Vivian continued. “And I’ll see you tonight. Bye.”

“Bye,” we all echoed.

After Vivian left, Kendall gave us a quick tour. The apartment’s entry foyer led to the center of the apartment. The living room and a small kitchen were to the right. The living room was already furnished with a couch, chair, end table, and a kitchen table with four chairs (by the kitchen, of course).

The main hallway was to the left, with bedrooms on the right, study areas on the left, and a bathroom at the end of the hall on the left (although the sinks were at the end of the hallway). Each bedroom held two beds, a dresser, a closet, and an air conditioner. The rooms weren’t quite as plain as the ones in the Carrick dorms, but they definitely weren’t fancy.

After our tour, we headed back downstairs. With all twelve of us, it only took two more trips before we emptied the trailer. Except for the books—lots of books—most of the stuff was pretty light: just clothes, linens, and a large stuffed bear (named Paul, of course).

“We should’ve brought some tea,” Melissa said as we caught our breath after the final load.

“I don’t think that little refrigerator could make enough ice to cool two drinks, let alone twelve,” Adam said.

“Still,” Melissa said, “I’d love a glass of ice-cold tea right now.”

“I’ve got an idea,” Mom said. When everyone turned to her, she continued. “Why don’t we ladies run to the grocery store and stock Kendall’s kitchen for her? We can pick up a Styrofoam cooler and a bag or two of ice. Then when we get back, we can make some tea and lemonade.”

“And while we’re gone,” Elizabeth said, “Kendall, Gina, and the girls can get Kendall’s stuff unpacked.”

“Drew and I can move all the books and set up the crates here,” I said, indicating a wall in the living room. “We can sorta create bookshelves.”

“What’re we supposed to do?” Chris asked, indicating my dad and Adam.

“Make yourselves useful,” Elizabeth told him.

“I’ve got to take the trailer back to U-Haul,” Adam said.

“We can help him with that,” Chris said.

“Shirker,” Elizabeth teased him.

“Honey,” he said, “returning trailers is serious business.”

“I’m sure it is,” she said. “So serious that it takes three grown men to accomplish it.” Then she smiled. “Just don’t get side-tracked.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he said.

“Okay,” Dad said. “It sounds like we’ve got a plan.”

With that, Mom, Elizabeth, and Melissa headed out, followed by Dad, Chris, and Adam. Kendall and the other girls headed into Kendall’s room to begin unpacking. Drew and I merely looked at each other as we suddenly found ourselves alone.

“Why do we always get the grunt work?” he asked me with a wry grin.

“‘Cause we’re the grunts?”

“You got that right, man.”

It actually took us less than fifteen minutes to haul all the book-laden milk crates into the living room and arrange them against the wall. They actually made pretty good shelves. We were just about to sit down and relax when we heard someone trying to open the front door. A moment later, when the door still hadn’t opened, Drew and I went to investigate. I swung the door open and...

“—must’ve given me the wrong key.”

“Hey, Abby,” I said.

She looked up in surprise. “Paul! What’re you doing here?”

Abby had been Kendall’s roommate since the two girls were freshmen. I hadn’t seen her in several months, but she looked just like I remembered. She wasn’t as tall as Kendall, but she was a few inches taller than Gina, maybe 5’6”. She had sandy blonde hair and blue eyes, with a cute face and a heartbreaking smile.

With a start, I realized that I was standing in the doorway. Then I realized that her family was standing behind her.

“Come on in,” I said as I belatedly stepped aside. “We were just helping Kendall move in.”

“Paul,” Abby said once I shut the door, “this is my mom, Patricia, and my dad, Bud. And that’s my brother, Walt. Mom, Dad, this is Kendall’s boyfriend, Paul ... um ... Paul...” She frowned as she tried to recall my last name. “Hughes!” she blurted a moment before I had to remind her.

“Pleased to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Evans,” I said as I shook her parents’ hands. Then I shook Walt’s hand. He was about Erin’s age, and sturdy, but shy.

“Call us Bud and Pat,” Abby’s father said.

“This is Kendall’s brother, Drew,” Abby said.

After another round of handshakes, Abby went looking for Kendall. While she did, I explained that our parents were out buying groceries and returning the U-Haul trailer.

“Do you need any help moving Abby’s stuff?” I asked.

“No,” Bud said, “we can get it.”

“Seriously,” I said. “We just finished moving everything in here. We were just going to sit down, since we didn’t have anything else to do. We’d be happy to help.”

“We wouldn’t want to impose,” Abby’s mom said.

“It’s not a problem, ma’am,” Drew said. “Like Paul said, we’d be happy to help.”

“Okay then,” Bud said. “I’m not one to turn down free labor. Come on, boys.”

Abby didn’t have as many books as Kendall, so with just the four of us men, it only took three trips to get all her stuff. About the time we brought in the last load, Dad, Chris, and Adam returned. A few minutes later, our moms arrived with armloads of groceries.

After introductions, the women started putting food away while the men opened the beer my dad and the others had brought back. When Kendall came out of her room, she stopped dead in her tracks.

“What?” I asked, a beer halfway to my lips.

To our surprise, she started laughing.

“What?” her father echoed.

“It’s a dry campus, Daddy,” she said, still laughing as she pointed to our beers.

“Oh, shoot,” he said. “I completely forgot.”

“Do you think they’ll give us detention hall?” Chris asked.

“Can we take the beer with us if they do?” Bud asked with an eager look.

At that, all the men laughed.

“What’s all the ruckus out here?” Elizabeth asked as she emerged from the kitchen.

“We can’t have beer here,” Chris said. “It’s a dry campus.”

“The kids aren’t here a day,” Elizabeth said, “and you’re going to get them kicked out of school.”

“It’s not that bad,” Kendall said. Then she turned to us. “Just don’t let anyone catch you with that. It’s technically a dry campus, but no one’s real picky about it unless you’re obvious.”

“Gentlemen,” Chris said, raising his beer bottle, “to undercover beer.”

“To undercover beer,” we chorused.

Elizabeth merely shook her head and returned to the kitchen.

Later, when Bud tried to pay Kendall’s father for half of the groceries, Adam refused.

“You’ve got to let me give you something,” Bud said. When Adam still refused, Bud tried another tack. “Okay, then,” he said, “do y’all have plans for the rest of the afternoon?”

“No,” Adam said.

“Then y’all come on over to our house. We can cool off in the pool and throw some steaks on the grill.”

“Did he say ‘steaks on the grill’?” Chris asked my father.

“I believe he did,” Dad replied.

“What do you make of an offer like that?” Chris asked.

“It’d be rude not to accept.”

“Rude.”

“Besides,” Dad said, “we’ll have to check out the ‘Knoxville Method’ of grilling.”

“Exactly,” Chris said. “It could be anything.”

“Gas,” Dad said.

“Charcoal.”

“Wood.”

“Smoking,” Chris said.

“Slow roasting,” Dad countered.

“The possibilities are endless,” Chris agreed with mock earnestness.

“Y’all’re men after my own heart,” Bud said with a good-natured laugh. Then he stuck his head into the kitchen. “Patty, I invited everyone over to grill out and cool off in the pool. Is that okay?”

“Sure,” she said. Then, “Does everyone have a swimsuit?”

“We can stop by the hotel and get our bathing suits,” Mom said from the kitchen. (The Radisson had a pool, so everyone had brought their suits.)

“We don’t have ours,” Melissa said.

“You can borrow one of mine, Mom,” Kendall said.

“I’ve got an extra suit that’ll fit you, Adam,” Bud said.

“Walt probably has a suit that’ll fit Drew,” Patricia said.

After a general chorus of agreement, we made the rest of our plans.

The Evanses lived in a neighborhood full of twenty-year-old houses with big lawns. Their pool wasn’t as nice as the Coulters’, but it was incredibly refreshing, so we didn’t complain. While Bud, Dad, Chris, and Adam threw steaks on the grill, the rest of us goofed off in the pool.

Abby’s poor brother, Walt, almost died of shock when he saw Erin and Leah in their bikinis. Abby and her mom wore one-piece swimsuits, while my mom and Elizabeth had donned modest two-piece suits. Melissa was a little uncomfortable in one of Kendall’s high-cut bikinis, but she looked good in it. (She was the prototype for The Goddess Kendall, after all.)

Eventually, Erin coaxed Walt out of his shell. He was still diffident and painfully shy, but he started loosening up. Leah mostly flirted with Drew, while Kendall, Gina, Abby, and I hung out in the shallow end of the pool.

Our fathers, of course, tended the grill. When the food was ready, Adam said grace and then we dug in. We sat around the patio on chairs, benches, and even the wide edges of the brick planters. While we ate, the conversations ranged far and wide.

Bud was a plumbing contractor and Patricia was a substitute teacher. He was also a former Army man, so he and Adam had a lot to talk about. Bud also had a fondness for grilling that the other men shared. Our moms talked with Patricia about raising teenagers, sending them off to college, and a dozen other things.

Erin, Leah, Drew, and Walt sat together. Walt, as it turned out, was also a football player. And even though he wasn’t as serious about it as Drew was, it gave them something to talk about. Kendall, Gina, Abby, and I talked about life in the dorms, the best dining halls, and things like that.