Chapter 5

The air was deliciously warm and fresh blowing in through the rear passenger window. Tendrils of my hair whisked around my face as I took in the landscape. I tucked one behind my ear and brought my thumb to my mouth, gnawing at it gently. As cozy as it all felt, I was still pretty anxious about today.

Music blared from the stereo, a mix from my brother's iPod of random popular alternative stuff. Erin was talking incessantly through it. She chattered on and on to Danny about everything she was hearing about people, about the boat, about who was supposed to come up and when. I was fairly sure Danny was tuning half of it out. It was just adding to my nervousness though.

Danny had been allowed last summer to come up and use the boat on his own, but at thirteen I hadn't been extended that level of independence yet. When Danny asked if I wanted to come up and camp with him and his friends over the weekend, I was surprised to say the least, but not nearly as surprised when mom and dad agreed to let me go. Maybe I had some sway with my dad on things like this, but my mom was always more cautious and conservative in what she allowed. Maybe she's loosening up I thought, remembering how she had also let me buy the bikini I wanted last week. Of course I didn't let her see how it fit on me though. I smirked at the thought. That could have changed things in a heartbeat.

The forest looked dry and bleached from the summer heat as we reached the summit, but soon after we could see the glimmering water of Silver Lake stretching eastward for a couple miles. Solomon bounced giddily in his seat next to me.

"Hells yeah kids! See that, Manda?" He clapped a hand down solidly on my knee and gestured to the lake. "Those are the waters of virtue young one. This is where the tides of life change, and where all your dreams can come true."

"This is where you hugged a rock while throwing up for two hours last summer too, Sol." Danny piped in, chiding him and laughing with Erin.

Sol maintained his look of reverie and continued, "Yes. All of these things and more..."

I giggled silently and looked away. I was used to the mocked patronizing from Danny's friends and expected plenty more. My giddiness of being here was growing too though, and I tried not to grin wondering about what craziness and new experiences might await us all in the next 48 hours.

They pulled into the marina just after eleven and we all quickly noticed two grinning faces approaching the car. Derek and Kristina walked hand-in-hand, with flip-flops flapping the asphalt in unison. Both were just wearing sunglasses and swimsuits, plus a little pair of shorts for Kris. Their skin glowed with matching golden tans. Obviously they had spent plenty of time in their present garb over the last month or so.

I had always admired them as a pair. Both so mellow and confident. And hot. Kristina was lean and beautiful, with wavy golden brown locks that curled perfectly at the ends just passed her shoulders. She was seldom without a smile and just emanated feminine charm. Derek was the perfect complement to her, athletic and gorgeous, but still very easy going. Everyone liked him: young and old, jocks, dorks, druggies. He just had that type of personality. He was funny, and clever, and just easy to be with. I had always respected him, but I was currently respecting his naked chest when he turned his gaze and caught me looking.

"Oh my, Danny, what do we have here?" His grin broadened when my eyes snapped up to meet his. I tried to recover by giving him a teasing look of annoyance at his comments.

Danny laughed, and played along, "Oh, shit! A stowaway!"

"Amanda Cunningham. Wow." He looked me over as I stepped out of the car, "Does your mother know you are here?" Kristina playfully slapped his chest.

"What!?" he shouted, looking shocked and turning to her, "I am merely concerned for this girl's welfare. Had your parents known, you might have been spared from all these debaucherous affairs."

Her smile closed and she leaned in close to him and whispered. Her eyebrows rose momentarily from under her sunglasses and then she resumed her smile and leaned back away. I wondered what she might have said. Whatever it was had silenced her man's teasing quite effectively.

Another vehicle came thundering into the parking lot with music blaring. Two guys popped out of the doors almost before the truck came to a stop, the driver howling out to make sure his arrival and excitement did not go unrecognized by anyone within the greater area.

Good. Draw as much attention to us as possible. Perfect.

The area was remote enough and their intentions of crossing the lake would almost certainly keep them from getting in any legal trouble, but I still was anxious about watchful eyes. My inexperience in this kind of thing at the time had me feeling pretty paranoid.

The wiry, scruffy looking driver, I knew, was Jake Briggs, one of Danny's friends from baseball. He seemed to build his personality around being a partier, but his wild persona appeared more contrived than genuine. He and the other guy, who I soon learned was Adam Kimble, hefted a large cooler out of the back of the truck and walked over to meet them. Adam was a big and pretty quiet guy who seemed to go along with whatever people said. He didn't seem like the most cerebral fellow.

We all talked for a few minutes before gathering our items and loading the boat. Danny was careful to prep the boat and check that everything was working fine despite everyone urging to get going. Moods were good and everyone was excited to get on the lake and have fun. Between camping gear, coolers, and bodies it was a tight fit into the little ski boat. Once we had shoved off from the dock, Danny steered us out past the breakwater with Erin established by his side. Kristina reclined back, her hand draped nonchalantly across Derek's lap. I found myself wedged between Solomon and Jake in a space that was hardly big enough for my ass.

Everyone chatted about random social happenings. I was a little shy and less informed on their topics, but participated here and there. The fact that Jake's eyes were continuously covering my body from close range didn't make socializing any easier though. No one else seemed to notice, but I certainly had. His arm brushed against the side of my boob several times, as he felt the need to turn to look out over the water in different directions. His hands also seemed to coincidentally find my shoulder and leg at various moments, but I was fickle and non-respondent to these indirect advances.

I wonder what Danny would say if he was watching this guy 'accidentally' rub his body on mine like this. It was a curious thought, but he was focused captaining, and distracted by little more than the 115 pounds of girlfriend that clung to his side.

By the time we reached the small peninsula, I was glad to be off the boat. I decided that I did enjoy the attention, but it was starting to feel awkward and uncomfortable. The group unloaded, but they were more interested in the lake still than setting up their area. Jake was quick to pass out beers. Erin took one, but Danny passed since he still was going back to pick up others that would be joining them. Even as he was explaining this his phone rang and it was one of the other friends who had just arrived on the other side of the lake.

Jake brought a bottle over to me. He almost looked like he was caressing it before handing it over. This guy is creepy. I took it and took a drink and saw that he was still watching me as she did. It was spicy and unfamiliar, but cold and satisfying as I drank. I tried to act as though it was the most natural thing in the world for me to do, even though it was obvious by any form of logic that it was not. Not wanting to get caught in an awkward pause I walked over to Derek and Kristina and started a conversation about how many times they had been to this spot.

Danny announced that he was going to pick up the others and started back toward the boat with Erin in tow. He stopped and yelled back suddenly.

"Sol!" They made eye contact and he inclined his head toward me, "Keep an eye on her"

I made certain that he saw my look of disgust before he turned back toward the boat, catching up to Erin and squeezing her ass just as she stepped onboard. She squealed with delight and a moment later they were motoring away.

I stared as the boat sped further and turned to notice that Derek and Kristina had already walked 30 yards down the shore before I had realized they were gone. Great. Now I have these three to deal with.

Before I could consider that notion any further Sol said "Come on," and started walking up the hill.

"Where are we going?" I asked, but followed anyway.

"Gotta get wood. Better to do it now than when they are back with the boat, or when it's dark."

I found it funny to see Sol suddenly seem so dutiful when he was always so goofy. But he was very much into the task, and so I figured it was a good idea. Jake seemed not to pay attention and plopped down right next to the ice chest almost as if he needed to protect it. Adam started throwing rocks at the lake.

The two of us worked together, carrying dead limbs down to the fire ring. There wasn't much to be found close to the camp so we would split up to look around and bring down what we could find. After a while I felt like we had gathered plenty, but Sol was still on his mission to provide. I went back up the hill anyway, but just wandered now. As I walked rather aimlessly I looked around and just thought about everything that was going on in my life.

My thoughts came back to my dad and our crazy, heat filled, impulsive night. It had been over a week since it happened, but we had still not said anything to each other about it. No resolutions had happened, no explanations, nothing aside from his courageous acting job to keep them from getting caught by Danny that night. My guilt returned.

Always have to push the boundaries, I thought to myself. I knew that it had been a crazy fluke thing though. We had both just fallen into it. The feelings, the curiosity, the forbidden desire. Heat welled up inside me as I remembered it. His face, grimaced and sweating and I took him into my mouth, my knees buckling and shaking as I cried into the couch, sliding over his face ... I exhaled heavily, and gathered myself.

It will be ok.

He loved me. He was still him: my dad, my protector. He wouldn't abandon me. I knew this, and I felt more confident everyday that it wouldn't change it, even if we were avoiding talking about everything.

I walked down closer to the water, and was hopping from rock to rock on the boulder coast when I caught movement up ahead. I poked my head up over the next rock and froze from what I saw.

There on a big smooth stone laid a naked Derek. At least I deducted that he was naked. I couldn't actually see his dick or anything, but judging from the way Kristina rhythmically rocked on top of him, sitting upright, and most assuredly naked herself, I felt it was a pretty safe assumption that he was also.