Family Ties

“With my family in San Diego.”

“Will you have a chance to come visit us?”

“I don’t know.” She glanced at me. “Do you want me to?”

“You know I do. Let’s check your ticket when we get home. You might be able to cash in the Knoxville-Atlanta portion. You can ride home with me and then just fly direct to San Diego.”

“That’d be awesome,” Erin said. Then she barged ahead without thinking.

“What about New Year’s? We go skiing every year. Maybe you can join us.”

“Didn’t you tell them?” Christy said to me.

“Tell us what?”

“We’re going skiing with Trip and Wren,” I said. “In Lake Tahoe.”

Erin’s face fell. “Oh.”

“Chill, Erin,” I said with a laugh. “She’s my girlfriend.”

“I know. I just thought… it’d be nice to have her along.”

“We’re trying to take things slow. Besides,” I added with a significant look, “I don’t think she’s ready for a week with our family and all its… um…

crazy traditions.”

Erin actually flinched when she realized what she’d almost done. She recovered immediately and said, “Oh my God, no kidding! We’d probably drive her nuts.”

“What kind of traditions?” Christy asked.

“Just silly games and stuff,” Erin said, seemingly off-hand. “But tell me more about this trip to Lake Tahoe. Sounds romantic.”

“I hope so,” Christy said, completely distracted. She gave me a searching look. “I was a bit worried at first, but after this weekend…”

Erin lit up at the prospect of details. “Ooh, what happened?”

“I told you we’re taking things slow,” I said, and she nodded. “Well, it’s the first time we’ve spent the night together. As a couple, I mean.”

Erin’s eyes widened. “Are you serious?”

“Yep.”

“Wow,” Erin said, “a nudist camp and spending the night with you. You really threw her in the deep end, didn’t you? You’re lucky she’s still with you.”

“Very,” I agreed.

“Oh, I’m used to the deep end,” Christy said. “I was on the diving team.

Springboard and platform.”

“You know what I mean,” Erin said.

“Yeah, I do.” She grinned at me. “Paul used to think I was a goody-goody. But I’m really pretty adventurous. I mean… I’m sitting in a hot tub without a swimsuit with a bunch of nudists.”

“That’s pretty adventurous,” Erin agreed.

“Still, we’re taking baby steps,” I told her with another significant look.

Translation: don’t mention the swinging again.

Erin nodded—to what I’d said aloud and what I hadn’t.

Kirk and Dawn were sitting on the other side of the stairs from us, and while he was talking to my dad about the Navy, she’d been waiting for a lull in our conversation.

“Hey, Erin,” she said, “you mentioned Mock Trial earlier. What’s that about?”

“It’s one of the clubs at school,” Erin said. “We…”

Christy and I listened as Erin explained the background of the trial and her role in it (she was a defense attorney). Dawn said she’d wanted to go to law school before she discovered her affinity for the stock market, so she and Erin had plenty to talk about. On the other side of us, Doug and Olivia were talking with Susan and my mom about the camp.

Since no one was paying attention to Christy and me, I moved my hand to her lap and gently tickled her bush. I didn’t want to distract or embarrass her, so I simply curled my finger through her pubes, mostly as a silent preview of what I was going to do to her later.

The conversations continued around us, but neither of us were in the mood for chit-chat. She wanted to be alone as much as I did, but she wasn’t assertive enough to say so. I lasted another fifteen minutes before I couldn’t stand it anymore.

“You ready to head to the room?” I asked her quietly.

“Yes, please.”

I waited for a break in Mom and Susan’s conversation and then said, “I think we’re gonna head up.”

They nodded in understanding.

“What time do you wanna leave in the morning?” I asked Dad.

“I was thinking after breakfast.”

“Have you checked the weather?”

“Fine in the morning, but winds picking up and a low-pressure front moving in later.”

“Welcome to the Carolina piedmont,” Kirk said. “If you don’t like the weather, wait a minute.”

“It’s the same where we live,” I said. “The mountains play havoc with the weather patterns.”

“Yep,” he agreed.

Dad nodded and said, “Which is why I’d like to take advantage of the good weather in the morning, especially since we’re headed into the front.”

“Roger that,” Kirk and I said at the same time, and we shared a grin.

“We’ll be ready to leave after breakfast,” I added. “In the meantime, we’re going to head up.”

Christy and I climbed out of the hot tub. The temperature had dropped since sundown, and our bare skin steamed in the cool evening air. Our towels were cold but dry, so we wrapped them around us and said goodnight to the

others.

Back in the room we didn’t waste time with foreplay. I simply pulled off her towel, threw mine after it, and picked her up. I pinned her against the door, and she wrapped her arms around my neck and her legs around my body. Her kisses were hungry and insistent, and her bare skin practically burned against mine.

“Oh my gosh,” she panted, “I’ve been thinking about this all night.”