The harsh, slow burn of chlorine filled Logan's nostrils as he stood off towards the edge of the pool. A pair of coffee-colored eyes absentmindedly watched as two of his best friends battled each other with their own man-made tidal waves, each boy desperate to try to tip the other off of his feet.
James's hair was barely wet. Just enough moisture from the pool had made its way up his taller frame to make his tousled honey-brown hair wave slightly, to which James's vanity probably approved. His dark eyebrows furrowed against sunkissed skin as he stared the smaller boy down. Though James's waves had been forceful, they had yet to be enough to knock Carlos off of his feet. The Latino boy's strategy was less based on force. Each of his attempts were made erratically, reflecting the boy's more reckless nature as he tried to throw James off by using the element of surprise, but James barely teetered in the waist-deep water.
Occasionally, one of their stronger waves would make its way over to Logan, barely lapping at his fair skin as it broke against him and dissolved into nothing.
He couldn't keep himself from grinning when Carlos unexpectedly splashed James in the face, causing the taller boy to blink repeatedly in an attempt to clear his vision.
"Logan!" a voice sounded from the opposite side of the pool, and Logan didn't even have to tilt his head to know who it was. Her southern drawl pulled out the last vowel in his name in a way that none of his other friends' voices did.
As he turned to face her, the grin on his face grew even more prominent, almost engulfing the rest of his features. His eyes creased at the corners, his dimples dug deeper into his cheeks. His hand offered her a slight wave before he began to wade over to her side of the pool.
She was sitting on the edge, her bare feet dangling as her legs gently treaded water, forming little wakes around her. A pair of frayed denim cutoffs rode up her thighs, which were firmly planted against the cement.
Despite all that they'd been through in order to get to this level, how difficult it was to tow the line from friendship into something more, Logan still had trouble thinking of Kandi as his girlfriend. It wasn't that he couldn't see her in that way; he'd spent many sleepless nights gazing up at the ceiling while James slept soundly in the next bed, inconspicuously trying to get himself off as quietly as possible while he fantasized about her. It was more the terminology that was hard to mesh; it was just hard for him to refer to her as his girlfriend when all he could see her as was Kandi.
"Hey, what's up?" he asked, trying to keep his tone as casual as possible. Since they'd become "an item," he always felt a little awkward talking to her with all of his friends around.
"Nothing much, just trying to cool off." She tugged repeatedly at the loose neckline of her tank top in an effort to fan herself. "What about you? Carlos and James seem to be having fun." She nodded towards the splashdown still going on at the corner of the pool, a faint smile softening her features.
"Yeah," he laughed slightly, unsure of what to say. "Pretty much the same…" his voice trailed off for a moment, "Hey, why don't you hop in?" His hand gently dipped into the cool water before he realized how lame he sounded. "I mean, the water's cool and everything."
Her hand ran through her wavy hair nervously, brushing her bangs from her face. "Uh, I don't exactly have my swimsuit on."
He nodded stiffly, his eyes focused on her knees. "Well, you could always go up to your room, change, and come back down?" he offered.
Logan didn't want to come across as if he was pushing the matter, but he'd seen the new bikini she'd bought. The last time he'd visited her apartment, he'd caught a glimpse of the yellow-and-white striped two-piece dangling from a hanger on her closet door, and ever since, his mind had been working desperately to visualize her in it.
Kandi sighed, and her brown eyes shifted downward, staring just past him. Her vision seemed to be focused on the slight ripples of water making their way across the pool. "Honestly, I can't really swim," she admitted. A sharp breath quickly pushed past her lips.
Logan's eyes darted around for a moment as he tried to think of a way to make her feel better, but as usual, he was at a loss for words. So instead, he hoisted himself up onto the ledge beside her, his waterlogged swim trunks heavy on his slender frame. The pavement darkened around him as the water began to seep into the concrete beneath them.
"It's okay, swimming's not really all it's cracked up to be," he grinned sheepishly as he slicked his damp hair back.
"Yeah, unless you're drowning," she joked.
"I guess you're right," he laughed along. "I wouldn't mind teaching you, if you want." His eyes strayed from their legs dangled beneath the water to her face, watching as she stared off into the distance, silently contemplating his offer.
"Sounds pretty good to me," she grinned. "I doubt you'll be able to teach me anything, but I'll try to keep an open mind."
His face mirrored her expression. "Thanks for having so much faith in me." His lips formed an exaggerated smirk. "So do you wanna try later on tonight, after the pool's cleared?"
"Sure," she flashed him a quick smile as she fished her cell phone out of her pocket. Mahogany eyes skimmed over the screen before her thumbs pressed in a quick response. "I've gotta go, but I'll see you later?"
"Yup, I'll text you."
Kandi leaned over and briefly kissed his cheek before walking away, and Logan secretly envied how effortless it was for her to be with him. All this time he'd spent striving to win her over, struggling to convince her that they'd be perfect together, and it all came more naturally to her than it did to him.
As soon as she was through those heavy French doors that led into the lobby, James flashed Logan an eager thumbs-up, to which the boy responded with a dramatic roll of his big brown eyes.
Later that night, Logan was lying in bed again, his eyes focused on the ceiling fan above him as he mentally counted the revolution of the blades. The body in the next bed let out a soft snore as the golden-skinned boy shifted beneath the sheets, turning onto his other side. Logan's eyes glanced back towards the clock on the nightstand between them; the blaring red numbers flashed eleven-thirty.
Though he doubted his friends would say anything, he still would've liked for them to all be asleep before he left, just in case any of them were planning on having a late night swim of their own.
Kendall's mother, the temporary guardian of the group of four teenage boys, must have either been an extremely deep sleeper or just didn't care because at least one of the boys managed to sneak out of apartment 2J every night. Though Logan's tally was higher than Carlos's, he still had nothing on Kendall or James. James, by far, was the king of escaping 2J, all in pursuit of his string of female conquests. Logan's were a little more innocent, and as he thought each night over, he realized they'd all been for Kandi.
Most of the time, they spent their nights up on the rooftop of their apartment building, back when things were so complicated that they needed a night's worth of conversation in order to sort everything out. She had been dating one of her costars, but he didn't treat her right, while Logan was in a twisted relationship with a girl he had no feelings for, secretly pining for his best friend the entire time. Now, things seemed almost too simple. They had no obstacles to overcome aside from themselves.
His phone vibrated softly against his stomach, and his hand fluttered over the screen so that the sudden burst of light wouldn't wake James. Tired yet anxious eyes squinted at the screen, the light much too bright in the darkness of his bedroom.
"Are you able to meet yet?"
Logan held his breath for a moment, straining to hear any hint of movement within the small apartment before typing in his response.
"Yeah, I'll see you by the pool in a few."
His nerves were wound tightly as he inched out from beneath his bed sheets, the squeak of the mattress springs enough to make him stop dead in his tracks. Eyes still trained on James, he loosened the drawstring of the worn gray sweatpants he usually slept in, tugging them down to reveal his swim trunks.
Always planning ahead, he'd already tucked a couple of towels from the bathroom underneath his bed, and his hands now fumbled for the texture of terry cloth in the dark.
The doorknob turned as smoothly as butter in his grip, and Logan stuck his head through the crack, nervously glancing around for any sign of life before deciding to tiptoe out into the living room.
Quickly but quietly, he made it to the front door without a catch. The watery thud of his heartbeat seemed to echo in his head as he opened the front door. The warm glow of the lights in the hallway seeped in for a moment before he pulled the door to a close, a heavy sigh of relief gushing from his lungs. Once he made it out of 2J, things were generally simple, but Logan still silently prayed to any higher power that would listen that the building manager wasn't awake. Mr. Bitters generally didn't like kids fooling around in his pool afterhours for obvious reasons.
The lavender glow of the pool lights seemed to beckon to Logan like a siren song. Vibrant cerulean ripples seemed to leech the surrounding patio of its color as Logan's bare feet padded against the pavement.
As he began to pull the white cotton v-neck up over his shoulders, his eyes darted back towards the lobby suddenly, releasing a sigh of relief at the still pitch-black room. It was almost eerie to see an area that was usually teeming with life so still and dark.
Logan tossed his t-shirt onto one of the lounge chairs and took a seat at the edge of the pool, carefully dipping his feet beneath the water to test the temperature. The pool lights made his fair skin appear translucent, and Logan visually traced the network of bluish-purple veins that ran along the top of his foot.
A familiar voice shook him from his thoughts.
"Hey," she spoke softly as she walked across the patio. "It feels so weird being down here at night."
"I know, I was just thinking the same thing." Hints of a smile tugged at the corners of his lips as he watched the trail of waves made by his legs dissipate.
She slowly eased the strap of her flimsy white cover-up down her freckled shoulder, allowing the lightweight fabric to fall to her feet in one fell swoop, revealing everything he'd been mulling over in his mind for the past few nights.
It was even better than he imagined, her bikini more like lingerie than actual swimwear. Yellow polka-dotted ruffles lined the top of each bra-like cup, leading his eyes to an embarrassing amount of cleavage. At least it was embarrassing for him to look at; she didn't seem too fazed about wearing it. The soft flesh of her stomach was exposed, and he noticed a couple of contrastingly dark moles against her fair skin that he'd never seen before. A polka-dotted bow rested on each of her hipbones, and Logan could hardly resist the urge to tug it loose.
He was trying his hardest not to stare, but his eyes kept wandering back to her figure, making him feel unbelievably awkward. He could feel the blood rush to his cheeks in a blush.
Kandi didn't seem to notice as she took the empty span of concrete beside him. She kept her knees clutched to her chest, almost as if she was afraid to even dip one toe into the water.
"Is it really cold?"
"Nope, not really. Just a little cooler than bathwater."
Curiosity flickered in Logan's eyes as he watched her laugh to herself.
"I take steaming hot showers," she replied as her vision darted to the skyline. "Gosh, it's so pretty out here. Do you guys come out here a lot after dark?"
The forced feel of this conversation was killing Logan. He felt like he'd somehow been instantly transported back to the eighth grade, back when they were all just testing the waters when it came to the opposite sex. Seven minutes in heaven was now elongated and transformed into seven days of awkward interactions as they both tried to release the urges they'd kept stifled for so long.
"Sometimes," he admitted, and she smiled, the movements of the water reflected in glimmers of white light across her face. "So…are you ready to dive in?"
Her lips mashed together as she nodded quickly, slowly lowering her body into the shallow end, the subtle waves only hitting at her knees.
"It does feel pretty nice," she confessed as she slowly waded in deeper.
Logan practically leapt into the pool, leaving a cascade of waves in his wake, which bombarded his girlfriend's face. Her hair, which she'd pulled up into a messy bun (probably to keep it from getting wet), was drenched.
After she'd rubbed her eyes, an exaggerated look of appall appeared on her face before she splashed him in return. All bets were off as Logan threw the girl over his shoulder, kicking and screaming as they ventured into the deep end. As the pair struggled to fight back hushed giggles, things shifted back to the way they'd always been for a moment. Without all the pressure and expectations, they were just Kandi and Logan, just two kids completely caught up in one another.
She was gripping his shoulders, her mouth gaping like a fish out of water as she struggled to catch her breath, and Logan realized that he'd never seen her like that, so vulnerable and dependent on him. She was still clutching him, her body pressed against his as her legs kicked, desperate to keep her head above water. It was odd to see her flail like that, generally Logan was the one that struggled to keep his balance, but he couldn't deny how exhilarating it felt to feel her bare skin glide against his own.
His arms slipped around her waist as her frantic breathing began to slow, the expression on her face slowly shifting back to its usual, laidback form. Warmth began to radiate through his body as her stare locked on his, sparking a frenzy in his head. Instinctively, he hoisted her upwards, her legs hooking around his waist effortlessly as he tried to tote her across the pool.
When her back was up against the rough wall of the pool, her arms still hung around his neck as she gazed at him, her thumb brushing slowly over the nape of his neck. And suddenly, the carefree laughter that had hung in the air vanished, replaced with a lingering heaviness that Logan couldn't describe. He felt woozy, like that time he and his friends had all gone to the county fair one summer and they'd dared him to ride one of those rides that relies entirely on centripetal force. The ride had just spun and spun and spun, and when Logan tried to keep his eyes closed, the feeling intensified, making him feel like he was going to throw up.
His stomach was tightening, doing cartwheels in his abdomen while his body buzzed. The feeling was somewhat familiar, he'd just never gotten the chance to truly act on it before. He found himself leaning in, pressing his lips against hers with more force than ever, kissing her harder than even their first real kiss. She returned the gesture, her pressure matching his but with much more passion, like she'd been holding back on him this entire time. The grip of her legs around his waist tightened reflexively as her hands drifted from his neck, reaching behind her back to unhook the top of her bathing suit.
As the fabric floated along the water's surface, Logan knew that he should feel fear. He knew that the voice in the back of his head should be warning him, but he couldn't hear it over the screaming of his own hormones. Running the risk of getting caught would've usually stopped him, but that risk seemed to seep into the seams of his thoughts, edging him on instead of pulling him back.
He'd never been the type to take risks, but then again, he'd never come across a risk that he deemed worth taking.
He decided to follow suit, his hands fumbling with the drawstring of his swim trunks. The heavy fabric seemed to drag against his skin as he kicked it off into the depths, light enough not to sink to the bottom but much too heavy to float all the way to the surface. The dark blob of material hung awkwardly in suspension at their sides.
Under ordinary circumstances, he would've been nervous, afraid that she would judge him, but this was anything but ordinary. Logan felt like he was having an out of body experience, like his mind was somehow disconnected from his body as his fingers loosened the ties to her bikini bottom.
Being as inexperienced as he was, Logan had never really seen a girl naked before. Well, aside from that time he'd come across a stack of [i]Playboy[/i]s under James's bed one afternoon, but he couldn't bring himself to really look at the pages without feeling incredibly awkward. But with Kandi, it was different. It felt more natural to want her in that way because she wanted him just as much. And she was real, her bare skin just within his reach. If he wanted to, he could reach out and touch her because she was there and she was real.
So he did. His finger trailed along her side as his lips fumbled frantically against hers. Her fingers threaded through dark strands of damp hair, tugging gently as he deepened the kiss. Logan's lips suddenly wandered to her neck, sucking softly, unsure if what he was doing was right until, by accident, his lips pulled at her skin a little more sharply, causing her to buck her hips against his.
Every doubt that he'd had about them seemed to melt away. He wanted to touch every inch of her bare skin, only because it was so much like his own and yet so unbelievably foreign at the same time. His hand scaled upward, giving one of her breasts a slight squeeze, causing her hips to press up against his once more. Logan found himself craving more of that friction, trying to touch her in any way so that he could get it. But he didn't need to; her hips gradually began to rock against his as they kissed. Her tongue swirled something hot like melted ice cream in his mouth, and he couldn't believe how easily it all came to him, how it didn't require any thought for him to grind against her. With his eyes still closed as he took more control of the kiss, he felt one of her hands leave his neck. Her touch dragged along the planes of his chest, down his stomach, until he felt a sudden grip on his shaft. He moaned into her mouth softly before tilting his head back, letting his mouth hang open slightly as he firmly closed his eyes.
All that could be heard was the soft smack of water against skin, accompanied by the soft pant of labored breaths and the hum of cars out on the freeway.
He wanted to open his eyes, to see how beautiful she undoubtedly looked, but every time his lids managed to flutter open, he felt like he was in a lust-fogged trance. Her hand was the perfect warmth, her palm the perfect texture, providing the perfect twists and jerks, her thumb rubbing around the head of his cock, causing his breath to catch in his throat as his mouth sputtered for the right words to say.
Though he was used to being so in control of his thoughts and his actions, it felt amazing just to let go, to allow his mind to go blank and rely solely on his senses.
With a couple more strokes, he knew he was almost there, his abdominal muscles already beginning to clench as an edged groan tore through his throat. His hips jerked uncontrollably into her grip, and though he couldn't feel his mouth forming the sounds, he could hear his own desperate whimpers fill the air as he came. Her grip didn't leave him, instead loosening and contracting around him to get him through it.
And as suddenly as it had begun, it was over.
When he opened his exhausted eyes, Logan saw Kandi fishing for her top in the water, making tiny waves with her hand in an effort to get it to float over to her. He reached for it with ease, handing the soaked fabric to her casually as she pulled herself out of the pool, her bottom already tied securely around her hips.
Logan just stood there in the middle of the pool, watching her as she walked around the perimeter of the pool and grabbed a towel he'd brought off one of the lounge chairs, hurriedly drying herself off. He was at a loss for words again, but this time, it wasn't necessarily a bad thing.
He grinned sheepishly as he stepped out of the pool, awkwardly pulling his trunks up around his waist. "Um, thanks," he offered, knowing full and well that those weren't the right words to say but he couldn't fish out any smoother ones, so they'd have to do.
She laughed a little to herself, still avoiding the intensity and adoration of his gaze as she let her hair down, working the white towel through her brunette locks. "No problem, but you owe me one." The words flowed from her lips almost too easily.
After she slid her cover-up back on, she leaned over, kissing him slowly. Her lips lingered at his lower lip, almost as if she didn't want to let go. Then she playfully ruffled his wet hair and disappeared into the darkness of the lobby.
It was all he could do to keep from following after her.