Chapter 9

I was more than prepared to turn down Rachel's request to go back to her place with everyone for an after-party for today's celebration. First of all, she was still in a relationship, even if it was only technical. Second of all, I didn't think I could control myself around her if we were to be alone. Then, Kurt unleashes his secret weapon. "Finn, please."

I can't help but think that this isn't fair. When I said I was going to head home, Kurt had stood up and dragged me away from everyone like a child. "You can go, Kurt. I'm just not interested."

"You just don't want to go because you have feelings for Rachel," he pouts.

"I'm tired. But, really, you should go. You and Blaine seem to have hit it off and I'm happy for you. At least I have stuff in common with this one..." More in common than he knows.

Kurt tugs on the zipper of the sweatshirt that Blaine had lent him earlier. "I felt guilty earlier, but, Blaine is really sweet and he has his head on straight. He has goals, he's protective of his sister, and he likes my brother. That last one is the big one." Kurt looks off into the distance and I can see Blane staring at us.

I run my hands through my sandy hair. "I still think I'm going to go home. But really, Kurt, I think you should stay."

Kurt sticks out his bottom lip. "Please, Finn," he pouts. "If you do this for me, I will make Nona Brina's carbonara you love so much. I didn't make it a few weeks ago and you've been asking."

I shrug my shoulders, even though I am salivating just thinking about it. My Nona Sabrina was my mother's mother and she was the best chef in the family. When she passed, my mother refused to make any of her old school recipes and it took her almost four years to change her mind. Kurt hasn't made pasta carbonara since we lost our mother. "That sounds great Kurt, but I still think I would rather go home."

He let's out a deep sigh. "Fine, Finn, fight dirty. But, I always win. Come with us to the party and I'll make Nona's cannoli."

At the word cannoli I drop my beer. "You hate making cannoli."

"I don't hate making cannoli, I just don't like to make it. There's a difference. It takes a long time and there is a lot of steps. But, I will make it if that's what it takes." Kurt places his hands on his hips.

"Alright, Kurt Elizabeth. You drive a hard bargain," I look out at the water. "When do we leave?"

"Yes!" Kurt screams before running back to everyone. I smile as he jumps into Blaine's waiting arms. I was actually warming up to the idea of them dating.

I search around for my discarded beer bottle. When I find it and stand back up, I'm surprised by someone standing in front of me. "Rachel?"

"How did Kurt convince you to come with us?" She searches my face for some sign of the answer. "You were firm on not coming with us. What did he say?"

I grab her wrist and pull her towards me. "Wouldn't you like to know, pretty girl?" I ask. "It's a sibling secret. If I told you, I would have to kill you."

She smiles a dimpled smile at me and puts her hand at my neck. "Please scrub, I would love to know what makes you…tick."

My heart is in my throat. I swallow hard. "Cannolis." My voice cracks, and I clear my throat. "Kurt is going to make my Nona Sabrina's cannolis. They're my favorite. "

She leans up and whispers in my ear. "I really want to kiss you tonight." Her lips graze my ear. "Now, we have both shared a secret."

About an hour later, we were all walking up the driveway to Rachel and Jesse's house. "Whoever wants to de-sand themselves and change, there is an outdoor shower over there, and there's two bathrooms in the house. One upstairs, one downstairs," Rachel stops in front of the house and smiles. "To visitors old and new, mi casa es su casa."

I walk inside and pause at the foyer. It was bigger than I imagined. We had come in through the beach entrance and only caught a glimpse of this exquisite castle. The front of the house had appeared small and modern but the back was open and bright. I glance around at the comic artwork on the walls. Rachel had been right, it didn't look like woman lived here at all. The furniture was modern and the wall colors were in varying shades of slate gray.

"Come on scrub," Rachel says. "I'll show you where you can get cleaned up." Rachel takes my hand and pulls me upstairs to the master bedroom.

"Rach, I don't feel comfortable being in here," I gulp.

She laughs. "I thought you might want to use the shower." She steps out of her denim shorts and pulls off her tank top, revealing her small string bikini.

"Jesus Christ," I mumble without even thinking.

Rachel's cheeks redden and she motions for me to join her in the ensuite. She turns on the shower and climbs inside still wearing her swim suit. "I'm not taking off anything else Finn… I promise."

I pull off my shirt and gulp hard. Clearly, she was flirting with me...but does she want more? I get in with her and she looks impressed.

"I didn't think you had it in you, scrub." She covers her body in liquid soap and hands me the bottle. "There is nothing better than a warm shower after a beach day." Rachel puts her head under the shower head and arches towards me.

I forget what I'm doing and just stare at her breasts. I am trying to concentrate on anything else, but it is proving to be futile. "So, have you heard from Jesse since I talked to you on the beach?"

She finishes rinsing off and gives me a strange look. "I told him when he got home we needed to talk."

I nod, mentally kicking myself for asking about Jesse right now. "Talking works." And clearly, my brain is not working right now.

Rachel pulls at the bow holding her top around her neck. She carefully covers her breasts with her arms and turns around, "do you mind helping me, Finn?"

I moan at the sight of her. "Yeah. You just want me to untie the back knot?" She nods and I move my shaking hands to her newly naked flesh and slowly undo the only knot holding up her top. The small, hot pink strings of nylon fall to her sides and she untangles the rest of the top, flinging it over the side of the glass shower door. She turns around and I look down… obviously. She's only covering her nipples, so, I get to ogle her impressive breasts. "Thank you," she walks around me. "Don't be long scrub, I don't want everyone to talk."

I grab her and pull her naked body to mine. "I would spend my life trying to make you happy…" I tilt her head to mine, "the real question I need the answer to though is would you have me?"

Rachel opens her mouth to reply when we hear someone come in the room. "Berry, have you seen Fi—." He stops when he sees us in the shower.

The moment is ruined and Rachel steps out of the shower and wraps her naked flesh with a towel. I slam my hands against the tiled wall, turn off the water, and step out next. My pulse is racing and I know I'm at least sporting a semi. "You need a fucking bell, man!" I practically shout. Rachel is laughing into a towel and I scowl at her too.

"I didn't mean to interrupt anything, Finn." Blaine's face is genuine in this instance. "Kurt and I didn't know where you ended up and we just wanted to make sure you found a place to get cleaned up."

I put up my hands to get him to just… stop… talking. "Thanks man, but I had it covered." Rachel and Blaine exchange glances and begin to laugh. At first I don't find the humor in this situation at all, but their laughter is contagious. "So, what are we going to do now?"

After dressing back into my dirty clothes from the beach, we head downstairs and go in the living room, which is another room that I don't see Rachel in at all. There's a modern microfiber sectional, a glass top coffee table with matching end tables, an entertainment system complete with a lot of vinyl records, and a huge full wall mural of Gotham City. The only place I see Rachel is on the fireplace mantle - which is peppered with at least a dozen picture frames of her, Jesse, and the gang. "So what's next, pretty girl?"

"Sorry everyone, I had something that needing tending to upstairs." Rachel smiles. The boys whistle and Jake pats my back as he heads to the couch. "So what would everyone like to do now?"

Jake picks up the small golden box from the coffee table, opens it, and frowns. "Damnit."

We all turn to look at him. "What are you looking for buddy?" Artie asks Jake when he sits down beside him.

"The stash! Where's our boys stash?!" Jake drums his fingers on the arm of the couch. "I'm not talking about that basic chronic shit he keeps at work. I'm talking about Maui Wowi, the Purple Haze, the Grandfather Kush!" He walks over to the vinyl collection and opens up a vintage X-Men lunchbox.

I can't believe a grown ass man lives here. "Ryder dear, will you put on some mood music?"

Ryder kisses Marley's cheek and stands up. "Anything for the hostess." He heads over to the record player and puts on an old Pink Floyd album - Dark Side of the Moon.

"Would you like to help me really piss Jesse off?" Rachel asks with a smirk.

I am starting to get the picture. "Sure," I smile along, hoping not to sound too eager.

Puck comes in the room and swings his arms in front of him. "So, Rachel, this is a party. Do you have any party favors for us?"

"I'm getting to that, Noah. Thank you." She sticks her tongue out at him as she saunters over to the framed picture on the wall. She swings it open like a door and of course, there's a wall safe hidden behind the picture frame. I finally figure it out. Jesse thinks he's Batman and this place is his Batcave. She pulls a small lock box from the safe and scurries back to her seat. "Jesse only gets the best for the house…he knows you smoke his stuff at work, Jake."

"Jesse only gets the best what?" Kurt asks, his voice growing tenser with each passing moment.

"Purple Haze. Straight from the beautiful state of Colorado," Rachel shakes the small box in her hand and carefully grabs two nuggets of marijuana from the tin. "He would kill me if I knew we were hitting up his private stash. But, he's not here. He's too busy being a jerk. So fuck him."

"There's the feisty Rachel Berry I know and love," Blaine chuckles.

None of them can be serious right now...can they? I mean sure, I've taken a few hits off of a joint once or twice. I went to college — I did the whole frat boy thing. I had a life before I became an agent. I have even taken a hit off of something that they were smoking before the show several times to keep Puck at bay. But this was different. Now, we were talking in terms of loud and Purple Haze is one of the strongest and most lethal types of weed. I cringe a little as Rachel swings her right leg over her left and I get another glimpse of her soft, pale skin.

"Artie, pass me that grinder, would you?" Jake asks, as he props the feet up on the coffee table in front of him. Artie hands the silver contraption to Rachel and she passes it to Jake.

I never would have taken Rachel Berry for the stoner type. I obviously knew that she likes to drink. I have even seen her puff on the occasional cigarette here and there. But, watching her sit here, participating in grinding up nuggets of weed right in front of all of us like it was no big deal was a different ballgame all together. Kurt and I have been exchanging confused looks for the better part of 15 minutes. What the hell were we going to do?!

"Did you bring shells?" Rachel asks, looking in Sam's direction.

"Why do you always have to ask me, like I'm the one that gets them all of the time..." Sam shifts his weight and digs in his pockets.

"Sam," Rachel says in a joking tone. "I know you have them."

"Strawberry or mango?" he questions, as Rachel stares at him blankly. "Sorry baby girl, that was all the gas station had. So it's this or nothing."

"Mango," she replies, without skipping a beat. Sam surrenders the baggie of White Owl cigars and Jake begins to dump the tobacco out of them. We're surrounding them like school kids whose teachers are demonstrating something new. Rachel and Jake take turns rolling the perfect blunts. They light them up instantly. Jake sucks in deep drag, and begins to pass them around the circle.

"Two puffs, then you pass it," Rachel instructs.

It comes upon my turn to take a hit - after watching Kurt do it, shocked is the word that was lingering on my mind - and I don't hesitate to take two hits myself. I don't need anymore narc commentary from Puck and I pass the blunt to Marley. I feel like I'm sitting in Eric Foreman's basement, reliving an episode of That 70s Show. I hear Money start sounding from the speakers and I can't help but think what a hoot Will is going to have reading about this in my field notes. That is, if I still had a job after Sunday...

Soon, after two more puffs, I wave the white flag in defeat. I can't feel any part of my body and I think that at any moment, Jesse is going to burst through this door and catch us smoking. Rachel had mentioned while she was rolling that this shit was expensive and we have smoked most of it.

As we sit and ponder in the circle, watching everyone laugh and joke and have a good time, I can feel my body start to burn. It feels as though I'm on fire. Is this what happens when you smoke good pot?

"Can we go swimming?" I ask sheepishly, pulling at my shirt collar.

"I'm kind of hungry," Blaine replies.

Rachel laughs, as she ashes the last of the blunt in a nearby ashtray. "Sure. I'll make some snacks and meet everyone outside."

I end up being the only one brave enough to get in the pool. Rachel giggles and asks if I want company. "Fuck yeah, pretty girl! Get your ass in here!"

Rachel uses the ladder to get into the pool and swims to me. "Are you happy that you came tonight? Or would you rather be at home?"

I push her against the side of the tiled wall. "I'm feeling great…better now that you're in here with me. Are you happy I'm here?"

She nods and pulls me closer. "Where did you come from?"

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"Ever since I met you, I haven't been able to escape you. I feel like I am supposed to be around you." She bites her bottom lip, "tell me about what you were doing before you moved to Myrtle Beach."

"I was an FBI agent in New York," I almost answer. "I used to be a beat cop in New York City."

"A cop, huh? That's incredibly sexy, Finn. Do you still have your uniform?" Rachel pulls me closer again and touches my chest under the water. My skin starts to burn again like before, but different.

"I have one of them lying around somewhere, I think." I rub my hands on her stomach. We are having another one of those moments and I lean in to kiss her.

I hear Artie start laughing behind me. "Cannonball!" he screams, before jumping into the pool and drenching us with his wake.

The moment passes, Rachel hugs me, and bursts into a fit of giggles. I groan and grip the pool tile behind her head, "I can't fucking win…we need to be alone then no one can disturb us. I just want to kiss you. What's wrong with that?"

She bites her lip again. "Just be patient, scrub. It will happen when it happens." I curse under my breath and watch her swim to the other side of the pool and get out of the water. She hands me a towel and I begin to dry off. I join the others over at the table as my once damp flesh begins to burn again. I need to do something to make this stoned feeling go away. I've drank water, I've swam, I've tried to kiss Rachel, I've even eaten a Cheeto drenched in peanut butter. Not my proudest moment, but it was so damn good I just couldn't stop. We build a fire in the fire pit as the second big wave of fireworks begin to explode in the sky. Everyone is wrapping up their festivities for this evening, and up until now, I had had an exceptional day.

"Hey," Puck laughs, staring out into the distance. "Hey...you know what would be fun?"

"What?" I hear Kurt asks, as he begins to twist and lick the Oreo next to him.

"We should play truth or dare." Puck raises his eyebrows and sticks out his tongue.

"What are we, 15?" Blaine sneers.

"Well, what the fuck else are we going to do? I don't see any of you fucks coming up with ideas," Puck scoffs.

"Truth or dare sounds great!" Rachel says, as she claps her hands together. "Here, I'll even Google the questions." Rachel takes out her iPhone and begins to type away on the little keypad. Meanwhile, I'm still watching Puck eye fuck her and Kurt eye fuck Blaine. Now that is one party that I know I don't want to be at.

Artie has officially fallen asleep in the chair and he is still in his cannonball clothes. I frown. Poor guy. I want to cover him up with something, but I decide against it for cock blocking the open shot I had with Rachel earlier. The longer I stare at him, the more exhausted I become. I'm exhausted from the weed, exhausted from the beach trip, and I'm exhausted from the boat. I yawn, but I can't fall asleep yet - I need to watch this shit show go down.

"Okay, Bash...I mean, Blaine. Dear old brother of mine. Truth or dare?" Rachel asks with a smile.

"Truth," he says, wrapping Kurt closer to him.

"Hm...okay. What is your best sexual experience to date?"

"Can I change my mind and say dare?" Blaine asks, clearly not wanting to answer that in front of my brother. This is why I didn't go to sleep - this is perfect. Kurt is going to love this.

"No, you have to answer it," Jake laughs, taking a sip of a fresh beer.

Blaine lets out a deep breath. "Her name was Santana ..that's the girl I lost my virginity to. It wasn't the greatest - hell, I know we both kind of fucked up - but I really did care about her. Since then, I haven't slept with anyone where it has actually meant...something. And then I discovered that I liked boys." Blaine claps his hands together. "Okay, I'm done. Next." Puck and Sam start holding each other and laughing.

Rachel hands him the phone, as Blaine and Kurt remove themselves from one another. He turns to face him. "Mr. Kurt Hummel, truth or dare?"

"Truth," he says, raising his hand and speaking in a slotted tone. "Truth. Please, God, nothing too embarrassing."

"Okay," Blaine giggles. "What was the longest time that you have given head for?"

"Excuse me?" he asks, his eyes widening incredulously. Okay, I am not loving this right now! Holy shit, I don't want to know that about my brother! "15 minutes," he says. "And I'm not even lying. Sebastian - my ex-boyfriend - couldn't get hard to save his fucking life so it would normally take a minute for us to get...going."

I ball up my shirt and stick some of it in my mouth and scream. The longest time my brother has blown someone!? It keeps replaying in my head. My eardrums are pounding. I expect them to just burst and bleed out at any moment now.

"That's terrible!" Jake laughs, as Blaine hands the phone to Kurt. "Just so we're clear, I'm sure Blaine doesn't take that long..."

"Like you would know, Puckerman," Blaine chuckles, as Kurt rests his arm back on his shoulder. "If he wants to know, he just needs to ask your mother."

Kurt chooses to ignore that last part. "Um...Jake. Truth or dare?"

"Dare," he says, taking another sip of his beer. He props his feet back up on the table and looks around. "I'm a rebel, I like to take chances. What can I say?"

"Dare...dare..." Kurt says, as he scrolls down on the phone. "Oh! Here's a good one. Get on the table and do a strip tease."

The atmosphere goes quiet and I hit my palm against my forehead. That's not a dare, that's his fucking job, Kurt! If only he knew...

Jake laughs. "Are you kidding me?"

"It's what the magical iPhone says," Kurt replies, thinking he has picked a good one.

He smiles wide. "Oh, this is going to be good. Can I have some music, please?"

Kurt looks over at Rachel who gives him a quick nod, as he presses the button for her music. Kurt scrolls to the song that he wants and selects it - Fat Bottomed Girls by Queen. I am roaring with laughter over here. Jake gets up on the patio table, and puts on quite the show for us. There's no thongs or props, and he is just ripping his clothes off and dancing away, thrusting in every direction. When he is done, he takes a bow, as everyone begins to clap.

"Here," Kurt says, as she passes the phone to him. "I'm sorry."

"For what?" Jake responds.

"Making you do that," he says, making a silly face.

"It's the nature of the game, babe. Besides, I'm sure Jake didn't mind one bit, did you sport?" Blaine asks, as Jake rolls his eyes.

"Okay...uh, Sam, truth or dare?" Jake puts his shirt back over his head and waits for an answer.

"Truth," he says.

"You guys are fucking lame," Puck calls, taking a sip of his whiskey.

"Okay...truth time," Jake ignores Puck's obvious ploy for attention. "Sam. Would you ever do a three-some?"

Sam snorts a little. "Dude, are you serious? I've already done that a few times. Give me that," Sam says, as he takes the phone out of Jake's hand. "Marley, truth or dare?"

"Oh no," she pauses. "Uh...dare?"

"Dare...dare. Here we go. Lick your partner's neck down to the brim of his underwear." Sam winks at Ryder, "you're welcome."

Marley roars with laughter and then looks at us. "Oh, wait. You're serious about this?"

"Dead serious, baby girl. Go on, show Lynn over here what you can do with your tongue." Sam and Jake high-five.

"Oh, he already knows," Marley winks, as she saunters over to Ryder. She does as she is told and the look on his face says it all. When she finishes, Sam gives her a high-five and passes the phone in her direction.

"Ryder, baby. Truth or dare?" Marley giggles.

"I'm afraid to answer," he laughs. "Uh...I guess I'll do truth."

"Have you ever cheated on your spouse or would you?"

"No and no," Jake says quickly, as the phone is tossed to him. "You are my one and only. And you have been long before I put that ring on your finger," he smiles. "Puck...my man. Truth or dare?" he asks, resuming the game.

"Dare, fuck it." Puck says before downing his drink and slamming his glass on the table.

"Dare..." Ryder says, scrolling. "Make out with the person to the...oh never mind," Ryder stops, as I give him a wave. I am not kissing Owen tonight. "Take an ice cube and rub it up and down your partner's body until it's melted."

"I don't have a partner," Puck says confused. "This is stupid."

"Well, you can't borrow Marley," Marley answers.

"Oh, come on Marley..." Puck starts.

"No thank you," she says back immediately. "Pick someone else."

"I'll let you do it," Rachel says, as she stands up. "Get the fucking piece of ice before I loose my nerve."

"Yes princess," Puck mouths, as he makes his way over to the cooler. He grabs a piece of ice and begins to rub it all over her body and doesn't waste a single space while he has the chance.

Rachel wipes off her stomach and Puck says, "Finn, truth or dare?"

"Truth," I say. I don't want to do any dares, I just want to play it the safest that I can for right now.

"Pussy," Puck laughs. "What is the worst sexual experience that you've ever had?"

I can't help but laugh. I don't want to single anyone out. I want to say Quinn, but I know that it might ruffle a lot of feathers if I did so. "This girl named Claire. I met her at a party in New York and it was just awful. All she did was lay there. My turn," I say, grabbing the phone from him. "Truth or dare, pretty girl?"

"Dare," she smiles.

"I dare you to spray whipped cream on your partner and lick it off of them."

"What?" she laughs. "That's what was next?"

"Yes," I say. It wasn't, but the thought of her doing that to me...

"What do you want?" Rachel asks me. "What do you have a taste for?"

You…fucking you, Rachel Berry. That's all I really want to shout. But I don't. "Whipped cream is fine. But it is you that will be doing the tasting."

"Uh...let me see if I have some..." Rachel says as she heads to the kitchen.

"Oh please. You and the cock rocking king of Myrtle Beach do kinky shit. I'm sure you have some," Puck chuckles.

"I do!" she shouts, making her way back outside, ignoring the comment. "Stand up and take your shirt off."

"I can't watch this," Kurt jokes, as he burrows his face into Blaine's chest. Rachel shakes the can of Reddi Whip and begins to spray it all over my naked torso. It's sticky, but her tongue works quick and like magic. She gets every last morsel off of me.

"My turn," Rachel says, as the cycle starts over once again.

Over the course of the next 2 hours, I see Blaine stand in the yard naked, Sam tells us that he doesn't like to have sex with music playing in the background, and Ryder and Marley do several dares to one another involving thrusting and dry humping. Kurt tells all of us about the time that he had sex at a Bon Jovi tribute band concert up in Jersey, Puck streaks down the street, someone asks Marley if she's ever thought about being a stripper - we all had a good laugh with that one. Rachel sticks her hand down my pants and tells us that she has only ever slept with Jesse her entire life, Jake made his best orgasm face, someone skinny dipped in the pool, and I told everyone what my personal foreplay preference is… I am more of a giver than a receiver.

"Last one," Rachel says, as she hands the phone to Blaine. "It better be good."

"I don't need this," he smiles and puts the phone down. "Kurt, truth or dare?"

"Dare," he says — finally — surprising all of us. He, too, had been picking only truths all night so this was a little shocking...

"I dare you to go upstairs with me," Blaine almost whispers.

I blink rapidly at what I just heard. "Wait, what?!"

Kurt nods and Blaine pulls him to his feet. "Hold on one second."

I was about to stand up too, when Rachel sits down in my lap. "Shhhh, Finn it's alright. They're really infatuated with one-another. And plus, it's almost bed time. None of us should be driving." When her logical reasoning doesn't make sense, she kisses my hair and says, "Finn, just be here… with me."