True to his word, Peter stayed glued to my side during the party. I'll admit, I wasn't enjoying myself overly much. Turns out that Paul invited a lot of people, all whom liked to drink and get ready loud. Peter had a couple of beers but didn't get sloshed for my sake. I didn't partake in any alcohol of course. But for Peter, I tried not to be a stick in the mud either. We went for walks along the beach, I made him breakfast, and Chris and I went swimming when Peter made sure no guys would come around.
I didn't see Gen until the next day. She arrived with this other guy I did not know. But it was clear from the moment she saw me that she was extremely upset. Peter and Chris told me to ignore her, and Peter deliberately led me to places around the house he knew she would not be. At the time, I didn't mind Gen being there; I didn't really see her much anyway. That would change however, the next morning.
But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's go back to Saturday night. Paul's beach house had like three hot tubs and one main pool. While everyone gathered around the big pool- which was really stupid cause they were drinking around deep water- Peter wanted to go sit in one of the empty hot tubs. He wanted me to come with him, and I did. I sat on the side, sticking my feet in while he got changed. I guess I should have foreseen this coming since this was a hot tub, but my eyes grew in shock when Peter took off his white bathrobe. Beforehand, when he first emerged from the house in it, I simply smiled over at him. That smile disappeared however then the robe dropped to the ground.
Now before you imagine the worst, he was wearing swim trunks; it's not like he was naked or something. But it was my first time seeing a man's bare chest in a while- well, a man I knew intimately anyway. I immediately turned my head away, trying to hide the blush in my cheeks. Twenty-four years old and I still blush at the sight of a man's bare chest; how mature am I? Luckily Peter caught on right away, his own grin vanishing. "Sorry, Covey; I didn't think…. Um, I can put on a tank top if you want." Awe, Peter…. he didn't even hesitate. Still looking away, my head shook lightly. "N-no, that's fine. It'll be fine once you're in the water." True to my word, Peter got in and I was able to look again. He smirked at me in one of those playful, knowing fashions.
"I'm not naked, you know." "You're naked enough for me," I cut him off. My beloved fake boyfriend chuckled. "Why don't you come in? The water's sooooooo nice." "I can't. I didn't bring a bathing shirt." "It's ok if you don't want to; I get that. But no one's looking…. and I'll stay wherever you want me to. I just want you to have the option." The option…. That's something I felt I didn't have most of the time. I watched Peter for a long minute, analyzing the sincerity in his expression; he was sincere, obviously. Then, I don't know from where, but it suddenly hit me like a lightening bolt. Peter wasn't like this because he wanted to see me in a one-piece; he truly wanted me to choose for myself, to feel secure enough to…. "What if someone comes?" "Then I'll deal with it. No one will see you if you don't want them to," again, zero hesitation.
With a growing grin on my lips, I sucked in a deep, deep breath, shut my eyes, and proceeded to remove my outer layer of clothes. Peter did the absolute wise thing and didn't say a word about how I looked in a bathing suit. Instead, he waited silently as I emerged into the hot tub with his. This was my first time being this…. exposed in front of a guy in over a year. It was a weird feeling, kind of scary, but since it was Peter, I trusted him. I looked at him, and I trusted him…
Neither of us said anything for a while; merely sitting and enjoying the water. My eyes gently closed as I tilted my head back. Peter was right; this did feel nice. I'd forgotten how good this could feel…. When both of us were ready, we blinked back at each other and smiled. Have I mentioned how good Peter looks when he smiles? He grinned at me intently. "Hi," I giggled. "Hi," he said in a soft, delicate tone. "I'm sorry if I'm not being much fun at the party. I didn't mean to….." "What are you taking about? You're the only thing keeping me sane around here," he interrupted my tangent. Funny, he didn't even say that sarcastically; it was more matter-o-factly. His head tilted back like mine had and his eyes wandered up to the night sky. I observed patiently for him to continue; I felt like there was more he planned on saying.
"You know what's ironic? I used to love partying; I could go all night and did. I can't count all the times Gen and I woke up in someone's house, surrounded by empty beer cans, pizza boxes, and other passed out drunks," he paused here to take in a few silent breaths. "I don't know exactly when it happened, but at some point, it just stopped being fun. I wasn't enjoying myself like I used to. Maybe it started in third year of university….." Another steady pause. "I remember this one time waking up in someone's place- I don't remember who's. I slept on the floor, my shirt stained with beer and puke; Gen was blacked out on the couch where she'd thrown up too. I remember sitting up with this pounding headache….. and….." His head came back down as his eyes drifted off into nowhere. "I remember looking around and thinking to myself "is this it? is this the best life I can be living?". I'd never really wanted more before that moment, but…. I don't know. My university days were numbered, at least before postgrad, and I knew that this couldn't go on forever. That got me thinking about the future; what kind of future I want. I'd never really thought about it before…"
Yet another very long lull. I still didn't say anything, keeping my eyes locked onto Peter. His gaze eventually met mine and I was reminded of those deep, endless eyes of his; the ones that hooked you, tight. "I only agreed to come this weekend because Paul's a good friend from back in my party days. But… it's clear that we're on different wavelengths. I tried to get back into it for his sake, but I can't; I guess I'm not the same person anymore." "Peter…" My eyes lowered tenderly. "That's why I'm so glad you're here, Covey. You're like a constant reminder to me." "Reminder?" I lifted my eyebrow curiously. "Yeah; a reminder that things can get better, that life can still be fun and exciting beyond those party university years." "Peter!" I let out the biggest gasp. He chuckled at this response. "Don't sound so surprised, Covey. You keep me sane in situations like these; you always have." "P-Peter….." Peter.
My mouth opened to say something kind about all this but was interrupted by an unfamiliar voice in the distance. Peter's grin disappeared while I checked over my shoulder. It sounded like two or three guys were headed in our direction. "Over here, dude! I think there's another pool over here!" I had just enough time to blink to Peter with a look of horror washed over my face. Peter seeing me in a bathing suit was one thing; strange men was totally another.
Realizing the situation, Peter immediately came over to my side of the pool; he brought his robe in his head, holding it over the water. He set it down and stood right in front of me. "Ok, just hold on; I'll…." "Dude, I found it!" I winced as one very drunk guy stumbled from behind the house's corner. He was followed by two others. "Room for three more, bro?" The first one asked Peter; I don't know if they could see me or not. Seeing as they were drunk and likely wouldn't leave even if he told them to, Peter didn't even try arguing. Instead, he moved closer, careful to shelter my entire body without touching me. "Ok, here's what we'll do. I'll stand up and then you do; I'll cover you in my robe," he whispered back to me. Luckily for us, the three drunkards were busy laughing and jostling with one another.
Peter stood up and I followed suit instantly. Then, when he knew it was the right time, he quickly spun around to place his robe over my shoulders. I put it on and closed it up, averting the crisis. He sighed in relief and grabbed his own towel while getting out of the hot tub. We smiled at each other pleased with the outcome. "Well, that wasn't bad," he sighed again. "Nope," I agreed. "Wanna go inside? I have a feeling you're gonna want a shower." "You know me," a laugh left my lips. "Alright, go get cleaned up and I'll meet you in your room later, kay?" "Ok." With one last grin, we made our way inside the house and parted to our designated sections. Paul did one smart thing and labelled one bathroom as male and the other female. Peter went to the male's on the first floor, and me on the second floor.
Once in the female designated bathroom, I undid the robe and went over to the showers to turn one on. While waiting for the water to warm up, I went to grab my shampoo, conditioner, and soap. Being the girls' room, I didn't freak when the bathroom door opened; I thought it was just another woman coming to use the toilet or wash their hands or something. I was horrified to look up and see none other than Gen standing there; hand on hip while in an attitude stance. Man, her eyes were burning a hole through me when she saw me in Peter's bathrobe. Wait…. ooooooh, that can't be good. I'm in her ex's clothes; intimate clothes… oh boy.
"Nice robe, boyfriend-stealer," she said… like that was some major insult. And her tone; her tone…. Little did I know that was the start of one of the worst nights of the year for me.