"As exciting as this game has been, I think I'm going to go take a nap." Sara had a smug grin on her face as the others sitting around the table let out a groan.
"Hey, that's not fair; you were about to land on Boardwalk." Nick had really thrown himself into the game and had managed to get very close to winning until Sara had gone on a property buying spree and had loaded the game board with hotels to the chagrin of everyone else especially Nick. In short, she'd made a killing in game real estate and it was only going to be a sheer stroke of luck if Nick made a comeback and he knew it.
"Nick, no offense man, but I don't think her landing on Boardwalk is going to help you much." Archie was thoroughly amused at his two coworkers. The game had taken on a whole new intensity after his skinny dipping comment. Perhaps it wouldn't take much to push them both in the direction of the lake, sans clothing of course.
"It could happen." Nick knew it wasn't true, but seeing as everyone else was a little occupied with a member of the opposite sex, he could sense a very lonely afternoon for himself; at least the game had provided him with a distraction with a lovely view of Sara.
"Let it go, Nick." Sara winked at him as she got up, patted him on the head, and then sauntered into the house.
The scowl on Nick's face did not go unnoticed by Emily and perhaps the fact that before today she didn't know Nick or Sara gave her the boldness to say something. "So why aren't you and Sara dating?" It was perfectly clear to her that something was brewing under the surface and since it seemed that everyone else on this long weekend was either paired up or in process, as in the case of Greg and Chloe, that it was about time Nick and Sara took the plunge too.
"We're friends." Nick's tone wasn't too convincing; in his own mind he definitely wanted it to be more than that, and ever since Archie's comment he couldn't get images of Sara and him taking a nice little midnight swim in the nude out of his head. Of course he'd had plenty of dreams about him and Sara in many other places that didn't require clothing either, but he had never said anything to anyone about it. Could it be that he was being more obvious than he'd thought?
"Well Archie and I used to be 'friends', then he asked me out." Emily smiled innocently. "And we had a fabulous first date." That had been an understatement really; she'd been interested in him for months and he seemed to be interested too and after dropping some pretty heavy duty hints, they finally went out on a date. It was she that had initiated the skinny dipping though, something that would always be the highlight of that date in both of their minds.
"She has a point, Nick." Archie was never really one to try and push his nose in where it wasn't wanted, but if Emily could see that there was chemistry between Nick and Sara then Nick had his head in the sand if he couldn't recognize that for himself.
Nick looked like he was considering it for just a minute, but he shrugged it off and cleared his throat. "I think I'm going to go for a swim; either of you in?" He gestured down towards the dock where Greg and Chloe seemed to be rather engrossed in each other, and then he smiled as he noticed Warrick and Tina lounging in the sun after a swim in the lake.
"Maybe later." Archie answered for both of them. "I was thinking that Emily and I could take our turn in the kitchen and start making dinner." He glanced over at her for confirmation and he could tell from her smile that she knew that this was a prime opportunity to conspire to get Nick and Sara to take the plunge.
"Yeah, sure." Nick nodded; it made sense, they were all taking turns with the cooking, but it seemed now that couples were taking turns and with Greg seemingly hooking up with Chloe that meant that he and Sara would be getting a turn together fairly soon. Maybe he could use that as an opportunity to feel things out; test the waters a little and see how she'd react if he was a little more touchy than normal. She'd either level one of those glares of death at him or maybe, just maybe she might be a little touchy right back.
Archie and Emily made their way into the house and Nick just sat there for a good while watching his friends and feeling a pang at just how easy their relationships seemed to be; even Greg and Chloe had hit it off and based on the lip lock that they were in under the guise of a swim away from the eyes of Warrick and Tina he assumed that things were going well. He wanted Sara in the worst way; why he thought a nice four day weekend was a good thing with all these couples and Sara he wasn't sure; but if things went the way he hoped he and Sara would be one of those couples by the time they left on Monday.
He walked into the house, not really interested in swimming at the moment, smiling at Archie and Emily as he walked past the kitchen catching them not really making dinner, but making out instead. He had a brief thought that maybe he should just walk down to Sara's room and knock on the door and tell her that he had given Archie's comment some serious thought and that they should just take a short cut right past the skinny dipping and settle for the skinny instead right there between her sheets. He shook it off; he was sure a comment like that would surely earn him a slap and then he would blow any chance he might have with her romantically and their friendship would be ruined to boot. No, this was going to take a little finesse and as he walked into his room and settled himself on his bed, his thoughts returned to Sara again and he realized that sleep was going to be something he would be very lucky to get. Just the thought of her made his libido rush into overdrive and he finally decided to stop fighting it and decided that he would take a shower so he could get a little release.
Meanwhile, Sara had crawled into bed and despite being completely exhausted, she found herself staring up at the ceiling. The idea that Nick hadn't ever gone skinny dipping either had her thoughts drifting right into that carnal territory again. She wondered if he would be open to the idea of taking a little swim in the buff with her later under the cover of darkness; maybe after everyone else had gone to bed. And since they'd be swimming naked together, there might just be an opportunity to bump into him while they were in the water. That might generate a kiss or two or maybe even a detour past the hot tub and then if she was lucky a tumble into the sheets. She let out a frustrated groan; who in the hell was she kidding? Making a play for Nick might just ruin their friendship; still they had been flirting with each other for years and she was fairly certain that after Archie's comment earlier that Nick kept staring at her out of the corner of his eye. A smile stole over her face as she considered that he might just be open to the idea. Of course she really didn't want anyone else in the house to know about what she was thinking; maybe if Nick wanted what she wanted and they took their friendship into romantic territory then she wouldn't mind if everyone else knew about it; but until such a time as her fantasies became a reality, it was all going to stay under wraps in her mind.