Okay, I know it's been like forever since I updated and I'm really really really sorry!! Good news is I'm starting to get rid of this darn writer's block I've had so bad over the last few months. To (kind of) make up for it, here's a pretty long chapter..I hope y'all like it! And I know it's been forever and I totally don't deserve it, but I hope you guys will review this one. I think I only got like one on the last chapter. Pwetty pwetty pwease?!
And, again, thank you Brittany for allllll of your help on this chapter! It wouldn't be near this good without your feedback, and I hope you like the changes I made.
The rest of y'all should thank her too, because I would probably still be stuck on this chapter if it wasn't for her!
Everybody was awestruck at the size and beauty of the house. The main floor held the kitchen, a large living area, a dining room, one and a half bathrooms, and the smallest bedroom--which was still a good sized room. On the second floor were four more bedrooms, all relatively the same size, two full bathrooms, and a quaint little sitting area at the top of the stairs that extended the length of the floor. There was a door that led out to a balcony facing the beach, giving off a beautiful view. The two master suites took up the entire third floor. Mikaela was blown away at the size of the master bedrooms, although she knew she shouldn't be given the size of the rest of the house.
Just when they thought the grand tour was over, Christian showed them the basement. In it was every man's dream. Directly in the center of the room were a grand pool table and a foosball table. On one wall hung a 52" LED TV with the three major video game systems and a huge collection of games. There was a full bar on the opposite wall.
Sam had the classic "kid on Christmas morning" look and Mikaela thought he was so adorable she couldn't help but lean over and kiss him. He smiled down at her before slipping an arm around her waist and pulling her into his side. Colton and Tyler were already glued to the foosball table, and Christian knew they would all have a hard time keeping the two boys from spending the entire trip in the basement.
Once they returned to the main floor, the guys went to the cars to bring all their bags into the house while the girls picked out their rooms. Christian and Mikaela took the two master suites, and Balie and Rachel took two adjacent rooms on the second floor. Their rooms shared a Jack-and-Jill style bathroom that connected the two bedrooms with doors on both sides of the bathroom. Colton, Tyler and Tate flipped a quarter to figure out which of the three would be stuck with the main floor bedroom.
"Aw man," Tyler groaned when he realized he would be the one taking the first bedroom.
Christian's aunt called to let her niece know they would be there in an hour after picking up food from the grocery store. Her uncle made fabulous fajitas, and Christian had specially requested for it to be their first meal in Daytona Beach. Now having a set time for their arrival Christian and the other three women rushed off to freshen up. Sam attempted to follow Mikaela up the stairs, but she simply pecked his cheek before pushing him in the chest and telling him to go play in the basement with the other guys. Playing along, he got a pouty look on his face before turning and stomping off in the direction of the basement.
"Don't think you're getting away so easily," He teased grabbing her from behind and leaning her against the railing where she stood halfway up the staircase.
"Sam!" Mikaela shrieked, laughter heard in her voice.
Any admonishments she might have made were quickly silenced when he covered her lips with his own. Immediately she responded to his kiss, running her tongue across his bottom lip. Sam's hands moved from her sides to the railing as he pressed his body harder into hers. Her small hands flattened against his toned chest and he swore he heard a slight moan escape when he sensually slid his own tongue along hers.
"You'd better go get ready," Sam chastised and tried not to laugh when Mikaela's jaw dropped. "Christian's family will be here soon."
"Witwicky, you're an ass," She swatted him on the chest.
"That may be true, but you're still the one who goes to bed with me every night," Oh, how she wanted to slap that cocky smirk of his face.
"Somebody just earned himself a night on the couch," Mikaela winked and jogged up the stairs before he had a chance to respond.
Sam rolled his eyes at her remark before making his way to the basement where the other four guys were. Predictably, Tate and Colton were already locked in a fierce foosball game with Tyler watching on ready to take on the winner. Andy was behind the bar mixing himself a Captain and cola. He nodded to Sam before reaching into one of the built in refrigerators under the counter and handed the other man a bottle of Bud Light. They took over the pool table when Andy finished making his drink. Sam broke and dropped two balls, one of each, before lining up a shot on the 14 ball, but his angle was off and the ball hit a few inches away from the corner pocket on the side rail. Andy was a badass when it came to pool. He could run the table without the other person ever getting a shot; hence the reason Sam broke instead.
"Be gentle with me," Sam joked.
Andy's eyes rolled sarcastically before continuing with his turn. The one and six balls were easy shots, the three ball a relatively easy bank shot into the side pocket but he ran into a little bit of trouble with the two ball. He was going to have to curve it around Sam's 15 ball. It was the only shot he had since his other ball was resting up against Sam's nine ball, both lodged against the rail.
"Mother fucker, how do you do that shit," Sam said frustrated after he successfully curved the two ball around Sam's and it fell softly into the corner pocket.
"Just lucky, I guess," Andy shrugged nonchalantly.
"Lucky, my ass," Sam retorted.
Andy had no other option but to just try to separate his and Sam's balls so he would have a shot on his next turn. Sam made a valiant comeback, but he couldn't manage to get his last stripe in, effectively giving the game to Andy by setting him up perfectly on the five ball.
Leo was up next against Andy, but there was no competition whatsoever. Andy had the table cleared in less than 10 minutes since he broke, then went on to knock in all of Leo's balls as well without missing a single shot.
They settled down in front of the monstrous TV next, ready to play the newest NFL game on the Xbox. Leo chose his beloved Cowboys, leading to a lot of ragging by the other guys, and Sam chose the Chargers for his team. It was a good, close game as both boys had played earlier versions of the video games a thousand times or more and it was 14-13 in Leo's favor as the fourth quarter wound down.
"Am I going to have to make this room off limits to you boys?" Christian teased coming down the stairs.
"Baby, you look gorgeous," Leo said admiring his girlfriend in her black pants and striped pink and baby blue low cut shirt.
"Why thank you, kind sir," She leaned over the back of the couch he was sitting on and kissed him.
Sam, knowing the game was over now that his opponent was sufficiently distracted tossed his controller down before heading up the three flights of stairs to the bedroom they were staying in. Mikaela was rummaging around in the en suite bathroom. He found his bag on the floor in front of the bed and opened it to search for clean clothes to change into.
Mikaela had heard him come into the room, but was still intent on teasing him. Thus, when she stepped out of the bathroom clad in only her bra and panties, her movements were carefully calculated to have the fullest effect on her fiancée. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched as Sam stopped moving and stared openly at her, but still didn't acknowledge his presence. In the closet hung the outfit she had picked out before jumping into the shower. Her shirt was a blue, pink, and green plaid patterned camisole with a sweetheart neckline and empire waist. Sam had yet to see her wear it, and she'd known it would drive him wild. Her favorite holy jeans and a pair of matching plaid flip flops completed the ensemble. As she pulled the shirt over her head followed by slipping her jeans on, she could feel Sam's eyes boring holes in her back. Before turning to finally face him, she allowed herself a satisfied little smile.
"Like what you see?" Mikaela purred.
"God, 'Kaela you are the sexiest woman I've ever seen," Sam answered.
"I'd better be," She skipped over to him and pressed a quick kiss to his lips. "But you're still on the couch tonight honey."
The affronted look on his face had her smiling amusedly as she trounced down the stairs to find Rachel and Christian already in the living room. Christian's family was due to arrive sometime in the next 10 to 15 minutes. Mikaela was slightly nervous about meeting the obviously wealthy couple because most of the people she had known in her life who were half as wealthy as these folks seemed to be were uptight snooty bitches with a superiority complex. Surely though, Mikaela couldn't help but think, if Christian was as close to them as she acted like she was they had to be laidback, down to earth people or she would be just as stuck up as they were.
Leo and the other four guys finally came out of the basement a few minutes later and were quickly ushered to their rooms to change into clothes that weren't wrinkled and sweaty from being stuck in a car all day. The girls stood around in a circle getting in some much needed girl time since they were outnumbered by guys and had been forced to listen to them talk about sports and cars most of the day. All four were more than ready to get to the beach and tan the next day. That much they were sure of.
Andy had just barely joined the others in the living room when the front door swung opened and Christian's family walked in. She quickly introduced her friends to her aunt and uncle, Brooke and Noah, and her cousin Kelsey.
"Aunt Brooke, Uncle Noah, Kelsey these are my amazingly awesome friends: Mikaela, Sam, Balie, Rachel, Tate, Colton, Tyler, Andy, and my fabulous boyfriend Leo," Christian pointed to each of them individually as she spouted off their names. "Guys this is my Aunt Brooke and my Uncle Noah and my gorgeous cousin Kelsey--Tyler pick your jaw up, quit drooling, and stay away from my cousin. She's off limits!"
Tyler mumbled a half hearted apology to everyone else's amusement, but Christian caught the sly wink he gave her cousin and she shrugged her shoulders helplessly knowing Tyler would do what he wanted anyway. Rachel, being the ever so helpful friend that she was, reached up and flicked Tyler hard in the ear and gave him an innocent smile when he shot her a dirty look and rubbed his ear.
Mikaela instantly got a bad feeling about Christian's cousin. There was just something about the girl that reminded her of the stereotypical queen bee in high school. She was gorgeous with her chin length sun streaked red hair and coral green eyes but the way she held herself said she knew it and knew how to use it to her advantage. All throughout the introductions she was subtly eying Sam and Mikaela was just hoping it wouldn't become a problem. After all, she was standing in the girl's parent's beach house and she didn't want to disrespect their graciousness by causing a problem with their daughter.
It was a beautiful night, so while Noah grilled the fajitas they all lounged about on the patio. There was a fully functional outdoor kitchen as well so Brooke was able to cook the beans and rice, hot sauce, and queso without having to be away from everyone else. Christian had been banned from going anywhere five feet within the grill because she couldn't keep from snacking on the fajita meat while Noah was cooking.
"So Leo huh?" Brooke slyly asked her niece.
"Yep," Christian simply answered.
"He's a lot different than Brett," She had only met the boy who had broken Christian so badly once when they'd been in Boston to see the Miami Heat play the Boston Celtics and he'd seemed nice enough. That had all changed when Christian had shown up unexpectedly on her doorstep one evening after finding out he had cheated on her. Brooke had never known her niece to be so distraught she had to run away from home. Not even after one of her and her dad's all out screaming matches that led to Christian bawling after getting slapped around a little bit from time to time and then kicked out had she ever just packed up and left Boston.
"Leo's the complete opposite of Brett."
"Are you going to tell me about him or are you going to be difficult about it?" Brooke laughed.
"I don't really know how to explain him. He's a dork, he's sweet, pays attention to me, treats me right. He's so patient. We were really good friends before we dated so he knew all about what Brett had done. Up until me, he was this real big whore. I can't even count the number of girls he slept with when we were friends, but that all stopped once he admitted he had feelings for me. He understood I was scared and that I had all these insecurities, but he never got frustrated or tried to push me. Finally one night Mikaela told me that he wasn't Brett but until I realized that he didn't stand a chance. There was no way we could work if I was constantly afraid of him doing the same thing Brett did. Once I figured that out, I let him know I was ready. He's been amazing. I've never met anyone like him."
"I'm happy for you honey," Brooke reached over and embraced her niece. "It's about time you find the happiness you've deserved for so long."
"Thanks Aunt Brooke. I was really nervous about you liking him."
Christian eyed her friends from where she was standing. They had broken into two groups, but still were occasionally all talking amongst themselves. Rachel, Colton, Andy, and Leo were on one side inevitably talking sports and Balie, Tyler, Mikaela, Tate, Sam, and Kelsey were a few feet away from them. From her viewpoint, she could see her cousin was in full flirt mode and she couldn't help but shake her head. They were inseparable when Christian spent her summers here, and she knew it was all harmless.
Mikaela was about ready to tear Kelsey's hair out or slap Sam upside the head; she hadn't decided which yet. Kelsey was eying Tyler but flirting with Sam and Sam had yet to make any kind of move towards Mikaela to show that they were dating. The whole thing was frustrating the hell out of her because she refused to cause a problem with Kelsey. After all, the girl was her best friend's cousin and that was a line she just did not want to cross. Her actions seemed harmless enough, but Mikaela had been the same type of girl at one point and so had all the girls she'd run around with in high school. It was all a ploy to reel a guy in and she knew what even the smallest moves meant. Balie caught Mikaela's eye and she saw the knowing look in her friend's gaze. Relief and annoyance coursed through her veins: relief that someone else had noticed it and annoyance that it wasn't Sam who did.
"So, Sam, what sport do you play?" Kelsey turned to Sam and touched his arm after finding out that Tate played baseball and Tyler wrestled. Her hand lingered there just a little too long for Mikaela's liking.
"I don't play any," He answered and saw her shocked look.
"No way! You've gotta play something to have a body like this," She purred.
"Nope," He said sheepishly with a shrug of his shoulders. "I just work out sometimes."
"Wow. I wish the boys around here had arms like yours," Kelsey touched his arm again to prove her point. Now she was being way too obvious. Even the boys had noticed. Tate was giving her uncertain looks, and Tyler just looked plain pissed off that she wasn't paying him the same kind of attention. And Sam? He was basically just eating it right up. Mikaela knew her boyfriend wasn't completely used to this kind of attention, but at that point she was basically past caring. There was no way he couldn't tell how Kelsey was acting.
"Bathroom. Now," Balie muttered so only Mikaela could hear. She could feel the tension rising and knew she had to defuse it before it got out of hand. Neither of them said another word as they passed their friends on the way inside the house.
Mikaela was absolutely fuming. Balie left the bathroom door open so nobody could overhear their conversation. She understood Mikaela's dilemma. If she let it go, it would just make her more upset but if she said something it would make her look bad.
"He's such a fucking idiot!" Mikaela hissed after a while. As much as she agreed, Balie had to calm her friend down.
"He's a guy, Mik. He doesn't see what she's doing," She said calmly. "And you know good and well it doesn't matter to him. He loves you."
"B, how often do we stand that close together without him touching me in some way? How many times have you seen him next to me without his arm around me or holding my hand?"
"Then why haven't you reached for him?"
"Because then it makes me look jealous. It would make her think she's one. I know her type. She's spoiled and she gets what she wants and she lives off drama and being the center of attention. I reach for him, and she's won."
"Would you rather her think she's won or stand here all pissed off?"
"The minute she thinks she's proven she's better, the flirting only gets worse because she knows none of us are going to say anything in front of her parents," Balie had no idea how to calm her down because she knew everything she was saying was true. Girls like Kelsey fed off the drama.
"Everything okay in here?" Christian popped in the bathroom with a confused look on her face.
"Yeah, we're fine," Mikaela said after sharing a long look with Balie.
"What's going on?"
"Nothing. We're just talking," Balie could tell Christian didn't believe either of them.
"Right. Whatever," Christian shook it off knowing one or the other would tell her later. "Anyway, the food is ready."
They followed her back out to the patio and Mikaela moved to sit next to Sam, but Kelsey quickly sat down next to him. With a look over at Balie who saw what had happened and nodded, she sat down next to her and Andy on the other side of the table a little farther down. Sam looked at her questioningly, but she broke their eye contact with a small shrug. She could sense confusion from all of their friends, and she forced herself to act like nothing was out of the ordinary.
Dinner was truly a hilarious affair. Christian and her aunt were so much alike it had been eerie at first. They were both typical blondes--gullible and a little slow on the uptake. Even Noah teased them mercilessly. Both women were very good natured about it though, having been forced to withstand the teasing for years.
It was inevitable for the adults to launch into the retelling of some of Christian's more embarrassing moments, no matter how many times she begged them to stop. All of their friends were relentless when it came to embarrassing each other and anything they heard now would only be more ammunition for later.
"So we're all sitting in the living room watching TV when this erectile dysfunction commercial comes on. I think Christian was probably 16 or 17 at the time," Brooke grinned evilly when Christian groaned and buried her face in her hands. "Anyway, after it was over she looks over at me and, serious as can be, asks if erectile dysfunction is when you can't poop."
"Now, now honey if you're going to tell the story you'd better tell the whole thing," Noah said.
"Noah Halloway if you finish that sentence, I'm going to kill you!" Brooke glared at him.
"As bad as you think that is, she's the one that looked at me and said 'no, erectile dysfunction is when you have really bad balance'," Christian smirked triumphantly.
"Well, erectile sounds a whole lot more like equilibrium than constipation," Brooke huffed.
Both women were blushing deeply and it took several minutes before everyone was able to quit laughing. After that, Brooke refrained from telling any stories that were too humiliating for Christian. There were periods of total silence as they enjoyed the amazing food Brooke and Noah had cooked for them.
"Tell me, aside from Leo dating my favorite niece, who else is dating?" Brooke requested once they were all finished eating and sitting around the table talking. "Because I know there is no way with 10 of you here that someone isn't dating someone else."
"Balie and I have been dating since we were seniors, but dated on-and-off all throughout junior high and high school," Andy stated. Mikaela finally held Sam's gaze, waiting for him to speak up about their relationship. She could've easily said it herself, but she was stubborn and wanted Kelsey to hear it from Sam himself. There was an awkward silence as their friends waited for one of them to say something.
"Mikaela and Sam have been together for like forever and got engaged on New Year's Eve," Christian finally said looking back and forth between the couple confusedly.
"Everyone else is single," Rachel finished.
"Ahh, drunken single spring break sex," Noah said wistfully remembering his spring break rendezvous in college. Brooke promptly smacked her husband on the back of his head and he got a sheepish look on his face. "However as the responsible adult, I should warn you guys to be careful." Everybody had a good laugh at Noah's quick backtrack on his words and Brooke rolled her eyes towards the heavens at her husband's antics. It didn't really matter though, they were all well aware that the next week would be full of reckless behavior for the 10 friends.
"Leo, why don't you help me clean up the kitchen?" Noah finally spoke up. It was obvious it really wasn't a question, and Leo immediately stood up and followed the older man.
"I'm saying this because I know her father's too much of a drunken asshole to give a damn, but Christian's like a daughter to me anyway. That girl deserves nothing less than to be treated like a queen."
"Yes sir," Leo agreed nervously. "Christian is one in a million. I've never met a girl like her."
"I like you Leo. I do. But I have to look after her or God knows nobody else will besides Brooke."
"I love her. I'd do anything in the world for her. She's everything I've ever wanted and so, so much more."
"Good. That's what I want to hear," Noah's face quickly turned serious. "But if I hear even one time that you've done something to break her heart, it won't matter where you run to or how far it is. I will find you, and I will tear you apart limb from limb."
"I would expect nothing less, sir," Leo said in the same serious tone. The easy going smile was back on Noah's face as if it had never left. He clapped a hand on Leo's shoulder and offered him a beer before they rejoined in the conversation at the table.
Sam sat there completely clueless. Mikaela had been fine until dinner and suddenly she was sitting on the other side of the table ignoring him. He had no idea why she hadn't said anything about them being together. She'd never missed a chance to tell people they were engaged, but suddenly decided to keep quiet the minute she'd gotten the chance to do so tonight. As far as he knew, he'd done nothing to upset her tonight. Sure, he'd teased her earlier but she'd teased him back and they'd been fine. They were always teasing each other like that, and it hadn't ever bothered her before. What the hell had happened to upset her so bad she wouldn't even look at him?
After chatting for a while longer, Brooke finally decided it was time to leave, knowing her niece and the others were anxious to kick off their spring break trip. She left them with a list of numbers and told them to call if they needed anything or ran into any kind of trouble. They sat around the table for a little while after Christian's family left, enjoying the nice weather but feeling the tension amongst themselves. Everybody was aware that something was going on between Sam and Mikaela, but nobody had a clue what it was. All they knew was the couple that normally couldn't stay away from each other for longer than five seconds was no split up on both sides of the table and hadn't said a word to each other. Finally deciding he couldn't handle the awkwardness any longer, Colton cracked a joke to get everyone laughing and then suggested they get their week of irresponsible alcohol consumption started.
"Mikaela, what the hell is going on?" Sam grabbed her arm as she tried to walk past him without saying a word.
"Are you kidding me?" She laughed in disbelief.
"What the fuck did I do?"
"Don't act like you don't know," Mikaela crossed her arms over her chest.
"I'm not acting. I don't have a fucking clue!" He said frustrated.
"No, there's no way you are that clueless, Sam!"
"Clueless about what?" He threw his arms up in the air. "You just suddenly started ignoring me out of nowhere for no good reason so if that makes me clueless, then you're damn right I am!"
"She was all over you!" Sam looked at her dumbfounded as he thought back over the night and comprehension dawned on his face.
"Who, Kelsey?"
"Who else would it be? Nobody else is going to flirt with you right in front of me."
"Kelsey wasn't flirting with me," He couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"'I wish the boys here had arms like yours'," Mikaela imitated Kelsey's voice and touched his arm the same way she had. "Really, Sam?"
"Well, it's not like I asked for it! I was just trying to be nice. Hell, Mikaela, I didn't even flirt back!"
"Yeah and not once did you even act like we were together! The minute she started talking to you, I didn't even exist!"
"That's bullshit and you know it," He knew he was almost shouting, but seriously what did she expect?
"Everyone else noticed it Sam! Even Tate and Tyler picked up on it!"
"You're the one who decided to sit on the other side of the table and not say a word when you had the perfect opportunity to make it known we were together," Sam didn't understand why this was all his fault.
"Because I know how girls like her work. I used to be just like her! You think she didn't know there was something between us? Bullshit, Sam! She knew the whole fucking time, but she lives for drama. She knew I wouldn't say anything because we're at her parent's house. Girls like Kelsey are used to getting everything they want and doing whatever they can to get it. Saying anything or doing anything would've been me playing into her little game, and I wasn't going to disrespect Christian or her aunt and uncle like that."
"So you just decide to hell with me then and sit with Balie and Rachel?"
"She was sitting right next to you! If I'd sat by you, it would've just pissed me off that much more and I would've ended up saying something."
"Well, when her mom asked who was dating who why did you just sit there?"
"You were supposed to say it. Now you know what it looks like? It looks like I'm engaged to a man who will let another woman flirt with him right in front of me and not ever mention that I'm his fiancée!"
"How am I supposed to know that?" Sam asked.
"You just are," Mikaela said defeated. With one last look at him, she moved past him to walk inside. He threw his hands up in the air again before following after her and spinning her around by the arm.
"You know what this ring means?" He held up her left hand. "It means I love you. It means you're the one I want to spend forever with. Baby, I'm sorry I'm clueless and I'm sorry I didn't say anything. But you have to believe me. I didn't even know she was flirting with me. I'm not used to that. The whole time she was talking to me, all I could think about was how gorgeous you look and how much I wanted to kiss you. I just wanted to be nice to her and her family. That's all, I promise." He wrapped his arms around her and kissed the side of her head.
"I'm sorry I kind of overreacted," She finally broke the silence that had engulfed them after his heartfelt speech.
"A little more than kind of," Sam joked and felt her pinch his side. He leaned down so his lips were next to her ear. "But it is kind of hot to see you all jealous."
"You're such a pig," Mikaela said in disgust but she was smiling. "I love you anyway though." She tilted her head up and kissed him. They shared a long kiss before Leo stuck his head out the door and hollered at them to quit making out and to get their butts inside with the rest of them.
What came next was nothing more than the imaginations of college kids when it came to alcohol. Colton and Tyler had come up with a game that was a mixture of flip cup and a variation of hide and seek. The game started off with all 10 writing down a specific location within the house. It had to be exact--like "the hall closet next to Rachel's room" rather than just "second floor" or "Rachel's room". That was intended to reduce the likelihood that two or more people would write down the same place. Then, the pieces of paper were thrown into Tyler's hat and once each had drawn a slip from the hap, the game of flip cup began. Each had to down a cup of beer before setting the cup upside down on the bar and flipping it so it landed right side up before running off to hide in whatever place was written on their slip of paper. The last person left to successfully land their cup became the seeker. Whoever was it had to send a text message to the other nine to let them know, and all phones had to be silenced to keep from accidentally revealing hiding places. The bar was home base, anyone who was found either in their hiding spot or trying to sneak back to the basement had to take a shot. If nobody was found after 10 minutes, the seeker had to take a double shot of whatever the winner of flip cup chose. This rule was created to keep the game from dragging on so long that people began to lose their buzzes. The final rule was that they had to hide in whatever place their paper said, whether it was technically a hiding place or not. If it said "rug in the living room", that's where they had to go even if they weren't hidden in any way. The basement and the third floor were off limits, but anything else inside the house was fair game.
Once everyone understood the rules to the "flip seek" game as Tate so aptly put it, they stood in a line at the bar writing down their first hiding place. Cups were filled at least halfway full of beer, anything more than that was up to the drinker and how much they wanted to chug, and Andy counted to three before the game began.
Colton was the first to land his cup, followed closely by Balie who had played the game all four years of high school. She sent a cocky wink to her boyfriend before taking off up the stairs to her designated hiding spot. Tate and Leo finished within seconds of each other and could be heard wrestling each other all the way up the stairs. Next came Sam, then Christian, and Andy with Tyler close behind. Only Mikaela and Rachel were left and they began to rush their movements when they realized how close they were to being the first seeker. It was close, but Mikaela's cup landed not even half a second before Rachel's did and she dashed off to the stairs to make it to her hiding place before Rachel had a chance to send out her text message and climb the stairs herself.
Mikaela's little slip of paper read "closet in first floor bedroom". She was relieved to not have to go so far on the first game because she was definitely not looking forward to taking a shot. The text from Rachel came through quickly, sending Mikaela's adrenaline skyrocketing. This was where it got serious. If Rachel was smart, she would search every inch of the first floor before even thinking of exploring the second. All Mikaela could hope for was to be quiet enough that Rachel somehow skipped over the closet she was in, though she knew it was a very slim chance.
Little did she know, Sam was hiding on the other side of the bed. He had seen Mikaela come in and was waiting for the text message saying who was it so he would be free to move. As soon as he received it, he didn't even look to see who it was from and crawled to the closet.
"Of all the rooms in the house, you walk into this one," He joked after sneaking in.
"You asshole," Mikaela tried to slap his arm but missed due to the darkness. "You scared the shit out of me." Sam just laughed before scooting over so he was sitting next to her and pulled her into his lap.
"Fancy meeting you here," He whispered into her ear and started kissing her neck. Mikaela's first reaction was to tilt her head back just so giving him better access and she had to bite her lip to keep from making a sound when she felt his teeth nip at the sensitive skin of her neck. Fingers sensually drew random patters on her taut stomach, teasingly climbing higher and higher but never quite making contact with her breasts. Sam felt her shift and winked at her when she turned so she straddled his lap. Mikaela caught his eyes in the dark before their lips met in a fiery kiss. Something about hiding out in a dark closet together knowing they could be discovered at any moment was a complete turn on for the couple. Sam grabbed Mikaela's bottom lip between his teeth and gave a gentle tug, hearing a breathy moan, before leaving a trail of kisses down to her chest and traced the low cut neckline of her shirt with his lips.
"Rachel's gonna--fuck Sam," Mikaela's fingers grabbed a tight hold of Sam's hair when he bit down hard on the swell of her breast. "Rachel's gonna catch us."
"Let her find us."
"Are you trying to get me drunk?" She asked referring to the shot they'd have to take for being found.
"Tequila makes you horny," Sam shrugged. "If you're horny, I don't have to sleep on the couch."
"Honey, I do believe you just earned a second night on that couch," She patted his cheek condescendingly before standing up.
"Wait--what?" He scrambled to his feet after her.
"What did you expect?" Her eyes rolled. "You just admitted to basically trying to get me drunk so you could take advantage of me."
"And you're gonna tell me you didn't want to sneak up to our room and have sex five minutes ago?"
"That's completely beside the point," Mikaela argued.
"Oh is it?" Even in the darkness, she saw the devilish glint in his eyes.
"Yes," Sam pushed her into the wall and heatedly attacked her neck with his lips one more time.
"Well then, I'll take your shots for you. That way I'll be the drunk one and you can take advantage of me," Sam's lips tickled the sensitive spot on her neck as he spoke, leaving her weak in the knees from the sensation of his lips moving against her skin.
At that point, she couldn't help herself. As much as she wanted to tease him a little more, she was so turned on it felt like she would explode. She grabbed the back of his head and pulled his lips to hers. Their kiss was hardly gentle; it was taking every ounce of what little control she had not to rip his pants off and wrap her legs around his waist at that very second.
Just then, the door swung open and they jumped apart to find Rachel staring at them in shock. The other woman recovered quickly, but not before making some smartass comment about the two always "going at it like rabbits on Viagra" as she so bluntly put it. They were then left alone to straighten their clothes and try to fix their messed up hair.
Leo and Tate were already sitting at the bar when Sam and Mikaela went back and they learned that Leo had made it back safely thanks to Tate getting caught right behind him.
Christian was the first girl to reach the bar without getting caught, tearing down the stairs so fast she almost missed the last step and fell face first into the carpet. Andy arrived moments later, and began telling them of all the crazy James Bond-esque moves he'd had to pull to keep from getting caught and how many times Rachel had been oh-so-close to catching him.
Colton came in seconds before the 10 minute time limit was up. Balie and Tyler sauntered down the stairs behind Rachel, boasting to anyone who would listen that they'd beaten the clock. That left Mikaela, Sam, and Tate as the ones who had to take shots.
"I think Sam and Mikaela should have to take doubles," Rachel smirked evilly. "They were about two seconds from having sex in a closet when I found them."
Leo and Christian simply shook their heads amusedly. More than any of the others, they knew just how bad the couple was.
The others agreed with Rachel's suggestion, leading to Mikaela standing there with a double shot of Patron next to Sam and his double shot of Crown. Tate looked extremely relieved that his own shot of rum was just a single.
All 10 agreed that the game was fun, but what they really wanted was to get shit faced wasted so "flip seek" was quickly abandoned in favor of standing at the bar with a drink in hand and refills close by.
"So Mikaela," Christian spoke innocently enough but Mikaela didn't miss the mischievous grin on her best friend's face.
"What's up Chris?"
"Game of pool--loser strips and jumps into the pool naked."
"Then you might as well strip now and jump on in," She said cockily. "We both know I'm gonna win."
"Prove it," Christian taunted. "Rack 'em up."
"I've got a better idea," Mikaela winked in Sam's direction and he audibly gulped. "You and me against Balie and Rachel."
"What the hell?" Balie exclaimed. "Why the hell are we getting dragged into this?"
"Because we all know the boys are too pussy to take the bet," Mikaela mocked. Balie couldn't have provided a better opening than if it had been scripted.
"Who the hell are you calling pussy?" Tyler played right into her hands. Boys were so easy.
"All five of you," She smirked. "You gonna tell me you're man enough to take the bet and jump into the pool naked when we beat your asses?"
"Sweetheart, you girls won't beat us men," Tate taunted.
"Prove it. Rack 'em up," Mikaela repeated Christian's words from seconds earlier.
So the game began. It was six against four, but Leo sucked and Mikaela was the master at distracting Sam so those two didn't really count. Andy, though, made up for Sam and Leo easily. He was the one they would have to watch out for. Since the girls were outnumbered, their only demand was that Andy was the last guy to take his turn. Rachel, being the best pool player of the four girls, broke. Taunts flew back and forth over the table.
The girls were quickly losing. Rachel had managed to knock only one ball in. Balie and Christian had both missed horribly on their turns. On the other side, each boy had made at least one ball. Even Leo. It was soon Mikaela's turn and she at least got two solids in to get them within two balls of the guys' one but that was the best she could do. Leo and Rachel both missed their shots, and everybody in the room held their breath when Andy stood up for his turn. He sunk their last trip, but the pressure got to him and he totally missed the eight ball. It was Balie's turn once again. Christian and Mikaela's eyes locked in a silent conversation. Little did anyone else know, but the bet had been planned. The winner wasn't the main point; it was what they were going to do before the game ended. Mikaela went to plug her iPhone into the jukebox while Balie lined up her second shot after making one ball and Ray J's "Sexy Can I" began to play. Christian subtly moved behind Mikaela who had moved so she was in Sam's line of sight once it was his turn. They waited until he got in position to shoot the cue ball before they began to dance provocatively in sync. Christian's hands were holding onto Mikaela's waist. Mikaela waited for Sam to look up from the cue ball and into her eyes before sensually biting her bottom lip and throwing her head back onto Christian's shoulder.
This was there the girls' plan reached its climax. Mikaela's hand angled back to tangle her fingers in Christian's hair and, even though she knew what was coming, she couldn't help but let out a small moan when Christian's lips grazed her neck in the same spot where Sam's had been not even an hour earlier. The sound made Christian's grip tighten for half a second before she took it as a sign of encouragement and moved one hand slowly up Mikaela's stomach to just below her bra. After a long moment, Mikaela lifted her head back up and fought to keep calm at the completely shocked look in Sam's eyes. Yet behind the shock, she saw pure heat in his gaze and felt a surge of satisfaction. Looking to his immediate right, she saw that Leo had an identical look on his face. They had wanted to tease the boys in a way they never had before and their facial expressions told Mikaela they had succeeded.
"Holy fuck Chris," She moaned when her best friend bit down on the pulse point just below her ear. "If you don't quit, I'm gonna be taking you to bed instead of my fiancée."
The girls kept dancing until the song was over but didn't move from their close embrace. Instead, Christian locked her arms around Mikaela's waist and rested her chin on her shoulder. They were both completely okay with what they had just done because there wasn't any sort of true sexual attraction to each other. It was all nothing more than two best friends teasing their significant others. Their friendship was close enough that they were okay with playfully flirting with each other. In the end, it would make for some mind blowing sex with their boys later that night.
"Looks like you girls get to go skinny dipping," Sam said hoarsely after finally taking his shot and getting the eight ball in. Christian and Mikaela looked at each other in utter disbelief before catching similar looks on the faces of the other two girls. While their little stunt had left everyone wide eyed in shock, it was unbelievable that Sam had managed to regain his composure so quickly and win the game on top of that.
"You told me there was no way we could lose!" Christian whined to Mikaela.
"How the hell was I supposed to know he would be able to concentrate after that?" Mikaela huffed gesturing to the spot they'd just been standing in. Sam simply winked arrogantly at his fiancée and her best friend.
"Man, if that'd been me, I probably would've been so distracted I knocked the eight ball into the cue ball and scratched," Tyler piped up from where he was standing. The other four guys silently agreed.
"Sam, I've gotta bow to the master," Andy made a show of getting on his knees and bowing at Sam's feet. "You, sir, are a badass."
"So now we have to strip and jump in the pool naked too since your fiancée is the only man on the planet who can concentrate after watching his fiancée's best friend sucking on his fiancée's neck while booty dancing," Balie stated dryly.
"I say you two get a free pass since you didn't know they tried to set us up," Colton said to Balie and Rachel.
"I'm fine with that. Mikaela?" Christian looked at the other woman, who also nodded her agreement. With that decided, everyone trudged up the stairs and out to the pool in the backyard. Eight of them stayed on the deck while the two soon to be naked women continued to the edge of the pool.
"Hold up a second," Sam jogged from the deck to the pool. "I think it's only fair that since you decided to play dirty to win the game, I get to undress you."
"Okay, you two, we don't want front row seats to some kind of kinky porn show," Andy scoffed.
Sam looked Mikaela in the eyes as he spoke up out enough for the others to hear. "Oh no, this is just payback. She wants to play dirty, I'll show her dirty."
Mikaela couldn't help but be afraid of the vindictive look in his eye. He stepped around her so he was facing the others and calmly placed his hands on her hips. The shirt came off easily enough, but then he lowered his head so she could feel his hot breath on her chest. His fingers slowly trailed down her stomach until he got to her belt and expertly unbuckled it. She wasn't ready for the hot, open-mouthed kisses that followed the path of his hands, however, and a gasp escaped her. On his knees in front of her, Sam left her jeans alone and rubbed his hands down the sides of her legs to remove her flip flops. Then, he went back to her jeans and slowly slid them down, still leaving hot kisses on her stomach. He let his lips continue lower until he reached her panty line and abruptly stopped to look up at her face. Mikaela's eyes were lidded with desire and satisfaction reverberated through his body. The same slow pace was used to slide her skimpy thong off before he got back to his feet.
A splash behind them broke them from their reverie and Sam turned to see Christian already in the pool. Without missing a beat, Sam lowered his head to her neck, claiming the spot Christian's lips had just touched, while his nimble fingers found the hook of her bra. He could feel Mikaela's heart pounding; hear her quick, shallow breaths. He wasted little time in sliding the last article of clothing off but continued to tease her neck for a second longer.
"Have a nice swim," Sam said nothing more and walked back to the deck. Mikaela turned to gape at him before quickly realizing she was completely naked in clear view of the others and jumped into the pool embarrassed.
If she thought she was turned on before, this little episode had taken her to a level she'd never even known existed before now. The cold water did nothing to alleviate the extreme heat radiating through her nerves. She was the one who had all the experience, knew all the right moves, but she'd never once managed to pull off anything like what Sam had done. Frankly, she was a little surprised she and Christian had actually gone through with it all but they had had a lot to drink.
Christian was pretty shocked herself. She had done a lot of crazy things in the past, but never something that involved kissing another girl's neck. Then again, it was spring break after all--and anything goes on spring break.