Lake Emerald Chronicles: The First Summer: A Reverse Harem Romance

by Melissa Adams

  What the fuck? I seriously don’t understand guys: first Joel ignores me completely for two years, to the point that I was sure that he didn’t even know my name and now, all of a sudden, he is not only the kissing police but he’s also trying to organise my activities? If I hadn’t been crushing on him since the very first second I saw him, I would be quite crossed with him.

  But now I have to get rid of Xander: I have no intention of spending any time with him.

  ‘I think Joel totally misunderstood what I said. Thanks for the offer but no thanks.’

  ‘Ok, well, I guess I’ll see you later. I have a shift at the lifeguard tower, but I know you won’t need me...’

  He smirks.

  Now, I am a confident swimmer but I am puzzled by his statement and he must see it on my face because his smirk widens:

  ‘You have plenty of buoyancy inbuilt...’

  And his eyes skim down to my boobs.

  ‘Seriously, what a creep!’

  I pick up my book from the floor and throw it at him hoping to give him a black eye or something but he catches it effortlessly and takes a look at the cover:

  ‘Hmm, thanks for the reading recommendation, I will ask for help if there’s any words that are too big for my... caveman brain, is it what you called me yesterday?’

  ‘Hey, give me my book back, I was reading that!’

  I stand up from my bed and chase after him when he starts walking away.

  But he’s wearing flip flops while I am barefooted and I definitely didn’t calculate how hot the sand would be out of the cabana’s shade so I try to run and jump on my tip toes at the same time with the only result of falling over, taking him down with me.

  We land in a heap near the water, where the sand is fortunately wet and cool.

  I try to grab the book from him but he lifts it out of my reach and when a wave crashes on us, our wet skin and the sunscreen we both wear make for a very slippery combination and I slide on his body, the only thing stopping me from ending face first in the water is his firm grip but thrust is a bitch (my physics teacher would be proud of me) and I slide down his body until my boobs are right on his face.

  ‘Let me go, you perv!’

  I squeal and he laughs standing the both of us up.

  ‘You call me all these names but since we met yesterday, you have done nothing but throw yourself at me... is this your idea of foreplay?’

  ‘You are so irritating!’

  I yell stomping my foot on the wet sand and splashing some water around:

  ‘Look at my book, it’s all wet! It’s ruined!’

  ‘Now, now... If you hadn’t decided to jump in the water, your book would be safe with me in the tower and I’d have something to read during my shift...’

  ‘I can’t believe you are blaming this on me!’

  I am absolutely fuming and I am about to stomp away back to the cabana when I see Logan walking towards us with a smile on his gorgeous face:

  ‘Hey, Clary! Oh my god, you look so beautiful, like a mermaid...’

  Xander bursts into a loud bout of laughter and gives me a once over:

  ‘He’s damn right...’- He chides-‘...Red hair, green eyes a bit of sand... you look like the little mermaid... I think since you don’t like Tessa, I will call you Ariel from now on...’

  And he picks a bit of algae stuck in my hair: I have never, in my whole life, wanted to hit someone as bad as I want to hit Xander. He’s made it his mission to make fun of me and embarrass me since that unfortunate meeting at the airport.

  But I try to ignore him with all my might because I think that my indifference is going to be worse than any retort I might come up with.

  So I look at Logan with a smile and propose:

  ‘Do you want to go for a swim and then when we are back we could have a snack or something...’

  He loves the idea and grabs my hand and we run towards the water.

  ‘Do you want to swim to that wooden platform up there?’

  He asks and we start towards it but he has to slow down because I am definitely no match for his speed and endurance.

  When we hit the wooden platform, he lifts himself up to it effortlessly while I completely miss on my first attempt: the platform is too high on the water or I don’t have enough upper body strength to lift myself on it.

  Logan crouches on the edge and grabs me under my armpits lifting me out of the water and straight into his arms.

  The contact of wet skin, shoulders, chests and thighs gives me goosebumps and when he surrounds me with his arms, I nestle into his embrace enjoying being finally alone.

  He puts a finger under my chin, lifting it towards his face and looking into my eyes with his blue eyes.

  ‘You are so beautiful, Clary, sometimes you make it hard to breathe...’

  I am glad not be the only one who’s feeling breathless and the swim has nothing to do with it.

  ‘I know that last year I followed you everywhere and sometimes I was a bit too much but playing cards together and telling stories by the campfire are some of my fondest memories. I am just happy that this year you don’t mind being closer... ‘

  He hugs me tighter and then his nose touches mine while he whispers:

  ‘I want to be a lot more than friends, if that wasn’t clear. You are the most amazing girl I have ever met...’

  The space between our lips is negligible and I close my eyes preparing for a kiss that I surprisingly want not just for the sake of finally being kissed but because it’s Logan and I like him and he makes my heart race in a delightful way.

  We are lost in each other, ready to take our friendship on a different level when two different voices giggling make us look around, distracting us from the moment we were having.

  We look around but we are obviously alone on the platform and when he hugs me closer again and I think the kiss is back on the agenda, we hear the damn giggles again.

  ‘Who’s there?’

  We both call out and at first the platform shakes sideways and then Justin and Brie lift themselves on still having fits of giggles.

  Great! Brie right now seems to be the biggest obstacle between me and my first real kiss, she has the uncanny ability to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

  ‘What are you two up to, all alone in here?’

  Asks Justin with a knowing smile.

  ‘We were resting before swimming back’

  I answer.

  ‘I think you guys were just happy to have found the perfect make out spot... Sorry but you have to share...’

  And he grabs Brie and basically devours her face without a care in the world that he has an audience.

  Logan looks at me between amused and disappointed and whispers:

  ‘I don’t know you but this location has suddenly lost all of its appeal. Do you want to swim back?’

  I nod and we jump in the water hand in hand.

  ‘Hey wait!’

  Calls Brie and jumps in the water leaving Justin on the platform.

  ‘Aw, really? Just when things were getting fun!’

  He complains but he doesn’t try to follow us.

  We get back to the cabana and while Logan goes to get some food for me and my two girlfriends and I towel myself dry, I can’t resist the urge to comment on what I just witnessed in the middle of the lake.

  ‘That Justin works fast...’

  Brie is beaming.

  ‘Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god! He’s amazing! Such a great kisser!’

  I flinch a bit: not that I have any authority on the subject of kissing but as an observer that kiss looked sloppy and with way, way too much tongue. I know better than to say that to Brie but might as well have because she isn’t listening and is between ecstatic and hysterical:

  ‘I want to be his girlfriend: he’s gorgeous, sexy, handsome, exciting, funny, hot...’

  ‘Whoa!’

  Laughs Hazel:

  ‘Any more amazing qualities? You have known him for what, half a
n hour?’

  ‘I am in love with him, I knew the moment I saw him...’

  ‘So what about Matt?’

  I ask.

  ‘Ella can have him, Matt is a boy and Justin is a man! There’s no comparison between the two of them...’

  Logan comes back with fruit salad and some more sodas and after we eat, we decide to chill out in the cabana.

  ‘Clary, I don’t want to be a killjoy but you went to swim, you should re-apply your sun screen...’

  Hazel hands me the bottle of SPF50.

  ‘Yes, mom!’

  I tease her while I gratefully open the bottle: I am not super pasty white but my complexion definitely needs all the protection it can get in the sun.

  ‘May I help you?’

  Logan offers and I blush, uncertain if to accept his offer or not, especially since my friends are laughing at my embarrassment and will be certain to tease me about it for years to come.

  But Logan scoots closer on my bed and settles himself behind me, his inner thighs at either side of my outer ones, both of us straddling the beach bed.

  He surrounds me with his arms and offers me one hand, palm up:

  ‘Come on, do your front and I’ll take care of your back for you.’

  I squirt some cream on his hand and he starts massaging the cream on the back of my neck and shoulders, moving my long hair out of the way: his touch is light but firm, he applies the right amount of pressure and his hands work their way down to the middle of my back and when they sneak under the band of my bikini top, I get a little shiver and he notices because he whispers in my ear, without moving his hands:

  ‘Are you all right?’

  I nod and his hands continue to spread the sunscreen and end up at the edge of my bottom piece. Again, his fingers skim over the edge of my bathing suit and sneak a bit under the hem touching the sensitive skin at the base of my spine, near my backbone.

  I would lie if I said that I didn’t enjoy his touch but I feel something hard again against my buttocks and I realise that I am not the only one really enjoying all this touching.

  I must have inhaled sharply when I discovered his excited state because he abruptly stands up and runs away:

  ‘I’m so sorry, Clary! I didn’t mean for it to... I’ll be back.’

  I miss the closeness of his body and all I am left to do is to finish applying the sunscreen but my attention is diverted towards Brie, who’s laughing with a knowing look on her face.

  ‘What?’

  I scowl.

  ‘Hahaha, he had to go take care of a situation...’

  She laughs making a very embarrassing gesture with her fisted hand.

  ‘Oh come on, Brie, he’s certainly not doing what you imply...’

  I blush so hard that my face must resemble the can of coke I had been sipping from.

  ‘Oh, he certainly is doing what Brie is implying, you really put him between a rock and a hard place... Pun intended!’

  ‘Really, Hazel? I expect this kind of lewd comments from Brie but you...?’

  My BFFs keep laughing and when they calm down, Brie gets all serious.

  ‘No, seriously, Clary. Remember my older brother Adam?’

  Brie has a 21 year old brother who’s now attending Yale. He was at camp my very first summer 3 years ago but at the time I was only 13 and he was 18 so he didn’t really pay me any attention as he ran with the older crowd.

  ‘Well, when he came home last Christmas, we had a bit of a talk because I was so bummed about Matt not calling to wish me a happy holiday and I told him about Matt hooking up with Ella and how I couldn’t understand why he’d prefer her over me when everybody knows that Ella is a slut.

  And then he explained to me that while for a girl kissing and holding hands and the occasional touch is exciting and often enough, boys get that “situation” Logan just experienced and if they keep ignoring it they get a case of “blue balls”.’

  ‘Blue balls?’

  I ask puzzled.

  ‘Yes, if they don’t get a release, their balls get swollen and look bruised, hence the blue...’

  Hazel chimes in:

  ‘This is why some boys are such dogs: it’s nature, they try to avoid that frustration...’

  Ok, that makes sense in a way. In my house this kind of talk is totally out of the question and my little brother is only 13, so probably too young to shed any light on this matter.

  ‘This is why...’-continues Brie- ‘ you must be very careful to know where’s your limit and make it clear when you make out with a boy. Then of course there’s men, like my Justin and there the situation can get a bit trickier because they expect to have sex...’

  I look at Brie in bewilderment:

  ‘So, are you telling me that you want to sleep with Justin?’

  ‘Oh hell, no!’

  She declares flashing her hand and showing a little white gold band.

  Brie’s parents are super rich and very religious, so not only they send Brie to an all girls school but she explains, they gave her a promise ring.

  ‘I promised to only have sex after I get married.’

  Hazel and I look at each other a little bit perplexed:

  ‘So, what are you going to do with Matt or Justin or whoever you set your eyes on this summer? You always seem to go for the guys who want to have sex with basically every girl at camp...’

  She smirks.

  ‘Every guy wants to have sex, even your sweet Logan, as you noticed just a second ago... And for your information, there’s a lot of other stuff that you can do with a boy to relieve that blue balls syndrome without having intercourse...’

  I have a lot to think about: I admit that my parents strict upbringing probably kept me a bit too sheltered because in addition to not having been kissed, I also hadn’t thought beyond that first kiss and probably more kissing. And if I have to be entirely honest with myself, I can’t be absolutely sure that once all that kissing starts I won’t want more; Logan’s touches have already ignited sensations I didn’t know about or think possible and who’s to tell what will happen?

  But I am totally inexperienced and I don’t think I can go straight into having sex with someone and while I don’t think that I want to wait for marriage like Brie, I want to be in love with the boy I will make love with for the first time. I want it to mean something and for it to be special.

  ‘So, if you aren’t going to do IT, what do you plan to do exactly?’

  I ask Brie.

  ‘Third base, definitely.’

  ‘Third what?’

  My friends both roll their eyes:

  ‘Come on, seriously? You have never seen any teenage movies or TV shows?’

  ‘Look, my parents really monitor our tv and internet time, have child safe filters on all our electronic devices and I am so busy with extracurricular activities to get into a good college that I don’t have much time anyway. And I can’t exactly google “third base” on the library’s computer at school... so, care to enlighten me?’

  This time Hazel takes over the explaining:

  ‘So, these are the bases: first base is kissing, second base is touching your boobs and third base is oral sex. Hand jobs are a bit of a grey area in between second and third base...’

  Brie nods enthusiastically and adds:

  ‘Then of course there’s debate if fourth base is intercourse or butt sex...’

  I look at her even more surprised than before:

  ‘So you are telling us that you are prepared to go down on Justin? I mean, you don’t even know the guy, it’s not like you are officially dating or anything...’

  ‘Clary... My naive Clary! I will have you know that I am quite good at blowjobs, my dear friend.’

  ‘You are?’

  Hazel and I ask in unison.

  She nods and proceeds to tell us:

  ‘Well, you know my school sponsors coed events with this other boys prep school, right?’

  We know.

  ‘Last year afte
r the homecoming dance, I went on a few dates with the football team’s running back and things evolved and third base happened. After that, he didn’t seem too keen to go on more dates and at first I thought he had got what he wanted and moved on but then we bumped into each other at Central Park and we went for a walk and I asked him about why he had stopped calling and he said he was embarrassed because while he had appreciated my attentions, I really didn’t know what to do and the experience hadn’t been one he particularly cared to repeat...’

  ‘What a douche!’

  I interject.

  ‘Well, not really. I actually appreciated his honesty: think if I had gone on other dates with any other of his teammates or anyone else at his school, which is practically all the boys in my social circle and got a reputation as a disaster once you get to third base... I would be undatable and I need to have this kind of stuff down to a science before I get to college and meet my future husband...’

  ‘You are telling me you gave this guy a blowjob to practice before you meet your future fiancé?’

  We ask a bit incredulous.

  ‘Of course! If I am not sleeping with a guy, how do you expect for him to know he wants to marry me? I am not doing the back door stuff because that is comparable to intercourse anyway, so I need to be really excellent at blowjobs.’

  Hazel and I look at each other not knowing what to say and Brie continues:

  ‘So the whole thing brought me a bit down, I didn’t know what to do until my brother came home for Christmas...’

  Hazel covers her eyes with her hands and squeals:

  ‘Ew! No! Please don’t tell me this is going where I think it is and you asked Adam to teach you and even worse he did teach you!’

  ‘Oh my god, ew, no! Sometimes I don’t know how you even think about this kind of shit! The only thought of seeing my brother naked makes me want to lock myself up in a nunnery! No, Adam brought his best friend home, a guy from Connecticut, Brody. His parents were going to Switzerland or somewhere like that on a ski trip for Christmas, so Adam invited him over. He was very cute and friendly and one night, I went down to the kitchen pretty late to get myself some ice cream and he was there doing the same, so we started talking and then went up to my den to watch a movie and that turned into making out and you know, college boys aren’t like high school boys, so things got quite hot and heavy very quickly but I got all upset because I was worried about that ending up like with the guy from school. Brody at first thought that I didn’t want to but I told him what had happened and he was amazing: he guided me through the whole process and I got to practice with him every night until after New Year when they returned to college.’