by Ashlee Price
Marie sighed. Her mind was going through the contents of the three bags outside and very little of it, did she not think she would need. She caught the backpack that her friend threw her and Ana helped her get it down to a manageable amount. Marie was aghast at the idea that she would not be able to bring her makeup, but Ana assured her that she would not need it.
“Girls, get in here.”
They walked in and Ana’s eyes fell on the two men before her. One was introduced as Mike. His hair was dark brown, his eyes ocean blue. The man was an inch or two shorter than Ana’s tall frame, but he made up for it with muscles. Her hands itched to touch him and feel his biceps. As soon as she thought it though, Ana was aghast that such ideas were in her brain.
Their hands touched and she pulled back from the jolt. Glenn was tall and thin, with dark green eyes and blonde hair. They were complete opposites and their touch was different on her hand as they shook it. They were both old enough to be her father, though she did not have fatherly thoughts about either one. She noticed that Marie was being flirty and they were being the same back. It aggravated her and she walked away trying not to sulk in front of them.
In the back of the extended van, Ana asked her what she was doing.
“What do you mean Ana?”
“Why are you hitting on my dad’s friend, when you already have a boyfriend of your own?”
Marie looked innocent and then suspicious.
“Why do you care?”
Ana straightened her face, afraid that her emotions were too clear. Her friend knew her too well sometimes. She knew why she cared, though at least she kept her voice to a minimum. Ana would have been mortified if anyone else in the van had heard them.
“You know why.”
“Tell me why and I will leave them be.”
Ana glared at Marie. Her blue eyes flashed at her friend’s smile. She should have known that she would try to make it embarrassing. “Fine. Because I think the short one is cute, okay? Besides, what would Matt think if you were flirting with older guys?”
Marie looked at her shocked and shut her mouth after she decided not to say what was on her mind. After a moment, the two girls giggled and Ana tried not to look towards the two men a row up in the van that was the object of their conversation. They seemed to be sleeping, but it was just too convenient and Ana didn’t trust them. She tried to steer Marie away from the older guys and back onto things that didn’t matter.
“All right guys we are here. We have a little walk tonight in the dark so make sure you have your flashlights before we get out.”
Chapter 2
The little walk turned out to be a little over a mile. It would have been a short walk if it wasn’t pitched black, but with all of the flashlights bobbing around, they all seemed to make it there with only her brother Josh’s girlfriend, tripping on an exposed root and falling on her face. Ana had not always gotten along with Alexis, so she tried not to laugh, but seeing her face caked with mud was hard not to react to.
Every time Ana turned around, Mike was walking so close to here that they would touch. She had a strange feeling go over her as their blue eyes met, but she would look away, feeling something akin to shyness wash over her. There was just something in the way that he looked at her, that even in the dark it affected her.
When the large group finally got to the clearing where the camping signs were put up, there were several other tents set up, a few of the occupants poking their heads out with the commotion. Everyone found a place for their tents and Ana was quietly setting up her tent like the others, when she caught Glenn walking over to help Marie. Her tent was still folded from the first time and her friend was looking at the instructions like they were written in Greek. Ana shot her another dirty look. She did not want her friend sleeping with her father’s friends. It would just lead to her getting chewed out and a weird circumstance. That much she was sure of.
Ana went back to her tent and she was then behind from rubber necking what Marie was doing. She sighed as she pulled out the expanding pulls and started to make it into one long piece. “Do you want me to help you?”
She jumped, not paying attention enough to see Mike walking up. His blue eyes always seemed to be sparkling and the way he looked at her made her want to melt. She was not immune to the looks and she looked down to blush. Ana was not usually that girl that needed saving, but when she got around Mike she was at a loss of words and fumbled around a lot more.
“Here I got this.”
The man took the pole from her hand like she shouldn’t be touching them and it peeved her a little bit. Marie was the girly-girl, not her. Mike had the tent up within minutes and she did little else than hand him the stakes to go in the ground. She thanked him and watched him go back to his own tent that was quite a bit larger than the others. Mike and Glenn were splitting the two room tent.
Ana watched him through her opening, his shadow against the vinyl. She saw his shirt come off and the ridges that were even visible in his outline against the tent. Then his outline turned towards her and she slipped back behind her flap, her heart racing. There was so much that Ana wanted to learn, but she was still reluctant to go the next level with a boy, let alone a man. Mike made her feel strange, kind of like her first crush in high school. Ana was older now though and her curiosity was a lot stronger than before.
***
Mike slept fitfully and all he could think about was the young woman that he couldn’t have. His best friend of course had to have a daughter that he would have given his left nut to have had. He tried to remember what Jerry had said about her through the years, but nothing could make him forget how innocently she had looked at him. She acted like a girl surprised by her own body’s response and it made Mike wonder just how innocent she really was.
Morning came earlier for the camp, but even earlier for Mike. He was up and down at the river fishing with Glenn by the time most of the rest of the family was stirring. Mike caught the blonde hair of Ana as she walked into the woods. He figured he knew what she was doing and even though it was going to make him a pervert, he told his companion that he had to piss and took off several yards behind her.
Ana was not paying attention to anything more than her need to relieve herself. She had awoken early in the morning, but had willed herself back to bed because of how dark the woods were. Ana was not afraid of the dark per say, but it was another issue to drop your pants and crouch in a pile of leaves that can’t be inspected. It was one of those times that Ana wished that it could be as easy for her, as it was for a man.
She heard a twig crack and looked around but didn’t see anyone. After she pulled her pants back up, she started to walk back to the small camp and was startled as Mike came around a tree and she almost ran into him. She apologized and kept walking, but looked back behind her as he passed. There was something in his eyes and it made her wonder how long he had been there. How much had he seen?
Mike went back to fishing fifteen minutes later and no one seemed to notice that it took him an exceptionally long time. Jerry and Mike started talking about old fishing trips they had taken as kids, but Mike’s blue eyes met hers several times throughout the conversation. When he looked a certain way at her, her cheeks turned pink and she looked down. She really was that innocent, he thought to himself. He wanted to do what any hot-blooded man would have done. He wanted to exploit it.
Chapter 3
“I don’t know about you, but those two are fucking hot.”
Mike looked back at the two young women and then back at Glenn. He shook his head. The man never had much sense. At least Jerry and his wife were up ahead far enough to not hear the conversation, but he should have known better. Beyond his exasperation, there was also a moment of hesitation on his part, a singular desire to not share Ana. The redhead didn’t really appeal to him in a way, the safer one, but he was not sure that he wanted to share Ana, even with his best friend. Not to mention how pissed off Jerry would be. If only she would stop lookin
g at him with those large blue eyes, it would be a lot easier for him to refuse.
“You need to chill with that shit Glenn. Jerry would not be okay with you talking about his daughter like that.” Glenn made a face and pushed his fingers through the straw-colored strands on his head.
“Don’t get all high and mighty now Mike. I have seen you checking her out all day. Wait till we get to the swimming hole. I bet you are going to walk around with a woody the rest of the week.”
Mike knew his words were right. While he looked forward to seeing what she wore, he dreaded it because he was right. He would walk around rock hard and Jerry would know that he was lusting after someone. Between his daughter and his wife, neither one were an option, which left the gangly redhead. Problem was that Jerry knew Mike better than that. He liked women with curves and he never had been into the skinnier women. While thinking of all of that, he started to wonder how old she was.
“Do you have to be such an ass Glenn? Just be good and don’t get caught with your dick somewhere it shouldn’t be. Remember that cruise ship? We had to hide in the fucking cabin the last two days because you got caught.”
Glenn’s fair complexion reddened and he had the good sense to shut his mouth for a while. The hike was over abruptly as they came through the woods and to the clearing. The trees towered over them and shadowed the sun to make it feel later in the day. When the small lake came into view, there was a collective sigh from the group.
The two girls were quickly to the front of the pack and rushing towards the water’s edge at a break-neck speed. One pushed the other in and soon both were laughing in the water. Ana could not help but be in any body of water around her that was warm enough to swim in. She wished she had taken off some of her clothes though, because they were both a soggy mess as they walked out of the water.
Ana started to take her shirt off and she caught a stern look from Jerry. He was not as daft as everyone thought he was, nor was he blind to his daughter’s beauty. He was more worried about Mike’s interest, just because he only set his sights on things that he would eventually have. Jerry did not want her flaunting her body and he wondered how he could ban her from wearing a bathing suit. The bikini top underneath her shirt was skimpy and showed off far more of her curves than he wanted.
Pulling out a dry shirt, she pushed a summer dress over her head and then shifted out of her shorts and bottoms. Mike was paying more attention than he should have and he was fixated with her womanly curves. There was very little attention given to Marie, though Glenn seemed to like the smaller woman. Jerry grabbed some beer from the cooler and pushed them off towards the lake to fish.
“Come on guys. Let’s let the womenfolk get the camp ready.”
The women ended up putting the tents together, as well as the fire pit. Before long fish were brought back and they were preparing a late lunch. Jerry kept his friends close in his sights, but he could not stop Mike from glancing back several times to her direction.
“I will kill you, you know that right?”
Mike’s head turned and he grinned. “What are you talking about Jerry?”
“You know what I’m talking about. Keep your eyes, hands and dick to yourself. Ana is not like most girls her age.” Jerry cast his pole back into the water. Glenn looked between the two men and waited for what would surely be a blow-up.
“I can’t believe you would think that of me. I mean, is she even legal?”
Jerry’s eyes squinted. “She is 21, but she will always be my little girl.”
There was no come back and Mike didn’t even try. He chided himself for being so obvious about it, but it was hard to act like he wasn’t attracted to her. Ana’s body was young and ripe for the picking, her added innocence only made him want her more. But Jerry was a good friend and he did not want to piss him off. Mike was torn between his two heads and when he snuck a look over at Ana, he had a better idea of which one was going to win.
“Mike!” He looked over at Glenn questioningly. The blonde man said nothing but smiled and pointed towards his bobber or where his bobber was supposed to be.
“I think you got a hit man.”
Mike started to reel in the small trout and reddened from the two men chuckling. Ana was making him go a little crazy and he was only thankful that his musing had not made him completely hard. He covered himself with his hands as he sat back down on the folding chair.
“Got to keep that mind out of the gutter man.” Mike scowled at Glenn, who was enjoying his discomfort far too much. He snuck a glance at his other friend’s hard face and cast out his hook.
Chapter 4
The evening came quickly and after Jerry’s apparent aversion to the girl’s swimming, Marie and Ana went off for a walk before it go too dark. They invited her brother’s new wife, but she was not doing so well in the great outdoors. Out of everyone, Ana had figured that Marie would be the Princess, but her brother’s new love took the cake. Between complaining and smacking herself every 30 seconds, she was becoming a huge party pooper.
“Can you believe her?”
“Be nice Marie. You have been whining about bugs before we even got here.”
“I know, but it isn’t near as bad as I thought it was going to be. Besides, I kind of like it, being out here with your family. You know how my folks are, we never go anywhere together. Too many stepparents that hate each other.”
Ana nodded. She knew that her friend’s home life had never been good, but it had gotten better when she was old enough to move out. That is why they had always been so close and Ana’s reason for always inviting her to those kinds of things. Not to mention, Marie was just fun to be around.
“So have you seen the way that Mike is looking at you? I think your dad is going to kill him.”
Ana laughed. While she had noticed, she was sure that he wouldn’t do anything about it. Maybe she wanted him to, but she knew that with her dad around, she would never have a chance. “You know how my dad is. He won’t let anything happen. He still acts like I am a kid.” The two walked through a half-beaten trail and Ana found a log to climb on. When she got to the top of it, she tried to balance on the rotting wood. Marie sat down at the base and watched her friend. “So what are we doing the rest of the week?”
“Well we will do some more hiking tomorrow and dad says there is a place he wants to go to that he saw pictures of. We should be camping there tomorrow. I am not sure what is so special about it, but he always finds some of the best spots.”
“Cool. I really like this. I just wish I could talk to Jeff. I kind of miss him and this is the longest we have gone without talking and, you know.”
Ana sighed. Sex was all the girl seemed to talk about. She figured it couldn’t be as good as Marie made it out to be, though she was part of the reason that Ana had been thinking about it more. It wasn’t like she hadn’t done anything with a guy. She just hadn’t found the one to go all the way with.
“Does everything have to be about sex with you?”
“No, but it should be. Wait until you start, like those chips, can’t stop once you pop.”
Ana shook her head and laughed. Jumping down from the tree, they started to walk back.
“Is it really that great Marie?”
Marie turned towards her and she shook her head.
“Yes. Even better than you can imagine. Especially if you get an older guy. They are the best because they know so much more and they are all about pleasing you. Guys our age don’t really care most of the time. The first time, find an older guy that turns you on. I promise you won’t regret it.”
Ana nodded, but she wasn’t sure if she agreed. The idea of an older man had always appealed to her. Guys her own age seemed to be less mature and she didn’t have much in common with them. Her mind went to Mike and she felt a shiver go through her spine.
“You really think older is the way to go the first time?”
Marie had a surprised look. “You are thinking about it, aren’t you?”
&
nbsp; “I never stopped. I just can’t believe that I am 21 and I still haven’t found “the one.” I am really starting to think that he doesn’t exist.”
“We can be happy with many people Ana. The soul mate thing is just a myth. There are many guys that are perfect for you. I think Mike has been looking mighty hard your way. What about him?”
Ana looked down, unable to meet her eyes. Ana knew that her bluedepths would give her away, as it always had in the past. She tried to shrug it off like it was no big deal, but she could feel herself reddening.
“I can’t believe it. Finally!”
Ana giggled. “Calm down. I am just thinking about it. Would be impossible to do anything here, the way my dad is acting. Have you seen him watching me like a hawk? He seriously told me that I should swim in my clothes.”
“I don’t know. My grandmother always said, if there is a will, there is a way.”
***
The night time seemed to be the hardest time for Mike. While he hadn’t slept much the night before, he was finding it even harder to fall asleep the second night. Jerry had made it clear that his daughter was off limits, but Ana was all that he could think about. He blamed his friend for forbidding it. Saying that he couldn’t have something or someone, only made him want it that much more. The two girls had gone to sleep first, coming back tired from their long walk.
Mike wanted to go to her, to wake her up. There had to be a way that he could spend some alone time with her and see if what he wanted, was what she wanted as well. His eyes looked through the semi-opened flap and his gaze was on her tent. He was surprised when her tent flap started to unzip. Mike pulled back out of sight and watched the young blonde step out.
Ana did not see anyone else stirring and since she couldn’t sleep, she decided to go down by the lake for a swim. The air was still warm from the day and she was only wearing her bathing suit and a towel wrapped around her. She was followed the hundred yards to the lake, but she did not see or hear anyone else. Ana was in her own little world, enjoying the blackness around her.