When Cohen left to drop off Bob at his mom’s for the weekend, I headed downstairs to shower and get ready, knowing my packing would be a little more involved than throwing a few T-shirts and pairs of boxers into a backpack. I’d intended to do it last night, but Cohen and I decided at the last minute to go see a late movie, and I never got to it. A smile twitched on my lips. Who would have known that he’d move in upstairs and change my whole routine?
I was drying my hair when I heard Ashlyn come in. I switched off the blow dryer and met her in my room.
“You’re not even packed,” she commented, lifting my empty suitcase from the floor and setting it on the bed.
She helped me sort through the heap of clothes on my bed. After our trip to the mall, I had several pink bags of new bras and panties. I held up a pair of white cotton boy-shorts. “What do you think, something more virginal?”
Ashlyn chuckled. “Riiiight. Like you could pull off virginal.”
I frowned and tossed the panties at her. “Maybe something a little more daring to get his blood flowing to the right place.” I held up a minuscule black G-string with a glitzy pink heart over the crotch.
“Nothing says stripper like glitter on your underpants.”
I stuffed the panties and a few matching bras into my suitcase. At least then I’d have options.
I added a few tank tops and shorts to the pile of clothes, and went to grab my bathroom bag. When I returned to my room, Aiden had joined Ashlyn in my bedroom.
“Hey, bud.”
“How are you, beautiful?”
I smiled at his attention and Ashlyn grinned at him too. He had that rare ability to make everyone around him feel comfortable and happy. I knew from Ashlyn that his memory had never fully returned, which made him even more set on living each day to its fullest without regrets.
Ashlyn picked up the string of condom packages sitting on my bed. “What the hell are these? You better not be planning to take that boy’s virginity.”
Aiden’s eyes went wide, and he held up his hands. “None of my business. I’ll wait in the car.” He picked up my suitcase and left.
I grabbed the condoms from Ashlyn and stuffed them into the drawer on my nightstand. “Better?” Knowing it was a conversation I wasn’t going to win, I let it drop and followed Aiden out of the room.
The three hour drive into Michigan was relatively uneventful. Ashlyn and I sat together in the backseat to chat, and Aiden and Cohen kept up a steady conversation in the front on topics ranging from sports to the stock market to local microbreweries.
Cohen wasn’t a typical undergrad, and actually fit in well with our group. He worked full time in addition to being a student, and that seemed to make him more relatable to Aiden. It was nice to see Cohen getting along so well with everyone, and I realized I was feeling proud and satisfied of that fact. To avoid dwelling on that thought I turned to Ashlyn and started talking about research for school.
When we pulled up to the lake house, my jaw hit my lap. This was much more than a little cabin on the shore. It was a large craftsman-style home with a wraparound porch and stunning views of the endless crystal-blue lake.
The guys grabbed the bags while Ashlyn and I jogged up the steps to the porch. The house was gorgeous. Gourmet kitchen, rustic dining table, a huge sectional couch and a large TV. The master bedroom was downstairs with an attached bath, complete with a whirlpool tub. Aiden set their bags on the large bed. Then we toured the upstairs, which was an open loft containing the twin bunk beds for Cohen and I.
Cohen turned to me and smiled “Top or bottom?”
I entertained myself for a moment with inappropriate images of riding Cohen like a bucking bronco, alternating with images of him hovering over top of me, and gripping his shoulders while he thrust deep inside of me.
“Hm?” I asked, innocently, when I realized Cohen was staring at me, a bemused expression on his face.
“Top or bottom bunk?” he repeated.
Way to burst my fantasy. “Top.”
Ashlyn bit back a grin. She knew how my mind worked.
We had our own bathroom up there too, with a large double-vanity sink and a glass-enclosed shower. It was nice, yet simple.
After a few more trips out to the car, the kitchen island was loaded with grocery bags and more bottles of wine than we could possibly consume in two days. Ashlyn and I quickly worked to stock the fridge and cabinets with enough food to feed a small village.
Since it was still early afternoon, we decided to head down to the beach. Ashlyn and I made sandwiches while the guys dragged beach chairs out from the shed and situated them on the shoreline. Ashlyn carried the plate of roast beef sandwiches, while I carried a small cooler of beer.
When we reached the guys, they’d each stripped off their T-shirts and sandals.
“Wow, look at that view.” I nudged Ashlyn.
“Yeah, the water’s so blue,” she agreed.
“I meant the guys.” I laughed at her innocence. As if noticing to the two shirtless hotties in front of us for the first time, she grinned.
Aiden was a little bulkier and more filled out, and his two tattoos were sexy. Cohen was leaner and hot as f**k. A rush of wetness dampened my bikini bottoms. This was going to be one excruciatingly long weekend. I squeezed my knees together and dropped the cooler unceremoniously in the sand at their feet, Cohen hopping out of the way in time to salvage his toes.
Ashlyn giggled at me and passed out the sandwiches to the guys.
I stripped off my tank top and shorts, grabbed a beer and slid down low into the chair. I hoped my dark sunglasses would keep my perusal of Cohen’s body incognito. I struggled with the twist-off top on the bottle of beer until Cohen, who I didn’t think had been paying me any attention at all, leaned over and removed the bottle from my hands. He easily twisted the top, his forearms flexing as he did so, then handed it back to me.