The Love Cruise.

Chapter 4

It was 7am now, the ship was at sea today, on its course to St. Thomas, the American Virgin Islands. Ethan was just starting to workout in the gym when he saw Heather come through the door. He smiled to himself at the sight of her. She looked fantastic to him. She had on a pair of gray leggings that hugged every curve she had to offer, and a Temple University T-shirt. Though he tried not stare but he could easily see that she was either wearing a thong, or no panties at all. He guessed a thong, but her ass looked heavenly to him. Her T-shirt was kind of snug fitting, and gave him a view of her perfect breasts, as they strained to be let free. Ethan was wearing a pair of blue runners shorts and a Temple Basketball shirt, that was sleeveless. So they might have something else in common.

For Heather, when she entered the gym, she really did not see Ethan at first, she was trying to figure out what she wanted to do first. Then she saw Ethan and her heart skipped a beat. She saw him on the Bowflex Extreme working his legs. "Oh God, what legs he has. Strong and fit and sexy.. Oh My God, look at his biceps" she thought. She couldn't believe a man was turning her on like this. She hasn't thought of another man since Peter died, and had not been with any man, but Peter, since her college days. She then composed herself and walked over to the other Bowflex that was next to him. His eyes were closed as he worked the machine, so he did not see her take a seat on the machine next to him.

"Hi Ethan. Nice to see you" she said, then thought about how lame that sounded.

Ethan stopped then and relaxed a second, "Good Morning to you too. I see you are an early riser as well."

"Yeah. I didn't sleep all that well last night. Must be the strange bed and surroundings that caused it... So I figured I would burn off some of that dessert they gave us last night" she said.

"I hear you, but it was good. I hear the midnight buffet is out of this world. If I do that, I know I'll be down here every day trying to work that off." Ethan said then chuckled.

"Oh God. I heard that most people gain 5 to 10 pounds when they go on a cruise. So I guess I will be joining you down here. I'm fat enough." she said.

"Uh huh. Yeah you are a real tubby." he said jokingly.

She smiled knowing he did not mean that. She really had no fat on her at all. If she thought about it, the only place that really needed toning was her ass, but since she really couldn't see it, she really did not care..

"So, were you an Owl too" Heather asked, knowing only a person who went to Temple would understand that.

"Yes" he said between breaths. "Graduated 9 years ago with a BS in computer science"

"Oh Wow.. Small world. My sister graduated 11 years ago with a BS in business, and I went to college at Virginia. Did you live on campus or commute?" she asked.

"I commuted. My parents lived in Valley Forge and it was where I grew up. It was expensive enough to just go there and did not need the extra expense for room and board." he told her, looking into her beautiful green eyes.

"That's cool. I lived on campus. My last three years I was rooming with Gina. We've stayed pretty close since then, as you can see... I grew up near Williamsport, so commuting wasn't an option for me, nor my sister. Did you partake in the Frat life?" she said.

" No, I always went home after school and hardly socialized with campus life. I was a bookworm and my girlfriend was back home. She eventually became my wife when I graduated. Tammy passed away from cancer almost 4 years ago now." he said solemnly.

"Oh My God Ethan. I am so sorry. That had to be tough..... I know all too well. My husband died a little over 3 years ago. Pete was in the service, a Marine platoon leader and was killed in that fucking war... Sorry for swearing." she said, with a trace of anger in her voice.