Promptly at 10 AM I was rudely awoken by nudging from Zak as he shouted for me to get up. Groggily, I sat up and grabbed my glasses. “What the hell, Zak? This is a morning and it’s Sunday. You know, the day of RELAXATION.” He’d already trashed the room and laid three pairs of swim trunks out. “I need your opinion. I personally think the red is sexier, but the light blue will make me look leaner in the legs. I have to at least feign athletic ability. The cream ones are obvi going to make me tanner, but I’m not sure at what cost…” He trailed off as I rolled my eyes. “I like the blue ones. They compliment your eyes and like you said, all that stuff with the legs. Can I go back to bed now?” Zak twisted his mouth in concentration before deciding how to answer. “Yes, but you’ll be up and ready to go by noon at the very latest. So. Keep that in mind.”
Two hours later I was awake, showered and shaved to perfection with my pink floral bandeau bikini on under a tan lace sundress, much to the sheer joy of my roomie. He threw on a white v-neck and we both grabbed some sandals and a change of clothes. We called a car and arrived a few minutes before one. Harry and Louis opened the door but our true host greeted us at our feet. Tessa wrapped her body around my ankle and purred. I picked her up and handed her to Zak who had clearly fallen in love with her. There was muffled laughter from above and for the first time we laid eyes on the shirtless hunks in front of us. Oh. That was nice. Louis had a smooth, clean chest with lean arms and an even tan clad in red Hollister trunks. He flashed a perfect white smile and his blue eyes shone like sapphires. I stole a glance at Zak to watch him almost drop the cat, reaching my arms out just in time to cover up the near-slip. I cuddled her close to my chest, feeling her purr vibrate against me while I drank in my guy. He wore a loose-fitting navy Jack Wills suit with his underwear peeking out just a little. I almost died following his broad shoulders down to the “v” I knew well. After a deep breath from the both of us, we said our hellos and walked in the front door. I shot Zak a look that clearly read “this could be trouble.” His response look only told me one thing. That he welcomed trouble.
The four of us grabbed something to drink from the assortment of bottles in the fridge and went out on the brick patio. We lounged around on floaties, laid out on chairs and hit the hot tub (briefly, since it was hot out already). After a few hours all the boys informed me of their utter starvation. I was hungry as well, but definitely not to that extent. I was consistently amazed at the differences between men and women. They ordered in some Mexican food while I checked in with my Mom on the phone. We talked about the usual- school, friends, rent, etc- and I told her about how Zak had surprised me so we were spending time with my new friends. She put Maeven on the phone after a while. She wanted to know everything but I told her it’d have to wait until later since I was with everybody. For the first time since I’d left she sounded glad to hear from me and said she missed me being around. Just a little though. My heart melted. I sort of figured she was just mad she couldn’t go, rather than her hating ME. I wrapped up the call when the food arrived.
We took a seat at the bar and smashed on some rice, fajitas, tacos, enchiladas and God knows what else. Harry looked the happiest and I fuzzily remembered him naming Mexican as his favorite food. Zak and Louis seemed to be playing with their food but I shook it off as flirting instead of wasting food. Back in the hot tub, I took a seat squeezed between Zak and Harry so I could talk to Zak a little. “I talked to Maeven on the phone today. I think we’re on the verge of getting back to normal. She just needed some time. It made me wonder about your little sister though. How’s Lil Whit doing lately?” He seemed surprised by my question. “I haven’t even caught her up on our crazy lifestyle. She will die when she finds out I’ve met her boy-crush Niall. Later tonight I’ll give her a call.” He then proceeded to strike up a conversation with Louis about Disney movies. He was a slick one, that Zak. Hiding a smile, I inched closer to Harry. He set his arm up on the rim behind me. The largest of his tattoos drew me closer and I found myself tracing the pair of black swallows on his chest. “Like what you see?” He wondered aloud, interrupting my tracing. “I’ve just been thinking about my next one and seeing as you have a million, I thought I’d check out the pro first.” I answered teasingly.
We got to talking about how to spend the week and what Zak would do while I was in my classes since this was his spring break. Louis piped up, “I could show him ‘round. If that’s okay, mate?” He turned towards Zak who answered calmly, “That’ll work. Just be warned, I get bored easily.” I cleared my throat, “Well, that clears that one up. What’s on the plate for us tonight?” Harry thought for a moment and answered, “Firstly, we’re drenched in bleach or chlorine or whatever so let’s shower, change and meet up in the sitting room, yeah?” We agreed and hopped out with our towels. He directed each of us to one of the guest rooms with adjoining bathrooms. Zak and Louis were laughing about something when I turned towards “my” room and noticed I wasn’t alone. “Um, Harry… what’re you doing?” I asked nervously, yet excited at the same time. He answered coolly and collectedly as he pulled my towel off and folded it on the edge of the bed. “Just thought we could conserve a little water with a shower this big.” Oh golly, by golly. He was serious. I gulped and followed him into the tiled bathroom where he turned the water on warm and hopped into the shower. A few seconds later his swimming trunks flew out from behind the curtain. Erm, okay, then. I vowed to hurry with the shower so no one suspected a thing and off went my top and bottoms. I threw them in the sink with a squirt of soap for the chlorine to soak out. Before I could over-think it, I snuck in behind the curtain. I knew my parents wouldn’t approve but I was young and they expected me to live while I was able to, right?
