Summer Solstice

1. Here comes trouble.

"Can you help me unzip my dress?" she called from the bathroom.

He hesitated for a moment, but walked to his bathroom as he saw from the half-open door that she was struggling to pull down the zipper of her red dress.

"Dude..." he said, as he stood behind her, grabbing the tip of the zipper to assist her undress.

"Don't call me dude! I'm a girl! I'm not your bro and I am not your sister. We're friends, best friends in fact." she cut him off, not masking her annoyance.

He laughed lightly as it gave him such entertainment to see her flare over little things.

She laughed in synchronization with what gave him such amusement.

"I can bet you 10 bucks, you have thought about touching my boobs even just once since I arrived." she said confidently. "You men, you have obvious weaknesses. One of which is women. According to psychology, men think about sex every other several minutes. So don't worry, I won't blame you." she continued as ever arrogant she was already winning the bet.

She felt his breath on her neck as he smirked. In a seductive tone, he then asked, "do you remember the last time we tried to have sex?"

Nervousness rushed through her veins, aware that her back is exposed. She quickly turned around with both arms protectively covering her breast. She was taken aback by his sudden audacity and slightly feeling embarrassed at the memory. Ready to say something smart in defense, she opened her mouth, then closed it. She thought it was wise to just drop it and narrowed her eyes instead.

He chuckled mightily in response to the look on her face; seeing her pissed off is one things he enjoys the most.

Competitive, as always, she hated it whenever he wins. She watched him have his little fun moment with a pout on her face then she took a step closer, her protective arms slowly easing away from her breast, the red dress slipping from her body to the floor exposing her underwear. With her face two inches away from his and smug smile flashing across her face, she said seductively, "I'm sure I'd rather remember the next time."

Caught off guard with her unexpected comeback, his body stiffened and his eyes widen in surprise. It took him a few seconds to recover following a series of effort to mask his emotions, a deep breath, then a nervous smile, then a half awkward laugh. 

"You blush like a little girl! Wipe that smile off your face." she said mockingly while she walked past him toward his bedroom. 

"Black laced lingerie." he told himself.

"I'm gonna borrow a shirt, okay? I'll get it myself . The last time you lent me one, I didn't like the one you picked."

"Which one?" He shook his head, as if recovering from a fantasy and walked to follow her to his walk-in closet.

"The gray one with 'Houston' written on it. You do know that I like California better, right?" She breezed blindly out of the walk-in closet while pulling a shirt down her head, almost bumping on his chest.

She stopped to don the shirt. As the rest of the fabric wrap over her smooth white skin, he held his breath and stared at every detail of the moment intently. The vision of his plain white shirt slowly draping over the curves of her chest, her stomach, thighs, and down to her bare legs fascinated him, making it hard for him to focus. Without permission, he was quick to take mental pictures of the rare spectacle. He then quickly recovered from his wild fantasy, took a gulp of breath, as he noticed she was glaring at him.

"Oh. But I thought...." he murmured a tad guilty of eye-gosling her body.

"I was merely testing how information flows between you and your friends. I mean, not that I was psychoanalyzing either of you, but I had reasons why I did it. I could say, it was either you really have good ears, or your best bud was actually too loyal to you." she clarified.

"What do you mean?" he looked at her a little confused.

"You know, it's about time we start being honest with each other. As fun as this have been throughout the years, I'm kinda tired playing charade. Tell you what.... during my entire stay, you can ask me 3 questions and I will answer them with all the honesty I can muster. Be careful with what you ask though. I suggest you think it through. I still have 7 days to spend with you." she challenged him.

"Are you challenging me again?" he said, a little amused.

A mysterious smile spread across her face while she looked him in the eyes before turning around to the bed. For a split second, he recognized that look, that color in her eyes that seems to be yet another game teaser. She climbed and covered herself with the duvet and closed her eyes.

He stood motionless, trying to acknowledge that having her around again 24/7 would be quite challenging.

"This girl...." he said softly as he shook his head and smiled to himself, accepting the fact that this girl wouldn't make the following days easy.