by Ally Decker
'A little competition' was like a magic phrase among the cast, since all of them were as competitive as Jeremy was. Still, it was not only his decision to make.
"Wait a minute, I'll check."
He left Greg by the door and headed back out to where Tara was, eating strawberry slices out of the bowl.
"Do you want to play?" she asked him after he recounted Greg's suggestion. She was looking up at him with an expression he couldn't read.
"I think it could be fun." He nodded. "We were planning on going to check out the waterfall after lunch, so we still have a lot of time. But if you want to do something else, that's fine, too."
"No, no, we can go play." Tara waved him off. "It could be fun. But I have to warn you, I'm not really good at it."
"Neither is the rest of us, I think. At least those I saw playing."
"Good, I won't embarrass myself too much, then," she said, playing with the ends of her braid.
"You'll be fine," he assured her. Competitive or not, he wasn't an asshole about it. If she truly was awful, then he would just enjoy their time together with his friends and that would be it.
He went to tell Greg they were in and Greg told him to meet them at the court in twenty minutes. It should be just enough time for Tara and Jeremy to clean up after breakfast and change.
It turned out to be just enough time for Jeremy to do those things, with Tara spending close to twenty minutes in the bathroom getting ready. He didn't mind, though, since cleaning was a matter of transferring the dishes back to the front of the cabin to be picked up by the staff. And changing meant putting on a T-shirt.
Tara, on the other hand, not only changed into a whole new outfit, she also made some complicated-looking braid and put on some light makeup. With how much time it sometimes took on set to do his hair and makeup, he was actually impressed it didn't take her longer.
As they walked up to the court, he saw Greg, Sylvia, Chin, and Michiko already there, talking and warming up. After the round of greetings, they all decided that Tara and Jeremy would go second, so they had time to warm up as well, and then whoever lost the first game would play with them.
They got their stretching out of the way first and then sat down to watch the other two couples play. They were close enough so that their shoulders were touching and in between Jeremy loudly trash-talking his friends, they also commented on the game quietly, murmuring to each other.
It surprised him how much little things like this could mean to him. Having Tara and his friends in one place at the same time was something he'd wanted for a long time, but being here, now, was even better than he'd imagined. It was easy. He knew it had to be more difficult for Tara, since she barely knew anyone, but as he watched her yesterday, she seemed to fit in seamlessly among the women in the group. They'd all laughed and joked at the men's expense about the jump competition, and about some of the antics at the campfire last night.
It was what he wanted to happen and it also gave him hope about what lay ahead. If he was lucky, there would be many more times like this in his future. Their future.
Greg and Sylvia ultimately lost to Chin and Michiko, and it was Tara and Jeremy's turn to face them.
"Time's up," he said, standing up and offering her a hand to pull her up. "A kiss for good luck?"
She rolled her eyes but smiled and gave him a peck before walking onto the court. "Come on, we have a game to win!"
Jeremy grinned and followed her. They did, indeed.
Greg pointed at them. "You're on."
Tara flashed him a smile with all teeth that made Jeremy's pulse speed up.
"Bring it!"
Apparently, Tara had no problem trash-talking people when she was actually playing against them, and soon, there was no hesitation about her, no pulling back. Jeremy suspected it might have been easier to do with Greg and Sylvia, whom she knew, but whatever the reason, he enjoyed the result. She was right when she said she wasn't a very good player, but she was decent and that meant they were all basically equal. It was a close game, but in the end the two of them won, and she jumped into his arms, sweaty and laughing.
He didn't want to let her go.
He pulled back only far enough to kiss her, and she opened to him readily. They were both out of breath, so it wasn't their finest effort, but Jeremy didn't care, and Tara looked like she didn't, either. When they parted, they grinned at each other.
"We won," he said, stating the obvious.
"Yeah, we did."
"Come on, lovebirds, you have one more game to play," Greg shouted from the sidelines.
Oh, yeah. The winners of the first match were playing the winners of the second to determine the ultimate winners of their little competition.
"Ready?" he whispered to Tara, who nodded and smiled.
"Ready when you are."
Jeremy nodded and moved to take up his position, but the fleeting thought echoed in his brain: If only.
CHAPTER NINE
Tara was a city girl through and through, and the camp was actually the furthest away from it that she'd been at since her teenage years, back when she'd gone with her parents to visit her dad's family in Ohio. She loved cities, and she loved New York most of all, but she had to admit that the one thing she sometimes longed for was the quiet. Last year it had been weird at first, being here, but by the third day she'd sneaked to the forest by herself to wander around and listen to nothing but the sounds of nature.
She and Jeremy had never made it to the forest together last year, let alone the waterfall, but now they were correcting that. As they stepped out of the busy part of the camp towards the trees, she felt as if she was leaving behind all the noise. She breathed in slowly, smiling at the fresh air and the smell of the forest, and hearing the birds that were hiding in the trees.
"That's different," Jeremy muttered and she nodded even before looking at him.
"It's like we're in another place completely." She lowered her voice and it felt like they were sharing a secret. Which was silly, she knew, but she didn't care much at this moment.
He glanced back behind them for a second. "We're not that far from the camp and yet…"
"Yeah."
They walked in silence for a while, moving slowly. Tara usually rushed everywhere, but here, she was in no hurry. She wanted to take everything in, let herself experience it all, and she suspected Jeremy did as well. She was pretty sure there were no forests like this in Los Angeles or Atlanta, where he spent most of his time.
Concentrating on listening everything around here, Tara heard the waterfall before she saw it. It was quiet and she probably only picked it up because she knew what to listen for.
"There, come on," she whispered and pulled Jeremy forward by their joined hands.
The waterfall was invisible from the main path, but as they stepped off of it to cross between the trees, it only took a minute before they could see it. And hear it better, too, because it was louder now. It wasn't big, but the pond was clear, and it seemed as if they were hidden from the entire world—as if there was no one else but them. Trees surrounded the water from all sides, so a lot of it was hidden in the shadow, but it was still surprisingly warm here.
"It's even better than I imagined," Jeremy admitted when she looked at him.
"I know, right?"
He held her gaze and pulled her closer, so they were pressed from chests to their feet.
"Not just the waterfall," he whispered before claiming her mouth in a kiss.
She didn't know if her heart was hammering in her chest because of his words or his kiss, but she let herself be swept into the feeling. She welcomed his tongue in her mouth and his hands on her lower back, she tilted her head to the side when he moved to kiss down the side of her neck. She wanted him and, regardless of the doubt that was occasionally there in the back of her mind, she knew that, in that moment, he wanted her, too.
She didn't care what might happen later, she didn't even care what happened tonight, once they left and
went back to camp. Right now, her whole world was reduced to this—his touch, his taste, their desire. And to the waterfall behind her back.
"Let's go in," she murmured against his lips and they pulled apart to put down their things and undress. She took off her dress and secured her hair, then paused when she caught him looking. "What?"
"There's no one here but us," he said and she frowned. She knew that. That was the whole point.
Then she noticed that he was tracing the edges of his swim trunks with his fingers and she got it. She could feel herself blushing, which was stupid. After all they did together, skinny dipping was what made her blush? Admittedly, she'd never done it, but what the hell.
She nodded and watched him take off his trunks. When he straightened, she held her breath, because damn. The lines of his body and the confidence he possessed, all of it made him hotter than he should be. For a split second, she wanted to cover herself instead of taking anything off.
But she pushed through it and let the worry go. She looked out at the waterfall as she reached back and unfastened the top of her bikini. She was still staring at the water as she let it drop from her fingers and moved to pull the bikini bottom off.
He was right there a moment later and she made herself turn to look into his eyes, only to see they were dark with desire and something else she didn't know how to read. She didn't have to worry about being naked, though, that was for sure. She thought he would kiss her but he lifted her hand without looking from her eyes and dropped a kiss onto her palm before turning and pulling her towards the water.
It was cold—that was the first thing she registered as they jumped in. But as she started to move around, it got better, and soon she got used to the temperature. It was actually surprisingly warm, for the waterfall. It felt weird to be naked, though. At least until Jeremy pulled her against him again and suddenly being naked was very, very good.
She laughed at herself and kissed him, circling her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist. That was nice. She didn't have to worry she was too heavy like this, since the water took some of that weight off of him. She pushed her tongue into his mouth and he tightened his grip on her ass. She angled her hips to rub along his hardening cock.
Apparently, they weren't going to take their sweet time this time around, but it was more than fine with Tara. Besides, they could always slow down for the second round. She had some ideas about those rocks to their left.
But for now, she wanted this—pressing close to him, urging him on, feeling the desperation mirrored in the way he was leaving his hand prints on her ass and thighs. She broke the kiss to catch her breath as he entered her, pushing in one long stroke and igniting every nerve in her body until it felt like he'd never stop.
She didn't want him to stop.
Her body was like a live wire right now. Everything was a different sensation—Jeremy's deep thrusts into her, his hands on her thighs, his chest against her breasts, his lips against the tender skin of her neck, and water all around them, amplifying everything. She tightened her legs around him and he shifted, pushing impossibly closer and deeper, and the angle made her shout into his shoulder as she came.
The shout echoed over the water as she shuddered through her orgasm, clutching Jeremy's shoulder as he picked up the pace and came inside her after a few more thrusts.
She lost a bit of time, overwhelmed by the sensations, but she came back to the present when he slipped out of her and tried to move with her still wrapped around him. She disentangled her legs reluctantly and slid down to stand, although on shaky legs.
They were still pressed to each other, and Tara was more than fine with that. She circled her arms around his waist and pressed her forehead against his chest, closing her eyes. She didn't want to say anything, she wanted to stand there with him and just…be. She listened to the water falling close to them, to the muffled sounds of the forest. To Jeremy's heartbeat.
She didn't know how long they stood like this. She'd felt him resting his chin on the top of her head a while ago, and he had his arms around her the entire time, but he hadn't said a word, just like her.
In the end, she wasn't sure who moved first, but they did pull back—a bit, at first, to kiss, and then all the way. She shivered as she lost the warmth of his body against her, but she tried to ignore it. They couldn't stay glued to each other the entire time, after all.
Why not? The petulant thought came right after, but she pushed it away. She wasn't a child.
Tara looked around them, taking in the view from this perspective. She'd thought the surrounding forest would feel somewhat imposing in the water, but it didn't. It felt protective, keeping the rest of the world out for them. The waterfall wasn't big, but it was loud from up close, and the water was colder than the lake. And at the edge, there were rocks big enough to hold a person.
Hopefully hold a person, because she was looking forward to another round where she was propped on one of these rocks later on.
"It's beautiful here," Jeremy finally broke the silence, moving to plaster himself to her back.
She smiled, leaning against him and imagining his heat seeping through her skin as she stared at the waterfall, not thinking about anything but being here, with Jeremy, and getting to experience this beautiful place.
"Yeah, it is," she whispered, and then repeated it again louder, worrying he wouldn't hear her over the water.
She didn't want to leave.
***
They swam for a bit, talking from time to time but not needing to hold a conversation. They did kiss often, though, bumping into each other in the water and unable to keep their hands from each other once they touched. They had sex against the rock Tara had been eyeing from the beginning, and it was as intense as what they'd done last time, only longer, since they took their time. She drifted on the surface for a while afterward, staring at the sky and the tree tops in her line of sight. Jeremy was sitting on the rock they'd occupied earlier, and he turned his face to the sun, but she also caught him looking at her a few times she glanced his way.
She tried not to be self-conscious, but the thought he was watching her like that, naked and exposed, was both exciting and nerve-inducing. Which she knew was as silly as her earlier reluctance to skip the bikini, but there was something else to it now, too, something more intimate. Sex was one thing, but this, him simply watching her, was different.
She wondered what he was thinking about.
After a few more minutes, Tara got out of the water and wrapped her towel around her body, shivering at the temperature change. Jeremy motioned for her to sit next to him, and she leaned against his sun-warm body with a pleased hum.
She heard him chuckle, but for a while neither of them spoke, the silence stretching with ease. Tara watched the water fall, transfixed, and her thoughts were drifting lazily, here and gone, nothing catching her attention for long. It felt peaceful and she seemed to melt against Jeremy, little by little. It was like getting out from that massage table and not caring about anything. She hadn't known one could be this relaxed, especially while sitting on a hard rock, practically naked, with a guy she was…
Oh, fuck.
She tensed and widened her eyes, barely hearing his muttered question if she was okay.
No, she wanted to tell him. No, I'm not okay, I'm as far away from it as I can be, because I just realized I'm in love with you and it's all your fault. And mine, too, but mostly yours, you asshole.
She made some noncommittal sound and pulled back in the guise of having to stretch her back. All the while, her heart was beating too fast and her mind was whirring over the same question over and over:
What now?
CHAPTER TEN
Jeremy didn't know what had happened back at the waterfall, but he was sure something had. One minute they'd been sitting there, enjoying themselves and the view, and the next, Tara had tensed and pulled back, and hadn't been the same since.
Maybe the stark difference was the problem. She
wasn't the most open person at the best of times, but during their time in the water and for a while afterward, she seemed to relax and let go of anything that was holding her back when they were together. He'd seen glimpses of that before, but usually only during sex.
Maybe it was just that she had built up her walls again, over time, and became uneasy?
Whatever it was, though, continued for the rest of their time at the waterfall and on their way back. She seemed more drawn back, focused on something she didn't share with him, even after his careful prodding. Every time he tried, she would snap out of it for a bit and engage with him, squeezing his hand or talking for a while, and then she'd drift off again.
He'd thought that in a mood like that, she'd like to stay in after dinner, but to his surprise, when Sylvia passed their table during the meal and asked if they were going to be on the beach later on, Tara nodded. She looked at him right after, apology in her eyes.
"If you want to, as well, of course," she said.
"I don't mind." He offered with a smile, assuming it was a sign that she felt better. "We can go."
And it was a nice evening—one that once again showed him what he was missing, being so far apart from Tara. There were ten of them on the beach that night, with only Alicia and Caleb missing, and they drank wine while lounging in the comfy chairs, talking and laughing, and having a great time.
As the night progressed, Tara relaxed again and after a while, he even convinced her to abandon her chair and share his. And when she leaned back against his chest, settling between his spread legs, he felt the kind of rightness he kept catching the glimpses of during the last few days.
This is how it's supposed to be, he thought to himself, dropping a kiss to the side of her head. This is what I have to gain, if things go right.
She tilted her head so that she could kiss him, too, and he smiled when her lips touched his jaw.
