Just Friends?

by K E Osborn

  “Arvo?” Will questions.

  “Afternoon, babe,” I say, noticing a bit of Aussie slang creeping into our conversation.

  “Oh, right,” he says.

  I laugh and start reciting some typical Aussie slang, “Yep, righto luv. We’ll crack a tinny and chuck a u-ey and Bob’s your uncle, fair dinkum mate,” I say giggling, at how Australian I sound while I enhance my accent.

  “Was any of that English?” he asks while we both laugh.

  “It’s dinky di, true blue Aussie and if you’re gonna meet my parents when we’re in Oz next week, then you better brush up on your Aussie slang babe,” I say as he looks at me with amusement.

  “Meet your parents? When did we decide on that?” he asks.

  Whoa, I instantly think I’ve overstepped the mark.

  “Oh, sorry! You don’t have to meet them. It was more a suggestion than a comment anyway; of course you don’t have to meet them if you don’t want to– ” I blubber away and he interjects.

  “Of course, I’ll meet them. I couldn’t think of anything I’d like to do more than meet the wonderful people who created you, especially for me,” he says softly.

  I smile and we slowly get out of bed. I pull on some track pants, a sweater and some running shoes. It’s pretty cold this time of year, so I put on as many layers as I can, especially since I’m used to the dry heat of Australia. We walk downstairs to make ourselves some brunch. He takes out some bacon, eggs and bread and places them all on the counter and then proceeds to do a big cook up. We eat out on the downstairs deck that overlooks the lush greenery of the forest. This place is totally secluded and just what we need to be together and be ourselves. We sit out on the balcony for what seems like hours staring aimlessly out into the forest, but in reality, it’s only a short time. Will abruptly stands up taking my attention from the cute little sparrows nesting in a tree.

  “You okay?” I ask, concerned at his sudden movement.

  “Come with me,” he says, grabbing my hand and then leading me down the stairs to the edge of the forest.

  “What are we doing?”

  We start our walk into the forest following what looks like an overgrown small pathway.

  “I can hear something and I want to check it out. C’mon, if it is what I think it is you’ll love it,” he says, dragging me hand in hand behind him.

  We walk through the lush green forest following the small path. I have to push palm fronds out of my way while we walk. I can’t help but giggle as I watch Will striding confidently through the forest. The dark, lush palms grow high into the air with smaller ones striving for light in what feels like a cold but tropical greenhouse. The ground is carpeted in baby teardrops and tiny little flowering plants litter the path. Every now and then I see a small green tree frog jump across the path in front of me.

  Could this place be any more beautiful?

  “Piggy back?” he asks playfully breaking my thoughts.

  He’s in a great mood today.

  Will turns around and I take a small run and jump onto his back. I wrap my arms around his neck and my legs around his waist while we set off down the track to wherever we’re going. We walk for another minute or so and I start to hear it as well.

  “I can hear it,” I squeal excitedly.

  “Me too,” he says as he parts two massive palm fronds to reveal a waterfall and a small pond at the bottom, with the most crystal clear water I’ve ever seen. Will laughs as I jump off his back and run to the edge of the water.

  “Will, this is so beautiful.”

  I stare up at the water flowing down over the top of the cliff and throwing out little droplets that sparkle in the afternoon sun. He walks behind me and wraps his arms around my waist, moves my hair to one side and gently kisses my neck.

  Could this moment be any more perfect?

  “I know it’s cold, but fancy a dip? I know a way to keep you warm,” he whispers in my ear.

  I giggle as my thoughts turn to how he makes me feel as all my blood seems to rush straight between my legs to that little bud of sensitive nerves. I squeeze my legs together and immediately I peel off my sweater and top while he removes his clothes. Before we know it, we’re both jumping naked into the crystal clear water for a skinny dip.

  “This water is freezing,” I say through staggered breaths and chattering teeth. Will swims up and wraps himself around me to keep our bodies warm.

  “This is amazing. We’ll have to remember this place.”

  “Absolutely,” I agree and lean in for a passionate kiss.

  I’m shivering from the cold, but I feel hot at my core and to my surprise, I feel Will harden between my legs.

  How wrong was I? I thought the cold meant shrinkage for men.

  I giggle as he raises his eyebrows at me with that insinuating look that he has going on.

  “I know a way I can make you shiver, but your temperature will definitely be raised,” he says softly then nibbles that soft part below my ear.

  I can’t help but smile, while he starts to caress my back, gently working his way down to my behind.

  “Well, I guess you’ll have to show me then, Mr. Sanders.” Out the corner of my eye I see a flash and I pull back.

  Will looks at me with furrowed brows. “What’s wrong?”

  I try to focus on the spot where I thought I saw the flash of light.

  “Oh, nothing. I thought I saw something, but I can’t see it now,” I say, turning my face back to him. His hands caress my behind, pulling me closer and into his erection. I move my hips to meet his and he grinds into me a little more. His fingers reach down to feel if I’m ready to take him, and as always I am more than ready. He lifts my legs around his waist and starts to enter me. I moan and deepen my kiss as he fills me completely. He feels amazing. I open my eyes briefly and notice another flash of light. I pull back from Will immediately covering my exposed breasts and bite my bottom lip. He looks at my worried face and then turns to look behind me.

  “Baby, what did you see?”

  “I’m pretty sure I saw a flash, twice now,” I say as he pulls out of me to turn around and look.

  “Okay, I’ll go check.”

  He walks out of the pond naked but covering his groin. The flash goes off a couple more times while he gets dressed. I stay covered by the water in the pond. I’m really shivering now and I’m actually frightened.

  “Babe, there’s definitely someone out there. I’m scared, Will.”

  “I know. Stay there.”

  I swim closer to the waterfall to get away from the photographer and protect my nudity.

  How did they even know we were here?

  “Be careful,” I yell out as he walks off down the path.

  A few minutes pass and I can’t hear anything over the waterfall beating down around me. My heart is thumping in my chest and that mixed with the coldness of the water makes me start to feel a little light headed.

  Hurry up, Will!

  I hear footsteps and I look toward the path and my heart rate skyrockets in anticipation waiting for those palm leaves to spread and reveal who’s walking toward me.

  I hope to God it’s Will!

  “Will,” I call out, but my voice is hushed and shrill. I cough slightly as the palm leaves open to Will holding up a towel.

  “I couldn’t see anything. But there are footsteps and tire marks by the front of the house in the dirt. We need to call Patty,” he says with a concerned look.

  I swim toward Will. He leans down and covers me with the towel as I walk out of the pond. The last thing I want is a naked photo of me spreading around the world. I’m so thankful that he obviously thought of that too. I shiver while he runs the towel up and down my body, but still keeping me completely covered.

  “Do you think someone was taking photos?”

  He nods and has that worried look that he gets sometimes.

  “I’m sorry baby. I shouldn’t have suggested we go for a swim. Who knows how many photos they took and what th
ey actually managed to get,” he says.

  “We should go inside in case there are any more lurking around.”

  Will bends down, picks me up, cradling me to his chest and carries me back to the retreat.

  A perfect moment ruined by a nosey, prying stranger.

  ~ WILL ~

  I walk as quickly as I can carrying Kat back to the retreat before anything else happens. I can’t help but notice that her lips are blue and she’s shivering uncontrollably. I feel undeniable guilt for suggesting we take a swim. I run up the stairs, taking two at a time with her in my arms and open the door. Placing her down, I turn and lock the door behind me and then close the blind. I walk over to the windows and see the sun setting in the distance as I pull the window blinds shut. The retreat is filled with darkness so I turn on the lighting.

  This is crazy. Fucking crazy. We can’t even spend one special magical moment together without it being crushed.

  “I’m going to run us a hot bath to warm you up.” I walk to the bathroom and hear her follow in behind me. She rests her head on my shoulder as the hot water floods the large bathtub. I turn around and wrap my arms around her and pull her to my chest while rubbing her arms up and down trying to get some warmth into her. Tears are slowly falling down her cheek, so I wipe them away with my thumb.

  “I’m so sorry. Are you okay?”

  She shivers. “Yes, I’m fine. Just a bit shocked, but I think once we’ve had our bath, we need to call Patty,” she says while she unhooks her towel and drops it to the floor. I quickly get out of my wet clothes and I step into the hot water. It almost burns as I slide down. The water is so hot, it feels like needles pricking my skin, but we both need to warm up. I turn the tap off and Kat slides in the tub in front of me resting her back to my chest.

  This is what we should’ve done in the first place, not take a stupid swim in a freezing pond risking everything.

  “Will, stop it,” Kat says abruptly.

  “Stop what, baby?” I ask confused by her tone.

  “Stop stressing. I agreed to go in the pond with you. You didn’t force me, so stop worrying about it. I’m fine and if photos surface, then who cares? It’ll be easier if everyone knew about us anyway because this hiding is killing me,” she states.

  I can’t disagree with her on that one. She’s right; it’d be so much fucking easier if we could just be honest about our relationship. I relax underneath her and in turn feel her relax on top of me. Her head falls back to my shoulder and I move my face down to kiss her lips gently.

  In this moment, I couldn’t love Kat more and I’ll do anything to protect her from all this.

  Mom was right. She said one day I’d settle down and find the right girl. I didn’t think it’d happen while I was in my early twenties, but I’m more than happy it has. I can’t imagine my life without her; she means everything to me… everything. I watch Kat as her body relaxes under the warmth of the water. Her blue lips turn back to a supple pink and her shivering stops as she completely relaxes against me. We lie in the bath until the water starts to go cold. I think Kat has drifted off to sleep because her breathing is much lighter and she hasn’t moved for a while. Then, suddenly, she turns her head and exhales looking at me.

  “You okay?”

  She nods and brings her hand up and looks at it. “Hmm, I look like a grandma,” she says making me chuckle as I lift my hand to see the same wrinkled effect.

  “Time to get out?”

  She nods again and stands up, stepping out onto the floor mat. I do the same and lean over taking a towel to dry her. Once I’ve finished we make our way to the bedroom and put on some clothes. Kat opts for some thick pajamas and I go for pajama pants, leaving my chest bare.

  “You feel warmer now, baby?”

  “Yep, all better, thanks.”

  Reaching over, I pick up my cell. “Guess I’d better make that call now,” I murmur sitting on the edge of the bed. She crawls over and sits next to me while I dial Patty’s number. She answers on the second ring.

  “Darling, why are you calling me? You should be spending your time having fun before you have to come back to reality,” she says when she answers.

  “Hi Patty. Umm, we may have a problem.”

  “Why? What’s wrong?” she asks using a more serious tone.

  “We may have been seen together and worse than that, I think we may have been photographed. We were swimming in a pond which is on the property and Kat saw some flashes of light through the bushes. I went to investigate, but I only found tire tracks and some footprints in the dirt,” I say leaving out the naked sex part.

  “Okay, so let me get this straight. You think someone got pictures of you both swimming together?”

  “Yes.”

  “Alright. Are you telling me everything?” she asks, obviously sensing that there’s more.

  I hang my head low and Kat rubs my back while I tell Patty the whole truth.

  “We were skinny dipping and we were... well you know,” I say hoping she gets the idea.

  “No, Will, I don’t know, I can’t assume. You have to tell me everything, please.”

  I sigh. “We were making love in the pond and we were nude.”

  “You what?” she screams down the line, “and in a public place? Will, c’mon darling, you both have better sense than that, surely?”

  I gulp and exhale. “It’s supposed to be secluded and I don’t know how anyone knew that we were even here. We came separately like you told us to. I drove here and Kat got a taxi,” I explain trying to make myself feel better, but it doesn’t work.

  Patty sighs loudly down the phone. “I’ll see what I can do, but Will if photos of you two surfaces, I’m not sure that there’s much I can do about it,” she says. “You both should know better. You’re in the public eye now. You are super stars and you pay a price for fame. You knew that when you signed up for this. I can’t say I’m happy about your behavior. As a matter of fact, I’m angry as fuck and disappointed with you both.”

  “Patty, I understand and thanks for doing whatever you can,” I say and hang up the phone.

  Kat looks at me intently. “So, what did she say?”

  “Well, she isn’t very happy with us. That’s for sure.”

  I flop back down on the bed. Kat follows me and nuzzles into my side. I wrap my arm around her and kiss the top of her head. I sure as hell am not going to repeat what Patty said to me, Kat’s already fragile about this whole situation.

  “What if they got photos of you when you got out of the pond naked?” she asks me quietly.

  “I don’t care. As long as they didn’t get any of you, I’ll be happy.”

  I couldn’t stand it if anyone else saw her naked let alone the entire fucking world.

  She’s mine and only I have the right to see her beautiful naked body.

  Fuck, I’ll go crazy if there are pictures of her out there.

  We lay here cuddling for a short time and then she sits up.

  “I’m hungry,” she says matter-of-factly.

  “Well, let’s get you fed then.”

  We both get up and walk to the kitchen. I pull out some steaks from the fridge and it’s a joint effort to make our dinner. I pan fry the steaks as I don’t want to risk going outside to grill them in case there are more unexpected visitors out there. I don’t know what Kat is doing to the potatoes but they smell great. She then puts some honey in with the already boiled carrots and stirs it around to caramelize them. Kat is standing right beside me stirring the honeyed carrots and her arm brushes mine sending that usual spark between us. I smile as she turns to face me and I see a glistening sparkle in her green eyes. I lick my lips unconsciously and lean in to kiss her. She kisses me back strongly and before I know it I’ve dropped the tongs and have her up against the fucking fridge. I pull her right leg up and she wraps it around my waist while I move my now very hard cock into the apex of her thighs. She moans in my mouth as our tongues meld with each other. Her hands fist in my hair as
I grind my hips against her. A low growl escapes my throat. Suddenly, we’re jolted apart by a screeching oven timer. Kat laughs and drops her leg to the ground.

  Fuck!

  I shake my head as I adjust myself in my now restrictive pants.

  “We can’t control ourselves can we?” she asks making me chuckle.

  “I can never control myself around you,” I say honestly. She bends over and pulls the tray out of the oven. Oh shit, look at that totally fuckable piece of ass right there in front of me.

  Yep, that’s right; my pants have tented so much that they may as well be a fucking flag pole.

  “Okay, these are done. How far away are the steaks?” she asks stirring the carrots once more.

  Shit, better get my mind back on the task at hand. “Think they’re done.” I move them to our plates and she adds the potatoes and the carrots and then takes them over to the table. I take out a bottle of Bollinger La Grande Année Rose Brut and some flutes, walk over to the table and sit down next to her. I fill the flutes with her favorite champagne and raise my glass and she raises hers.

  “A toast… to a successful Nightwalker series and to us for being perfect for each other,” I say and we clink our glasses together.

  “I’ll drink to that,” she says and takes a sip of the cool crisp champagne.

  All I can think about is will it always be this fucking good together?

  I take another sip of my champagne and I hear a car door slam. I look up at Kat to see if she heard it as well.

  “Are we expecting someone?” Kat asks me.

  I shake my head. My heart rate quickens slightly at the thought of someone else being out there. I stand up and walk to the kitchen window and peel back the blind to have a look. Sure enough, there is a black van with two paparazzi standing on the front porch.

  Fuck!

  “Who is it?”

  I look at her and she can tell that it’s not good news.

  “I’d better call Patty. She’s not going to be happy… again,” I say while I walk over to grab my cell. I’m definitely not looking forward to making this phone call. She’s going to blow a gasket when she hears that the paparazzi are sitting on our doorstep.