Ashalyn
lay on one of the beds in her hotel room, staring into space. Suddenly, a knock on the door brought her out
of her thoughts. She rolled quickly off
the bed and hurried to get the door.
She
flung it open to see Brian standing there.
“Hi,” she said, smiling.
“Hey,”
he said, returning her smile. “Whatcha
up to?”
“Nothin
much,” Ashalyn said.
“Yeah,
me neither,” Brian said. “You mind if I
hang out awhile? I’m kinda bored with
all the guys gone.”
“Yeah,
I know what you mean,” Ashalyn agreed.
“Of course I don’t mind. Come on
in.” She stood back to let him in the
room. “So, what should we do?” she asked
as the door shut behind them.
Brian
flopped down on one of the beds. “I
dunno,” he said. “I’ve already checked
the TV stations. Nothing good’s on.”
“That
sucks,” Ashalyn said. “There’s an indoor
pool here, isn’t there?”
“Yeah,”
Brian said. “You wanna swim?”
“Well,
sure, if you want to. There’s not much
else to do,” Ashalyn replied slowly.
“I’d
love to,” Brian said, smiling. “Let me
go change, and I’ll meet you back here in a few, okay?”
“Kay,”
Ashalyn replied. She watched him leave
and then quickly dug into her suitcase for her bathing suit. She pulled it out and changed into it, stopping
to glance in the mirror. The suit was a
purple tankini that looked good on her without revealing too much.
Ashalyn pulled her long red hair back in a ponytail, grabbed a towel, and
slipped on Elyssa’s flip-flops. Then she
headed out into the hall, where Brian was already waiting for her, dressed in
swim trunks and a T-shirt, a towel slung over his arm.
“You
look great,” he said, his eyes traveling the length of her body.
Ashalyn
smiled self-consciously. “Thanks,” she
replied.
Together,
they walked to the end of the hall and took the elevator to the first floor,
where the pool was.
Luckily,
the pool was almost empty when they got there.
Only a few people were swimming, and some others were sitting in the hot
tub.
Brian
and Ashalyn set their things on some chairs in one corner. Ashalyn slipped off her flip-flops and walked
to the edge of the pool. A moment later,
Brian joined her, dressed only in his swim trunks. Ashalyn glanced at him, a tiny smile tugging
at her lips as she admired his muscular body.
She
giggled as Brian daintily dipped the tip of his big toe into the water, testing
the temperature. “What?” he asked,
giggling as well.
“Aw,
come on, be a man,” Ashalyn said, and in one swift movement, she pushed him
into the pool.
He
came up sputtering, and she laughed hysterically at the bewildered expression
on his face. He smiled sheepishly up at
her, and then his grin turned devilish.
“You’re
gonna get it, girl,” he said, hauling himself out of the pool. Ashalyn shrieked and darted away from him,
but he quickly caught her, lifted her off the ground, and hurled her into the
pool with a huge splash.
Ashalyn
came up gasping for air and laughing at the same time. Brian did a cannonball into the pool, sending
more water splashing over her head.
“Hey!” she squealed, playfully splashing him in the face when he
surfaced.
They
played around in the pool for some time and then became tired. “You wanna head to the hot tub?” Brian asked
suddenly. “It’s empty now.”
Ashalyn
looked up to see that the hot tub had been abandoned. “Sure,” she said, grinning at him. He grabbed her hand and pulled her through
the water, then helped her out of the pool.
They climbed into the hot tub together and sat there for a long time,
just talking and enjoying each other’s company.
***