Brianna crossed the road to her parent's rental house. They were on a cruise and the house had recently become vacant. It was rented out for most of the summer, but summer had been over for almost a month. She had come home from college on a Tuesday evening to relax.
She unlocked the front door and was stepping into the cozy interior, furnished in a beach style by her mother, when she felt her phone buzz in the back pocket of her tight jeans.
Brianna read the text from her friend Brandon, and sighed. "Running late, give me 30," he said.
She thought that she heard something from the far end of the house, but decided it was probably just the walls settling as the sun went down. The house was old and very creaky.
She turned on the light in the nearest bedroom and lay down on the bed. She had only been there a minute or two when she heard footsteps coming down the hall. She sat up, putting her back against the headboard.
A muscular young man with an olive complexion opened the door. He was shirtless, wearing only tight spandex shorts. She gasped in shock, seeing his six-pack abs, wide chest and shoulders, and strong chiseled arms glistening with sweat.
"Who are you?" he asked sternly.
"Uh, Brianna," she said, sitting up straighter. "Who... who are you?"
"Marlon. Mr. Clarke asked me to clean the pool and water the plants while he was out. What are you doin' here, girl?"
"I'm... this is my house. Our summer house. Mr. Clarke is my dad," she said, stumbling over her own words in front of this unexpected, but very attractive man.
"You thought I broke in?" he frowned.
"No, I just, um..."
"It's alright," he said with a quick smile.
"How do you know my dad?" she asked.
"He's my boss at the clothing store."
"Oh," she said. "I guess that explains it."
"What are you doin' here?" he asked again, leaning casually against the dresser.
"Oh, I..." she began, but was at a loss for words when her eyes were drawn to the huge bulge running down the right leg of his tight blue spandex shorts. She looked back up to see him smirking. Her face turned red. "I, I was going to meet my friend here to swim."
"I see," he said, rubbing the soul patch below his thick lower lip. "Where is she?"
She shrugged. "Why are you covered in sweat?"
"I just finished working out. Don't tell your dad, ok?"
"Alright," she said with a smile.
The house had a small gym, which evidently her father didn't want Marlon using.
"Funny you mention swimming; that's exactly what I was going to do before heading home," he said, pointing with a thumb towards the backyard.
"Oh, ok."
"Why don't you join me?" he asked.
"Um, I... I'm waiting for my friend Brandon. He's doing me a favor by picking up my new swimsuit."
"Ok, I just gotta get a towel I left here," he said, moving towards the dresser, Brianna stared at his v-shaped torso flex and bulge as he picked a up a towel and then left the room. After a few minutes she could hear the shower go on. She lay back down and looked at the time on her phone. Almost seven at night.
She closed the door and sat on the bed, texting her friend. She heard the shower turn off and Marlon walk towards her room. He stopped just outside and then knocked. She nervously opened it just as he had pushed it slightly.
"Oh, hey," she said, looking down to see a towel wrapped around his waist, a trail of black hair from his navel leading down under the towel.
"Hey girl, you sure you don't want to take a swim? I just turned on the heater; nice and warm."
"Oh, um no. No thank you. Brandon said he's about 10 minutes away with my swimsuit."
"Ok," he shrugged.
After he left, she closed the door again and then laid down. She started to think of how attractive Marlon was. She had never been with anyone Mexican before. At least that's what she thought he was or maybe Persian. And he had bigger muscles than any of her previous boyfriends. She was very nervous around him and a bit giddy. But her friend would be coming soon. Just then she got another text.
Sorry Bri, something just came up with my parents. My aunt in Whale Beach had a stroke so we need to go see her.
She texted back her condolences.
She sighed, she laid back. Poor Brandon, she thought. That was the Aunt he had never really liked, but still, family comes first.
She kept thinking about Marlon's muscular body outside, swimming. She thought it best to tell him goodbye before she left. Or maybe she could hang out for a little while, she wasn't sure.
She got up and walked into the hall and then outside towards the pool. When she peered through the sliding glass door she saw he was swimming laps.
She walked to the edge of the water and sat down on the side. Marlon had gone under when she had approached. Suddenly she felt him grab her leg and then he popped out, spraying water up onto her.
She screamed, but mostly in surprise, not because she was actually scared.
"Shit," she said pulling back her legs.
"Hey, so you finally decided to come in?" Marlon asked.
"No. I was just going to say goodbye. My friend's not coming. He had a family emergency."
Brianna noticed a quick frown from Marlon.
"That's too bad. The water's great," he said splashing up a little on her.
"Stop," she wined, turning away.
"Its only water. Why won't you come in?"
"I'll dip my feet in," she said, and then did just that.
"Here," Marlon said, putting his hand to the cuff of her pants.
"What are you doing?"
He rolled up her pants above her knees and then put her legs back in the pool.
"Thanks," she said sheepishly, putting her hair behind her ear and then folding her arms.
"No problem. You got great legs," he said touching them gently.
She blushed profusely. She could tell by only talking to him for a few minutes that there was something very attractive about him, even beyond his obvious good looks. She felt immensely drawn to him.
"Hey so why's aren't you out having fun tonight?" he asked.
"On a Tuesday? My friend and I usually just hang out at the pool late at night, because it's heated. And no one is usually renting on Monday through Thursday, especially during the fall."
"That's cool."
"How about you? Do you go to a lot of parties?" she asked, crossing her arms. It was a bit cold in the evening as the sun fell below the horizon.
"I did last year," Marlon admitted. "But now I need to bring up my grades and since I'm working at the clothing store I don't have as much time to go out," he lamented. "Hey how come your dad didn't ask you to house sit?"
"He wants me focusing on school."
"I see. So why don't you get in, aren't you cold?"
"I'm OK," she said unfolding her arms.
"You're not. You got goose bumps. Get in here," he said pulling her legs.
