As summer got into full swing, the long Texas days became unbearably hot, and the nights weren't much different. With the unusually high levels of humidity in the air, 105 could easily feel like 115, and with overnight lows barely getting below 85, it seemed like there was no escaping the heat.
I was in the middle of an afternoon nap on my couch when my phone rang, it was my friend Claire, which was out of the ordinary for her as she usually preferred texting over talking, except in person, in person it seemed like all she did was talk. We had gone to high school together, but didn't become friends until years later after we'd both wound up moving back near our hometown. After many sleepless night filled with coffee and conversation, we became quite close, and eventually she moved in to the extra bedroom I had in my house at the time. Claire had always been a bit strange compared to most people, but she owned it, and never acted like she gave a damn what other people thought of her. I had always admired that about her, and that's part of what made us such great friends, even after she moved out.
"Hey, Jason" she said when I answered the phone with a sleepy grumble. "What are you up to today?"
"Well, I was napping but whatever," I said, sarcasm dripping off my words as they were spoken. "What's up?"
"It's freaking hot outside today," she stated, as if it was something only she was capable of noticing. She did this a lot it seemed, and often I mused that she just liked to hear herself talk, in fact I sometimes referred to her as she who speaks much, and says little.
"Really!?" I said, sounding surprised. "I hadn't noticed, I guess I should probably put my coat back in the closet then."
"Yeah, that's probably a good idea," she said with a laugh. "Anyway, Amy invited a few of us over to swim and cool off in her pool, I thought I'd see if you wanted to tag along with me."
Although I was enjoying my nap, a dip in a pool sounded like a better idea, and seeing Claire and Amy in their bikinis made the thought even better. "Sure, you mind picking me up on the way?"
"I was already planning on it," she stated. "I'll be there in ten."
"Okay, cool." I said as I got up from the couch and walked back to my room to change and grab a towel. "See you then." I put on my swim trunks and threw a t-shirt on, taking a towel from the bathroom on my way back to the couch.
Ten minutes later, I heard Claire's truck pull into the driveway. She shut the engine off and walked up to the front door, letting herself in like she normally did. "Hey, I figured I'd get changed here but I forgot to bring a towel, you mind if I borrow one?"
"Nah, go for it," I offered. "You want some coffee before we head out?"
"That sounds great," she said with enthusiasm. It never mattered what time of the day or night it was, Claire loved coffee, and always accepted a cup of it. "I'm going to change real quick," she noted as she walked back to the bathroom.
I got back up from the couch and walked to the kitchen to get the coffee started. "Hey," she called from the bathroom, "I might crash here tonight if that's cool. The AC in my house has been having a hard time keeping up with this heat, and I need at least one night of relief from it."
"Of course," I yelled back to her, "you know you're always welcome here." I knew damn good and well that the air conditioning in her parents house was phenomenal, but she hated staying there so far out of town. I'd moved to a smaller place after she moved out, and only had the one room so although she was welcome to, moving back in with me wasn't really a good option for her.
"Awesome! Thanks," she said as she walked into the kitchen. I turned to face her after turning the coffee maker on and admired her slim figure in her swimsuit. She was a few inches shorter than I was, but still seemed quite tall with her long, toned legs. Her breasts were small, though you'd never guess with the way she usually dressed. She wore a push-up bra most of the time, and when she'd walk around without one, the difference was striking. Not that I minded of course, I never liked girls with large breasts, and it didn't matter anyway because we were purely platonic. I did quite enjoy looking at her though, especially when we'd lived together and she'd be dressed much more casually. Seeing her walk out of her room in the mornings in just a tank top and short shorts was always the secret highlight of my mornings.
Over the years she'd gained some weight and lost the six pack she had going for a while after college, but it wasn't anything extreme, and I still found her to be incredibly attractive. She decided to wear a yellow bikini top that didn't do much to hide her nipples, and the small black bottom she was wearing made her slender waist stand out with the contrast.
We looked each other over for a moment, when she commented "Wow, it's really weird seeing you in shorts, dude." I usually wore jeans everywhere, even in the summertime, but obviously couldn't wear them to swim in.
"With this heat, you might have to just get used to it," I joked, though it was nice to have the extra airflow on my legs.
Claire laughed and smiled at me, "I suppose I could do that," she said, eyeing me up and down again. That kind of caught me off guard at that moment, as she rarely checked me out so openly. I knew she would from time to time when we lived together, especially when I'd walk out of my room in the morning just wearing a pair of boxer briefs, but she wasn't ever so obvious about it.
With that, she turned to walk into the living room and sat down on the couch to wait for the coffee, I stayed behind and grabbed a couple of coffee cups from the cabinet, then poured it up for us.
We sat and chatted a little while we sipped our drinks, it didn't really matter that it was so blazing hot outside, we both agreed that it was always a good time for coffee. After we finished and took our cups back to the sink, we got in her truck and started driving to Amy's house.
Amy lived in a small house in town, with a nice big backyard complete with in-ground pool, and a hot tub by the back door. The yard faced an empty field behind the house, but was surrounded by thick, towering hedges all the way around, giving total privacy from anyone outside the yard.
When we got to her house, Amy answered the door in her bikini with a cold beer in her hand. She was shorter than Claire, but with much larger breasts that strained against her top, she was also wider in the hips, but still fit and certainly still attractive. She smiled when she saw that Claire had brought me along.
"Hey Jason!" She smiled as she gave me a hug, "I'm so glad you came! I haven't seen you in forever." Amy and I only ever got together because of Claire, and truth be told, I never really liked her that much. She always struck me as having the personality of a cardboard box, and when she'd talk about anything, it always made me kind of tired. She had this high energy way of speaking, and couldn't hold a single topic of conversation for very long at a time, so trying to follow anything she said required, what I thought to be, way too much effort.
"Yeah, I figured it'd be nice to have a guy around today," Claire offered, smirking as she looked at me from the corner of her eye. Amy smiled, but in a different kind of way. Looking back on it, I should have suspected they were plotting something.
We walked in her house and she offered us a beer, which we both gladly accepted. Her other friend, Stacy walked out from the bathroom and joined us in the living room. I'd met Stacy before, but only once and in passing. She was short and small, with blonde hair, and freckles on her cheeks that I found to be quite adorable. In her small black bikini top and matching bottoms, she looked really cute, and the smile she gave really lit up the room I thought.
"Jason, you remember Stacy, right?" Amy asked, as she handed Claire and I our beers.
"Yeah, we met once, over at Steve's party wasn't it?" I replied.
"I think so," Stacy said. "It's good to see you again, Jason."
"Same here," I said as I smiled at her and nodded. "So, are we going to swim, or just sit inside wearing our bathing suits and drinking beer?"
Claire laughed and agreed, saying "Yeah, lets get in the pool already!"
With that, Amy led us all out to the backyard, setting our beers down on the patio table, then taking a running jump into the pool. The rest of us followed after I took my shirt off, and soon we were all splashing around and having a good time.
I dove underwater a few times and swam a few laps in the water while the girls watched. I then swam to the middle of the pool and dove down to touch the bottom before reemerging. After wiping the water from my face, I saw Stacy and Amy looking behind me and giggling to themselves. Before I could even register the fact that I couldn't see Claire, it was too late.
She had gone underwater and snuck up behind me. All of a sudden, I felt her grab the legs of my shorts and pull, almost pulling me underwater before the fabric let go and, oh no, she'd pulled my shorts down to my knees and was trying to completely remove them. I was able to fight it for a few moments, struggling to tread water, but eventually Claire had won.