I leaned back in our hot-tub, a glass of bourbon in my hand, closed my eyes for a brief moment, and tried to remember another afternoon and evening in our backyard that I'd enjoyed more than today. I couldn't. Donovan and Dani were funny, smart, and genuine. I found myself connecting with them more quickly than I had with anyone in a very long time. Svend was friggin' Svend. His energy would bring a smile to anyone's face if he liked them, and he'd taken quickly to our new friends. It surely hadn't hurt that Sandy and Dani had been so playful, nor that they were so scantily clad. From what I could gather, the ladies had enjoyed the attention, and Svend had most certainly enjoyed Dani's obvious admiration. I think we'd all felt a bit like teenagers again today, but without the personal insecurities and acne and worries about getting caught by adults having too much fun. The sexual tension added a bit of an edge to the pool play, to the conversations, and to the overall atmosphere, but it didn't ever feel forced. To cap it off, my escapade with Sandy in the kitchen had been absolutely mind-blowing. In short, the day had been pretty much perfect.
An eruption of laughter from the other four people in the Jacuzzi brought me back from my reverie. Sandy sat to my left, close enough that our legs brushed frequently under the water. Dani sat directly across from us, and was bracketed by her husband on one side, and my best friend on the other. Her arms were both stretched out on the back of the circular bench, and I could see her fingertips touching both men casually, but intimately on the shoulder. She looked completely in her element, as happy and comfortable as she could be. I glanced around the tub at faces lit by the blue glow of light shining from below the water, and realized we all looked like that.
Donovan took a sip of his drink and surprised me by saying out loud what I'd been thinking just a moment earlier. He looked at each of us in turn as he spoke, a broad smile across his face. "Sandy, Grant, thank you for inviting me and Dani over today. I haven't had this much fun in a long time." He turned to Svend and continued. "And Svend, I know you've been hanging around these two for years, but you never made us feel like we were intruding in your circle. I don't know about you, but I haven't seen that too often in my life. Zero tension, zero drama. So thank you." It was an awfully solemn speech, especially considering what a goofy, giggly day we'd had together, but we all knew it was coming from his heart, and let him say it without any of the heckling or razzing we'd have given him a few hours previously.
Donovan leaned into the centre of the tub with his drink, and raised it in anticipation of a toast. We'd been drinking beer and wine regularly throughout the day - not too much, just enough to hold our buzz - but everyone had moved on to whisky once the sun set. The rest of us collected our various tumblers of scotch or bourbon and held them up to each other. "To new friends that feel like old friends," Dani's husband said. "Hear, hear," came the chorus as we clinked glasses and sipped.
"What are you drinking, Svend?" Dani asked as we all reclined again.
"Johnny Walker Blue. Grant's cheap, so when he pulls that bottle out of his liquor vault, I fill up," Svend answered deadpan. He pretended not to notice as I flipped him the bird from across the tub.
"Oooooh, I've never tried that!" Dani exclaimed. "Can I have a sip of yours?"
"Be my guest," Svend replied, holding his glass out.
Then Dani did something none of us - except perhaps Donovan - expected. She took Svend's glass from him, but held his extended hand by the fingers. She rose out of the water slowly, dark hair shining like a seal's coat down the middle of her back, water streaming off her alluring curves. I felt my wife go completely still beside me. Dani moved in dangerously close to my friend, who looked excited, worried, and confused in equal measure. Then this pale-skinned goddess took Svend's finger, dipped it in his drink, tilted her head back and raised his hand above her face. A drop of amber liquid dripped into her open mouth. She extended a long, pink tongue and licked another drop off his finger, then sucked it into her mouth completely. Shock and arousal battled on my partner's features.
Dani grinned wickedly and settled back at her husband's side, and Donovan barked a sharp laugh that broke the silence.
"You know the only thing that could make today any better? Some hot sex," Donovan said as he calmly stroked his wife's shoulder. I watched her hand move under the water to the front of his shorts. My own wife's hand moved to my thigh a heartbeat later, squeezing my leg with urgency. I couldn't tell if she was echoing Donovan and Dani's need, or if she was simply freaking out.
Svend started to stand. "I think that's my cue to say goodnight."
But Donovan waved him back down again. "No man, sit...sit, sit, sit." As Svend lowered himself back into the water, Donovan and Dani shared a look.
"We don't mean to freak you guys out. I should probably explain," Donovan began. "Back when Dani and I first met at the end of university, we hung out with another couple a lot: Tina Sunderland and Milan MarkoviΔ. I got picked up by an accounting firm in London after I graduated, but the three of them still had another year to go. Tina and Dani were frosh together, so they had already been friends for a couple of years when Milan and I started dating them - and that was within weeks of each other. We liked the same music, the same movies, the same restaurants. We laughed at the same stupid stuff. We all just...I dunno...
fit