Almost Easy

“Hey!” a voice from downstairs disturbed our blissful bedrest.
Brian groaned loudly. I snickered.
“Put your clothes on!” Jimmy was calling up the stairs. “I’m coming up!”
“Don’t come up!” Brian hollered back grumpily.
Brian looked at me apologetically before pulling his pants back on. I held my hand out for Brian to toss me my own clothes. I slid them over my body reluctantly and followed Brian downstairs.
Jimmy was lingering in the doorway, looking quite pleased with himself.
“Ah,” he sighed dramatically, “There’s nothing quite like afternoon delight.”
“Shut up, Jimmy,” Brian snarled.
“Blair,” Jimmy smirked and bowed to me.
“I need water,” I said, ignoring Jimmy. “Where’s your kitchen?”
Brian pointed down the hallway. I was feeling adventurous so I skipped away from them. Jimmy was making some sort of crude remark but I was already out of earshot.
His kitchen was beautiful. It had dark countertops and an island—I loved kitchen islands. There were large windows and a set of French doors that led out to the backyard. I didn’t have a backyard. Or a front yard. I was in awe of his home.
I rifled through cupboard doors to find a glasses. Aha! Found them.
Once I had my glass of water, curiosity snuck up on me and I snuck to the back doors to peek out into the yard. He had a motherfucking pool. In this California heat, I made a mental note to make a point to come back to Brian’s often.
“Thought maybe you got lost,” Brian quipped from behind me.
He startled me and I had to laugh, “I was admiring your view.”
“My view of what?” he smirked. “A fence?”
“You have a pool,” I told him like he didn’t already know.
“You have a pool?!” Jimmy exclaimed from behind Brian.
Brian shook his head at his friend. Jimmy wasted no time pushing past him and then past me. He threw the doors wide open and ran, full tilt, to the pool—and jumped in. I worried about the amount of metal hanging off of the lanky fuck’s body. Surely it had to weigh him down.
“Never fails,” Brian sighed as he planted himself next to me, wrapping an arm around my waist.
“Get in!” Jimmy called to us, splashing around with his long arms. “The water is cold as fuck!”
I shrugged, effectively pulling my top off. Brian looked at me with serious concern.
“What?” I laughed as I slid off my leggings. “Bra and panties are no different than a bikini.”
Brian nodded once, “That’s a fair evaluation.”
“Coming in?” I smiled before taking off to dive into the pool.
Jimmy swam over to me, spitting water into my face. I splashed him as payback. It was a decent wave that caused Jimmy to sputter and cough. Perfect.
A loud splash distracted me. Soon Brian emerged from beneath the surface, his long lashes collecting droplets. He swam over to me and scooped me into his arms.
“I love that you have a pool,” I beamed as I wrapped an arm around his neck.
He smiled at me, “I guess you’ll just have to come swim around more often. I like you in my pool.”
“What about me?” Jimmy whined from the other end of the pool.
He looked a lot like a drowned rat the way he was standing in the shallow. His black clothes stuck to him and it was only then that I realized how truly thin he was.
“You’re always in my fucking pool,” Brian replied.
Jimmy shrugged his bony shoulders, “I don’t have a pool.”
Jimmy stretched himself out on a chair, taking in the California sun. I planted a kiss on Brian’s perfect lips before pushing myself off of him. I swam a lap to the other end and then back. I loved to swim.
“You’re fucking cute,” Brian smirked at me, admiring how genuinely happy I was to be making like a fish.
I winked at him and then swam to the edge and pulled myself out, leaving my feet to soak in the water.
“So what’s up, Jimmy?” I asked my tall friend.
He grimaced at me, “I’m not allowed to stop by?”
I shrugged, “Not my house.”
“Yeah, for now,” Jimmy teased. “You guys will be married within the week and make lots and lots of babies. You will name them James, Jim, Jimmy, and Revington.”
“Jim and Jimmy might get confusing,” Brian noted from inside the pool.
Yeah, that was the only problem with that whole statement.
“What kind of name is Revington?” I giggled.
Jimmy looked serious, “A really fucking good one.”
I splashed water at him with my fingertips. He flinched like he might melt. Brian swam up to I was and folded his arms atop the concrete. He let his lower half sink under the water.
“How was the interview today?” Jimmy asked, turning his eyes back to the sky.
“Fine,” I shrugged.
“Did they call you both out for being disgustingly in love yet?” Jimmy cooed, deciding the Sun was too bright and turning his chair to face away from it.
“Sort of,” I laughed. “No big deal.”
“What I think,” Jimmy rose to his feet.
The man could literally not sit still.
“Is that we should tell the world that we’re dating.”
“Why would we do that?” I laughed.
Jimmy wiggled his eyebrows at me, “Why wouldn’t you want to do that?”
Brian sent a wave in Jimmy’s direction. Jimmy shook his finger in the direction of his friend, “Now, now.”
“You’re not dating Blair,” Brian laughed. “Fictitiously or otherwise.”
“Her loss,” Jimmy shrugged.
“Hey, we have nothing going on this weekend, do we?” Brian asked Jimmy then as he pulled himself out of the pool.
Jimmy shrugged, “Don’t think so.”
“Cool. I’m going to fuck off for the weekend then,” Brian announced.
“Fuck off where?” Jimmy asked curiously.
“Massachusetts,” Brian replied before disappearing into the house.
Jimmy turned to me, “What’s in Massachusetts?”
“Me,” I replied simply.
Jimmy’s face brightened. I loved how expressive he could be. That was foreign to my face—I was pretty much looking like a bitch 24/7.
Brian appeared with a couple of towels tossed over his arm. He handed one to me nicely and then chucked another at Jimmy. He chucked one at Jimmy.
“I don’t get a towel?” I frowned.
Brian grinned, exchanging a maniacal look with Jimmy, who seemed to know exactly what it meant.
They cornered me as I rose to my feet, feeling suddenly threatened.
“You don’t need a towel,” Brian told me.
I knew what it meant but I played stupid, “Why is that?”
Jimmy had managed to sneak behind me without my noticing and had his arms wrapped around my waist before I even knew what was going on.
“Because you’re going back in,” Jimmy cackled before tipping us both backwards and off the edge into the pool.
“God dammit,” I coughed as soon as I reached the surface.
Jimmy was already swimming quickly away from me as a defence tactic. I took a deep breath of air to force the water out of my lungs.
“Sorry for drowning your girlfriend,” Jimmy cackled once he was out of the pool and a safe distance away from me.
Brian reached down and lifted me out of the pool. I fucking loved how strong he was. Not that I was particularly heavy…but damn.
He wrapped a black towel around my shoulders and rubbed at my arms to warm me. I didn’t need to be warmed but I wasn’t about to protest.
“We had to,” Brian smiled at me. “It’s a ritual.”
“A ritual,” I repeated with a displeased expression.
“All new members of the family must be thrown into the pool,” Jimmy called out from somewhere behind me. “It’s a rule. We wrote it down and everything.”
“You wrote it down?” I laughed.
Brian cringed, “We were really fucking drunk.”
“But it’s written down!” Jimmy reiterated. “So, now you’re officially part of our family.”
Jimmy rushed to me and pushed Brian out of the way. He plucked at my hair and pinched my cheeks.
“What a beautiful baby!” Jimmy shrieked. “Congratulations!”
I swatted Jimmy away, rolling my eyes at him. But I was totally fine with being referred to as part of the family.
“We should call the boys,” Jimmy suggested then. “Let’s have a party.”
“It’s a Thursday,” I told Jimmy like it mattered.
Both he and Brian just stared at me.
“And this isn’t your house,” I added with an uncomfortable laugh.
“Like that’s ever stopped him,” Brian grunted.
“Come on! Brian parties are always a good time,” Jimmy looked mischievous.
“Fine,” Brian sighed.
“Good,” Jimmy grinned as he slipped away toward the house. “Cause I already invited a shit ton of people!”

Notes