handleyourshit | Duplicity Inbox

This is Rosita. I'll hit you back when I can.

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"Race you," he says and bolts for the other side of the cabin, for the balcony with the hot tub waiting for them.

She is absolutely not expecting that so: "You little shit!"

She's quicker than most would be getting up, but she's still way, way behind him as she runs for the same.

Jesus throws his shirt off and to the side, has his pants undone but not off as he dives into the water. "I win!"

Rosita goes the opposite, flinging first one boot and then the other off to the sides, and she's down to her underwear by the time she reaches the edge.

"You cheated!" she laughs, sending a wave of water after him.

"You mean I won!" He retorts, laughing as she splashes him. He's a little drunk and a lot happy right now and he hasn't felt either thing in much, much too long.

She strips her top off over her head, and then she's over the side too, laughing as she dunks herself immediately before he can.

She comes up to return the favor.

He splashes at her again the moment her head is visible but eventually settles down.

"I love this place. Thank you for letting me stay here. It's better than anywhere I've ever been before."

She settles with her elbows propped against the side, lounging down in it. It really would be easy to get used to the way things are here.

"Let?" she huffs, snorting. "What's this let bullshit? Where I am, you are."

It stirs up feeling in his chest and he can't speak for a second.

"Yeah," he manages. Don't ever go, he thinks desperately. "Well you're not getting rid of me now."

She just smiles at him - she doesn't miss it, but she doesn't want to make a big deal either - and splashes half heartedly at him with her fingers instead.

"Yeah? Thought I might have scared you off with the party the other night."

"Me? Was I acting scared then?" Because he had so much fun.

"No," she admits.

"But sometimes when the aphro wears off, things change."

"Well it was a first for me." Having a woman in the mix, let alone one he's so close to. "But I wasn't that drugged up. Not as much as I have been, doing other things."

She's still smiling, or at least still in a positive mood, but her gaze on him takes on a watchful undertone.

"You're really good with it?"

"It was fun. It was..." There aren't really words, are there? "...It was good. I felt safe. Somehow. Something about the two of you being there."

Something in her face softens. She knew they were having fun, knew pleasure is one thing.

Safety is another - but furthermore, "I felt that, too."

"Have you talked to Carver since then?" Jesus hasn't, though he plans to.

She shakes her head.

"He's around, but we don't... Talk. Much. Have you?"

"Not about the party. But I've been working a lot, we haven't had a chance to sit and talk lately." Rosita isn't the only one who throws herself into work to deal with emotions sometimes.

"He's still around, so he's okay."

He's not the sort of man that can be found if he doesn't want to be. They all share that.

"I just wanted us to have some fun."

"And it was fun," he says, insists even. He doesn't want her doubting that for a moment. "We all just relaxed for a minute. Think about how rare that is."

The insistence at least lets her smile - at least lets her see what will happen if she admits:

"I liked it. I really liked it. That's okay?"

"I did too," he says with a little laugh. "Does it change anything between you and me? You're my best friend, Ro. The best I've ever had. I never thought I'd be as comfortable with any friend as I am with you."

"Of course it does. It changes some of our weekend plans."

She bounces her eyebrows when she says it, but she also nudges his knee with her foot.

"I want it to stay that way. It's important to me."

"I'd change some of my weekend plans to do that with you two again," he admits with a little grin. "Which I guess answers my question about how you're feeling about it all."