Chapter Twenty Three;

 “CANNON BALL!” Jordan yelled as he plunged into the clear blue water of the hotel’s pool. Having the connections that the team had, they had the whole pool area to themselves.
 “Jordan!” Lauren and Leah shrieked when he splashed them from the pool. The two of them didn’t want to get in as of yet, but the guys had other plans for them.
 “What, you don’t like the water?” Jordan asked the two girls with a grin on his face.
 “We just don’t want to get wet yet!” Lauren explained.
 “Too bad!” Jordy laughed. Lauren and Leah looked at each other, confused.
 “Huh?” Leah asked, just as Max and Tyler snuck up behind them and pushed them into the pool. They shrieked from the surprise while everyone else just laughed.
 “You suck!” Lauren yelled at her boyfriend and Max from in the water. Tyler just smiled.
 “Sorry, babe.” He shrugged. She shook her head, but couldn’t hide her grin.
 “Kiss it and make it better?” Lauren suggested with innocent eyes. The rest of their friends that were listening oohed and awed while Tyler smiled and leaned down to give her a kiss. While at first, Lauren also puckered up, at the last second she grabbed his arms and pulled him down into the water with a splash.
 “Whoops!” She laughed.
 “How dare you!” TK sarcastically replied. The two of them laughed as they kissed each other, not even caring about the fact they were pushed/pulled into the pool anymore.
 “Any body else need someone to kiss and make it better?” Max asked, looking at Leah who was smiling up at him from the clear blue water of the pool. She blushed and giggled, but didn’t accept the offer.
 “I could use some lovin’, Maxy.” Jordan winked up at him.
Max took a step back, “Sorry, offer expired.”
 “Max,” Leah called to him and grabbed his attention, “Get in.” She gestured to the water surrounding her. Max smiled at her and nodded his head to show that he would.
 “For you I will.” He said and preceded to jump in the water.

Ashlen, Emily, and Ashley found some lawn chairs and laid towels on them and then sat down themselves. They weren’t going to pass up the opportunity to get a tan in the middle of winter.
 “You guys are no fun!” Sidney joked as he came over to where the three girls were laying. He sat down on the end of Ashlen’s chair, casting a shadow over her.
 “Sid, you’re blocking my sun!” She laughed.
 “Well, excuse me!” He said, standing up and getting out of her way.
 “As long as you don’t throw us in the pool, you’re fine over here.” Emily assured him.
Ashley lifted her sunglasses and put them on top of her head when she saw Jordan coming over, dripping with water.
 “Oh no, you best not be thinking of throwing me in there!” Ashley put a hand out, telling him to stop.
 “Fine, if you don’t wanna be brought to the water, I’ll just have to bring it to you.” He said and got on top of her, getting her all wet.
 “Jordan, you ass!” Ashley yelled but was laughing as she tried to push him off of her without luck.
 “You know you like it!” He laughed along with her.
Geno, who was standing next to where Emily was seated, looked down at her and smiled when her eyes met his.
 “At least you know how to be mature, unlike some of these other guys here.” Emily said, her voice loud so the immature guys would hear. Geno chuckled and the other boys protested.
 “Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.” Jordan said, still on top of Ashley. “It’s not that we’re not mature, we just know how to have a good time.”
 “Yeah,” Sid added, “Unlike your boy, Geno over here.”
 “What’s that suppose to mean?” Evgeni asked him, his eyes narrowed.
Sidney shrugged with a grin. He and Jordy wanted to see what messing with him about this would make him do. Jordan spoke for him, “You know, man. You’re just not as good at having fun as we are. You’re kinda boring.” Geno looked at him with a raised eyebrow, not sure if he was hearing him correctly. “Nothing personal, of course.” Jordan then added.
 “I know how to have fun.” Geno said confidently. Jordy and Sid exchanged glances and started laughing.
 “Well, I don’t know how they do it in Russia, but on this continent you are the complete opposite of fun.” Jordan told him with a playful tone in his voice. Evgeni just scowled.
 “See,” Sid pointed out Geno’s fowl expression, “Can’t take a joke. No fun there.”
Emily rolled her eyes and placed her hand on her boyfriend’s shoulder. “Don’t listen to them, Geno. They’re just trying to make you do something stupid.”
 “Yeah, Sid. Leave Geno alone.” Ashlen told her boy, sounding serious at first, “It’s not his fault he’s not as fun as you are.”
 “Ashlen, not you too!” Emily fake-sounded appalled. Ash just laughed.
 “Whatever.” Geno said, losing interest in the conversation. He really didn’t mind the joking at his expense, his incredible girlfriend was on his side so that’s all that mattered. “Who needs you guys’ lame idea of fun when I’ve got Em here. We can have our own fun without your stupid opinions.” He put his arm around Emily and she smiled a bit.
Her mind was in another place. She was thinking about Kris. He wasn’t out by the pool like most of the rest of the guys. She didn’t know where he was, but she silently wished she was with him.
 “How freaking sweet.” Ashley said, interrupting her thoughts.
 “Isn’t he just the sweetest?” Emily smiled, looking him in the eyes. Geno smiled back and kissed her lips. She felt the need to be extra nice to him due to the fact that she was secretly being a terrible girlfriend to him.
 “Awe.” Sidney chuckled at the couple. “You two have your fun over here. Me and my girl are gonna go have our own fun in the pool.”
Ashlen looked at him as if he were speaking Chinese. “You and who are gonna do what where?” She asked, not wanting to leave her spot.
 “You heard me.” He laughed, grabbing her arm and pulling her up. “We’re going swimming.”
 “No we’re not.” She said matter-of-factly.
 “Oh yes we are.” He told her and picked her up, carrying her towards the water.
 “Sidney Patrick!” Ash yelped, trying to break loose. It was no use, he was too strong for her.
 “Ash!” Sid put her down at the edge of the pool. The concrete was warm under her feet. “Jump in with me, love.”
She looked at him, his expression begging her to agree. “Fine. But only because I love you.”
 “Good answer.” He smiled, and the two of them plunged into the water hand in hand.

Jordan looked over at Ashley with a devious grin. “Are you gonna agree to come swim with me or am I gonna have to carry you in too?” He asked her.
 “Fine, I’ll come.” She gave in easily. He had already gotten water on her and swimming with him did sound like fun.
 “Yay, my girl’s easy!” Jordan yelled with a smile. Emily and Geno laughed and Ashley just shook her head.
 “She sure is.” Emily laughed.
 “That didn’t come out right.” Jordan said, standing up and pulling his girlfriend along with him. They preceded to run over to the pool and jump right in.
 “And then there were two.” Emily said to herself. Her and Geno were off on their own now. Everyone else was either in the pool, on the other side of it, in the hot tub, or not even out by the pool at all. Her and Evgeni were sitting next to each other on the reclined chair. He intertwined his fingers with hers, their hands sitting together on his lap. He had a look of contemplation on his face, as if he were thinking about something as he looked in her eyes.
 “If you want to get in the pool we can.” Emily told him, not sure what he was thinking.
 “No,” He said, “I’d rather be alone here with you.”
Emily smiled and he leaned in, planting his lips on hers. When they parted, Geno laid back on the chair pulling her on top of him. His fingers traced down her back and stopped at her thigh as they made out. While Evgeni enjoyed every second of it, Emily couldn’t help but imagine the guy she was really in love with; Kris.



 “What do you think she’s doing? You think she’s with Geno? I wonder what they’re talking about. What if they’re talking about me? No, they wouldn’t talk about me. Would they? You think she’s mad at me? I hope not. I was real hard on her before though, so I guess I deserve it. But she just made me so mad. But I still love her. So much. I just want to be with her so bad. Do you think she wants to be with me? I wonder if she thinks about me when she’s with Geno. You think she does? I just..”
 “Kris! My god! Get a hold of yourself.” Philippe interrupted Kris’s paranoid rambling. The two of them went for a walk through town. No specific destination, just wandering along the sidewalks talking. “You’re the one who said you needed this vacation. You’re never gonna be able to relax if you don’t stop thinking about Em. You sound crazy.”
Kris sighed, “Maybe I am crazy. I’m crazy for her. Monday can’t come fast enough.”
 “Seriously, Kris, calm down.” Philippe tried again, “I know you’re in love. I know what that’s like. You think about her every second of the day. You can’t get her smile out of your head. All you want is to be with her forever. To kiss her lips and tell her that you love her and then hear her sweet voice say it back to you. There’s no other feeling like it.”
 “I hope you know that you’re not helping at all.” Kris told him. All his love talk was doing was making him think about Emily even more.
 “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to go on like that. I guess that’s just what love does to ya. It makes you crazy, like you said.” Boucher said. “All I’m gonna say is try not to let it make you too crazy. Patience is a virtue. Wait for Monday to come along and I promise you you’ll get your girl and be the happiest you’ve ever been.”
 “How can you promise me that?” Kris asked.
 “Because I know.” Philippe said simply. “I’ve been there, done that. And I’ve gotta feeling you’re time for love is on its way.”