Hot tub

Jerome wasn't sure how long he had been in the hot tub - he had never been particularly good at telling time, and while his body was struggling to relax in the heated water, his mind was not having that particular problem. It had been a long week, and he had hoped getting in the water would help his muscles to finally rest and relax. Unfortunately, the position he was laying only seemed to serve to tense his lower back even more, and regardless of how he turned and twisted himself, that didn't seem to be a problem that was going to go away. But his concerns that had clouded his mind throughout the week were fading away into the steam floating up from the water.

It was fairly late at night, and the only thing he could really see other than the dim red light beneath his legs were the twinkling stars in the distant sky. He dully wished that he knew more about the constellations - their positions, their names, their meanings. He knew nothing about any of them, other than the obvious, like the dippers. Though he had a hard time telling the little from the big, truth be told. And he could never remember which one of them contained the northern star, or which end it was even supposed to be on. In theory he just had to look for the brightest one, but that was never as straightforward as it should have been.

He was too busy looking at the stars to hear another approaching, and only noticed when he heard them sigh happily as they slipped into the water. He looked down from the stars to see a girl leaning back with her eyes closed sitting directly across from him. But not just any girl. It was Sarah, one of the hottest girls he had ever known, in a bikini that wasn't overly revealing, but complimented her body better than anything he had ever seen her wearing. By chance, she was staying in the same hotel he was, and had decided to relax in the hot tub at the same time he was.

Jerome didn't know how to react. He had always had a crush on Sarah since he first saw her three years prior, but he had never known how to approach her or talk to her. They had friends who were friends, so they ran into each other fairly often, but they didn't talk or hang out much, as much as he may have wanted to. When she entered the hot tub, he didn't know if she recognized him, or even noticed he was there. But he couldn't help but stare at her.

A minute passed before she opened her eyes and looked to find Jerome staring wide eyed at her body. He could feel his face flare up, and could only pray that the heat of the tub would hide that fact from her. He ran through his mind quickly of what he could say to justify his staring, or at least make it seem like it was some kind of mistake. But she spoke up before he had a chance to.

"I know you, right?" she asked, a half smile on her face.

"Y-yeah," he stammered out, trying to regain a composure he had never had in the first place. "I'm Jerome. I'm Ashley's friend."

Her smile blossomed into a full one. "Yeah, Jerome! Oh man, what are the chances?"

Jerome forced a smile in return. "Right?"

Sarah giggled and leaned forward, unaware of the view she was giving Jerome just under the water. He tried desperately not to let his eyes drop. "Man, we end up at so many of the same events, but we never get to talk, you know? Always just, like, one conversation away from each other."

Jerome let out a weak chuckle. "Yeah, I guess so."

"We should really get to know each other better, don't you think? And there's no one here to drag us apart for once. Do you mind?"

Despite being submerged, Jerome found his swallow to be utterly dry. "Of course not," he said with what he could only hope might be mistaken for an ounce of confidence.

Sarah grinned brightly and switched sides to sit beside him. He wasn't sure if she even realized how close she was sitting, or that her hand was on top of his. He felt like his entire body was blushing. He just hoped he could play it cool long enough to not scare her away.