the middle ≫ jj maybank

xvi. the camerons

"Come on, Slater. You never want to play tennis anymore," Maeve whined, swinging the racket in her arms.

"That's not true," Slater replied. "We played yesterday. Just ... go find one of your friends to play. I want to sit by the pool."

Maeve rolled her eyes and trudged off, leaving her older sister to lay out in her bikini.

As soon as Maeve was out of earshot, Slater pulled out her phone, typing out a quick message. She gathered her things and stood, leaving the pool area and heading for the parking lot.

She'd be back before Maeve even noticed.

He was waiting in his truck, a graduation present from his father. The windows were tinted, so she couldn't see inside, but she knew it was him. Her stomach did a little dance as she walked up to the passenger side door, pulling it open and climbing inside.

"Hey," she said, flashing him a shy smile.

"Hi." He looked her up and down, his eyes lingering on her red and white bikini. "Nice outfit."

She leaned over the center console, waiting for him to kiss her like he always did, but he pulled away and put his seatbelt on. "I thought we could try something different today," he said.

Slater raised an eyebrow. It was always the same thing with the two of them -- making out in the front seat, and hooking up in the back seat. Then they'd head back into the club -- Slater to the pool, where she waited for Maeve, and him to the bar, where he waited for his dad.

"What did you have in mind?" She asked, leaning back against the cool leather seat. It sent goosebumps down her bare spine.

"Tannyhill is empty," he said, shrugging. "It'd sure beat being cramped in the backseat."

Slater nodded. Hooking up in a mansion sure did sound better than cramming into the backseat of a truck. "Okay. I just have to be back by three. My sister will get suspicious."

"We wouldn't want that, would we?" He said, smirking as he shifted the truck into drive. His hand landed firmly on Slater's bare thigh, giving it a squeeze.

He tore out of the country club's parking lot, reaching the nearby Tannyhill in only a few minutes. As he drove, his hand slid up her thigh, causing Slater's insides to melt like butter. As soon as they parked in the driveway, he had her pressed up against the truck door, and she was kissing him.

Slater would have loved to have a proper tour of Tannyhill, but by the time they made their way through the front door, his hands were in the waistband of her bikini and hers were tangled in his blond hair. He lifted her by the waist, carrying her up the stairs so quickly that she barely noticed the expensive artwork hanging in the hall.

"Much better than the backseat," she noted as he quickly undid her bikini top, flinging it across the room.

He let out a low chuckle as his lips grazed her neck. "Fuck the backseat."

--

When Slater returned to the deck, Leanore and Rose were exchanging opinions on flowers, while Wheezie and Maeve were huddled in the corner, laughing at something on Wheezie's phone screen.

Rafe sat alone at the patio table, tapping his fingers anxiously against the table. Slater assumed that he was waiting to go snort a line, but his stepmother had probably told him to stay outside.

Slater didn't want to talk to him, but in that moment, his company was better than that of John B and his sister's, so she slid into the seat across from him, pretending not to notice the way his eyes lingered on her body.