“Be honest,” called Woods, who was in the midst of smothering the dying flames of a campfire that had been waning upon their arrival, “you just wanted to see her nude.”
Alistar suddenly sympathized with Jaden, who usually absorbed the brunt of the portly boy’s embarrassing comments.
“Why don’t you go change, Alistar?” said Lessa, who blushed slightly at Woods’s words. As she said so, she slid the straps of her sundress over her shoulders and let it drop to the ground, revealing that her breasts had been tightly bound by a thick piece of cloth.
He and the other boys quieted down as the rest of the girls followed suit, as it was very rare that they laid eyes on the exposed midsections of any girls, let alone the ones that they were close with.
Seeing that he hadn’t moved, Lessa covered her chest with a self-conscious arm. “If you stare at me like that…”
His own gulp rang throughout his ears, which reddened at the sound.
“S—sorry!”
As Zech and Jaden took off their tunics and waded knee-deep into the water, he hurried behind a nearby tree and quickly stripped out of his clothes, pulling his swimming trunks on in a hurry when Emely reprimanded Anice for trying to sneak a peek.
“Honestly, Anne,” he muttered as he stepped out from behind the tree, a bit flustered, “would it kill you to be more modest?”
She cleared her throat, face a bit red from whatever glimpse she had managed to catch. “Probably.”
Feeling the sweat that clung to his body, Alistar followed after the other boys and found a small, submerged boulder to sit on top of, enjoying the refreshing feeling as the other two did the same. As they sat there with relaxed expressions on their faces, the girls followed them in and began to splash at one another in a playful manner, Helen having brought Emely’s swimming garbs along with her.
While he and the others enjoyed the cool waters in a carefree manner, Corrie stuck by Woods’s side and observed the larger boy as he set about arranging some flat rocks atop the embers of the dying fire that had been started some time ago. These would serve as makeshift pans upon which to cook their food, something that they had done on several occasions throughout the most recent summers.
About ten minutes after Alistar had walked into the river, Zech and Jaden waded over to his side, the former leaning in close as he said, “Is it just me, or is swimming this time around a little different than it was the last time we did it?”
Jaden kept sneaking glances at Lily and her sisters, all of which had similar builds. “Yes, it’s definitely different.”
Alistar couldn’t help but nod along, a bit too shy to look over at the other girls.
“One thing’s still the same,” chuckled Zech, who slapped him on the back with a loud sound. “Alistar’s still timid as ever.”
“Don’t be so meek,” whispered Jaden, who’s stocky, muscular frame had taken on a slight tan in recent months. “They’re staring at us too, you know. It’s only fair that we stare back.”
“I suppose so.”
Lifting his head, he was momentarily mesmerized by the beauty of his female friends.
“What do you think, fellas?”
Looking from Zech, the speaker, to Jaden, he gave an honest reply. “We should swim more often.”
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
“Stop hiding and come play with us,” said Lily, who came over and grabbed Jaden by the hand only to drag him off to splash around with her, Rosa and Violet.
Seeing this, Zech’s expression went a bit flat. “Why do I feel like Jaden is a bit annoying today?”
Anice came over and tackled Alistar off of the large rock without any warning, hamstringing him as he bumped into another of the rocks below. Seeing this, Lessa hurried over and dragged her off of him.
“You could have hurt him, Anne!”
“She did,” he sputtered, pulling himself up and slicking his wet hair backward with both hands so that it didn’t block his eyes. The girls trailed off as he did so, which made him a bit uncomfortable. “What is it?”
“N—nothing,” said Lessa, who averted her gaze in a way that made him blush a bit. “Come on, let’s go a bit deeper where there aren’t as many rocks.”
Zech looked unimpressed as Alistar was pulled away, the other boy turning to the Helen and Emely and holding his arms out like a child that expected to be lifted up by the armpits. “Aren’t you two going to drag me off as well?” He jumped up with a yelp and tracked a fish as it swam away with the current. “Did I just get bitten by a bass?”
Emely covered her mouth with a hand to hide her laughter, which made Alistar grin as he stopped about ten paces into the river. Now waist-deep, Anice and Lessa began to splash water in his direction, forcing him to slosh around in an attempt to avoid the splashes while sending his own their way. Playing around in such a fashion, he couldn’t help but recall the first time that he’d seen a river—a distant section of the one they were currently in—which brought a smile to his face as he recalled the time he’d spent there with his uncle Raidon.
As the afternoon transitioned into evening, more and more distance began to form between the three groups that had entered the waters, with Zech, Helen and Emely idling around the riverbank, the first two attempting to catch fish barehanded in an entertaining competition while Emely doubtlessly warned the aquatic creatures to steer clear of her competing friends. Jaden and the flower girls gradually meandered upriver until they’d settled about thirty paces ahead of The Spot, the stocky boy seeming to enjoy the endless teasing that the triplets sent his way. As for Alistar, Lessa and Anice, their playful game of splashing eventually relocated them about forty paces downriver, though their good-natured games didn’t last for long.
Things took an uncomfortable turn after Lessa faced a particularly sizeable splash from Alistar, at which point she gathered a large ball of water—enough to fill a sizeable pot—and dropped it atop his head. He responded in kind, and soon the three of them were making use of the basic water gathering and basic water manipulation spells to entertain an enhanced version of their previous game.
It happened when Lessa surprised Anice by redirecting one of her balls of water at her unsuspecting friend, who evidently wasn’t pleased by the lighthearted betrayal. Anice responded in kind as soon as she was hit, though she went about things a bit recklessly by sending a much larger ball of water at the giggling girl with a bit too much force. Alistar was facing the riverbank, to which the two girls had their backs turned, their odd little sport having devolved into a two-on-one early on into its inception, a status quo that Anice had just put an end to.
Lessa recovered from the spell with a cough, narrowing her silver eyes and reacting with equal force. Only, she didn’t notice that the cloth that had bound her breasts had come undone and was currently floating upriver towards their other friends. This gave Alistar a full view of her exposed chest, which was much more voluptuous than he’d previously thought.
The same thing had happened to Anice after the retaliatory response, both girls calling out warnings to the other as they saw the states that they were in. Their gazes quickly darted toward a speechless Alistar as they covered themselves and ducked beneath the river’s surface with embarrassed glares that he didn’t feel he deserved.
In an odd sort of daze, Alistar trapped their travelling wraps in sizeable spheres of water and discreetly summoned them into his grasp, handing them to the girls without a word as his mind drew a blank. For the first time in a long, long while, not a single worry lingered in his psyche.
How wonderful.
“Forget what you just saw,” said Anice, whose face was redder than he’d ever seen it. “Stop looking already!”
They couldn’t turn away from him lest the others see the situation, so they had no choice but to remain where they were. He couldn’t bring himself to look away as they began to fumble with their wraps, their breasts still partially visible as they secured them back in place.
Lessa didn’t say anything, instead staring down at the trickling currents with a flushed, embarrassed expression.
“I’m done playing.”
Anice abruptly stormed away, quickly followed by her friend, who made to say something to Alistar but thought better of it and then hurried off toward the riverbank.
Meanwhile, the others had also climbed out of the river and were in the midst of gathering around the food that Woods was tending to, which soon left him alone in the water.