Explorers Club

I swiped my keycard and entered our hotel room. I should have been tired, but my adrenaline was pumping and I was wide awake. I double checked my phone but I still hadn't received a response from Jenny. The lights were all off, so I just turned on the bathroom light to be able to see without disturbing anyone. I laughed to myself as I looked around. It looked like a bomb had gone off. A drunken bomb, it seemed like.

The living room was a disaster. Luggage was open and clothing was strewn around the floor, along with the couch pillows. The couch was pulled apart and smelled bad: it was clear that someone had thrown up on it. The windows were open, airing out the room. Two empty bottles of red wine were in the trash and three shot glasses were piled on the coffee table. The table also had three peeled carrots, for some reason. I picked up one of the carrots and looked at it strangely, wondering what had been going on.

I peeked my head into the bedroom. There were two beds, but the left bed was more or less uninhabitable. The sheets were pulled off and it looked like someone had dumped an entire bottle of wine all over the mattress. I marveled at how three girls were able to do so much damage in a single evening.

Two bodies were sleeping in the right bed. I tiptoed over to investigate. Gracie was sleeping peacefully on the left side. There was an empty spot beside her with the sheets pulled up, where someone had clearly gotten up. I looked at her bare shoulder, and raised an eyebrow. It was hard to tell if she was actually wearing a top underneath, but it didn't look like it. I looked to the other side of the bed and saw Jenny completely passed out. She scrunched her nose like a squirrel as she lightly snored.

I debated what to do. My shorts and underwear were still sandy and I couldn't very well get into bed with the girls in this condition. But I quickly dismissed the idea of stripping and getting in naked, that would be pushing it way too far. I considered my options. I could sleep on the floor. It would be better than out in the cabana, at least. But the other issue is that now I wasn't even tired, thanks to Frank and his nonsense with the cougars.

I saw an outline of a figure outside, through the large windows. The sheer curtains hid details of whoever was out there, but I could tell from the silhouette that the figure saw me, and motioned for me to join them on the balcony. I left the bedroom, closed the bedroom door gently, and picked my way across the living room mess. I opened the balcony door and saw Professor Hale.

She was lounging on a balcony chair and puffing a cigarette. I had never seen her smoke before. Her glasses were gently resting on her forehead, and her long, bronze legs were mostly bare and dangled one over the other. For a moment, I thought she was wearing a loose white T-shirt and nothing else, until I caught the hem of some very short pajama shorts underneath the shirt. She regarded me curiously as she toyed with the cigarette in her hand.

"Hey, you," Professor Hale said and took a long puff.

I smiled and closed the balcony door.

"Hey," I said, smiling. "You three really did a number on this room."

"Oh god," Hale said, shaking her head. "I'm loathe to know what Tessa has to say about it when she finds out. I'm trying to air out the room, and we'll put something on the couch tomorrow. I'll get something from housekeeping."

"Who threw up on the couch, by the way?" I asked.

"Birthday girl." She smirked and puffed the cigarette. "Tequila shots and red wine don't exactly mix well. I tried to tell her, but she can be a stubborn girl..."

I snickered, hands in my pockets.

"I didn't know you smoked," I said.

"I don't usually," she said, puffing out over the balcony. "Only when I really need to think."

"So you're out here thinking?"

"Something like that," she said. She nodded towards the balcony railing. "I thought I'd catch the sunrise. This room has a fantastic view of it. Care to join me?"

"Sure," I said. "Can't sleep anyway."

"Me neither," she said. "Why are you up, though? I thought you and Frank were in the cabana?"

"I was escorting Frank to a midnight hookup, actually."

"Seriously?" Hale snorted.

I gave her the general outline of our adventure to the cougar lair.

"That boy, I swear to god," she said, shaking her head. "We really need to check on him tomorrow and make sure he hasn't been sold into slavery, or got his organs removed, or something."

I laughed and agreed. I looked out to the sunrise: it had just barely begun. The sky was still mostly a deep purple, but the dark orange of the rising sun was just barely beginning to spread across the ocean in the distance. I pulled a chair next to Hale but she held up a finger and gave me a 'tsk.'

"What?" I asked.

"It's a pajama party. Birthday girl rules," Hale said. She puffed on the cigarette, and slowly exhaled. "And why are your shorts muddy and disgusting?"

I looked down. "Frank snored a lot, so I slept on the beach for a bit... look, I don't have pajamas, but please don't kick me out to the cabana. I couldn't sleep very well in those chairs. I can sleep on the floor."

Hale smirked and pointed her cigarette into the room. "Inside, the small yellow bag inside is mine. I brought a pair of longer pajama pants if it got chilly. They have little pineapples on them. You're bigger than me, but they're loose, and I think they will fit."

"Okay," I said. "So, do I need a pajama shirt, too? I don't know all the birthday girl party rules."

Hale took a long drag of the cigarette, and shook her head no.

I went inside and found her blue pajama pants with little yellow pineapples. I left my underwear and shorts in the bathroom and splashed some water on my face. I even ran the bathroom shower and washed my body off a little. Hale' pajamas were a little short on me, ending at my calves, but they fit.

I returned to the balcony, and Hale had already pulled up a second chair right beside her. I spread my arms wide to display my ridiculous look, no shirt and my too-short pineapple pajama pants. "Is this better?"

Hale turned to me and suppressed a laugh. "You look like you're in middle school and you grew out of your old hand-me-downs."

"Is there something else I can wear?" I asked.

"You look adorable, just sit down," Hale said, patting the chair beside her. She puffed again, long and slow and sensual.

I sat down beside her.

"So you have a lot to think about, huh?" I asked.

She exhaled and examined the cigarette in her hand. "I know it's a bad habit. I guess I'm letting go a little this week. Not sure if that's good or bad."

"Well, you are on vacation," I said.

"It feels more like a dream, where real life consequences don't matter," she said, wistfully. "Maybe that means lung cancer doesn't exist here, either?"

I watched her curiously, wondering what to say to that. She pulled her feet out of her flip flops and turned her chair to face me. She placed her bare feet on my lap.

I took on the accent of a fancy English butler. "I assume you would like a foot rub, Ms. Hale?"

"Indeed. You are the minion around here, are you not? And this is a proper job for a minion, I believe?"

"So I guess I'm just everyone's communal minion now, huh?"

"Aren't you?" Hale said with a knowing wink. She puffed again.

I examined her feet and ran a finger along the bottom of her foot.

"Lots of callouses," I said.

"They're well worn," she agreed.

I pressed my finger lightly against her instep.

"Like that?" I asked.

"Oh you can go much harder than that," Hale said. "And you've got big, strong minion hands."

"Well, how about this?" I pressed my thumb deep into the flesh of her foot.

"Ahh..." Professor Hale sighed deeply and settled back into her seat as her feet slid forward. I pressed my hands deeply into the balls of her feet, and then her heel. She breathed in and out, letting my fingers massage deeply into her flesh. I was enjoying myself, and enjoying Professor Hale's sighs and moans. She leaned back, eyes closed, and pressed her feet forward further into my lap. Her eyes snapped open as her toes pressed against my hard-on. My dick twitched involuntarily.

"Perkins!" Hale whispered. "I didn't realize you were a foot guy!"

"I'm not! At least not normally but..."

She snickered. "I guess my feet are just that great?"

I shrugged. "What can I say?"

Professor Hale glanced into the windows leading to the bedroom. It was difficult to see much inside except vague silhouetted outlines, but it certainly looked like both girls were asleep in bed. Hale pulled her feet back, resting them on my knees instead of my dick.

"Well don't get any ideas, foot boy," she murmured. "We shouldn't do anything, you know. Things are different between us than they were yesterday."

"Yeah," I agreed. "They are."

Hale nodded and puffed her cigarette thoughtfully.

"I like that Jenny girl," Hale said. "A little crazy, but I like her."

"Me, too," I agreed.

"She's really holding a torch for you, you know," Hale said, eying me sideways.

"How much did she tell you?"

Hale grinned. "Enough. We had girls' night you know. Girls tend to talk at girls' night."

"Great," I said, a little worried.

I stopped rubbing her feet, and she frowned and kicked her feet up and down on my knees.

"Come on, minion, why did you stop?" she urged. "I was enjoying that."

I realized I had leverage.

"I'll resume, under one condition," I said.

She narrowed her eyes. "You know, I'm pretty sure minions don't get to set conditions. I won't wake up Gracie to have her confirm the minion rules, but I'm sure she'll agree with me on this."

"Well that may be, but I think I'm still entitled to payment for my services. And all I require is the answer to a simple question."

Hale eyed me warily and tapped the cigarette into a glass plate she had taken as an ashtray. "Alright. What do you want to know?"

"And you need to answer fully and truthfully," I clarified.

"I will answer one question fully and truthfully, to the best of my ability," Hale said, and then pointed the cigarette at her feet. "And then, you will rub my feet again. With enthusiasm, and vigor."

"Enthusiasm and vigor," I agreed. I thought for a moment. "Tell me why you're out here smoking instead of sleeping."

Hale frowned and puffed her cigarette.

"And don't even try to tell me you're out here thinking about your syllabus for next semester."

"Dammit Perkins," she said, shaking her head. "I liked it better when you weren't perceptive."

"It's a fair deal," I said. My fingers played over the ball of her feet, teasing her.

"Alright," Hale said, puffing again. "I kissed Gracie."

"Again?"

"Again. Spin the bottle. This was before her little... couch incident, mind you."

I resumed pressing my fingers deep into the ball of her foot. Hale closed her eyes, enjoying the massage.

"So how was the kiss, on a scale of 1 to 10?" I asked.

Hale smiled, with her eyes closed. "I dunno. 100?"

"Wow, that good?" I said.

"It was... so different than kissing men," she said, thoughtfully.

"How so?"

"More... intimate, perhaps? Like... it wasn't just sexual. Or rather, it was more than just sexual, like we were really close, somehow... I don't know, it's hard to explain. But I just felt really close to her, in that moment. I didn't realize how much I wanted that until I felt it."

"Wow," I said. I was thinking about that as I resumed my massage. I was hoping to encourage the two of them together, but somehow I hadn't expected that.

The sun was peeking up a little more now, brightening the ocean and beginning to banish the darkness from it.

"Well I'm glad you got to experience something so much better than your experience with men," I said, trying not to sound bitter. But as I heard myself speak, I know the bitterness seeped out.

Hale froze, then turned to me.

"I wasn't comparing her to you!" she said.

"Weren't you?" I said.

"I wasn't! It was... completely different!" she insisted.

"Sure, but I mean did you ever rate me 100 out of 10?" I asked.

Hale narrowed her eyes at me, evaluating, and took a long puff. She stared out towards the sunrise, thinking for a minute before responding.

"What I had with you, and what I... might be having with Gracie... they are two completely different things," Hale said. "So the scales don't even match."

"It's fine, you don't have to backtrack," I said.

"I'm not backtracking!" She was clearly annoyed now.

I stopped. I wanted to pry, but I also didn't want to antagonize her. So I just massaged her feet, and waited. She took a deep drag and looked to me.

"Look, Perkins..." she said, struggling to find the words. "When you and I hooked up, we weren't exactly doing a lot of kissing, were we?"

"Well..." I thought back, and tried to recreate our times together. I definitely kissed her, some...

"From my perspective..." Hale tapped the cigarette on the glass tray and smirked at me. "Well, you were mostly interested in fucking me ragged. And less so in having deep and meaningful make out sessions. Weren't you?"

I sighed, thinking. I could hardly argue with that assessment.

"I guess so," I agreed, and looked at her. She didn't look angry, or sad, or anything. She was just stating a fact. "Sorry about that," I said.

"You don't have to apologize for anything, Perkins. You were just being a horny, desperate nineteen year old boy who wanted to fuck me... and that's why I liked it so much."

"So you enjoyed our time together?"

"Of course! I've already told you that," Hale said, shaking her head.

"That's good to know, I wasn't sure..."

"You weren't sure?" Hale said, eyebrow up. "Perkins, I orgasmed while your cock was inside me. Multiple times. How much proof do you need, here?"

I laughed and shrugged. "Alright, I'll take that."

"Look, Perkins," she continued. "Sometimes a girl wants emotion and romance and kissing and cuddling, and sometimes, well... sometimes a girl wants to get thrown against a wall and fucked like there's no tomorrow. Those are just two different categories. And for the category you're in, you earned your 100 out of 10. It's just not the same thing as Gracie's 100 out of 10. That's all I was trying to say."

"I can accept that," I said.

"Good," she said, puffing. "Except, I didn't finish in the elevator, though. I mean I was getting close, but we had to leave. So I guess I've been a little on edge since then, all day... maybe that's partly why I've had such trouble dealing with all the Gracie stuff..."

I looked over at Hale, and just continued rubbing her feet as she watched the sunrise. I let her smoke, and think. She hadn't exactly answered my question about why she was out here, but I was glad she was opening up.

"Well, I still haven't been paid yet," I said.

"Oh?" she said. "Did I not answer your question to your satisfaction?"

"Not really," I said. I played a finger over her foot gently, but not really massaging it. "So you played spin the bottle, you kissed Gracie, and it was 100 out of 10. Great. But to me, that says you should be in bed with her. So why are you out here, smoking?"

Hale looked at me and grimaced.

I pressed deeply into the ball of her foot, like I was working through a particularly tough muscle knot. She laid back and sighed.

"Fine..." Hale groaned. Her foot pressed forward into my lap, dangerously. "So after spin the bottle, we watched half of some romcom Gracie wanted to watch, but we were getting tired so the three of us went to bed to cuddle. That was fun for awhile, and Gracie and Jenny did lots of giggling and a little kissing..."

"Gracie and Jenny?" I said, surprised.

Hale shrugged.

"Wait did you kiss Jenny in spin the bottle?" I asked.

Hale looked a little sheepish as she turned to me. "I didn't know how you'd feel about that if I admitted it."

"Well... surprised, mostly," I said.

Hale chuckled. "She's cute, but... honestly it was just silly fun for her. She was actually more interested in asking for tips on how to give a better blowjob. I can't imagine why...?"

Hale grinned wickedly at me as I rubbed her foot.

"Sounds like you all had a fun night," I said.

Hale nodded. "It was. Jenny went to sleep, first, but Gracie and I were still up. Gracie just insisted- against my better judgment- on doing a final, birthday tequila shot with me."

"Bad idea?" I said.

"Oh yeah, I'm still kicking myself for letting her talk me into it," Hale said, shaking her head. "That put her over the top. She was making her way to the bathroom when she threw up on the couch."

"Oh shit!" I said, laughing.

"Yeah..." Hale said, still looking out over the sunrise. "I held her hair over the toilet while she got the rest of it out of her system. I tried to get her back to bed, but she insisted on brushing her teeth first. And then she was feeling gross and wanted to take a shower, but she could barely stand up. So, after she begged and begged, I gave her a bath, and then I got her back to bed, and then..."

"Hold on, hold on," I said, making a timeout motion with my hands.

Hale looked sideways to me and smirked.

"You gave her a bath?" I said.

Hale nodded.

"Can you describe that in complete, excruciating detail?"

Hale laughed and turned back to the sunrise. "I'll say this much," she said, smoking another puff. "That girl has the body of a damn angel. But that's as much as I'm going to say about the bath."

"Aww," I complained.

"So then I dried her off and she went back to bed... and I managed to get her panties back on, but that's it. Then she passed the hell out."

"So she's in bed now," I said. "Wearing just panties?"

Hale nodded.

"And you couldn't stay in bed with her?" I asked, resuming the foot rub.

Hale shook her head.

"Oh my god," I said. "You're just too fucking horny to stay in bed with her."

She puffed and narrowed her eyes at me.

"It didn't help how you left me after the elevator," Hale growled.

I smirked. "You know, if you touched her under the covers, I'm sure she wouldn't mind. In fact, I'm quite sure she wants you to."

"Well that may be, but that still doesn't make it consent, while she's asleep," Hale said, puffing again.

"Well you two are sort of in a relationship, or whatever, now, right?" I asked.

Hale raised a skeptical eyebrow. "I don't think a drunken make out during spin the bottle and a bath make a relationship."

"Well it makes you two something," I said.

"Well maybe, but I'm still her professor, and I still need to be the adult in the room..." Hale leaned back in her chair and pressed her feet forward. "And I think I've answered your question well enough."

"Why didn't you like, rub it out in the bathroom, then?" I asked. "Do a little stress relief?"

She growled. "I tried! Okay? Didn't work."

"You tried?" I said. "Come on."

"I'm just not used to doing it like that, alright?" Hale said, shifting. "And I forgot to bring my... tools with me."

I snickered, resuming the foot massage. "Well, congratulations on being the responsible adult."

Hale scoffed and shook her head. "Well I can't just go around being the Perkins."

"Hey!" I said, a little hurt.

"What?" she said, grinning.

"So I guess 'Perkins' now is just code for being the immature horny pest?"

"Well, I mean... you got the meaning, didn't you?" she said, smoking again. "Consider yourself lucky you can be that way and not worry about it. I wish I could be."

There was an ice in her voice that I didn't like, and a condescension. It was as if she couldn't decide if she wanted to be nice to me or mean to me. As if sometimes I was her lover and equal, and sometimes I was just a silly, horny pet.

"Well I think you've had your share of Perkins moments," I said.