A North Carolina Autumn - Chapter 19: Chapter 19

Rylie fills up the car while I head inside to use the bathroom, and I run into the boys on the way out. "Snacks?" I ask with a knowing grin.
"Snacks." They respond in unison.
"Hm... so it's a long drive, then."
"Well... yeah. Aspen, how do you always manage to sneak information from us?" Austin grumbles.
"It's a gift. This information isn't too helpful, but thanks for the ego boost." I laugh before grabbing a few of Rylie's favorite snacks and two Dr. Peppers and heading to the counter. I had a sneaking suspicion of where we were going, based on the direction we'd been driving in, and wanted to test my theory. Once I pay, I step aside to let Austin pay, knowing he's the easiest to break.
"Austin, does the cabin have food already, or are we picking that up?" I ask in a hopefully nonchalant voice.
"No Rylie said once we get close we will..."
"Austin! Shut up!" Jeremy yells, and I laugh triumphantly.
"Thanks, Austin." I grin before heading back out to Rylie. "I got us some snacks since we've still got a bit of a drive to the cabin." I tell Rylie with a smirk.
Her eyes snap up to meet mine as she pulls the gas pump out of the car. "How did yo-" My grin widens. "Austin. Damn. You're too good at getting information from people, especially him." She says, letting out a reluctant laugh.
"Is it the cabin?" I ask.
"Yes." Rylie laughs. "Watch the car while I use the restroom?"
"Sure. Love you, Ry." I smile before hopping back in the car, and leave my door partially opened. The weather is starting to get a little gloomy, and I wonder if a storm is coming. A nice breeze flows through my opened door and into the car before leaving out the rolled down windows.
After a moment, the guys finally join me back in the car. "Sorry about tricking you, Austin." I grin, turning around in my seat and leaning my back against the dashboard to face him.
"It's okay. It's your birthday, so I can't be mad." He laughs. Rylie returns a minute later and I turn back around before shutting my door as she starts the car.
I was excited. Sawyer and Jensen's parents, Jeff and Alisa, owned a cabin on a lake that we loved to go to for our cousin reunions. I hadn't been since last year, and I was excited to have Rylie along this time.
When we arrive, it's a little bit after 1:00pm. We'd stopped at a nearby store to get provisions for the few days we'd be here, most of it consisting of junk food. Rightfully so. My favorite snack item we got were the Cheeto puffs. For some reason, anytime I got together with my cousins and we got snacks, we always got Cheeto puffs. We'd eat every single puff and afterwards, someone was always complaining and regretting eating so many. They were a weakness for us, and we knew they were a weakness, but we still got them every time.
I step out of the car and stretch, thankful to be done driving. Tall green trees surround us, and I can see the lake shining just through the trees. Gravel crunches beneath my feet as I walk around the car, and the tall, two story cabin comes into view, it's beauty still surprising me. Uncle Jeff was a cop, but his wife, Alisa, was a doctor. Which explained how they could afford this.
The cabin is beautiful. Muted, multicolored stone lines the walls of the first floor, leading up to the grey siding covering the second. The black roof is peaked in places, and flat in others, matching the black wood of the wrap around porch and balconies.
"Holy shit..." Rylie gasps, coming to stand beside me. "This is insanely beautiful."
"Yeah." I laugh, remembering the awe I felt the first time I saw it. "Just wait until you see the inside.
"If the outside looks like this, I can't imagine the inside." Rylie laughs nervously.
"Yeah, our mom likes only the best." Sawyer laughs as he starts carrying armfuls of things inside.
"I want to know this woman." Rylie whispers before grabbing our things and heading inside.
"Aspen, you two get the master." Sawyer tells me with a grin. "Consider it a birthday present."
"Sawyer, you're giving us the master/ The best bedroom in the house?" I gasp.
"Yes, and it hurts me to do so. But you deserve it." He grins before ruffling my hair, making me feel like a child. But I laugh anyway.
"Thanks, Sawyer." I grin before leading Rylie up to the second floor and down the long hallway to the bedroom at the end. When I open the door, I turn just in time to see Rylie's jaw drop.
The large room is lined with windows, letting the afternoon light stream in. Dark wooden floors stretch out beneath us, and a large light grey plush rug covers the space just in front of the king sized bed.
A large flat screen TV takes up the middle of the wall in front of the bed, with windows on either side. A fireplace makes up the wall beside the door, and directly opposite of us stand the balcony doors. A door to the left of the bed leads to the adjoining bathroom. Rylie drops our things on the bed, heading straight for the balcony.
The door slides silently open, and the fresh breeze flows through the room, a sweet scent that tickles my senses. The sound of crickets and leaves rustling fills the air. The floor of the balcony is made up of the same assortment of muted colored stones as the outside of the first floor of the house. The black slanted ceiling stands high above us, covering most of the balcony. Three comfortable tan chairs sit around a small fire pit, and a two person porch swing sits to the side of the balcony. I sink onto one of the chairs, grinning as Rylie walks to the railing, staring out at the lake in awe.
"This place is incredible!" She laughs. "And the view of the lake! This is amazing!"
"I'm glad you like it. This is one of my all time favorite places." I say with a smile. "Thank you for planning this, Ry. I'm so happy to be here with my favorite people." I push myself out of the chair and step behind her, slipping my arms around her waist. She sighs happily, lending back against me.
"You're welcome. I'm glad you're happy." She smiles before turning and pressing her lips against mine. "How soundproof is this room?" She asks after a moment.
"Very..." I reply hesitantly, the question evident in my voice.
"Good." Rylie says before walking back into the room.
"Why?" I call after her. "Rylie, why?" She turns to grin at me, but doesn't answer before heading back downstairs. "Oh boy." I say with a laugh before following her.
The guys surprise us by making a late lunch before we head out to swim. Granted, it's only cut up fruit and sandwiches, but I'm impressed they made anything at all. We sit around the massive kitchen table, and I can't stop grinning as I glance around at my people.
After lunch, we quickly change and race out of the house. The green backyard lined with trees leads to a long wooden dock, and our feet thump noisily as we run. The cool water feels refreshing as I dive in, and when I surface, I'm face to face with Olivia.
"Hey." I laugh, wiping water from my eyes and smoothing my hair back.
"Hi." She joins my laughter before turning to her brother, Carter. "Let's check out the rope swing!" She says to both of us. I turn to see Rylie in a splash war with Sam and grin before swimming after Olivia and Carter.
A massive tree sits on the shore, with long, thick branches covered with leaves stretching several feet over the lake. A long, thick rope hangs from the thickest branch, the very bottom of it brushing the top of the lake. Olivia grabs the rope before swimming towards shore. She carefully navigates her way up the tree to a wooden platform about halfway up. Carter and I swim to the left as she readies herself, and I cheer as she jumps from the edge.
All of my cousins were athletic, Olivia included. Somehow, she manages a double backflip before diving nearly perfectly into the water. When she resurfaces, a wide grin covers her face.
"Go ahead, Carter! Beat that!" She says once she reaches us. "I'm pretty sure Aspen can beat it easily." She laughs.
Carter takes his turn next, only completing one flip before nearly belly flopping into the water. The splash is so big I feel it hit me.
"Shit." Carter laughs as he swims slowly back to us. "That was poorly timed."
"A bit," I laugh with him. "You alright?"
"I'm good. Remind me next time to not go for another flip and just stick with what I know." He chuckles. Based on the spreading red print on his chest, I'm betting he'll remember easily.
"My turn!" I call before swimming towards the slowly swinging rope. When I reach the platform in the tree and move towards the edge, it seems slightly higher up than I remembered. And I see more of my cousins and friends staring up at me expectantly. "Well, then." I mumble to myself as drops of water drip to the board from my body. "Can't mess this up."
As my eyes land on Rylie's, her eyes are traveling over my body. I'm wearing a small purple bikini, one I'd bought with her in mind. Judging by the look on her face, and the way her eyes are glued to my body, she likes it. Her look sends a wave of confidence, and I clutch the rope tightly before jumping.
As I swing, the wind rushes by, and I hear everyone cheering. I decide to send it with three backflips and clutch my knees to my chest, somehow managing to complete all three and end with a cannon ball.
Pretty soon, the others take their turns, and the tricks get more elaborate as we go on. I expect it from my cousins, but as Rylie, Sam, Jeremy and Austin begin throwing in some surprising tricks, I'm genuinely impressed.
Despite it being nearly October, the weather is still warm, and although the water isn't as warm as it is during summer, it's a refreshing kind of cool.
Olivia, who seems to be the mastermind of coming up with games, brings us all together to tell us her idea. We surround her in a semicircle, bobbing in the water as we tread water to stay afloat. Well, most of us work to stay afloat. Jeremy doesn't. He lets himself sink for a few seconds before popping up for more air, only to sink below the surface, over and over.
"Okay. We've got the OG games like Capture the flag, sharks and minnows, marco polo, and so on. Or, we can play a sort of volleyball with the ball we brought. It'll take several minutes to fill up, so decide fast."
Instantly, we all agree on volleyball, simply because of the ball we'd brought. It was huge but still light enough that it would float slowly up when hit before floating slowly back down. Did I mention that it was huge? If you didn't hit this ball just right, it would smash you. I don't know how the physics of this ball... physic, but they do.
Carter climbs onto the dock and runs towards the cars to grab the ball from the trunk. My other cousins Hunter and Lincoln climb out to help him fill it up. They run up the grassy hill, and I hear them laughing as their wet feet slip on the grass. I giggle, grinning widely as I anticipate the game.