[Content Warning (18+): Contains explicit consensual sexual content. Reader discretion advised.]
The rest of the morning passed with Exploding Kittens and Uno. Then came the particular chaos of preparing lunch as a group — nineteen people attempting to coordinate in a kitchen designed for significantly fewer, with Tony supervising from the refrigerator and occasionally expressing opinions about the menu that Magnus selectively translated.
Lunch itself was loud, with overlapping conversations, the way it always was when this many people ate together. Several conversations ran simultaneously until one of them got loud enough to pull the whole table in.
It started, as it often did, with the singles' complaints.
"Do all of you couples plan to do this every night?" Tori slammed the table.
"Yesterday was about as bad as the day before it," Nicole confirmed, setting down her fork with deliberate calm.
"Worse," Priya muttered without looking up from her food.
Alex leaned back in her chair with the particular contentment of someone who had not, for once, been the instigator of anything. She and Magnus had simply cuddled to sleep last night. She helped herself to more salad.
Miguel shrugged and put more food on Carmen's plate. They, too, didn't participate in last night's competition.
"It wasn't a competition," Aaron insisted.
"You keep saying that," Sofia noted.
"Because it keeps being true."
"Like I said—" Rachel shrugged. "—med school is no joke. Once Spring Break is over, Aaron and I won't have much time for each other. We're just trying to make the best of our vacation—"
"See?" Aaron gestured at his girlfriend. "Not a competition!"
Rachel wasn't finished, though. "The fact that Aaron gets competitive against Ethan and put in more effort is just a nice added bonus."
Aaron's head snapped to her. "I didn't put in more effort last night because of him. I put in more effort last night because you implied it was make-up sex for the fight from yesterday morning."
"Well, it was that, too," she admitted, then pointed at Ethan and Camila. "But don't pretend you weren't competing with them."
Ethan shrugged. "Cam and I were just exploring an alternate timeline."
The table waited. Ethan took a bite of his sandwich with the serene expression of a man who had said exactly as much as he intended to say. Camila beside him was equally serene.
The table continued waiting. Nothing further came.
"Right," Miguel said, and went back to his food.
Jordan, who had been eating with the focused efficiency of someone who had decided the conversation around her was more entertaining than anything she needed to contribute to, looked between them. "I've been here for two hours," she said. "I'm already learning things about all of you that I did not need to know."
"Welcome to the beach house," Maya said.
"This is your fault," Jordan told Alex.
"Mine?"
"You invited all these people."
"I mean," Alex said, "technically Sofia's family owns the—"
"And you introduced me to him." Jordan pointed at Magnus. "So, your fault," she repeated.
Toward the end of lunch, Maya announced they were all going to the beach. This was less a suggestion than a declaration, and the table responded accordingly.
Everyone began pushing back chairs and discussing sunscreen and swimsuits. Most people turned to look at Jordan.
"What?" she said.
"Did you pack a swimsuit?" Camila asked.
"Yeah, I packed one just in case." Jordan set her fork down. "My parents wanted me gone for the day so they could have a—" She paused with the expression of someone handling something they'd rather not touch. "—hot date." She said the last two words carefully. "Speaking of, Ramirez, I might need a room to stay the night if you don't mind."
"Right," Sofia said. "Okay. I'll sort it out."
"Thanks." Jordan's expression shifted into the look of someone about to do something she'd already decided she was going to regret. She closed her eyes briefly. "Apparently, my mom also wanted a… steamy night with dad."
The table went quiet.
Then, collectively, everyone shuddered.
"Thanks for that mental image, Vanessa," Nicole said. "None of us needed that."
"Well, my mom did it to me first," Jordan said, opening her eyes, "and I'm not suffering alone."
Jasmine set down her glass. "Okay. Emotionally honest Jordan is a menace."
"She really is," Alex agreed.
"I think I liked her better when she just scowled and made me run five more laps," Jasmine added, "or threatened to punch me."
Jordan looked at Alex. "Don't act like you're not enjoying this."
"I'm absolutely enjoying this," Alex said. "I've been waiting years for it."
***
They changed and walked down to the beach together in the loose, straggling way of a large group that had collectively decided to be somewhere without quite agreeing on the pace. The afternoon had turned warm and bright — the kind of weather that made everything feel slightly more manageable than it had an hour earlier.
The water was cold enough to matter and warm enough to stay in, and within ten minutes the group had fragmented the way groups always did at beaches: some people wading, some swimming out further, some standing at the edge engaged in the universal beach activity of claiming to be about to go in while actually just getting used to the temperature.
Jordan waded in without hesitation and started swimming immediately, which surprised nobody. Tony had disappeared off somewhere, presumably doing raccoon things.
Magnus was waist-deep and considering going further when he felt Alex's hand close around his wrist.
"Come with me," she said.
He looked at her. She was already moving, pulling him sideways along the waterline toward the stretch of beach that curved around a natural outcropping of rocks, away from the main group.
"Where are we going?" he asked warily, following because he was always going to follow.
"Just come on."
"Alex. That's not an answer."
"That's the only one you get for now."
"You know I'm just going to be more worried when you refuse to answer, right?"
"I know," she said pleasantly. "Keep walking."
The rocks formed a natural alcove — not invisible from the beach exactly, but set back enough that someone would have to be actively looking to see anything. The sounds of the group carried faintly around the curve.
Alex turned to him.
Magnus looked at the alcove. Looked at her. Looked at the alcove again. "No," he said.
"We didn't do anything last night," she said.
"We had sex Monday. And Wednesday."
"Wednesday was for your quest."
"It still counts."
"The quest counts. For us, it doesn't."
"The System counted it. And I'm fairly sure everyone else in the beach house counted it."
"Well," Alex said, "I don't."
He looked at her for a long moment. She looked back at him like she'd already done the calculation and knew how this ended.
"This is a bad idea," he said.
"Probably," she agreed.
"Someone could walk by."
"Yeah, but it'll just be our friends at worst. No strangers — it's technically private property."
"Technically."
"The likelihood of actually getting caught is very low. They have no reason to come here."
"But not zero."
"No," she said. "Not zero. But that's what makes it more exciting, isn't it? Don't all guys like this?"
He swallowed. "Where did you hear that?"
"Well, is it true?"
Magnus pinched the bridge of his nose. Alex waited. The waves came in and went out.
"It's not completely untrue," he said slowly. "But this is still a bad idea."
"Noted," she said, and kissed him.
The kiss was a challenge, and Magnus, despite his protests, folded quickly. He leaned into her, his hands finding her waist and pulling her flush against him. The salt air was cool, but the heat between them was immediate.
Alex didn't give him time to overthink it. She stepped back just enough to reach for the waistband of his swim trunks, her fingers efficient as they slid the fabric down his hips until he was exposed to the ocean breeze.
She dropped to her knees in the sand, her dark hair spilling over her shoulders, and looked up at him for a split second with a mischievous glint in her eyes. Magnus let out a shaky breath, his hands settling on her shoulders for balance. When her mouth closed around him, the contrast hit all at once — the cool air against his skin and the searing warmth of her mouth.
She was thorough, her tongue tracing slow circles before taking him deeper, her cheeks hollowing as she did. Magnus groaned, his head tipping back against the rough face of the rock wall. He quickly lost himself to the steady rhythm, his mind betraying him with the awareness that the rest of the group was only a few hundred feet away. The risk sharpened every sensation.
Alex glanced up at him, a small, triumphant smile playing at the corners of her mouth before returning her full attention to him. Her hand wrapped around the base of his shaft to add more pressure, driving him steadily closer to the edge.
"Enough," he rasped, his voice strained. "I can't—"
He didn't finish the sentence. Instead, he caught her by the shoulders and pulled her to her feet, turning her around in one fluid motion. He pressed her against the cool, jagged stone of the alcove, her palms flattening against the rock for support.
Alex arched her back, her hips tilting toward him in an unspoken invitation. He didn't hesitate. The intensity of the moment swallowed whatever restraint he'd had left. Alex let out a sharp, muffled cry against the stone, her fingers tightening against the rough surface.
Their rhythm settled quickly, primal and fast. The sound of their bodies echoed softly through the small alcove, blending with the rhythmic crash of the waves beyond. Magnus held her firmly by the hips, grounding both of them as the urgency of being so close to everyone else apparently made him rougher than usual.
Alex was shaking, her breath coming in short, ragged gasps.
"Harder," she whispered, her voice tight. "Magnus, harder."
He obliged, his movements growing more frantic. The pressure building inside him became almost unbearable as he leaned forward, his chest against her back, his breath warm against her ear. They were both only moments from the edge when—
Voices drifted around the curve of the rocks—not the distant murmur of the others on the beach, but closer, quieter, carrying the unmistakable cadence of two people trying not to be overheard.
They went perfectly still.
Magnus froze mid-thrust, his heart hammering against his ribs.
Ethan's voice, low and conspiratorial:
"This is definitely not vanilla."
Camila's voice, equally quiet:
"I told you. Okay, around here—"
And then kissing sounds from approximately a dozen feet away.
Magnus and Alex looked at each other.
"We should—" Alex whispered.
"Yeah," Magnus whispered back.
Then came a voice from right next to them that made him jump:
"You two are really terrible at this." Tony looked at them judgmentally. "Neither of you noticed me coming, either. In raccoon society, that could mean death."
"He said—" Magnus started to whisper instinctively.
"I know what he said. You shared your power with me, remember?"
"Right. We should—"
"Yes, let's get out of here."
They took the long way around the rocks and back into the water, avoiding any chance Ethan and Camila could have spotted them. Then they swam back toward the main group.
"We didn't see anything," Alex said.
"We didn't see anything," Magnus agreed.
"We're never going to mention this."
"Never."
"It was good though. Definitely doing that again sometimes."
"Alex!"
They swam back the rest of the way in silence. Sofia spotted them returning and raised an eyebrow. Magnus made a face that he hoped communicated nothing specific. Alex was already heading toward where Jordan and Nicole were arguing about something in the shallows.
Tony was watching Magnus from the shore with an expression suggesting he'd be offering his assessment later at training whether Magnus wanted it or not. So, Magnus decided to swim further out and think about nothing for a while.