"Well, Rick, you're just in time for a drink," Valerie said in her husky voice as she took his hand; it seemed as if she felt it more than shaking it. Then she glanced at the other two men who were standing. "This is Karen's friend, Rick! That's Ray, and that's Bob…"

Rick shook the hands of each, and he suddenly realized that they both knew Karen's mother better than he'd previously supposed as she went on quite casually, "They're a couple of Big Sur swingers, Rick."

"Nice to meet you!" he said to both. Then he turned to again face Valerie. "Before I forget, my mother said she would come by to say hello in the morning…" Then he added as if to make an excuse for her absence, "She was a little tired from the drive down."

"Too bad she can't come tonight. It might have done her a world of good!" she said, and Rick missed the touch of sarcasm in her voice. "Sit down, have a drink, and let Karen get those steaks before they're burned to a crisp!"

With a yelp, Karen hurried to the campfire, so Rick did as Valerie asked, sitting down beside her and pouring himself a drink. They were all drinking martinis in large glasses, but he preferred something he could water down, so he poured himself three fingers of scotch and filled the glass with ice. "Helluva nice way to go camping, Mrs. Boyd," he said, and he clinked his glass against hers. She laughed which reminded him how horny he'd become, and he quickly took a large gulp of the liquor so he wouldn't stare. After that he completely forgot about the time or his promise to his mother as he listened to Ray and Bob tell stories, and he attempted to keep from looking at Valerie laugh. Karen put the overdone steaks on the table, but no one seemed very interested in eating any food. Rick fixed a second drink when Karen sat down beside him, and while she held a drink too, her free hand was kept busy under the table stroking his inner thigh. Being in between Karen and her voluptuous mother was a situation that Rick thought to have great possibilities, and the second and a third drink were consumed quickly. Finally, he was aroused from their nearness, he stood up from the table with legs trembling.