I spat out a silent dammit, and took the two steps back to stand in his doorway. He was lying in his bed, the sheet tangled around his hips, his bare chest exposed, an arm propped behind his head. God. Even at five-something in the morning, the boy managed to look irresistible.
I could barely look him in the eye. “I can’t sleep. I thought I’d go for a run on the beach.”
There. Good enough. I managed to speak to Trip without blurting out any further avowals of my undying love.
I started to turn when he whipped the sheet off and said, “Hey, give me a minute. I’ll go with you.”
Shit. “Oh, okay. I’ll meet you downstairs.”
Since I didn’t have to worry about waking him up anymore, I allowed myself to pee and brush my teeth before heading down into the kitchen. I grabbed a glass of water and was just finishing it when Trip showed up, dressed in grey nylon basketball shorts and a white T-shirt. I didn’t allow myself to speak and just headed out the back door, Trip following on my heels. We walked across the street and up to the boardwalk, the hum from the streetlamps offering the only sound between us. But once we started down the walkway to the beach, I looked toward the ocean and couldn’t help the, “Oh!” that escaped from my lips.
The sun was just starting to rise, offering a hazy orange glow along the horizon, shooting off purple and pink streaks into the rest of the ashy sky. In the minutes it took us to reach the water’s edge, the sky had lightened considerably, the first edge of sun making its way out of the sea.
It was happening so quickly, this dawning of a new day, and my only instinct was to plant myself down to watch every second of it.
Trip sat down with me, and I wished things were different between us at that moment. All I could think was that I had possibly ruined everything that could have happened between us because I just couldn’t keep my big mouth shut.
I tried to push those thoughts aside and just enjoy the view. But having Trip sitting right there with me was proving to stress me out, in spite of the peaceful sight in front of my eyes. Finally, I knew I wouldn’t be able to pretend there wasn’t an elephant between us.
“So, what, is everything gonna be all weird between us now?”
Trip gave me a confused look and asked, “Why? Because we...”
“No. Because I... Because of what I said after.”
His head dropped down and his shoulders started shaking.
Glad to see he finds this so funny. Not.
“Jesus, Layla. You think too much. You were in a moment. You think I never blurted out something stupid in the middle of having sex?”
I didn’t know whether to be grateful that Trip thought my confession was no big deal, curious because he’d mentioned having sex like it was an everyday thing, or angry because he thought what I’d said was “something stupid”. I decided to just run with the out he had given me.
I started laughing, even though I was sort of dying a little inside. “Really? Like what? Tell me something you’ve said.”
“Uh-uh. No way.”
The majestic sunrise was only a blip in my peripheral vision, my main focus trained on Trip’s reddening face. Holy crap, was he blushing? That made me start laughing for real. “Trip, tell me!”
“A gentleman never kisses and tells.”
“Oh, shut up. You’re no gentleman.”
“True, but few people know that.”
“Tell me, Chester!”
I nudged into him and he nudged back harder, knocking me off balance and forcing my elbow into the sand to stop my fall. He promptly pounced on top of me, laying me out flat on my back anyway, despite the efforts to save myself. He grabbed my wrists, pinning them into the sand next to my head and straddled my chest, his face hovering over mine. “Drop it, Warren.”
“Warren? What are you, Rymer now?”
“That may be the worst thing anyone’s ever said to me ever.”
I started laughing, in spite of the weight of him practically sitting on my chest. “Ow. I can’t breathe. Trip, you gotta get off.”
He took mercy and rolled off of me, landing his butt on the beach. I got up on my knees, pretending to catch my breath and dust myself off before yelling, “Sucker!” and dive-bombing into him, throwing him backwards into the sand. He used the momentum of my tackle and rolled us both over, pinning me flat on my back again. Without the use of my arms, I was sputtering my hair out of my face and trying to spit the sand out of my mouth.
“Bleh! You jerk! No fair, you’re bigger than I am.”
“Yep. Stronger, too. Don’t ever forget it.”
“Trip! I think I have sand in my eye. Let me up.”
“Oh, right, you big faker. Think I’m falling for that again?”
“No, Trip, seriously. I think I have sand in my eye.”
He got up and I stood, brushing out my hair and clothes, making a big, phony show of trying to blink some non-existent particles out of my eyes. While he was busy dusting himself off, I went for a surprise tackle, diving right for him... just as he rolled out of the way, landing me face-down on the beach.