The First Great Night of the Summer

The beach is bright compared to the dark blue sky, with star scattering every inch of the vastness. Emily stands proud with her firework pointed out into water and I try and take pictures, failing in capturing the moment. Farm Boy had joined us on the adventure and suggests we hit up the bar with over fifty kinds of tequila.         

Kids dash around us with their own fireworks, setting them off in the sand as we head back to the main street. In front of the restaurant, people crowd the sidewalk, drunk and yelling nonsense to the party-ers on the other side. I love every second of this freedom, this drunken fun.

Dante sits across from me while Emily chats with Farm Boy about who knows what. I watch Dante as he pokes at his phone, showing me funny photos of his friends and videos he finds funny from the internet.

He has interesting eyes, with thick eyelashes that get thicker on the corners making it seem like he has eyeliner on. The way his hair was perfectly styled made me laugh, I've never seen someone so prim and proper. Or at least be interested in someone like Dante.

But he had something that really caught me off guard at my sudden interest. He told me about his Ex whom he had dated for years and then she cheated on him. I knew how he felt. And for a good quick second we gave each other a knowing look that said, "Sucks, right?" 

The way he talked about his friends, how he held them in such high regards and respect, yet joked about their idiocy. If I had to guess, I think I liked how real he was as a person that interested me the most. On a first impression basis, I would've guessed he was your regular douche, but as our conversation grew into something deeper, he drew further away from the douche bag stereotype. He started to show a goofy side even, which intrigued and I was so tempted to show a little of myself, yet I held back. 

I told him about my Ex and briefly about what I had gone through. I didn't want to say too much since I could already feel myself getting worked up.

“How many people have you been with?” he asks suddenly.

“Five.”

“Oh wow…”

“What? I’m not a slut, if that’s what your getting at.”

“Oh, no it’s not that. It just makes me seem like a bigger man whore I guess.”

I give him a questionable look. “How many have you been with?”

“Guess.”

“Um… 10?” I see the look on his face before I change my answer. “11-ish?”

He looks defeated. “I’m at 18.”

I consider the amount of people that Lukas has been with and I don’t feel too bad.

“How long have you been single for?” I ask him.

“It’ll be a year in July.”

A brick hits me. Do the math, if he had been with that many people after the break up with his Ex, I could only imagine how many people my Ex will be with. I start to drown in my anxiety as I begin to picture it, I start to relive the day I found out about the cheating. Days after that’s all I could picture was my Ex making out with some dirty girl on the dance floor than heading back to her place. My stomach turns and my tequila shot almost comes back up.

“Sorry, if you’re now disgusted with me,” Dante speaks, bringing me back to the conversation.

“No, it’s not that. That’s fine. It’s just… I can only imagine what my Ex has done since our break up…”

I mentally slap myself back to normal and feel bad for revealing some of my baggage, yet Dante had exposed his weakness, if not more. I smile and ask more questions to get off the topic as we get the bill. Dante swiftly takes the bill and pays for my drinks.

“Yeah, I got a little reckless after my Ex.”

“I’m just getting into all this,” I squeeze his hand before I pull him and my friends out of the restaurant.

Our hands interlock as we walk down the street heading toward the Villages. Lukas and Matty see us and join the group. It’s already one in the morning and everyone’s still out and about or drinking at the cabins.

“I should head back,” says Dante and I tell myself I’ll be back.

I see Emily look at me as I walk away and I hear her say, “I’ll never see her again.”

Shaking my head at her, I walk with Dante to his street, planning on giving him a kiss to remember.

“I had fun.”

“Yeah,” I look up at him, he has a nice smile too. “I did as well.”

We stop at the wrong street, but it doesn't matter, nothing going on around us matters.

“Give me one last kiss?” As if he needs to ask.

Once again I'm swept away by how well our lips find each other or how I don’t even have to try to enjoy this. I get to nerve to put my hand by his neck and jaw line, giving my kiss a little more passion. Our bodies are clothes and i give a little teasing nudge with my hips. When we break apart I let my smirk play on my lips.

“You’re going to leave me like that?” he asks more playfully than actually being mad about it.

“Have a nice night,” I say as I turn and strut my stuff back to my friends. All I could feel was a tingle on my lips and my heart off beat as I see my gang of friends eating pizza. The party haze fills the night air and all you can hear is background dance music while the streets burn with fun.