Total pages in book: 65
Estimated words: 59489 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 297(@200wpm)___ 238(@250wpm)___ 198(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 59489 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 297(@200wpm)___ 238(@250wpm)___ 198(@300wpm)
“And why is that?” I asked.
“Because we are going on a trip,” he said simply.
“Um, what?”
“We,” he said, taking a big sip of his soda, “are going on a trip. Parties. Beach. Woo.”
He did a little twirl with one of his fingers and picked up another of the chips, all without making eye contact with me.
“I’m not so sure this is a great time for that. I do have some work I could catch up on, and it would be advantageous for me to get it done while there wasn’t another class.”
“Boo,” he said, interrupting me with an exaggerated thumbs down. It was such a different kind of reaction from him that I laughed loudly in surprise. “All of that sounds terrible,” he said.
“Well, terrible or not, it’s what I’ve been planning,” I said, still laughing.
“No, we are going on a trip. You know how I know?”
“How?”
“Because I already made all the reservations.”
“You did what?” I asked.
He simply nodded and took a sip of his drink, widening his eyes and waggling his eyebrows in such a funny way that I broke out in laughter again.
“You should get your hearing checked,” he joked. “I think all that editing with the headphones on is doing some permanent damage.”
“Hush,” I said. “What was that about making reservations?”
“I don’t want to tell you much more than that,” he said. “It will be more fun that way. Just trust me.” There was a moment where the joking stopped, and he looked deep into my eyes and I could see that this meant something to him.
I sighed, the smile returning to my face again as he grinned at me in the way that I knew I wasn’t going to be able to resist him. I was a sucker for that grin.
“Fine,” I said. “But I reserve the right to opt out of any situation with zero notice if I feel like we are being too weird.”
“I can agree to those terms,” he said, his smile stretching from ear to ear. “Now, before we go, I heard they have an absolutely awesome carrot cake here.”
“You still have room for more?” I asked.
“One thing you should know about me, Kristen,” he said, as serious as a heart attack, “is that there is always, always room for carrot cake.”
“Fair enough.”
17
CAMDEN
“You know, when I said I wanted a drink, this was not exactly what I had in mind, but I will take it.”
I smiled as I sipped my own beverage and nodded.
“It’s not bad, is it?” I asked.
The sun beat down on us from high above, and I felt every muscle in my body relaxing in the heat. It was delightful in a way that I hadn’t really experienced in a long time. For much of my adult life, my idea of relaxation was either going out on a ride with one of the horses or taking a shower, curling up on my bed, putting on Die Hard, and falling asleep with half a slice of pizza in my mouth.
But this, this was fantastic.
The fruity drink in my long, curvy cup most certainly had alcohol in it. Probably several different kinds. I had no idea what, or how much of the total drink was liquor and how much was juice. I didn’t particularly care. It was delicious and cold and had a little umbrella in it.
Around us on the beach there was a mishmash of different types of folks. The hotel we’d chosen wasn’t one of the raucous ones that all the teenagers chose, and the beach outside of ours was meant for more of a family atmosphere. The party, however, could be heard from down the beach, and all it took was peering down to see the insanity.
Music floated over from where the kids were, a sea of thong bathing suits and tribal tattoos. It seemed like kind of a nightmare, and yet at the same time, I was determined to spend some time in it, checking off that particular item from my bucket list. I just had to convince Kristen.
“Not bad,” she said, pulling the straw hat I bought her earlier in the day down over her face. “I think I could do this all day.”
“I don’t doubt that,” I said. “Me too, probably. However, we have plans.”
She groaned, and a part of my body responded in a way that made me shift a little on the blanket to hide it.
“Do we have to?” she asked.
“It’ll be fun,” I said.
“What, exactly, will be fun?” she asked.
“Well, for one, keg stands.”
She lifted her hat and settled a critical eye on me over the rim of her sunglasses.
“Keg stands?” she asked.
“You know, standing upside down on a keg, drinking beer?”
“Have you ever done a keg stand?” she asked.
“No,” I said. “That’s why I want to do one now. College experience. Come on.”