Holy shit.Is Ethan laughing?
Lola beams and asks what he wants to drink.When he orders the same local beer he had in his fridge, my heart skips a beat.Already drinking like a local.Maybe we’ll win him over yet.
Lola winks, says he has great taste, then asks if I want the usual.Gin and tonic is the only thing I can have more than a few of and still feel human the next morning.I nod and turn back to my neighbor, who isn’t frowning anymore.
He goes to sit down on one of the empty stools, but we’re not staying here.Inside, you could be in any bar in any city.
Outside is where the Sand Dollar shines.
When Lola serves us, I tell her to start a tab and hook my arm through Ethan’s, dragging him into the balmy evening breeze, where the sun is skimming the tops of the palm trees.
The only free table is near the stage, which isn’t ideal, but it’s either that or standing beside the cornhole games.The season might not officially kick off till next week, but there are already a lot of faces here I don’t recognize.
Ethan takes a few silent sips from his bottle, scanning the place from the red tin roof down to the dunes.
“So, what do you think?”I ask.
He tilts his bottle at the pergola.“I think those posts are crooked.”
We’re here for a good time and he’s worried about freaking posts?That just won’t do.I don’t want buttoned-up, foreman Ethan who talks about potential building violations.I want the guy who teased me about how to properly hold a hammer.
I set my glass down on the table way too hard.Enough is enough.We’re having fun or going home.“Truth or dare?”
Ethan blinks at me like I’ve grown a third eye.
I give his round shoulder a shove.“Come on, Ethan.Truth or dare.”
The way he rolls his beer bottle along his lower lip makes my knees turn weak.“Truth.”
I should’ve known he’d pick the safe one.So predictable.“If you only had one day left to live, what would you do?”
Despite the layer of stubble that’s growing thicker by the day, I can see his jaw pulsing.He takes a comically long time to answer what should be a pretty simple question.“Spend the whole day eating spicy chicken wings with my family and my friend Leo.”
Isn’t that sweet?
My final day wouldn’t be that different.
I’d bring a whole bucket of Grandma’s Crabs and a case of wine down to the beach with Willow and Lola.I’d surf until the tide changed, then gorge myself until the day was over.“It’s your turn now.Ask me.”
He huffs like I just told him to file my taxes.“Truth or dare?”
“Dare.”
“I dare you to…” He rubs a hand down the back of his neck.“I don’t know.Fuck,” he curses under his breath.
“Fuck who?”I ask without missing a beat, hiding my smile inside my glass as ice cubes bump my teeth.
Ethan chokes on his drink, spitting beer all over himself.He grabs one of the napkins from the dispenser in the center of the table, wiping his mouth and dabbing his shirt.“Shit, Chloe.You know that’s not what I meant.”He balls up the napkin and shoves it into his pocket so it doesn’t blow away.“I hate playing drinking games.If you want to drink, drink.Why does everything have to be a game?”
“Because games are fun.And you need more fun in your life.Now, try again.”
“Fine.I dare you to take a shot.”
So basic, but at least he’s still playing along.“A shot of what?”
“I don’t know.Tequila?”
Oh, that is dangerous.You know the song “Tequila Makes Her Clothes Fall Off?”Pretty sure they wrote that one about me.At least this will make things interesting.“Done.”I wave at Lola as she drops a round of drinks at another table.When she saunters over, I whisper my order in her ear.
