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Nav
Walkingbackontothe boat, Nav wasn’t sure what to expect for the rest of the evening. His mind was running with possibilities while reflecting on the taunting past he and Lexie held between them. He drifted back to the moment he decided being with Lexie as more than friends was a real possibility, having only ever seen her as a friend before then.
It was his senior prom and he could hardly believe the woman on his arm was Lexie. Her beauty was astounding in a floor-length emerald dress that accentuated her sparkling green eyes. His navy suit matched her dress with a skinny emerald tie tucked beneath his suit jacket. Neither he nor Lexie was used to dressing in or attending fancy events, but the smiles on their faces were the best accessory they both wore. As Nav stood on the dance floor with Lexie holding her close, his hands brushed against her bare back. She lowered her head onto his chest and he pulled her closer to him. When the song ended, Lexie pulled her face away from Nav’s chest and gazed up into his eyes. Before he could acknowledge what was happening, he felt her soft lips brush against his. He reciprocated by pulling her closer to him, deepening the kiss that sparked the lifelong fire between them. Nav found himself lost in the moment with Lexie, feeling as if they were alone on the dance floor. Feeling as if his entire future was playing out before him. He had wanted Lexie for years, but finally feeling her intimate caresses against him felt otherworldly. He never wanted the night to end.
He pulled himself to reality as Eagle knocked into him with his shoulder. “Earth to Nav?”
Nav closed his eyes and slowly tilted his head adjusting to reality. “What?” he asked.
“What’s going on with you, man? Did something happen between you and Lexie?”
Nav looked around the boat. He and Eagle were standing alone in the saloon with Analise, who was preparing a pitcher of drinks for the guys, who were waiting on the deck. “Kind of, I don’t know. Just being around her for the first time in several years...brings back a lot.”
“I’ve already mentally prepared myself for the constant rollercoaster that is being around the two of you,” Eagle said with a knowing laugh.
Nav cringed. “Yeah, we don’t have the best history of a normal relationship. That’s kind of what we talked about today, though.”
Eagle placed his hand on Nav’s back and tapped it gently before stepping out onto the patio to meet the guys. Eagle wasn’t wrong. After that fateful kiss during prom, he and Lexie became even more inseparable. Their romantic relationship started to blossom and it was magic for several years, but once they both hit college, things changed between them.
He had come to realize while he was in high school Lexie’s constant need for affection and attention didn’t bother him because he too desired affection. When college came around, however, Nav found himself craving independence. He was finally independent of the fatherly duties he didn’t want and was free to explore who he wanted to be. He could look back now and admit what an asshole he was to Lexie, while also acknowledging the relationship didn’t work because they were starting to grow into different people with needs greatly differing from their high school selves. It took Nav a long time to recognize that. For so long he blamed himself for letting Lexie go without ever understanding why they didn’t work.
Sighing heavily, he turned away from the bar, grabbing the pitcher of a freshly crafted cocktail. As he spun on the ball of his foot he slammed straight into Lexie, who was coming up the stairs from her room below. He watched in horror as the bright red contents splashed across the front of Lexie’s white cardigan, tainting it pink. “Shit, shit, shit,” he said as he placed the pitcher back onto the bar and grabbed the towel Analise was already extending out to him. He reached to dab the front of her shirt but retracted his hand as he realized where the stain was located. She rolled her eyes and grabbed the towel from his hands as she dabbed across her sweater. Analise stepped between the two of them, grabbing the towel from Lexie.
“Let me help you, dear. Here, take this off,” she said as Lexie unbuttoned the top and slid it off her shoulders. Nav cringed when he saw the red stain covering her once blue dress as well. Great, just add it to his list of transgressions over the years.
“I’ll be back. Let me take this out to the guys,” he said, grabbing what was left of their drink off the counter and walking toward the sliding glass door.
