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Lexie
Sheliftedthecool glass off the bar and stepped away, leaving Nav with the bottle of whiskey. She found herself falling into a familiar rhythm with Nav and couldn’t pinpoint the way it made her feel. The odd sensation of butterflies flitted around her stomach when he was near, but an overwhelming sense of anxiety followed closely behind the euphoric feelings reminding her of their complicated past. .
As she stepped out into the sun, the salty air rushed against her nose, reminding her she was in paradise. The rest of her friends were splashing around in the pool, waving for her to join them. She shook her head and tipped her glass back. The warmth of the sun beat upon her, sending a line of sweat down her spine. Lexie lifted the corners of her dress slightly, moving it back and forth, airing out the stickiness gathering against her skin.
With a brush of air, Nav suddenly flew by her cannonballing straight into the pool. Sedona and Avanna squealed as the water splashed over them. Lexie giggled on the sidelines as Eagle and Nav began to wrestle with one another. The deja vu settled in, reminding Lexie of the years past. They were now just remnants of what had been. A group of friends who had previously seen each other nearly every day, now no longer knew the inner workings of their lives. She couldn’t help but feel sad for what was, even though the current moment brought a smile to her face. Glancing around, Lexie settled into the couch nestled beneath a large umbrella, blocking the heated rays from the sun above.
She held the glass in her hands and tipped her head back, closing her eyes as she focused on the sounds around her. The splash of the pool, the slight breeze in the air whirring around, and the birds chirping nearby mixed in with the giggles and splashes from her friends.
Relaxing in the cool shade, she allowed herself to reminisce on the first time she snuck out to meet Nav at Eagle’s lakehouse. It was the summer before her senior year of high school and Nav had just moved in with Eagle. Living in a small town meant everyone knew everything about everyone, so when her parents discovered Nav had started spending time with Eagle, the one person everyone in town hated, they forbade her from being with him outside of their watchful eye.
Lexie was furious. They were keeping her from her best friend. The man she loved and the man she knew loved her back, even if things were complicated because of her age. She was turning 18 soon and had every intention of diving into whatever romance Nav would give her. On this particular day, she had convinced her parents she was going to stay with her friend Amelia, whose parents were way more relaxed than Lexie’s. Of course, Lexie’s mother called Mrs. Davenport, who informed her the girls would be home under their guidance all night. Little did Lexie’s mother know, Mrs. Davenport was a closet drunk and rarely paid attention to her children after 7 PM when her painkillers started to mix with her tequila.
Nav picked Amelia and Lexie up in his shitty car and drove them out to the lakehouse. Lexie was never ashamed of her small, quaint house, and didn’t care that her parents weren’t the typical Otsego residents, but as Nav pulled up to the lakehouse she was suddenly filled with a sense of not being good enough. Nav was living with one of the wealthiest residents in their tiny town. She found herself in awe as she gawked at the luxurious nature of it all. After he took her to prom last year, Nav set boundaries in place (that she didn’t agree with) due to their small age gap. She protested, not fully understanding his hesitation in beginning a romantic relationship with her, but that never changed her place in his life. Her favorite moment from that night came from a quiet memory of the two of them in the water just off the dock outside of Eagle’s house. There were quite a few people in the water and scattered up along the grassy beach, but Nav had pulled her in with him when he had jumped. It caught her so off kilter, she was still wearing the cover-up dress she had thrown over her swimsuit earlier.
She and Nav had paddled their bodies together in the water, both unable to fully touch the rubble beneath them. As they moved their arms and legs they brushed against one another. The heat in Lexie’s cheeks matched the heat crawling across Nav’s. They could feel the static electricity between them, but neither was brave enough to admit it. Nav opened his mouth as if he was going to say something, but closed it before he could. He motioned to his ear and pulled his face to hers. “It’s loud out here. Come inside with me?”
The heat of her cheeks continued to burn bright as she nodded her head in smooth motions. She let Nav exit the water first and followed behind him, glancing around the party for prying eyes. To her surprise, everyone was too self-absorbed to worry about an almost eighteen-year-old following a nineteen-year-old into the house. Her dress dripped along her legs and she grasped the cool, wet fabric attempting to ring it out before she walked into the house, but was unsuccessful. She scrunched the dress up and tiptoed across the wooden floor of the house, glancing around for Nav. She caught the eye of Eagle’s friend, Avanna, who was nodding slightly toward the west end of the house. Lexie smiled and walked toward the bathroom, peeking into the bedroom situated next to it. Nav was standing in front of his closet rifling through the clothes hanging haphazardly throughout. She poked her head in and Nav immediately pulled her into a warm hug. Just as his arms wrapped around her, he shut the door giving them the privacy they had been craving.
“Hi,” she whispered into the skin of his neck, inhaling the musky scent of his cologne.
“I hate to be that guy, but you gotta get this wet thing off. It’s too cold in the house. I can feel the goosebumps littered across your body,” he whispered.
A shiver spread through her body knowing the goosebumps weren’t because she was cold, but rather because of the way Nav made her feel when they were alone. Without a second thought, Lexie stepped away from Nav and pulled the dress up and over her head, exposing the yellow bikini she was wearing beneath. Nav’s eyes dipped for a brief second before he swiped his hand over his mouth and turned around to dig through his dresser. He turned back toward her and handed her a t-shirt. She held it up in front of her, noting the St. Augustine’s emblem slapped across the front before slipping it over her head and allowing the thin fabric to provide her with a warmth she didn’t realize she was craving. Nav sat on the edge of his bed fumbling with his fingers and she stood a few feet away watching him with curiosity.
“What are you thinking about, Nav?” she asked him.
He pulled his eyes to meet hers and reached out his hands. She wasn’t sure what he was wanting her to do, so she took several steps forward until she was only slightly towering over him. He grabbed her hands in his and slowly stroked the top of her hand with his thumb. A shudder crept up the back of her spine alarming the sensitive part of her body that Nav was touching.
“I really want to kiss you. I’ve wanted to kiss you since the moment I saw you waiting outside of Amelia’s house,” he said as he looked into her eyes, not breaking contact.
She felt her heart stutter, skipping a beat as it tried to gain a sense of what he just said. Over the last several months, Nav and Lexie had played a little song and dance with their relationship, always skipping over the intimacy between them. They’d give each other little pecks on the cheek or on the lips, but never more than that. They both were very aware the desire was there, but neither knew how to broach it now that Nav was legally an adult. It seemed like a silly thing as they had been friends since they were three and she knew she was in love with him many years prior to this new stage of their life. She never wanted to hold him back from living and growing up, but she also didn’t want to be left behind while he did. She had eyes for no one other than Nav. She focused on school, dance practice, and making time for Nav.
“I wish you would,” she finally responded in an almost voiceless whisper.
Before she could process what was happening, Nav was on his feet brushing his lips against hers, hands tangling in her wet hair.
