AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Wow, how are you ever going to get a woman with that low self-esteem?” I asked, and Caleb just grinned, ignoring my sarcasm.
“Why don’t we all go approach her and see which one she grinds on?” Ethan suggested.
I shook my head. She wasn’t the one I wanted. My mind’s eye was full of Geneva at the beach. It might take me awhile to warm up to the evening. “You guys go ahead. I’ll just watch you two both get rejected.”
Caleb stuck out his tongue and Ethan gave me a smirk as they both stood up to head out to the dance floor. To my surprise, it wasn’t long before a swarm of girls pooled around the pair of them.
I was missing my moment. Even though Geneva Danes was still front and center in my thoughts, I should just forget her and immerse myself into the sea of sexy females on the dance floor. The music was ripe, raw and fantastic. The alcohol blurred the lines of reality and gave me an extra boost.
If I was in the prime of my life, now was the time to embrace it.
I jogged over to Ethan and Caleb and started dancing with a cute and petite slender woman with long brunette hair. We worked up a sweat as we burned calories, surrounded by the smell of beer, sweat and perfume.
Time lost all meaning in the pulse of music, alcohol, and dancing. When the dawn of a new day began to speckle the sky, I was shocked that we’d stayed out all night. It was time to crash and sleep off the hangover.
This trip had just begun and would definitely be one for the memory books.
Chapter 4 - Geneva
I waited for Tamara to arrive at a brunch bistro named The Beach Shack. It was a cute lime green shop which looked like it had weathered a few storms, and maybe a few hurricanes too. The paint was chipping in a few areas, revealing exposed white brick beneath. Shabby, but elegant, it was a perfect mixture of art imitating life and the way perseverance kept one standing even after a lifetime of beating. For me, it was a soft perspective.
I had endured my fair share of ups and downs, but right now I was coasting on a wave where I never wanted the ride to end. A delicate sea breeze brushed off the shore and tickled the side of my cheek, which was flushed from the scorching heat of the day.
“Hey, Geneva!”
I turned around with a beaming smile at the sound of my name. “Tamara!” I wrapped my arms around my friend to pull her in for a hug.
She was wearing a pine green dress that matched her eyes. Her spiral chocolate ringlets fell down her back and over her shoulder as smooth as silk.
“Thanks for meeting me for brunch.” Tamara grinned, displaying pearly white teeth.
“I’m stoked, to be honest,” I rubbed my belly that was now rumbling with hunger. “I’m famished.”
We walked inside and were instantly hit with a refreshing breath of crisp air conditioning. There was a lulling hum of chatter coming from people engaged in conversations at their various tables. It swelled in the air and gave me a bubbly sensation of happiness.
The hostess seated us at a cozy booth nestled by a corner window, giving me a generous view of the world passing by outside.
Once we ordered our food, Tamara sank into the back of her booth seat and heaved a dramatic sigh.
“What’s wrong?” I asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Oh, nothing.” She rolled her wrist in the air dismissively. “I just love Miami so much. I’m going to be sad when it’s time to go back home.”
I nodded. “I understand where you’re coming from, but on the bright side, Tampa has beautiful gulf waters, too.” It wasn’t like we were landlocked.
Tamara smirked. “But what about the guys?”
“What?” I asked.
“Those guys?” Tamara was grinning from ear to ear. “You know…the ones that hit you with a volleyball on the beach?”
“Oh…those guys?” I pretended to be nonchalant, even though the thought of all three of their handsome faces made my belly swirl with a delicious warmth that was hard to contain.
“Yeah!” Tamara grinned. “They were sexy as hell.”
“I suppose they were attractive…” As a general rule, I was more reserved than Tamara normally was. I preferred to internalize my feelings, harboring my most private thoughts without dishing or gushing.
She leaned forward, conspiratorially. “They really seemed to be into you.”
