Journey 5
~Gorgeous?~
Reaching land, I hop off my board preparing myself for impending embarrassed awkward silence. Stepping off, my feet now encrusted in damp sand, my heartbeat is strangely higher than normal. Calm down...he's just a Greek god with soul bearing windows for eyes and biceps the size of tree trunks. He and Jesse finish their conversation with trailing laughs, and turn to us. His stare seems to eat me alive, as he stands like a museum statue, his arms folded across his chest.
I finally raise my eyes to meet his as I trudge towards them, my arms and legs burning with weakness from paddling the quarter mile to shore. While his seemingly sincere smile eases me, it also causes increased blushing in my already flushed face.
"Hey gorgeous", his voice husky and grated, roars lowly, and I can barely tell the difference between him and the ocean behind me. Did he just....Is he.....?
"Excuse me?", I wipe dripping water from my forehead, trying to stop my voice from cracking like Peter Brady, as I ask the question. Letty and Jesse both tighten in an attempt to hide their laughter.
"I said.....hello....gorgeous", he repeats himself slower, and lower. A chill runs through me, settling at the base of my spine, as I stare at him blankly, only causing him to smile wider. In my daze, I end up letting my board slip and try to fathom why anyone would greet me as 'gorgeous'. Of course, Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum are now doubled over in audible laughter, and my suspicions are confirmed that something is being kept from me.
"We'll meet you back at the house", they both begin scurrying away from my questioning looks, and running towards Jesse's, leaving Dom and I alone.
Silent, I look away nervously, as he bends and retrieves my fallen board. He sticks its head end in the sand with a sudden jerk of his arms, and props one arm on it's tail.
"You looked good out there", he says softly his voice blending with the sounds around us. He's like a snake charmer, and his tone is coaxing me to meet his gaze.
"Not really....you must have been looking at Letty", I joke, shaking my head, taking a deep breath.
"No, you looked good, really", he insists, stepping closer to me. Unconsciously I begin to step backwards while mumbling incoherently. Yes, I can't take a complement. Suddenly I can't feel the ground beneath my back foot. Yes, I know it's happening, and no I can't stop it. I only hope that when I hit the ground it'll swallow me whole and dump me into hell so that I won't have to suffer through another distressing moment in front of him ever again. Fuck, this is gonna suck. Of course things begin to move in slow motion, I guess to prolong my suffering. I can see his face contorting, as I throw my arm out beside me, trying to at least fall on my side and not my ass. The last thing I see before shutting my eyes and praying to get knocked unconscious, is him take one step towards me. My fingertips even graze the sand before his arms hook under mine and stable me. My eyes are still closed. Why'd he have to go and be valiant? I mean, I'm almost sure I saw that portal opening up for me. He holds me flush against his solid body, as I just hold my breath and pray to die. God, please just...an aneurysm, a stroke...anything....anything at all. As if I didn't make an ass of myself enough last night, I have to go and stumble and fall...on a relatively level surface?
"You okay?", he half-laughs lowly, almost whispering, pulling back to look at my scrunched face.
"Yeah", I whisper almost inaudible, nodding my head furiously.
"Okay...I'm gonna let you stand free now, you sure?", he laughs a little.
"Mmm Hmm", I nod again. He steps back smiling as I finally open my eyes and sigh rolling my shoulders back. Okay, be normal, just act like that didn't happen.
"So.....why are you here?", I ask not even thinking.
"I mean....that didn't come out right", I sigh blinking hard rubbing my forehead.
"I came to see you", he states like it's no big mystery, like I should've known. My resident cynic kicks in before I can try to even grasp why he just said that.
"Bullshit", I laugh, but stop upon seeing his unamused, confused face.
"I mean...that's funny Dom, but you don't have to.....so, what's up?", I begin then stop myself to turn the convo over.
"You wanna go out tonight?", he doesn't miss a beat, totally ignoring me.
"We are out", I say seriously. It's not that I'm clueless, I just have a real tight hold of reality and there's no way a delicious man such as he, would ask me to 'go out', in this generations vernacular, meaning on a date. There's no way, I won't even entertain the thought. I won't.
~Gorgeous?~
Reaching land, I hop off my board preparing myself for impending embarrassed awkward silence. Stepping off, my feet now encrusted in damp sand, my heartbeat is strangely higher than normal. Calm down...he's just a Greek god with soul bearing windows for eyes and biceps the size of tree trunks. He and Jesse finish their conversation with trailing laughs, and turn to us. His stare seems to eat me alive, as he stands like a museum statue, his arms folded across his chest.
I finally raise my eyes to meet his as I trudge towards them, my arms and legs burning with weakness from paddling the quarter mile to shore. While his seemingly sincere smile eases me, it also causes increased blushing in my already flushed face.
"Hey gorgeous", his voice husky and grated, roars lowly, and I can barely tell the difference between him and the ocean behind me. Did he just....Is he.....?
"Excuse me?", I wipe dripping water from my forehead, trying to stop my voice from cracking like Peter Brady, as I ask the question. Letty and Jesse both tighten in an attempt to hide their laughter.
"I said.....hello....gorgeous", he repeats himself slower, and lower. A chill runs through me, settling at the base of my spine, as I stare at him blankly, only causing him to smile wider. In my daze, I end up letting my board slip and try to fathom why anyone would greet me as 'gorgeous'. Of course, Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum are now doubled over in audible laughter, and my suspicions are confirmed that something is being kept from me.
"We'll meet you back at the house", they both begin scurrying away from my questioning looks, and running towards Jesse's, leaving Dom and I alone.
Silent, I look away nervously, as he bends and retrieves my fallen board. He sticks its head end in the sand with a sudden jerk of his arms, and props one arm on it's tail.
"You looked good out there", he says softly his voice blending with the sounds around us. He's like a snake charmer, and his tone is coaxing me to meet his gaze.
"Not really....you must have been looking at Letty", I joke, shaking my head, taking a deep breath.
"No, you looked good, really", he insists, stepping closer to me. Unconsciously I begin to step backwards while mumbling incoherently. Yes, I can't take a complement. Suddenly I can't feel the ground beneath my back foot. Yes, I know it's happening, and no I can't stop it. I only hope that when I hit the ground it'll swallow me whole and dump me into hell so that I won't have to suffer through another distressing moment in front of him ever again. Fuck, this is gonna suck. Of course things begin to move in slow motion, I guess to prolong my suffering. I can see his face contorting, as I throw my arm out beside me, trying to at least fall on my side and not my ass. The last thing I see before shutting my eyes and praying to get knocked unconscious, is him take one step towards me. My fingertips even graze the sand before his arms hook under mine and stable me. My eyes are still closed. Why'd he have to go and be valiant? I mean, I'm almost sure I saw that portal opening up for me. He holds me flush against his solid body, as I just hold my breath and pray to die. God, please just...an aneurysm, a stroke...anything....anything at all. As if I didn't make an ass of myself enough last night, I have to go and stumble and fall...on a relatively level surface?
"You okay?", he half-laughs lowly, almost whispering, pulling back to look at my scrunched face.
"Yeah", I whisper almost inaudible, nodding my head furiously.
"Okay...I'm gonna let you stand free now, you sure?", he laughs a little.
"Mmm Hmm", I nod again. He steps back smiling as I finally open my eyes and sigh rolling my shoulders back. Okay, be normal, just act like that didn't happen.
"So.....why are you here?", I ask not even thinking.
"I mean....that didn't come out right", I sigh blinking hard rubbing my forehead.
"I came to see you", he states like it's no big mystery, like I should've known. My resident cynic kicks in before I can try to even grasp why he just said that.
"Bullshit", I laugh, but stop upon seeing his unamused, confused face.
"I mean...that's funny Dom, but you don't have to.....so, what's up?", I begin then stop myself to turn the convo over.
"You wanna go out tonight?", he doesn't miss a beat, totally ignoring me.
"We are out", I say seriously. It's not that I'm clueless, I just have a real tight hold of reality and there's no way a delicious man such as he, would ask me to 'go out', in this generations vernacular, meaning on a date. There's no way, I won't even entertain the thought. I won't.