A Week at the Beach (21 page)

            He stood behind me and raised my arm up with his underneath.  “All you need to do is hold the ball up here with this hand, make a fist with this one then bring your fist up to the ball.”  His hands ran down the length of my arms, showing me what my arms needed to do.  When he finished his demonstration, his hands slid down to my waist and held me close to him. 

            “Okay, I’ll try not to hit you, but I can’t make any promises,” I laughed and practiced what he’d showed me.

            “I’m tough. I can take it,” he said with a smile.

            “Alright, but you’ve been warned!”  I laughed and attempted to serve the ball. 

            I hit it and watched it sail over the net and right in between where Chrissy and Todd stood. They were probably shocked I even made contact with the ball much less made it go over the net.  When I realized I’d just made a point, I clapped and threw my arms in the air.  Mike’s hands were still on my waist and he lifted me up in celebration.  I turned around and hugged him, proud of myself not only for scoring, but also for not injuring anyone in the process.

            When I pulled out of the hug, I turned to see Nick standing on the beach, dripping wet and looking very upset.  I smiled at him but he just glared at Mike. 

            “Do you know him?” Mike asked when he noticed Nick staring at us.

            I nodded, “He’s my friend.”  I smiled at Mike.  “I kind of need to talk to him for a moment.” 

            Mike smiled back, “Let me know if you need anything.  I’ll be the one on the court owning these two!” he pointed at Chrissy and Todd then went back to his game.

            I walked away and towards Nick, whose face hadn’t gotten any softer since I first saw him.

            “How are the waves?” I asked as I approached him.

            “Who is that?” he asked without taking his eyes off Mike.

            I turned and looked at Mike, who was busy working our half of the court.  “That’s Mike, he’s Todd’s friend.”

            “He’s awfully friendly, don’t you think?” Nick’s gaze shifted from Mike to me.

            I smiled, “He was just showing me how to serve. That’s all.”

            “Yeah, I’m sure that’s all,” he said in a voice heavy with sarcasm.

            I rolled my eyes at him, “I thought you were going to be out on the waves all day.  Chrissy said something about you wanting to clear your head.”

            His brow furrowed, “I was planning to be out on the waves all day, but then I saw you being manhandled by that jerk, so I came in to see what was going on.”

            I laughed, “I wasn’t being manhandled, and he’s not a jerk.  He’s a nice guy, actually.”

            “So I should just leave and let him put his hands all over you.  Is that what you want?” Nick said angrily.

            “Whoa!  What the hell, Nick!”  I put my hands up in defense.  “I don’t know what you think was happening, but we were just playing a game of volleyball.”

            “He had his hands all over you, Cami,” he said in a quieter voice but with the same intensity as before.

            I didn’t respond.  I just stood there staring at him.  As I did, he seemed to calm down.  He took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

            “I’m sorry,” he said quietly.  “I don’t know what’s going on with me, Cami.”

            “I can take care of myself, Nick.  I know he probably thinks he’s getting somewhere with me, but you and I both know it’s never going to happen.”  I gave him a small smile and watched him relax even more.

            “You shouldn’t play with a man’s hopes like that,” he grinned at me.  “It’s not fair.”

            I smiled.  “How are the waves today?”

            He turned and looked out at the water then turned back to me.  “They’re okay.”

            “Is your head clear yet?” I asked with a smile.

            He laughed, “I thought it was, but then I saw you and your boyfriend practically making out on the volleyball court.”

            I pushed him and laughed, “He’s not my boyfriend.”

            “But you were making out?” he said with a smile.

            “No!” I pushed him again.

            He took a step back to steady himself and laughed. 

            I lowered my eyes and stared at my feet.  “Besides, I was only hanging out with them because you ditched me for a surfboard.” I rolled my eyes, but didn’t look up at him.

            “I brought the other board if you want to try it again.”

            I looked up to see him grinning at me. 

            “I think I’ve probably tempted fate enough when it comes to surfing,” I smiled, “but I could just paddle out and ride the waves with you.”

            He smiled widely at me, “I’d like that.”  He looked past me then grinned, “Do you think Mike will be upset if you leave him?”

            I turned back and caught Chrissy’s eye.  She had been watching me and Nick intently and when I caught her eye she raised an eyebrow at me.  I rolled my eyes and smiled.  The great thing about my relationship with Chrissy was that we’d known each other long enough that we could have an entire conversation without saying a word. 

            “I don’t think I care,” I said to Nick and turned back to face him. 

            We picked up the boards where Nick had left them and paddled out towards the waves.  Nick left me long enough to catch a wave and I pulled myself up on the board and watched him.  Just like he had the first day, he made it all look so easy, but this time I wasn’t fooled into thinking, I could try it.  When he emerged from the curl, he turned to look at me.  I cheered loudly for him and gave him the thumbs-up sign.  He smiled then flipped off the board.  He paddled back to me.  When he got close to me, he sat up on the board and let it float towards me.

            “I get why you come out here to clear your head.  It’s quiet,” I smiled at him as he brushed the water out of his face.

            “It’s quiet, but it’s not silent.  There’s just enough noise to let you think.”

            I nodded and let him settle in on his board.  “What’s got your head so muddled that you needed to spend the day out here?”

            He smiled and looked me in the eyes, “You.”

            “How so?”

            He sighed, “I don’t know if I can put it into words.”

            I nodded slowly, “Is it because you find yourself wanting to say and do things that you wouldn’t normally consider saying or doing?”

            He nodded.

            “Is it because half of you wants to do something that the other half knows isn’t what you should do?”

            He nodded again.

            “Is it because even though you’ve always known who you are and what you want, you find yourself doubting it all?”

            He nodded again.

            I smiled, “Yeah, I have no idea what that’s like.”

            He laughed and shook his head.  After a few seconds, he looked over at me and said, “I’m really sorry about last night.”

            “Don’t be.”

            “I shouldn’t have said those things to you.”

            “Don’t apologize for what you said.  I do accept your apology for waking me up to say it, though.”

            Nick smiled, “Fair enough.”

            “I’m sorry for not saying anything back to you last night.  I was a little caught off guard, and I just didn’t know how to respond.”  I smiled apologetically.  “However, I’ve thought about it, and what I should have said was thank you.”

            “Thank you?” Nick repeated my words back to me.

            “Yes, thank you for making me see that it really is over between me and Jack.”  I shrugged, “I guess if I was being honest with myself, I thought that maybe it would be nice if he came to me and said he wanted me back.”

            Nick stared at me, “What would you say if he did come back?”

            “What would I say now?  Probably ‘go to hell’, but if he had come back last week I probably would have taken him back.”  I shrugged.

            Nick smiled and looked down at his surfboard.

            “So, did you really expect me to let you in last night?” I grinned as I asked him.

            “By let me in, you mean into the room, right?” he winked at me playfully.

            I splashed him with water, “Yes.”

            “I don’t know what I was thinking last night, actually.  After I talked to you, I barely made it to my room before I passed out.”

            “Even drunk, you should have known that I wasn’t going to let you into my room.”  I gave him the teacher look and he smiled.  “Besides, what kind of person would I be if I took advantage of you while you were drunk?”

            He laughed, “A guy, that’s who you’d be.”

            “Can I ask you an incredibly intimate and inappropriate question?”

            Nick grinned and looked curiously at me, “I suppose.”

            “How many women have you slept with?”

            He grinned, “Counting you?”

            I kicked water on him and said, “I meant sex, you idiot!”

            He laughed then answered, “Fifteen.”

            “Fifteen!” I shouted back at him. 

            “That seems like a lot to you, doesn’t it?”

            “That seems like a lot to the CDC. How old are you?”

            “I’m twenty-nine.”  He watched me try to process the information he’d shared with me.  “What’s your number?”

            “A lot less,” I shook my head in disbelief.  “Take your number and divide it by five, that’s how much less.  Wow!  Fifteen!”

            It was Nick’s turn to look shocked.  “You’ve only had sex with three guys?  How old are you?”

            “I’m twenty-seven, and there’s nothing wrong with my number!  I live by the one hand rule.” I said it proudly, not at all ashamed of my low number of partners.

            Nick cocked an eyebrow at me, “The one hand rule?”

            “The number of sexual partners I have in my lifetime needs to be able to be counted on one hand.  I’m doing pretty well so far.” I held up three fingers to show him.

            He grinned, “So that means you’ve only got two left.”

            “It’s not a countdown, Nick.  I don’t have to get to five. I just don’t want to go over five.” 

            “What happens if things don’t work out with you and number five?  What do you do then?”

            I shrugged casually, “I don’t know.  I suppose maybe at that point I switch to the two hand rule.”

            He grinned at me and said mischievously, “In my opinion, it’s always better when you use both hands.”