Little Waves

EVA — I’ve been trying to figure out what to say. I’m so embarrassed. —

I liked that she typed in complete sentences with proper capitalization and punctuation, but it wasn’t surprising. Whatever impression I’ve given you so far, Eva above all else was bright. That’s just sort of hard to convey in a story primarily about her boobs and butt.

ME — Hey. No need to be embarrassed. I’m flattered. —

EVA — I sense a but. —

ME — Hah. No but. Honestly, I think you know I was checking you out too. —

EVA — That is a relief. —

ME — Not grossed out by the guy more than ten years older than you? —

EVA — Nope. What’s your number? I want to talk. —

I gave it to her, and a few moments later, I got a call. I picked up, smiling.

“Hey,” I said.

“Hey,” she said. “I, um… I’m not usually this tongue-tied. Tell me something. Anything.”

“I’m checking you out online. I didn’t know you were a model. But it makes sense.”

“Liking what you’re seeing?”

“I think you know the answer to that.”

“Mm.”

“You want to come over?” I asked.

“I really, really, really do,” she said, but sighed. “I don’t know if I’m ready for it yet.”

“That’s all right. Take your time. Whatever you need. If it creeps you out, But I should tell you, I am staring pretty damn hard at this booty shot you posted today of you and your friends. You especially.”

She laughed softly. “Stare all you want. I was hoping you’d find that.”

“Where are you? I can hear the music from your place but I don’t hear it through your phone.”

“Sitting down at your dock, actually.”

“Want company? I swear, no moves made tonight.”

“That would be nice.”

“On my way.”

I hung up, ran inside, and grabbed what remained of the six-pack of beer from my fridge. I also grabbed a flashlight, because those woods could get dark at night. Not the cozy dark you’d think, either, but a black so complete you can’t see your hand in front of your face. Usually there are houselights on and you can see enough, but sometimes not.

The path was thick with frogs that night. The crickets must have brought them out. More than a few birds rustled in the trees too, and across the lake, I heard an owl hooting. The night was hot but there was a steady breeze, and as I neared the lake, I could hear the waters lapping at the shore. It was a beautiful night to fall a little bit in love.

She sat on the dock, feet dangling in the water. She had an electric lantern next to her and a sweating sports bottle in hand. Her body tensed when she heard my feet hit the dock, and then she relaxed. Maybe it was the romantic in me, but I thought in that moment, much like me on the phone, she was giving up some resistance and fear of this.

I didn’t know what to say, so I said nothing. I put down the beer and flicked off the flashlight before settling in next to her. Eva dipped her head against my shoulder, and I wrapped an arm around her. With my other hand, I fished out a beer and twisted the cap off. I offered it to her and she sat upright to set aside her sports bottle, take the beer, and drink.

We each downed most of a bottle in silence. Finally Eva said, “I was worried you might think I was weird for coming out here when I found out you lived here. I didn’t want to seem crazy.”

“I was worried you might think I was creepy for staring.”

“Oh no. That I liked.” She looked up at me. “I’ve got baggage, Alex. I’ve not had the best luck with guys.”

The stars were so beautiful on the dappled water, not quite black from all the lights of the houses around the lake, but seemingly almost darker in the spots where the reflections couldn’t touch. Shadows could be comforting in their own odd way, as though they and the light were dancing. It seemed to me that evening that was the case.

“Me too,” I finally said, and it was true. “But I think we all do. It’s all about finding someone whose baggage fits in the closet best with yours.”

She lifted her beer to her lips and said around the lip, “It’s almost like you’re a writer.”

“Your parents are going to kill me.”

“Mm,” she said, and took another long couple swallows of beer. “No. They knew full well I was coming out here to stalk you.”

“They did?”

She nestled into me again and set her bottle of beer down. “Mm hm. Mom knew I had a crush on you as a teenager and still do. When she found out you were living here, she could have kept it quiet and I’d never have known. But she told me about you being here, and in the next sentence she said, ‘Isn’t your friend Cheyenne living out there this summer?’ So I think you’re Mom-approved.”

I chuckled. “So you really did come out here to stalk me.”

“Oh yeah. Big time. Seriously, does that weird you out?”

“No. You seem like a gentle sort of stalker. I’ll let it slide.”

“You’d better. My tits are worth it.”

Much as I wanted to find that out for myself, holding her that night was all I limited myself to. We killed the six-pack talking about college. Both of us went to the same one in New Bainbridge — go Gargoyles — and I was pleased to learn not a lot had changed. She had one of my favorite professors for a freshman English class, and a mutually loathed science professor in her sophomore year.

“Cheyenne and the others will graduate next year,” she said.

“I like her. After you went inside, she was pretty protective of you. Told me to be good to you or let you down gently.”

“Mm. That’s Cheyenne. She’s a party girl but she’s a momma hen at heart.”

“Seems like it.”

“Walk me back home? I’m a little buzzed.”

“Of course.”

I helped her to her feet. She leaned hard against me, grinning up at me lopsidedly. I knew she was more than buzzed and it was cute.

“I have something else I’m not telling you,” Eva said.

“Oh yeah?” I asked.

“Don’t worry. It’s a fun secret. Not a big lie again like I told you about living here this summer.”

I chuckled as I led her down the dock. “I didn’t think of it as a big lie.”

“Don’t you want to know what it is?”

“Of course. I want to know everything about you.”

“Mm. It’s a fun, sexy secret. And that’s all I’m going to say. You’ll find out soon enough.”

We walked on down the path, my flashlight swirling across the ground ahead of us. A deer shot across the path a little late at night for them to be out, but it was still so swelteringly hot I sure couldn’t fault the little thing for needing a drink from the lake.

“I really love this place,” Eva said. “I spent a couple weeks here two years ago with Cheyenne and her parents, I’m glad I got a chance to come back.”

“You’re always welcome at my place. I mean, look at the size of it. I went a little overboard.”

She laughed softly. “I thought that’s why you might be living with someone.”

“No, there hasn’t been anybody in a while. Been a pretty crazy couple years. You said you had a steady boyfriend in college. Ever think about getting married?”

“I wanted to. A family, kids, the whole thing. He wasn’t a bad guy but that scared him off. Breaking up was hard but in the end I think I was more into the idea of having those things than him. I needed to learn to take a step back and look at the big picture, what I really want out of a person and not just a relationship, you know?”

“I do,” I said. “I’ve been through that a few times. You’re happy in the moment and you think that’s enough. You see what a person is, but you don’t want to see them. Or you think they’ll eventually fit into your view of them, or the other way around.”

“Yeaaaah. This got deep, old man.”

“It did.” I struggled to find something else to talk about, anything, and said lamely, “Did Cheyenne talk to you about the Fourth?”

“Oh! Yeah! You sure you can handle a bunch of college girls and one wandering graduate who’s kind of all sorts of stupid about you?”

“It’ll be a challenge, but I’ll manage it, somehow.”

“I’ll bet.”

We walked in comfortable silence the rest of the way. By now the party music had faded to reasonable levels, given the late hour, though Cheyenne’s place was still lit up with strings of white lights and sleek modern lanterns built into the walls, posts, and most interesting to me, the stairs themselves. I made a mental note about that and filed it away for a potential future upgrade to my own house.

“Thanks for the talk, Alex,” Eva said. “I-”

“Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!” a voice shouted from the deck. More joined in, and soon four women crowded the deck, including Cheyenne. They were all as beautiful as their pictures online, though wearing a bit more clothes. Just a bit, though.

I turned to Eva, meaning to tell her again I wouldn’t make a move if she wasn’t comfortable. But she was already moving, arms going around my shoulders, her head down, shy even if she’d made the first move. I brought two fingers to her chin, lifted her head, and lost any words I might have been about to speak. Her eyes were brighter than the patio lights, brighter than the stars, so bright that I might find myself blinded when I turned away. So I didn’t intend to.

I kissed her, my Eva, for the first time. She smelled of sweet sweat and soft soap, and we both tasted of beer, and oh, when I felt those soft lips, the slide of her questioning tongue, the breath against me, I was lost. Well and truly lost. If you’d asked my name in that long moment, I’m not sure I could have given you an answer. I don’t think I would have even heard you. There was just us and the water.