“Jerk.” I untangle myself from him to brush the mess of hair out of my eyes, only to find Jase’s hands cupping my face.
He lowers himself until his forehead touches mine. “Trust me, Birdie. You look beautiful, as always.”
“Considering you’ve seen me fresh off a bird attack, I seriously doubt that,” I mutter, not bothering to mention how many mornings he’s found me curled up in bed with my hair a tangled mess and my face still mashed into a pillow.
He chuckles, his hands falling from my face. I expect him to back away, but Jase only drops lower, grabbing hold of my thighs. I shriek as I’m suddenly flung off my feet and pitched forward as he lifts me up into an over-the-shoulder carry.
All I can see is Jase’s back, but I can still sense him smiling somehow.“What’re you doing?”
“Kidnapping you,” he says in mock seriousness, whirling around. “It’s the only way I can extract you from this hellhole.”
The hinges on the bathroom door creak ever so slightly, and I can only guess Jase is peering outside to see if the coast is clear. It must be, because he takes off running, not the least bit hindered by his new cargo. I have to curl my toes to prevent my flip-flops from flying off as we race down two hallways and a flight of stairs.
Quite frankly, I’m a little disappointed by the security here. There are cameras stationed pretty much everywhere around the country club, so the fact no one seems inclined to intervene with the young man who seemingly broke into the women’s restroom and abducted someone is rather alarming. Or maybe the cameras transmit sound, and security can hear me squealing and laughing all the way out the side door to the golf course.
Only once we’ve reached the sidewalk does Jase set me back on my feet, and it’s a short walk to the pick-up driver parked along the curb of the side road. When he informed me of this plan, he only said that we’d be going to the beach. I assumed we’d be going to one nearby, so I’m surprised to find us heading down to the south side.
Jase sees my look of confusion the second we turn onto Montague Avenue. “You’ve never been to Arcadia for the Fourth, have you?”
Arcadia?
When I was younger, my family vacationed during the holiday, and when we stopped five years ago, we always went to the country club.
I tell him this, and it only makes that mischievous grin of his grow all the more.
“There’s not going to be some kind of Hells Angels biker rally there or something, will there?” I say this jokingly, but I’m suddenly not so sure.
Thankfully, even the driver laughs at my comment, so it provides a little reassurance, and Jase proves my fear is wholly unnecessary when a Ferris wheel comes into view long before we reach Arcadia’s beach.
Traffic clogs the streets for several blocks as everybody waits to park, so Jase pays our driver, and we hoof it on foot towards the front entrance to what I can definitively see is a Fourth of July festival. The original parking lot and field before the beach have been transformed into fairgrounds with everything from a funhouse to bumper cars to concession stands and arcade games. Even better, I don’t recognize a single person we pass upon getting our hands stamped.
Jase comes up from behind and wraps his arms around my middle, lifting me right off the ground high enough that he can whisper right into my ear. “Now, make a list of all the games yousee that you want to kick my ass in later,” he laughs, all the while still walking. “But our first order of business is to get some actual food in our systems.”
When he sets me back down, he guides me all the way through the festival to the beach, where a God’s honest cookout is being held. It’s obviously meant to be more about bringing the community together than making a profit, because everything costs next to nothing. And they have it all. Burgers and hot dogs, potato salad and macaroni salad, apple and cherry pies, bacon cheddar deviled eggs, and even grilled peaches with moonshine syrup. I honestly had never even heard of the last before, but, oh sweet Moses, are they delicious.
After we’ve stocked up our plates with our first servings, Jase hands his over to me so he can fetch the beach towel he packed. Everything’s loud and chaotic and filled with laughter, and I couldn’t love it more. Parents are actually playing with their kids, and people are making memories. Everyone’s enjoying each other’s company and enjoying the fresh air. I don’t feel like a bug under the microscope, being judged and made to feel out of place. I’m just anothernormalbody in the crowd.
It feels nice. It feels like being able to finally breathe after having your head underwater.
The heat would typically make people flee indoors, like those back at the country club, but between the options of cooling off in the water or having a serving of frozen lemonade from the concessions, nobody’s going anywhere. Since I’m not wearing a swimsuit, Jase and I eventually make our way down to the shoreline once we’re done eating. We go just far enough in that the water doesn’t reach higher than my knees, which is good because I’m finishing off a cherry-filled hand pie ice cream sandwich and I have no desire to spoil it with saltwater.
“Okay, you’ve gotta let me have a taste,” Jase insists, trying to pluck the baked goodness from my death grip.
“What?No! You had your chance to grab one when they first set them out,” I laugh. “You snooze, you lose.”
“Just one bite.” He gives me his bestPuss in Bootsface, batting eyelashes and all. I’m not swayed. “Oh, come on. You’re practically orgasming over there with how much moaning you’re doing.”
I almost choke on my laughter, not to mention my pie sandwich, leaving him with the perfect opening to step in front of me and grab my hands. I go to yank out of his hold, but it’s too late. He’s stolen a bite from the pie crust with his teeth. I shove him aside with my elbow, but he barely notices, too busy moaning himself.
Unsurprisingly, Jase makes another play for the dessert. “Jesus, that’s like edible crack.”
I duck under his arms and shovel the rest of it between my lips. “Awww, too late,” I say around a mouthful, showcasing my empty hands with a grin.
“I believe I see crumbsandfilling there.” He points to my fingers, and I have to swallow back a scream and the rest of the pie as I take off running.
Given his athleticism and the fact his legs are substantially longer than mine, he catches up to me in a matter of seconds as I run out of the water. Jase hooks his hands around my waist and hauls me up against his chest. Laughing like a couple of hyenas, the two of us flail and tussle with one another until we find ourselves splayed out on the sand. Even with me lying on top of him, he still grabs my hands, only to find the remnants gone. This just makes me laugh harder as I point to the side of his face where the filling is now smeared. It doesn’t deter him, because he swipes at it and licks it off his fingers.
“You are such a dork, you know that?”
