16. Into You #3
But Jase just wraps his arms around me, using his body to shield mine as people push their way through the crowds.
We move over to the side until we’re against the railing, and Travis returns a few minutes later, discreetly handing each of us a bottle of some malt liquor beer I’ve never heard of.
Given that most of the people around us appear to be teenagers themselves (and also in possession of alcohol), we don’t really have to hide.
Still, everyone’s downing the beverage more quickly than we should, just happy in our teenage rebellion of getting our hands on any liquor.
I don’t expect it to taste good, but the natural juices in it make the drink surprisingly sweet.
There’s also a trash can nearby, so I’m able to discard the bottle the second I’m done.
With each of us only getting one drink, nobody’s at risk of getting shitfaced.
That doesn’t mean I don’t feel any effects.
Warmth pools in my stomach, and my muscles ease under Jase’s hold as everybody sways to the music.
I haven’t felt anxious for hours, believing to already be calm, so I’m surprised how much more relaxed I am now.
I can’t fight my smile, especially when the fireworks begin.
There’s a sandbar not too far off the shore, and someone has set up an entire show from there, letting the blaze of lights shoot up into the night sky and reflect over the water.
Michael Jackson’s “Beat It” plays behind us, and Jase sings the Weird Al parody lyrics into my ear, only making my smile grow so wide that it threatens to split my face.
It doesn’t escape me, how surreal this is.
This is what normal feels like. I’m a normal teenager, doing normal teenage things, and I’m not falling apart like everybody said I would. This is what it feels like to have friends, and to laugh, and to not be on guard all the time.
And it’s a moment I want to live in forever.
Five minutes into the display, the rev of what sounds like half a dozen weed whackers comes from our left down on the beach. I try to make out the source in the darkness, hearing it only grow louder as it draws closer. The noise becomes more distinct, as do the silhouettes accompanying it.
Four dirt bikes race along the length of the beach, all with passengers on the backs.
And when I say race, I mean it. They tear across the shoreline, only gaining momentum.
Jase explains it’s necessary, since the slower you go on this terrain, the more you tend to sink into the sand.
For how fast they’re going, it looks like it would be scary as hell, especially seeing two of the bikes briefly fishtail.
That doesn’t deter anyone on board though.
Those not driving throw their heads back once they hit a straight, flat stretch of the beach, holding their arms out on either side as they howl up at the night sky.
“What do you say?” Jase whispers to me, his arms still wrapped around my middle as he holds me from behind. “Want to try it? They say it feels like you’re flying, especially when you’re on the back.”
I can imagine why.
Sand and water kick up as the bikes ride underneath the pier, spraying everyone overhead with flecks of both. Some people are annoyed, but everyone else cheers, including me.
“I’d say it looks like fun,” I laugh, “until Five-O gets involved.”
Since it’s probably not legal to ride dirt bikes on the beach any time of day, I doubt the police are fond of them doing it during the night. That much is clear by the blue and red lights flashing in the distance that have nothing to do with the Fourth of July festival or firework show.
Jase tsks in my ear. “The thrill of the escape is half the fun.”
I turn to look up at him, and we both laugh, seeing the other peppered with wet sand that had been kicked up from below.
I brush off the left collar of his shirt and the ends of his hair that graze his shoulder, removing the remnants as he plucks out a couple of clumps from my long locks. Jase’s thumb comes up to my cheek, and I can feel the brittle sand pressing into the pad of his finger as he wipes it away…
But his hand doesn’t fall back to his side. It stays there on my face, and before I can process what he’s doing, he lowers his head, bringing his mouth to mine.
Between his cologne lingering on the sweatshirt I’m wearing and the fact he’s been holding me throughout the entire evening, I’ve been surrounded by his scent ever since we left the country club. But now? I’m engulfed by it, so much so that my brain has apparently sputtered to a halt.
Because I’m not doing anything.
My first-ever kiss comes from Jason freaking Rivers, and I can’t get a single part of my body to operate. I’m too shocked to do anything more than blink. Hell, I’m not even sure I’m doing that.
When Jase realizes this kiss is entirely one-sided, he pulls back to look at me and immediately winces.
Oh God…
Is he going to admit to being drunk? Has he somehow been downing alcohol throughout the evening and I just didn’t notice?
Or is there a gas leak out here somehow?
Or maybe some mind-altering toxin that’s gone airborne?
Is there some horrible reason why he just did that?
Is this the other shoe finally dropping?
It wouldn’t surprise me, given my life. Everything’s been too perfect, so of course, this is where it all falls apart.
But despite Jase wincing and pulling away far enough to break the kiss, he doesn’t pull away altogether.
His head is still lowered, and perhaps it’s just a trick of the lights from the fireworks, but I could swear there’s a hint of a blush forming on his cheeks.
“I’m sorry,” he mutters. “I should have asked first or said something…or maybe not do anything since I’ve apparently scared the crap out of you, given the look on your face. ”
He starts to straighten, apologizing again, and now I’m the one catching him off guard.
I’ve never kissed somebody before, so I have no idea what I’m doing, but I don’t give myself the chance to second guess it.
Going up on my tiptoes, I press my lips to his.
It’s brief and there isn’t any technique, but it can’t be too bad if Jase’s reaction is anything to go by.
Before I can lower myself off the tips of my toes, Jase slides his hands up the sides of my neck, his thumbs pressing ever so gently against my throat.
It has my head tilting up, my eyes meeting his.
And he’s smiling. He’s smiling like he just scored the championship game-winning touchdown, and the sight has my insides melting.
Every inch of my skin pebbles at the feeling of his fingers sliding into the back of my hair as his thumbs trace along the edges of my jaw.
The warmth of his breath, the softness of those lips as they capture mine again, the electricity in the air; it all has me seeing stars behind my eyelids.
Well, those things…and maybe something else.
Jase must see it too, because we both open our eyes to see a bunch of people around us holding sparklers.
Some wave theirs through the air to draw hearts and various shapes, while others, like Rebecca and Travis, use theirs as wands as they pretend to have wizard’s duels.
Jase and I are given ones of our own, but he immediately entrusts his to me, evidently wanting his hands free for what he’s about to do.
Gripping the backs of my thighs, he lifts me up so my legs can wrap around him, leveling our faces with one another’s as his lips recapture mine.
Seriously, can I just live in this moment forever?