Just Admit That You Love Me

"Would you stop walking away from me, Lauren?" I said frustrated. I had been trying to get her to talk to me for so long that I was about to go insane if she didn't respond. I felt so bad about the way I treated her and I just wanted her to tell me that I was forgiven. Even though I knew I didn't deserve her forgiveness. Why do I do shit like this? Why do I push her away all the time? I know I have commitment issues but it would be different with her, I know it would be.

She didn't turn around, she just kept walking along the beach pretending that I didn't exist. Every time I would walk faster to catch up with her she would speed up her walk as well and I would end up behind her again, chasing her. "Lauren!" I said grabbing her arm this time and spinning her around. She yanked her arm out of my hand and crossed her arms.

"What do you want?" She said irritated. "I don't want to talk to you, Geoff. Can you just leave me alone?" She started looking around the beach to distract herself which I think was her way of showing me she didn't care about what happened to us anymore. I didn't like that feeling at all. I needed to fix this.

"One more chance." I said desperately, "Just one." She rolled her eyes as if to say 'I don't have time for this' and started to walk away again. I noticed a flower just off the beach on the grass and ran over and picked it up. I ran in front of her keeping the flower hidden behind my back.

"Can you go away?" I took the flower out from behind my back and held it in front of me. I put on the best smile I could muster and waited patiently for her response. "You think a flower is going to fix this? Think again." I felt my face fall as I threw the flower on the ground.

"No flowers then," I said shrugging. "What then? Lauren, I promise you things will be different this time." I don't think I've ever tried this hard to get a girl before. I hated making myself feel vulnerable and Lauren knew that, which was probably why she was making me do it. I didn't care with her though, I just needed one more chance and that was it. I wouldn't blow it. I wish she could see that. I wish she could understand just how much I want to fix this.

"I don't know, Geoff. I don't know if I can even forgive you for treating me the way you did. It was unacceptable and I'm not about to let you think that it's okay to treat me like that. To treat anyone like that." She tucked her hair behind her ear and stared at me. I could tell she was trying to read my facial expression which probably came across as sickening. I felt a lump in the back of my throat and prayed to god I could get the words I needed to say out before I embarrassed myself.

"Let me take you out, okay? Like on a date." I watched her face intently, trying to read her mind. I really needed to prove myself to her, to let her know I wasn't just messing around like that time outside of the elevator. Which by the way, may have been the best ten seconds of my entire life. That's including the time I won free ribs for a year at Montana's in ninth grade.

"If I agree to this, will you go away?" A wide smile spread across my face and I nodded.

"I will leave you be until then." I was so close to getting her to agree, it was killing me that she was dragging on the suspense. I looked at her hopeful, wanting her to agree already so that I could plan it all out.

"Fine, but it's not a date." She said pointing her finger at me. I felt a wave of relief wash over me.

"I'll call you later then to let you know the plan." I said smiling, hoping that she was even just a tiny bit happy. I wanted to know what was running through her mind and if they were good thoughts or not. If she was really going to keep an open mind about this or go into it with a negative outlook. I was really hoping she was up for giving me another chance. This night would be a lot easier if she was.

She nodded her head and then began walking away from me. This time I let her go. I didn't need to chase after her anymore, well for now anyways. She agreed to a date. She may have said it wasn't to be called a date, but she still agreed to it which was a good thing. Now all I had to do was think of something to do, preferably something that we haven't already done before. I noticed Braxton in the distance talking to some guy by a boat and waved him over. He was quite a bit away from me, so while he was walking towards me I took out my phone and called Lauren. I could still see her walking around the beach and watched as she took out her phone and answered it. "Be ready by eight o'clock tonight." I said quickly and then hung up before she could answer.

"What's up, man?" Braxton said, reaching me. He looked strangely happy for someone who was so heartbroken the last few days. Especially since he looked like a complete mess when he saw Mikenna half dead last night from all the alcohol she had drunken. Come to think of it, I should have checked on her this morning. I hope she's okay.

"Oh you know, just the usual. Trying to get Lauren to forgive me." I said shrugging. Braxton patted me on the back and laughed. Yeah yeah, Braxton, you laugh it up.

"I'm surprised she let you get that close to her." He said smirking at me smugly. "When I was watching you from over there she looked like she was going to knock you out. I was a bit concerned for your safety."

"Ha ha, very funny." I said crossing my arms over my chest. "As a matter of fact, she agreed to go out with me tonight." A smug smile danced on my lips as Braxton stared at me clearly impressed. He was also giving me those 'you better not fuck this up' look at the same time though which made me feel a bit uneasy.

"What happened to that chick from the field you apparently had feelings for?" He said curiously. He was such an ass. I couldn't get mad at him though, everything he learned was from me. Especially his cockiness. He's been my best friend for as long as I can remember and we're still just as close as we were in the beginning. Probably closer.

"I was just high off of the sex, man. You cannot hold me accountable for anything I said that morning." We both sat down in the sand and scoped out the beach while we talked. Cuba was beautiful. I was starting to rethink my no smoking rule. It would be the coolest thing to just sit here at night and smoke a blunt.

"I know that feeling. So what are you and Lauren doing tonight?" Shit, I completely blanked on the details after I called her to let her know the time. If this was going to make her forgive me, it had to be good. What was there to do around here that didn't seem way over the top, but hadn't already been done.

"I have no idea." We could go scuba-diving, but that seems like something you should do in the day. We could probably take a walk along the beach, but that seems too mellow. The thought of what to do tonight was stressing me out.

"Take her out on a boat or something. That way you can go uninterrupted in the middle of the ocean." That actually seemed like a pretty good idea. That way we would have more time to talk and I would have more time to explain myself. She'd have to forgive me eventually and there was no where for her to go if she didn't.

I started thinking about where I could get a boat and then remembered that there were boat rentals just down by the dock. I looked over at the man Braxton had been talking to and noticed that above him was a big sign that read "Boat Rentals." Why was Braxton renting a boat out? Why was he so perky today also?

"So, uh, what happened last night after I left?" I asked half concerned and half curious. "Did Mikenna end up being okay? I hated to leave but David was threatening to kill Trevor, and you know how that always ends up." Whenever David and Trevor were drunk, they fought and when they fought there was really no stopping them from ripping each other's throats out. I was usually the only person who could break them up.

"No worries. Thanks for calling me though, I would have been pissed if you didn't." I chuckled and waited for him to continue. "She's okay. Uh... she found out that Rylee was cheating on her and she took it really hard." I choked on my own spit.

"With who? I'll kill him!" I said angrily. I've always disliked Rylee, but now I loathed him. Mikenna was my home-girl. No one is allowed to mess with her. Not Braxton (though, I don't think he'd ever intentionally hurt her) and definitely not Rylee. If I were him I'd be scared for the day I get home from here.

"Tristyn. She found out last night when she was with Tristyn and she took off." I felt my mouth drop. I was expecting it to be some random girl from home or a stripper or something. Not Tristyn, Mikenna's best friend. I could possibly understand if Mikenna was a complete bitch to her, but she wasn't.

"I hope she drowns in her alcohol tonight." I said angrily, trying to look out at the water to calm myself down. Usually I don't like getting involved with other people's drama, but this was ridiculous. No wonder Tristyn has been all 'la-de-da I'm better than everyone else.' She's been sleeping with Mikenna's boyfriend whom she's always been jealous of.

"That's exactly what I said to her!" Braxton said throwing his hands in the air. "I was making out with Mikenna and all of a sudden I'm like 'I need to go' and I end up at your hotel room screaming at Tristyn. I was so mad. I could have-"

"Woah, woah, woah. Way to sneak that in there, big boy. What do you mean 'I was making out with Mikenna.'" I said putting my fingers into the shapes of quotations. I watched as his face lit up, his smiling stretching from ear to ear.

"We were talking about it this morning, right? And then next thing I know she's kissing me and my mind is blank and I think I'm going crazy, but I'm not."

"Get out of here." I said shoving him. "What really happened?" He looked briefly offended before shrugging his shoulders.

"It happened, I swear." Usually when talking about girls Braxton always got this smug look on his face, but not this time. This time he looked genuinely happy which was how I knew his story wasn't fake.

"Congrats, man! It only took you guys a million friggen years." I said getting up. Braxton followed my lead. I looked over towards the boat rental guy, hoping that I was still able to rent a boat out for tonight.

"I gotta go, good luck on your date, bro." I nodded and we chest-bumped before each going off in our separate ways. Money wasn't a concern for me, so even if this boat place was expensive it didn't matter. I just needed something for tonight, something that would impress Lauren. I waved over at the man with the boats and noticed that he had a great selection behind him. Now I just needed to find the right one.