Classics in Summertime

With Dylan pulling our suitcases behind him, he guided me up to his apartment, which was on the second floor of a gorgeous, white brick building. We reached apartment 2E and Dylan stopped at the door, pulling out his key to unlock it. He looked back at me with a smile before he twisted the doorknob and pushed the door open, introducing me to his other home.

“Well, here it is,” he said as he held his hand out, motioning for me to walk past him as he held the door open for me. I stepped inside with him quickly following and pulling our suitcases through the door. He left our bags next to the doorway so he could give me the grand tour.

“This is the living room,” he said, holding his arms out as we stepped into the large space, complete with a large, window view of the patio, a black leather sofa and large television. “This is the kitchen,” he continued as he pointed to his left, where he had a standard kitchen equipped with a fancy marble island.

Dylan took a step forward and reached for my hand, holding it softly in his as he guided me down the hallway. “This is the bathroom,” he said, pointing to the first door on the left. “Feel free to use it whenever you like.”

He continued walking until he reached the end of the hallway, which had a door on the left and one on the right. He opened the one on the right first, introducing me to his state of the art gaming center, which more like a bro pad where he played video games with his friends than anything else. The last room was his bedroom, which had plain navy decor and a large, king-sized bed.

“And this is my bedroom,” he said, taking a step forward as he dropped my hand. He looked at me with a bright smile on his face, his eyebrows raised up. “So what do you think?”

“It’s great,” I said with a nod of my head. “Better than I even expected.”

His smile widened and he took a step towards me to wrap me in a tight hug, which made me feel right at home even though I was so far away.

“I’m really glad you like it,” he said, still keeping his arms wrapped around me.

“There’s just one thing.”

Dylan pulled away quickly, his arms on my shoulders as he looked at me. “Of course, what is it? Do you need more girly things? Some air freshener?”

“No, nothing like that,” I said with a laugh. “I was just wondering where I’d be sleeping. You only have one bed.”

“Yes, right, of course.” Dylan spoke quickly, nodding his head. I wondered if the sleeping issue had crossed his mind yet or if that was just a bridge he was going to cross when he got to it. “You can take my bed and I’ll sleep on the sofa.”

“You don’t have to do that. The sofa is fine with me.”

“No, really. I won’t have you sleeping on the sofa while you’re here. You’ll take my bed and I don’t want to hear anything else about it.” He smiled at me before leaning forward and giving me a soft kiss, which seemed so much sweeter without the fear of my parents or Wyatt walking in on us.

“Well, thank you,” I said as he pulled away. “That’s very sweet of you.”

“What can I say, Ev? I’m a pretty sweet guy. Now, I’ll just give you a minute to get everything settled. I’ll be in the kitchen if you need me.”

Dylan turned away and left me with my suitcase to get everything settled, whatever that meant. I certainly wasn’t going to just pack away my things and shove them in his drawers next to all his California clothes, so I simply rolled my suitcase into his bedroom and tucked it in the corner.

When I went into the kitchen, Dylan was going through the cabinets and refrigerator. I guessed it was to see what sorts of foods his friends had stocked it up with. The look on his face when he turned around told me he wasn’t impressed.

“I hope you like health food,” he said as he shut the cabinet door behind him. “Looks like Holland did all the shopping.”

He laughed before taking a step forward and resting his elbows on the marble countertop. His eyes were so sweet and soft, and I was truly just happy to be there with him and away from everything, regardless of what we’d be eating. It was nice to feel like we’d finally have a shot at seeing what it would be like to be together without everything else making it so confusing.

“Oh yeah, that’s fine.” I’d always heard Californians were health nuts, and that was probably only doubled with all of the Hollywood pressures to stay fit and perfect. Dylan had nothing to worry about since it seemed he was just naturally thin, but Holland was probably so used to eating healthy that it was just habit for her.

Dylan was still smiling at me with his hands perched on the edge of the island. He pushed his hands off the marble and stood up straight, taking a step towards me. “Well, if there’s nothing special you’d like to do today, I’d love to take you to the beach.”

Going to the beach sounded pretty special to me, but of course the only beaches I’d ever been to were at the edges of lakes, and I wasn’t even sure those were actually beaches.

“That would be lovely.”

“Awesome. I have a pair of swim trunks lying around here somewhere. Just let me find those and I’ll leave you to get changed.”

Dylan hurried back to his bedroom before I had a chance to respond and returned just as quickly. He had the navy blue swim trunks held up in front of him and I actually wondered for a moment if he was going to change right there in front of me.

“Found ‘em,” he said as he shook the trunks out a bit. I guessed he hadn’t worn them in a while but you couldn’t tell. “Do you have a swimsuit?”

I nodded my head. “Yeah, I’ll just go change.”

After Dylan nodded back, I headed back to his bedroom to get ready. My swimsuit was stuffed at the bottom of my suitcase, mostly because I was hoping I wouldn’t have to wear it. It wasn’t that I hated the water or anything; it was just that I hadn’t quite gotten myself ready for having Dylan see me with so little clothing.

I changed into my swimsuit quickly, which was a teal bikini I’d bought for a float trip with Wyatt a while back, and threw on my yellow sundress over it. I definitely looked beach ready, but without the perfect golden tan that most of the other beach goers would have.

When I stepped back out to the kitchen, Dylan was in his trunks and a black t-shirt. I didn’t have the courage to ask him where he’d actually changed at, though. He smiled when he saw me before taking a step forward and reaching for my hand. “You look lovely.”

“Thank you,” I said, my face turning red as I looked at him. He was still able to embarrass me so easily. It was practically a superpower for him. “You look great yourself.”

“Thanks. My mom actually picked out the swim trunks, but that stays between us.”

I couldn’t help but laugh at him, because everything about him was so impossibly perfect. I’d have to say his sense of humor was one of my favorite things about him, and now that it was just the two of us with nothing standing in the way, I could see that now more than ever.

He grabbed two towels he’d placed on the counter before we walked out the door and to his car, ready to feel the warm sun, soft sand and salty water. I knew that I would have fun with Dylan no matter what we did, but I couldn’t help but be a little nervous to find out if Dylan would still be as interested in me when we were alone as he was when there was all that stuff.