Everyone around the bonfire cheered and jumped to their feet.
“You in?” Tim asked me.
I feigned regret as I shook my head. “I don’t want to make all of you feel bad with my flipping prowess.”
“Right.” He smiled knowingly; I wasn’t fooling him. “Keep the fire warm for me.”
I suddenly found myself alone in front of the fire, slightly tipsy. I had lost Kennedy in the crowd hours ago and the other people I had just met were all lining up their red plastic cups.
Whatever Boomer had put in his drinks, it packed a punch. Things were getting a little hazy, so at first I thought I was seeing things when a shadow passed over me.
“Feeling antisocial?” a voice asked, confirming that I wasn’t hallucinating.
I half-turned in my chair to face the owner of the voice. “Just taking a break from all the fun, thank you for asking.”
“Right. Can’t risk having too much fun.” The voice laughed.
I squinted and shielded my eyes from nothing. The voice moved closer, into the firelight, and I could see that it belonged to a very attractive young man.
“Why aren’t you at the party?” I said.
He shrugged and smiled. “I was having too much fun. Thought I could use a break.”
It was pretty obvious he was making fun of me, but I didn’t mind. He had a nice smile.
I pointed to the chair next to mine. “Would you like to sit while you’re not having fun?”
“I would. Thank you.” The chair squeaked as it absorbed his weight. “So Miss Antisocial, do you have a name?”
“I do.” I paused, suddenly feeling speechless. “I’m Jordyn.”
“Jordyn.” He nodded thoughtfully. “I like it. I’m Nolan.”
“Nolan.” I turned the name over my tongue and repeated, “Nolan. That’s a nice name. Nolan.”
He chuckled softly. “Have you been drinking tonight, Jordyn?”
“A bit.” I held up my empty cup. “Boomer juice.”
“You’re going to regret that in the morning.” Nolan settled back into his chair. “What brings you to the party?”
“My friend, Kennedy. She knows Cassidy. Cassidy knows people, and they know people…” I trailed off, trying to remember if any of us actually knew the host of the party. “I just go where I’m told.”
“You and me both.”
“Are you a model?” I asked abruptly. Nolan was good looking enough to compete with Boomer and the others.
He looked at me quizzically. “No. Is that a problem?”
I smiled. “No. That’s good.”
“What about you? Model? Actress? Superhero?” Nolan slipped his feet from his shoes and dug his toes into the sand.
“Purveyor of food and beverage.”
“Come again?”
“I provide meals to the hungry tourists at a place called Seaside Bar & Grill.” I was beginning to sober up just enough to realize how lame that sounded. “It’s not as glamorous as superhero, but it’s a job.”
“Working on a beach all day? Doesn’t sound too bad to me.”
I studied him closely to see whether he was joking. “How about you? What’s your superpower?”
Nolan studied his toes, digging them deeper into the sand. “I’m taking a break from work right now. Thinking about switching careers.”
Something in the way he said it made me sit up straighter. “Thinking of hanging up the cape, huh?”
“Something like that.” Nolan looked toward the water. “It’s beautiful isn’t it?”
“The ocean?” I asked and he nodded. “It’s breathtaking.”
“I always wanted to live by the ocean. There’s just something about it that is so…cosmic.”
“Deep thoughts.” The air had gone still and quiet around us except for the occasional crackle of the fire. “You sound a little like a poet.”
He chuckled. “That’s the first time I’ve ever been accused of being poetic.”
We were both quiet for several minutes. It was strange that I didn’t feel the need to fill the quiet. I was comfortable in our silence.
“It’s so peaceful,” I said quietly. “Sometimes I just want to dive in and let the waves pull me out until there’s nothing but me and the sea.”
“Now who sounds like a poet?” Nolan said with a small laugh. “If you ever decide to give it a shot, let me know. I’d like to go with you.”
“Have you ever swam in the ocean at night?” I asked. He shook his head. “You should. It’s very therapeutic.”
“Sounds nice. I can get onboard with the idea of leaving everything behind.”
“Is that a warning sign?” I tossed a twig into the fire and watched as it immediately began to crackle. “Should I get you some help?”
“Please don’t. I don’t want you to go anywhere.” He gave me a shy look. “I think I might enjoy your company.”
“You won’t,” I said fairly certainly. “I make a good first impression, but that will pass soon and you’ll grow sick of me.”
“I’m not entirely sure that you are kidding,” he said with a confused smile.
“Enough about me.” I picked up a long stick and poked it into the fire. “Where are you from originally?”
“Nebraska.”
I was surprised. “Farm boy?”
“Born and raised.” He grinned. “I can rock a farmer’s tan like it’s nobody’s business.”
“I’m sure you can,” I said without thinking, then immediately blushed. “I take it you don’t still live in Nebraska?”
“I have a home there, but it’s not where I spend most of my time.”
“Aren’t you fancy!” I joked. “Where do you prefer to spend your time?”
“Right now? On the beach with you.”
He certainly was a charmer. “Cute. Now the real answer, please.”
“What’s your story, Jordyn?” He asked, again avoiding giving a real answer. “You aren’t from Serenity.”
“You sound so sure of that.” As was always the case when someone started digging into my past, I felt uncomfortable. “Serenity is my home.”
“Fine.” His piercing eyes held on for one more second before flitting away. “I used to love to go outside and look at the sky. On the farm, you can see so many stars at night.”
“You can see quite a few of them here,” I said. Looking up, hundreds of them twinkled overhead.
Nolan’s arm brushed mine lightly. “This is nothing. Sometime I’ll take you to the farm and show you.”
“Oh you will?” I laughed. I couldn’t tell if he was being serious. “That’s not exactly a short drive.”
“We’ll take my plane.” Now he looked at me and smiled. “You free next weekend?”
In a bit of perfect timing, the high pitched squeal of someone yelling my name echoed down to us. It had to be Kennedy.
“I should go. Kennedy probably thinks I abandoned her.” I pushed out of the chair and was pleased to find that the world didn’t spin too fast around me.
“I’ll walk you back.” Nolan offered me his hand.
I thought about refusing, but my head was still a little hazy from the mystery drink and the uneven sand wasn’t helping matters.
“I’m not usually such a lightweight,” I said, leaning against him for balance.
“Everyone misjudges Boomer juice the first time.” Nolan’s hand tightened when my ankle twisted beneath me and I nearly fell. “You’re holding up better than a lot of people.”
As if on cue, Kennedy stumbled in our direction. “Where’d ya go?”
“I was on the beach with Nolan,” I said.
“Nolan?” she glared suspiciously. “Do I know you?”
“You don’t,” I said quickly. “I think we need to get you home.”
“I’m fine.” She tried to take a step forward and stumbled, landing in my arms. “Be careful. The ground is dangerous.”
I laughed. “Thanks for the tip.”
“I’ll drive us home.” Kenned
y looked around in a panic. “As soon as I find my car.”
“Maybe we should call Brian.” Kennedy’s oldest friend was a long-time resident of Serenity and because he wasn’t a big drinker, he was also our favorite designated driver.
“I could give you a ride,” Nolan said.
Kennedy held up her phone triumphantly. “Wait. I already called Bry.”
I took her phone to see if that was true. Sure enough, Brian had texted to say that he was just a couple of minutes away and that we owed him big time.
“Thanks for the offer,” I said, showing him the text. “Looks like someone else gets to be the lucky chauffeur of two drunk girls.”
“The universe is always conspiring against me,” he said with a smile.
It was a slow walk to the front of the house, Nolan and I carrying Kennedy between us. She kept insisting that she was okay to walk, but her body seemed to think otherwise. By the time we got to the driveway, Brian’s beat-up Jeep was waiting with the engine running.
“This is why we don’t get invited to parties,” Brian said as Kennedy threw herself across the backseat.
“We get invited to plenty’a parties,” she grumbled back.
I shut the door quickly to cut off any further bickering. They were best friends, but they fought like an old married couple.
“Thanks for the help,” I said. “I’ll let you get back to actually having fun now.”
“You mean the party?” he frowned. “I can’t think of anything I would rather do less than be surrounded by a bunch of drunk strangers.”
“Well, have a good night anyway.” I opened the passenger door.
Nolan nodded. “Maybe I’ll see you around?”
“Sure. If you make it down to the beach, stop by the Seabag. Drinks are on me.”
“Deal.”
As Brian drove away, I fully expected that to be my last encounter with Nolan. It would be the perfect way to remember the night, parting with a promise to meet again but no obligation to make it happen. Empty promises were the best kind because they had no real currency. Unlike promises that were made loaded with intent, which held immeasurable value. Those promises were the ones that could break you.
So if I never saw Nolan again, that would be just fine with me.
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About that Night Page 15