We're walking along the pier and I notice we are close to the ferris wheel, I love rides and amusement parks. In fact roller coasters are a must no matter what theme park I'm at,
"Ooh, let's get on the ferris wheel." Eric shakes his head,
"No way, too high." I pull his arm,
"Come on." He shakes his head definitively and I look over at Nick,
"Come on sweetie." Tori shakes her head and frowns,
"No, I'll mess up my hair." I roll my eyes, I need to stop doing that, she's going to catch me one day but it seems everything she says and does irritates me in some way or another,
"Come on baby." She sighs,
"Nick it took a long time for me to get my hair like this." I look over at him,
"Come on Nick, go on with me." He actually looks over at Tori and says ok once she gives him the go ahead, thats five more respect points.
My eyes are stuck on the ocean view from the ferris wheel when I turned to Nick,
"So, why wouldn't you fix me up with any of your friends?" He never looked away from his view of the water,
"They're dogs, all of em." I nod, there isn't much more to say after that. I look back at the water, the steady flow of blue interrupted only by the white of the occassional wave. It's not the same as the ocean view in Florida. The Pacific seems like a totally different beast than the Atlantic. The Atlantic seems so much calmer and nicer, the Pacific seems that way at first but it's sneaky just like the people so far in Los Angeles. It lulls you into thinking it's nice then just when you trust enough to go deeper, the tide pulls you under.
"So, um you and Tori, you're dating?" He shrugs his shoulders,
"I don't know." I frown and my stomach draws in a knot,
"You don't know? Does she? Seems a little unfair to her." He looks over at me, the fact that he is annoyed is quite clear,
"I like her." I laugh, is he for real? He's known her all of not even two weeks and he likes her? Give me a break,
"You LIKE her?" He sighs,
"Yeah, I like her...even though you don't." I shake my head, I can't say I like her, I don't know her but if I lean one way or the other it's definitely leaning towards the dislike side,
"I don't really know her." We just started talking again I don't want to mess that up on account of her so whatever,
"So, when does she go back to Tampa?" He sighs and looks around as we come to a stop at the very top of the ferris wheel,
"Sunday night.....when do you go back?" Reality hits in T minus 40 or so hours,
"Sunday, my flight leaves at ten am." I can see him nodding his head then he suddenly turns to me,
"Hey, I got this new pooltable you should see it?" I frown and look over at him,
"What made you think of that?" He smiled,
"I dunno. So, next time I'm home you should come see me, it's only a few hours away. You ever been to the Keys?" I've lived in Florida all my life, Miami the past few years and I've never once thought of going to the Keys,
"No." He gives me the look I always get when I say I've never been,
"Yeah, yeah, I know. I've thought about it but not seriously." He shook his head,
"Next time I'm home, you're coming to see me." I smile, I won't be waiting for that invitation, that was something that just sounded good to him at that moment.
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Mixed Feelings
Chapter 28