CHAPTER 6
Dan
“I’m parked just around the back over here,” I say. “I’ll give you a lift out of here.”
“Thanks. The last thing I want to do is lose time on my vacation answering reporters’ questions.”
“You’re here on a holiday?” I ask. What a way to get it started.
“Working holiday. I just finished the working part and now I’ve got a couple weeks to travel.”
She pauses. She looks at my combie and then back at me.
“You’ve got a van,” she says.
“We call it a combie down here, but yeah…same difference.”
“I was thinking about getting one with some of my friends and doing the famous backpacker trail up the East Coast.”
“That’s a great idea, and a wonderful way to see Aus,” I say.
I don’t know what it is about her, but part of me wants to throw her in my own van and have my way with her. Not only that she seems fun and adventurous and I do have some time off right now. We could have one heck of an adventure cruising up the coast together. We certainly started off with a lot of excitement already.
I like that she’s tough. She got attacked by a croc earlier and she’s already shaking it off and looking ahead. It’s summer down here. It’s sunny. She’s positive.
And I can’t deny the most obvious part.
The way she looks in that swimsuit.
She still has on a rash guard up top, but that does little to hide what’s underneath.
Damn!
What are they putting in the water back where she’s from?
And down below she’s got a bikini bottom that’s hugging that apple bottom of hers.
But still the things that gets me the most is that face of hers. That enthusiasm and youthful exuberance that’s written all over it.
A lot of people tell me I still have that about myself, but there’s just something different about it when it comes to younger people.
Especially her.
I see kids her age down here all the time making the trek up and down the coast.
Sometimes we have a chat if there’s a lull in the sets out in the water when I’m out surfing, but I’ve never really hung out with any of them.
But I’m not even thinking of “hanging out” with her. I’m thinking of so much more.
But she’s not down here for that. She’s down here to have fun in the sun with people her own age. I should just leave her be.
I’ll forget all about it in a few days time.
Except I know I won’t.
That’s the problem.
Memories of what happened in the water will certainly fade, but not the sight of that face of hers. I swear there’s something about it. Something so different. Something that just draws me in and holds me there. I hate to say the word captivates, because it seems like such a girly word that you’d find in a Disney movie or something, but there’s no other way to describe it.
I can’t stop looking at her.
And I can’t stop these thoughts I’m having. Thoughts that I haven’t had in a very long time. Not like this. If I’m honest with myself maybe I’ve never had thoughts like this about anyone. Certainly not such strong thoughts, and definitely not after just meeting someone.
“Yeah, something is telling me maybe I shouldn’t go with my friends. I think it would be much more interesting to experience it more authentically,” she says.
Is she asking me to invite her? I want to but…I don’t know. It doesn’t seem right. Plus I don’t want to get involved in something only to see her leave in a short amount of time.
I know things would get hot and heavy and once they did there’d be no going back. When I’m in, I’m in all the way. I’m completely committed.
I couldn’t approach something with her only to know in the back of my mind that we’re working on a short time frame and that it’s not “real.”
I’m too old to play games, not that I ever did. I want something real or I want nothing.
But the thought of having nothing with her seems like the missed opportunity of a lifetime.
I’m trying to reason my way out of this, but it’s just not working.
The way I feel about her can’t be swayed by logic.
It’s still too early to know anything, but how will I know if I don’t give it a chance?
“Did you have a way you were thinking of experiencing it more…authentically?”
“Well, I didn’t until…very, very recently.”
Yeah, it’s on. But do I want to take the bait here.
My mind is still telling me no. This is just a tourist looking for a good time. As corny as it sounds I’d be the one to get the short end of the stick when her time here ended. She’d get a fun memory of “some Australian guy.” I’m not about to be that guy.
“I don’t know…anybody that could…you know…help you out with that.” Damn, just get rid of her already. Be a man and send her on her way. I took down a croc for Pete’s sake. Why can’t I just out-wrestle a little verbal judo from this foreign girl?
“I wasn’t thinking you’d have to know anybody, per say. Just maybe that you were, well…I mean you have the van and everything.”
“I like to travel alone. Plus, I mean…you’re too young and you’re on holiday. You wouldn’t want to live how I live. Sleeping in the combie. Camping by the side of the road. Sometimes I just fall asleep right in the sand if I’m completely knackered from a surf session.”
“Are you kidding me? That’s exactly the kind of experience I’m looking to have.”
“Experience? I’m not really up for playing tour guide. I’ve got a life to live.”
I turn and slide the combie door open.
“I’ll give you a ride to wherever you’re going, but I think after that it’s best to part ways.”
“I can pay for gas and pitch in for everything else. I’ve got money from all the fruit picking I did.”
“I don’t want any money, and what makes you think I’m even going up that way?”
“Well, I see all the stickers on your van, I mean combie, from Cairns. What do we have here? Skydiving. Surfing. Sand boarding. Four wheeling. I’m guessing you’ve been up that way a time or two, and the odds are you might already be headed that direction again.”
She’s got me there. You don’t exactly have to be Sherlock Holmes to figure that one out, but she was attentive enough to pick up on it quickly.
“I might head up that way, but that still doesn’t mean I’m looking for company. I move faster when I’m alone.”
“You won’t even notice I’m there.”
“Oh, I’ll notice,” I say. Damn! Did she take that the way I accidentally meant?
“I’ll try and be…unnoticeable,” she says.
“That’s not possible.” What’s gotten into me? I’m putting myself out there. No games. Just straightforward letting her know that I like what I see. I’m not for games anyways, but that doesn’t mean I have to just throw myself at her straight away.
“I’ll do whatever you want. I’ll cook. I’ll clean the van. I’ll pay for all the gas. I want this adventure, and how could I not feel safe doing it with the guy who just risked it all to come and save me.”
“Any guy worth his salt would have done the same thing.”
“But most guys aren’t worth their salt. The beach was packed. Only you came to help me.”
“It’s just the way I was raised. That’s all.”
“Raised, huh?” she looks down at my trunks. I don’t have to look for myself to realize what’s going on down there. I’m hard as the stick shift in my combie and just as long, only a lot, lot thicker.
“Are all foreign girls this forward?” I ask.
“I don’t know, but this one is when she knows what she wants.”
“I can see that,” I say, glancing down at her nipples which are now popping through not only her swimsuit top, but her rash guard. Damn, she must be turned on as hell to have her headlights on the high beams all the way through a rash guard.
“What do you say?” she says.
“I say how old are you?”
“Twenty-two.”
“Twenty-two? You’re just a baby. I’m old enough to be—“
“My big brother or maybe my uncle. Not my dad.”
“Guess it depends on what kind of family you come from.”
“Very funny,” she says.
Her straight face cracks as she breaks a smile.
I try to keep it cool, but the corner of my lip does turn up a bit.
“You don’t even know how old I am,” I say.
“I don’t have to. I don’t care. Age isn’t anything more than a number. Boys my age aren’t always so reliable anyways. I’d prefer the company of a man who knows himself and what he wants and isn’t bashful about getting it.”
She’s laying it on thick and…it’s working.
The thing I can’t reconcile is she’s describing me exactly how I am. For some reason I’m just trying to avoid going for what I want right now.
For the first time in my life I’m denying myself and it feels weird. Beyond weird.
It’s messing with my mind. It’s not who I am. It’s confusing as hell.
I just know there’s that safety measure in place in my mind that’s telling me to stop. That it’s going to be too much fun and things are going to progress too quickly and too deeply.
There’s going to be no going back once we get started.
I’m thirty-five years old. I’m a full thirteen years older than her. Lucky thirteen, huh?
“I’m driving non-stop to Byron Bay. If I think we’re not getting along or if I decide for any reason I want to do my own thing I’ll drop you there. It’s along the path you were going to take anyways and it’s a great place to hang out.”
She nods her head in excitement.
“My decision. I can drop you there for any reason. Without a reason, actually.”
“Okay, but I know you won’t want to.”
That’s the part that worries me the most. I know I won’t want to one bit.
“Get in,” I say.