Island Charm 💙

Two

"Come on Adrienne, come dance with us. It won't kill you to have a little bit of fun."

She sighed, letting her sister drag her out onto the floor. She tugged on the short green dress Lucy forced her to wear that barely covered anything. "I look ridiculous."

Lucy laughed, "you look hot!" She pointed to a group of guys standing just off to the side of the dance floor.

Adrienne looked to where she pointed, seeing a few frat bros checking them out, making her feel worse. "This isn't who I am, Luce."

She sighed, yelling over the music, "well I'm getting married and we're supposed to be having a good time. So shut up and dance with me!"

Adrienne laughed as the Walk the Moon song came on, rolling her eyes as she danced. Lucy had been right when she forced her to come out. Adrienne needed to relax and forget things for a while. She closed her eyes as she danced, trying to forget about everything, even if only for a short while. She opened her eyes to see Lucy smirk at her before pushing her backwards, making her fall into someone's arms. She groaned, turning around to see the same blue eyes from the beach earlier, "Chris?"

He nodded, "Adrienne!"

Adrienne shook her head as she started to walk away but felt him grab her arm, pulling her back to him as he leaned down to her ear.

"We're here, dance with me."

She only nodded as she began to dance with him, feeling him place his hand on her lower back, keeping her body pressed against his making her breath hitch at their proximity. She brought her hand to his shoulder while they danced. As the song ended, he leaned down to her ear once more.

"Can I buy you a drink?"

Adrienne nodded, following him off the floor towards the bar as she saw Lucy talking with Chris's brother. She shook her head, grabbing Chris's arm, pointing them out, "looks like my sister is just as meddlesome." She heard him laugh and shake his head as they approached the bar.

"What do you want?"

"Vodka and cranberry with lime." She watched him order two, handing hers to her before motioning for her to follow him out onto the beach.

"Sorry. It's so loud in there."

She laughed, taking a drink, "you sound like an old man."

He laughed, "I am. For the record, I had no part in showing up here with you. I didn't know you would be here. Scott chose the place, now I know why."

She nodded, "are you saying you don't want to be here with me?" She watched him get flustered as he huffed a laugh.

"I definitely didn't say that." He pointed to the water, "walk with me?"

She nodded, following him along the beach.

"Have a bad afternoon?"

She shrugged, "what do you mean?"

He sighed, "I saw you crying earlier, in the elevator."

Adrienne groaned, "I was hoping you didn't see that. I don't want to talk about it. Please?"

He nodded, "sure. So your sister is getting married?"

"Yeah. Back home. Everyone is very excited, except for maybe my parents, seeing as my younger sister is getting married before me."

He chuckled, "I'm sorry. And where is home?"

"Maine." She stopped walking, grabbing his arm, "you look familiar, have we met before? Where are you from?" She looked into his eyes, feeling as she had seen him somewhere before, but couldn't quite place him. She saw he was amused at this, making her smile.

He smirked, "we definitely haven't met, I would remember meeting you. And I'm from Boston."

She nodded, "okay."

He motioned to the beach, "do you want to sit down?"

She laughed, shaking her head as she looked down at her dress, "not in this dress my sister made me wear. I'd have sand in unsavory places."

Chris laughed, unbuttoning his shirt to display a sleeveless shirt underneath.

She watched him lay his shirt on the sand, offering her his hand as he helped her sit down before he sat next to her, "this works. Trying to get out of your clothes?"

He smirked, "if I was, I'd suggest we went skinny dipping."

She laughed, "you think you're charming."

Chris laughed, feigning to think about it, "I know I am." He smiled as he heard her laugh, wanting to make her laugh again. "So, younger sister? How old are you?"

She sighed, "I just turned 29, you?"

"Almost 38."

She laughed, "so you are old?"

He laughed, "I'm not old until I'm 40."

She smiled, "I'm only kidding. Look at me, almost 30, no marriage, no babies. Things happened and now my sister is beating me to it."

Chris shrugged, "life isn't a race Adrienne." He brought his hand up to brush some hair that the wind blew into her face, "what do you mean by things happened?"

She finished her drink before shaking her head as Chris dropped his hand, "it doesn't matter. Come on, we should get back before they think we ran off together."

Chris laughed, "would that be so bad?" He stood up, offering her his hand, helping her to stand up before he picked up his shirt. He shook sand out of it before putting it back on, leaving it unbuttoned.

"I don't know." She stood holding her glass as she watched him shake out his shirt before putting it back on. He brought his hand back up to her hair, brushing it out of her face again, making her laugh, "should have worn it up."

He smiled as he shrugged, "I like it down."

She blushed, looking back at the sand before looking up to see him watching her, "look Chris, I think you're sweet and everything. But I'm not really looking for anything."

He shrugged, "who said I was looking for anything? And besides, you said you weren't married. Boyfriend?"

"No."

"Fiancé?"

She sighed, "no."

Chris nodded, "okay. Then why don't we not put any pressure on ourselves and just see how it goes. No expectations."

Adrienne nodded as she felt him grab her hand. She hesitated but interlocked her fingers in his as he walked her back to the party.