That Summer - Jure Maček

The Shore

We're 1 hour in and I'm not even a little bit wiser about the situation between me and Jure. I forgot how close I actually live to Rijeka, so we'll be there in under an hour. All we've been doing is talking and singing along to music, and I'm honestly having the best time though.

Maybe I'll find out more later. I should just enjoy the time I'm having with him, for however long it lasts.

I open the window slightly, and let the salty sea air hit my face. One of the best scents out there, in my opinion. That's also a way to tell that we're almost there.

Jure is passing around cold cans of some sort of energy drink, which is the only sustenance they brought along. Not that I expected anything else. Honestly, I'm surprised they didn't bring any beer.

We're finally approaching the coast, and I can hear seagulls and the sloshing of the sea in the distance. 

I put their music on the radio some time ago, and switch the song that's playing to Barve Oceana, which seems to fit the vibe. Jure smiles back at me, while Bojan sings along to the song and Jan stares quietly out the window. He isn't much of a talker, it seems. Or maybe it really is because of his morning mood. Either way wouldn't surprise me.

Some time later, Bojan pulls into the parking lot next to the beach, which is coated completely in sand. As soon as we enter, I see another group standing by their car and waving at us. Those must be the others. They're carrying coolboxes, floaties, towels and bags.

We pull all our stuff out the back of the car, and the boys immediately approach the rest to give them hugs and greet each other in Slovenian. There's only 1 person I recognise, which is Kris. All four other people are strangers to me.

"Kris, you remember Juliana. This is Maks, Kiki, Vita and Ivona," Jure introduces me to the rest.

"Hey, nice to meet you all," I smile and greet them, before we all walk onto the beach. 

I have to admit, for the first hour or so I feel like somewhat of an outsider. I don't know half of these people, but they've clearly known each other for a long time. Most of the time I'm quietly sitting with Jure, but I don't want to hog him either. 

They're mostly joking around in Slovenian, and I don't want to have to force them to speak English just for me. Eventually, thankfully, Kris breaks the silence for me.

"Who wants to go for a swim?" he suggestively raises his eyebrows at me.

"Yes, I do," I happily sigh. 

"I'll come with," Jure stands up, and so do Vita and Maks, who run into the sea together.

I walk with the boys, letting the warm sand sink in-between my toes. 

When we reach the sea, it's cold at first but then becomes comfortable. It's nice and cooling on a day like this, since it's over 35 degrees again. It sometimes feels like the heat never escapes here.

"How are your friends doing? Lucia and Lauren, was it?" Jure is the first one to break the silence.

"They're good. I talk to them every day," I nod.

"Don't you miss them? I couldn't imagine not seeing the guys for such long times," Jure asks.

"I could," Kris mumbles, then smiles.

Jure jokingly slaps and pushes him further in the water while screaming: "you wouldn't last a week without us," 

I laugh looking at their shenanigans. They apparently really didn't have to be drunk to act crazy like this. Only now is that I'm realising I haven't seen the sober version of these guys a lot. But I like what I'm seeing. They're friendly and open, or at least most of them are.

"How are you guys doing? Working on any new music?" we're now at the point where the see is up to my upper stomach.

"We're producing a new album at the moment, yes," Kris says.

"Can't wait to hear it. And I also can't wait to come along with you next week," I smile at Jure.

"Me neither," he answers, and smiles back.

I like Kris, but I kind of wish he hadn't come along. I would like to talk to Jure myself some time today.

After an hour of talking, we get called back by the people still on the shore. We get out of the water and into our warm beach towels, and have some sandwiches they brought along before playing beach volleyball.

Bojan slept through the lunch, but the guys made sure to "accidentally" drop the ball on his head after, which made him chase Kris along the shore for at least 10 minutes.

I'm awfully bad at sports, so I stay back with some others to watch the guys play. And especially, watch Jure of course.

The rest of the afternoon consists out of drinking, talking, laughing, playing games and the occasional swim, where a slightly drunken Bojan tried to "drown" Kris.

Right as the rest is discussing dinner plans, and the beach slowly empties up, Jure comes to sit next to me.

"Hey," 

"Hey Julia, do you mind coming with me quickly?"

"Do you have another cave to show me?"

"No, not this time," he chuckles.

"Good, because that shit was scary," I laugh, and take his hand to pull me up.

We walk along the shore for a little while, until we're sort of out of sight from the rest of our group.

"Did you want to talk about something?" I ask. I feel the nerves cruising through my stomach, but try not to let him know this. I don't want him to notice how nervous I get around him.

"Yes, actually," he sighs, but it's more like an anxious sigh than an angry or tired one.

"What is it?" I frown and turn to look him in the eye.

"I've been putting this conversation off a little, but I just wanted to let you know that..." he takes quite a long pause, almost to the point where I wonder if he's having a stroke or something.

"I really like you," 

This comment nearly blows me away, and I have no idea what to say for a couple of seconds.

"Are you sure?" I ask, and immediately after I realise what a stupid question that is.

"Yes, I'm sure. I thought about calling you that entire week we were apart, but I didn't want to come off as desperate," he awkwardly chuckles.

"You wouldn't have, honestly. And I meant to say that I really like you too," I correct myself.

"Are you sure?" he mocks me.

"Yes, I am," I grin.

"Good, that's good," he broadly smiles, before leaning in for our second kiss.

I must say, I don't even remember it being this nice.  Of course, I was drunk off my ass the first time.

An image of Vic flashes through my mind, which enrages me. Why would I think of him in a moment like this? 

Jures hand cups my cheek, while the other one glides around my waist. His hand feels good against my bare skin there, I've almost forgotten how that feels.

I succeed on keeping my thoughts on Jure for the rest of the kiss, which is just straight out of a romance movie, before he pulls back.

"I wish I could kiss you more often," he softly rubs my cheek, and then lets go.

"I would drive 2 hours for a kiss like that," I smile.

"I would too. One hundred percent," his eyes stare into my soul, I'm noticing better than ever how gorgeous his eyes are, they almost blend in with the sea behind him.

"Should we go back?" I point behind me.

"Probably. I could use a pizza right about now," he grins, and takes my hand.

Completely over the moon, I follow him back to our group.