𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐢𝐭𝐲'𝐬 𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐞 | 𝐍. 𝐂𝐥𝐚𝐱𝐭𝐨𝐧 [ 𝙳𝙸𝚂𝙲𝙾𝙽𝚃𝙸𝙽𝚄𝙴𝙳]

𝚎𝚙𝚒𝚜𝚘𝚍𝚎 𝟸

Nic Claxton POV

11:45 P.M

On The Yacht

Three years.

That's how long it had been since I had last seen Autumn, and I can't even sit here and lie to myself, no matter how badly I wanted to see her all those years back, three years without seeing her was worth the wait. She was absolutely gorgeous.

Of course, Autumn had been beautiful before, but now...I don't know if it was because I had been away from her for three years, if she had managed to get more beautiful than the last time I had seen her, or both. Not gonna lie, it was definitely both. Not to mention, she was definitely glowing right now. So much so that her smile was lighting up everyone's mood, including mine, and I hadn't even spoken to her yet. Honestly, I was kind of scared to talk to her.

Well, scared wasn't the correct word; nervous was.

What would I even say to her? Would I just stand there and stutter like an idiot? Or even worse, would I end up saying something dumb like bringing up our past and completely piss her off? That's something I didn't want to do. I wanted to make a good impression on her, but first...I needed some liquid courage and a nice talk with the guys.

"So, how are you feeling with being in the same place as Autumn?" Josh asks me, handing me a drink.

I grinned, nodding my head as I took a sip of the lemon drop that Ivy made. "Feels good."

"Are you ever gonna speak to her?" Stefon asks me. "I mean, y'all are gonna be around each other all throughout the summer. Y'all can't be on that awkward silent treatment bullshit."

"I was actually planning on speaking to her as soon as I got a few drinks in my system," I confessed, taking another sip.

Cameron snickered to himself, looking down at the drink in his hand, Saquon awkwardly scratched the back of his neck, Stefon was fighting a smile, and Corey had pitched the bridge of his nose and lowered his head, fighting a laugh. Jordan was leaning on Kyle's shoulder silently laughing, while Kyle was fighting a laugh while tears streamed down his face.

I raised an eyebrow in confusion as I looked between them, trying to figure out why they had suddenly had believed something to be hilariously funny when I had just told them that I needed a few drinks in my system to work up the courage to talk to Autumn? What was funny? Wasn't it normal for a guy to be nervous once given an opportunity to be around someone they used to be in love with?

Emphasis on "used to be"...

"What's so funny?" I questioned.

Josh cleared his throat and shook his head. "Nothing, man, nothing," He chuckled.

Cameron grinned. "Let's just say, you don't need to get too many drinks in your system, because you don't need to be getting to bold with her. That's that."

"Then why are each and every one of you laughing?" I said. "Am I missing something?"

"Man, you're missing a lot!" Corey says with a grin.

"What exactly is it that I'm quote-on-quote missing?"

Jordan shook his head in disbelief and amusement, "Bro, I know that you're a little on the...slow side from what I've heard, because first off, how the hell do you fumble Autumn—."

"Chill out." I snapped.

Jordan held up his hands, "My fault, but for real, how can you be that blind? And that's coming from a being a blind person myself. How don't you see it?"