Warner Park

✨ Chapter Fifteen | The Unwelcome Surprise

— Andrew —

I didn't care that Gary and Aubrey came out to the beach after I specifically told them not to interrupt me when I talked to Vince. How could I?

Vince was holding onto me. Vince told me he loved me. Vince kissed me. I was still in shock.

Seeing the excitement on Gary and Aubrey's faces only added to my own. I wanted to freak out like a kid with them too, but I managed to keep it together. Apparently, they couldn't say the same.

After Vince composed himself enough to let go of me, he turned to them, clearly not as amused as I was. Watching him argue with Gary and Aubrey over the interruption was hilarious, especially since he was the only one who seemed genuinely pissed off. I didn't blame him, it was definitely the worst-timed interruption of my life, but I couldn't stop laughing.

Eventually, when Vince had said his piece, and I'd laughed until there were no tears left, we all walked back to camp together. Gary led the way with Vince, linking arms and teasing him the whole time, while I hung back with Aubrey, who was throwing rapid-fire questions my way.

"I told you this just happened," I said, exasperated but smiling. "Literally just now. You guys interrupted us, remember?"

Aubrey looked skeptical, as if I'd made the whole thing up. "Sure, sure. But are you seriously telling me that after all this time, that was your first kiss?!"

I sighed. "Yes, Aubrey. First kiss. Can we talk about something else now?"

"Fine, fine. I actually have a question for you, believe it or not."

"Okay," I said, cautiously.

"Where the hell is your jacket?"

Aubrey laughed to himself, pulling his shoulders up to his ears. "Oh, that. Literally seconds after you left, Eli spilled his drink on me. 'Cause he's a jackass."

"Wait... he threw his drink on you?"

"He pretended he tripped. But come on, what could he have tripped on? He was already hovering around me before you left, so it was definitely on purpose."

"Aubrey..." I tried not to laugh but failed. "You know what I think. He has a crush on you... He's hovering because he's nervous."

He groaned. "Gary said the same thing, and you're both wrong. I don't want to talk about it."

Was this what I sounded like to Gary when I talked about Vince? Good lord.

"Alright, fair enough. So, you had rum and coke all over your jacket?"

"Yeah. It was sticky as hell, so I chucked it in the back of my truck. But I found an old wool blanket back there, so..." He shrugged like that explained everything.

I grinned, trying not to laugh again. "Right, the wool blanket. I remember now. But Aubrey... why are you wearing Eli's jacket?"

His face turned red as he shoved his hands deeper into the leather jacket's pockets. "Don't get the wrong idea. I didn't have a jacket, and Gary made a big deal about it, so Eli gave me his to shut him up after we were done discussing the incident. That's all. "

"When you were done discussing the incident?" I mocked in a playful tone.

"Yeah."

I raised an eyebrow. "Hmm. Okay."

Aubrey clenched his jaw, clearly flustered, which only made me laugh again.

"Andrew, stop... You're wrong. He tried to slash my tires earlier and kill me. You didn't see what he did!"