One Night ✔️

Chapter Seven

We resumed a slow walking pace for what seemed like hours. But soon he let go of my hand and told me to open my eyes. I gaped at the landscape before me, completely in awe. We stood on a cliff overlooking a sparkling ocean lit by the full moon that rested overhead. It appeared so big that I could distinguish the many sizes of the craters that scattered it. A million stars were out and I couldn't peel my eyes away from it.

"This is- wow, it's beautiful out here, Joseph."

"I'm really happy you think so," he replied.

"Do you have 'coolest and most romantic places within a ten mile radius' tapped into your phone?"

He shook his head. "Nah... beautiful things are everywhere. Solo tienes que buscar los." (You just have to look for them.)

"You know, that's true."

"Let's go a bit closer," he said, beckoning me to follow.

Joseph and I sat on the edge of the cliff, letting our feet dangle below us. It was just the two of us, the stars, and the open air. I was content.

"I could live outdoors, right here," he said, breaking the comfortable silence. "As a kid I loved camping, and stargazing was pretty much all I wanted to do."

"I've never been camping."

He tore his eyes from the sky and looked at me in disbelief. "What?!"

"I've never been... camping?"

"That means you've never enjoyed life. It also means you've never had s'mores, or-or talked for hours with the stars being your only source of time."

"...I've had a s'more."

He scoffed. "I bet it wasn't a real one! You probably toasted marshmallows in your house over the stove."

I burst into a fit of giggles. "Hey! It's a great life hack. Especially for the nights that are too cold to be outside."

"Too cold," he mocked, adding an animated roll of his eyes that made me laugh harder. "Sienna. There is no excuse not to be out in nature, completely basking in all of its glory. You have to go camping at least once in your life."

"Maybe I will. But that's clearly not happening tonight."

He looked away from me and back at the open ocean as he ran a hand through his hair. "We may not be able to go camping tonight. But we can jump."

I stared at him incredulously. "You mean... jump... as in leap from this cliff and into the deep, dark abyss below?"

"Precisely."

"I-I don't know. I mean, we didn't even bring swimming suits."

"Do we really need them, though?" he asked, finally looking at me.

"Joseph! I'm not skinny dipping."

He laughed at my outburst. "I wasn't suggesting that. We both wear underwear, right?"

Do I jump or do I find every excuse not to?

Being so caught up in my decision making, I didn't realize that Joseph had gotten up and began undressing. His t-shirt fell to the ground on top of his socks and sneakers. Next, followed his jeans.

I looked up to see him standing in nothing but a pair of fitted black Polo boxer briefs. My breath got caught in my throat. He flashed me a wink before back-flipping into the ocean and landing with an inaudible splash.

It was all on me now.

"Am I really about to do this?"

I took several deep breaths as I could barely contain my nerves. Slowly, I slipped off my shirt and then tossed my chucks aside.