appreciate it, I do, but you don’t have to pretend anything. I’ve known you for what, a whole 2 hours? You don’t owe me anything. And I don’t want you feeling bad for me. I’ll get through this, just like I get through everything else,” I told him as I continued to smoke my cigarette.
“Karen,” he said as he extinguished his cigarette in the ashtray, “I don’t feel bad for you. I mean, I do feel bad about what happened with you and your boyfriend, and I do feel bad that you had to deal with Nicole, but I don’t feel bad for you. Yes, you’re right. We’ve only known each other for a whole two hours, but in that short time, I can tell that you’re a beautiful, funny, smartass who I enjoy spending time with. And I’d like to spend more time with you.”
“Ramsey,” I interrupted.
“No Karen. I don’t want to spend time with you because Lauri asked me to, but because I want to. I find you intriguing and I want to learn more about you.”
“What do you want to learn? What a day in the life of an ugly loser is like?” I tried to be sarcastic but my pain was obvious.
“Nicole is a bitch and I hope you aren’t taking anything she said to heart,” he said lighting another cigarette, as I put mine out. “I don’t think you’re an ugly loser, I think you’re really pretty.”
I let him continue.
“You’re not like any other girl I’ve met. Usually girls throw themselves at me, but not you. Why is that?” he asked.
“I don’t know you, Ramsey. I’m not very outgoing with guys that I don’t know,” I answered.
“Would you like to know me?”
Holy shit, I didn’t know what to say. On one hand, I was just getting over a horrific breakup that left my heart in a million pieces. Was I ready to start getting to know another guy on a romantic level, or would he just be my rebound? Or on the other hand, maybe he was just talking about having sex. I had only had sex with David and I definitely loved having sex with him, but was that only because I trusted him and was comfortable with him? But I’m sure I would really enjoy having sex with Ramsey too. Oh my God, why am I even thinking about this? He probably just wants to be friends. Thank goodness he couldn’t read my mind.
He broke the silence.
“Hey Kid, what are you thinking? Talk to me. If you don’t want me to bother you, I won’t, but you gotta talk to me.”
“Yeah, Ramsey, I’d like to get to know you better, but I’ve been through enough this past month. I don’t need, nor do I want to deal with psycho ex girlfriends. That’s just not on my agenda this summer.”
“I get it, I do. I can promise you that Nicole will never bother you again. I won’t even let her get close to you. How about we just hang out and get to know each other. We can take things as they come. What do you think?”
It was the oddest proposition ever made to me, but I was very intrigued, so I said, “Ok, I’m in.”
“Cool, now let’s start over. What do you want to do today? Pool or beach?” he asked.
Ugh, did he really want to go back to the pool? As much as I didn’t want to go back there, I figured that I’d take his word for it that he wouldn’t let Nicole near me again. So, once again, I said, “Pool then beach.”
He smiled his familiar smile and replied with, “I like it. Let’s go.” He walked around the room and blew out all of the candles that were lit, as I got my towel and bag together again. I grabbed my orange key and slipped it in my bag before heading to the door.
“Ready,” he asked as he held one hand out to mine, the other turning the door knob.
Letting a deep breath out I said, “Ready as I’ll ever be,” as the door slammed shut behind us.
Hand in hand, he once again led us down the long hallway, down the stairs, and finally to that damn white gate. We stood there a minute and surveyed the scene, looking to see if Nicole was in sight. When there was no visible sign of her, Ramsey looked at me and said, “The coast is clear.”
I smiled as he opened the gate and led us through. He walked us over to where we were earlier, right to his friends. Most of them were gone, but some were still there, Billy being one of them. He watched us as we approached, hand in hand, and said, “What’s this? I didn’t expect to see you two together again.”
“Shut up asshole,” Ramsey told him.
“Calm down, bro. I’m just kidding. What are you guys here for? Round two?”
“What do you mean?” Ramsey asked.
“Nicole’s over there by the pool. Come for another standoff, Karen?” Billy snickered.
My stomach dropped as I looked around and finally spotted her sitting on the edge of the pool, with a red plastic cup in her hand. Her legs were opened and in between them, a blonde haired, blue eyed beefcake. He seemed to be making her laugh, and she hadn’t seemed to notice us. I was more than grateful for that.
I couldn’t do this again. I didn’t want to do this again. As I started to turn in the direction of the exit, Ramsey grabbed my arm.
“You’re not going anywhere. I told you that I will not let her get near you, and I won’t. She will not bother you, Kid. Please trust me.”
Air filled my lungs and I exhaled another deep breath. I wanted to stay there with him, I really did, and I did believe that he would protect me to some extent. And since I felt like a dog that everyone had kicked while it was down, I’m sure I could endure another tongue lashing, so I decided to stay.
Ramsey quickly pulled off his shirt and hat and threw them on a chair. He once again, kicked off his sneakers and placed them by his other belongings. I wasn’t as animated about taking my clothes off this time around. I had on a simple sundress so I just slipped it off. My hair was already down and wet, so it was too heavy for the sexy swish. I flicked off my flips and told Ramsey that I was ready.
He gave me a once over and his eyes moved down to my belly ring. He touched it as he said, “I like this.”
“Thanks, it’s pretty new. I was thinking about taking it out. You know, bad memories and all.”
His hand still on my navel, he said, “Don’t take it out. Number one, it’s ridiculously sexy. And number two, keep it as a reminder, not of the bad memories that come with it, but of how you’ve overcome them.”
I just smiled at him. He smiled back as he moved his hand from my stomach to grab my hand.
“Let’s go,” he said.
I was more of a let me get my feet wet kind of girl when it came to going in a pool. I wasn’t for just jumping in, and figured that that’s what Ramsey had in mind when he walked us right behind Nicole, and to the ledge of the deepest part of the pool.
Now, standing on the edge of the pool hand in hand, Nicole spotted us. We were practically right next to her when she chuckled, “Well if it isn’t the happy couple.” The guy who occupied the space in between her legs looked up at us, confused.
Ramsey looked at me and said, “Let’s do it,” as he let go of my hand. “On three. One, two, three…”
At the sound of the three, we both cannon-balled into the pool. The water was ice cold as it enveloped me. As I started to make my way back up to the surface, my eyes were closed when I felt an arm wrap around my waist and pull me. All of a sudden, I was under the water, wrapped in Ramsey’s arms and it felt so good. When we finally emerged, the first thing both of us did was look in Nicole’s direction.
Our intentional splash had definitely made an impact. She was clearly wet and agitated. She muttered something under her breath as she wiped water from her eyes and tried to smooth out her hair. Her red cup was now floating in the pool, and her beefcake had swam away to retrieve it. Nicole looked at us and said, “You’re both assholes,”