Struggles of Summer Love

Chapter 4

The rest of the day drags on despite it being busy.  Locals come and go as they complain about tourists.  We love tourists for bringing money to our small town, but we hate them because it's more people in this small town. A few tourists come and ask for recommendations. Part of me wonders why they bother asking when they always go with the lobster roll.   When people think of Maine, they think of lobster. I guess it makes sense. 

Come 9PM, the last customer leaves.  Reagan, Angie, Molly, and I all start cleaning like crazy. At 9:30PM Angie send Molly home. She offers to stay later, but Angie insisted she go home. As we are cleaning Angie asks, "So Harper, what was the verdict on that yummy looking guy?"

"He is picking me up at 10pm. So we need to get cleaning so I can go." I said. 

"Do you have anything else to wear? You are covered in grease and other food."

I look down at my clothes in horror. She's right. " I didn't bring anything else. Maybe I should cancel." 

" Don't cancel. I will be right back" Angie says as she runs to her car. 

"Don't worry, I already went to my truck and got perfume. Take your pick." Reagan said as she holds up three different bottles on perfume. 

The pink Victoria Secret Perfume calls my name. It smells like Vanilla, coconut, and dreams coming true. Angie burst through the door and hands me a light blue cotton dress. She says, "It's nothing fancy, but at least it's not covered in food."

"Thank you." I said as I take the dress.

"Go punch out and get ready. I expect you to have lots of stories later. " Angie says.

"Thank you." I said I ran to the bathroom. I shed my work clothes and slide on the light blue cotton t-shirt dress. I've seen Angie wear this dress before, but we fill it out very differently. Angie is very flat chested and built like a board. Thankful I am small as well but I have curves in places she does not. I quickly spray on the perfume from the pink bottle. I run my fingers through my hair in hopes to make it look a little better. My eyes glance at the mirror. This dress looks good. I walk out of the bathroom and both Angie and Reagan's jaws drop. I then ask, "Does this look okay?"

"I think you need to keep that dress,. It looks so much better on you then it does me. It fits perfectly. You might need to bring a bat with you to help Roman keep his hands to himself." Angie said. 

"You look so good. I can't believe it. Wow! I just don't know how to respond." Regan said. 

I smile and say, "Thank you." I look up at the clock and notice it is almost 10PM. "I'm gonna throw my clothes in your truck Reagan. I will text you later" I said as I walked out of the door. As I put my clothes in the back seat of Reagan's rusty truck and a black jeep pulls up with the windows rolled down. The jeep pulls up next to the truck and Roman says with a smirk, "I didn't realize I was that bad that you would try to get into a different vehicle in hopes to ditch me."

"No! That's not what I was doing. I was putting my clothes in my friend's truck."

"So do you always bring cute clothes to work with you?" He asks as he motions for me to get in the jeep.

I blush and climb in the jeep. What's with guys and trying to get their vehicles so far off the ground? "This isn't mine. It's my boss's dress. I was covered in food. So what are your plans?"

"It's late. Everything is closed. I was thinking we could go to the beach and just talk. I'd like to get to know you better."

I don't think I've stopped blushing. This guy is so sweet.  At least I think he is sweet. He wants to get to know me, but he is also a guy. Guys always seem to see how far they can go. So is he just saying the sweet things because he is sweet or is he saying this so that so he can get in my pants. I notice he is just staring at me and I haven't said anything. I quickly speak up and say, "The beach sounds great. Sorry I am a tad bit tired."

Roman laughed and started driving to a beach that wasn't attached to the Lobster shack. It's not hard to find a beach in Maine. The hard part is finding one that isn't covered in rocks. He pulls up by a beach that appears to be relatively sandy and lit up by a near by lighthouse. Butterflies fill my stomach. I am nervous to say the least.  A smile spreads across my face as I look at him. Waves crash against some rocks near the shoreline. The light from the light house shines on the jeep like a spotlight. This is my time to shine. I kick off my sneakers and climb out of the jeep.  As my feet hit the coarse sand I look up and somehow Roman has appeared next to me. "Shit." He said. " I was going to open the door for you, but you are too fast."

I laugh and say, "You need to be faster to keep up with me."  I take off running towards the beach.

Roman quickly catches up and wraps his strong arms around me. He smirks and says, "Am I that repulsive that you feel the need to run?"

"No, it's not that. I just love the beach. I'm excited to not be at work." I didn't realize until now the height difference between us. I am barely 5ft tall and he is at least a foot taller. How tall is he? He is a giant compared to my small self. 

"Oh, that's good. I was a a little worried. Want to sit on the sand?"

I plop on the ground and he sits down as well. Hopefully I won't be too awkward, if I haven't already been awkward. I stare off at the crashing waves and my mind starts to drift into a trance. The waves are beautiful. Seafoam sprays the rocks and surrounding areas. I watch as the tide creeps closer and closer. Then words come out of Roman's mouth. "What?" I ask in hopes that he will repeat his question or whatever he said. 

"So have you lived in Maine your entire life?" He asks.

" I have lived here my entire life. I don't know any other way of living. I'm hoping that someday I can explore the world. This little town can be suffocating. I've never noticed you here before, are you from away?"

He laughed and said, "I'm from Vermont, but my family has vacationed in Maine for as long as I can remember. My childhood was spent coming here every summer.  Every summer was spent here at Seagull Cove."

"That's pretty cool. Why have I never seen you before?"

"Wrong place, wrong time, I guess.  This is a weird question, but I need to know."

"Okay, shoot."

"How old are you?"

I laugh. Is age really a big deal? Wait, how old do I look? How old is he? If I open my mouth I can get the answers. I take a deep breath and say, 'I'm nineteen. How old are you?"

He smiled and sighed a sigh of relief. Then he said, " I am twenty-one. I just wanted to make sure you were at least eighteen. Some girls look like they are twenty-one and then it turns out they aren't even eighteen. I don't want to get into trouble."

"I get that. Have you encountered things like that in the past? You don't have to answer."

"I'm not sure what exactly you are getting at. I haven't been with anyone who wasn't legal. Some underage girls have flirted with me, but the second I find out about their age, I break it off. I didn't want to have to break it off with you. You are beautiful."

I blush and rest my head on his shoulder as we continue to talk. "So what do you do?"

"I'm in my senior year of college. I am also interning at a lab. In the summer I work part time teaching sailing lessons. Um... Is there anything else you would like to know? I've noticed you work at the Lobster shack. What's that like?"

"Don't get me started on the Lobster shack. It's like every seafood shack on the coast. Claims of greatness, when in reality it is far from. Tourists are just so excited for seafood they don't notice anything. They don't see that the place is falling down and should be condemned. It is filled with local old men who try to cope a feel and tourists. Occasionally we get a sweet elderly couple."

"Interesting. I never thought of the Lobster shack as such. I guess I can see a few of the things you've said about. I guess my eyes have coated over the flaws over the excitement of fresh seafood."

"So why did you ask me out?"

"I felt a spark when I first saw you. I needed to find if there was anything there."

"Please tell me that the sight of me face planting didn't turn you on."

"That wasn't when I first saw you. You were siting with your friends. I heard a laugh that sounded sweeter than honey. How was I supposed to talk to someone as beautiful as you? I kept an eye on you guys trying to figure out when I could find my moment. Then you fell. I was hoping you would fall in love with me. Your friends seem very protective."

"They are extremely protective. I have a tendency to be a little clumsy and find ways to get myself into trouble.  There are other reasons as to why they are so protective."

"What are those reasons?"

"I've put myself into stupid situations and with out them, I would have been hurt."

"Care to elaborate or is it too soon?"

"It's too soon. What time is it?" I ask. 

He glances at his phone and his face is filled with shock. " I don't know how this happened, but it's 1AM. I hate to kill the mood, but I should bring you home."

"Holy s**t! Time sure does fly. I need to get home before my parents freak out."

"Let's go." He said as he helped me get up. 

We walk to his jeep in silence. I take time to soak in the beauty of the night. Unfortunately the night had to end. Roman was very gentleman like. Most guys my age would have tried to get in my pants. Is he a virgin? There is no way that a guy that attractive could be a virgin. He didn't even try to kiss me. The night isn't over yet. All of a sudden I realize I am on the ground. Did I seriously fall again? "Are you okay?" He asks as he lifts me off of the ground.

I wipe off the sand and say, "I think so. You probably didn't think I was this clumsy."

" Maybe it just means you are falling for me." he said as he wiped sand from my face.

My face heats up as he touches it. His hand feels like it is healing any pain. It feels so good.  I look down and I realize that I'm not standing. He is carrying me. "I can walk." I say.

"I'm not so sure you can."  Roman says with a smirk. 

He has the most mischievous smile on his face. Part of me wants him to not let me down and plant a kiss right on my lips. If his fingers can make the pain go away on my face, what might his lips do. He doesn't let me down. We approach his jeep and I pull his face closer to mine. Sparks fly as his lips dance with mine. This is pure and utter bliss. I don't want the moment to end. Slowly he pulls away. He opens the door without setting me down and places me on the seat. Roman walks to his side of the jeep and gets in. He looks at me and asks, "So does this mean I can see you again?"

"Yes"