Page 60 of Palm South University: Season 2

SHAWNA IS STILL BLUSHINGas we wander the empty streets of Key West, dawn just within reach. She’s not exactly one who blushes lightly, but I kind of like the way the rosiness sets on her cheeks. I’m not sure if she’s blushing from the heat we built up dancing or the fact that we just stripped down to our Birthday Suits and partied with a bunch of old naked men and women in the Garden of Eden.

Either way, I like that I put that blush there.

“I cannot believe we just did that,” she breathes, still giggling. “I will never get helicockter guy out of my head.”

“Hey! That’s the best part about having a dick,” I defend, swinging my hips to mimic the motion of the skinny sixty-year old biker from the bar. The Garden of Eden is a rooftop bar above a country bar on Duval Street and it’s clothing optional. There are no phones or cameras allowed, but it still took three shots to get either one of us comfortable enough to take our clothes off. We were the hottest people there, and as soon as we lost our underwear, all the attention was on us. I expected Shawna to be shy or embarrassed, but she danced with me and flaunted her shit in front of everyone like she was the most confident woman on earth.

I’m starting to think she might actually be.

Shawna rolls her eyes and shoves me but I bounce back, pulling her under my arm. She sighs, content in my grasp. The night air has cooled down significantly, blanketing our hot skin in a relieving reprieve.

“What a wild place.”

I nod, taking in the brightly colored houses on either side of the street. We’re not really walking anywhere, just strolling, and we’re the only ones left, it seems. Occasionally, a cab will blow buy, rowdy Spring Breakers hanging out the windows, but for the most part it’s just us. “It’s amazing.” I kiss her temple, smiling down at her bright green eyes. “Even better now that you’re here.”

She’s quiet for a moment, and we fall into a rhythm, her sandals and my Jordan’s thumping the pavement with each step.

“You know, when we first started hooking up, I thought that’s all you’d be to me,” Shawna says, wrapping her arm around my waist and hooking her finger into my belt loop. “It made sense. You were hot, we had amazing sex, and it was fun.” She shrugs. “But I didn’t expect you to be a great listener. Or a protective friend. Or an amazing big brother. It’s like everything I never thought I’d feel with you actually came easily — effortlessly, without even thinking about it.” She smiles softly, biting her lower lip as her eyes stay fixed on her feet. “Somewhere along the way, I think I started falling for you.”

My throat constricts at her words, the darkness of night just before dawn surrounding me. I swallow, wondering why I’m not laughing, or shaking my head, or planning my escape route. I never wanted anything serious with Shawna, and even now, it feels like a bad idea. But the truth is, I think I’m falling for her, too.

I halt, pulling Shawna into my arms. She wraps hers around my neck, eyes fierce as she stares up at me, not the least bit ashamed of what she just admitted out loud.

“Me too,” I say simply.

She smiles, the black frames of her glasses lifting on her cheeks. “I really want you to nail me on the beach.”

I choke out a laugh, snaking my hand up to brush one of her purple locks aside. “Hmm… I could possibly be persuaded to oblige.”

Shawna’s eyes sparkle as she lifts up on her toes, pressing her lips to mine. I pull her into me, hands gripping her shirt at the hem, slipping my tongue inside her mouth only to be rewarded with a moan.

We’re all hands and lips as we stumble our way onto a private beach of a hotel, breaking contact just long enough to jump a fence or strip off clothing before collapsing into a beach cabana bed. The soft blue hue of morning battles with the dark night just as I sink inside her, her nails dragging down my sunburned back. I hiss at the sensation and she takes my mouth with hers. When she flips us over, her hips straddling mine, I watch with fascination as bright pinks and oranges light the sky behind her arching back.

By the time the sun breaks its kiss with the horizon, we’re completely spent, skin slick, legs tangled. And for a while it’s just the sound of our breathing and the waves on the shore that exist in the world. Shawna falls asleep on my chest and I let her rest for a while, knowing I’ll have to wake her soon before we’re caught. A strange emotion washes over me, one I’ve never felt but don’t feel compelled to fight.

With my fingers in her hair and my heart on my sleeve, I let myself fall a little further.