"And now, you only sleep with them once and that's it? No second chances, no additional glances?"
"That's right." I let my head drop back as I watched the clouds race across the sky.
"And, if you found a girl that made you want to have a second date?" He kicked at my shin softly.
"I don't know." I sat up and turned to watch the island grow larger and larger. "I've not met her yet, and I'm hoping I don't until I'm settled into my career and bored with life."
"Bored with life?" Daniel slowed the boat a little as we approached the other boats tied up around the island.
"Yeah." I grabbed the anchor and stood up. "You know...you get a job and start contributing to society. Start dating a little here and there, and after a while, you find yourself in a pattern. A rut. Bored as fuck."
"That's depressing." He moved over to grab the other anchor. "It doesn't have to work like that, you know?"
"Very true." I dropped the anchor and moved back, kicking off my sandals and adjusting my bathing suit. "We could all be doctors like you. That sounds riveting."
"I'm excited about it. Maybe that's why I'm not in a hurry to find a woman." He slathered a thick layer of sunscreen on his arms and legs as I watched him.
"You'll be married to your career. It's what will turn you on, make you come alive. Not me, though; I'm going to do my job and take my ass home. I want life to be centered on a family, on a woman. The right woman." I stretched, being more open than I had in forever. My friends were excited about their next
steps after graduation, but I wasn't in the slightest.
No matter how much I balked at romance, I wanted it with a desperation that left me in another girl's bed every night. The part that no one seemed to understand was that they used me as much as I used them.
"You not taking your shirt off?" I chuckled and glanced back at him. "You're not a ginger, dude."
"I burn easily, and I want to be ready for tomorrow night. I have a strange feeling that my turn is coming." He shrugged and jumped off the side of the boat, landing in the water with a splash.
"You think Cinderella's coming to the ball?" I stepped up on the edge of the boat and jumped, tucking my legs and doing a cannon ball.
He splashed me as I came up from the cool water. "Ass. I swear you're a bully with a heart."
I laughed. "That's exactly what I am. Don't forget my overly huge dick, too. That's an asset we need to stay cognizant of."
"I'm not responding to that." He disappeared under the water, leaving me to laugh at how fun it was to fuck with him.
We walked onto the man-made beach front a few minutes later and spread out on a small strip of sand amongst a huge group of people.
Daniel dropped down beside me and rubbed at his eyes. "I don't have my contacts in, so stay close."
"You can't see anything?" I glanced over at him as I laid back, enjoying the warm sand beneath me.
"Nope." He laid back beside me and yawned. "We stayed up too late last night."
"You're a pussy." I moved my hands to cradle my head. "And, you suck at dominoes."
"Do you have anything nice to say?" He turned his head toward me as he squinted.
"You have nice cheekbones?" I laughed as he shook his head.
"Fuck you, Brody." He turned to look back toward the sky. "I have to admit that I'm a little jealous about how easily women flock to you."
"It's confidence. Just pretend like you have it and they'll flock to you, too. Girls are weird like that." I shrugged and turned to my left, smiling at the dark-skinned girl who was on her stomach, her eyes all for me. "Isn't that true?" I asked her.
"Sure is." She smiled and turned to look the other way.
"So, what if you're not at all confident? I mean, if we're talking about school or intelligence, I got it down, but anything else? Especially if we're talking about confidence in the bedroom. I'm completely at a loss there." Daniel let out a long sigh. "It's fucking terrifying."
"Yeah, but after you do it once or a hundred times, it gets easier." I turned my attention to him. I couldn't remember having anything but confidence in the bedroom, but then again, I'd started sleeping around right before high school started. It had been far too many years to think back to the beginning of it all.