Baewatch - Xavier Neal Page 0,1
to be at his bedside. Afterall, they’re so close. He’d be just…beside himself if she weren’t there when he got out of surgery.”
Joshua John Michael energetically nods his understanding, dark gelled-back locks not moving despite the action.
Can we take a minute and acknowledge the fact his hair has not moved an inch?
Perhaps that’s too much product?
“Come on, Brooklyn,” the sun-kissed tanned male waves me to follow him, “you can ride with me.”
Our eyes momentarily lock, and it’s hard to decide what I adore more about staring into them. The mirth freely dancing around or the way my heart is beating against my ribcage like it’s an overzealous pannist playing to a growing crowd on a busy street corner.
Probably should be a little warier to trust some random guy with a glowing gaze, biceps that I could break my teeth on, and pumpkin orange boardshorts, but the desperation to get away from the prime example of why I hate online dating in any fashion outweighs the logical reasons to stick around rather than rush away with some surf boarding looking savior.
“I’m so sorry to do this, John Joshua Michael-”
“Joshua John Michael.”
“That’s what I said.”
He pauses to reflect on my previously spoken sentence in which I purposely messed up his name to give the attractive stranger an extra snicker.
“I really am sorry I have to abruptly go,” I state as I happily hop off the barstool, faint humming noise steadily continuing. “But you heard the man. My brother needs me.”
“Yeah. Family first and all that shit,” Joshua John Michael mutters, eyes wandering away from me and down the bar, most likely looking for a new victim.
Yeah.
Victim.
Because anyone who has to endure time with him is not a willing participant.
Fairly sure his stories about him having to kick supermodels to the curb were all lies.
“Hope your brother makes it,” he says just seconds before the bartender appears to ask him about a refill. “I’ll send you a text or something later, Brandy.”
Or nothing.
He could send me nothing and that would be appreciated.
I snatch my clutch purse off the bartop, take the hand Blondie has extended towards me, and let him lead me to my freedom.
Outside the overcrowded, overpriced beachfront establishment, I’m gently pulled along to the right. The man with my hand still in his possession points off into the evening night distance and states, “My car, which we’re not actually taking anywhere because I’m not secretly a serial killer isn’t really located where I’m pointing. This shit is just being done for dramatic effect.”
A small smirk starts to slip onto my lips.
“No. No,” he playfully scolds. “You can’t smile yet, babe. Just in case Duke Caboom is still watching, we have to put on a believable performance.”
“Duke Caboom?”
“From Toy Story 4.”
My expression remains clueless.
“Really?” Bafflement bounces onto his face. “Is that not a movie that adults watch without being held hostage by their niece and nephew?”
Hearing a laugh fester behind my closed lips encourages his own to surface.
“Duke Caboom is an action stunt toy played by that dude’s doppelganger, Keanu Reeves.”
“So, I’m not the only one who thinks he looks just like Keanu Reeves?!”
“I don’t know about just like but definitely enough to warrant a doubletake and a cautious line of questioning revolving around The Matrix.”
Another urge to snicker swiftly grows.
Once we’ve made it a significant amount of distance from the building, he picks the conversation back up yet, strangely enough, doesn’t drop my hand. “I’m Ax, by the way.” Our swift strides suddenly slow down. “And I know that you’re Brooklyn ‘cause I had been sitting at the bar on the other side of you for the last half an hour.”
Having the answers to my earlier questions relaxes my shoulders seconds prior to the ocean breeze picking up.
“I also know that guy was a complete asshole. Not only because he couldn’t remember your name, which is beautiful,” his thumb lightly strokes the back of my hand, “but not difficult, but because in the small span of time I had been there, he shut up for you to talk a total of…what? Three times?”
“That number sounds like you’re being too generous.” We exchange a round of open mouth laughs prior to me saying, “Thank you for helping me escape, Ax. I had been spending the last fifteen minutes letting my thoughts oscillate between the best way to get the hell out of there and cursing the stupid matchmaking company I chose to use for their terrible assistance after regular online dating was