oyster back onto you if you get it up my nose instead of in my mouth.” The instant his smile matches mine, I add, “You’ve been warned, Ax.”
He respectively nods. “Countdown from three?”
“Go.”
My impromptu date counts backwards, effortlessly leading us to the tricky moment. When the time hits, we both tip the shells into one another’s mouths, accidentally knocking heads in the process. We open mouth laugh and nearly lose the contents we’re supposed to be holding in. Our attempts to stop chuckling over our behavior results in us both nearly choking, which inevitably leads to more laughter.
Seeing not a single frown line on his face swells my chest in an unusual, unexpected way.
It’s almost as though he doesn’t possess the power to be embarrassed.
Or perhaps, I just make him that comfortable?
He definitely does me.
Wouldn’t bet my lucky pineapple bracelet that I’d do this shit with just anyone who asked.
Ax wipes the droplet that landed on the corner of his mouth while nodding in an impressed nature. “We didn’t do too bad.”
“Think we can do better?”
The retort catches us both by surprise.
Okay, whoa.
Not an overly competitive chick outside of work, yet I can’t deny the amount of fun that seems to come from this stupid challenge. A challenge that isn’t pitting us against one another so much as has us working to complete the same goal.
Together.
“I think I’m down to try if you are,” Ax casually states and lifts up a second oyster.
“Let’s do it.”
We repeat the comical challenge twice more before abandoning it to simply finish off the contents of the plate. Afterwards, Ax lets me choose something else from the menu for us to share. I order Oysters Rockefeller and am extremely excited when Ax gushes about how fantastic they are here.
Post our waitress’s exit, we each grab our drink glasses; however, it’s me who prompts our conversation to return to the original one we had before. “Your turn.” A small sip is stolen in between my statements. “Time to fess up about your worst first date ever.”
“Ah, what to brand the worst first date ever…” He teasingly sighs as he slips his non glass-holding hand back with mine. “There was that time when I was ten and went with Jessie M. to Calvin’s birthday party where we played spin the bottle, and I ended up having to kiss his dog instead of her.”
“Aw.”
“Or there was that time when I was thirteen and I went to the movies with Amber and we tried making out only to get our braces stuck together halfway through the thing. Her parents did not enjoy having to help us with that shit.”
“Sunshineandseashells!” I laugh louder than intended.
“Yeah, that was before that Invisalign shit existed…” Ax’s levity-filled nature remains in spite of the self-proclaimed shameful stories. “Both of those were bad, but I think I’m gonna have to go with the first official date I had post…a…breakup like situation a few years ago. I was in a real change everything headspace. Traded my car in for my Scout. Let my hair grow out a bit. Got a dog. I was pretty much dead set on doing things differently than I had been, and lucky enough for me, I met what I thought was going to be a great match outside the surf shop owned by my best friend, E. We instantly hit it off. Beach lover, board lover, blond lover. Lexi seemed more or less perfect.”
Jealousy unexpectedly strikes me in the side.
“So, I asked her out for dinner that night. Met her at one of the shittier tourist spots that she had heard others raving about. She insisted I pick something for us to eat. That she was one of those easy-going women who loves everything. So, I ordered us an appetizer plate and about two bites into it, she offhandedly says her mouth tingles. Then she dry heaves. Then she throws up all over what’s left. We rush from there on promises I’ll call and pay them for our tab to the ER with just enough time to stop her throat from completely closing.”
Another slice of shock slaps me in the face.
“Turns out she had developed an allergy to shellfish, something that the doctor explained can suddenly happen at any time with absolutely no warning.”
Cringing is unstoppable.
“If we would’ve waited any longer, she could’ve died…something so sweetly – please feel the full force of my sarcasm – she reminded me of over and over again when she finally got the feeling back