Page 23 of Barefoot Dreams
“I can’t believe you’ve been in town for a week already and I haven’t seen you yet! What’re you up to? Wanna go grab a beer?” I’m about to weep at his feet for that suggestion and a “yes” flies out of my mouth before he can finish his question.
“Oh, okay, well you boys go have fun,” my mom says. “And you can have lots offun,Griffin, you know!” She emphasizes for extra effect and I stifle a groan.
“What is wrong with our parents and their obsession with our sex lives?” I mutter quietly, meaning it as an internal questionbut Alec still catches it and laughs, throwing his head back. The sound so easy and free. Have I ever laughed like that?
Yeah…I have. A long time ago.
“Oh man, so much. So fuckin’ much. Welcome back home. It’s now ten times worse than it was at eighteen.” He claps my shoulder with a wave of goodbye to the others.
“Great.” I sigh.
At first, I move slowly down Love Street, carefully not to raise any extra attention to my persona and then I start moving as if my ass was on fire.
“Run,” I whisper to Alec. “Before my mother decides she wants a beer too.”
Alec chuckles in response but speeds up, nonetheless.
“Look at that, my wildest dreams come true.”
“What dreams?” I ask as I covertly throw glances over my shoulder to see if she’s following.
“To play with you, Callum, and Luke.”
Play…I smile to myself. Yep, that’s exactly what it looks like I’m doing.
This is utterly ridiculous behavior for a thirty-four-year-old but for some reason I’m not annoyed or angry. I start laughing and laughing so hard I can’t stop. Those long-forgotten muscles groaning like an old trunk that was locked away in the attic and its hinges now all rusty and squeaky. A twin to the one where my heart resides.
God, what has my life turned into.
It’s so far off the plan I crafted for myself back when I was a naïve child, it’s not even funny.
“You okay, Griff?” Alec looks concerned as he should be.
“Not even close,” I admit, wiping the last tear from my manic laughing fit.
“Then a beer might not be enough. Not to worry! We won’t let you drown in your sorrows.”
“We?”
“Yep, let’s go pick up the other piece of my heart.”
I frown, not understanding him at all but decide to just go with a flow this once.
We pass all of the main stores and businesses on Love Street, including Sip of Love as I pretend I don’t try and catch a sneak peak of Julie inside.
Seeing her earlier was…it was…everything.
And the more I do, the faster all the memories I’ve buried resurface and it’s a dangerous game to play.
We pass Love and Peace bar—or LPs for short—rounding the corner and coming straight to You Know You Want It tattoo shop. The one I noted on my first outing here. It’s a red brick building with blue accents and a huge window at the front that has a front row view of the beach and miles of the moody ocean.
There are two surfboards stacked on the side of it, a yellow and a blue one.
Alec pushes the front door, and I nearly walk into him because he suddenly stops dead.
“Man, what the fuck are you doing?” he asks someone.
Who is he talking to? I look over his shoulder and my eyes meet the unmistakable. Too short shorts—this time neon red—a tight shirt and that Viking hair in another bun as Julie’s boyfriend is crouching low on the floor while he draws something on the front of the front desk.
