The Flame

Have you ever been stuck between a rock and a hard place? Like between this guy and your best friend? And you panic and run away? Cause I did.

Yep, up and left without letting anyone know where I was going. I didn’t plan it… any of it. I just accidentally fell in love with my best friend’s boyfriend while teaching him to dance. I guess I should have know better though. I felt sparks around him, when we touched, from the very beginning. I originally met him while running every morning. This hot, muscular guy who towered WAY above me. At 5 foot, 2 inches, that isn’t hard to do though. He asked me to coffee, then later that week, he had me up against a tree, making out like teenagers. Come to find out, he was my best friend, Ciara’s date that evening, and you know Bows before Bros so I stopped anything that might have happened after that.

I got talked into helping him learn a dance routine for the big Exhibit honoring my parents and one thing led to another and my feelings didn’t fizzle out… they only got stronger. Imagine my surprise when he told me that he loved me before that show. I was floored, to say the least. So… I panicked. Big time. I took off that afternoon with a haphazardly packed bag before the show was even over!

Now, two weeks later, I’m sitting at a bar in Daytona Beach. I called Michele, my other best friend, when I stopped that night. I let her know that I was okay and would be back soon. I just hadn’t figured out when “soon” is. I rented a small house on the beach here about half a mile from this bar. The first couple of nights, I sat out on the beach and cried. Cried for my parents, cried for myself, for Ciara and even for Jake. Yeah, that’s his name.

So, now that you are caught up. I’m sitting at a bar on the beach. I’ve been coming here for the last few days. I can walk to it pretty easy. The bartender has been the sweetest. He’s never asked me what I’ve wanted, just always put a shot of Jack in front of me when I’ve sat down, then followed it with something fruity.

“Babygirl, what are you doing here on a Friday night? You should be out breaking some poor dude’s heart,” he smiles as he sits down some yellow concoction in front of me. I just shrug. “I have no interest in all of that.” He stops and stares at me for so long that I start to get uncomfortable. “I see. You know, the quickest way to get over someone is to get under someone else.” He winks at me. I roll my eyes. It wasn’t a come on from him, matter of fact, he has spent more time flirting with the guy at the end of the bar more than anything. “Nah, I’m good.” I take my drink and turn to face the ocean just as my phone dings. It’s a text from Jake. I clear it without reading it. I talked to Michele earlier today, finally for more than a couple of minutes. She told me about Ciara and Jake. How Ciara had found herself a cowboy in Nashville and had gotten a little frisky with him. She also told me that Jake had talked to Ciara before the show and that they had ended their relationship before the Exhibit… before I had ran. Jake has been texting me a few times a day since that day but I still don’t know what to do about him. I hate that I didn’t give him a chance to explain, but how do you date your besties ex-boyfriend right after you break up? I know it’s going to be a clusterfuck when I do go back and that’s why I’m still here. My phone dings again, pulling me from my thoughts. Damn. Jake’s name flashes across the screen again, then again. I clear them and turn off my phone. Turning back to the bar, I get the bartender’s attention. “Hey Handsome! Whatcha doing this evening?” He laughs. “Not you, Babygirl!” I flip my hair like I’m offended but a giggle follows right behind it. “Well then. I’ll take another one of these and you can give me some more terrible advice.” He laughs and shakes his head as he starts making another cocktail.

A few hours later, Nate, the bartender, walks me home. Nate, turns out, just broke up with his boyfriend and swears he’d help me get over my man if he was straight. We’ve spent the last few hours joking back and forth until the bar closed. We make plans to go to a local bar as he unlocks the door to my house and helps me inside because those drinks were stronger than I had thought, until I got up from the bar and fell flat on my face. Nate helps me into my bed and lays my cover over me. He scribbles something on the notepad on my bedside table before leaning over to kiss my forehead and leaving. I hear the front door click as I drift off into a deep sleep, dreaming of Jake with his emerald eyes and hands working my body over.