I was enjoying the beautiful night swim when I decided to ask the question I really wanted to ask. "Did you know Andrew was going to be here?” I wasn't mad, but why wouldn't Jessica simply give me a heads up? Especially since she knew I was bringing Justin.
"No idea," Jessica muttered in one breath. "So, do you think I should stay here tonight?" Jessica clearly only had her own issues on her mind. Or she was just too drunk to comprehend a conversation. Oh boy, what was Justin about to walk into?
I insisted that Jessica and I get out of the pool so I could be near my phone. I knew Justin would be arriving any minute. I sat and tried to avoid any eye contact with Andrew. Jessica was sitting on Josh's lap, twirling her hair. Darlene began to roll her eyes and I had to nudge her to stop.
Justin texted me that he had arrived. "Justin's here. I should probably go meet him at the gate since he's never been here." I was definitely explaining too much, but I wanted to make it clear that Justin was my kind of, sort of, not really even close to, boyfriend.
I opened the gate and watched Justin walk down the driveway towards me. He had on a dark green bathing suit and a white t-shirt. His look was simple, which is part of what attracted me to him in the first place.
I greeted him with a kiss and felt all the stress of the guests inside leave my body. My friends were going to love Justin and I would avoid looking at Andrew the whole night.
We walked through the gate and I introduced Justin to all my friends, including Josh and Andrew. Then I nudged Justin and told him the water felt amazing. Even though it was, I really just wanted to get away from that table. I suddenly remembered the last time I was in an awkward situation with Justin. I totally lied to him and we ended up having sex for the first time. I don't know how I ended up in a similar situation a few weeks later, but I decided I would handle it very different. I still didn't think it was appropriate for me to reveal my whole past to Justin this early on, but I wouldn't alter the plans of the night for the sake of an old, kind of fling.
Darlene and Anna joined us in the pool. I was glad that it could be just the four of us for a little while so that they could really get to know Justin. They seemed to love him and I did a mental victory dance. Jessica was too drunk, and at this point, she was basically sleeping on Josh's lap while he talked to Andrew. I figured winning over two thirds of my friends was enough for now.
For the rest of the night, Justin, Darlene, Anna, and I all took turns doing fun jumps off of the diving board. I can’t imagine Justin winning over my friends anymore than he did and it made me feel great. Maybe this thing with him could be something real?
I got out of the pool to go to the bathroom with Darlene. As we were walking into the house, Andrew was walking out.
"Oh, hey guys," Andrew said, but he was only looking at me. "I'm actually heading out, so I'll see you around soon." We were still wet from the pool, so he just gave a general wave goodbye. As we walked into the house, I felt great.
"I'm so glad tonight went well," I said to Darlene as she came out of the bathroom.
"Yeah, it could've been disastrous," she replied as I went to take my turn. "What do you think? Has Josh really changed?" she asked through the door.
I contemplated the question for a moment. "Maybe," I said back through the door. I really didn't want to have this conversation through the door, in case Josh walked into the house.
Once I walked out of the bathroom, Darlene gave me her opinion. "I think it's only a matter of time before he shows his true colors again. Tigers don't lose their stripes, am I wrong?" She was a little drunk, but I didn't realize until now. Jessica was really outshining everyone with her antics.
I thought it would be better at this point to get everybody home. After all, we all had work the next morning. Everyone seemed ready to go. Everyone except Jessica, that is. She insisted on staying at Josh's and since I didn't feel like being a mom, I gave her a hug and simply thanked her for having us over. I did the same with Josh.
Justin and I waved goodbye to Darlene and Anna as they walked to Anna’s car. "You were a hit," I said to Justin as we began walking towards our cars. "My friends totally love you!"
Justin mimed the action of brushing dirt off his shoulders. "It's what I do. It's what I do. So, what're you doing now?" he asked.
"I really should be getting home," I slowly responded. I had an amazing time with Justin, but I still wanted to wait before jumping back into bed with him. I realized that even though I initially gave him the wrong idea, we seemed to be in a really good place right now. I didn't want to mess that up.
He leaned down and kissed me goodbye before walking away. I couldn't have asked for a better night and even though I thought the Andrew thing was going to be crazy awkward, maybe I built things up in my mind too much. However, I did feel like I made Andrew a tiny bit jealous and as much as I hate to admit it, it was a little, microscopic win. A girl can't help herself sometimes!
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