Page 7 of Just Try, Again and Again

“It’s not dumb,” I comfort him.I should know that it’s not dumb. “And let me tell you what. Since you promised to show me the different beaches in the area while I’m in town, if you ever need a good cry in the middle of the night or anybody to talk to, you already have my number.”

My hand reaches for his and he takes it without much hesitation, his thumb caressing my palm. For a while, we don’t say anything. Our eyes focusing on our hands that are resting on the now much smaller pile of clothes between us. My mind wanders to the bonfire party that we just went to.Do his friends know that Bryce isn’t as happy as he portrays himself to be?

“Thanks for the offer,” he breaks the silence. “But right now, I would rather do something else.”

5

Bryce - 18 years old

“Have you ever had sex before, Haruki?”

She looks like she’s about to run out of the fucking room and I’m starting to doubt my question. She told me during one of our conversations that the Japanese are very polite.Did I cross a line by asking that?Haruki bites her lip before answering in a low voice, “Yes. Have you?”

Now I’m the one who is embarrassed. With the heat rushing to my cheeks, I have no doubt my face is the shade of a fucking cherry tomato. “Yes. Not that often, but yes.”

“Somehow, I don’t believe that,” she teases. Her statement bothers me.Why would she say that?

I smile as I scratch my head, realizing what she’s insinuating. “Ah, yes, the girls at the party shooting daggers at you and my jock friends.” They don’t sayyou are who you hang out withfor nothing, I guess. “I promise I don’t do a lot of hookups. I haven’t even had sex since Christmas. Compared to my friends, I’m basically a virgin.”

“So you don’t usually pick up random tourists to invite to parties and sleep with them later on?”

I shake my head and a laugh bubbles out of my throat. “You’re the lucky first.” Wanting to lighten the mood, I decide to tell her the truth. I really hope it comes out as funny as I imagine it in my head. “I already felt a spark between us when we first met, but I didn’t want you to think I was a creepy kidnapper. So I nipped it in the bud.” A giggle creeps out of her mouth.

Thank God she’s laughing.

“So, what do you say? Up for a little holiday romance?” My heart stings a little saying the second sentence. If she were someone local, I would go all the fuck in. She’s really cool. I can see myself going out with her, but the fact that I know she could leave at a moment’s notice makes me put a leash on myself.

I know what this is. It's a tale as old as time, especially in the summer months. It’s called fucking the tourist, holiday fling, one-night stand with the local. Whatever you want to call it, it has an expiration date. She will be gone. Maybe in two days, maybe by the end of the week, but she will not stay here. She’ll travel around and go back to Japan.

Who knows? Maybe it is because I know she won’t be here forever. Maybe that’s the charm of it all. So why shouldn’t I share my whole self with her? I’m already blabbering my secrets to her, so I might as well. I was attracted to her when I first saw her on the beach, and I couldn’t even see her full image until the sun came out, due to the god-awful lighting. But now? Now I just want to be connected to her, with her, in every way possible before we go our separate ways.

When she nods, I lean over toward her, twisting my body, so that our lips can meet. The taste of cherry lip balm coats my tongue as I slide it between her lips. When I open my eyes, I see two chocolate orbs studying me.

“I’m glad we met, Haruki,” I say, my hand holding one of her cheeks.

“Me too, Bryce.”

We move to the bed behind us, both of us lying down on the salmon-colored comforter and tangling our arms and legs together. It feels weird to be fucking someone in a room littered with shrimp decorations, but the way her skin feels so soft to the touch as I glide my hand up her thigh and under her dress makes me forget about the giant crustacean ornaments hanging on the wall.

I plant soft kisses on her lips, carefully taking mental notes of how everything feels because, somehow, I know the memory of this night will be replaying in my head over and over again.

Haruki’s hands grab the sides of my shirt and I break our kiss to pull it off. I smile when I see what’s on her upper thigh. “Cute,” I say, pointing to the small tattoo of a blue cartoon figure just above the hem of her dress. “Do I get to hear the story about that?”

She smiles. “You don’t know Doraemon?” When I shake my head, she looks at me in disbelief. “It’s a very famous Japanese manga. He’s a robot cat.”

“Nope. Never heard of it.”

“We’re watching an episode after this,” she suddenly says, propping herself with her elbows. “I grew up watching Doraemon.”

I straddle her, forcing her to lie on her back. A chuckle escapes my mouth as I kiss the side of her neck. “You’re going to tell me more about the robot cat later, but right now, we have something better to do.”I am not going to let some stupid cartoon ruin this moment.

Haruki moans when I palm her breasts over the dress. The way they feel, with the centers stiffening under the cotton, jolts what’s between my thighs fucking awake. Either she’s notwearing a bra, or she’s wearing one of those fake tank top bra things that girls like to wear. I grin when I pull the neckline down to find out it’s the former. Her tits are fucking perfect. Not too big, but perky—just the way I like.

Popping one of them in my mouth as I flick her other nipple with my finger is turning her delirious. I might not have fucked as many people as my friends have, but I do know that girls love this shit. So do I. I appreciate a great set of tits as much as the next person does, but I never cared enough to do this. To truly enjoy this. Sex for me has only ever been drunken hookups at parties. A wham bam, thank you, ma’am, if you will. But right now, I’m feasting.

Trailing kisses down her stomach, my hand reaches for my wallet in my pocket and I grab a condom I keep in there before pulling my shorts off and the briefs under it. Haruki’s eyes go straight down to my hardened dick.

Haruki swallows and I can’t help but chuckle. “What’s the story behind that?” she asks with a cocked eyebrow, her voice raspy and her tits on full display. I’m pretty sure I’m drooling at the sight of the brown circles taunting me with their peaks.

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