Page 31 of Being Julia

“All right, sweetheart, just be careful,” he said as he kissed my head.

I took off my shoes and headed down the beach. Once I made my way down, far away from the house, I sat on the warm, soft sand. As I was thinking about my life and college, a dog came up and sat down next to me with a stick in its mouth.

“Hi there.” I smiled as I reached my hand over to pet him. “You’re so cute. Look at that face. Where did you come from?”

Suddenly, I heard a voice from a few feet away. “Mozart, there you are. What are you doing, boy?”

I gulped as I looked at the fine male standing before me, wearing cargo shorts and no shirt. I couldn’t help but stare at his ripped abs and muscular arms. Looking at him, I felt like I couldn’t get enough air. My eyes finally traveled up to his face, and my airway felt constricted once again. He was the hottest guy I’d ever seen in my life.

“Sorry about that. Mozart loves girls, and when he sees one, he wants to be friends.” He smiled.

That smile. I felt something when he smiled. It was the kind of smile that no matter how bad your day was, it made you feel better. It was the kind of smile that fixed you. I needed to speak, but the words weren’t coming out. I was stunned by this boy, this guy, this man. He had me speechless, and that was not easy to do.

“That’s okay. I love dogs.” I smiled back.

He looked at me and cocked his head. “I know this is your typical crappy line, but I’m serious. I feel like we’ve met before.”

I laughed because at least he was being honest about it being a typical crappy line. “I don’t think so.” I laughed.

“Come on, Mozart, let’s go,” he said.

Mozart looked at me, laid down, and put his head on my lap.

“Mozart, what are you doing? Come on. Come, boy.”

“He obviously doesn’t want to go,” I said.

“He never acts like this. He always listens when I tell him we have to go.”

I felt my heart beating rapidly as the nervousness in my stomach began. “You could always stay for a while until he’s ready to go.”

He looked at me with a smile. “You don’t mind? You sort of look like you want to be alone.”

“No, I don’t mind. I was just escaping the craziness of my graduation party.”

He sat down next to me and all I could think about was running my hand down his torso, feeling every crevice and well-defined muscle he had.

“Ah, I remember my graduation party last year. My parents went all out. By the way, I’m Jake Jensen.” He smiled as he held out his hand.

“Nice to meet you, Jake Jensen. I’m Julia Black.” I smiled back as I shook his hand.

The feeling of my skin heating up when I touched him was unreal. It was a feeling I’d never felt in my eighteen years of living.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Julia Black. So, why are you trying to escape your graduation party?”

I was instantly comfortable with Jake, and I didn’t seem to have trouble telling him my problems.

“My best friend died a month ago from a drug overdose while in rehab.”

“Wow. How do you overdose in rehab?”

“I don’t know. Neither the doctors nor the facility could give us an explanation. She used to come here and stay with us every summer, and not to have her here, especially at my graduation party, is really hard.”

“I’m really sorry, Julia,” he said as he looked down.

“Thank you, but it’s okay. It’s all just a bit overwhelming. Enough about me. Tell me about you, Jake Jensen.”

He laughed as he looked up at me. “My parents just bought the house down the beach. I have two sisters, and I just finished my first year at Columbia.”

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