Probably, Maybe Not A Good Idea

Part Twenty-Five

Aston’s POV

“So then I worked at this vineyard near Buenos Aires for a few months, helping care for the grape vines and that,” Jess laughed, showing me a picture of her barefoot in a huge vat of grapes.

“Are you really smushing them with your feet?” I asked.

“Yeah,” she said, turning the page of the photo album that was on my lap to show more pictures of people stomping on grapes.

“That looks fun.”
“It was hilarious,” she said, “It just feels so absurd between your toes that you can’t help but laugh the whole time.”

“What’s that?” I asked, pointing to another picture.

“A llama,” Jess grinned.

“What the hell?”

“It’s like a sheep and a camel combined,” Jess said, peering down at the picture.

“It looks weird.”
“They’re really mean,” Jess explained, “They eat everything and they spit too. That one was like the devil reincarnate.”

“Why were you with llamas then?” I asked. This girl was surprising me with every word coming out of her mouth this night. Going through the photo album she was telling me stories of her travels, all of the crazy stuff she got to do over the three years she was in South America.

“I had to help shear them,” Jess laughed, “I answered an ad in a paper to be an assistant for a week to help shave the llamas at a big farm.”

“Why would you do that?”

“That’s how I made money,” she shrugged, “I’d answer ads in the paper for help doing odd jobs, and usually the people I was working for would let me stay at their house or something. It’s how I funded my trip.”

“Oh, weird.”

“I’ve done all sorts,” she grinned, “Other than the vineyard and the llamas, I helped pick fruit, I was a nanny for a summer in Rio de Janeiro, and I did a fair amount of bartending and hostel management.”

“Fun.”

“I really liked it,” she said, “When I have the money I want to open a youth hostel here.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, I think it’s really important for young people to get an opportunity to see the world, but it’s really expensive. Hostels are a good way of making it at least sort of affordable. And they’re great places to meet people too.”

“That sounds cool,” I said, turning to look at her.

“It’s a long term plan, but it’ll happen someday.”

I watched as she took the album from my lap and laid it on the table, snatching up the remote for the TV. “Film?” she yawned.

Right here is the moment I should have said, ‘I’ll leave you to it, should get home.’ But I didn’t. Instead I nodded my head and then jumped up to grab two more beers from the fridge. When I came back Jess was already sleeping on the couch, but instead of leaving her I sat down and watched the film she’d found on the TV. There was just something about her that drew me in. I wanted to be near her all of the time, which was kind of a problem because she didn’t really seem to want me around that much.

A ways in to the film Jess moved around and then snuggled into my side, her head on my bicep gently. I looked down at her and smiled to myself. She was really gorgeous when she was asleep, her eyelashes fluttering lightly on her cheeks as she breathed in and out.

I couldn’t help but put an arm around her, leaning her head on my chest as we cuddled on the couch. My stomach was feeling a bit mushy and I knew that I wanted to know everything about Jess. I wanted to make whatever was going on between us work. I didn’t know what it was going to take, but I was willing to try anything to make this girl mine.