My Life In Ruins

7. The Marvelous Wonders Of A Wetsuit

Chapter 7

The Marvelous Wonders Of A Wetsuit

Ah, North Carolina, where you can get your southern hospitality and the beach all in one.  Plus, the fabulous food!  I swear, if I lived down here, I would be bigger than a house!  But it was...just...so...good!

We got to North Carolina early in the afternoon, which let us have a late lunch/early dinner.  Like now, we were sitting in a family owned restaurant that served good, southern style cooking, otherwise known as a heart attack on a plate.  Our waitress - Penny - was maybe in her twenties with thick golden curls and a sickly sweet, southern belle accent.  At first I kind of liked her, but when she spotted Max it turned into a different story.

Who knew I could get this jealous so quickly?

“If you need anything else, honey, you just call me right over,” she said with a wink in his direction.  Gag me.  It made Max, Dad, and Brielle all laugh, though.

"This is just..." Max started, taking another bite of his fried chicken.  "Disgustingly amazing."

I laughed as I swirled my fork in my mashed potatoes and gravy.  "I know, right?" I said, laughing. 

Dad, who had already finished off everything on his plate, sighed and leaned back in his chair, rubbing his stomach.  "I haven't had food like that in a few years," he said.  "Which is probably a good thing, or I would be dead right now."

Brielle laughed and smoothed his hair back from his forehead.  "Yes, it is because I wouldn't want to be a widow already," she said. 

After a few more minutes of trying to finish all of the hearty food on our plates, we had Penny the waitress bring our check and we left to go to the hotel we were going to be staying at.  Dad rented a car when we landed at the airport so we could just go around without having to have a driver. 

Once we got to our hotel - Dad got the suite with three bedrooms so we could all stay together - we headed to our rooms so we could get changed.  I put on my dark blue bikini and put my tank top and shorts over it.  Apparently I was the first one finished changing when I got out to the living room area of the suite because there was no one there.  But just then, one of the doors opened and Max came out in swim trunks and a white tank top. 

"I'm glad your dad called me and told me to bring these," he said, tugging at the leg of his swim trunks.  "I would have been out of luck otherwise."

I smiled as he sat down on the couch next to me.  "Yeah, you would have.  I'm sure my dad would have had an extra for you, though.  Or maybe you could have gotten a Speedo from that shop I saw down the street," I said, laughing.

Max shuddered beside me.  "Those are absolutely unnecessary when it comes to swimming.  Especially when those old men where them," he said, and shuddered again. 

I laughed and patted his leg.  "I'm sure you've wore some, right?" I asked.

A faint blush spread across his face and I knew it was true.  I started laughing even more 

"No way!" I said.  "Oh, I would have loved to see that!"

"I was a child, thank you very much!" he said, his blush becoming darker.  "Blame my mother for it."

I couldn't stop laughing.  "Aw!  I bet you were a cute kid," I said. 

Max smirked.  "Yeah, I guess," he said. 

I laughed again as Brielle and Dad walked into the room.  They were both dressed similarly to me and Max.  Dad had a huge duffel bag that he'd brought from our house over his shoulder.