His eyebrows jolted. “What? No, no. I wasn’t sure if you wanted… I’ve been having a really great time with you, Oliver. Truly.”
“I’ve been having more fun with you than Christina Aguilera had kissing Madonna on live TV. And that looked like a helluva lot of fun.”
Beckham chuckled at that. “I remember when that happened. Turned me into a Christina fan.”
I feigned a gasp. “You weren’t an Xtina fan from before?” I bundled up my napkin and dropped it on the table. “On second thought, I’ve gotta go.” I looked to him, both of us smiling. “I thought this was, like, what a girl wants… that there ain’t no other man… now I just feeldirty. Like… a… genie in a bottle?”
“Did you just use five Christina song titles in casual conversation?”
“Yes, yes I did. And what about it?”
Beckham stared at me for a second before cracking, laughter bubbling up through the both of us.
The conversation drifted into iconic pop queen territory as we talked about which diva left the most impact on us. I went with classic Britney while Beckham had a soft spot for Kylie Minogue. By the time we got to Gaga and Grande, the bill was already sitting on the middle of the table. I snatched for it, but Beckham was faster, grabbing the bill and stuffing his card into the holder. He proceeded to hold the bill on his lap until our waiter came back, handing it to her with a toothy grin.
“Jennifer Lopez,” I said, hitting the table. “She’s a goddess on earth. Ugh, I so wish I could go to her concert coming up. But when that vet school tuition hits, it hitsharddd.”
Beckham nodded and smiled. “She’s really great. Oh, Pink, too, how could I forget,” Beckham said. “She was another of my favorites. I had all of her albums.”
“Oh-my-lanta,yessss! I love Pink. And she was really leading the pack back then, too.” I shook my head. “Jesus, I can’t believe I just said ‘back then’ for something like fourteen years ago.”
“That is ‘back then.’” Beckham laughed, his green eyes holding my full attention. “Time doesn’t stop for anyone.”
I glanced at my watch. “Holy shit, it definitely doesn’t. How is it ten thirty already?” The minutes had flown by, and I had been none the wiser.
“Past your bedtime?” Beckham teased.
“Yus. I’m going to need to be tucked in very soon.”
With more laughter, we grabbed our stuff and made our way through the restaurant, which seemed to have somehow gotten even busier since we arrived.
We walked through the ornate white double doors and were greeted by a blast of warm beach air. It was a nice night out, without a cloud in the sky to stop the full moon from shining down on the partying city. The restaurant was only a few streets away from the beach while a gay club thumped with music down the block. Judging by the gaggle of gays wearing Madonna- and Lady Gaga-inspired outfits and T-shirts, I figured it was a battle of the pop queens night. I considered asking Beckham if he wanted to jump in line, but at the same time… I was kinda tired. We’d had aday. And the thought of loud music mixed with an insane number of sweaty, drunken bodies all crammed under one roof literally made me want to cry.
I didn’t want to go home, though, that was for sure, so when Beckham suggested to take a walk by the beach, I didn’t even think.
“Let’s do it.”
We walked down the street, alcohol still making the world a little brighter for me and my worries a little dimmer, our clothes still crusty from the paint, but I didn’t care one bit. We were laughing and having one of the best dates I’d ever been on. At some point, don’t remember exactly when, I reached for Beckham’s hand and found it, locking our fingers together.
“Wow,” Beckham said as we reached the sand. Palm trees stretched high above us, gently swaying in the dark.
“Beautiful, huh?” Straight ahead of us was the ocean, empty of people and full of magic.
“It is, it is.” Beckham’s hand left mine, only to land on my lower back. I felt shivers course through me. “I actually celebrated my thirtieth birthday right over there, by that rainbow lifeguard tower.”
“No way, really?”
“Yup, I remember that tower. And that’s the Sunset Hotel right over there, where I stayed for the night. Damn, ten years ago now.”
“Time really does go by in a blink, huh?”
Beckham pulled me in a little closer. There was a towel hut, closed for the night, directly behind us, giving us a little bit more privacy from the street. We had walked a good bit down Ocean Drive, away from the heavier crowds, so it pretty much felt like we had this entire beach to ourselves. No one else as far as the eye could see.
“I’m twenty-four, in case you’re wondering.”
“I wasn’t.”
“Mhmm.” I nudged him with an elbow and rested my head on his shoulder. “Does that bother you?”