One perk of living on the East shore of Florida is that occasionally I’d get to view the goings on of the folks at NASA.  The night of our sleepover NASA was launching a satellite and since neither AJ nor Kevin had ever seen a launch, we all decided to watch.  Granted, watching a launch from my mother’s home was much cooler since she was just a short drive from Cape Canaveral but the view from my place wasn’t too shabby for a first time glimpse at the space program.

After dinner had settled and we were all thoroughly stuffed we walked down the beach to a section where there weren’t any homes yet and therefore the sky seemed darker without interference from house and street lights.  We set up a happy little camp with blankets and such then waited in the dark until the launch happened. 

Kevin was very touchy feely that night which I wasn’t complaining about at all.  He’d held my hand during our walk down the beach and then once we sat down he seemed to always have some sort of contact with me whether it was his hand on my knee, his arm around my shoulders, his lips on mine, or just his leg touching mine.  Every touch sent Happy Waves through my body and I began to think that it wasn’t going to be much longer before I ended up sleeping with him because I simply wouldn’t be able to wait any longer.  I wanted him to touch me in the most intimate way possible, if you know what I mean.

I’ll admit that part of my sudden need to get into Kevin’s pants was directly related to finally knowing that he was truly divorced.  Hearing that news while my mom was reading his palm was like music to my ears.  Not that I took joy in his pain, but hearing that he was unattached meant that he could attach himself to me without any guilt.  Knowing that he was divorced was like having someone say, “Yes, you can fuck this man now…” and yet I had a house full of people so there was no way I was going to get my roll in the hay with Kevin that night.

It was just before the satellite launch when Kevin was sitting next to me holding my hand as we watched AJ and Christian playing Keep Away with Vinnie that he let me know that he had impure thoughts of his own running through his pretty head. He leaned in close to me and kissed my neck before whispering in my ear, “Do you know how bad I want you?”

I had to close my eyes temporarily as a rush of power ran straight through my body and I smiled, “I think I probably do…”

He kept alternating between kissing my neck and whispering against my skin, “I don’t think you do… I spent almost three days without kissing you or touching you and now that I’m back, I can’t even do what I want to do because we’re not alone…”

I chuckled, “I know… Sucks doesn’t it?”

“Yeah, but once they all go home tomorrow, you’re all mine, alright?”

More Happy Waves, “Deal…”  I looked at him and smiled at the look on his face.  “You look absolutely smitten, Mr. Richardson.”

“That’s because I am…”

“You sure you’re not just tipsy from all of the wine?” I teased and kissed him.

“Yeah I’m pretty sure…” he whispered against my lips before kissing me again. 

Christian plopping down onto the blanket next to me interrupted our kiss, “Two minutes til lift off, stop necking.”

AJ and my mom soon joined us on the ground and Vinnie even decided to plop himself right in the middle of us to make sure that no making out would happen during the launch.  We all small talked about assorted things for two minutes and then we saw the bright light moving across the sky.

“Shit, is that it?” AJ asked with the excitement of a little boy in his voice.

“Yup… cool huh?”

“Way cool…” he said and kept watching.  From Daytona the rocket just looked like a really bright shooting star that lasted for a really long time.  It grew higher and higher at a pretty good pace until leaving the atmosphere at which point it would disappear from our sight.  Definitely not as cool as watching a daytime shuttle launch but still cool in its own right.

While Christian was explaining what would happen once the rocket left the atmosphere I looked at Kevin as he was watching the sky.  The look on his face matched the excitement in AJ’s voice and it thrilled me.  Maybe it’s the writer in me always looking for something to put to words, but I love watching people as they experience something new and exciting.  Kevin’s eyes were glued to the sky and mine were glued to him.

Once the rocket disappeared AJ was the first to talk, “That was freaking awesome… I can’t believe I’ve lived most of my life in Florida and I’ve never seen that.”

“It’s funny how easy it is to miss what’s going on around you when you get caught up in all of the bullshit in the world…” my mom said with a smile.

“That is so true…” Christian said with a nod.  “Preach it, Mama!”

We all giggled and I added, “Well that’s why we have our little sleepovers like this… to remember what’s important and forget about the bullshit for a while.”

“Good food, friends, family, a beautiful environment, and laughter…” my mom said and reached out to put one hand on mine and another on AJ’s.  “Those are the best things in life.”

“Dude, I feel like we should sing Kumbaya or something…” AJ said with a chuckle.

“No, it’s still too early for that… the spontaneous bouts of singing happens once the marshmallows start roasting…” my mom said with a totally deadpan face. 

I tried my hardest to keep from laughing but the look on AJ’s face was too much and not only did I laugh but I snorted too which made us all laugh, “She’s kidding… well, at least about singing that song.  We do sometimes bust out into song while sitting around the fire but there aren’t any specific songs we sing.”

“So wait…” AJ said with a laugh.  “We sat around all afternoon laughing and shootin’ the shit, we stuffed our faces, had palm readings, watched a space launch, and now you’re telling me that we get a fire, marshmallows and singing too?”

I smiled and shrugged with a nod, “Yup…”

AJ looked at Kevin and chuckled, “Dude… I love this woman!”

We all laughed and started standing up to head back to my house.  Vinnie got Christian to throw the ball for him again and they ran down the beach together while somehow my mother then stole Kevin from me.  Apparently she figured that if they left the two of us to walk together we’d make it into a leisurely stroll and take too long getting back to the house.  I smiled as Kevin gave my mom his arm and she took it while talking a mile a minute to him.

I looked at AJ with a chuckle, “Walk with me?”

“Most definitely…”  He lit up a cigarette and was quiet for a moment as we walked along together and then he laughed.  “Okay I’ve got a huge confession to make since I’ve got you alone for a moment…” I gave him my frightened look and he laughed again, “No, it’s not bad… I just…” he sighed and rolled his eyes at himself.  “So when Kevin told me that he was coming to Daytona to stay for the summer my first thought was that he was going to turn into a serious hermit and just hide from the world.  He was still having some pretty serious pity parties about the divorce and I just figured he was coming here to hide for a while you know?”  I nodded and kept looking at him as he spoke.  “But then he started telling me about this chick he met down here.  Which of course turned out to be you…”  I smiled and nodded again.  “And honestly, I almost thought he was lying to me.   He kept talking about you and I kept thinking that he was making you up.  I Googled you and I even had a friend of mine who works in publishing try and find out if you really lived in Daytona.”

I couldn’t help but laugh, “You’re a really good friend…”

“Yeah I suppose, but I really should have trusted that he wasn’t lying to me.  I mean, he’s not the kind of guy to lie.  And after all of the bullshit that Kristin put him through with all of her lies, I know he wouldn’t lie to me.  But he’s my brother and I worry about him so in my worry I made up this whole idea that you weren’t real or that at least he was just making up his friendship with you.  So when I came down here today to surprise him, it wasn’t just me being spontaneous… I wanted to catch him off guard to see if he was lying to me.”

“But you didn’t…” I said and linked my arm through AJ’s.

“Thank God I didn’t…” he said and chuckled.  “I have not seen Kevin smile the way I’ve seen him smile today in a really, really long time.  And yeah, I’m sure anyone would smile around Christian and your mom because they’re just great… but I’m giving you the credit for most of those smiles.  He fucking lights up when he’s around you…”

I was glad that we were in the dark because I was totally blushing, “Well he makes me smile too…”

“Oh I know!” AJ said and squeezed my arm.  “Hell, the way you two look at each other is just amazing… I love what I see when I see the two of you together.  And I’m SO glad that I came down here today and got to meet you and really see what Kev’s been telling me all along.  Even though I totally came down here to catch him in a lie.”

“Well I’m glad you showed up too… Not only has it been really neat to see Kevin with someone who is so close to him, but meeting you and hearing you say all of this really means a great deal to me too.”

“I wouldn’t shit you… if I thought you were bad for him I would’ve not only told him but told you too.  After watching him get his heart stomped on I’m a little protective of him, you know?”

I nodded, “Sure I do… I know you guys are brothers more than friends and I was the same way with my brother.  I’m that way with Christian too…”

“Yeah that’s cool… It’s hard to explain to people how Kevin and I can be brothers without being truly blood related but I get the idea that you understand.”

“Totally…” I smiled.  “My brother was my best friend in the world.  When he was alive and Christian would hang out with us people almost always thought that he was our brother too because we were all so close.  Then when Sean, that’s my brother, when he died Christian was all I had left, you know?”  AJ nodded and I smiled at him.  “He’s my best friend but he’s totally my brother too.  When Kevin talks about you and the other guys from the group I totally understand how close he is with you because I have that with Chris.”

“How long ago did your brother die? If you don’t mind me asking.”

“Almost seven years ago… You actually remind me a lot of him.”

“Oh yeah?”

I nodded, “He was the same age as you… Same dark curly hair, dark brown eyes, tall and skinny… You’re totally like the rock star version of him.”  I chuckled and AJ laughed as well.  “Sean was pretty conservative, very into business and stuff.  But if he were ever to go rock star on us, he would have looked a lot like you.”

“Well I’m sorry I didn’t get to meet him then…” AJ said quietly.

I teared up but smiled, “Yeah me too…” I wiped at my eyes then chuckled, “Okay so I suppose I should make a confession to you too…”

“Uh oh…” AJ said and laughed.

“It’s about my mother…”

“Oh my god I’m in love with her… she’s the coolest person I’ve ever met.  Ever.”

“She is pretty amazing…” I said with a nod.  “But I should probably warn you that she likes to date younger men.  And although I’m not certain, I think she might have a little crush on you…”

“No shit?” he asked and took a drag of his cigarette. 

“Yeah… The last guy she dated was a year younger than me.  They were actually really damn cute together once I got over the fact that he was younger than me, but he moved to Europe for a job so they broke up.”

“She’s absolutely gorgeous… I mean, if I hadn’t known she was your mom I honestly wouldn’t have guessed it.”

“She was just a kid when she had me.  She was sixteen and then eighteen when she had Sean.  Hell she’s younger than Christian’s boyfriend Josef… She tires me out sometimes…” I laughed.

“Oh I bet… she’s got an amazing energy about her.”  I looked at him and nodded.  “Hey, it’s cool… I’d honored to be the aim of her crush.”

“Well like I said, I don’t know for sure but…”

“No it’s cool… I dig her, so it’s all good.”  He laughed and finished his cigarette, “Although it’s a little weird knowing that you’re her daughter and having you tell me that maybe she’s crushin’ on me.”

“What can I say?” I said with a shrug. “I’m protective over her too… I wouldn’t want her to hit on you and you get all freaked out and break her heart.”

“Oh hell no… I wouldn’t do that,” he said shaking his head.  “I’m a sucker for a beautiful woman who digs me.  And I’m also a sucker for a beautiful woman who has an enormous crush on my big brother too…”

I blushed again, “Oh cut it out with the flattery, I’ve already told you that you’re getting marshmallows out of me…”  We both giggled and made the way toward the steps to my deck where Christian and Kevin were already lighting the wood in the fire pit.  I stopped before we went up the steps and turned to AJ with a smile, “Thank you… for being honest with me and for walking with me.”

He smiled down at me and pulled me into a hug, “The pleasure was mine… Thank you as well, for being honest with me and for taking care of Kev…”

I smiled and linked my arm back with him pulling him toward the steps, “Anytime…”