The Beach

Dinah was true to her word. On Saturday at seven, she was walking down the beach. She loved the feel of the cool sand on her bare feet. She lifted her head up so she could bask in the wonderful breeze that being near the water brought. She briefly stopped to watch the last rays of sunlight disappear beneath the horizon, marveling how magical the mix of yellow, orange, and red appeared in the sky. She swung her sandals back and forth, smiling.

Though any of her friends would think she was stupid for going on a second date to the beach at night, she felt she made a good choice. For if he was to stand her up, at least she'd have seen a sunset that she didn't see that often at home and also, there was nothing that compared to the sense of belonging and peace she felt being at a beach, whether it be during the day or night.

"Hope I'm not interrupting your thoughts," a somewhat familiar voice said from right behind her.

Dinah turned around quickly, dropping her shoes as she stood face to face with Dario. She thought she would forget his voice after so many months, but the lower timbre of his tone and the way it made her spine tingle and her heart race made her feel like their first date had been only yesterday.

"Hey," she said, awarding him with a brilliant smile. Though in her mind she didn't like what he did before, once he stood right in front of her, any misgivings she had about him melted away.

Dario was just as she remembered him,almost a foot taller than her, with the same piercing eyes and shiny black hair. It was a little longer than when she met him, reaching a little past his ear. She desperately wanted to run her fingers through it. God, she was pathetic. The magnetism that he exuded was something Dinah never experienced before except on their first date.

He closed the space between them to give her a slight peck on the cheek, just like he did many months ago. "It's nice to finally see you."

"I was prepared for you not showing up, so I was just basking in the sunset. The beach is one of my favorite places to go," Dinah rambled. It was her attempt to show a bubbly personality- a peeling of an onion layer that showed that she was more than a pretty face to Dario. It was to show that she had interests and was a deep thinker. Dinah hated and couldn't admit it to herself, but deep down, she wanted him to fall in love with her. This time, she wanted him to choose her, to actually follow through with letting their interactions progress into something deeper.

"Yeah, I like the beach too. One of my favorite kinds of first dates is to go in the water on the beach," he said, leading the way down the length of the shoreline.

"For real? You've gone on first dates to the beach, as in, meeting for the first time in bathing suits?" she asked, furrowing her brows as she dug her feet deep into the wet sand.

Dario shrugged. "Yeah, why not?"

"I don't know. It just seems like an odd choice." Dinah couldn't imagine how nerve wracking that kind of date would be- because not only would she be stressing about what kind of clothing she would wear to a regular date that could hide any extra flab she had, but worrying how her only bathing suit will look to a guy she just met.

"Well, they turned out okay," he said, following Dinah's lead and digging his feet into the sand.

It was on the tip of her tongue to ask him about his past relationships. This was never a topic they touched upon on their last date, but she wasn't sure if it was too soon. Screw it. She decided to take the plunge. If they were going to continue talking and getting to know each other, this was going to have to come up sometime.

"So, what happened between you and your ex, if you don't mind me asking?" she asked, looking away from him and focusing on the feel of the wet sand beneath her toes.

Dario quickly glanced at her before looking on ahead.

"She turned crazy and destroyed my house."

Dinah stopped in her tracks. "What?" She turned to face him and any reservations she had about asking him about relationship stuff so soon melted away with the shock of his information.

He raised his brows and shook his head, letting out a deep breath. " Yeah, completely nuts. She accused me of things and turned over my bookcases, tv set, couch. I couldn't stay there so I'm living with my mom. I haven't lived with my parents in over ten years."

"So wait a minute, she kicked you out of her home?"

"Basically. She said she wasn't leaving because she had no place to go. So her and her son are living in my house now. But I've got a court case coming up to get her evicted."

"How old is her son?" Dinah asked.

In her experience, she found that guys usually tended to avoid dating women with kids already. Extra baggage, they said. Dinah couldn't help feeling a bit upset that he chose to date this woman over her. But then she remembered that he had a previous relationship and she knew more than anyone that love is blind. Dinah was totally the person to love blindly, no matter how many faults they had. So she pushed her disappointment and looked on the bright side- he was spending time with her now. Maybe he was appreciating and realized what a mistake he made. So a good thing to do would be to support and comfort him.

"He's thirteen…fourteen," Dario said.

"And they are both living in your house," Dinah stated.

"Yep, but I'll have them evicted soon. The court date is next month and I've got everything set. I can't believe I have to go to court with her over this. It's so embarrassing. She is so embarrassing. Why doesn't she just leave?" Dario stretched his arms and looked up towards the sky in frustration.

"Is the house partly hers?"

"Nope. It's all mine. I bought it before her and everything is in my name so there really is no legal reason for her to stay there, which is why I'm going to win that court case," he said.

"Maybe she's not leaving because she still loves you," Dinah offered.

He shrugged. "Maybe so but she's the one that destroyed my home over something that is so stupid and that she heard from other people. She's crazy; not stable at all."

She sighed, bending her knees to touch the cool water with her hands. " Whatever caused her to ruin your house shows that she really cared deeply for you. I feel sorry for her that she had to express her feelings like that."

"Ha. Don't feel sorry for her. She loves to one up me and cause as much destruction and misery as humanly possible." His hands clenched into fists.

Dinah looked up at him and pressed her lips together in a thin line. Maybe she shouldn't have asked him about his ex. He seemed to be so passionate talking about her, his voice showing frustration, stretching his arms, tense hands… it made Dinah ask a question that she wasn't sure she wanted to hear the answer to.

"Are you over her?"

Dario bent down to meet Dinah's gaze. He brushed his finger against her cheek. " I am so over her. I can't wait to finally be free of her and spend more time with someone who is ten times better than her."

She took a deep breath at his words, especially the last ones, because she knew their implication. But before she could think about it any further or even respond, he pulled her to him, their lips locking in a kiss that quickly deepened.

He wrapped his arms around her shoulders until there was no space left between them. Dinah's lips tingled and heat pooled between her legs. Dario quickly deepened the kiss and Dinah followed his lead. Her mind went blank and all rational thought went out the window as she let pure instinct take over.

The logic and reasoning of if this was appropriate so soon in their reconnection went out the window. Oh, screw it. She'd never been kissed like this. And right now, the only one she'd ever want to kiss her like this was Dario. She had no idea how long they were locked in that embrace, unable to keep their hands off each other. She let out a little moan as Dario opened her mouth with his tongue. Her whole body seemed to shake as his tongue moved with hers.

But an icy shiver ran down her back when she felt one hand sliding up to touch her breast. She pushed him away gently and dropped her gaze to the wet sand. Her index finger slowly traced circles on the floor and she focused all her thoughts on steadying her breathing.

"I'm sorry," he said, his voice coming out as breathless as hers.

"Yeah," she shook her head. "I'm not ready for that."

"It's fine. I got ahead of myself." He placed his hand on top of her roaming finger, stilling it. "Do you want to keep walking? My ass is getting wet."

Dinah laughed, feeling relief at his words. Other guys would call her a tease for stopping things from going any further- say she was playing games for responding but then stopping all of a sudden. But obviously Dario wasn't like that. He respected her; he respected her decision.

She grinned. "Yeah, me too. I didn't even notice until now, actually.'

"But it was a good not- noticing, right?" he asked as they got up off the ground and continued walking.

"Yeah, it was. It was a really good not-noticing," she said, glancing up at him.

That moment…the moment he didn't push or make her feel bad about stopping their intense makeout session was the moment she knew he wasn't like the others. It was the moment that she made a conscious decision to fall in love with him.