“He says that now,” I said. “But you just wait and see how he acts when we run out of French onion dip.”
“Only because nothing else goes as well with spicy nacho Doritos,” Nyx explained. “Not to mention the unfairness of the chip-to-dip ratio. It’s disproportionate and grossly stacked against those of us who like to dunk our chips more than a few centimeters, and by that, I mean all the way down in there.”
“As someone who appreciates the centimeter-at-a-time approach, I’ll have to take your word on it,” Kekoa said.
“Meh,” Nyx sputtered, “you don’t know what you’re missing.”
His sputtering, accompanied by the scrunched-up face he made in response to Kekoa’s words, was almost worthy of animation; it was that comical. One would have thought Kekoa had offended the Dorito gods with his words. It was all I could do to focus on my sandwich and not Nyx sitting there doing his best Loony Tune character impression.
“I mean, I’m sure it’s okay and all,” Kekoa said, giving a little shrug that bared a bit of their shoulder as their oversized tank top strap started to slide down their arm.
Wait a minute. Was Kekoa giving him shit?
They caught my eye and winked, confirming my suspicions.
Oh boy.
Challenge accepted, but would they be able to handle Nyx’s brand of exuberance when he got wound up?
In a flurry of motion, Nyx located the bag of chips we’d packed and pulled the French onion dip from the cooler, passing both to Kekoa with a shooing motion, urging him to try it.
“You’ve got to get it all the way down in there,” Nyx encouraged once Kekoa had a large chip pressed about halfway into the dip.
I could see the skepticism on Kekoa’s face as they went ahead and dunked it the rest of the way in, but it was completely erased after they popped the chip into their mouth and hummed appreciatively.
“You might be on to something there,” Kekoa declared after they’d finished swallowing.
“And that’s another convert, thank you very much!” Nyx declared.
“You were just looking for justification for buying two jars,” I pointed out.
“Is that really something I have to justify?” he asked. “Look at the bag, then look at the jar; it’s a no-brainer.”
“Even if a third of the bag is air?” Kekoa asked.
And there they went, giving him shit again. I knew Nyx ate that shit up and, despite the late night we’d had, was more than happy to be there on the beach with Kekoa as we basked in the rose hues of a gorgeous sunrise. Those spicy nachos really complemented the breakfast sandwiches and made up for not having the ketchup and hot sauce I usually adorn my scrambled eggs with. Sitting side by side, a classic rock playlist steadily pulsing from Nyx’s phone, we enjoyed the easy rhythm of quiet company. Neither of them saw the need to fill the moment with useless chatter, and neither did I, even when a gull parked itself nearby and attempted to caw out encouragement for us to toss it a bit of food. Inevitably we all got full and tucked our trashin a bag and what was left of the dip and chips back where they belonged until we were hungry for them again, which left us with nothing to do with our hands and only the music to entertain us.
“Do you surf?” Nyx asked, face bathed in the golden light the sun had started to put off now that it was climbing up the horizon.
“Sometimes,” Kekoa said, “but I haven’t had a board in forever.”
“We brought an extra down, just in case,” I said.
“Then it’s a good thing I brought along a wetsuit,” Kekoa said, gesturing to their backpack. “Do you guys come here often?”
“Every chance we get,” I replied. “This spot isn’t easy to get to, as I’m sure you discovered on the walk down the path, so most people don’t bother. It’s been unofficially ours for almost a decade.”
“Bet this wasn’t what you were expecting when we promised a party,” Nyx said.
“I’ll take this kind of party over the threat of being arrested,” Kekoa said.
“There was never a real threat,” I sought to assure them. “Nuno’s nights out are legendary for a number of reasons, though he usually gets someone else to do his dirty work when it comes to getting physical with someone. It was good seeing him on the other side of a bad evening for a change.”
“He’s not who I want to talk about,” Nyx said. “I’m curious to know more about you, Kekoa.”
“Not much to tell,” they explained. “I love long walks on the beach, picnics, and sunsets, though sunrises are beautiful too. I’m good at working with my hands, am more of an outdoor person than an indoor one, and I’m poisonous to damn near everybody, which is why I’ve never bothered to fill all of that in on a dating app since that last part can be a bit of a deal breakerfor most, and the ones who are into it aren’t exactly the people I’d like to have turn up on my doorstep looking to take me out. Most folks tend to frown upon waking up to itchy, burning sensations and swelling in indelicate regions of their bodies, though I have to admit that there is a small but growing crowd of people who seem to get off on it.”
I couldn’t help snickering at the images that flickered through my head, and Nyx didn’t even try to smother his laughter. We grew so loud that the gull finally gave up and left and took a few feathered friends with it.
