He grinned and motioned me to lean in closer, which I did. "I have my ways," he murmured once I was close enough, and wiggled his fingers in a hocus-pocus kind of way that made me laugh.
"I think maybe you're just silly," I told him, and he shrugged, leaning back in his chair.
"Maybe, but is there something wrong with that?"
There wasn't. It was a nice change of pace to be around someone who was in a good mood and willing to make jokes and laugh. We spent the rest of the meal trading quips and puns, and by the time everyone was getting up to help clear the table and then move on to whatever after dinner activities they had in mind, my stomach hurt from laughing so much.
When I turned to look at Dan, he was watching the two of us with amused eyes. I arched an eyebrow at him, and he shook his head and carried a stack of plates over to the sink.
"Since you guys cooked, we'll clean up," Lydia said, threading her arm through Deanna's and pulling her back over to the sink before she could sneak away like it looked like she wanted to.
"That's only fair, I guess," she said with a sigh, and Lydia just laughed and kissed her cheek.
That was cute. I had never dated anyone who had any sense of domesticity to them. On one memorable occasion, I'd been with a guy who was of the firm belief that since I was a woman, it was my job to cook meals and clean up, and whenever he was at my place, he would just get up and leave his dirty dishes wherever, expecting that I would clean up after him.
It did not last very long.
But it must have been nice to have someone who was willing to help you out in the kitchen, regardless of if they really wanted to or not.
I didn't linger to watch them flirt over the dishes. Instead, I wandered out into the living room, trying to decide what I wanted to do with my evening. It was too early to think about going to bed, and the sound of the waves lapping against the beach outside made me want to go out there and go for a walk.
When I stepped outside, Jason was already on the porch, sliding his feet into shoes. He looked up when he heard me come out.
"Oh, hey. Were you headed out?"
"Just for a little walk," I said. "Work off some of the food I've been eating. It's been one full day, and I think I've already eaten my weight in baklava."
I could have kicked myself for saying something like that. Men didn't like women who talked about gorging themselves on desserts. Even if they were very good desserts.
But Jason just laughed. "Tell me about it. It's too good to resist. Makes you realize how good the real thing is. I've had a lot of shitty American baklava."
"There's something to be said for authenticity," I replied with a smile. "Were you going out?"
"Had the same idea for a walk. You think maybe we should walk together?"
I smiled and hoped the cover of night would hide some of the blush I could feel rising on my cheeks. "Sure," I said. "That would be nice. Company is probably the only thing that could make this view better."
He laughed, and it was a warm sound that I decided I liked.
There was a two mile stretch of beach between the house we had rented and the next one over, and most of it was completely private. The sand was warm from the sun, and the water lapped against it as the waves came in and out. In the daytime, the water had been crystal clear and so very blue, and at night it was dark and inky, but still beautiful.
I made a mental note to get some shots of it in the dark, just for the comparison.
Overhead, the stars were out, and it was so different from looking up at the sky in the city. It felt like looking at a velvety blanket with diamonds scattered across, and I tipped my head back as we walked, spinning in a slow circle as I took it all in.
When I finally looked back down, Jason's eyes were on me. I smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, I just have a habit of getting lost in looking at things."
He smiled back, shaking his head. "Don't be sorry. It's really pretty out here. Dan said you're a photographer, right? So, it makes sense you like to look at stuff. It's your job."
"True. And we're out in a place with so much more beauty and character than the city has to offer most days."
"What, you don't consider pigeons and homeless people character?"
I snorted and kept walking a bit, staring out over the ocean.
"Photography's cool though," Jason continued. "How'd you get into it?"
"Hm? Oh. I've always been behind the camera, I guess. I was on the yearbook committee in middle school and high school, and it was nice to get out of class and be able to go take pictures of people instead of having to learn algebra or whatever. I just liked being able to observe things."
