The real clincher? My new baby daddy is younger than me. Much, much,muchyounger.
This is so fucked.
1
PUDDLE METAMORPHOSIS
SHARI
28th April2023
Walkinginto the grounds with my three besties, I'm in awe. I've never been to a music festival before, and with this being a small-scale version, I didn't expect...this. The perimeter of the space is lined with fairground rides, food trucks, porta-potties, and merchandise stalls. There are hay bales dotted around the area furthest from the stage for people to sit on facing a couple of big screens so you can still see the performers, and the entire centre of the field is a back-to-back bar with about twenty terminals on each side.
The mixed aromas of chargrilled meat, curry, and sugar wind their way around me, making my mouth water. The Devon sunshine beats down on my already warm skin, making me glad I put some factor thirty on earlier. I have the remarkable ability to turn a deep brownandburn simultaneously – my white and Asian sides clearly battling for dominance.
The queues everywhere are long but moving quickly, so we make a beeline for the bar first.
“I’m so glad I decided on the shorts and top combo, I didn't think it'd be this bloody hot today, it's not even May yet,” I state, relishing the light breeze that licks past my face.
“Same!” Elle exclaims. “Although this bodysuit keeps giving me a wedgie.” Her blonde hair shines almost white in the surprisingly bright April sunshine, making her blue eyes pop even more than usual.
I look down at her outfit, amused. “Your tits look great, though.”
She bursts into laughter at that as our other two friends hum their agreement.
“As long as they stay put when we go on some of those rides later!” She gestures at the flashing lights at the edge of the field. I can hear the distant echo of screams and laughter drifting on the breeze from the same direction.
Max spins around slowly, and I just know she's eyeing up all the food trucks rather than the rides, which she confirms by groaning, “Oh man! Why did we get those stupid chicken burgers earlier? There are Asian street food trucks here, guys. Asian! Food!” It doesn't matter how long she's lived in England, Max is Malaysian through and through. Asian food will always be her first choice. I mean, I'm the same ninety percent of the time, but sometimes a girl just fancies pizza or pasta, ya know?
“You know I love me some Asian food, but I really enjoyed that burger. Don't diss the burger gods!” This is from Jaime, who only started eating meat again a few years ago when she was pregnant with her son. She claims it was her baby daddy Isaiah's fault for always eating steak around her, and that her son must have developed his father's carnivorous tendencies in-utero, making her crave meat.
We get called for our turn at the bar, and as we make our way over, I look up to behold the most incredible pair of eyes I’ve ever seen. They’re almost turquoise – not quite blue or green, but somehow both. And set in the face of one of the hottest guys I’ve ever come across in real life. I just stare at him mutely, because what are words?
He obviously notices my struggle because a slow smirk hikes up one corner of his sinfully beautiful mouth. I never realised mouths could be beautiful before, normally they annoy me.
My friends must have placed their orders whilst I was stuck in my gaping lust trance because all of a sudden, the full attention of his arresting face is on me. Why is there no air? How am I supposed to breathe with him taking up all the oxygen?
“And what can I get you, love?”Pregnant sounds good right about now.
I try to subtly shake away my stupor and croak out, “A double Bacardi and Diet Coke with lots of ice, please.”
He taps the bar top once, and the second he walks away I turn to my girls and very quietly squeal, “Oh my god, he’s so fucking hot I think my uterus skipped a beat!”
But clearly I’m not that quiet, and he didn’t walk very far away because I hear him bark a laugh behind me. Which, of course, sets off my so-called friends. Oh, they are not going to let me live this one down.Kill me now.
I clear my throat and spin around with as much confidence as I can muster and state, “Not gonna lie, Matty, you’re going to trigger a lot of hot flushes with all these cougars here tonight!”
His smile widens even as his cheeks slightly pinken. Is he blushing? Gaaaah, that’s even cuter!
“Matty?” he leans his elbows on the bar and I get a whiff of coconut sunscreen on his skin.Well done using SPF, Maybe Matty.
“Yeah, you look like a Matty to me.”
“It’s Brad, actually,” he states, whilst Jaime pays for the round.
“Huh. Yeah, that fits too.”
Thankfully, my friends start dragging me away before I can spew anymore inane thoughts at the poor guy. But I swear he winks as we leave.Winks! My ovaries are currently packing their bags to try and move in with him.
