warning the happy bride because at that point my happy had worn off so much I wasn't sure I ever had it in the first place. Maybe I hadn't.
Those couple events with Duane left me feeling not very couple-like. There's something about external comparisons that leave a person wanting. From the outside, other relationships look better than the one I'm in. Generally speaking, they are.
I studied the six couples around the fire, and yeah I counted us in the group. The potential existed for me to feel less than the others, but I didn't.
There was the Smiley couple with teeth so spectacular that even in the dim of night, they kept smiling. Don't get me wrong, they meant it. If toothpaste ads could capture their sincerity, we'd all brush after every meal.
They stood in direct contrast with the Quiet couple. They weren't quiet because they were fighting. We all know what that looks like. They just seemed really comfortable with each other. It made me think of an old couple that sleeps in separate rooms, so secure they can be apart.
There was also the Perky Gal /Sarcastic Guy couple. Every group has one of those. The easy analysis is she suffers because he's a jerk, but I've known some overly perky gals before, and when their mood swings, and it always does, they are as perky as barracudas.
Sarcastic guy might wanna sleep with one eye open.
The fourth couple falls in the Regular couple category. It's not a bad thing to be interchangeable with 90% of the folks at a Costco. Heck, I'm interchangeable with at least 10% of the folks at Costco, and that's only low because I don't buy juice boxes yet.
They were in stark contrast to the WTF? couple. You know the WTF? couple. No one understands how they got together, and sometimes even they are mystified. They might be giant/tiny, smart/spacey, or in the case of this couple, surfer guy/CEO woman. The WTF? couples are the human equivalent of the dog pairing that creates breeds like pit-doodles and Shetland-pinschers .
To be fair, I thought I should try to categorize the Brian and Amy couple. We'd been side by side for the past hour, sipping a couple of domestic beers, eating a stellar s'more and engaging in an array of conversations spanning Mid-West trivia to sports. Brian knew more about basketball than I did, and that's a lot. I can out-talk my brother when it comes to hoops. So in the communication category, I think we sounded like a couple with a lot in common.
But we looked… wow, I didn't even know what we looked like. What couple would I sum us up as? How about Not First Date couple? There was something kinda right about us. In a weird way we even had a similar look. We're both tall, and I'm gonna say healthy looking. Of course, the kind of healthy he is makes the kind of healthy I am want to have sex in the sand.
So, there was a fair amount of attraction between us, and I use fair amount loosely. No one in the group could miss it. I know it kept me on my toes. If he brushed the side of my arm with his, I also felt attraction all the way to my toes. And I'm telling you, the zing of that shot through some dangerous real estate on the way to my toes.
We smiled a lot. Not like Smiley couple, but a lot. Brian was funny and smart, clever in his wit, and I liked being with him. I was, in fact, happy to just stand beside him and finish my beer, but Perky Gal suggested we circle the fire and play a game. I tried to let Brian know it was time to move on, and he caught my eye like he was thinking escape too, but everyone else looked ready to play.
I shrugged. It wouldn't change anything to stay for a few more minutes, and I was a little curious about what party icebreaker had made its way onto a California beach.
Brian moved closer, his shoulder resting against mine, warm and solid, and when Perky Gal started with the rules, he leaned down and whispered. "She's a cruise director."
I laughed, nodded.
Perky Gal held up a finger. "I'll ask the first question." She smiled at her
Learning to Kill: Stories