Jared was already waiting for me in the driveway when I pulled up. He was dressed for the summer: Swim shorts, a tank top, and his usual couple of chains glinting in the sunlight. Flip-flops slapped against the pavement as he bounced on the balls of his feet, his curly hair catching the light. He looked tanner than usual, probably from soaking up every bit of sun since it came out.
It felt good...actually good, to be greeted by a huge grin instead of the usual frowns I was used to. As I shut off the engine and rolled down my window, I caught the sound of his laughter.
"My man!" he called.
I opened the door and stepped outside. Before I could even react, Jared pulled me into a tight, welcoming hug.
"I missed you so much," he said, patting my back before giving me one last squeeze and finally letting go.
I chuckled and hugged him back. "I missed you, too, you jerk!" I joked, punching his arm lightly.
He laughed. "Hey! What was that for?!"
"You promised you wouldn't leave the state! Motherfucker, you didn't just leave the state... You left the country!" I yelled, punching him again, a little harder this time. He grunted, but the wide grin never left his face.
Jared is my best friend in the entire world. Sure, the others joining us are my friends too, but the bond I share with Jared? Unbreakable. Some people might call it weird, but I'd do anything for him, and I know he'd do the same for me.
Before high school ended, we promised we'd go everywhere together. But that promise...? We couldn't keep it. Well... he couldn't. Jared has always been a wild soul... a hippie, a junkie of life, never content to stay in one place. With his wealthy family behind him, he took a gap year and disappeared to Thailand, living completely untamed.
He only started on his business degree a couple of years ago, but it's never really mattered... his future is secure under his father's wing. Unlike the rest of us, who come from financially comfortable families, Jared comes from money... real money. He's the richest of us all. And, whenever we teased him for it, he'd just shrug, "There are millions of people in this country who have more money than us."
Even with all the money he has, he's never acted proud or superior because of it. He's never judged me for my choices, never made me feel small. He's always stood up for me... he's the one I went to first when I needed someone I could trust.
I didn't even fully come out to him. Back when I was confused about my sexuality, he helped me figure it out in the most unexpected way. How? He was my first kiss. Weird? Maybe. But it helped me understand myself.
When he realized I might be into men, one night at a friend's party, he jokingly, maybe not entirely jokingly, offered to let me kiss him, just to see if it felt right. We were both drunk, so I did it without much hesitation.
For a moment afterward, I worried things would get awkward between us, that somehow, I had crossed a line we couldn't come back from. But nothing changed.
That night I learned two things. First, I was definitely gay. And second... I wasn't attracted to Jared at all.
Not that the kiss was bad. In fact, Jared was a good kisser, or maybe I just liked what it felt like to be kissed by a guy. Whatever the reason, that night taught me more about myself than I had managed to figure out on my own for years.
The beach house was enormous, much bigger than I had imagined. Rooms stretched across both the downstairs and upstairs, each one already furnished as if the house was always expecting guests. In front of the house sat a wide pool that overlooked the ocean, the water glimmering under the sun while the waves rolled endlessly just beyond it.
From the edge of the pool, the view of the sea was almost uninterrupted, the horizon stretching out as far as the eye could see. Off to the side of the property was a private tennis court, its nets already set up like someone had played there not long ago. Jared told me we could use any room in the house except for two upstairs... the master bedroom and a study. Those belonged to his uncle, and apparently, no one was allowed inside. The room Jared gave me was right across from the master bedroom, tucked along the upstairs hallway.
Jared helped me carry my things inside, though there really wasn't much to carry. I've always been a light packer. After setting my stuff in the room upstairs, we settled down to talk. It had been a long time since we'd actually sat in the same room together. We'd kept in touch through texts and the occasional call, but we hadn't seen each other in person since we graduated high school. Jared's family had moved to LA not long after that, and he'd been gone for a couple of years, so we never really got the chance to catch up.
"So, your parents are still the same?" Jared asked, popping open the beer bottles he'd brought while I grabbed a chip from the bowl beside us.
I snorted. "Yeah," I muttered.
He nodded slowly and let out a small sigh. "Well, good thing you're here for the next two months, then."
I smiled faintly. "Yeah," I said softly.
My gaze drifted around the room before landing back on him. "So, where's your girlfriend? And since when do you have one? I thought you didn't do relationships."
"I usually don't," he admitted, shrugging. "But I'm giving it a try this time. Emma and I aren't anything serious. We're just seeing where it goes. It's not like we've been dating for long or anything. We're keeping it as casual as possible."
The way he said it so easily amazed me. Jared had always been like that... never taking relationships too seriously, somehow always managing to stay happy. Maybe that was the secret: not caring too much. My problem was the opposite. I cared too much.
Maybe that was why my relationships never worked. They always left with the same explanation: that I wasn't the problem, they were. That I was too committed. I didn't know how to be in a relationship without taking it too far. One of them even told me I didn't know how to be young. That one stung.
But maybe he was right. Somewhere between chasing my dreams and carrying the weight of constantly feeling like a disappointment, I had forgotten how to live.
"Enough about us, tell me, what's new with you? Any new sexy man in your life?" He asked, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively like he didn't know me at all. I am a failure in all cases, career and relationships.
I snorted. "Like you don't already know," I muttered, letting out a sigh. "No, not really. I dated a few guys, but none of my relationships ever lasted more than a month. They always leave for one reason or another."
He shrugged. "That's fine. Not everyone is meant to be with you, and you're not meant to be with everyone."
A small silence settled between us before he sighed.
"Listen," he said, leaning back, "if you already know your relationships probably won't go far, why aim so far into the future? Just be casual. Have fun. Not every relationship has to end in marriage."
I couldn't help but laugh a little. "Marriage," I muttered, shaking my head.
Jared smirked, leaning back in his chair as he'd just said something brilliantly obvious. "I know you think about it," he said, pointing the neck of his beer bottle at me, "but you're way too young to be worrying about that stuff."
He shook his head, a small laugh escaping him.
"Have fun. Seriously. Stop stressing about the future so much." He lifted his shoulders in a casual shrug. "You don't even know if you'll be around to see the future you're so worried about."
Then he flashed that annoyingly carefree grin of his.
"So chill, relax, and actually enjoy your life for once."
Part of me really liked Jared's idea, but at the same time, I knew it just wasn't me. Living life without caring too much about anything sounded freeing in theory, but I had never been that kind of person. The truth was, I cared, probably more than I should. About everything. And somehow, despite that, nothing ever seemed to work out the way I hoped.
Maybe I came across as careless, the way my parents always claimed, but I wasn't. Not really. I wanted stability too... just not in the places they expected. I wanted it for the things I loved doing, in the life I was trying to build for myself. And if I couldn't have that yet, then I'd rather live with a little uncertainty for a while, a little shakiness, until things finally started to fall into place.
"Hey, I've got an idea," Jared suddenly said, sitting up a little straighter, a mischievous spark lighting up his eyes. "I have this friend. I met him in Thailand. What if I ask him to come stay with us for a couple of weeks? The guy's fun... and ridiculously hot." He wiggled his eyebrows. "Trust me, he'll definitely like you."
I burst out laughing and grabbed the nearest cushion, throwing it straight at his chest. "No!" I said, pointing a warning finger at him. "Don't you dare. I'm perfectly fine the way I am. I might jump back into dating soon, but definitely not with one of your friends."
I already knew what his friends were like, basically carbon copies of him, and that was very much not my type.
Jared rolled his eyes dramatically and pushed himself to his feet. "Well, whatever suits you," he said with a shrug. "I should get going. You should rest anyway... You had a long trip."
He gestured toward the hallway. "There's food in the kitchen. Help yourself to anything. Hopefully, the others will show up soon."
He grabbed his keys from the table and continued, "I need to check on Emma. And Atlas is coming to stay for a few days, so I have to make sure everything's... You know... in order for him." He stressed the last part as if it meant something more than the words themselves.
I frowned slightly. "Who's Atlas?"
Jared sighed like the explanation alone was exhausting. "Atlas is the owner of this very beach house," he said. "My uncle."
"Oh." I paused, then tilted my head at him. "You call your uncle by his name?"
Jared chuckled and scratched his eyebrow awkwardly. "Yeah... I mean, he's not old-old. He's just older than me, but still pretty young. I honestly don't remember ever calling him 'uncle.'" He laughed under his breath. "And he doesn't exactly look like an uncle either." He shook his head, still amused. "Actually, I can't even imagine anyone calling him 'uncle.'"
"Why?" I asked, curiosity creeping in.
Jared let out a laugh and ran a hand through his hair. "He's just... like that. I don't even know how else to explain it, but that motherfucker is way too hot to be someone's uncle."
I couldn't help but laugh at that. Jared seriously needed a filter.
"Anyway," he continued with a dismissive wave of his hand, "as hot as he might be, he's also a total pain in the ass, and kind of a weirdo. But since he was nice enough to let us stay in his beach house for the summer, we have to tolerate him."
"Pain in the ass, how?" I asked.
Jared made a vague face and waved the question away. "Ah, he's too complicated to explain. You'll understand when you meet him." He started heading toward the door, already halfway out. "Alright, I really have to go now. You get some rest."
He paused at the doorway, turned back, and flashed me a wicked grin. "Don't worry. I'm going to make sure this summer turns into the steamiest, craziest, hottest, most unforgettable summer of your life, my friend." He winked.
I groaned and laughed at the same time. "Just go away, Jared."