Spring Fling
Have you ever had a Spring Fling? I recently chaperoned a few teenagers on a Spring Break trip to the Redneck Riviera.
My favorite part of the trip was sitting on the beach in a long sleeve rash guard shirt, board shorts that hit me at the knee, and SPF 7000. It was fun hanging with my sister and…
“Stop talking to me people, I am reading.”
For the teenage girls, the best part was the teenage boys and the flirting and sneaking sips of Miss Newby’s Hunch Punch when I wasn’t looking. “Hey- how did my red solo cup get empty?” (Just kidding- I can’t stand that stuff.)
The trip made me reminisce about previous trips, from my younger days. It was great to have guy friends around to look out for us girls back then. I was thankful my girls had the same protection on this trip from young men who love and respect them.
Spring Flings are typically known in the college Greek world as a huge social event. There are parties, dressing up, dressing down, and lots of booze. Sounds like the makings for a new adult romance novel. Hmmm??? Short story…
Spring Fling
Kellyn’s last Spring Break as a college student ended with a fling. Fling being a short love affair spent pursuing one’s desires without care for the future.
She and Pace had been friendly before the trip to the beach– but, only because their best friends’ dating forced them together, more often than not.
Kellyn’s BFF, Indi, had been dating Pace’s bestie, Cobie, since the Sigma Nu Winter Formal. Both girls were Tri-Deltas and Sigma Nu little sisters. Because Pace and Cobie were roommates, Kellyn was over at their apartment more often than she cared to admit. She didn’t have anything better to do and the guys were entertaining.
Pace was a player and Kellyn always rolled her eyes when he thrust his hips in a lewd gesture and joked about his conquests. Occasionally, when they were all out together, dancing at a club, she and Pace would end up together on the dance floor.
The boy had moves, no one could deny that—but all of the girls got sucked into his magnetic trap that left them helpless against his all-American good looks; broad shoulders, blue eyes, and sandy blonde hair that looked as if he just rolled out of bed. Kellyn knew better. The boy spent more time gelling and taming that hair than she did her own waist-length Auburn locks. If one hair was out of place, he’d fuss like a girl—worse than a girl.
***
“Put it in a ponytail and let’s go,” Kellyn said.
“It’s not quite long enough. Look.” Pace pulled the hair on his crown up into a bunch on the back of his head.
There was only an inch of hair poking straight out and Kellyn contained her smile as his biceps bulged with the gesture.
“You look gorgeous, Pace,” Indi said, adding another layer to her smoky gray eyeliner.
“You’re not half-bad yourself for a girl who’s dating my roommate and best friend,” Pace said winking.
Kellyn rolled her eyes. “If you two would stop flirting and primping, we’d be at the club by now. It’s gonna take us an hour to get down the strip.”
“I’m so bummed that Cobie couldn’t come,” Indi said, insincerely. “Oh well, I’ll just have to make the most of it…Won’t I, Pace?”
The look she shot Pace could have melted chocolate but Kellyn chose to ignore it. Most of the day, she’d been the unfortunate witness to Indi showing just how much she missed Cobie by rubbing all over Pace—the best friend.
It turned Kellyn’s stomach to see it so she focused her attention on other people. A few guys she flirted with who were too drunk to care that they were buying drinks for an intelligent, but otherwise uninteresting red head. For every sweaty, naked chest that hugged up against her, Kellyn tried not to curl her upper lip in disgust. She redirected her full, pink lips into a flirtatious smile that kept her sated with no end of alcoholic beverages.
“I need you.”
Kellyn’s head snapped up to see Pace instead of the muscle bound, dark-skinned man who was on her caboose as they heated up the dance floor.
“Get off me, you leech.” She turned to face him.
“No, seriously,” he said, placing his hand in the small of her back and pulling her so close that his jeans grazed the zipper of her mini-skirt. “If you don’t help me, Indi is going to molest me and ruin my friendship with Cobie.”
Kellyn smirked. “You’re not man enough to tell her you’re not interested?”
He pulled her closer so nothing separated their bodies but a few millimeters of cotton. “I know what interests me…and it’s not Indi.”
*****
Pace had been patient enough, waiting to let Kellyn know how he really felt about her. She was within reach, heck she was in his arms, but the look in her eye spoke of defiance and distrust.
“What’s in it for me?” She asked.
The question surprised him because he had only ever seen her do for others, please her friends at her own expense. He knew he had to play this coolly.
“Save a relationship and a friendship,” he said, appealing to her loyal nature.
She put her arms around his neck. “So you want to pretend to have a fling with me to get Indi off your grill and salvage your friendship with Cobie?”
“Yep,” Pace said, knowing that wasn’t the whole truth but unable to cop to his real feelings for her.
She smiled. “You’re a good dancer. I guess I could do worse. Some of the guys who have been grinding on me smell bad– BO and beer farts bad.
Pace’s head fell back as he shook with laughter.
“At least I know you’ve showered,” she said, laughing herself.
“Kellyn, I love your sense of humor,” he said close to her ear before he took her lobe in his mouth.
The gasp of surprise and pleasure made him smile inside. They spent the rest of the night dancing. And, while he felt like a Kellyn/Indi sandwich much of the time, he focused his affection at its intended target, Kellyn Crenshaw.
Later that night, as he watched Kellyn and Indi make the fold-out couch so they could sleep on it, he admired Kellyn’s black cotton shorts and tank-top and the way her shiny, copper hair hung in flowing waves down her back. He determined that no other male would buy her a drink or even look at her if he was around. He planned to see this through, even if she only saw him as a fling.
Ever have a Spring Fling? A short but sweet love affair? Do tell…
I not sure if I’d call it a spring fling maybe more like a beach crush, but it was the spring when I met Freddie. He was stationed at Tyndall, drove a sleek, fast red corvette, was cute as a button, and was as inocent as I. Moonlight walks on the beach, handholding, a few stolen kisses, long talks, and pictures in the curtained booth were shared. We stayed in touch and even had a few dates before he left for Vietnam. I wrote letters for a couple of years, then recieved word he had been killed. We shared a very strong attraction,were dear friends,so I always wondered what might have been. I treasure the memories of my beach crush. Love your story, great read Meda just want to read the rest of the story.
That is such a sweet story, Charlotte. Thanks for sharing. I will develop Spring Fling a bit more after I finish my current WIP. Stay tuned- it might be fun to release it in small bits like a serial.