First meetings

John hadn't expected Celi to thank him for stopping Buster's pathetic excuse for flirting, but it was a nice surprise. "No problem," He said smoothly, "Let me know if he bugs you again and I'll take care of it."

Had the barista made an effort with his appearance and used his head a bit more when flirting with Celi, John may have been out of luck. Many girls - tourists and locals alike - often became enamored with Buster. He was friendly, popular and was pretty decent in school. He was even on several of the sports teams... with John. In fact, they'd known each other their entire lives.

Not that Celi needed to know John had 'saved her' from his best friend.

She'd found him creepy, to John's utter amusement, and had such a visceral reaction that he'd had to stop himself from gloating. Score one for John and zero for Buster. He thought to himself, then glanced towards Celi.

She was much more relaxed now and was enjoying her ice cream.

A lot.

With each long, slow lick, John's pants felt tighter and he couldn't help but stare. Somewhere in the fog of his brain it registered that Terry was standing up and excusing himself to go find a cab for the sisters. He looked uncomfortable, but didn't say anything about it. Mimi, he noticed, was too focused on the joys of her own ice cream to even notice.

He'd been so entranced with staring at her that he hadn't even realized what she said. "Huh?" John asked, his mind blank and face completely void of intimidation or smarm.

A couple seconds passed.

Oh... right. The girls were going to head out.

Damn.

"Ah, yeah. Right, I think Terry went to get you two a cab." John said, slipping his hands behind his back to covertly pinch himself until a bruise was guaranteed. It was the quickest way to rid him of his current predicament and he felt his pants loosen back up as he leisurely climbed back up to his feet. He could get excited all he wanted later.

"Want me to get your bags?"

"It's not the biggest island, so I'm sure our paths will cross now and then." John stated, easily transporting their bags to the trunk of the cab Terry had hailed for them. He recognized Gordie in the driver seat and gave him a nod, before turning back to the sisters. "If you need anything and see any of us around, don't hesitate to ask."

Then he motioned towards the older man in the cab. "This is Gordie. He's a good guy. He'll take good care of you."