It was some kind of event for charity where people took off their clothes in the middle of winter and jumped into freezing cold water.
Curious as to why it had come up, I pressed play. Several men and women emerged from a choppy ocean. It only took a few seconds before I spotted her. Felicity wore a red, one-piece swimsuit, and rubbed her hands over her freckled arms as she shivered. Her long hair was wet and stuck to her body.
A voice from behind a microphone asked, “How do you feel?”
Felicity’s teeth chattered. “How do you think I feel? I’m freezing my nutsack off!” Then her eyes widened in a panic. “Wait, am I live on TV?”
The camera immediately cut back to two television personalities at a news desk who were trying to compose themselves. One of them snorted before straightening her papers and thanking the reporter for the story.
And then the video ended.
I read the description under the title.
Harvard student Felicity Dunleavy proclaiming, “I’m freezing my nutsack off” on a local Boston TV station after the college’s Polar Plunge charity event. The original video went viral with almost ten-million hits.
This particular version of the clip had seventy-five thousand views.
I spent the next several minutes re-watching it, and each time was funnier than the last. My favorite part was the shocked expression on her adorable face when she realized she’d just said nutsack on live television.
It was too bad she wanted nothing to do with me, because this video made me want to hang out with her again. I shook my head, forcing myself to close the laptop. I eventually nodded off, counting freckles in my head instead of sheep.
A week later, I’d somehow let my cousin convince me to go on a double date at a local bistro. No part of me wanted to go out with someone I’d never met before, but I had been a bit of a recluse since arriving in Narragansett and figured it would do me good to at least get out of the house.
When we arrived at Jane’s by the Water, Sigmund’s raven-haired date, Shiva, and her blond friend, Melanie, were already waiting at a table in the corner. There was nothing wrong with the person who’d been assigned to me tonight, but she looked like any other girl. Nothing stood out, nothing made me not want to turn around and head right back home.
“It’s so great to meet you, Leo.” Melanie smiled as she stood from her chair.
“Likewise.” I took her hand and kissed her lightly on both cheeks before sitting down.
“Sig’s told me so much about you,” Shiva said. “Glad we could finally get you to come out.”
“I can only imagine what he’s said.”
Sigmund patted my shoulder. “All good things, of course. And I agree, it’s nice of you to grace us with your presence. One can only hibernate for so long.”
“This place has really good food,” Melanie said, her eyes wide with excitement.
“Glad to hear.” I placed the cloth napkin on my lap. “While Sigmund here is a pretty good cook, it’ll be a nice change to sample some of the local delicacies.”
The conversation over the next several minutes was stale at best. A busboy brought some waters and assured us our waitress would be with us shortly.
Then from the corner of my eye, I spotted her. And suddenly my night became a lot more interesting.
Felicity. What the hell is she doing here?
She wore a white, collared shirt and a black smock. She works here? Narragansett was clearly a small world.
Felicity seemed tense, whispering to herself as if she were memorizing something. Then she began walking in our direction.
When her eyes met mine, she looked like she’d seen a ghost. “What are you doing here?”
“Dining out?” I smiled.
“Oh, of course.” She shook her head. “That was a dumb question.”
“I suppose I should ask what you’re doing here…but it seems you got the job you were looking for?”
“Yeah.” She licked her lips. “It’s my first night, actually.”
“Well, lucky to have caught you, then.”
Flipping back a piece of paper on her pad, she said, “I’m still learning the ropes, so bear with me.”
“Take your time,” I said, my eyes getting lost in hers for a moment.
My cousin took it upon himself to introduce Felicity to the table.
“Felicity, this is Shiva.” He pointed to my date, sitting across from me. “And that’s Melanie.”
She nodded toward both women. “Good to meet you.”
“Felicity is our neighbor across the bay,” Sigmund said.
“You grew up in Narragansett?” Shiva asked.
“Yes,” Felicity answered.
“We’re from Warwick.”
“Ah.” Felicity moved a piece of hair behind her ear. “They have a nice…mall over there.” She took a pen out of her pocket, but it slipped out of her hands. She bent to pick it up and said, “Anyway, have you all decided what you’d like to order?” She shut her eyes as if she’d made a mistake. “Actually, can I start you off with anything to drink?” She whispered, “I forgot I was supposed to ask that first.”
“I take it you’ve never waitressed before,” Sigmund cracked.
“How did you know?”
“Wild guess.” He smirked.
She took our drink orders and returned about ten minutes later.
“Are you ready to order?” she asked.
Everyone nodded but me.
Wanting to prolong her presence at the table, I asked, “What do you recommend to eat here?”
She breathed out, as if my question caused her stress. “It’s my first night, so I don’t really have the expertise to make a recommendation yet. But I did hear someone say the red snapper tacos are good.”
As she made her way around the table, taking the orders of our dates first, I couldn’t help but notice how anxious she continued to seem, tapping her pen and bouncing her leg. I couldn’t figure out if it had to do with this being her first night, or whether seeing me made her uneasy.
But I did know that my “date” didn’t hold a candle to the fiery redhead in all her freckled glory before me. Seeing her tonight certainly wasn’t going to help my efforts to forget about her.
Felicity’s voice startled me. “And you?”
“Hmm?”
“What would you like?”
You, I wanted to say. I fucking want you. Time with you. Time to get to know you, to count the freckles. But I was pretty sure admitting that wouldn’t go off too well.
“I’ll have the snapper tacos, since you’ve heard good things. I prefer not to take my chances, although sometimes taking a chance might be worth it—just not with food.”
Her eyes landed on mine and stayed there for a few seconds. My cryptic message might have gotten through to her.
She left the table to put in our orders, and immediately I yearned for her return, all the while pretending to be somewhat interested in what Melanie had to say about her job as a schoolteacher. My eyes kept wandering the room, waiting for any glimpse of Felicity as she made her way in and out of the kitchen in the distance.
Finally, she approached us, carrying a gigantic circular tray that I assumed held our food.