Choose Fun

Chapter 1 - Summer 2023

I sat on the beach, listening to the waves roll in. As a redhead, I burned easily, so I mostly stayed under our umbrella while Vince swam and ran around, acting like an overexcited puppy dog.

I’d never met anyone with more energy. The guy could run a marathon every day of his life if he wanted.

“Cameron!” he shouted from the distance. “Look!”

I turned to see my boyfriend holding up two dripping ice cream cones. He ran toward me, careful not to drop the scoops into the sand.

His long, lean body had gotten quite tan in the last few days (in comparison to my constant sunburn). He looked so beautiful running that he might as well be in Baywatch-style slow motion. I loved watching the rhythmic movement of his solid pecs. Sure, it was tough sometimes to be married to someone so much more handsome than you, but it had a lot of perks, too. Constant eye candy, for one.

He kissed me on the cheek and handed me a cone. “God, it’s perfect here. I’m gonna miss this place so much.”

This was our first big vacation since we’d gotten married, and we both made the most of it. Restaurants for every meal. Ice cream whenever we wanted. Boat trips. Mojitos. Even surf lessons. (I was terrible. He was great.)

Today was our last day, and I felt exhausted from the constant rush to enjoy everything at all times. Vince, of course, had more energy than ever.

“Didn’t we just have ice cream?” I asked, though I started licking it anyway.

“Yup. Your second for the day. My third.” He sounded weirdly proud to say that.

We sat for a while, eating and watching the ocean. This time tomorrow, we’d be back in dreary Idaho. Vince wanted to make our last few hours count. I didn’t feel the same pressure, because we’d made every hour here count.

“I’ve decided something,” Vince broke the silence. “A couple things, actually.”

He waited for me to ask him what, but I wasn’t going to humor him.

“What, you ask,” he said. “One: We need to come back here every year. Same hotel, same beach. We can’t let this be a one-time thing.”

“Agreed,” I said. We had enough money and sick days saved up.

“And two: When we’re back home, I want to live exactly like this.”

“Lazy and sunburnt?”

He laughed. “Speak for yourself. I want us to live every day like we’re on vacation. We’ll still do our jobs and chores and stuff. But we’ll make a conscious decision to choose fun. To indulge. To say yes when faced with any opportunity. You know what I mean?”

I twisted in my beach chair to face him. My ice cream accidentally spilled off my cone and thwopped onto the sand. “Good luck with that. I think choosing fun is exhausting.”

He nudged me in my sunburnt side. “Suit yourself. Let me run back and get you another ice cream.”

“No thanks.”

He was already standing. “Nope. I’m gonna choose fun. There’s a bunch more flavors I want us to try!”