The Lunacy Fringe

We drove to the beach in silence, holding hands and kissing at stoplights. When we weren’t doing that, I rested my head on Felix’s arm while he drove. We arrived at the beach at noon and headed right out onto the sand to enjoy the summer sun. We set up our towels and slathered sunblock on, and then he gave me a look. I knew exactly what it meant.

“Just get it over with,” I suggested. The next thing I knew, he’d yanked me around my middle and hoisted me up. I let out an “EEEP!” right before being dragged into the surf.

The water was ice cold, but it was summer now, so it wasn’t as shocking. When I came back up, I was already laughing. We splashed each other until a huge wave knocked me off my feet, and he reached out to grab me. But when he settled me on my feet again, he looked out over the water. The beach was busy with tourists, and I could see boats out on the water. He sighed in contentment.

“Want to know the real reason I wanted to come here?” he asked. I gulped. I knew they’d had another meeting with Paul D’Angelo, but he never told me what they talked about. I was nervous that he would drop the bomb any day now.

“Why?” I asked timidly. He looked back at me, and I could see something sneaky and mischievous in his eyes.

“I couldn’t get the image of you in that bathing suit out of my head.” I leaned on my toes and wrapped my arms around his shoulders.

“Well, you might not get the image of me in it out of your head, but you could get me out of the bathing suit.” He nodded slowly, eyes going soft. And then he kissed me, biting my lip gently.

“You—are an amazing woman.”

“So I’m told.”

He kissed me again. And even though we were trying to keep it chaste in public, I could feel that tension simmering between us. I put my hands on his chest to put some distance between us. Then I smiled up at him.

“Race you back to the house,” I suggested.

“You’re on.”

We both took off at top speed and only stopped long enough to gather all our things again. We hadn’t even been out there for a half-hour yet, but we had a few days. I wouldn’t miss it. So once we got everything dangling precariously in our arms, we made for the beach house. Of course, we had to slow down when we reached the parking lot and crossed the main street. But we kept a quick pace and then ran the rest of the way once we got to the right street.

It was a little weird since it was Billie’s family’s beach house, and we had no guarantee that they wouldn’t show up unexpectedly. But she’d told a bunch of lies and got us the keys with the promise that we’d be undisturbed. So once we reached it, Felix slammed the door with his foot, dumped all his stuff on the floor, and then reached for my waist again. It didn’t take long for the bathing suit to come off, and then he pushed me back onto the couch. We didn’t even pull out the mattress first.

It wasn’t new for us. But we were usually doing it in secret. Those moments before our parents got home from work. Or when we had to sneak away from Quinn and Billie. Or, now that he’d gotten his own car, the times we’d leave to find a secluded place to park. We always had to be quiet, secret, and prepared for anything. But now we could just focus on each other. Even if someone did unexpectedly drop in on us, well, it would be their own damn fault. So we took advantage of being alone.

When we finished, there wasn’t really enough room to cuddle. He pulled away from me and then dropped onto his back on the floor beside the couch. I stayed where I was, leg propped up on the back of the couch as I tried to catch my breath. He moved his hands through his hair.

“Ugh,” he said. “You drive me crazy.” I laughed.

“Ditto.”

Then he reached up and yanked me off the couch. I let out another “EEP!” as I toppled onto him.