The Beach

I hurled the damp pillow across the bed, too heated and keyed up to get some sleep. It was the hottest week of the summer so far, 81 degrees at 2:20 am, so I scooted underneath the ceiling fan for some relief. The house was fine, lovely really, but I hate heat of any kind, except to warm myself in the depth of winter. Fall is my favorite season, and I had at least six more weeks of discomfort, and less than half of that for this much-needed vacation. 

My friend and agent Elena had arranged for my stay here in sunny tropical south Florida, at her family’s home while they were away in Australia enjoying a cool respite from these sweltering temperatures. I’d spent most of my days under an umbrella reading novels from some of my peers, market research to keep an eye on my competition. My latest book had been well-reviewed, despite the critics less than enthusiastic response to the predictable “happy” ending. It was the closure that the publishing team desired, but I hated it, and was ultimately vindicated in my feeling that the novel needed a realistic resolution. Actually, I had intended to leave the ending ambiguous, to allow readers to draw their own conclusions about whether my mains ended as friends or lovers. My best friend Jenny insisted that I needed to fall in love to write what I knew. 

For a while, earlier this year, I actually thought I had done just that. I finished the story after I visited the Fine Arts museum, as my pal suggested, where I met a woman who inspired me in ways I never thought possible. We spent time together during and after the holidays, a time of year I normally try my best to get through on my own. This year was different because I saw my sister and her family for the first time in years, and I enjoyed the time I spent with Helen. Yet, by Spring, we saw less and less of each other, and she wrote me a long letter about how she had feelings for me, but she wasn’t interested in anything more than friendship. Which was fine, I told myself, until I heard a few weeks ago that Helen had reconciled with her ex-husband. After my book events ended in early May, I spent a week holed up at home ignoring everyone. When Helen messaged me, I deleted the voicemail and her contact information. 

Jenny had banged on my door and threatened me with a welfare visit from the authorities if I didn’t answer.

“I know you’re there, Al. Just open the door, let me see you and I’ll go away.”

I heard the anguish in the way her voice broke at the end.

“I’m fine, Jen. Just go home. I’ll call you when I’m ready to talk.”

I heard the box bump against the door. “I’m leaving you some food. If it’s still here when I come by tomorrow, I’m calling them.”

When I figured she was long gone, I crawled to the door and slid the box inside, filled with boxes of tea, sugar packets, apples and oranges, and my favorite muffins and cookies. I stuck the pink heart tag, “I love you” scrawled across in Jen’s writing, on the wall and cried for another hour before I dragged myself into the tiny kitchen to make myself a snack. 

If this was what love was supposed to feel like, I never wanted to know it again.

So, here I am, trying to forget everything that happened in the last three months, and the heat was killing me, almost enough to forget about everything else.

I hauled myself up and into the en suite to take a cool rinse-off so I could sleep. After I was semi-dry, I slipped under the cool top sheet and closed my eyes. Maybe I needed a day at the beach, albeit a short visit to help clear my head and forget about the friend who abandoned me.

The next morning, after I packed a towel and journal in my tote, I slathered myself in sunblock and dressed in my straw hat and matching khaki shorts for my 5 minute walk to the shore. It was only 8:20, so there were a few shoeless joggers and a handful of early birds, likely trying to beat the heat and crowds, also. The beaches back home in Texas were not this sugar white, and the jewel-toned water was breathtaking. 

I was mid-stroll, my toe pleasantly sunken into warm sand, when a voice called to me, “First time here in Florida?” I cast my gaze up miles of coppery skin to a pair of broad shoulders.

“Excuse me?”

“I asked, is this your first time here visiting Florida?” His voice was smooth and deep, and I felt a stirring inside me, like an insistent alarm trying to wake me.

I hoped my shades hid my wide eyes adequately. “Yes, I grew up in Texas, so these beaches are much different from these. So much cleaner, quite pristine.”

“Pristine, huh? Do you write, or just drop ten-dollar words like that to intimidate us mere mortals?” His smile was dazzling, quite comparable to this place that I was now glad I decided to seek this morning.

I chuckled. “I do, in fact, write. I’m Alex.” 

He shook my extended hand, and I shivered at the touch of his soft, silky skin. “I’m Adrian. Very nice to meet you.”

“Likewise.” It was then that I saw the whistle dangling from his perfect long neck.

“So, are you here with your family?”

I missed Adrian’s question again, this time distracted by the muscles in his thighs and how it might feel to have them pressed against me.

"I'm sorry, what did you ask?"

"Are you here with your family?"

I shook my head. "No, I'm not. And you, what do you do, besides this?"

“I'm in graduate school now. Working here during the break.”

“Well, I know you’ll do well with what you’re studying.”

“Well, I’m sure you’re a great writer. Are you enjoying your vacation?”

I nodded. “It’s been a welcome respite. Now, I’m just waiting for my friend to arrive.”

Adrian’s smile faded. “Well, we’ve got excellent conditions this morning, which is a bit rare for this time of year, so enjoy, Alex. Have a great stay!” He grabbed his rescue tube and headed toward the stand. I watched him greet his fellow guard, who held a pair of binoculars as they surveyed the shore. 

Oh well. My heart had finally slowed back to normal as I continued down the beach. The sun was higher now, likely midday now. The breeze from earlier had dissipated, and I felt a bit thirsty. I returned to my spot and sipped my bottle of lemon-flavored drink when a shadow loomed.

“So you finally decided to unleash your sexy self on this beach and you’re already chatting up hunky lifeguards, I see.” Elena wore a blue one-piece under a white coverall, her designer bag slung over her shoulder.

“What? I missed you?”

“Uh, no. I was up at the Hut, getting something to drink and texting my houseguest who wasn’t answering my calls to, I don’t know, get some breakfast and do some sightseeing, like we discussed.” El smiled and held up her phone to show me her unanswered messages.

 I shrugged and pulled out my phone. “I was enjoying the sights here.”

“So it would seem. What happened? Does he have a girlfriend, or boyfriend?”

“I wouldn’t know. As soon as I mentioned I was meeting a friend, he basically ran away.” 

Elena dropped her bag and sat beside me. “Well, that answers that question. Quick, go run out there and fall down in the water so he can come save you.”

I scoffed. “I know you’re not serious. I came here to relax.”

She snatched my journal and dangled it. “Yet, you’re writing.” 

“Just a bit.” I had wrested my book away and stuck it on the towel when Adrian crossed in front of us to wrangle a pair of young children who’d wondered out where the surf had become a bit rough. An older adult, possibly their grandmother, appeared and grasped their arms to haul them back up the beach. The smallest one, a girl, waved at me as they passed. I half hoped Adrian would do the same, but he nodded when he glimpsed Elena at my side and continued back to his post. 

We gathered our things a few minutes later for lunch at a restaurant she assured me I would love. So when Adrian called out to me, I almost missed him for a third time.

“Alex, please come back for a minute.” That voice would be the end of me.

El winked and hustled over to the bar to wait for me. 

“Yes, I’m afraid we’re in a rush to make our lunch reservation. May I help you with something?” 

Adrian flashed that sexy smile again and clutched my hand. “May I have that for a moment?” He took my phone and slipped what I assumed to be his in between my fingers. 

I watched his thumbs fly over keys. “Put your number in there, please.”

I hadn’t expected him to be this forward, but I quickly complied with his request.

Later that evening, I found myself acquiescing to more than a simple request made by this irresistible man. 

“Don’t stop.” I made my breathless demand lying atop a silken quilt on a secluded stretch of the beach, Adrian’s hands roamed the feverish skin underneath my dress. 

“Are you sure? I came prepared, not that I expected anything to happen, but if you want-”

“Yes, I want to.” The words slipped from my mouth as his lips trailed down my neck. It had been far too long since I’d been with a guy. We’d spent hours talking about a few of the books that I’d written and the courses he was completing for his Master’s in Literature. I never thought I would meet someone who’d read more books than I, but somehow I found him. Then, the talk grew quieter and more personal, our bodies shifted closer as we discussed our futures and fears. When I admitted the truth about my identity, I expected the whole thing to end, for him to run away like others had done before. Instead, Adrian embraced me and told me I was more than enough and perfect. The hug ignited something inside us, and when he asked if he could kiss me before he walked me back to Elena’s, I felt a tearing away inside me, a burning that left me shivering and desperate for more. 

“I don’t want to go back right now, or maybe at all.” 

“Do you want to be with me, Alex? Are you sure you want this?”

I yanked Adrian by the collar, and kissed him, licking the seam between his warm, full lips. I hiked up my skirt to straddle him, and a moan so lewd and loud ripped from my throat. 

“Look at me, Alex.” Adrian grabbed my shoulder to help move me deeper inside him, and stars exploded behind my eyes.

I had never felt this alive. The air spun around me in cool waves, as if I were watching myself from a cloud. I was flying, and it felt incredible.

“Alex, I need you. Please look into my eyes.” Adrian’s voice and hands gripping my waist dropped me into the physical realm. 

I lowered myself onto his chest, and Adrian pulled me closer while he slid his tongue between my lips. Our eyes finally met, and an oozing warmth spread through me. I was trapped in the best possible way.

“Alex, Alex, Alex.” I never wanted to hear anyone else speak my name like that.

When we finally came down, I rolled onto the quilt, our hands intertwined. 

Instead Adrian kissed the back of my hand and said, “Tell me you’re not leaving anytime soon.”

“A week.”

He caressed my shoulder, and the unshed tears in his eyes caught me completely off-guard. “Please don’t go. I don’t mean to scare you away, but I can’t think about you leaving, Alex. Like, ever.”

I pecked his forehead. “You couldn’t scare me if you tried, because I can tell you mean it. But, you don’t want me, Adrian.”

“I do, desperately. I don’t know what’s happening here. But, please, stay with me, Alex, just a bit longer. I can’t think of saying goodbye to you.” He pulled me closer to rest my head on his chest and kissed me again. 

“I’ve never been in love, Adrian. I don’t think I can do this.”

Adrian sighed. “Your book is so romantic and beautiful, but somehow, it doesn’t surprise me that someone who writes such moving prose hasn’t had those words spoken to her. So, let me be the one. Let me show you love, Alex.”

"You read my book, Adrian?"

He nodded. "I'm almost done with the latest one. yes."

"Did you know who I was earlier?"

Adrian winked. "I'll never tell."

I stayed a week longer, with Elena’s blessing, and yeah, Adrian did just that. My first and only summer fling grew into deepest, truest love I’ve ever known.