ARRvol34 master reduced - Flipbook - Page 63
“We can talk when we get to the beach,” she said furiously. She
rolled down her window and then reached for the volume dial,
wanting to blow it all up. But just then they drove out of the grey
and into the sun and she was cured.
They reached the town, and he slowed and coasted amongst students and cyclists on the main drag. As they drove past a little spot
with people wrapped in a line around the building, she said, “Go
back! I’m starving.”
He was happy that she was hungry. They held hands in line, and
ordered a plate piled with fried clams, a pot of cioppino, and beers.
They sat on the patio and watched the bottles sweat in the sun. He
reached his hand under the table and pressed her thigh, her flesh
rebounding through the black denim that had been her uniform
recently.
“We forgot swimsuits,” he said, looking down the street at a surf
and java shop. They had another round of beer. When it took its full
effect, they rose and wandered to the shop.
Inside, men’s board shorts got one wall and the other three were
crammed with bikinis. They maneuvered through the haze of weed
smoke amongst busty plastic mannequins and stands with cheap
sunglasses and sandals, until she found a suit she wanted to try
on. He stood outside the plastic curtain of the dressing room and
watched her feet as she peeled her jeans down over her slippers. He
saw the glossy tips of her long black hair as she leaned forward and
pointed one toe gracefully through the bottoms, then the other. The
tiny scrap of fabric was pulled up and out of sight. Her feet shifted
and he imagined her rocking her hips and sucking in her breath as
she positioned the elastic around her pelvis. Her heels lifted as she
went on tiptoe, pivoting around to inspect the back side.
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