The Hazards of Skinny Dipping (13 page)

He reached across the table to take my hand.
“At least think about it, okay?”

“Sure. I’ll think about it.”

“Good.”

I had no intention of quitting my job.

To: [email protected]

From: [email protected]

Subject: The meaning of life

Dear Amy,

College is nothing like I expected. I’m
still not sure if that’s good or bad.

Your ‘Maybe I should be a Philosophy Major’
Cousin,

Juliet

“What do you want to do Saturday night?”
Dylan ran a hand through my hair as we lay in his bed. For once, he
hadn’t fallen asleep. It was already late September, and I couldn’t
quite accept it. The semester was flying by.

“Saturday? I have a mixer that night.”

“Mixer?” He tensed. “With what house?”

“Kappa.”

His face crinkled up in distaste. “You can’t
go to that.”

“Does that mean you’re skipping the mixer you
guys have with the Sigmas on Friday?”

“No. I have to be there. I’m the fraternity
president.”

I moved out of his arms. “It’s okay for you
to go to a party with another sorority, but I can’t go to one with
a different frat?”

He reached out to me. “It’s different. I can
keep girls off me. You can’t keep guys away. Besides, I already
told you why I have to go.”

“I’m a pledge. I have no choice.”

He didn’t say anything for a moment. “If I
agree to skip mine, would you skip yours?”

“I thought you couldn’t miss it.”

“I can if I’m out of town.”

“Out of town?” I let him pull me back into
his arms.

“Yeah. Let’s go out to the beach. We could
use some time away.”

“I’ll see if I can get excused.”

“I’ll take care of it.”

“How?”

He smiled. “It won’t be a problem.”

***

The relaxation I always felt on the drive to
the beach set in as soon as we turned onto Main Road. Nothing
drastically changed at that spot. We still passed occasional
restaurants, stores, and plenty of cars, but it was always the
point where I said to myself, “I’m on vacation.”

“Would you mind if I turned off the AC?” I
was dying to roll down my window. We were still over twenty minutes
from the beach, but I wanted the fresh air.

“Sure.” He reached over at the same time I
did. I moved my hand, letting him hit the button. He took my hand
in his before opening my window for me. I looked outside, loving
how familiar everything was. I’d been going to the beach for longer
than I could remember. No matter what else was happening in life,
my family always went for at least two weeks every summer, and
usually a few other times during the year.

“What are you thinking about?” Dylan rested
our entwined hands on my leg.

“Just how much I love the beach.” We were
getting closer. The dense canopy of leaves created by the live oaks
managed to block out most of the sun, but it did nothing for the
humidity. I didn’t mind.

“Me, too. My dad actually talked about
selling our place a few years ago, but I talked some sense into
him.”

“How’d you manage that?”

“I reminded him of how good of an investment
it is.”

“Oh. That makes sense.”

“I’m so ready for this weekend. I feel like
I’ve hardly seen you the past few weeks.”

“I spent two nights with you this week.”

“Two out of five isn’t great.”

“I would have thought you’d want space.” I
looked back out the window.

“No. I want you in my bed. I sleep better
that way, and I swear you’re like a drug. I can’t get enough of
that body of yours.”

My stomach tightened. I still loved hearing
how much he enjoyed my body, but I just didn’t get it. He’d been
with plenty of girls before. I couldn’t be that special. I enjoyed
his body too, but the sex hadn’t gotten any better.

“This is such a good time of year to go to
the beach. It’ll be practically empty.”

“I’ve never been here this time of year.”

“You’ll like it. It’s not as hot, but the
water is still warm.”

“Do you want to head down to the beach today?
Do you think we’ll have time?”

“Definitely. It’s not even three-thirty.”

Dylan seemed so relaxed, and I hoped getting
away from school would bring back the Dylan I knew. The one who
laughed all the time, the one who liked to sit and talk.

“Good. I’m ready for some sun.”

“Well, I’m ready to see you in a bikini
again,” he said suggestively.

The rest of the trip moved quickly. Dylan
turned on some music, and he didn’t seem to mind that I wasn’t
being talkative. It was strange to drive into Dylan’s driveway
instead of my grandparents’.

“Finally.” Dylan got out and immediately went
around to pull out our bags. I noticed that he’d packed more than
I’d expected.

“Ready?”

“Sure.” We went in the back door, the same
door we’d entered after our skinny dipping experience. Dylan
definitely remembered it. The smug smile tugging at his lips made
that readily apparent.

I followed him as he dropped our bags off in
his room.

“I have a present for you.” He dug into his
large, black suitcase. “I can’t wait to see how you look.”

“Is that a thong?” I barely choked the words
out as I examined the tiny pieces of pink fabric.

“Yeah, I’ve never seen you wear one before,
but I love that ass of yours. This way you get to show it off for
me.”

“Okay…moving on from the bottom, do you
really expect me to wear a top this small? There’s a reason I stay
away from triangle tops.”

“It’s your size.”

“Dylan, I, uh, appreciate the thoughtfulness,
but the bikinis I have are skimpy enough.”

“They can’t be that skimpy if you felt
comfortable walking around in one in front of my whole frat.”

That again. “Do you really want me to wear
this?” I held up the top.

“Yes. I really do. It’s only going to be us
out there. If anyone else actually uses the beach, you have my
permission to put on more clothing.”

“Fine.”

Dylan pulled his own, perfectly normal sized
swim trunks out of his suitcase. “I want to enjoy the effect, so
I’ll get changed in the bathroom.”

I reluctantly got undressed, cringing at the
thought of putting on the tiny bottom. I hated thong underwear, and
loathed even the thought of wearing something like that outside.
Dylan walked out of the bathroom. I tried to focus on the view
rather than the sorry excuse for a swimsuit I was wearing beneath
my pink dress. “Take off the cover-up.”

I shook my head. “It doesn’t fit right.”

“I’ll be the judge of that.” He moved to take
off my dress himself, and after considering putting up some
resistance, I gave in and let him pull it off.

He took a step back. “Damn, you look
incredible.” His eyes widened, and I hoped he’d get side tracked
enough that he forgot about going to the beach. “I need the full
effect.” He moved around behind me. I knew it was coming, but I
jumped when he grabbed my very exposed ass.

“Can I change now?”

“Change? We haven’t even left yet.”

“Dylan, I can’t wear this out of the
house.”

“Sure you can. Do it for me.” He put his
hands on my arms. “I don’t ask you for very much.”

“Why does this matter so much to you?”

He moved his hands up to my shoulders and
looked me directly in the eye. “Why does it matter to you? I like
the way you look in it, and I want you to wear it down to the
beach. Is that really so much to ask?”

“How about we compromise? I’ll wear the top
with a different bottom.”

“You really hate wearing a thong that
much?”

“Would you want to go out with your ass
hanging out?”

“No, but then again my ass doesn’t look as
good as yours.”

I laughed. “Deal or no deal?”

“Deal. But you’d better move fast. I can’t
keep my hands off you. If you want to hit the beach, we need to go
now.”

I opened my own bag, pulling out a black
bikini bottom that suddenly seemed incredibly covering. I ran into
the bathroom and changed. Much better.

“All right, let’s go.”

We grabbed some beach towels from the closet
and headed out. We walked the boardwalk over to the beach. I took
in the sights: the lagoon, the tall beach grass on the dunes.

“Is this okay?” He stopped about halfway down
the beach.

“Perfect.” I opened my towel and spread it
out. Dylan put his down right next to mine, overlapping them
slightly.

“You weren’t kidding about it being empty.” I
lay down on my stomach, immensely glad to have a full bottom
on.

“I told you.” He stretched out next to me
with his head only inches from mine.

He kissed me lightly before letting out a
sigh.

“Is everything okay?”

“Yeah. It’s just stress.” He rolled over onto
his back.

“Anything in particular?”

“Just work stuff. You know I’m going to work
for my dad after graduation, don’t you?”

“Yeah.” I leaned up on an elbow.

“I’m not really looking forward to it.
Neither is he.”

“Then why do it?”

“I don’t have a choice.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.” He put a hand on my back. “Do you need
me to do sunscreen for you or anything?”

“Nope. It’s pretty late.” Was he really
changing the subject so quickly?

“All right.”

“Is there anything I can do to help? I mean,
obviously I can’t fix the job. But anything else?”

He smiled. “You already do. Sex with you is
the best stress relief you can imagine. I plan on relieving a lot
of stress this weekend.”

“Do you?”

“Uh huh.” He pulled me up on top of him. “In
case you didn’t realize, that was the thinking behind this weekend
getaway.”

“And I thought it was for the stimulating
conversation.” I kissed him. It felt strangely empowering to be
doing it from on top. We never had sex that way. Every time I tried
to, he rolled us over.

“I like talking to you, Juliet, but I love
having sex with you.”

Did he realize how that sounded? I forced
myself to shrug it off. “I guess this is a bad time to tell you
it’s that time of the month.”

“What?” The look of horror that crossed his
face was priceless. “No. It’s not. You just had it two weeks
ago.”

“Obviously it was a joke, Dylan.”

“Don’t mess with me.” He pulled my head down
to his and kissed me. He rolled us over. No surprise there. “Are
you ready to get in the water?”

“Yes.”

He shifted off me so I could get up. I didn’t
wait. I headed right down to the ocean and walked in. The water was
warm, and I eagerly moved further out. Dylan joined me. “You really
like water, don’t you?”

“Of course, don’t you?”

“Yeah, especially when it involves you.” He
wrapped his arms around me. “Speaking of which, want to head home
and take a shower?”

“We just got to the beach.”

“We’ll come back tomorrow. I need you.”

I had no desire to leave so quickly, but it
didn’t feel worth arguing about. Not after he finally opened up
about being stressed. Dylan usually kept so much to himself.

***

After a shower and dinner, I was completely
content to curl up on the couch with Dylan. My room at school was
all right, but I missed being in a house and having a couch to
lounge on. The ones in the dorm common room didn’t quite cut
it.

“I have a surprise for you.” The excited look
on Dylan’s face scared me. I hoped this wasn’t going to be another
surprise like the thong.

“Another surprise?”

“Uh huh. I can’t wait to see your reaction.”
He stood up and took my hand to pull me with him. I let him lead me
into his bedroom.

“Close your eyes.”

“Why?”

“Just close your eyes. I want to surprise
you.”

“Okay.” I closed my eyes, hoping that the
surprise wouldn’t be too awful.

“Open them.”

“Oh hell no.” I took a step back. From his
right hand dangled a pair of handcuffs.

“Ryan told me everything.”

“What? What does Ryan have to do with the
fact that you have handcuffs?”

“I know all about the BDSM stuff. I just wish
you’d been comfortable enough to tell me yourself.”

“BDSM stuff? What did Ryan tell you exactly?”
I grabbed onto the bedpost for support. I felt ready to pass
out.

“Everything. How you really want to try it
and think I’d be the perfect dominant for you. At first, I wasn’t
sure, but the more I looked into it, the more I realized that it
fit us. I definitely don’t mind the idea of having you as my
submissive. I figured it would be fun to start here—that way we
don’t have to worry about interruptions.”

“What? And why would I tell Ryan about this
uh, interest?” I was going to kill him. Ryan was dead.

“He said you were too embarrassed to tell me
and wanted to see if I’d be interested.”

“Oh my god.”

“It’s not a bad thing, Juliet. I really want
to try it too.” He took a step toward me.

I backed up. “Dylan.”

“Yes?”

“Put those things away. Now.”

“What? You don’t want handcuffs? I also
picked up some other bindings. I tried not to go too crazy on
stuff, but I wanted some options.”

“Stuff? What other stuff?” I looked over at
his suitcase. One compartment overflowed with a variety of items
I’d hoped to never see in my life.

“Where did you get this stuff?”

“A store downtown. I didn’t have time to
order.”

“You went into a sex shop?” I laughed. I
couldn’t help it. It was too much to picture preppy Dylan walking
into a place like that.

“I paid in cash. No one will ever know.”

“I hope you can get a refund.”

“What? Did I not get the right stuff?”