Explorers Club Ch. 3: Bungalows
I walked slowly across the dark sand, naked, towards my own bungalow. The morning light was starting to illuminate the dark beach in a burnt orange glow. The warm sand was soft underneath my toes and I found myself beginning to enjoy my walk. I knew Professor Hale was waiting for me to bring her some spare clothes, and my bungalow was just up ahead. But first, I had to pass by Frank's bungalow.
I could hear some sounds from inside: he must have brought back those girls from the bar. I padded silently, staying away from the entrance, hoping I could get past without being spotted. But as I moved behind Frank's bungalow, I saw a figure wobbling unsteadily in the sand.
"Perkins!" Frank yelled, and turned to me.
I quickly covered my crotch with both hands. Frank chewed on a Slim Jim and then stretched his arms wide. He chuckled, shaking his head as he chewed, and looked me up and down.
"Why are you naked, Perkins?"
I shielded my eyes with one hand as he stumbled towards me.
"Why are
you
naked?!" I responded.
Frank looked down at his own body. He was completely naked except for a flip flop on one foot. I tried not to look too long below his waist.
"Huh," he said nonchalantly. "It appears I am!"
"Fun with your two new friends I assume?" I asked, nodding to his bungalow. "They came back with you from the bar?"
He gestured with his floppy Slim Jim back toward his bungalow. "Oh yeah they're in there. Henna and Jenna... I think that's their names. We watched the sunrise." He gave me a knowing nod and had a big, stupid grin on his face.
"Well..." I shuffled sideways awkwardly. "Glad you're having fun in there. I'm just going to get back now..."
"Perkins!" Frank yelled.
I stopped, and he pointed his floppy Slim Jim at me.
"You... you... you're naked, Perkins!" he began laughing.
I raised an eyebrow. "How drunk are you? You just said that."
"Very, yes," he said. He took another bite of his Slim Jim and wobbled precariously.
"You were able to uh... have sex in that condition?" I asked, genuinely curious.
"Of course man! We did all the sex..." he said, waving his arms wide. He thought for a moment, then seemed to really struggle to remember.
Another figure emerged from Frank's bungalow, and I could tell from the silhouette it was a woman.
"Frank?! Who are you talking to?" she yelled. I shuffled sideways, desperately inching towards my door.
"That's Perkins!" Frank said.
"Who?" she asked.
"Perkins!"
She paused for a moment. "Well we've seen the sunrise now, can you stop yelling and come inside? What are you even doing out here?"
"Talking to Perkins!"
I pointed back to my own bungalow, which was close now. "I'm going to head back..."
"Why are you naked?" the girl asked me.
"I was just getting to the bottom of that mystery," Frank said, wobbling.
"I uh... I like to walk on the beach naked in the mornings," I lied. "It's relaxing."
"Ew," she said, and yanked on Frank's arm. "Frank is your friend a pervert or something?"
"Oh definitely!" Frank said, laughing, and shrugged off her arm. He turned to me and eyed me cautiously. "Wait... Perkins, did you fuck Gracie? I saw how you two were looking at each other last night... are you two fucking on the beach?!"
Frank looked around wildly, as if a naked Gracie might be lounging just in the shadows.
"No, I didn't have sex with Gracie," I said. I realized I did not sound very convincing, even though I was sort of telling the truth. Professor Hale was the one waiting for me in the cove at the end of the beach, though I had fooled around with Gracie in the car. In any case it sounded like an obvious cover-up.
"Sure, sure..." Frank said. I could by Frank's silly grin that he believed the exact opposite of what I just told him.
Frank shuffled up to me. His alcoholic breath was so strong I had to retreat backwards, but my back quickly hit the wall of my bungalow. My door was just around the corner, but Frank was just in front of me. I covered my crotch so our... parts didn't touch.
"Oh, Perkins..." he eyed me suspiciously, and poked me in the chest. "I'm your confidence, man, I'm your confidence! Remember!"
"What the hell are you talking about?" the girl asked.
"He means my 'confidant'," I explained.
She scoffed and grabbed his arm again.
"Alright, alright..." Frank moaned as he allowed himself to be pulled backwards.
I sighed with relief and shuffled towards my door. "I'll see you in the morning, Frank, and uh nice to meet you..."
"Hannah," she said coldly.
Frank pointed at me as he was dragged backwards. "I want details, Perkins! Details!"
A part of me did want to tell him everything that had happened... but I knew Professor Hale would kill me if I told him about us. I sighed and ducked into my own bungalow. It was small and dark, and thankfully empty. I found my suitcase, threw on swim trunks, and grabbed a spare T-shirt and some workout shorts for Professor Hale.
I quickly used the small bathroom, and as I sat down on the toilet I finally let my body relax for a few minutes. It must have been after 6:00am. I almost went to sleep on the toilet until I remembered she was still waiting for me, so I finished, picked up the clothes I was bringing her and stumbled towards the cove. I took the long way, keeping as far from Frank's bungalow as I could.
As I scrambled over the boulders at the end of the beach and dropped into the little cove, I saw Professor Hale laying back on the shore, where the tide was coming in. Her eyes were closed, and she was letting the morning light flow over her warm copper skin. She turned to me and smiled as the waves lapped up to her bare thighs. As she reached out a hand to take the clothes I brought her, my eyes flowed over her sun-drenched body.
"You know, laying there naked and covered in sand kind of makes you look like a Sports Illustrated swimsuit model," I said.
"I thought you told me I looked like a native warrior priestess or something?" Hale said, and I shrugged. She stood and brushed a bit of sand off my hip, and snickered. "Well you look like a hobo who slept on the beach," she ran a hand over my bare chest and let her fingers curl over my light layer of chest hair. "A hobo with a nice chest, though."
"So... have you ever wanted to fuck a hobo on the beach?" I asked. I was wobbling now about as bad as Frank was, just from exhaustion rather than alcohol.
She laughed. "I don't think you've got the energy for that," she said as she pulled my shirt over her.