We rolled into Pacific Beach at about noon on a perfect California day. The sky was high and impossibly blue and the breeze off the ocean was deliciously fresh and clean. The beachgoers were out in force, seemingly all of them young and attractive. We came in from the north down PCH, looking at the beautiful Pacific and beach after gorgeous beach full of tanned and happy people. In honor of the location I had
Pet Sounds
in the CD player, the sweet sound of the Beach Boys surrounding us as we rolled with the windows down and big smiles on our faces.
We both got the biggest kick out of the dog beach, a small stretch of sand between the end of a line of cliffs and a little river where people could bring their dogs to play. It was full of muttlies that were just beside themselves with joy, running and chasing each other and splashing in the surf. By the time we rolled through La Jolla into the town that would be our home for the summer Marie was asking me why I'd ever left, and why I hadn't come racing back after I did.
After picking up the keys from the agent and stopping for groceries we found the little duplex, just half a block from the surf in what looked like a fun part of town. There were restaurants and bars and a bathing suit shop whose storefront had Marie squealing with delight. The duplex was great, full of air and light, with a little southward-facing patio that had a view of the beach. The owners had left a note welcoming us and telling us the names of the couple in the other half of the building. They'd also left a bottle of champagne in the fridge.
"Now that's class," I said and showed Marie the bottle.
"Nice. Pop it open!" She wandered out to the patio as I looked for glasses, and I heard her speaking to someone. When I followed her out I found her exchanging hellos with the couple next door, whose patio was separated from ours by a railing. I handed her a glass and looked at the note I still held.
"You must be..." I said, "Kelly and Heather from Oklahoma. Kelly and Heather are on their honeymoon, baby."
They were a good-looking couple in their early-to-mid 20's, about our age. Both were blond, he was maybe three inches shorter than my 5'10" and in okay shape, very slim. His hair was longish and his features were delicate enough to qualify as pretty rather than handsome, in fact just for a split second I thought he was a she. The black baseball cap he wore backwards cued me to his gender before anything in his appearance did. He had a fairly distant demeanor, almost grumpy, which should be hard to pull off on your honeymoon in California. I pegged him for a jerk right away, but tried to withhold judgment until all the facts were in.
Heather was stunning. Tall, maybe 5'7", and built like a brickhouse. Big chest, great hips, nice legs. Her hair was white-blonde, and although I was sure it was from a bottle it still looked fantastic. With her blue eyes and great tan, she looked like she belonged in California, like she'd be right at home on Baywatch. She wore a thin white beach dress over a white bikini.
"I'm Marie. My pet gorilla is Ken." Marie held out her hand to Heather, who was standing close to the rail. She took it with a smile and we did the "Heather, Ken. Ken, Kelly. Kelly, Marie." routine. He squeezed the hell out of my hand when he shook it, actually turning his body to make sure he had leverage, and when he turned to greet Marie I could see that his hat had a Raiders logo on the front. The evidence was mounting.
"Join us?" I held up the champagne bottle.
"Sure!" Heather said. "I'll get glasses."
She hurried into their half of the duplex.
"Just grab me a beer," he called after her. She came out with a glass for her and a Budweiser for him. I poured and we toasted California.
"We were surprised to see the other apartment empty for so long," Heather said. "Did you guys get delayed?"
"No, we drove down," I said. "Marie had never seen the California coast, so we came through San Francisco, spent a couple days, worked our way down the Pacific Coast Highway from there."
"Ooh. I'd love to see San Francisco, the Bridge is so beautiful!"
"It really is. It's the most beautiful city I've ever seen." Marie put her hand on Heather's arm as she spoke. My love had adored the city by the bay. I couldn't wait to show her San Diego.
"Too many fags," opined Kelly. He flipped his wrist when he said "fags." Just in case we weren't familiar with the term, I guess.
Book him, Dan-O. Moron 1. I reminded myself that we'd be living next to these two all summer and didn't smack him. See how mature I am?
We chatted for a while, working our way through the champagne. Heather came across the balcony rail and followed Marie into our place to compare and contrast the decor while Kelly and I stood dividing our time between watching the girls in the apartment and the ones going by on the street. I learned that he sold BMWs at her dad's dealership, that they'd both gone to OU but that he didn't expect her to finish now that they were married, and that he was an avid golfer. He kept looking at my arms.
"You're pretty big, man," he said. "What do you bench?"
"About two fags. Unless one of them's a bear." I finished my champagne. "Excuse me, Kelly, I'm gonna go bring in our luggage. It's getting to be afternoon, and I've still gotta rip Marie's clothes off before dinner."
He laughed, not quite sure what to make of me. I goosed Marie on my way out to the truck, getting a laugh from both girls. They helped with the bags and Heather even stuck around to help unpack, finding homes for our kitchen utensils and hanging up the contents of my garment bag. In no time we were all moved in.
"Are you gonna come down to the beach for a while?" Heather asked as Marie arranged her beauty products on the bathroom sink.
"I think we'll have to wait until tomorrow for the beach. It's been..." she checked her watch, "almost seven hours since we made love. If I let him out with all those bikinis right now he'll be a public menace, end up carrying two of them home over his shoulders. He was already grunting and beating his chest on the drive through town."
It was true, I had been. 'Course, that was mostly Marie's fault, she'd been showing me her hot little body the whole ride, teasing me until I'd just about pulled into a parking lot and jumped her in the truck, broad daylight or not. Heather looked at me in amusement.
"Two of them, huh?" she said.
"Well, they're small, I wear 'em out. And sometimes I break one." I ducked my head and scuffed my toe. She laughed, and Marie grinned.
"If you guys want to have dinner, though..." Marie said. "Do you have a favorite place yet?"
"Kelly's playing in a pool tournament in town, it'll go late. I could go, though, if that's okay."
"Sure." We made plans to leave six-ish, and Marie walked Heather to the door.
They chatted for a minute, so I took off my shirt and walked out to them doing my best gorilla routine- walking with my legs bowed, scratching my head and pawing at my chest. I picked Marie up over my shoulder, which caused both girls to laugh and scream, then as I started toward the bedroom turned back and looked at Heather. I scratched my head a second as though thinking, then put out my arm and started toward her. She screamed and ran, laughing.
