‘Ageist.’ I threw my sandal at him.
He laughed and ducked. ‘Oh, man, do you wear one of those cap things?’
‘Those caps are kinda cool, I’ll have you know. Possibly ironic. Maybe even hipster?’
‘Yes, possibly cool for the mid-seventies age range. Thankfully you are cap-free tonight. Just so you know, I bet you look better without it.’ He winked.
He took his shirt off, revealing a taut chest, tanned and smooth with not an inch of hair. Yikes! He looked even hotter than I imagined. There were curves of muscle around everything. His shoulders were like boulders. His chest broad and smooth, and his stomach muscles, without an inch of fat, were etched deep. He had the defined diagonal hip muscles of swimmers and runners. I could see every pair of muscles that made him up. I tried not to look, but kept stealing glances.
‘Emma, are you OK?’
‘Huh? Yes, yes, I’m good.’ I’d stopped undressing, and was standing there, my mouth open. My eyes wandered all over him as I took off my other sandal.
Nick was now taking off his shorts and his boxers. Wait. What? His BOXERS?
‘Wait, what is happening here?’ I said, trying to suppress my laughter.
Suddenly Nick was standing in front of me and, oh, my God. He was naked.
I burst out laughing. ‘Why are you naked?’
‘Why not? Aren’t we swimming?’ Nick said, not making a move to cover himself up. This guy had confidence.
‘I want to tell you something,’ he said.
‘That we’re naked?’ I laughed.
‘Yes, Emma.’ He smiled.
‘Are you a nudist?’ I couldn’t stop laughing.
‘No, Emma. Actually, I want to tell you something else,’ he started.
‘I’m sorry’. I could hardly breathe I was laughing so much. ‘Can we have a serious conversation while you’re naked?’
‘Can we?’
‘I’m really not sure.’ I tried to stop laughing and compose myself. ‘Wait, is this the way you get girls back to your villa?’ I said, trying not to look there. His package.
‘It’s not about sex, Emma,’ Nick said.
Oops. It wasn’t? Because I was still sneaking mini-glances at his nether regions.
‘It’s about just being comfortable with who you are.’
Clearly this boy was very comfortable.
‘You can go in with your underwear on,’ he offered.
‘Now where’s the fun in that?’ I laughed. I would never see this guy again, it was Fiji, why the hell not. I took my dress off. And stood in my black lace bra and lacy bottoms. At least someone was seeing my French lingerie! Hurrah! I hadn’t bought them for nothing. I shimmied off my pants. And unclasped my bra.
Naked. I was bloody naked! I gave a quick glance around to make sure no millennial was hiding in the bushes, filming us – I’d be on YouTube in no time, going viral. Doing it for size fourteen women everywhere.
I felt totally exposed. But surprisingly good. Also, I wanted to sneak a little glance at him down there. But that felt wrong. And weird. And he was looking at my eyes. And not at any other places on me.
He was staring at me intently. I held my breath. I thought he was about to lean in and kiss me. I started to close my eyes, thinking, yes, please kiss me, but he said, ‘I want to tell you …’ he paused ‘… first one in is the winner!’ and started sprinting towards the ocean.
‘Not fair!’ I gave it all my might, running as hard as I could. Running made my boobs jiggle, and then I wondered how my stomach looked so I snuck a glance to see. It looked OK. A bit soft. And white. But OK.
Nick was athletic as well as muscular, and he got there yards ahead of me, diving into the cool ocean. I splashed into the sea after him. The water was warm and soothing, and felt amazing. I waded out to my thighs and dived in. I closed my eyes, and felt the water rush over me. It felt strange to be in the salty sea, without any clothes. And rather great too.
When I emerged, Nick was a few metres away, gliding over the small waves.
‘So what do you win?’ I asked, swimming closer to him.
‘That’s up to you. Loser gets to decide.’
I splashed him with a huge wave of water. He was surprised and made a few choking noises. ‘OK, nice, death by drowning to the winner.’
‘Well, it wasn’t a fair race. You had a head start.’
‘You want another challenge?’
I laughed. ‘I do.’
‘Wow, I think it’s too early for “I do’s”, Emma. Now you’re practising for our wedding. You do move fast.’
I sloshed more water his way, then turned onto my back, kicking as hard as I could so all the water would go in his direction.
When I stopped, I expected him to complain again. But he’d disappeared.
‘Nick?’ I turned to my right, to my left. I couldn’t see him at all. The sea flattened out.
‘Nick?’ I called out, spinning around. He hadn’t come up to the surface yet. I hesitated. I swam a little further out, to where I couldn’t stand, but it was as black as black further out, and scared me.
‘Nick!?’ I counted to five. Now I was getting worried.
Something tugged at my leg. I’d heard about this, that most shark attacks happen at night and close to the shore. I thought I’d dreamt it at first, but there it was again. Tug. I gave a loud squeal, convinced it was a shark that had taken Nick and was now coming from me, then swam as fast as I could back to where I could stand, in the water reaching my hips, my heart beating out of my chest. Where was Nick?
Something tugged again at my leg. I yelled out, ‘Help!’
Suddenly the shark emerged from the water laughing, stood and splashed me. ‘God, Emma, you’ll wake the entire hotel of people trying to sleep.’
‘What … the …? You …’ I was so mad, I tried to push him away, but he grabbed each of my wrists in his hand. He had nice hands, and now they were pulling my hands towards his chest.
‘Were you going to try and hit me with your tiny, ineffectual fists?’ He had a twinkle in his eye.
‘Not ineffectual. As you may likely find out.’ I could barely speak. I wanted to look away, but I couldn’t. My body seemed to crave his; it was all I could do not to grab him and kiss him. I’d never wanted someone to touch me, to kiss me so much. I could hear the blood pulsating in my ears.
Suddenly he reached out and pulled me into him. Our bodies pressed together. I felt his warm skin against mine, his breath hot on my neck, and a delightful buzz spread out across my chest. My mind ticked over. He was a stranger. And this was a naked hug. Was that weird? Should it be? Oh, God, was he getting excited? Um, down there? Before I could think of anything else, he’d put his hand on my right cheek.
‘Emma,’ he said in a soft, serious voice.
‘Nick,’ I whispered, staring into his chocolate melt eyes. The entire beach disappeared from sight. It was just him and me.
He leaned forward, smelling of warm whisky, and ocean water; his lips found mine. I closed my eyes. He gently kissed me, no tongue, but I felt breathless. My body shuddered.
‘Emma.’
‘Yes?’
‘You’re shivering.’
‘Well, I’m cold.’ And this situation is making my body quiver in ways it never has.