A Place In This Life

Chapter 20

Todd spent a good 10 minutes applying sun lotion before we left for the beach from my house.

"I burn super-easy," he said, wiping his hands off on a beach towel. He smelled like coconuts and left his shirt on. I felt odd to be encased in so little clothing for December.

"You wore that when I first met you, but you had a shirt on," he said, snapping the halter strap.

We had been preparing for the beach in my bathroom, with the door open so my mother wouldn't get the wrong idea.

"Do you need a hat?" she asked while walking by.

"No thanks," replied Todd. I gave him a questioning glance.

"Shouldn't you wear one?"

"I get a lot more Vitamin D through the top of my head," he joked, rubbing the brown fuzz. The hair had thinned a little, but hadn't completely fallen out. Todd guessed that consolidation chemotherapy was much more hair-friendly than induction.

As we pulled out of the driveway in the Baja, I took a long look at the sky. There were no clouds and the wind was blowing hard, strong and hot. The air conditioner in the truck was trying to choke out a more frigid temperature but not having much luck.

"It needs to be recharged or something. Just roll down the window," said my driver, lighting a cigarette and hanging it out the window. He was coughing a little too often for my comfort, even without a smoke.

The beach lot was filled with cars. Moms with kids, beach chairs, umbrellas and coolers made the trek down to the sand, looking for winter heat relief. Surfers changed into their wetsuits by their cars, expertly wrapping towels around their midsections before slipping into their suits underneath. Occasionally, a guy would drop his towel too soon, flashing the lucky looker.

We held hands as we strolled to the beach, setting-up camp on the sand.

"I want to show you something," I said, leading Todd back up the beach toward the maze of cliffs that lay ahead.

"Don't you wanna go in the water first?"

"Later."

I brought Todd through a passage and to the left, underneath hanging scrub and deep enough into the cliffs that the light dimmed slightly, knowing that it was a highly effective location for going undercover. The sound of the ocean roared through the passage and, like a giant seashell, enhanced the noise and concentrated it for our ears. Todd had to practically yell at me.

"This place is awesome!"

"I know. It's great, as long as you don't try to climb the cliffs," I said, recalling the time I drank too much and almost fell off. The sandstone had given way, leaving me grasping at weeds for dear life as I panicked. My pal, Ally, grabbed me before I completely lost my footing and brought me back to the ground. Don't drink and climb.

Todd slowed down and looked up at the sky through the narrow canyon, his mouth open in awe of our adventure. Then he turned and pinned me to the wall with both hands.

"What're you doing!?"

"I'm thinking this would be a great place to see how things go vertically," he said, kissing my neck, running his tongue up to the base of my ear and then moving to my mouth.

Everything went fast this time. I had some expectation of what would happen next, and anticipated it by making sure I was wearing a sponge. Because I was wearing a sarong over my bikini, it was easy for Todd to reach under while leaving the wrap intact.

After his tongue explored my mouth, he moved quickly down my chest, to my stomach, and then lifted the sarong. My breath drew-in so rapidly that I thought I would pass out. I'd heard about this, read about it in a sex book I had covertly checked out of the library, but never believed it would feel so...