Kim blushed, and Tony grinned unabashedly at me. I could practically read their thoughts. We wish we were a married couple. I wondered if he had proposed to her already. I heard guys often did that before a deployment. I'd have to get the info from Kim later.
"So, what's up?" Tony asked.
"We're about to start a game of sand volleyball at your place. Are you in?"
I could practically see the competitive side of him as he smiled. He looked over at Kim. "Can we pause this game?"
She smiled. "I'd love to." Her eyes sparkled. I didn't think that I had seen that smile leave her face since this vacation started.
"Okay! I'm going to go ahead and grab my stuff so that it's all over at my place," Tony said.
Kim was silent. Finally, something that made the smile fade from her face. She, too, realized that the vacation was coming to an end, and that it was time to disentangle themselves and their things. Soon, there would be no casual mornings full of checkers and coffee.
My heart hurt for her for a moment. All three of us girls would soon be wishing this summer never ended.
***
"All right, we're playing Shirts and Skins, right? Guy team will be shirts," Matt said, smiling at each of us.
"Matt!" Jenny cried out.
"Okay, okay... I guess we'll be Skins, then," he said. He smiled at the other guys as he pulled the t-shirt off his head. The other two quickly followed suit, throwing their shirts to the side of the sand volleyball court.
My jaw dropped. I thought I saw Jenny swoon a little bit. I hadn't seen them all together in nothing but their bathing suits since that first day on the beach. Their bodies were all tight and muscular and their matching tattoos gleamed in the sun. I had to check my mouth to make sure I wasn't drooling. The men began to preen and flex for us a little bit. Matt even kissed his huge bicep and pointed at Jenny, winking. She rolled her eyes, but I knew that she was thinking what I was thinking. We couldn't pay for a better show than this.
The girls and I were looking good too. Jenny had opted for just her bathing suit. Kim and I had come in jean shorts and tank-tops, but I had taken my mine off and thrown it to the side, revealing my bikini top.
"I don't know, guys," Dean said. "Should we go easy on them?"
"I haven't gone easy on Jenny since we got here," Matt said.
A chorus of oohs sounded around the court while Jenny blushed, but she quickly regained her composure. "I guess if that's the best you've got, I should have no problem beating you at volleyball."
Both guys cracked up, and it was Matt's turn to look flabbergasted. "I'm going to make you eat those words, both on this volleyball court and later tonight."
"Bring it, big boy. First to fifteen points wins," Jenny said.
We hit the ball back and forth for a while to warm up; then the boys graciously let us start. Unfortunately, Jenny smacked the ball directly into the net on her first serve. "That was a practice! The game hasn't started," she said. She recovered the ball and sent it flying through the air. It came down fast- and all three guys watched as it landed right in the middle of them.
"I thought you had it!" Dean said, slapping Tony in the chest.
"Don't look at me! You should have backed up and got it!" he yelled.
Meanwhile, on our side of the court, we were cheering like we just won the state championship. When Jenny had the ball back, she yelled, "All right, boys, it's one to nothing." She did the same high-in-the-air shot. This time, Dean dove underneath it, just in time to bump it high enough for Matt to spike it over the net. None of us girls had a chance to react. We regretfully rolled the ball under the net back to the boys.
"Zero serving one," Matt said. He did an overhand serve, just inching over the net, but allowing the ball to drop right down into the sand before any of us even realized it was going to make it. We were no longer cheering.
That was basically how the next eleven points went. Sometimes we got it back over the net, but they managed to react quickly. There was a lot of high-fiving on the other side of the net, though, and that made me smile.
"Twelve serving one," Matt said. He sent the ball gracefully over the net, and Jenny bumped it up. I hit it, and sent it sailing over the net. Matt, then Tony, then Dean did a perfect bump-set-spike, but I was ready. I jumped at just the right time and slammed my fist against the ball as hard as I could. Dean and I both fell backward onto our asses, and I couldn't see anything but the sky above. From the sounds of the high-pitched cheering behind me, though, I knew what side of the net the ball had landed on.
Dean was over me in a moment, his big hand reaching down to help me up. I smiled as I grabbed it and he lifted me effortlessly to my feet. I looked into his eyes as we smiled at each other. Then, he swatted at my ass. "Good game, buddy," he said, and everyone laughed. I laughed too, then grabbed the ball and got in position for my own serve.
"One serving twelve," I said. I used to love volleyball in high school, and I'm sure I surprised them a little when I did an overhand serve myself, aimed squarely at Matt. With no time to react, he hit the ball up in the air and way out of bounds. The game was back on!
"Two serving twelve," I said when I had the ball back. I did the same serve, but this time Matt was ready. He bumped it, and Tony spiked it. Dean followed up with three serves that we weren't able to return, and the game was over.
"Who wants to go up against Kim and me?" Tony yelled.
"I do," Dean said. I stood up and got on the court. "Whoa, whoa, where are you going, Rachel? I want Matt to be my partner."
I laughed and kicked sand at him, and he charged me. I shrieked as he picked me up and threw me over his shoulder. He ran around, whooping like an idiot. When he set me down, he gave me a big kiss in front of everyone. "Guys, I've made a mistake. I want Rachel to be on my team. You guys can be shirts, we'll be skins."
I laughed again. I loved to see him having fun with everyone. I ran over to his shirt and buried it in the sand, then pulled it back out, making sure it was completely coated with the uncomfortable grit. "I think we should be shirts, come put it on," I said, sticking my tongue out. Matt was laughing so hard that I thought he'd fall off his lawn chair.
Dean shrugged. "I'll just take yours," he said. He ran over to where my tank-top was and threw it over his head. He didn't even try to get it over that massive chest of his, instead just putting his head through the top hole and letting it hang down around his neck. It only went halfway down his muscled torso.
"I'm ready now," he said. Everyone was shrieking with laughter now, including me.
"Zero serving zero," Dean said, and shot the ball right at Tony. Tony reacted quickly and got the ball to Kim, who sent it back over the net. I bumped it up, and Dean spiked it. The game progressed like that, Kim and me playing second fiddle to the match-up of Dean versus Tony. Still, I had a lot of fun. Dean and I ended up winning fifteen to five, mostly because Kim made some mistakes, but I could tell she was having fun. When the game was done, Tony swept Kim off her feet. "I don't feel like I lost at all, because I got the trophy right here!"
We played game after game of volleyball, winning some and losing some. Since I was the tallest girl, our team won most of the ones we played. We told jokes and bantered with one another, and I laughed until my abs hurt. My smiling muscles felt like they were going to fall off my face from all the grinning. It was the first time we had all really hung out since the night at the bar.
Chapter 13
June 8, 1990- Evening
At some point when it started to get dark, Tony and Kim sneaked away and started a small fire down on the beach while the rest of us were on the volleyball court. Tony put some hamburgers on the grill that his aunt kept in the garage, and by the time we were done with the last volleyball game, he had paper plates full of food for us to eat. We opened a bag of potato chips. Tony removed the grill from the fire and began to throw more and more fuel into it, quickly turning it into a bonfire. We cracked open some beers and all began to eat. None of us spoke much, busy eating and simply enjoying the good company.
I sat on the sand and watched the fire as the sun finished setting, leaning my head against Dean's shoulder as we munched on potato chips. The waves crashed against the beach below, and soon a cool wind began to blow in from the ocean. Dean graciously slipped my tank top off his neck and let me have it back. It was just the right amount of clothing to be comfortable, especially since it was still warm from Dean's skin.
This is our last night together, I thought with a heavy heart. I sipped my beer and leaned closer to Dean. On the one hand, I wanted to enjoy our last night together in bed, hopefully giving him something to look forward to upon his return. On the other hand, I was so comfy here. Dean felt solid, a rock for me to hold on to, and I didn't want to let him go for anything.
Jenny finally spoke up. "This has been some week, hasn't it?" Everyone muttered an agreement. "This is basically the best vacation I've ever had. To meeting new friends," she said, raising her beer in the air. It was the same toast we had shared in the bar. That seemed like a lifetime ago, and so much seemed to have changed since then. Still, I raised my beer in the air and clinked with Dean.
Jenny drank the rest of her beer in one swig. "I'll definitely be sorry to see you all go, but summer flings can't last past summer, can they?"
There was silence. Everyone but her seemed to be thinking the same thing, that they wished this summer could go on forever. The silence went a moment too long, and Jenny cleared her throat. Even Matt seemed to reel for a moment, but then broke the tension. "Yeah, if I had you for any longer, I'd probably break you in half."
Jenny smiled and laughed. "You were a pretty good lay, Grinswald, maybe the best I ever had. You take care of yourself." She was either oblivious to the fact that she was breaking Matt's heart, or she wanted to make it clear to him that what happened on vacation stayed on vacation.
Matt laughed but his voice sounded sad. "Same to you, Jenny."
Nobody seemed to have much to say after that. After finishing their beers, Kim and Tony took off back to the condo. Jenny whispered something in Matt's ear, then flicked her tongue against it. He smiled and nodded. The two got up and walked toward the house.
"Guess it's just you and me," Dean said.
"Guess so," I said. I didn't want this to end. I'd do anything to keep this vacation from ending. I hoped he didn't look at my face, because I was beginning to cry.
"Was I a pretty good lay?" he asked.
I laughed a little. "Maybe the best I ever had." Then I looked at his face, and he could definitely see the tears reflecting the fire's light. "Definitely the best I ever had."
He smiled back at me, his blue eyes seeming to twinkle. They were unquestionably wet. "That's encouraging," he said.
I laughed. "That's not what you're supposed to say," I said.
"What am I supposed to say?" His voice was soft and low.
I paused. "What if I asked you not to leave?"
Without hesitation, he said, "I have to leave."
"I know, but what if I asked you not to go? What if I asked you to come with me to a place where summer never ended?" I asked, my voice trembling a little bit.