we’ll always remember, you know? Watching the sun come up, our first morning together.”
“This isn’t the first.”
“The first as man and wife. I want it to be special.”
“We’d freeze our cans.”
“We’ll take a blanket. Okay? Please?” Her hand moved lower and gently pulled him. “I’ll make it worth your while, big fella.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah,” Kim said. “So how about it?”
“We must be out of our minds.”
“You’ll love it, just wait and see.”
The mattress rocked Baxter as she rolled away from him and bounded off the bed. Light hit his eyes, stinging them like soapy water. He squeezed them shut. And felt the covers fly off, leaving him naked and chilled.
“Aw, jeez.”
“Up up up,” Kim chirped, grabbing his ankles and dragging his legs toward the bedside.
He squinted at her. She was bent over, gazing at him through a soft sway of bangs, a rosy suck mark on her shoulder. When she let go of his legs, he sat up.
“Last one dressed is a rotten egg,” she said.
“Consider me a rotten egg.” He sat there and watched Kim prance over to her open suitcase. Her rump jiggled slightly. It had the same golden tan as her back and legs except for a stark white triangle down the middle.
It’ll be cold out there, he told himself. But it will be neat. She’s right about that. Something to remember.
Kim stepped into baggy gray sweatpants. She hunched over a little as she knotted the drawstring at her waist. Then she lifted a matching sweatshirt out of her suitcase and turned around. “You just going to sit there?”
“Admiring the view.”
He watched her breasts rise as her arms went up to pull the sweatshirt over her head. They swayed slightly as she searched for the sleeves. Her hands appeared and plucked the front down. “View all gone,” she said.
“Shucks.”
She took her hairbrush off the dresser and went into the bathroom. While she was gone, Baxter put on his own sweatsuit. It was the same as Kim’s, but not as old. He’d bought it as a replacement after Kim had moved into his condo and started wearing his sweats on chilly mornings. He was tying his shoes by the time she came out of the bathroom.
He went in and brushed his teeth. On the counter beside the sink was the plastic bottle of suntan oil. After rinsing his mouth, he picked up the bottle and slipped it into the pouchlike pocket of his sweatshirt.
Kim was folding the bed’s blanket when he returned. He saw that her shoes were on.
At the dresser he picked up the room key by its big plastic tag printed with the name and address of the motel. He dropped it into his pocket with the suntan oil.
She raised her eyebrows. “What’ve you got in there?”
He took out the bottle and showed her.
“Well, now. I see you’re getting into the spirit of things.”
“Might as well make the best of it.”
He opened the door and they stepped out onto the balcony. The street in front of the motel was well-lighted, but no cars were going by and he saw no one wandering about. The parking lot of the all-night market across the street was deserted.
“Neat, huh?” Kim asked. She put an arm around his back and snuggled against his side. “It’s like we’re the only people in the world.”
“They’re all snug in bed.”
“We’ll be snug on the beach.”
They walked to the end of the balcony and down the flight of stairs and across the motel’s parking lot. Though Baxter felt her warmth where her body pressed his, the wind seemed to be seeping through his sweatclothes. He began to shiver, and he gritted his teeth to stop their clicking.
“Poor boy,” Kim said. Stopping at the corner, she shook open the blanket. They draped it across their shoulders and pulled it closed in front. That was a lot better. Kim slipped her hand inside the rear of his pants, and that was better still.
They walked past a bum sleeping huddled against a store wall. Kim’s hand stopped roaming.
“Guess we’re not the only people in the world,” Baxter said.
“Poor man.”
“Yeah. He doesn’t have you.”
“We’re so lucky. It makes you realize how lucky we are, doesn’t it? I mean, wouldn’t it be awful to live like that? With nobody who loves you, and no place to go at night?”
“We could offer him the use of our room while we’re gone.”
She gently slapped his rump. “It’s nothing to make fun of. I think it’s awful. I wish we could do something for