Page 68 of Rat Park
“Yeah.”
Dominic knew how to swim, having learnt in school, but it was nothing like the easy way Flor cut through the water, moving around Dominic like he’d grown a tail when Dominic wasn’t looking. They swam in deeper until even Dominic couldn’t stand on the sand, and any trepidation that surfaced was dragged underwater again by Flor’s easy presence, his loud laughter and wide grins as he kept Dominic safe.
Eventually, when they had tired themselves out, they swam back where their toes could reach the ground, the water lapping at their chests. Flor pulled at him gently until Dominic was lying on his back, floating on the rolling surface of the waves. Flor’s hands spread lightly on his back, keeping him steady.
Dominic closed his eyes. He felt an emotion like a crashing wave swell through him, but the aftermath was not destruction. It was warmth and salt and the summer breeze. It was being held, and feeling held, and being able to let go.
From the orange darkness of his closed eyes, Dominic felt Flor press a gentle kiss on his forehead.
He let himself float.
***
Dominic and Flor lay half under the umbrella, their bodies close together as they curled to face each other despite the heat.
“Did you come to the beach a lot when you were a kid?” Dominic asked quietly, wanting to know more about what a childhood filled with this might have been like.
“In summer, yeah. We’d rent one of the beach cottages sometimes for a few days, it turned out cheaper than driving back and forth. I even had a few friends here, the kids of some of the regulars that stayed nearby.”
“I bet the coastguards were terrified each time the pack of you appeared.”
“Hey! We weren’tthatbad.”
“Mmhmmm.”
“Shut up. The coastguards shouldn’t have those cool, tall chairs if they didn’t want us climbing all over them.”
Dominic laughed. “I knew it.”
“A piece of advice, donottry to engage them in a sand fight. They really don’t appreciate being lobbed by balls of sand.”
“Damn, what are we going to do with the rest of the day, then?”
Flor laughed. “The good thing about the beach now is that there aren’t as many jellyfish as there were before. I mean, that’s probably a side effect of some catastrophic environmental nightmare, but. Still.Whoo, no jellyfish!”
“Did you ever get stung?”
“Oh yeah. Dude, so bad. The brown ones were pretty harmless, but the fucking, like, transparent ones are deadly. One time we’d just gotten to the beach and I dived into the water—like, literally the first time I went under—and I suddenly feel, like…it felt like electricity, all over my face. Over my right eye.”
“Jesus.”
“I know. Like, I had no idea what was going on. I might have been a tad overdramatic about it, because I came up screaming. My dad thought I’d gotten bitten by a shark or something.”
“Oh my God,” Dominic laughed. “Did someone have to pee on you?”
“Okay, one, it’s a myth that pee helps with jellyfish stings. Two,ew. And three, we’re going to need a safeword if you want to do that with me.”
“I most definitelydon’twant to do that with you.”
“Your loss. I have a very peeable face.”
“Jesus Christ.”
“Though I guess we can settle on you coming all over it instead.” Flor grinned. Dominic slapped his hand over Flor’s mouth.
“Stop.”
Flor laughed, shaking the hand off. “I’m on to you, Dominic.”
