The Last Days of Summer

Julia had spent the last days of summer at this place that had always beckoned her back to the days of her childhood before her parents had divorced. And here she was once more before school began, enjoying the crash of the waves and the feel of heated sand squishing beneath her toes.

As she headed into the crashing surf once more before it became too late in the day, the sun was already starting sink towards the distant horizon at the place where the ocean seemed to suddenly break off and drop into nothingness. She could imagine why sailors of old used to believe that the Earth was flat.

Reaching back to adjust the small yellow bikini bottoms that barely seemed to cling to her ample hips; she felt the water lapping at her ankles as she walked along the break of the waves. The waning rays of the sun seemed to lick down upon her exposed flesh, as she reached a hand upwards to her loose hair that hung in gentle waves over her shoulders and brushed against the exposed flesh of her back. Turning her head from the surf to look at the few remaining people on the beach, she could see that most had already left as the day came to an end. Any that remained at this time of the day came because of their love for the ocean or the beach and not just to worship the sun.

Honestly, she didn't know how people could just come during the day and play and not stay for this time when the beach was about to be at the pinnacle of its beauty. The only other time that she thought it was more beautiful was first thing in the morning before any human footprints marred its surface and only the mysterious hand of the ocean had left its soft touch upon the sands, leaving them smooth and clean like the day they had been created. She breathed in deeply the refreshing scent of the salt air and the water that continued to lap at her ankles. Her gaze shifted to a few lone beachcombers like herself before stopping to turn out and face the oncoming waves, her hands lifting to her hair, picking the heavy weight of it from her shoulders momentarily as she gazed out.

Zak watched the 4x4 drive off the beach, calling out a few mock obscenities at the tail lights and was flipped off by the driver. Shaking the last of the beer around the bottom of the can, he moved back down onto the beach and towards the dying fire there. After draining the last from that can, he reached into the cooler and fished around amongst the melted ice water and discarded plastic until he found the penultimate cold can. Cracking it open as he dumped down in the sand, the neoprene of his wet shorts squelched.

The last day of the vacation and eight hours of surfing had seemed like the perfect way to round it out. Long hair, tied loosely back in a samurai style stuck to his skin and framed the straight lines of his jaw against the sky beyond. Most would have said he was the archetypal beach bum type - early 20's, muscled, tanned, carefree and with a daredevil streak - and he wouldn't have denied the stereotyping; he lived for the fun and craziness that came with beach life.

He'd spent the whole day on the beach. He'd been the first on his board in the morning and the last one to come reluctantly from the ocean. Summer was ending and that made these last few days all the more precious - another few days and he would be back in college with only dreams of days like this to keep him motivated until the next vacation. Weekends would be possible though; moving in with dad had actually had one pay off. And weekends meant girls. Lots of them.

He knew he was reveling in his own sexuality and enjoyed watching the way the girls would crane for a look at him. Some people would have said he was vain ... those people would have been right. But for the most part, the endless casual sex with young girls who often spent the aftermath giggling wasn't fulfilling; it was all just too easy, and challenges were what he thrived on. That female sky diving instructor ... now there was a catch he had wished he could mount on his wall like a trophy.

Stepping back a few paces so that the water wasn't lapping at her ankles anymore, Julia sank down into the soft sand and drew her knees up towards her chest. Slender arms wrapped around them as she rested her chin on their tops and just gazed out over the ocean. There was something so serene and comforting about this time of evening coupled with the gentle lapping of the waves that spoke to her and drew her back each summer for as long as she could before reality settled back in and she had to head back into the heart of Texas where the closest thing to a good beach was barely on the outskirts of the state. If she was going to take that long to travel to a beach, she might as well make it to one she loved.

She stretched out as the sun's last rays kissed the top of the ocean, turning it into a myriad of colors. Her arms moved behind her to support her weight as one lean leg stretched, straightening out as her toes flexed leaving its twin still in its upright and bent position. The concave curve of her belly was more pronounced in this position as she tossed her head back and lifted her face to the sun one last time as her eyes closed, inhaling the ocean's scent. It was going to get dark on her quick and she wasn't really sure where she had laid her towel and things but at the moment she could care less. She just wanted to hold onto this one last moment for as long as she could.

Laying back against the sand and staring up at the sky, Zak rested the beer can on his chest and let the cold ring of the base of it press against his pecs. As the sky started to swim its shades of color across his vision, he lifted up the beer can and poured from an arms length towards his mouth before gargling it slowly down his throat. Once the can had been drained, he discarded it thoughtfully back into the cooler before stretching his arms above his head. One kick flip later and he was back on his feet, swaggering his way over towards where his surf board still stood like a monolith in the sand. Resting up against it for a moment, he looked out over the waves; each one was an adventure waiting to be had and he realized it wasn't too late to catch one last ride. Opening her eyes, her gaze locked back out onto the water and it was if it was beckoning her out into its depths one last time. So with a push against her arms, and drawing her feet beneath her, Julia rose up like a visage of beauty from the sands' depths, stretching her arms above her head as she shook out auburn curls that had almost been bleached a soft strawberry blonde from her days in the sun, bright blue eyes shimmering with the relaxation that came from simply being her and moved out across the sands towards the water's edge once more. The waves seeming to lap at her skin, wrap around her limbs and draw her in deeper to their depths, her hands flowing through the soothing liquid like a caress as she moved out deeper into the water as it lapped and moved around her.

Looking back at the makeshift camp that had been their home for the past three days, Zak recalled the rivalry and camaraderie that had been found on this beach. Between that and the endless parade of girls across his bed, it had been one hell of a good time; no responsibilities, no worries, no concerns ... nothing but good times. A glint of something on the beach caught his eye and he bent down to pick it up. Discarding the bottle cap with a sneer, he wondered just how many would have picked out that behind the ultra-cool casual laidback front, he was an archaeology student with a passion inspired by too deep a love of the Indiana Jones movies. Why just be a daredevil on the beach? But as yet, his research had all been in the classroom and on the internet with no real sign of excitement. The frustration of that was what snapped his hands to the sides of the board and, with his hair flailing behind him and his muscular legs pumping as fast as they could, both he and the board traveled down the sand at a rising pace, only for them both to dive forward as rider met board in perfect fluid harmony and he began to paddle his way out to the break.

Letting her knees buckle, Julia dipped beneath the water's edge, letting it swallow her petite form and swam out deeper before coming up for air. Her long hair was plastered back to expose her forehead and slightly arched brows that rested above blue eyes that matched the beauty of the ocean's current. Treading water, she turned slightly in the water to catch movement nearby of a surfer heading out one last time and noted how close he was to where she was swimming and decided that she better swim further out in the opposite direction, unsure of where he was going to wind up. She suddenly realized that she had walked too far down the beach to be swimming in this area if there were surfers.

Pushing the board through the surf, Zak worked his way through the break of the wave and turned around, paddling frantically to catch it up again. As the board started to tug away from under him as it met the wave, he pushed up into a crouch, held his position for several seconds and then took his footing, splaying his feet for balance that seemed all too casual to have been of much use. As he rode the first swell of the wave, the board danced under his bare feet and the wax gripped at his soles. He was at home here as he was on the beach. It was all his life and nothing mattered when he was here. Other people lived their lives in a scurry of worries and concerns, but for those moments when he was up here, he was free.

The shoreline was crashing around ahead of him and he was watching it approach as the steady bob of the wave dipped going over some underwater obstruction. His knees flexed to take the bob in his stride and he looked up just in time to catch sight of what lay ahead.

Julia's blue eyes widened as she realized that the way in which the wave was moving that the surfer was headed straight for her. She frantically tried to swim out of the way but it seemed as if the board was working on a honing mechanism and she found herself suddenly panicking as she realized that he was going to run right over her unless a miracle occurred in the next few seconds. Taking a deep breath before plunging beneath the wave, she hoped that she could swim deep enough for him to miss her before the board reached the spot where she suddenly disappeared from view.

Realizing in the last instant just how close she was, Zak swore. Whether it was surprise or frustration was immaterial because he had less than half a second to make decisions and take actions. Kicking the board to the right, he leaned to the left, punching hard at the grip he had on the fiberglass. As he dove in towards the water, his momentum and a sharp kick from his powerful legs sent the board upwards in a spiraling arc that would, he hoped, carry it over to his left and clear out of their oncoming collision course. Hitting the water and immediately going under, he chided himself for not having strapped himself to the board but then congratulated himself for that same fact because that would made the tricky acrobatic display into a tricky acrobatic catastrophe.

Just when Julia thought she might have gotten clear, it was if someone had taken a club and hit her right over the back of the head with it and as she felt the breath sucked out of her lungs, her last thought was of being carried away by Poseidon in some odd fantasy of the god of the ocean wrapping her in his embrace before her world faded into complete darkness.

Curling back up through the surf, he snapped his gaze around, looking for the figure he had seen ahead of him. Groaning as he realized he must have hit her, he ducked under the water and started to look around as the board slowly swam away from him. Pushing downwards through the clear water, he swum around in frantic circles damn sure that it hadn't been a mirage or a mermaid. His hand bumped against something, definitely human and he turned to try and make out the shape. It turned out to be a very pleasing shape and he reached out to scoop her up into his arms. As the strong legs drove them back up through the surface of the water, he gasped for air.

Taking a few moments to get the oxygen back into lungs, he turned her around and cradled the back of her head against his chest and cupped his hand under her arms, wrapping it across her full but barely covered chest and started to swim them both back to shore. As the sand drug up underneath his kicking feet, he shifted position and picked her up by the armpits, hurriedly dragging her onto the beach and laying her on her back. Watching the rocky rise and fall of her chest, he breathed a sigh of relief that she was alive if out cold and leant in close to apply mouth to mouth. Julia sputtered, her whole body quaking in an arch before she rolled some, coughing up some salt water before collapsing back on the sand with a groan, inhaling deeply for fresh air and suddenly winced, her hand coming up to gingerly touch where her hairline met her forehead as she blinked and gazed up. Fuzzily, she could make out a dark shape bent over her as she continued to draw in deep, grateful breaths. She was unable to make out the face but whoever it was had pulled her from the water, that much was clear ... as clear as the throbbing pain in her head as she groaned, feeling the sting as her fingers made contact with the gash and felt warm blood trickle on her fingers. "Wh-what happened?" she managed to stutter in a husky, low drawl.

"Bad karma, serious bad karma ... ya'll right?" Zak replied, bending over her, looking to her eyes for signs of concussion even though he wasn't entirely sure what those signs were - but this is what they did on Baywatch. As he watched the awareness slowly return to her face, he took hold of her hand with his hand gently eased it away from the cut. His other hand came up and picked the hair free from the blood and let her know "You'll live, no brain damage" in a voice that seemed to have been rejected from every bad beach movie ever. He not only looked like the classic beach bum hippy, but talked like one too.

"Lynchburg ..." he muttered the word like a curse as he looked back over his shoulder towards the water. Kicking out in annoyance with his foot, he sat himself in the sand next to her and stared into her eyes.

Julia lay there for a moment, wincing as he gently moved the hair out from her cut and turned her head to gaze at him some, his shape starting to take form as the sun began to set and she made him out to be the guy on the surfboard as it all started to make more sense to her. She sighed, wincing as her eyes shut again "God, I'm sorry ... I shouldn't have been in the water this far up this beach" as her fingers gently touched the wound, feeling the blood start to slow as she lay there for a moment. Her breathing started to return to normal as she felt him watching as she lay beside him, clad only in the tiny suit that barely covered her generous curves.

Shrugging, Zak bit down on his lower lip and ran his eyes over her face. "Gnarly stuff happens, you're alive, that's what matters." Distracted by the sea once more, he flicked his eyes back to the waves and then back to her, and that was when he first really saw her. The bikini was barely there, as if a token gesture to modesty. The body was born to be shown off in something that was barely-there and the face, as perplexed and dazed as it was looked, as if it had been carefully designed to make every surfer fall off of his board when she walked by.

"Dude, you're getting woody over a chick you nearly killed ... wrong" he smacked himself mentally. As he reached out took her hand away from the wound, he told her "It'll stop. Water makes it look worse. Stop playing with it ... stay right here ... like you've got a choice. I'm gonna get a rag." With that, he pushed up to his feet and sprinted back towards the fire. Returning with the towel hung limply in his left hand, the first thing he saw was the outline of her full breasts rising and falling slowly. He crouched down and tucked the towel under the back of her head before using a corner of it to mop up the blood.

Julia winced some, feeling him touch the towel to her head and then smiled gently up at him, noticing him really for the first time ... his muscular build and tan that was deepening at the sun set. She blinked some as she was able to focus on him a bit more, his ruggedly handsome face coming more into focus as her blue eyes gazed up into his face and then tried to push her way to more of a sitting position, feeling like some pampered pet that couldn't survive on her own but immediately regretted the movement as she teetered some and reached out, grabbing hold of him to steady herself as her body pressed up against his. "Whoa, maybe that was a bad idea" she said, her eyes closing.

As Zak watched her slowly clear her head, he still felt creepy about the way he was feeling. Drag a woman out of the water unconscious; get horny ... it just felt so wrong. Settling down just off the side of her right shoulder, his knees folded underneath him, he let his eyes rest on the flat of her stomach and he felt his own breathing speed up briefly with the invigoration of her form. Easing her back down against the towel, he bent over her and looked straight into her eyes, his own green eyes searching out something but apparently not finding it. Leaning back away from her, he pulled the tie from his hair and let his shoulder length dirty-blonde hair fall free. "Surfs crazy round here, currents are just spastic ... I'm just glad you're alright."

As he lay her back down on the towel, Julia's fingers lingered on his arms, feeling his muscles flex and her blue eyes were melded to his momentarily before he pulled away. Okay, this was nuts ... she suddenly had this image of running her fingers through his long hair before it tangled with hers as he bent over her in a kiss when probably the only thing on his mind was how she had inadvertently screwed up his ride on the wave. She released a pent up sigh as one leg bent at the knee and one arm drifted above the halo of her hair that spread out beneath her head. "I'm sorry about getting in your way out there," she softly replied.

Turning slightly away from her and looking wistfully out over the sea, Zak sighed, his muscular chest rising and falling slowly. "Been cutting with that board all summer ..." He shrugged the statement off but he had the look in his eyes of a man who had just had to kiss a girlfriend goodbye for the final time. Bringing his gaze back to her, he realized he still felt guilty for the way his eyes made his way up her body from her barely covered crotch to her only-just-restrained breasts before settling on her face once more. His right hand slide over and its fingers drifted into her hair like water around seaweed before pulling it back from her face. "So what's a babe like you doing crashing waves on her own anyway?"

Julia watched him look longingly out to the sea much like she did herself and she couldn't help but smile gently as she turned her head slightly to look up on him more fully. "Just enjoying my last few days of summer vacation," she said, her voice wistful as she gently pushed her way up to her elbows to glance out at the ocean. Her throbbing head began to wane as her still damp hair cascaded down her back to pool on the towel. "I guess I wandered too far down the beach," she added as her gaze shifted to the sun starting to settle beyond the horizon before she glanced back at her rescuer.

Zak curled up his smile, displaying an array of white teeth that looked as if they had been airbrushed into his smile. Slowly, he slid his right hand back up into his hair and tied it back once more before glancing downwards at the display of cleavage on view right in front of him. "Surfer sections clearly marked" was all he said to her chest. His eyes tightened at the outsides and narrowed slightly as he leant closer still to her, some air of boyish shyness still remaining underneath the cocky yet laidback surfer, and brushed her hair away from her face. "Beautiful girl like you alone on the last days of vacation ... there's laws against that ... or there should be."