Beach

I thought she was telling me those stories to make me jealous. It took me a while to understand that what was turning me on was something far darker and harder to admit.

We’d been living in routine for fifteen years until a toy forgotten in a drawer sparked something neither of us knew how to control. And that was only the beginning.

On the first afternoon, she stepped onto the terrace with the towel hanging by two fingers. Below, there were people. Above, neighboring balconies. And she lit a cigarette without rushing.

I only wanted sun and silence. I wasn’t looking for anyone, least of all a man who waited for me on the shore just to tell me he wasn’t letting me go.

When the yacht went under, Renata thought the sea was the worst thing that could happen to them. She never imagined the real storm would wait for her that night, in a cave, beside her son.

“Here we can do whatever we want. Nobody knows us, nobody judges us.” She said it with a glass in her hand, and I knew summer was going to change everything.

They thought the cove was empty. I stayed behind the rock, holding my breath, watching her move on top of him as the sky turned orange.

Two friends leave work, change clothes, and disappear into the night. This time the prey is a drunk boy outside a nightclub, and the deserted cove will see everything.

I found an old photo tucked away in a drawer, and all at once I knew exactly what I wanted to ask each of them for that vacation.

I was alone, enjoying the last afternoon sun, when a young man emerged from the water and sat too close. His question wasn't really about a cigarette.

I only wanted to try five minutes of massage before going back to the hotel. I never imagined a stranger’s hand would change my vacation that afternoon.

When I ran into him on that beach after three years without seeing each other, he was no longer the boy who used to throw sand in my hair. Something in his look told me this wasn’t going to end well.

Sofía dragged me down a path, not knowing that beyond the last pine tree lay a tiny cove, two naked strangers, and an invitation we weren’t going to refuse.

Behind the dune, I thought no one could see us. I had two fingers inside Sofía when the brunette with braces turned, smiled at me, and began walking toward us.

I met her long before I met her sister, my wife. Ten years after that hotel, I saw her come out of the water at the beach and knew the story wasn’t over.

It was eleven in the morning and the cove was empty, except for a guy pretending not to watch me. My husband was swimming and I could feel his eyes fixed on every inch of my skin.

He met my gaze with the note in my pocket, not yet knowing that that same afternoon I’d dial his number and find out how far his offer went.

I met her through pixels and long-distance promises. She never knew that every night, alone in my hotel room by the sea, I imagined her beside me.

That afternoon on the beach, all I wanted was to switch off. When the blonde woman in the bikini came over asking for a light, I knew my plans for solitude had just changed.

When I found the neighbor peering over the wall, I didn’t cover up. I dropped my bikini top under the patio shower and let him see as much as he wanted.