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BIRTHDAY TRIPS TO THE BEACH

Lizzie

JUNE 8, 2003

W E DIDN’T LIVE FAR FROM THE COAST, A TWENTY-MINUTE DRIVE, WHICH MADE ORGA nizing transport a breeze on sunny days. When Mam dropped us off at the beach this morning, Hugh and I spent the whole day splashing around in the ocean, exploring rock pools, and lazing about on the sand.

Because my boyfriend was knee-deep in exams, with another stacked week ahead, including my fifteenth birthday tomorrow, we decided to celebrate today, instead.

“Don’t even think about it,” he warned later that afternoon when we decided to take a stroll up the cliffs.

“Oh, come on,” I coaxed, taking a step closer to the edge. “It’ll be fun.”

“True, but you’re not a strong enough swimmer.” Catching ahold of my hand, Hugh pulled me back to him. “And you’re fully dressed.”

“Clothes can be removed, Hugh,” I teased, wrapping my arms around his waist. “Come on.” I pressed a kiss to his cheek. “Live a little.”

“And if you drown?”

“How can I drown if I have a life buoy?” I shot back with a wink, wiggling my foot to jingle my ankle bracelet. “And a merman for a boyfriend.”

“Shark, not merman,” he corrected, a smile creeping across his face. “You really want to do this?”

I nodded eagerly. “It can be my birthday present.”

“You already got your birthday present,” he replied, gesturing to the shiny new semicolon charm attached to my bracelet.

“And I love it,” I agreed, pecking his lips. “Almost as much as I love you.”

“All right, all right, you win,” he chuckled, hands moving to my waist. “Let’s do this.”

“Yay!”

Lifting me up with freakish ease, my boyfriend instructed me to wrap my arms and legs around him, while melding my chest to his. “Don’t let go,” he instructed, hooking one arm around my waist and taking several steps back. “You ready?”

“I won’t,” I squealed excitedly, burying my face in his neck. “And yeah, I’m ready.”

Hugh ran at full speed toward the edge of the cliff and then launched our joined bodies over the edge.

Screaming with delight, I clenched my eyes shut as the wind whipped at my face. The exhilarating feeling was nothing like I had expected. It was so much more, and I quickly realized that I had been missing out all these years, sitting on the shoreline, watching my boyfriend participating in this thrilling pastime.

When we crashed into the ocean, the water sucked us down, and I instinctively kicked my legs. Instantly, I felt a hand grab mine and I was surging toward the surface.

“Holy shit!” Hugh screeched when we broke the surface. “This is freezing.”

He was right. The water was perishing, but my adrenaline was pumping on full throttle, and my body was thrumming with a reckless sort of energy.

“That was amazing!” I shrieked, hooking an arm around my boyfriend’s broad shoulders as he treaded water. “Can we do it again?”

Hugh grinned. “Oh yeah.”

“Holy shit, I’m freezing,” Hugh announced when we made it back to the block of changing rooms opposite the beach. Peeling off his soaked T-shirt, he bounced around from foot to foot. “I can’t feel my nuts.”

“Hah!” Grinning, I unbuttoned the front of my equally drenched dress and let the fabric fall from my shoulders. “How do you think I feel with razors for nipples?”

“No clue, but you look amazing.” Turning his back to me, Hugh pushed his shorts and boxers down and gave me a glorious view of his bare ass. “You would think the water would be warmer than that,” he continued to say, stepping out of his shorts. “It is summer.”

“It is Ireland,” I scoffed, reaching up to unhook my bra. “Never expect anything to be warm or dry.”

“True,” he mused, draping a towel around his hips. “Are you decent if I turn around?”

“Yep.”

Hugh swung around, only to groan when his whiskey-brown eyes locked on me. “Liz.”

Cackling shamelessly, I kicked off the rest of my underwear and walked into the shower stall.

“What if someone else comes in?” Releasing a pained groan, my boyfriend grabbed an extra towel from our bag and held it out in front of the stall like he was my personal bodyguard. “You know these changing rooms are unisex.”

Snickering, I glanced over my shoulder at him. “I don’t care.”

“Well, I do.”

“Why?”

“Because you’re mine to look at.” My heart slammed in my chest. “Not anyone else’s.”

I turned around to face my towel-wielding bodyguard and grinned. “Then look.”

“Don’t fucking tempt me.”

Snickering, I lathered my hair with shampoo from the dispenser attached to the wall. “Saint Hugh.”

“You’d get some fright if I came in there,” Hugh grumbled, concealing my nonexistent virtue with a towel while averting his eyes like a gentleman.

“Actually, I’d be thrilled,” I called back. “There’s room in here for two, you know.”

“Behave yourself.”

“Never.”

Later, when we were decent once more and gorging on ice cream at the pier, Hugh looked at me and smiled. He was sitting on the wall of the pier with his legs dangling over both sides, while I sat cross-legged on the wall, facing him.

“What?” I asked, mid-lick of my cone. “What’s funny?”

“Nothing.” He shook his head and took a lick of his cone, still smiling.

“Clearly, there’s something.” I pushed, mirroring his smile. “Tell me.”

“I’m just happy, that’s all.” He took another lick of his ice cream and turned his attention to the water. “Today was a good day.” He rested his hand on my knee and sighed in contentment. “A good day, baby.”

Yeah, it was . “I love being here,” I told him, feeling my body soften right along with my heart. “With you.”

“Me too, Liz.” He gave my knee a reassuring squeeze. “Me too.”