Love is Always Write Anthology Volume 8

shoulder, "Last one to the kitchen makes the coffee."
    Despite that, he had the pot dripping when Trey appeared in the doorway. He saluted Trey with his bagel. "I decided not to wait."
    "Smart man." Trey rubbed his eyes and wandered over to the fridge, digging out an apple. "We could still go back to bed. I mean sleep in."
    "I want to hit the beach," Josh said. Except... "Damn."
    "What?"
    "Well, I packed in a hurry. All I brought was my Speedo." The old ugly one that also hid absolutely nothing. Maybe the beach was a bad idea.
    "So? You always did take swimming kind of seriously."
    He had. He'd taken all sports seriously. But he wasn't sure he wanted to hang around Trey in something that revealing.
    "Anyway, you're not some fat slob like half the folks out there on the beach. You'd actually look good in a Speedo." Trey bit into his apple and choked, coughing. After a moment, he added, "Damned fruit is trying to kill me. Tell you what, I brought a Speedo as well as board shorts so I'll just wear mine too. We'll be the two hottest guys on the beach. The girls won't be able to stay away."
    "Right." Josh wavered, but despite what a horrible idea it almost certainly was, the thought of spending a morning watching Trey running around almost naked on the beach was too appealing to pass up. "Okay, sounds good."
    They poured the coffee in travel mugs, pulled on cut-offs, T-shirts and sneakers, and after tossing a quick breakfast to the various critters, headed out in Josh's car. Despite being just shortly after seven, the sun was already well up and the air was warming quickly. Josh rolled down the window and cranked the radio. He headed away from town, on the theory that sunbather density should decrease. The first two beaches they passed already had a bunch of people setting up towels and picnics. The third was more deserted, probably because the strip of sand was narrow and dotted with large jagged clusters of rocks. Josh pulled the car into the parking area, and squinted at the scrubby trees around the edge, trying to figure out whether there was a space that might hold a little shade through the morning.
    "Forget it," Trey said. "That's what AC is for."
    "Yeah." Josh pulled into a spot. "Sometimes I forget this is a rental. The beater I'm driving now has pretty crappy AC."
    Trey reached in the back seat for his towel and climbed out. He glanced at Josh over the car, as they locked up. "Why are you driving a beater? I thought you made good money."
    "Oh well, you know." Josh turned for the wooden steps down the sandstone bluff to the beach.
    He felt Trey's hand warm on the back of his T-shirt. "Your dad really messed you up about money, didn't he? Still? I thought I was joking when I kidded you about scotch-tape band aids."
    "Nah, I'm past that." Josh started down, hearing Trey's feet clattering behind him. It was somehow easier to talk over the noise. "Well, maybe. I still have a hard time spending much."
    "Or asking other people to spend money."
    "Maybe. But I live okay, it's not like I don't have a decent apartment and whatever I need. I just don't go for luxuries."
    "How many bedrooms?"
    Josh hit the bottom of the stairs and turned to glance at Trey. "What do you mean?"
    "Your place. How many bedrooms?"
    Josh knew he'd colored slightly. "It's a studio. I'm just one guy. I don't need a lot of room. I'll move when I find someplace I really want."
    "What does Linda think of it?"
    "Who?"
    "Linda? The girl you were practically writing poems about?"
    "Oh, her. Yeah, no, we broke up long ago." He'd forgotten he'd mentioned Linda to Trey.
    "I'm sorry." Trey's eyes were compassionate.
    "It's okay. It was good but not that intense, not like a forever thing. I knew that pretty fast." No matter if he'd wished otherwise for a while. "Don't worry about it. We've both moved on."
    "Great."
    Josh braced himself for the inevitable question of who he'd moved on to, although the truthful answer was no-one special, just hook-ups, and most of them girls. But Trey just glanced around and said, "How about a swim first, before it gets crowded?"
    "Sure."
    Growing up in L.A. had given both of them an easy familiarity with the ocean. Josh figured this beach would have some rocks to watch out for, but probably not much undertow unless you got out beyond the point of the headland. You could never be sure, though. He would keep an eye on Trey. They tucked their towels in a crevice in one of the rocks. Josh stripped off sneakers, T-shirt and shorts