Traces of Desire
Copyright© 2025 by Big Ed Magusson
Chapter 8
I rolled my eyes when we reached the bar, which was one step up from a true dive. I had to wait several minutes for my vision to adjust to the dim light, most of which came from neon beer signs scattered along the walls. Regulars occupied all the bar stools, so we made our way to a small wooden table in the back. Len brushed off some crumbs as we sat down.
“You okay with this?” Len asked Liz. “‘Cause I can be the designated driver.”
“Or I could,” I chimed in.
She smiled. “Thanks, but I’m fine.”
Len nodded agreement.
A cocktail waitress with big hair and too much eye makeup arrived and asked for our orders. Len went for straight scotch while Liz ordered a coke and Sandy got a Sex on the Beach. After dithering, I decided on scotch as well even though I’d never had it before.
“Interesting place,” Len said once the waitress had left.
“Definitely has character,” Liz said.
“I like it,” Sandy said. “Especially, because...” She shook her head and didn’t actually say “because they don’t card.”
My eyes trailed to two guys with tattoos and leather jackets sitting at the bar. One had a chain holding his wallet even though his wallet was in his jeans. Liz was right. The place definitely had character. Which reminded me of the movie.
“The casting was pretty good,” I said.
“Huh?” Sandy said.
“Yeah,” Len said. “The movie.” He nodded at Sandy.
“I thought the direction was pretty good, too. And the actress.”
“Yeah, she was pretty good.”
We geeked out over film for a few minutes until our drinks arrived. I took a tiny sip of my scotch, and let it go down my throat. It tickled, so I took a bigger slug, like I’d seen in the movies. I immediately started coughing from the burn.
Len gave me a friendly slap on the back. “Whoa there, cowboy.”
Liz smiled sympathetically, which helped, but it still took me a moment to finish coughing.
“Sorry,” I wheezed.
“Maybe you should stick to mixed drinks,” Len said.
“That’s why I stick to Sex on the Beach,” Sandy said with a smile at Len.
“Yeah.”
“I really like sex on the beach,” she pushed.
“Sounds fun,” I said.
“Nah...” Liz leaned back and her eyes flashed with amusement. “The sand gets everywhere.”
Len chuckled. “It does.”
Sandy glared but Liz just shrugged her off.
“How often do you get to the beach?” I asked Liz.
“Oh, I’ve been a handful of times.”
We talked about family vacations during our first round of drinks. From vacations, we drifted into talking about concerts we’d attended, and Len and I really geeked out about the U2 concert we’d both been at. Sandy eagerly hung on his words, asking all sorts of questions, but I sensed Liz was bored. We ordered a second round of drinks as I tried to think of another topic she’d like.
“So if you didn’t go to concerts in high school,” I asked, “what else did you do for fun?”
“Well ... there was always a party, if you knew the right people.”
“Oh my God!” Sandy smiled at Len. “Every weekend! Some of them got crazy!”
He shrugged. “I didn’t go to many parties.”
“They weren’t all wild,” Liz said.
“Yeah, but when they were...” Sandy’s eyes flashed.
“Oh?” Len said.
“Yeah. This one party. Beginning of the summer—it was a pool party, ‘cause, you know, the guy’s parents were gone. And we all ended up skinny dipping!”
Our drinks arrived, forcing a short break in the conversation. I took another sip of scotch, and only coughed once.
“So...,” Len said. “Skinny dipping?”
“Yeah.” Sandy grinned. “You know what it’s like.”
Len chuckled and nodded. “Though it wasn’t a pool.”
“Oh?” Liz looked amused.
“Yeah ... a hot springs. I was there with ... a girl. And we hadn’t realized it was clothing optional, you know?”
To my surprise, Liz nodded agreement. That perked me up a little bit.
“We didn’t know what to do, you know?” Len said. “Here we were, the only ones in suits with all these people walking around completely naked.”
“So what’d you do?” Sandy asked.
“Stripped down, of course.” He smirked. “Thank god I didn’t get a boner.”
“So you were out in the open,” Liz mused.
“Yeah.”
“We were, too!” Sandy said. “It was, uh, a lot of fun!”
I remained still. I desperately wanted to have a story to tell, but couldn’t think of a thing. So I just slowly sipped my scotch.
“It got comfortable after a while,” Len continued, “and the water felt great. But, uh, when people were first looking at us?” He dramatically rolled his eyes, which caused us all to laugh.
“But I’m sure it wasn’t that bad,” Liz said.
“Really?” I asked.
She shrugged.
“Oh, come on,” Len said. “You gotta tell us now!”
“Oh, all right.” She pursed her lips in a small smile and glanced around to make sure she had our undivided attention. “I got talked into entering a wet t-shirt contest in Cabo.”
I gasped in surprise as Len and Sandy both called out “Whoa!”
Liz shrugged, but I could tell she loved our reactions.
“We were drunk and the DJ was pushing it hard.” She rolled her eyes.
“But you did it,” Len said.
“Yeah. They said any woman who did could drink free even if she didn’t win.”
“Now there’s incentive.” He grinned.
“Yeah. I, uh, knew I wasn’t going to win.” She gestured at her own, small breasts, “but she wanted me to do it with her, you know?”
“Was this Meredith?” Sandy asked.
“No. Jenny.”
“Oh, yeah.” Sandy nodded knowingly. “She’s huge.”
“She’s not huge,” Liz said. “They’re ... full. Just the right shape.”
Len tilted his head and pursed his lips together. Before he could say anything, Sandy jumped back in.
“Okay. Maybe not huge, but she could win.”
Liz nodded. “And she did. Five hundred bucks.”
“Wow!” I couldn’t help myself. That was a lot.
“Yeah,” Len said. “Wow.”
“Yeah.” Liz smiled.
“Sounds like a good time,” Len said. “Not too crazy.”
“Crazy?” Sandy laughed. “Yeah, that was a different party.”
Len motioned for her to go on. She took another drink first.
“Yeah. So, like we were at this pool party. This guy Allen’s house. His parents weren’t home, you know?”
I raised an eyebrow.
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