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It was late April now, but the winter rain had stayed very late, and left the beaches foggy every day before noon. He was craving sun, and he wondered then if maybe Gabe had a point. Maybe California was washing all of the English out of his blood. Not that he’d mind so much. He was happier here than he had ever been in London, and erasing all traces of his mother that he could wasn’t a bad thing.
Sighing, he put on a careful smile when Gabe strolled into the room, a floppy sunhat perched on his head, and a pair of oversized sunglasses low on his large nose. Oliver dug around, finding his obnoxiously red, heart-shaped ones, and slid them up to his brows.
“Have I ever told you,” Gabe asked, putting one hand at Oliver’s waist, “that my boyfriend is criminally attractive?”
“Mm, you might have mentioned it. Best not tell him we’re getting up to naughty things whilst he’s away.”
Gabe kissed the tip of his nose and laughed. “Better not. He’s a mean little fucker when he gets angry.”
“Sounds horrible.” Oliver snickered as he grabbed the keys, then laced his fingers together with Gabe’s. They left, locking up, and Gabe hitched the beach chairs and umbrella along his back as Oliver carried the basket handles in the crook of his elbow.
They headed for the bus stop, both of them only vaguely annoyed by the crowd, but Oliver wasn’t foolish enough to think they were the only ones who decided to enjoy the first nice day in months. They managed to cram themselves into the first bus that came along, and Gabe pushed the button for their stop ten minutes later.
Taking huge gulps of fresh air, Oliver took a moment to glare at the retreating bus. “Fuck the parking. I’m not doing that next time,” he grumbled.
Gabe laughed, pressing his hand to the small of Oliver’s back. “Stop being a baby and hurry up or all the good spots will be gone.”
“It’s noon. All the good spots are already gone,” Oliver countered, but he let Gabe drag him across the busy street to the tide wall. They walked for a while, until they found the stairs to the beach, shucking their shoes and making their way around the people all trying to set up. It wasn’t as crowded as Oliver assumed, tourist season not quite up and running yet, so most of the people were locals.
They found a decent spot near one of the Lifeguard towers, not too close to the wet sand, but not too far. Oliver set up the chairs while Gabe got the umbrella up, and before long, they were lounging back and being soothed by the gentle sounds of crashing waves.
“You know, I’ll hand it to LA—the beaches are amazing. I cannot begin to describe the horror that are the rocky, freezing British beaches.”
“And yet I’m guessing you spent too much time there anyway?” Gabe challenged.
Oliver shrugged. “When we could get away. We had to take what we could get.”
Rising, Gabe used the side of his sandal to flatten the sand, then spread his towel in a sunny patch, and took off his shirt. Laying with his face at Oliver’s feet, he looked up at his boyfriend. “If you think this is nice, you should see Hawaii. My aunt took me when I was sixteen. It was crowded, but my God it was beautiful.”
Oliver’s eyes twinkled behind his shades as he leaned forward. “Sounds like a graduation trip might be in order.”
“It’s expensive,” Gabe warned.
“Well I’m loaded. Aren’tyoulucky?” Oliver nudged Gabe with the side of his foot.
With a snort, Gabe rolled over and put one arm over his head, turning his face to the side. “Fine. Be a good boy for a whole year, and I’ll let you take me to Hawaii. You can ply me with fruity cocktails and romantic hikes to waterfalls.”
“Sounds like a dream,” Oliver said quietly. And the truth was, it did.
* * *
As the sun reached midday,the pair went for a short swim, Oliver only testing the still-chilly waters with his ankles and toes before plopping himself in the sand as Gabe braved the more frigid waves. He came out a few minutes later, water glistening off his curls, his wide smile warming Oliver straight down to his toes.
They padded back to their umbrella, Gabe lying on his towel in the sun. Oliver sat on the sand near his boyfriend’s head, and as Gabe let the warm rays dry him, Oliver dug into the sand.
“This is nice,” Gabe said, reaching out a hand to trace along the skin of Oliver’s bare hipbone. “We should make this a tradition.”
“Like a yearly thing?” Oliver mused.
Gabe grinned, his eyes crinkling behind his shades. “Exactly. One year from now.”
“In one year,” Oliver said thoughtfully, “we’ll be back on this beach, only I’ll have finished my dissertation and…and we’ll have shagged before we came out.”
Gabe snickered, rolling over to lay his head on Oliver’s thigh. The other man hissed a little at the cold curls pressing against his skin, but he tangled his fingers in the soggy locks and massaged Gabe’s scalp a little. “I’ll be done with school, and working a decent job, and not stuck in shitty customer service,” Gabe said. “And have half my top-surgery money saved.”
Oliver smiled softly, gently kneading his boyfriend’s scalp. “More than. Because your sweet, loving boyfriend is going to give you an incredibly impressive birthday gift of money toward the fund.”
Gabe turned onto his side, walking two, elegant fingers up and down Oliver’s calf. “My boyfriend needs to stop spoiling me so much.”
