“I´m glad they´re coming, Ned,´ Toni said.
“I don´t know why we haven´t gotten together before.’
“She said it Wednesday – we never asked. Here they are.’
Ed´s car pulled into the driveway. Ed got out, wearing a pareo tied low on his hips. Dana´s was tied above her breasts. Toni looked at Ned. “I think we figured it right.’
When Dana came into the house, she said, “Where did you get that skirt?’
Toni posed and replied, “McGuckin´s Hardware. It´s two chamois window cloths hung on a waistband I made out of another one.’ It was also all she wore. Her legs and hips were bare; only her bush and buttocks were – somewhat – concealed by the soft leather. “I´m the Jungle Girl.’
Dana took off her pareo, retying it around her hips. She went to Ned and hugged him, her breasts flattening on his bare chest. Ed hugged and kissed Toni.
“Sorry it´s taken us so long to get together,’ Ned said, looking down at Dana, holding her so her breasts kept light contact with his skin. Dana cuddled against him, watching Ed and Toni.
Ed said, “Jenny told us she´d had a neat time with you, so we knew it would only be a question of time. No rush, and we´ll just enjoy it, now we´re here.’
Toni drew Ed toward the sun deck. “Come out here, guys. There´s still lots of sun left, and we can get our noses into some drinks. I made sangria.’
Sitting around the table, they chatted about little things. Toni said, “I know you´re the famous cook in the crowd, Dana, so I just figured on something simple for dinner.’
“I don´t care,’ Dana smiled in reply, “fancy or simple, it´s how it tastes that matters.
Dana continued, “How did you make out with Sylvia the other day? Didn´t she come for a fitting?’
“She came over, all right. I got her measurements – she was out of her clothes in seconds. But that´s as far as it went. She shows off her body, but... Just say, she wasn´t interested. @I was, she wasn´t. But no words said; not necessary.’
“Huh,’ Dana said. “I think she´s really cute and smart, too. Wonder what that´s all about?’
“Probably it´s that she´s like us, only different,’ Ned observed. “When she was here originally, and later with Phil, she was perfectly happy to hang around naked. But... well, I guess she keeps her sex-life to herself. I like her. Him, too.’
At dinner, Ned said, “I was fascinated by those pictures of your vacation in France. Cap d´Agde is a very different place than Cabo San Lucas.’
Dana responded, “I´d say it´s a lot more conservative. Do you really fuck in public down there?’
“Well, those pictures were taken in a little grove back of the beach. Plenty of people use it, but it isn´t really out in public. Of course, you have to be willing to share.’
Ed seemed surprised. “You mean you share partners?’
“No, share space.’ Toni replied, “I wouldn´t do that if they asked. Not unless I knew them as well as we do you. It´s just not safe. But it @is fun to watch.’
Ned added, “How does it work in France?’
“Well,’ Dana answered, “you´re never far from home, so you can just head there when the urge strikes. And I´m sure lots of people do it in the water – I know I always have. Most of the apartments have a balcony – ours does – where the neighbors can´t see without climbing a ladder. We hear them sometimes, but we never look. As I say, it´s very conservative.’
“Well, in a way,’ Ed noted. “I mean, naked on the streets, in the post office, at the bank or the supermarket. And some women wear stuff around the streets that´s right out of Melanie´s window. Interesting to watch tennis games, too.’
Dana laughed, “He likes mixed doubles best. There´s a court just below our balcony.’
“What goes on at night?’ Ned wanted to know.
“Oh, dinner in the restaurants and cafés. You usually wear clothes for that.’ Dana said, “There´s a night club – lots of skin there. Now and then there´s a sex show. Just normal, healthy stuff.’
“We were in a bar one night and two girls were a little buzzed. Their pareos kept falling off. And there´s some action on the beach at night,’ Ed added. “But mostly kids. What about where you were?’
Ned responded, “Seems like all the same things happen in both places, just on different schedules. Where we were, most of the skin is during the day, and the open-air sex, too. Evenings in the city are totally conventional. On the beach, anything went. We need to try your place.’
After dinner, they cleaned up the dishes, stuffed the dishwasher, and settled on the couches in the living room, Ed with Toni, Dana with Ned. They sat close to each other, cuddled, talked, kissed, caressed. Ned said, “I haven´t been at a necking party since I was a kid. Didn´t appreciate it then, but I do now.’ Dana´s bare breast rested on his chest, her hand inside his brief, loose shorts.
It wasn´t long before they moved to the big master bed.