The Pumpkin Man

“You can’t be serious.” But Jenn knew she was. And before she’d shaken her head in disbelief—or disgust—a shadow fell across them.

“Hi,” said the dark-haired guy. “I’m Brian.” He out held his hand. Kirstin took it. She held it a moment too long, Jenn thought.

“My friend Nick and I are just hanging out tonight on our own, and we wondered if we could buy you girls a drink.”

Kirstin blinked innocently. “I’m almost empty. How about you, Jenn? I’m Kirstin, by the way,” she said.

“Do you want to join us?” Brian asked. He pointed. “We have a table.”

It was an easy decision. Moments later they were all squeezed around the table and Jenn and Kirstin had full drinks. Nick and Brian poured from the pitcher.

“You here for The Colorful Mission?” Nick asked. His voice was quiet, but still he could be heard above the noise. He pointed to the band playing on the small stage just past the bar.

Jenn pointed to Kirstin, who was giving Brian wide eyes and every trick in the world to make it clear she was interested. Jenn wanted to barf. “She saw the listing in the Chronicle.”

“Yeah.” Nick rolled his eyes. “I read the article, too, but they picked a dog this time.”

She agreed. With its angular rhythms and mix of horns, synths and guitars, the band wanted to be Oingo Boingo but seemed to be having a hard time staying in key. She was happy to tune them out.

Somehow, two vodkas bled into four, and then the band finally stopped caterwauling and tore down. A DJ took their place, spinning a nostalgic This is the ’80s set. He ran through Nick Heyward, Duran Duran, The Cure and then Romeo Void. “Never Say Never” had Kirstin leaning on Brian as she slurred, “I might like you better if we slept together . . .” Then the entire bar began a sing-along to the Violent Femmes anthem “Blister in the Sun.” There was definitely a feeling of love spreading through the small space; brotherly, sisterly and otherly.

When last call came, Jenn was seeing trails whenever she ran her gaze past the Christmas light strands wreathing the bar. “I don’t think I can drive,” she told Kirstin.

Her roommate giggled. “Yeah, me neither!” She promptly batted her eyes at Brian.

He grinned. “You can stay with us. We’re not far from here. We’ll get your car in the morning.”

“Are you sure about this?” Jenn whispered as the two guys stood up. She struggled to keep her words from slurring. “We don’t really know them.”

“They’re good,” Kirstin promised. “And . . . there’s no way we’re driving an hour and a half home like this.”

They piled into Brian’s car and traveled a few blocks to an old apartment building just off the expressway. Flipping the lights on, Brian announced, “Well, we have two beds and a couch. So I guess one of us could take the bathtub, or . . .”

Kirstin laughed and took him by the hand. “Come on and show me your room, silly boy.”

They disappeared behind a closed door. Jenn found herself uncomfortably alone with Nick.

“I’ll take the couch,” she said, slumping into it almost before she finished talking.

He smiled. “Hang on.” A minute later, he came back with a pillow and blanket.

“Thanks,” she said, lying back and making herself comfortable. But when he turned out the light and said good night, Jenn suddenly felt an overwhelming urge to say, “Wait.”

He sat down near her feet on the couch. His voice was low, almost nervous. “What’s up?”

“Would you mind . . . just staying here with me a little bit?” she asked. “I’m a little weirded out, being here in a strange place.”

“No problem,” he replied.

Jenn wasn’t sure what would happen next, but she felt the weight of him along her back. The couch was deep, so he slid in easily behind her. Sharing her pillow, he slipped his arm across her waist, and with his warmth, an ease fell over her, an ease she hadn’t felt in a long time. Between the alcohol and the feeling of being protected, she drifted quickly to sleep.

“I would have thought your bed might be more comfortable,” Brian said.

Jenn groggily opened one eye. The room was bright with morning light, and her back was hot from the sun.

“Yeah, well, we just kinda crashed here,” said a voice behind her ear. Nick.

Jenn’s internal eyebrows raised. WTF? She’d spent the night on the couch with a guy she’d only met hours before?

Kirstin appeared, clad only in a San Francisco Giants T-shirt. Jenn had never seen it before. Her friend stretched, nipples clearly evident through the fabric. Brian rested his arm on her shoulder, and she smiled at him.

Oh gawd, Jenn thought.

“Brian said we could go to the beach today,” Kirstin announced.

“I’m not sure I can get off this couch,” Jenn said, lifting her head and feeling the hangover.

Nick lifted his arm, and suddenly Jenn felt cold. Exposed. She wanted him back.

“Beach?” he said, struggling to push himself upright.

“Baker Beach,” Kirstin enthused. “It’s by the Golden Gate Bridge.”

“Mmm-hmmm,” Nick said.

“Just one problem,” Jenn pointed out, at the same time pressing a palm to her forehead. It felt hot, too. “We don’t have our swimsuits.”

“Not a problem,” Brian said. “Baker Beach is partially nude. You don’t need suits.”

“Um, I don’t know—” Jenn started to say, but Kirstin cut her off.

“There’s nothing better for a hangover than sun and sand.”

Jenn laid her head back. To be honest, at the moment she didn’t care if the whole world saw her naked. She just didn’t care. Jenn closed her eyes.

CHAPTER

THIRTEEN

The beach was crowded. It was a rare eighty-five-degree day in San Francisco, and the sand showed it. There was barely an open spot to lay a towel.

“Baker 2.0 is this way,” Brian said, pointing toward the looming orange struts of the Golden Gate.

“I don’t know if we really need to go all the way,” Jenn began.

Kirstin rolled her eyes. “You need to live a little, girl. Twenty years from now, you probably won’t be able to take that skin to a nude beach, but right now you have nothing to hide.”

Jenn laughed. “I have a lot to hide.”

Nick spoke up. “Come on, you guys. If Jenn’s uncomfortable going all the way down Baker, we can find a spot here. It’s crowded but there’s space.”

Brian took Kirstin’s hand and pulled. “We’re going,” he taunted.

Nick looked at Jenn. “What do you want to do? I’m cool if you want to stay here.”

Jenn wanted to stay on the clothed beach. Hell, she wanted to be back in the apartment on the couch under a blanket. Her head still felt like mush. Maybe it was because Nick was there, but she was not going to let Kirstin show her up. Not today. Not now. “Let’s just go,” she said.

As it turned out, the girls had less of a problem than the guys, at least in terms of people ogling them. As they walked, towels slowly began to take up less of the beach, and suddenly they found themselves walking among men lying belly up and cock free. There were some women, most of whom were frolicking thigh-deep in the surf, but within a few yards it was clear there were more male nudists than female. And Jenn noticed an awful lot of the guys had towels very close to one another.

“Welcome to Gayville,” she laughed. “I hope you two are up for it.”

The foursome tossed their towels down near the water, and Kirstin wasted very little time in pulling off her