Beach Bikini Shop

(Author's notes: Very special thanks to LunaRosa for the perceptive editing. This is a better story because of her efforts.

This is a work of fiction. All characters are 18 years of age or older.)

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All I can say is, thank goodness I'm not a coffee fiend. Otherwise, we probably would have missed a great opportunity.

I'm Caitlin, and my friends Jessica, Alyssa, and Danielle and I were on a road trip. The four of us are practically sisters -- our parents have been friends since they went to college together. We were all born within a few months of each other, and although we live in different cities, our families have vacationed together since we were three years old. Now we were attending college together.

Visually, we're peas from the same pod. We're all size 8, occasionally 6 or 10, depending on the brand. Ally is the tallest, probably 5' 9, and Jessi is the shortest, about 5' 4. The biggest difference is, I'm a redhead, Dani is a honey blonde, Ally is a platinum blonde, and Jessi is a brunette. Her hair looks black until she's out in bright sun, then it reveals rich, dark mahogany highlights. We must look pretty good, since all the guys at the campus pool seem to lose their place in their conversations when we walk by.

None of us were interested in sororities, and none of us had a full-time guy, so we spent a weekend every month or so exploring the sights and towns within a few hours of the college. That particular spring weekend, we had reservations at an inexpensive hotel about a fifteen minute walk from the ocean.

Our Friday classes were done by 11:00, so we were on the road by mid-afternoon. By dusk, we had our stuff unloaded into our hotel room. We found a wonderful diner, had a great dinner, explored the town a little, and took a moonlight stroll on the beach, splashing in the surf.

Even our shared hotel room was a strain on our college-girl budgets, so there would be no sleeping in -- we could sleep in for free back at the dorm. The morning was magnificent: bright sun, 78 degrees, nice easy breeze rolling off the water. By 9 am we had eaten a light breakfast, and were settled on the beach, catching rays. In our tiny bikinis, every time we'd get up to cool off in the water, I couldn't help but notice that all the guys snapped their heads around to get an eyeful, and a second, and a third.

By mid-afternoon, we'd had enough sun for the day. We headed back to the room to drop off our stuff so we could explore the town a little more thoroughly. We'd shower and change into dinner attire -- shorts and halter tops instead of bikinis -- later.

We left the hotel, and Alyssa immediately spotted a coffee shop. Even this late in the day, nothing was going to stop her, Jessica, and Danielle from getting their daily fix. I guess I was the only one who wasn't fueling her academic efforts with caffeine, so I passed. I had seen a sign in a window that intrigued me, so as the others made a bee-line for coffee, I said, "When you guys are done, meet me in the bikini shop half a block back, I'm going to look around."

I wasn't sure I had read the sign correctly, but when I got back to the shop, there it was: "Girls, Ask About Free Bikini Tops." Cool! Free is good.

I pushed the door open, ringing a bell attached to it -- old school! An older guy at the counter barely looked up from his paper. I browsed a bit, and they had some seriously cute pieces. Strictly speaking, they didn't sell bikinis there -- the tops and bottoms hung on individual hangers, and were priced and sold separately. Each fixture had two racks, an upper holding rows of tops, and a lower with bottoms. Similar pieces were grouped together, by style and color, so if you saw a top you liked, there was a choice of compatible bottoms right below it.

The important point was, there were some great pieces there. I approached the counter, interrupting the guy's reading. "Yes?"

"How do I get a free bikini top?"

"Simple. You give me the one you have on, you can have a free one."

I think I succeeded in not looking startled. "So it's a trade?"

"No, when you put the new one on, I give yours back. You keep them both."

"Okay, thanks."

He went back to his paper. He probably got asked that a lot. Most girls would be unwilling to show their breasts in public, so I'm sure it usually went no further.

Usually, that is. There's nothing usual about me and my friends. Awhile back, we learned that we all get a special thrill out of being naked in public. I can't really explain it, other than to say that I find it seriously stimulating taking my clothes off in places where it's not the norm. Jessica, Alyssa, and Danielle do as well. I found myself grinning -- they had no idea what was awaiting them after coffee. I was ecstatic to have a head start.

There was only one other customer in the shop, a very attractive blonde. She had her boyfriend (possibly her husband -- neither of them wore a ring, but they may have taken them off for the beach) with her. He looked rather bored, but was being a good sport and not complaining.

I pondered whether the price for the "free" top was too extreme -- for about two seconds -- and, my face, chest, and pussy glowing in anticipation, reached behind my back. I unclasped my top and lifted it over my head. Feeling like a pressure cooker with a stuck valve that was going to blow at any minute, I walked my top over to the counter, and handed it to the clerk. He looked surprised, and began to sputter some sort of objection.

"Yes?" I asked.

He picked up my top, placed it under the counter, and said, "Nothing, nothing," and went back to his paper.

The other girl's boyfriend noticed me before she did. His eyes caressed my breasts, which are large B-cups, or smallish C-cups, I guess depending on whether you think the bra-cup is half-empty or half-full. They're not the world's biggest, but if I do say so myself, they're quite nice -- full, round, firm. Above my slender waist and (almost) flat tummy, I've been told they're "delightful."

I could practically feel his eyes on me, and I saw him suppressing a grin. He turned his head away from me -- he didn't want his lady to see him ogling me, but he followed my every move out of the corners of his eyes. A moment later, she noticed me, and quickly whipped her gaze over to him. Apparently he was watching me subtly enough not to be in serious trouble, so she returned to her browsing.

My nipples responded to being out in the open by poking out almost painfully. I mean, I may be quick to pounce on an opportunity to get naked in public, but that doesn't mean I'm completely at ease with it. Quite the opposite, actually. It's a thrill, but it's also a challenge -- it takes a lot of encouragement from my inner voice. At the end of the day, however, I've ended up feeling regret more often from the times I've chickened out and missed an opportunity, than the times I've shown my naughty bits to the world.

I started out in the middle of the store, where I had seen some really cute tops, but after a few minutes, having only one pair of eyes on me wasn't very exciting. The store had a large front window onto the sidewalk, surrounded by a sampling of the store's goods, that was where I wanted to be.

When I got there, four cute guys, also college age, were walking past the shop. One of them noticed me, and it barely took a nano-second for the rumor of the topless girl in the window to spread to the other three. As if they were a single eight-footed creature, they skidded to a stop. Needless to say, all eight eyes were on me.

They stared at me through the window for a moment, then casually, nonchalantly, entered the shop, like that was where they had been headed the whole time.

The shopkeeper looked up from his paper. "No loitering, guys. If you're here to make a purchase, welcome. Otherwise, customers only." Like explaining the rules for the free top, he seemed to have made that speech about a gazillion times -- in a shop that encouraged girls to get half-naked, I'm sure he often had to run off gawkers.

The boys ambled over to the only guys' rack in the store, which had some expensive board shorts, and a selection of rude (but expensive) t-shirts -- "Free Moustache Rides," that sort of thing.

The bell on the door rang, and I glanced over, expecting to see Ally, Dani, and Jessi, and not wanting to miss the priceless looks on their faces when they saw me. It wasn't them, however, it was a group of three girls. By their clothes, bling, shoes, and condescending attitudes, they were from a completely different part of town. Unfortunately, their efforts to look significantly younger than they actually were made them look rather coarse -- their over-processed hair and surgical enhancements weren't very attractive. They began browsing the racks and didn't see me for a minute. Then one of them noticed, made a sour face, and said, "Eww, I don't think this is our kind of store" to her friends.

I tried to explain, "No, it's for a free bikini top," but they weren't interested in hearing.

As they exited, I heard one of them say, "Whatever, I mean, how much could a bikini top cost?"

"It's not the money, lard-ass," I thought. Out on the sidewalk, they corralled their boyfriends, who must have been parking the Hummer or the Bentley, and herded them away from the premises. Aah, I got it: shield the rich dudes from any distraction.

By now the attractive blonde had made her selection, paid, and was leading her guy out of the store. He smiled, and gave me a small nod of encouragement. She grabbed his hand and pulled him out the door.

The four guys had each selected t-shirts, and having stalled as long as possible, finally had to pay. They slowly ambled out the door, turned and went back up the sidewalk toward where they came from, but that was just to cruise past the window again. A moment later, they made a u-turn and passed the store a final time, going in their original direction. I gave them a wave. Two of them looked away, as if they had been 'busted,' one of them smiled, and the fourth one smiled and waved back.

I began to see why the shop would do something as financially reckless as give away bikini tops -- that's four t-shirts they definitely wouldn't have sold if I hadn't been here, tits out, to lure them in. My business professor would be proud of me for recognizing that the store's profit margin was probably much higher on t-shirts than on bikinis, so even with zero revenue from the top I was going to get, the store was dollars ahead in both sales and profit.

I resumed browsing. The bell over the door rang, and this time it was my friends. I paused and looked their way, wanting to savor every nuance of their reactions to my state of dress.

They didn't react at all. Completely neutral, they dispersed into the racks of bikinis, checking out the swimwear. Ally said, "Cait, sorry for the delay, there was a line at the coffee shop."

None of them flinched, blinked, double-took, or said a word about my titties hanging out. I was sure they had glanced at me, and they couldn't have missed noticing that I was topless. Dani said, "Ooh, Jessi, check this one out, you'd look great in it."

I was getting seriously irritated. I mean, I'm one tiny piece of cloth away from being buck-ass naked, and they can't even notice? I put my hands on my hips and glared at them, giving them what Jessi calls "the Dad look," and they all paused, and finally burst out laughing.

They gave each other high fives, congratulating themselves on how they "got me good." Whatever!

"How did you know?" I asked.

"Easy," Dani replied. "We passed these four guys on the sidewalk, all they were talking about was the topless girl in the bikini shop."

"Yeah," Jessi jumped in. "How they give away free tops if you take yours off."

"I mean," Ally continued, "How many bikini shops could there be in this block?"

"And how many girls," Jessi finished, "would be as willing as you are to prance around a store half-naked?"

Well, at least one: Dani was over at the register handing her top to the guy, who put it underneath the counter with mine.

Ally and Jessi resumed browsing, with their tops on. "You're not joining us?" I asked.

"Maybe later," Ally said.

"I dunno," Jessi said, "I probably have all the bikinis I need."

Typical. Practically every time we stumble on an opportunity to do something exciting, Dani and I jump on it, and Jessi and Ally lag behind, until Dani and I browbeat and cheerlead them into doing it. Then all four of us have a great time, and talk later about how awesome it was, how exciting it was to show ourselves, and how much we love it. Including how much they, Jessi and Ally, love it. Then the next opportunity presents itself, and we start all over.

I was tired of it. "Yeah, you're right," I responded. "You probably do."

That wasn't what either one of them expected. They were braced to defend themselves, and when I "agreed" with them, it left them deflated.

Out the front window, evening foot traffic on the sidewalk was increasing. Dani and I headed back to the window, to browse with the greatest audience. A group of three guys noticed us, and ducked into the store. The guy at the register gave his "No loitering, guys" speech, and they headed over to the t-shirts, keeping their eyes on us. Two couples strolled past the shop, maybe headed for an early dinner, and one of the guys saw us. He stopped, gestured at us to the other guy and their ladies, and they also came in. Another couple entered the store, but they came from the other direction, so it wasn't us that drew them in, but they noticed us quickly enough.

"What are you doing?" that latest lady asked Dani.

"The sign says 'Free Bikini Top,'" she responded, gesturing at the guy at the counter, "the catch is he holds yours until you put the new one on."

The lady nodded, and resumed browsing.

I noticed that Jessi had joined us and had her top off. Ally looked gloomy, she was having trouble taking the plunge. I sidled up next to her, and quietly said, "You know you'll regret it if you don't."

She nodded, and said, "Would you just come with me?"

When we got to the register, I gave her a nod of encouragement, and rather than make herself more miserable by drawing it out, she quickly popped her top and handed it to the guy. He nodded, and put it under the counter with the others.

The three latest t-shirt guys had made their selections, and crowded around us. They tried to chat us up, but when the cashier started ringing up their purchases, we slipped away and returned to the window.

The t-shirt guys left the store, trying one last time to catch our eye. Right behind them, the lady who had asked Dani what we were doing and her boyfriend were also leaving. She held up a top for us to see, and chirped "thanks" at us. I hadn't even seen her get half-naked.

The store was rapidly becoming a cacophony of activity. Guys were looking a t-shirts, girls were looking at bikinis, some of them with boyfriends, some of them in groups with each other. The guy at the register was giving his "No loitering" speech, and ringing up purchases.

Two other girls besides the four of us were browsing topless. Girls were buying bikinis. Guys were buying t-shirts. Girls were getting free tops. Guys were buying bikinis for their girls. Girls were buying bikinis and getting free extra tops to go with them.

A very cute guy appeared at my side, and said, "So, what's the deal?"

I explained the free tops thing to him, and he said, "That's freakin' awesome! I gotta tell the guys in the band about this, we should do this with band t-shirts. Thanks!"

Ally appeared at my side, and said, "Come with me back to the register for a sec." She had a really odd look on her face that I couldn't read. I went with her, wondering what was up. We had to wait in line, business was booming.

When it was our turn, Ally said, "Um, could we, um, well..." and she faltered.

The guy looked at her, looked at the line behind us of people waiting to check out, and patiently said, "Could you what?"

She took a deep breath, and said, "Could we get free bottoms also?" Yay Ally, you go, girl -- I had no idea she had that kind of initiative in her!

The guy looked at her like she had grown scaly fins on both sides of her head. "You want free bottoms... That's not what the sign says."

"I know it's not what the sign says, but could we?"

He sighed, and said, "Why should I?"

"You're the owner, right?" He nodded. She gestured at how crowded the store was and said, "Look at what some topless girls have done for your business. Imagine what some naked girls would do."

He grimaced, and said, "Look, I'm not licensed for nudity, and I can't afford to get closed down. I was barely breaking even when I put my little sign up, since then my business has more than doubled. Most days, a couple of girls get free tops. The police just look the other way because a little brief toplessness is fairly harmless."

Ally pled, "We're not gonna do anything offensive, or blatantly sexual. If anyone gets their knickers in a knot, we'll cover up."

He didn't say anything -- not "yes," but definitely not "no." That felt like "yes" to me, and Ally broke into a huge grin.

We moved off to the side, so the guy could ring up more purchases. Ally looked at me, and I looked at her. This was the moment of truth. Pulling off our bottoms was always stressful, but add on to that this was the first time we'd done it indoors. It felt strange -- when you're outside, you can sort of pretend that what's going on is you're just enjoying the outdoors. All the people around you are incidental, a minor distraction. They're outside, too, enjoying the sun and the fresh air. They're not necessarily there just to gawk at the tits and ass.

Indoors is totally different. No one takes off their clothes to enjoy an indoor environment. Nobody basks in the sensuality of fluorescent light and air conditioning. There was no pretending that most of these people would have been here anyway, browsing bikinis -- they were there to look at us, and our breasts. It was clearly "Look, there's half-naked girls in the store, let's go check them out."

There was another factor for me. Almost any girl who wears a swimsuit has to do some grooming "down there," but Ally had been the first of us to completely shave her pussy. I loved how it looked, and immediately decided I would do it too. I worried a little that it might be uncomfortable, but she assured me it wasn't, and more convincingly, she had kept hers bare. Just before we left for this trip, I had taken the plunge, and shaved mine shiny smooth. No one, not even the girls, had seen it yet. I mean, we had gotten into our jammies last night and our bikinis this morning in our hotel room, but we didn't pay much attention to each other, so no one noticed. I was eager to show it off, but I hadn't imagined that its debut would be so public.

And so there we were, getting ready to bare our butts and pussies to a store full of people. I returned from my reverie to the here and now, and saw that the store was actually more packed with people than I had realized. The owner was ringing up more purchases. Ally had just lowered her bottoms to the floor, and stepped out of them. I realized that if I thought about it any longer, I was going to freeze up and it would become paralyzingly difficult.

I hooked my thumbs in the elastic and tugged down. I lifted my feet out, and held my bottoms out to the guy. Looking like he had swallowed his tongue, he put both Ally's bottoms and mine under the counter with our other pieces.

We returned to the front window. Several people in the store pointed at us. Jessi was in the middle of the store, surrounded by "admirers," and Dani was at the window, with some guys enjoying the view from the sidewalk. Ally and I settled in on either side of her. She didn't initially detect the change in our state of dress, but the guys definitely did. She noticed their reaction, and turned to us to see what was up. Her eyes widened, and she did her best Keanu Reeves, "Whoa."