“Ya’ll?” Snow drawled out. “Been hanging out with Hollis too much?”
“He’s cool. Even if he does sometimes call every pop a coke.”
“Yeah,” Jude asked, “What’s up with that?”
“It’s a southern thing,” Rowe answered. “I asked.” He put several pieces of bacon on a new plate, then grabbed two more cinnamon rolls. When Noah came into the room, he handed him the plate. “Want to take the jets out for a race?”
“Always,” Noah answered as he set his plate onto the breakfast bar.
Lucas immediately stole a piece of bacon.###
Noah whooped behind him, jetted past, then pulled off an impressive one-eighty. Rowe sped up, his ass hitting the seat hard as the water grew choppy from a passing speedboat. He couldn’t help but grin when Noah aimed his ski into the waves, his laughter loud enough to hear over the motor and the splashing water. He threw a grin over his shoulder, all white teeth and dimples in suntanned skin and Rowe felt the familiar tug in his heart. He’d been sad lately and trying to hide anything from Noah was a futile endeavor.
The man noticed everything.
And he’d gotten the truth from Rowe and set up something to make it better.
Rowe was determined not to ruin their mini-vacation, so he picked up speed to catch his boyfriend. They raced side-by-side, took some of the curves of the lake at slower speeds. Walls of green trees surrounded them and the sun sparkled like a sea of diamonds on the lake’s surface. Rowe enjoyed the heat of the sun and the cool splashes of water on his skin. He loved the joyful laughter from Noah that occasionally sounded over their motors. He vowed to live in the now as much as he could. With that in mind, he spotted a narrow inlet with a private-looking beach and veered in that direction, knowing Noah would follow.
They anchored the watercrafts and walked up the beach. This cove had more sand than the one they’d picked for the boat, but it was still nestled among trees and fairly secluded. He could see boats and Jet Skis racing about, but they had a little privacy here.
“This is nice,” Noah said as he grabbed their towels and some water bottles from the storage compartment. He walked up the beach, spread their towels out, and lay down on one. Rowe walked at a slower pace, enjoying the image of all that tanned muscle spread out before him. Noah had wide shoulders, a sexy narrow waist, and thick thighs covered in light brown hair. Rowe loved his thighs. Loved the vulnerable, soft skin on the inside just below his groin. He liked to nuzzle and lick and whenever he sucked on the spot where his legs met his torso, Noah would writhe and moan and gasp.
“I love the way your swim trunks show off that hard-on.”
Rowe looked down to see his black shorts tented out obscenely and grinned. He wiggled his hips, knowing he looked ridiculous. Noah merely held out his hand to beckon him closer. He stretched out next to him and hard dick or not, he really just wanted to lay there with him. Bask in the sun and just be together. “Ignore it for now.”
“That’s like asking me to ignore a plate of bacon. Just ain’t gonna happen.”
Chuckling, Rowe turned on his side and propped his head on his elbow. He placed his other hand on Noah’s chest, enjoying the hair under his palm. Noah met his gaze and something moved between them, something more than the heat that kept them all over each other constantly. It made his breath catch.
Noah touched his finger to his tented shorts. “I love that looking at me makes that happen to you.”
There was something in his voice, some kind of relief that dug into Rowe’s gut. “You still doubt my attraction to you.” He didn’t form it as a question because he was too damn surprised.
“With as often as we go at each other?” Noah reached up to thread their fingers together on his chest. “No, I don’t.”
But it was there in those blue eyes just the same. Rowe leaned over to softly press his lips to Noah’s. He didn’t open his mouth, didn’t push his tongue inside. He just kissed him slowly, feeling the soft, firm lips, letting their connection buzz between them. “I want you,” he whispered. “All the time. I will always want you.” He pulled back to find Noah’s smile, sweet but faint.
“You may meet another woman someday, Ward.”
He meant it. Rowe could see it in his expression. See that he’d just accepted on some level that he could lose Rowe to a woman. He shook his head. “I’m not built that way. When I fall in love, it’s for good. I don’t even see other women. Or other men for that matter.”