He excused himself under the guise of needing to do some ironing.
I was no good at giving pep talks.
Taylor, who’d been standing off to the side, not saying a word, approached me. “I’ll talk to him,” he said.
I’d triggered something in Tristan. I didn’t ask for any clarification. There was nothing among us that we didn’t share, that included our secrets and our pain. But I understood that some people needed more time. Tristan was especially sensitive. If he needed more time to open up, I could give him more time.
It had been five days since I last saw Gwen: an eternity. I couldn’t wait till the weekend, till my next night off. After morning exercises, we had a three-hour break. While the others took the opportunity to run overdue errands and have lunch, I, instead, jogged down to The Bean Counter, hoping Gwen would be there.
I arrived sweating and winded, but I made it in record time—probably in a faster time than Manny could have. The terrace was full. Inside, I didn’t see Gwen, and I didn’t recognize either of the two girls working. I ordered a lemonade and took a seat in the back facing the door where I could watch, hoping Gwen would show up.
A girl sitting at a table on the terrace turned her head. She saw me and smiled. But she wasn’t Gwen. I blinked and turned away.
“Axel.” Gwen’s voice came to me from the side.
I spun around, and there she was walking quickly towards me. I leapt out of my seat.
She went in for a hug.
“I’m gross and sweaty,” I said.
She aborted her hug at the last moment and, instead, took my head in her hands and gave me a big kiss on the lips. “Axel, what a pleasant surprise.”
Her hair was loosely tied back. A lock of hair fell over her eyes and lightly touched her cheek below a smudge of flour. she smiled at me with her lips and with her eyes. She was gorgeous.
I smiled back and put my thumb to the smudge of flour. I tried to wipe it off but only managed to smear it further. It didn’t matter. Even her imperfections were flattering. “Hi, Gwen. I’m so happy to see you.”
“Me too.”
“These last few days have been so long. You have no idea.”
She pursed her lips. “I think I might.”
“How are you doing?” I said.
She looked around. The cafe was busy. She bit down on her lower lip then looked back at me. “Shall we get out of here? I can leave the girls alone for a while.”
My heart raced. I wiped my hands on my pants, swallowed the lump in my throat and nodded.
“Hang on a sec,” she said. She went to one of the girls working, said something to her then came back. She took my hand in hers and led me to the door. “Let’s go for a little stroll along the beach. What do you say?”
I could barely make out the words she was saying. I was concentrating on the touch of her hand against mine. My thumb ran lightly over her finger as if discovering it for the first time. I let go of her but kept my hand close to hers. I ran my fingers from her wrist down to the tips of her nails.
She walked close to me; her shoulder bumped against mine. I felt my knees buckle and thought I would collapse. My cock stiffened and pressed painfully against my pants.
I pointed to a bench up ahead. “Let’s take a seat.”
“A seat?”
“Just for a minute.”
As soon as we sat on the bench, Gwen swung her legs over my lap. She put an arm around me, pulled me close to her, and we embraced.
“Mmm, you are gross and sweaty,” she said, and she kissed me again, mixing in short pecs with longer deeper kisses.
I pulled away and gasped for breath. “God, I’m so hard right now, my dick is going to burst through my pants.”
She slid her hand between her legs; the tips of her fingers found the tip of my cock.
I sucked in a breath through gritted teeth.
Gwen looked around. “I wish there was something I could do about that right here, right now,” she said.
I, too, looked around. There were people passing by every which way. My hand rubbed her leg from her knee up to her thigh. My other hand ran up and down her back. “We’re making a spectacle, aren’t we?” I said.
Gwen swung her legs off me and hopped off the bench. She extended her hand for me to take. “Come on. Let’s walk along the beach.”
I grimaced. My arousal had reached painful proportions. I closed my eyes and squeezed my hands into fists.
“Are you OK?”
I smiled and nodded. “Just a second.” I opened my eyes and released my balled-up fists. As I stood I adjusted myself. “There it is. Much better.”