Push & Pull (The Midwest Series Book 2)

by Brigham Vaughn

  His fingers itched with the urge to reach out, but he held back, afraid to upset the fragile equilibrium between them.

  Chapter Fourteen

  May 30, 2013 – Milwaukee, Wisconsin

  Lowell

  Bradford Beach was one of the places on Brent’s spreadsheet, and when Lowell checked the forecast on Sunday morning, they agreed the sunny and eight-nine degree day was the perfect opportunity to visit it. It was before noon when they arrived, but the sun already beat down on Lowell’s shoulders as he stripped off his tank top and shorts.

  “Dude. What the fuck? Are you wearing a Speedo?” Brent stared at him, a dumbfounded expression on his face.

  “Technically Speedo is a brand. These are Andrew Christian,” Lowell explained. He snapped the waistband for emphasis.

  “I don’t care about the brand. I’m talking about the, um, lack of fabric.”

  Lowell chuckled. “This trunk style isn’t the most revealing one they make, trust me. Some show off a hell of a lot more.” These hugged his hips and ended just below his ass. Brent was lucky he hadn’t worn the pouch style that really showed off his cock and balls.

  “Yeah, well, we’re not in Europe. We’re in Wisconsin. Guys don’t wear things like that.” Brent glanced around. From what Lowell had seen, the rest of the guys were dressed like Brent, in baggy shorts that nearly reached their knees.

  “Yeah, well, they’re boring.” Lowell shrugged. “And you have to admit I look good in them.”

  Brent looked him over. His expression was fairly neutral, but Lowell caught a glimpse of heat in his gaze and the bobbing of his Adam’s apple in his throat. He held up his hands in surrender. “I’m just saying if some dude starts hassling you about it, I’m not coming to the rescue.”

  “Who asked you to? I can take care of myself,” Lowell said in a breezy tone. Brent’s expression fell, turning serious for a moment before it smoothed out, and Lowell wondered what that was all about.

  Lowell dug through his bag and pulled out a tube of sun block. He squirted some of the sunscreen onto his forearm and rubbed it in. It disappeared quickly. He had always been fair-skinned. Unlike Brent, he didn’t tan. He just burned, then went back to being see-through. The plus side was that the zinc oxide didn’t leave a weird white cast on his skin.

  He spread it across his chest and shoulders, but when he reached his upper back, he ran into trouble. He twisted, trying to reach the middle of his shoulders, between his shoulder blades. As flexible as he was from yoga and Pilates, he couldn’t quite manage it.

  “Need some help with that?” Brent sounded a little tentative.

  “Uh, please.” Lowell hated to ask for help, but better that than to get sunburned in the middle of his back. He already had a few freckles across his shoulders. He didn’t need more.

  Brent settled onto the towel behind him, legs on either side of Lowell. He handed the bottle to Brent and yelped when the cold sunscreen landed on his back. It quickly heated as Brent smeared it across his skin.

  Brent’s hands were strong and sure as they rubbed the lotion onto Lowell’s skin. “Go heavy on it, please,” Lowell instructed him.

  “Any excuse to make me keep touching you, huh?”

  Lowell flicked Brent’s calf with his fingers and made him yelp.

  “Hey! That was uncalled for!” Brent said with a laugh. “Jerk!”

  “I don’t play games like that,” Lowell said tartly. “If I want you to touch me, I’ll tell you to. If I want sunscreen put on me, I’ll tell you that too.”

  “Yeah, you are bossy as fuck, that’s for damn sure.”

  Lowell held his fingers half an inch from Brent’s calf. “You want to say that again?”

  “Nope.”

  Lowell snickered. “That’s what I thought.”

  Brent continued to work the sunscreen in, and Lowell closed his eyes and bent forward, resting his chest against his outstretched knees.

  Brent dug his thumbs into a tight spot between Lowell’s shoulder blades, and Lowell had to stifle a moan. “You seem like you might be enjoying this.”

  “You would be right,” Lowell muttered. Brent moved his hands lower, spreading the sunscreen down to his lower back until he bumped up against the waistband of the swim suit. He froze, like he wasn’t sure if he should continue.

  Lowell lifted his head and craned his neck to look at Brent. “You’re going a little low there, sweets. I thought we were going to behave and keep our hands to ourselves for the rest of the trip,” he gently reminded Brent.

  “Ugh. Yeah. You’re probably right.” Brent sat back with a little sigh.

  “I’m always right, honey.” Lowell patted Brent’s shin. “Besides, you’re giving me a serious case of whiplash. You wigged out on me about what I’m wearing, but I’m pretty sure everyone here just saw you give me a thorough rubdown with sunscreen. Your signals are a bit mixed there.”

  “Yeah, well, I’ve changed my mind about the suit.” Brent’s tone was a little gruff. “It was a good choice. And I didn’t mean it. If someone hassled you, I’d tell them to fuck off. And punch them in the nose.”

  Lowell smiled to himself as he reached for the lotion on the towel next to him, but he didn’t comment. He rubbed sunscreen on his legs, and when he was sure he’d thoroughly coated every exposed inch, he turned and offered it to Brent. “You want some?”

  “Nah, I’ll be fine.”

  Lowell winced. “You’re going to get skin cancer.”

  “Yeah, probably.”

  “Humor me?”

  “Oh, fine.” Brent held out his hand, and Lowell dropped the tube into it. “Whatever. If it’ll keep you from bugging me.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry. I am such a horrible person for caring whether or not you have to get chunks of your skin removed twenty years from now.”

  “Yeah, okay, fair point.”

  Brent haphazardly smeared the white lotion all over the front of his body. “Get my back?”

  “Let me rub this in first; you’ve got globs of it everywhere.” Lowell rubbed it in more thoroughly, but after a minute, Brent pushed his hand away, and Lowell realized he’d spent a little too much time on Brent’s pecs. Whoops.

  Brent pivoted to face away from him and settled into the vee between Lowell’s legs. Lowell took his time on Brent’s back, digging his fingers into the tight, ropey muscles.

  “Mmm, that’s nice,” Brent said with a little sigh. “My back is tight from all the walking.”

  “It could also be the crappy mattresses.”

  “I thought you said the hotel wasn’t so bad?”

  “It could be worse,” Lowell said diplomatically.

  “I think you’re a spoiled brat,” Brent teased. But there was no malice in his voice.

  “Oh, sweetie, I think I knew that a long time ago.”

  “Hey, at least you admit it.”

  “Honesty is one of my better qualities. And there are many.”

  Brent snorted.

  Lowell finished Brent’s back and tossed the tube in his bag again.

  Brent stood immediately. “I’m going to jump in the water. You want to join me?”

  “Nah,” Lowell said. “I’m going to take a nap. Soak up the heat like a lizard.”

  “Suit yourself.” Brent ambled off, the muscles in his body flexing and tensing as he walked across the shifting sand.

  Lowell watched him behind his sunglasses, admiring his physique. It wasn’t much fun keeping his hands to himself, but damn, the view was nice.

  Once Brent disappeared into the water, Lowell closed his eyes. The heat sank into his bones, relaxing him. The rhythm of the waves lulled him further, and his thoughts slowed until he drifted off.

  He awoke to cool droplets of water landing on his skin. He yelped and opened his eyes to see Brent standing over him, grinning.

  “Damn, that water’s cold.”

  “I can tell!” Lowell brushed the water away, but he couldn’t as easily brush away the curl of desire growing i
n his belly as he looked at Brent. His skin was bronzed from the sun, and water droplets clung to his muscles. A bead of it ran down his shoulder, glinting in the light. Lowell couldn’t tear his eyes away.

  Brent shook, his thick hair sending water spraying everywhere, sprinkling Lowell’s skin. The contrast in temperature was startling, but it evaporated quickly on his sun-warmed flesh When he was done shaking off, Brent sprawled on the towel next to him.

  Lowell turned his head and smiled at him. “Enjoy yourself?”

  “Yeah, I love swimming. I used to do it nearly every day in the summer as a kid.”

  “Why’d you go into hockey and not swimming then? Or did you do both?”

  “Nah.” Brent shrugged. “Small school. It didn’t have a pool, so we didn’t have a team.”

  “Oh, that makes sense.”

  “Are you sure you don’t want to go in?” Brent asked. He stretched out on his stomach and pillowed his chin on his hands.

  “Didn’t you just tell me how cold it is?”

  Brent gave him a crooked grin. “It’s refreshing.”

  “Uh huh.” Lowell was skeptical. “I’ll take your word for it. I was always the kid who turned blue the moment he got in the water. No, thank you.”

  Lowell flipped over onto his stomach too, mimicking Brent’s posture.

  “I’m in no hurry to leave yet, but what do you want to do later?” Brent rested his cheek on his hand.

  “I dunno. Grab dinner? Wander around downtown for a while?”

  “Sure. Sounds nice.”

  “The zoo is tomorrow, right?” Lowell asked.

  “Yep.”

  “So we’re hiking at Lakeshore State Park on Tuesday with the comedy show after. Doing the brewery tour and wandering around the lakefront on Wednesday. Havenwood State Forest on Thursday. The Milwaukee sightseeing tour on Friday. And Pride on Saturday”

  “Sounds right.”

  “You sure know how to pack a lot into a trip,” Lowell said with a yawn. “I’m glad we’re doing nothing today.”

  Brent laughed. “You can do nothing. I’m going to go swim more.”

  “Have fun with that.” Lowell closed his eyes and let the sun lull him to sleep again.

  ***

  “Look at this stone!” Lowell stared down at the small pebble with orangey-red wavy stripes alternating with white. They’d gone for a walk down the beach, and Lowell had been fascinated by the rocks scattered along the edge of the water. “This is gorgeous!”

  “Let me see.” Brent crouched down to examine the stone in Lowell’s palm. He gave Lowell a wide grin. “That’s awesome. Do you know what it is?”

  “Some kind of gemstone?”

  “Yeah, but more specifically, an agate. Maybe even a Lake Superior agate, although I’m not sure if they’re usually found this far south. I do know the red color comes from iron.”

  “It’s so pretty. But what is it doing in Wisconsin if it comes from Lake Superior? We’re nowhere near it.”

  “Glaciers,” Brent said. “When they moved south and carved out the landscape, they deposited all sorts of things. You can find copper nuggets and quartz too.”

  Lowell squinted at him. “Did you actually pay attention in the rocks for jocks class we took?”

  Brent laughed. “Well, I found it interesting. Especially the geology of the Great Lakes. What did you do?”

  “Um, checked out you and Nathan. Fantasized about having a threesome with you two. That’s about it.”

  Brent coughed. “Okay then.”

  “You asked.”

  “I guess I did.”

  “So, is it easy to find gems like that?” Lowell asked, taking pity on him.

  “I dunno about easy, but they’re scattered around the lakes. It’s worth keeping an eye out. We’ll be spending a few days in Petoskey toward the end of the trip. If you like rocks, we can keep an eye out for Petoskey stones when we’re there.”

  “Those are the brown ones with the little starburst patterns, right?”

  “Yep, it’s actually fossilized coral.”

  Lowell held out the agate. “Can I keep this? Or is it protected or something?”

  “You can keep it.”

  “Awesome.” Lowell closed it in his fist again and used his other hand to sift through the rocks in the little pool of water, turning them over and inspecting them.

  “I love that you drive a Porsche and yet you’re really fucking excited about rocks.”

  Lowell glanced up at him. “Are you making fun of me?”

  “No! I’m totally serious. It’s ... kinda cute.”

  “I like nice things,” Lowell explained. “They don’t have to be expensive things, just nice. Something that grabs my attention. I spend money to buy good quality clothes and furniture because I don’t want something crappy that’s going to fall apart in a few weeks or a year or whatever. But I’m not doing it to impress anyone.”

  “Yeah, I like that about you. I know I’ve given you a lot of shit about being a snob, but you really aren’t at all.”

  Lowell offered him a fleeting smile. “Thanks. I think.”

  “That didn’t quite come out right.” Brent’s tone was apologetic. “I just mean ... you’re not what I expected, and I’m sorry I didn’t give you enough credit at first. I—I like you, Lowell.”

  Lowell’s heart beat a little faster, and he had to look away. He trailed his fingers through the water for a moment. “I like you too, Brent.” His voice sounded quiet and a little scared, and he hated that he couldn’t hide that.

  “I’m glad you came on this trip with me.”

  “Yeah?” He looked up at Brent again.

  “Yeah. Really, really glad. I’m having a great time.”

  “Me too.”

  Brent held out a hand to Lowell, who took it and let Brent pull him to his feet. “Come on. Let’s walk a little farther. I’ll keep an eye out for more rocks for you.”

  June 5, 2013 – Milwaukee, Wisconsin

  Brent

  “Fuck, that food was good.” Brent pushed back his plate with a contented sigh. “Today was awesome.”

  Lowell smiled at him. “Yeah, the sightseeing tour was fun.”

  The week in Milwaukee had flown by, Brent mused as he drained his beer. Hiking had been great. Lowell had been hilariously out of his element in the woods, and they both had new boots to break in, so they’d gone with a couple of short, 3-4 mile loops, and he’d seemed like he’d had fun.

  “It’s too bad the comedy show was lame.”

  Lowell made a face. “Yeah, the guy was a douche. The zoo was nice though.”

  “I liked the Lakefront Brewery tour too.”

  “That tour was pretty awesome.” Lowell said. “I didn’t expect to enjoy it so much.”

  “I’m glad you found some beer you really liked.”

  “Me too.” Lowell grinned at Brent and gave him a little wink. “Turns out I just had to go for something fruity.”

  Brent snorted. “Big surprise there.”

  Lowell grinned back, then stood. “I’m going to go to the bathroom. I’ll be back in a few.”

  Brent nodded. He checked out notifications on his phone while he waited for Lowell to return. He and Lowell had been posting things online all week, and their friends had commented on a lot of them.

  Seeing Lowell, Nathan, and Caleb all interacting on Facebook gave Brent a weird, wistful feeling. Damn it, he missed his best friend. He brought up his texts with Nathan. The last time they’d texted had been May 25, the day before they’d been supposed to leave on the trip. This was the longest he’d even gone without speaking to Nathan since they met four years ago.

  Of course, now that he thought about it, it wasn’t really that long. He’d been on this trip for less than two weeks. Man, how did two weeks with Lowell manage to feel like months? The rocky start they’d gotten off to hadn’t helped, he was sure. But they’d also done a lot.

  He stared down at his phone for several long minutes. He want
ed to reach out to Nathan, and he knew the longer he waited, the harder it would be. A small part of him wondered if he was quite ready to let go of the anger he had at Nathan for ditching their trip, but Nathan was his friend. He couldn’t stay mad forever. Fuck it. He might as well get the awkward conversation over with and see if they could fix this shit.

  Brent’s stomach was in knots as he typed out, Hey, and hit send.

  For several agonizingly long minutes, Brent saw typing show up on his chat program and then disappear.

  Eventually, Hey. Long time no chat appeared.

  He let out a sigh of relief as he typed, How are you?

  Good. Apartment hunting in Chicago. You? How’s the trip going?

  Guess we just missed you. I’m having a good time. Lowell’s not so bad.

  Glad to hear you two haven’t killed each other yet.

  Brent smiled down at his phone. No, not yet.

  I heard things got interesting between you two in Chicago.

  Brent’s smile turned to confusion. What? Dude, did Lowell say something to Caleb?

  Yep.

  Probably Lowell telling Caleb how awesome I am in bed, he said.

  I’m not touching that one with a ten-foot pole ... pun intended.

  You know, there're so many jokes I can make right there I don’t know where to start.

  Ha! There was a pause as Brent tried to figure out what to say next. But an incoming message from Nathan distracted him. I think Lowell felt shitty about the way he acted after. He wanted Caleb’s advice.

  Yeah, he's definitely been on his best behavior since. Well, as well-behaved as Lowell Prescott ever is.

  You're not pissed at me for ditching you anymore?

  No. Brent hesitated, and then sent another message. Well, actually, still a little pissed if I’m being honest. I’m bummed that I couldn't spend my summer with my best friend. We talked about this for so fucking long. Since we got stuff straightened out, Lowell’s been cool, but it’s not the same, you know?

  Fuck! I'm sorry. I just couldn't see any other way around it. There was no way I could risk losing Caleb again.

  Yeah, I get that. Still sucks though.

  I know. And I’ve been really jealous of all of the pictures you guys post.