by Ally Decker
Charlie exchanged amused looks with Sylvia.
"Other than that rock, you mean," he told Greg, motioning at the engagement ring on Sylvia's finger.
Greg didn't even blink. "Other than that, yes."
They all burst out laughing, and Charlie shook his head. He'd expected some awkwardness, but he just—he didn't care. He sure as hell wasn't ashamed, so why would he hide anything. He and Kevin were both adults, and one hickey wasn't anything special.
Well, it was special. Just not for anyone else but him.
"Aww, look at that smile," Sylvia said, beaming at him. "Somebody has a crush," she sing-songed.
"Shut up," Charlie said, but without any heat in it. The thing was, he did have a crush. Now he just had to figure out what to do about it.
Without his friends' input. That meant changing the topic, and fast.
"Tell me how did you like the bonfire concert last night instead," he told Sylvia and watched her face lit up.
Success.
And if he thought about Kevin watching him across the bonfire once or twice while Sylvia went on about the song choices, then, well. Nobody needed to know.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Kevin decided to forgo breakfast and do some work, so he would be able to take the rest of the day off and not worry about needing to get back to his cabin.
Needing to. That gave him pause.
On Monday night, after hearing Sylvia's ideas for the week, he'd still thought he'd be glad to hide away in his cabin most of the time, as long as the wi-fi kept working. Now, he planned to only stay in when he needed to, and he could already feel that itch under his skin to finish up and go out there.
Go and find Charlie.
Because he wasn't going to lie to himself. His main reason to speed through his work was seeing Charlie Amis again.
The memories of last night and today's extremely early morning came flooding into his head. Charlie's smile, his voice, his damn dimples, the feeling of him pressed against Kevin's body… All of that, and more, seemed to leave an unforgettable impression.
Earlier that morning, he woke up with a hard-on, and as he curled his fingers around his cock, he imagined Charlie's hand there instead. He pictured spreading Charlie on that dock, pushing their jeans down, and jerking each other off as they kissed under the stars.
He came fast and hard, the orgasm punching his breath out of his lungs, and as he lay there afterward, he wished Charlie was there, next to him. It hadn't been easy to walk away from him after they'd come back from the lake, and Kevin had almost suggested moving inside numerous times. But there was something…something new about taking things slowly. It didn't diminish his desire at all, quite the opposite, really. He'd never been one for delayed gratification, but it didn't feel like that with Charlie. He wasn't delaying anything. He was simply enjoying himself along the way.
After he finally got out of bed and took a shower, he moved to the small table near the window when he left his laptop and one of the external drives, and buried himself in work for the next few hours.
He was just finishing the last item on the list, when someone knocked on the wide-open window.
Kevin raised his gaze. It was Sylvia.
"Hey, you," she said, leaning over the windowsill. "Aren't you supposed to be off the clock?"
"I am," he said, and in a way, he wasn't even lying. Technically, he was on vacation.
Sylvia gave him a disbelieving look. "So you're stalking the celebrities for fun, now?"
"Fun and profit," he tossed back with a crooked smile. He missed seeing Sylvia at the office. He loved Alicia, and if he'd be pressed to choose, she was a better office manager than Sylvia had been, but he still wished Sylvia was there with them, too.
"I will know to come looking for you if any pictures of the wedding leak out," she said it as a joke, but when he looked closer, he could see the tension around her eyes.
"Are you worried about the security?" he asked, closing his laptop and leaning on his elbows over the table. "We could—"
"No, no, forget it." She shook her head. "It's fine. Nate went over it with Greg three times—that I know of, so it could've been more—and everything is under control." She tapped her fingers against the windowsill. "The additional security gets here on Saturday morning to check the site one more time and block the choke points, or whatever they're called."
"Choke points, yeah." Kevin nodded. How crazy was it that the bride-to-be had to think about the damn choke points when thinking about her wedding?
Extremely fucking crazy, he answered himself.
"Well, if you need anything more, tell me," he said out loud. "I'm up for security detail, if you'd prefer friendly faces to look after you."
She gave him a smile and reached out to squeeze his shoulder. "My friendly faces are supposed to be right there when I'm saying 'I do', not patrolling the roads." Her eyes were suddenly way too bright for Kevin's comfort. "Besides, I know you're looking after me the whole time, whether I like it or not," she added with a quirked smile. "As if my overprotective older brother wasn't enough, I have three more men in my life to drive me crazy with it, too."
"Four, if you're counting Greg."
She shook her head. "Greg knows better than to play overbearing with me. Thankfully."
Well, then. That still left Nate, Shawn, Dean, and Kevin, so they had it covered.
"God, I can almost hear what you're thinking right now." Sylvia pulled back and rolled her eyes. "But I came here to drag you out of the cabin, not analyze your shortcomings, so come on, let's go."
Kevin crossed his arms against his chest and raised his eyebrows. God, she really was like a little sister to him—one he enjoyed annoying from time to time.
"You missed Broadway trivia—"
"Such a loss," he muttered, but Sylvia didn't even pause.
"—which I can forgive, but we want to have a volleyball tournament after lunch, and we could really use another player."
That was definitely more his speed. "I could be persuaded."
"I thought you might. Besides," she added, smile turning a little evil. "Charlie's playing, too."
Kevin sighed. Of course she would go there. "Now who's pushy?" he asked, even if a part of him jumped right up at the chance to be near Charlie again.
Damn, he had it bad.
"I said 'overbearing'," Sylvia told him. "I'm…encouraging."
He snorted. "Sure thing. But anyway, I don't need your encouragement, either." Kevin knew what he wanted. Pushing was completely unnecessary.
"Oh, really?" Sylvia grinned as if she actually could read his mind. He wouldn't put it past her, though, if he was completely honest.
"If I say yes, would you leave me alone about this?" he asked. "Charlie, too?" He could already picture the grilling she would serve Charlie, and while Kevin didn't think it would be enough to spook the man, he wouldn't want to risk it, either.
"Nope," she told him with a loud pop sound at the end. "Now come on, lunch is waiting for us."
He rolled his eyes, but finally stood up. After skipping breakfast, he was pretty hungry, after all.
***
With only fifteen people playing, they decided to split into three five-person teams. At first, Kevin was confident in the strength of his team that included Nate and Claire, as well as Sylvia and Greg. But the other teams were more than holding their own, and the competition was fierce.
"I bet you didn't expect us theatre geeks to know how to play, huh?" Tara taunted him with a grin from the other side of the net.
She wasn't far away from the truth, but Kevin wasn't going to admit it.
"I guess you didn't expect a computer geek like myself to know how to play, either, huh?" he countered instead.
The man on Tara's right laughed. "Oh, honey, you don't look like any computer geek I've ever known," he said and gave Kevin an obvious once-over, even if his partner was right behind him.
"I will take that as a compliment," Kevin said and turned t
o the side to wait for Nate to send the ball his way. He slammed it into the empty space on the other side, scoring a point.
"Please, do," the man told him in overtly flirty tone before sending a smile to his partner behind his shoulder. Thankfully, the partner only rolled his eyes, so Kevin assumed they were fine. He glanced to the side, where Charlie was sitting with his team, waiting for their turn. When their gazes met, Charlie tilted his head towards the flirting man and rolled his eyes with a shake of his head.
Kevin wished he was standing opposite Charlie instead, so they could flirt back and forth—and mean it.
He got what he wanted twenty minutes later, after they won the match, and the losing team walked off the field to make room for Charlie's group.
"Hi, there," he said when Charlie quickly took a position opposite him. Kevin knew he was probably grinning like an idiot, but he didn't care.
"Hey." Charlie smiled back. He rolled the short sleeves of his t-shirt up, and his smile grew when he caught Kevin staring.
Because Kevin did stare. Seriously, there were freckles. Charlie had freckles on his damn shoulders.
Kevin was so screwed.
***
"You did your best."
Kevin raised his head from where he was trying to untie his sneakers and saw Charlie who handed him a water bottle with a badly concealed grin.
"Are you trying to rub it in?" Kevin asked, but took the bottle. He swallowed half the water in a few big gulps while Charlie sat down next to him on the small bench. Their thighs and knees were pressed neatly together, and Kevin's heartbeat spiked. Charlie was sweaty, adorable, and hot, and there was only so much Kevin's self-control could take.
"I'm not," Charlie assured him with a nudge to his shoulder. "Are you a sore loser?"
"Definitely not."
"Good. Because sore losers don't get invited to check out a waterfall with the gracious winners."
Kevin chuckled. "Oh really? And is it a team bonding experience, or…?"
Charlie gave him an exasperated look and another nudge to the shoulder. "Or."
"Perfect." Kevin grinned and drained the rest of the water. "How about we break for a shower, and then I'll come pick you up?"
He didn't miss the way Charlie's gaze slid over him when he mentioned a shower, but he tried to will his cock to behave. This was not the time or the place. Waterfall, however, may be.
Kevin would go prepared, at least. Just in case.
"Perfect," Charlie said quietly, almost a whisper, and Kevin had to rewind the last few seconds to know what Charlie was referring to. It was not Kevin's forward thinking, sadly, but perhaps he would appreciate it soon enough.
CHAPTER EIGHT
"I should get out of the city more," Charlie said as they walked through the woods. Once they got far enough away from the campsite, it was very quiet. As a person so used to the constant noise of New York, he found it both disconcerting and peaceful.
Then, suddenly, Kevin paused and turned to face him. Charlie stopped, too, but didn't say anything, didn't ask. He waited for whatever Kevin wanted to say, but the man did something better—he leaned in and kissed him, brushing his lips over Charlie's—gently at first, barely there, and then pressing in.
Charlie kissed him back and put his hands on Kevin's hips to anchor himself as he moved even closer. Then Kevin tangled his fingers in Charlie's hair, and Charlie broke the kiss on a gasp.
Kevin smiled, one side of his mouth arching up. "Yeah, I can see the appeal."
Charlie laughed into the kiss as he leaned in again. It was playful now—chasing each other's tongues, nipping at the soft flesh. At some point, they broke the kiss because they were both smiling too hard.
But then Kevin tilted his head to kiss down his neck, and Charlie's laughter died in his throat. He ran his hands through Kevin's hair and clasped his fingers over his nape when Kevin licked over the mark he'd left there earlier.
God, was it really just this morning?
"Damn," Charlie muttered, fighting a shiver at the spikes of heat Kevin's tongue was sending all over his body. But the words abandoned him when Kevin rolled his hips, bringing their growing erections together.
This was crazy. They were in the middle of the woods, in broad daylight, and they were necking and rutting against each other…
Okay, so maybe it wasn't so crazy. They had done basically the same thing early this morning, and they'd stopped themselves then, but now…
Now Charlie didn't want to stop.
As if he could hear him, Kevin ran his hands down his back and grabbed his ass, pulling Charlie closer against his body.
God, Charlie wanted him so badly. He wished they were in one of the cabins. They had beds there.
Or, hell, he'd settle for a mattress on the floor, if he could only have Kevin naked and ready to fuck him right now.
But that was the downside of these nature walks into the woods, Charlie was quickly learning—they might be nice and even romantic, but practical, they were not.
Then he heard a distant—but not distant enough—burst of laughter, and the spell was broken. He pulled away from Kevin's mouth, but he wasn't so willing to drop his hands from Kevin's shoulders just yet.
When he looked up into Kevin's eyes, Charlie bit his lip at the heat hiding behind them. He would've happily drowned in them, too, in that sweeping feeling that rushed through him at the brush of Kevin's nose against his.
He preferred not to examine that feeling too closely. Instead he took a step back and pulled at Kevin's arm.
"Come on. Let's find that waterfall."
***
It was beautiful. Small, with a pool of water that looked almost impossibly clear, and bracketed by trees. It created a feeling of a secret, hidden place—and one that was private, too.
Charlie could only hope not many people had found out about it just yet.
"Come on." It was Kevin's turn to pull him forward. "Let's get into the water."
They shed their clothes quickly. Charlie hesitated at his swimming shorts, not sure if they should stay on or not. He was pretty sure they would come off anyway while they were here, but in the end, he decided to keep them on, for now.
He almost choked on air when Kevin shoved his shorts down, but as it turned out, he was wearing swimming trunks underneath. Very, very well-fitted swimming trunks.
Charlie couldn't stop staring, especially once he'd noticed Kevin's cock hardening under the thin material. When he looked up, he felt set aflame by Kevin's heated glance.
"Water," he croaked out, voice cracking on the word. It would be incredibly embarrassing if he had enough working brain cells left to worry about it.
Kevin nodded, and then slid in quickly into the small pool. When he turned to Charlie, he was grinning.
"It's perfect."
You're perfect, Charlie wanted to tell him. You're everything I've dreamed about.
He jumped into the water quickly to shut himself up. These words had no place here, not after two days, not—
He broke the surface and his gaze immediately fell on Kevin, who was looking right back, still grinning like a kid. From up close, Charlie could see his wet lashes and how blue his eyes were when he was so close to the water. And his body… Kevin was built more like a soldier than a man who worked with computers.
Then he caught a sight of a dog tags tattoo high on the side of Kevin's chest. He hadn't noticed it before. Yesterday, when he'd seen Kevin shirtless, it had been hidden by the towel slung over his shoulder.
"Were you in the military?" Charlie asked before he could stop himself.
Kevin ran a hand down his chest as if he knew why Charlie had asked. He probably did. Charlie couldn't be the first one to do so after seeing the tattoo.
"Yeah. Four years in the Army."
"Huh." Charlie did not expect that. "To be perfectly honest, a self-proclaimed computer geek like you, I pictured you either at MIT or taking over the world in the basement somewhere, before you started to work
for Sylvia's brother."
Kevin chuckled and shook his head. "No world domination yet. And I did get my diploma, funded by the government thanks to joining up." He shrugged. "There's a lot more computer geeks in the Army—or in the military in general—than people realize."
Charlie suddenly became very aware of the space separating them. It was only a few feet, but it seemed wrong now, somehow. He moved closer, so that he could run his hands up Kevin's sides—fingers of his right hand brushing over the tattoo, but not lingering—before he circled them around Kevin's neck.
"Is that a problem for you?" Kevin asked, gaze focused on Charlie, but not in a sexy way.
"What?" Charlie frowned, pausing before he'd card his fingers through Kevin's hair at his nape. "What's a problem?"
Kevin's laser gaze seem to let out a bit, but he didn't relax fully. "That I was in the military."
"What? No!" Charlie reared back, but then Kevin's arms were suddenly around his waist, keeping him close.
"Hey, it's okay," Kevin said, leaning to rest his forehead against Charlie's and relaxing under his touch. "I was just asking to make sure. Some people…react badly. I've gotten a lot of moralizing lectures about war, among other things."
"Wait, really?" Charlie himself was way closer to a pacifist than a military enthusiast, but he'd never thought of looking down on people who chose to serve.
"Yeah." Kevin grimaced. "Quite a few dates ended abruptly once I took my shirt off."
This, Charlie understood even less. Half-naked Kevin was hard to look away from, tattoo or not. He was about to make a joke about it, but he felt it was more important to put this issue to rest for good.
"Well, I'm not one of those people." Charlie dragged his nails up and down Kevin's nape and received a contented growl in response, so he did it again. "Life's too complicated to judge someone on a single personal decision, you know?"
The intensity of Kevin's gaze was only amplified by how close they were, pressed against each other and sharing air.