by J. S. Finley
He stared out the window and was disappointed when they turned.
“Wait, it went away.”
“You’ll see more, trust me.”
He was desperate for another glance at the ocean. “There it is. How can you drive when the ocean is right there?”
“Wait until I take you for the beach drive.”
Their gazes connected. “Beach drive?”
“Oh yeah, on the beach. I bought a convertible recently. We can go in that.”
Excitement and shock pulled through him. “You can drive on the beach?”
They stopped at a light, and Thomas turned to face him, his smile wide. “Oh yeah, we’ll be driving on the beach.”
Clay sighed and slumped back against the seat. This was going to be one of the best vacations he’d ever had. Well, other than Tennessee. Being with the guys in the mountains had been amazing.
“I’ve gone to heaven.”
Thomas’ deep chuckle warmed him. “You’re going to sweat a lot, but yeah, this place is nice.”
“Ugh, I’m not really good with sweating.”
Thomas laughed, the sound making Clay feel good. They drove a little more, and he shook his head, marveling at the beauty. Blue water, white sand, and sun all the way. He could really get used to it.
“I love it here.” Clay easily saw why Thomas stayed.
He watched the ocean out Thomas’ window and noticed the way Thomas smiled when he stated how excited he was about seeing the water each time the area opened and the buildings went away. Eventually, he couldn’t see the ocean because of the condos and other buildings in the way. He settled in the seat and looked out the other side of the truck, taking in the view.
“Are you going to tell me what the big secret is?” Clay asked.
“Not yet. But when we get to my place, pull on your swimsuit and grab a shirt for a cover-up. I have sunscreen, but it would be good if you go ahead and apply a layer before we head out.”
“Okay, sounds good. I’m trusting you with this.”
Thomas shot him a sexy smile, which made Clay do a double take.
“Good, you should trust me.”
Clay chuckled as Thomas flipped on the blinker to turn into a neighborhood. The houses were short, the neighborhood not too big. It was nice, well maintained with scrubby lawns of grass and rocks, some palm trees, but an overwhelmingly large number of bushes separating each house. He guessed it gave them privacy from their neighbors, which would be nice.
“Is this where you live?”
Thomas nodded. “It is.”
“Nice.”
“They’re small houses. My place was cheap. It’s not a mansion or super nice—old, but I’ve done some updating.”
Clay rolled his eyes. “Hey, you’re so freaking close to the ocean, and these houses are nice. It’s good here.”
“Thanks. I like it. It works for me. I’m happy.”
They drove down one street then connected with another and finally ended up in front of a short, light red colored brick house with white trim. “I like it.”
Thomas smiled, and his eyes narrowed a bit. “It’s pink.”
Clay burst out laughing then slapped Thomas’ arm. “It’s light red.”
Thomas shook his head, his gaze warming Clay. “It’s small, which is why we’re renting the place Lane found.”
“He does a good job of finding places for us to stay.”
Thomas nodded and cracked open his door. “He does. So this is my home and yours for the next few days. I have a key inside for you so you can come and go as you need. I’ll be taking the truck to work when I have to go in, but you’re more than welcome to drive my convertible. It’s not new, and you have to be still to put the top up, but it’s wheels for you while you’re here. If you go out on the beach with it, you’ll have to wash the undercarriage. That’s the only real maintenance.”
Excitement pinged through him. Work had muted his reactions, but being here with Thomas made him feel like he’d woken up. “You’re too nice.”
“Clay, it’s you, one of my best friends. I’ve seen you drive before. I know you’ll be fine.”
“Thanks.” Clay’s heart beat faster when Thomas smiled at him. They were good friends, and he would treat Thomas’ car and house with respect.
Thomas helped him in with the bags and showed him to a bedroom at the back of the house. There were two windows, one above a dresser, the other on the opposite wall. The walls were white, but there were a couple of photos from their time in the military. Clay moved to one shot of all of them. He stared at his friends, glad they’d reconnected.
“I love that photo,” Thomas said.
“It’s good.”
Thomas placed his hand on Clay’s shoulder as they looked at the photo. Memories of more dangerous times filtered over his thoughts. Thomas squeezed his shoulder then moved away from him.
“This is the guest room. The bed is only a twin, but it’s a place to sleep. I’ve got some stuff in the fridge for sandwiches. I’m making a picnic, and I’ll pack you some extra food.” His house was small but comfortable. It was obvious Thomas was proud of his home. The rooms were kept neat, his house clean. There were few personal items out other than the photos. Clay spied a shot of the six of them in Tennessee, which made him feel good.
Clay shook his head. “You don’t have to give me extra food.”
Thomas smiled, warming Clay. “I will because where we’re going won’t have food and no bathroom either.”
Clay paused, his gaze steady on Thomas. “Now you’ve got me worried.”
“Don’t be; you’ll love it.”
Thomas patted his back before he left the room. Clay sighed as he opened his suitcase and pulled out his swimsuit. The crap in Virginia was on hold; he had to remember to leave it be. Work sucked, but he couldn’t deal with it while he was here. Once he got home, he would take care of all the shit there.
He changed quickly before using the bathroom down the hall. He spread some sunscreen on his legs, arms and chest, but couldn’t reach his back so he went in search of Thomas.
“Hey, could you help me with the sunscreen on my back?” Clay called out as he opened his door. He stepped into the hall and froze when he saw Thomas pull up his swim trunks, his naked ass on display long enough for Clay to see it was tanned. He swallowed over the feelings twisting through him.
“Sure, I’ll do you; you do me.”
“Um, yeah.” Clay had seen Thomas naked plenty of times, but this time, it was different. He was thinking too much and drawing weird conclusions. He didn’t want to see Thomas naked, did he? His interest had to be because Jake had been talking about Brent and how he liked to touch the man. Jake had waxed poetic about how good Brent’s ass felt in his hands, so much so, Clay had to tell him to knock it off one night when he got boned up hearing about their sexcapades. Then a few days later, Clay asked about sex and Jake hadn’t held back. It had to be the reason he was feeling weird about seeing Thomas’ ass. He didn’t want to touch Thomas, and he sure as heck didn’t want to have sex with the man. They were only good friends.
Thomas came close and took the bottle of sunscreen from Clay, squirting some on his hand. Clay turned so he wasn’t facing his friend and waited for the first touch. The feel of Thomas’ hands smoothing over his shoulders made goosebumps break out down his arms. Thomas slowly smoothed his hands down Clay’s skin, rubbing circles over his lower back as his fingers dipped below the waistband of his board shorts.
He was getting hard, which was a major no-no dressed like this. He had a pair of compression shorts on for comfort, but it wouldn’t be enough to hide the boner coming to life from Thomas’ touch.
His need to get laid was bigger than ever. He’d not thought too much about dating recently. His workload was crazy busy, and he was exhausted when he wasn’t working. Becoming a cop was what he’d wanted a year ago, but right now, with the shit he had to deal with in the department, he would give anything to make it end.
“Okay, I think I got your back well. Once we—dang, I almost told you what we were doing. I’ll use spray later, once this wears off.”
Clay turned around and stared into Thomas’ eyes. “Why won’t you tell me what we’re doing?”
Thomas winked, his smile stretching wide. “I want this to be a nice surprise.”
Clay’s lips twisted, and he rolled his eyes so he could look away from Thomas without it being obvious that he couldn’t look him I the eyes. “I’m sure it will be.”
“Get my back, then we can head out.”
Clay squeezed sunscreen onto his hands and hesitated, wishing he was at liberty to touch more than Thomas’ back. He shook his head, trying to rid himself of the thought of touching before he spread the goop over the man’s strong muscles. It was painful because he wanted to do so much more than spread sunscreen on his skin. Clay checked himself. When had he gone from being friends with Thomas to thinking of the man as more than a friend? He wanted to have sex with him, and he’d never wanted to have sex with another man before.
Clay spread the rest of the sunscreen then stepped away from Thomas, keeping himself from reaching out and smoothing his hands down his arm.
“I’ve got you covered.”
“Okay, it’s time. You ready to head out?” Thomas didn’t turn to look at him, and it was just as well because Clay was having a hard time dealing with his thoughts and emotions.
“Sure. Let’s go.”
Thomas was quiet on the way out of the neighborhood. Clay didn’t feel much like talking either. He happily watched the scenery go by, loving the palm trees and low bushes. They were still in the truck, so he guessed they weren’t driving the beach.
They made a right out of his neighborhood and were headed in the opposite direction they’d come from. He had no idea how much longer they could go before they ran out of island, but he was loving the view.
He was a little uncomfortable, and he guessed Thomas could feel his unease. Somehow he needed to get the conversation going again.
Traffic slowed and Thomas turned, his gaze locking with Clay’s. Two seconds passed before Thomas focused on the road. The look Thomas had given him wasn’t anything he’d ever seen from the man before. It was weird, but he liked the attention from his friend
He wasn’t sure what was going on, and maybe it was his conversations with Jake, but fuck if he didn’t get a funny feeling in his stomach thinking about Thomas touching his back. He needed to rein in his emotions; Thomas would never think of him as more than a friend.
Thomas made a right turn, heading away from the beach. Clay glanced around, his head swiveling as he stared at the houses on the street.
“Um, where are we going?”
“It’s a surprise,” Thomas said.
“You’ve been rather silent. What’s up?”
Thomas cracked a smile and shrugged. “Just thinking.”
Clay didn’t ask because he wasn’t sure he wanted to know. What if Thomas’ just thinking was similar to his just thinking? But it couldn’t be, because he’d been thinking about turning around when Thomas was applying sunscreen to his back, then tugging his friend close and running his hands over Thomas’ muscled chest. When he’d seen the smooth globes of Thomas’ naked butt, he’d been thinking about how it would feel to squeeze those cheeks, maybe slide his fingers over the crease and see how it felt. He wasn’t gay and neither was Thomas, so this had to stop or Thomas would end up hating him.
2
Thomas hadn’t expected to feel so much when he saw Clay. They were close friends and had been through so much together, but there had been nothing more. When Clay had told him he needed to take his vacation days, Thomas jumped at the chance to have his friend close, but now, he wasn’t sure he’d really thought through what having Clay in his house meant.
When they met up in Tennessee, he’d enjoyed Clay’s company. They’d grown closer the night they spent snowed in together in Charlotte. Since the week with the guys in the mountains, they were all closer, but there was something about Clay that made Thomas feel warmer.
The trip out on the boat was supposed to be a special treat, a way for him to test the waters, so to speak. Maybe it was wrong, but he needed to know if Clay felt anything for him at all.
He pulled into the parking lot where his boat was moored, and Clay drew in a quick breath. The excitement in his eyes was contagious.
“You’re taking me out on your boat.”
Clay almost bounced in the seat as Thomas pulled into a parking spot and cut the engine. He turned to stare at his friend. The light in his eyes made Thomas’ heart twist. He would never tell Clay his smile made him feel like a million bucks, but he’d do everything he could to keep the smile on Clay’s face while they were together.
“Yep, we’re going out on my boat. It’s only a small fishing boat.”
Clay’s eyes got even brighter. “Will we be fishing?”
Thomas shook his head. He wished they had time, but it was a little late in the day to start. “No, we’re headed out fairly late. I thought I'd take you out, maybe do a little bit of sightseeing from the water, then we’d come back in and have dinner on my patio. I have this new grill set-up, and I bought a couple of good steaks to go along with some shrimp.”
“It sounds great.” Clay flashed him a devastatingly beautiful smile. The smile rocked Thomas to the soles of his feet and back up to his heart, then swirled around his brain, messing with his thoughts.
Clay grabbed the towels from the seat, and Thomas slung the cooler over his shoulder. After locking his truck, he led Clay over to his boat and stepped on board, holding out a hand to Clay to make sure the first step to the deck was stable.
“Thanks.” Clay’s gaze met his, and his body heated. Clay’s fingers in his hand felt good. He could have made it on deck by himself, but Thomas liked the contact. Maybe he should be worried by how much he enjoyed Clay’s touch, but for now, he wasn’t going to stress about it.
“There’s storage under the seat at the back. You can put the towels in there.”
“I like this boat.” The praise from Clay made him feel great, but what he really wanted was sitting two slips over. A forty-five-foot pleasure fishing boat with a cabin, which included all the bells and whistles, arrived four days after he’d bought this small, twenty-eight-foot fishing boat from a repo lot. His boat hadn’t cost him a lot of money, but he owned it outright, so all the money he made was profit after he paid the slip fee.
The knowledge he owned this boat hadn’t stopped him from hearing his clients wishing they were on the posh boat. Of course, they wanted to be on the gorgeous fishing boat; he wanted to be on the boat too. The price difference for a day with him versus a day spent on the big boat was about a thousand dollars, maybe more. The men who came onto his boat would never spend the eighteen hundred to two thousand required to step onto the fancy yacht. He catered to working men, police officers, firemen, low ranking military guys who made enough money to go on vacation but not enough to live large. He was proud of what he’d done, how he’d built his company from nothing to this, but one day he would love to own a fancy pleasure boat.
“Hey, buddy, what’s with you and that boat?” Clay asked.
He shook his head and laughed. “Nothing other than old fashioned lust.”
Clay stepped close and put his hand on Thomas’ shoulder. “It sure does look nice, but looks aren’t everything. You’re a good man, Thomas Newberry, and the people who hire you to go fishing are lucky to have you as their guide.”
He warmed and nodded, wondering if Clay had any idea how his praise tickled his senses and made him a little giddy.
“You’re too nice. Come on and help me cast off. I came by this morning and made sure the boat was ready so we don’t have much to do to get out of here.”
“Awesome. Tell me how to help, and I’m your man.”
If only Clay were his man. But he was hoping for too much to think Clay wanted him. He’d twi
sted his fantasies and thinking Clay could be his would only lead to trouble. His heart sank. He didn’t want to kill their friendship because of his desires.
“The rope at the front, unhook it from the dock and pull it on board. I usually coil it to keep it out from underfoot.”
Clay moved to the front of the boat and reached for the rope, unhooking it and wrapping it in a coil, which he placed on the deck of the boat.
“Now go to the back and unhook the rope.”
He watched Clay move to the back of the boat and unhook the second rope. They were free from the dock, and Clay was stowing the ropes. He put the boat in reverse and worked his way from the dock out into the waterway. Getting out to the open water from this dock setup was easy. Some places he docked were difficult to manage, but this marina wasn’t too bad. A few boats were coming in for the day, so he had to be careful and stay out of their way. The locals and other tour operators were easy to deal with. It was the drunken idiots who didn’t know the area he had to stay away from.
He waved to a few of the guys he knew as he headed out into the Halifax River. Clay inched his way over, arms out as he moved. The boat rocked from the wake of a larger vessel, and Clay grabbed onto him.
“How do you stay steady?” Clay asked.
Thomas chuckled. “I do this all day, every day.”
Clay rolled his eyes. “So you’re used to it.”
“I am. Have a seat up front. You’ll probably see some dolphins and maybe a few manatees.” Thomas kept his eyes on Clay as he moved, wishing he had someone else here to pilot the craft so he could sit with Clay and watch for dolphins.
Clay lowered carefully to a seat and turned, looking out over the water. He leaned over the rail a little and laughed. When Clay turned, the wonder on his face was contagious.
“Hey, Thomas, there’s a dolphin up here. He keeps poking his head up.”
Clay’s laughter was music to Thomas’ ears. He slowed the engine, hoping Clay would get an even better look at the dolphin. Anything to make this man happy.
“Thomas, this is amazing,” Clay called out, the joy in his voice infectious. Thomas’ heart swelled.