by L E Franks
He studied his friend, worried that he’d pushed him too far away. College was a time suck when it came to getting together, but Kevin swore something had crawled up Grady’s ass in the last few months; he wasn’t sure what it was and Grady wasn’t telling. This vacation was meant to get them back to level footing.
“Yep, that’s what you like. Good ass. I’ll meet you back at the condo, I’m going to ride the bike up to the taco shop.”
“Too far. I could eat now. Just grab us something at that sandwich place…”
“Joe’s? Fine. I’ll meet you back here for lunch, we can take a nap before we hit the clubs—Vibe is supposed to be hot.”
“They’ll never let us in.”
“Grady, trust me. I’ll get us in.”
Grady huffed, rolling back onto his stomach, ending the conversation. Shrugging at Grady’s mercurial mood, Kevin picked up his towel, grabbing his RayBans and pulling on his shirt. Maybe he’d been a bit harsh after spring break when Grady had told him about his clubbing experience. Kevin had been jealous and it showed. He shrugged off his worry, focusing on what he could do to make it right. Heading up the beach to the street where he’d chained his bike, he passed the amazingly hot lifeguard. Too bad the dude was straight if the way he was ogling Miss 34DD in the pink leopard bikini was any indication. Such a waste of perfectly fine man-flesh. He shook his head as he peddled away, enjoying the sun on his back and breeze against his face as he went.
The plaza was as nice as he’d remembered, though too many families were crowding the space, enjoying the day and playing in the fountains.
They should have gone to South Beach or maybe the Bahamas, but his parents owned the condo; a free bed was always better than the alternative. He walked his bike across the street to Joe’s, chaining it to the rack.
His stomach growled as he entered the sandwich shop, his tongue dying to taste the delicious food. It smelled great. Roasting meats drifted out from the kitchen and the display case was full of trays covered in cookies and chunks of frosted carrot cake wrapped in plastic.
≈ ≈ ≈ ≈
Joe’s was packed when they arrived but Joey managed to squeeze past the crush at the door to snag a table by the cold drinks case in the back, leaving Ted to stand in line. By the time Ted threaded his way back across the room with their lunch, Joey was both starving and bored—a dangerous combination for a wolf.
He picked off the top slice of rye and gazed into his Reuben. With Ted he’d learned never to make assumptions. Ted slid a Cherry Coke and a bag of jalapeno chips in front of him.
“Jalapeno?” he raised his brow before opening his Coke, wrinkling his nose at the artificial cherry flavoring. The other wolf had very strange ideas about food.
Ted settled across from him, knees and legs tangling with his under the table. He watched as the blond carefully applied pale gold spread to what looked like a slice of some terribly healthy grainy bread.
“What is that?” he used his pickle spear to point at the mess Ted was making.
“Um mustard?” Ted looked up from his work, a little wrinkle between his brows, an indication that he was concentrating heavily on what whatever he was doing.
“French’s not good enough for you?” he smirked.
“Yellow—eww. No thanks. Dijon for me; it has a better flavor profile. You only use the yellow stuff if you’re trying to kill the flavor of something. Like ketchup.”
“You use the yellow mustard to kill the flavor of ketchup?”
“What? Uh, no!” He’d gone back to fiddling with his sandwich and Joey became fascinated trying to identify the ingredients. He finally just gave up and asked, “What is that thing?”
He watched Ted take his first large bite, closing his eyes in pleasure. The smile on those soft lips pushed food out of Joey’s mind. Damn. He squirmed in his chair and took a large bite of his own. The pastrami was nice and lean, perfectly spiced. He picked up a stray piece of sauerkraut and sucked it from his fingers, making Ted smiled broadly before answering. “It’s hummus, avocado, and Havarti cheese on ten-grain bread with extra sprouts, tomato, pickles, onions, and shredded carrots. It’s really good… wanna bite?”
“I’d rather eat the chair, thanks.” Joey said dryly, grateful that Ted had ordered straight from the menu for him. He finished his pickle and opened the bag of chips, pushing it over to Ted.
“Aren’t you missing the meat?” Joey thought back across the short time he’d lived with the other wolf, trying to remember what he usually ate around them.
“Nope. Vegetarian. I haven’t had meat since I was fifteen. Much healthier. Helped my surfing. It’s all about body mass and balance. I wanted to turn pro back then. Met this guy at Trestles down by San Diego, he turned me onto it. He was on the pro circuit for a few years, swore by it. He was very macrobiotic, vegan—hardcore. I couldn’t handle that level of preparation living in a dorm, but healthy vegetarian stuck.”
Joey was incredulous. “How does that even work when you’re…” he waved his hand in the air trying not to mention their shifter state in public. He’d never really noticed that Ted wasn’t eating meat, but he’d never heard of a vegetarian wolf before.
Ted just shrugged. “Oh, him. Yeah… he’s not. I just prefer not to think about what he does when he’s out on a run. I brush my teeth really, really well when I return.”
“That’s so freaky! Does Carlo know?” Joey mentally slapped himself as soon as the question slipped out. Of course, Carlo knew. Carlo knew all about the other man—they’d been close for years… all the years that Carlo had stayed away from home, keeping even Joey at arm’s length. It made him wonder.
“Can I ask you a question?”
Ted stopped eating, raising his brow as he considered Joey. “Ask.”
“So you were fifteen, pro-surfer-wannabe, how’d you end up here?”
“Here?” Ted indicated the sandwich shop with a little jerk of his head.
“You know—here with Carlo, I know how you got to Joe’s,” Joey snarked.
“Hmm… not all my story to tell.” Ted looked thoughtful, then pulled out his phone. He flipped through the pictures on it until he found the right one—sliding it over to Joey. It was a picture of a lithe Ted, wrapped around a purple surfboard on one side, and a fierce Carlo on the other. Carlo’s hair was long in the picture, brushing his tan shoulders in thick wet black strands. He wore low-slung board shorts clinging to painfully thin hips. It was hard to look at.
“When was this taken?” he asked pushing the phone back to Ted.
“Um, this was taken at Zuma Beach… maybe six months after he arrived in California? It was late winter but one of those days that felt like spring. Mid-seventies, though the water was still cold enough to send your nads running for cover… we’d stripped out of our wetsuits and were heading back to the car when I asked a friend of mine to take the shot. Don’t know why, really. I might’ve been kinda into Carlo back then.”
Joey raised his brow. This was interesting.
“He looks awfully thin in the picture.” Seeing proof that Carlo was suffering in California, despite what everyone was saying at home, was … disturbing.
“It was taken maybe two—three weeks after I first met him on the beach in Malibu. I’d finished school early and was at loose ends. Moved up north looking for something different.
“So you graduated from high school early?” Joey was trying fit the random facts into some sort of order so he could think about them later.
“Um, yeah, but this was taken after college…” he trailed off. “What?” Ted looked honestly confused as he gazed at him across the table.
“How fuckin’ old are you?” Joey had lowered his voice to swear.
“Oh, not old. I graduated from high school at fifteen. Was able to test out of a lot of requirements, went to UC San Diego and graduated by the time I was eighteen. Surfed on the circuit for a year or so but I wasn’t good enough to finish in the money very often. Ended up back in California, w
orking on my masters in marine biology about the same time Carlo started at Pepperdine. Carlo and I are the same age, give or take a few months.”
Joey was completely blown away. “So what? You’re a brainiac?”
“Mmmhmm.” Ted had gone back to his food and didn’t look too interested in the topic.
“So, back to the point, how did you end up here in South Carolina?”
Ted considered his answer and chewed on his lower lip. His knee started to knock against Joey’s own—a sure sign that Ted was a little nervous. He’d seen that particular sign a time or two around the house. Finally after an exaggerated silence he began, “I guess cuz Carlo asked me.” He seemed satisfied with his own answer and pulled a chip out of Joey’s bag.
Joey just started at him, incredulous. Really? Not fuckin’ likely.
“Fine, don’t tell me. I’ll ask Carlo...” Ted looked relieved but Joey barreled on, “…really Ted, it’s not some state secret. He was just in California. From what Charles said he was getting straight “A”s and doing fine. Ready to come home. Are you telling me… what? What are you telling me?” Joey nailed Ted with his stare. He watched the man squirm in his chair.
“I didn’t tell you anything, Joey. It’s private. You should ask Carlo – though good luck getting an answer out of him.”
“He wasn’t coming home was he?” It was now completely obvious to Joey. “If he wasn’t planning on coming back to South Carolina, why did he? Carlo is a planner. Wait. Wait, it was about a year ago that he started making plans to renovate the beach house.” Joey had stopped addressing his questions to Ted at all. He was too focused on following the trail of breadcrumbs that Carlo had left behind.
“I think you’re…” Ted began and Joey waved him silent, still thinking about the man he knew. It was pretty obvious now that Carlo was still angry enough to make a new life for himself in California. But something must have happened after the summer of his junior year at Pepperdine.
“Was Carlo seeing anyone his junior year?” The nonsequiter threw Ted and his look of alarm was enough to answer that question for Joey.
“Um, how? Uh… you should definitely talk to Carlo about this. He hates having anyone talk about him behind his back. He’s had enough of that already.”
“Who was it?” Ted looked like he wanted to puke, it was unfortunate but Joey didn’t have time to make him feel good about spilling his guts. He went in for the kill. “It’s too late Ted, Carlo will think you’ve betrayed him – you’ve given too much away and I’ll make sure he believes that you spilled all his secrets willingly. You know that I only have Carlo’s best interests at heart. But I can’t protect him if I don’t understand what’s going on. I only have the pieces to half this puzzle. Whatever Angelo and the Elders have planned may, or may not, be in Carlo’s best interest. But I have to know why he came back. You have to tell me what happened to him in California. If you don’t, I’ll make sure Carlo puts you on the next flight back to LA.”
Ted sat there for a moment and shrugged. “Honestly Joey, you really do have to talk to Carlo. He’d disappear every once and a while, would head out on his own a couple of times a month, he hooked up a lot never dated much. Pretty low key. All I do know is that he’d been working on plans for the beach house in order to sell it. He’d wanted to find a place on the beach anywhere but here—and then overnight he changed his mind. When I asked him why, he’d get all tense and brush me off. I gave up after a while, and then four months ago he asked if I could find a Ph.D. program in my discipline here, and I said yes. That’s it. One minute it was life on the beach in Kauai, the next minute Hilton Head.”
Ted smiled his sweet smile and then smirked at him, snagging the last of the chips. “So really, strong armed tactics Joey? So glad Carlo has a big tough wolf like you to watch his back, cuz I was almost thinking about being scared for half a second back there, I mean, spilled the secrets, really Joey. I think you meant beans.” He waggled his eyebrows at him.
“Ass!” Joey grumped and swung around to check out the eye candy that was walking through the door—catching the guy’s gaze and making the him blush. It was their new neighbor, so cute in his open shirt and plaid shorts, looking flustered in their direction.
“Sheesh Joey, not going for subtle anymore?” Ted brushed his long bangs back, out of his eyes, and not diverting his gaze from the cute guy either.
They stared after him winding through the tables to make it to the back of the line before looking in their direction again.
“Come on! You can smell it practically dripping off him. All I have to do is stare at him and he gets wet!” Joey smirked, leaning back in his chair. He couldn’t resist another glance at the cute dude.
“That is so uncool man, he’s just a civvie… you shouldn’t play with him, he doesn’t stand a chance.”
“What about you? I can tell you liked the other one from this morning; he’s just the kind of snack you like taking a bite out of.”
“What the hell, he looked like a sweet piece, but that doesn’t change the fact that Carlo is going to be pissed when he finds out that you’re still sniffing around them.”
“I think we should invite the two of them to the party! We live there too, and I’m planning on having that fine ass before the clock strikes midnight!”
“Calm down drama boy, you don’t even know if he’s single—the two of them looked pretty tight to me. Besides, Carlo’s probably given himself an aneurysm by now and we still need to stop by the store.”
“Just a sec, I’ll just invite him and then we’ll go.” Joey hopped up, making his way over to the line.
≈ ≈ ≈ ≈
Kevin’s stomach gurgled again and two heads swiveled around to look. Crap, he didn’t think it was that loud. Between the looks and crooked smiles the duo was showering him with, his board shorts were starting to feel a little tight. Great. Though they were both pretty hot—fuck, those were real men, not college boys and they were beyond hot.
He glanced back at the two guys, barely registering the counter girl finishing with the customer in front of him. Grady would like the blond and he could deal with the dark haired beauty with ice blue eyes. Hell, he could lick that guy from his ankle to his chest and never get tired. The guys smirked and he suddenly wondered if he’d done something wrong.
“She’s ready to take your order,” blondie said, his voice smooth as honey.
The dark haired guy stood and came over, leaning on the counter without regard to personal space. “You here on vacation?”
“Um, yeah. Just drove in from New York.”
“I’m Joey and this is Ted.” The blond gave him a little wave and a grin that raised the hairs on the back of his neck. The dude slouched back into his chair, apparently content just to watch his buddy operate.
Kevin wished he’d carried his towel inside. His dick wasn’t behaving, making matters worse, and the restaurant was packed with families. He casually grabbed a large bag of chips, letting it dangle in front of him before responding. He glanced down and groaned—hopefully, Grady was a fan of pork rinds.
“Kevin.” He stretched out his hand and felt it wrapped in a large calloused mitt. Joey used it to tug him closer.
“Well Kevin from New York… We’re having a party at our place tomorrow. We really want you to come.” The last, whispered in his ear, almost set him off right there.
Kevin swallowed, his throat tight. A kid screeched and the door opened behind him, loud tourists filtered in. Joey held his gaze and Kevin imagined what it would feel like to be kissed by the sensuous mouth only inches from his. Too bad it wasn’t going to happen right here, not with all the people crowding in.
“Hey, do you know what you want?” Kevin looked to the side at the counter girl—Susan, according to the tag—she lifted her eyebrow then glanced down at her pad of paper, tapping the pencil sharply on the counter. “Uh Yeah—” Kevin swallowed over the lump in his throat, unsure if he could handle a man like Joey. “Can I have two turk
ey clubs to go?”
Joey had stepped away for a second and now he was back, his heat radiating around Kevin, warming him to his toes. “Here’s the address. We’ll be in the hot tub for a bit, so bring your suit.” Joey shot him a huge smile then reached down, pinching him on the ass.
Kevin squeaked and jumped forward. Susan rolled her eyes and took his money. By the time he’d collected cold drinks, the bag of chips and the sandwiches, and turned around, the two guys were gone. He studied the address, realizing he’d have to look it up when he got back to the condo.
≈ ≈ ≈ ≈
Joey waited for Kevin to leave Joe’s before jumping into the Jeep and driving around the lot to the Piggly Wiggly. He found a parking spot easily and shut the engine down, turning to Ted. “Hey, you know I’m only worried about Carlo, right?”