by Mia Terry
With a drink in his hand, Ollie turned to Jen and asked if she was ready for Jai to be her assistant at the markets tomorrow.
“I’m excited,” she said, smiling widely. “He seems a very charming man, so I’ll enjoy spending the morning with him. I just hope he won’t find it all too boring once he sees the reality.”
Ollie laughed. “The man moved to Dungoon, a small country town, and has made himself a very satisfying life there. I’ve yet to see him bored by anything, and I can’t imagine helping you at the markets will challenge that record. So you’ll have a good time with him, he really is a lovely guy.”
“And Rhys said his partner was a police officer,” enquired Andrew.
“He is,” Ollie confirmed. He wasn’t sure what to make of Andrew’s dry tone. Suddenly a daunting thought occurred to him. What if it annoyed Andrew that Luke was a police officer, and Ollie had brought him to their home? If this house was too nice to have come from ordinary farming, maybe they had made their money in a “cash crop?”
Just as Ollie’s thoughts were spiraling into horrible scenes where Luke might have to arrest Rhys’s parents, Andrew smiled and continued. “Sorry, that’s me being nosy. Rhys here just said you were a merchant banker, so I was wondering where you came to be friends with a country cop?”
Ollie relaxed a little. “When Jai moved to the country, his best friend was looking for a new hobby. So, I was lucky enough to gain Kris as a rowing partner, and he has become one of my best friends, and that circle ended up growing to his partner Billy, and Jai and Luke.”
“Nothing like being stuck out on Sydney harbor, for hours at a time, to decide if you want to be friends with someone, especially in a two-man scull,” Andrew observed.
At Ollie’s enquiring look about his rowing knowledge, Andrew continued. “I was in the Riverview rowing eight for my senior years and then rowed in the coxless pairs for Sydney University.”
Okay, that was a bit of a surprise. Nothing about Andrew in his old woolen jumper with a slightly unraveling cuff and threadbare jeans with bare feet screamed that he had attended one of the most prestigious boys’ schools in the country. Although Ollie had to admit he should know better than that type of snobbery. Probably when Kris and Jai were dressed up for a night out in their leathers or wings, people might say the same thing about them. Although in Ollie’s experience, pretty boys in faux kink accessories were a far more common alumni of the elite private school community than many people would assume.
However, Ollie didn’t even allow for a pause. “Really. Kris, Jai and I, all went to Riverview although we were all in different years and didn’t know each other until after school. I think all of our fathers went there as well.”
Andrew smiled and nodded. “People say this is a small-town community up here, but I’m sure the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney is just as small a world. Rhys didn’t tell me your last name; I might have known your father.”
Fuck, Ollie wasn’t sure if Rhys even knew his last name, even though they’d had sex more than once. Rhys must have been watching closely enough to see that particular worry pass his face. “Dummy I do know it. You filled out a form for me when you registered for lessons,” Rhys whispered quietly enough that Ollie was the only one who could hear.
With one concern dealt with, Ollie replied to Rhys’s father. “Sorry sir, I should have introduced myself properly. I’m Oliver Gilsworth, well really Ollie Gilsworth. Watching Rhys’s father, Ollie waited for the moment that the man put together his last name with its inevitable synonym in that context, billions. Andrew’s background in the Eastern Suburbs meant that he couldn’t fail to make that connection.
“Ah, that would make you Wally’s son then,” Andrew said. He smiled at solving the puzzle, but other than that his face didn’t change too much, as he accepted the news with seeming neutrality. It impressed Ollie, even as he nodded a confirmation to Andrew, few people made the connection between him and his family’s extreme wealth without at least a widening of the eyes. Though Andrew’s next sentence made his lack of surprise a little more understandable. “We weren’t in the same year at school, so I didn’t know him to talk to, but your grandfather managed our family trust.”
As Ollie’s grandfather was a private banker whose only clients were the very rich, at least it meant that Andrew’s lovely home was presumably not built with dope money after all.
Jen’s amused voice broke into Ollie’s concentration. “Bloody hell, by the time we figure out all your connections the food will be cold. Ollie, could you and Rhys set the table? Andrew, I definitely need you for the serving out.”
You had to admire a woman who was completely unfazed by the wealth and position of either her husband or her guest.
“Now the test goes the other way,” Rhys teased as they got the silver out of the larger dresser on the far wall. “Do you know my last name?”
“Rhys Clark,” said Ollie. “Mark mentioned it, and you were hot enough that I committed it to memory so I could Google stalk you. FYI there are some spectacular shirtless pics of you in post-event celebrations.”
Rhys flat out smirked. “Good, you’ve seen the few events I actually won. I won’t have to figure out a way to slip my success stories into the conversation.
* * *
Halfway through dinner and Ollie winked at Rhys across the table. Rhys wouldn’t have had to worry about a discreet way of letting Ollie know he’d really been a great surfer, not with his proud parents around.
Ollie liked the not-so-subtle boasting. He liked their pride in their son. Ollie thought Rhys was a hell of a man himself, so it was charming to see his parents were just as proud of him.
“You’re just lucky my parents haven’t brought out videos of me surfing when I was a teenager,” Rhys said to Ollie, in response to Ollie’s smile.
“I’m not saying I wouldn’t love to see that,” Ollie replied. The worst of it was he wasn’t just teasing Rhys, he’d actually quite like to see the man rip up serious waves any day of the week.
“Don’t,” barked Rhys, when he saw his mother move like she would get up in the middle of dinner and get out the footage immediately.
Ollie couldn’t help laughing at the charm of the family dynamic. “I’ll YouTube it later,” he assured Jen.
The food was spectacular, which he should have predicted from the quality of Jen’s baked goods. They were served a sweet potato salad—everything in the salad but the feta and balsamic vinegar had been grown on the property—and Atlantic salmon on rice with an orange and ginger sauce. Ollie liked the easy way Andrew’s contribution was casual rather than there for performance value. Apparently, he’d prepared the start of the meal, while Jen had finished up her preparation for the next day’s market.
That casual divvying up of duties impressed Ollie. It was not the household he grew up in. Ollie admired his father for many things, but his aptitude in the kitchen wasn’t one of them. Their family had adhered to far stricter gender roles, and Ollie had had to rely on YouTube tutorials for basic kitchen survival skills when he moved out of home.
When Ollie took the last bite of his lemon meringue pie, he could only compliment them both. “That was all so delicious, thank you.”
“No. Thank you,” Jen said, surprising him. “It was lovely to have a family dinner with a guest here. We don’t entertain nearly enough of Rhys’s friends nowadays.”
“Mum,” protested Rhys. “You’ll make me sound like Nigel-no-friends if you keep on saying things like that.” He turned to Ollie. “I do actually have friends. I’ve probably just been a little reserved since I got home here.”
“Hey,” Ollie assured him and included both his parents in his smile. “I feel lucky to be among the elite of Rhys’s acquaintances, especially if it means I get to have a dinner like that one.”
Andrew quirked an eyebrow in his direction. “Is acquaintances what they are calling it now? I was hoping for a slightly warmer description seeing as my son seems to have not made it home a
t least several times this week.”
Rhys’s father got the drawn-out “dad” from Rhys in exactly the same tone that Ollie imagined him using as a teenager. “And that’s why it is always a mistake to build your dream house on your parent’s land so they can monitor your comings and goings when they go for their early morning surfs.”
Ollie though could only laugh at the way Andrew had called him out. “And also why your date shouldn’t say stupid things like elite acquaintances.” He leaned over and kissed Rhys on the cheek. “Especially when he is honored to be your date for the evening.”
The smile from all three Clarks made it clear he had said the right thing.
“Well on that note,” Rhys said. “We might make a break for it before you two do anything more to embarrass me.” Despite his warning to his parents, Rhys kissed them both affectionately on their cheeks.
Ollie offered Andrew his hand.
“Good to meet you,” Andrew said, as he shook it. His words were the casual formality everyone said, but there was an intention in his voice which Ollie believed. It was weird thinking he was probably not going to be seeing Andrew again. It had been natural to sit at this table and be part of the family squabbles. Now, this was the first good-bye to a part of Rhys, and there was a genuine sadness to it that Ollie could only ignore.
He kissed Jen on the cheek and took comfort from the fact that at least he’d get to see her at tomorrow’s markets. She patted him on the cheek affectionately before they made their way out the door.
Walking away, Ollie liked the fact that Rhys took his hand in sight of his parents. “So, does this mean I passed the parental test,” Ollie said, as he swung their joined hands.
Rhys used his free hand to playfully punch his shoulder. “Hey, I might live close enough that they can obviously keep track of my comings and goings, and I can tell you I wasn’t as aware as I am now of my father tracking my movements, but I’m not such a loser as I need them to vet my lovers for me.”
“Whatever, man-child.” Ollie winked at Rhys. “Does moving four hundred meters away even count as moving out of home?”
Ollie had to move quickly to escape another of Rhys’s swinging arms, laughing all the time.
“No, seriously,” Ollie continued. “Your parents are charming, and I’d have dinner with my parents once a week too, if my mother cooked like that.”
Ollie’s tone must have been suitably conciliatory because Rhys accepted his hand again as they walked.
“How often do you see your parents,” Rhys asked.
“Not as regularly as you. They travel a lot, both for dad’s work and for pleasure. When we do meet up it tends to be at a restaurant in the city as both my dad and I work late.”
“I couldn’t do it,” Rhys said. “I’m too claustrophobic to be in an office all day, though I bet yours is the height of luxury. How many hours do you work inside each day? Ten, eleven?
“More like twelve.” Ollie took a deep breath before admitting something he hadn’t even properly articulated to himself. “That’s been one of the best things about this week, not being at the whim of the three million bloody emails I get, and getting to see the midweek sun.”
He saw the horror on Rhys’s face. “It’s not really so bad.” Ollie wasn’t sure which of them he was trying to convince. “I get my rowing in three mornings a week, before work, and I love being out there on the open harbor.” Only, if he went to the Gulf, that would be another pleasure bargained away.
He must have looked sad enough that Rhys tugged him to a stop and put his mouth on him. All of Ollie’s conscious thoughts were banished in the warmth and tenderness of Rhys’s kiss. Hell, it was probably because all available oxygen went straight to his dick.
Rhys pulled away and smiled. “It’s all midweek sun tomorrow.”
Ollie kept his hand on Rhys’s bare skin under his shirt as they walked the final hundred meters to his house. As they neared the entrance, the automatic lighting flashed on, giving the small but beautifully formed house a welcoming glow.
“Your house is pretty great,” Ollie said.
Rhys stopped at the stairs and leant over as if to taste Ollie again. “Does this mean you’ll give up the luxury of the resort to spend the night here with me?”
Ollie fisted his hand in the back of Rhys’s shirt to pull him closer. “I could be persuaded,” he said. Rhys’s body pressed against his own and their hard-ons touched. “Yeah, completely convinced.”
Rhys laughed and led the way straight to his bedroom. “I was totally going to make you catch an Uber if you said no.”
The sex they had that night was languid and affectionate. Not that the heat had gone; it was just they had to stop so often to kiss, that a rhythm of franticness couldn’t be reached. It didn’t make Ollie’s orgasm any less intense, but as he fell asleep in the circle of Rhys's arms, he couldn’t help but feel a great sadness that he could count down, on one hand, the number of times he would get to do this again.
Chapter 14
It was his phone beeping that woke Rhys up. This was unusual because, normally, he woke at six-thirty like clockwork, and an eight o’clock alarm should have been totally unnecessary. However, normally, he didn’t have one of the hottest bodies he had ever seen in person wrapped around his own.
“I definitely don’t want to get out of bed,” Ollie complained, sticking his slightly cold nose into the soft nape of Rhys’s neck.
“You are so lucky I blocked out the rest of the week for clients so you don’t have to get up at my normal six-thirty and can hang in bed this long with me,” Rhys said, absentmindedly, far more concerned with the hardening cock pressed against his ass than any words.
Unfortunately, Ollie was paying more attention than he thought. “You did what?”
Okay. Now Rhys had to figure out a way to soften the truth which was ‘I really like you, and I don’t want to miss out on a minute you’re prepared to give me before you go home’ because, let’s face it, that could be read as slightly desperate. So instead he said, “No drama, or pressure. I’ve been meaning to take some days off, and as I didn’t have any pre-booked lessons this week, I just took myself off my online roster.”
“I don’t want you to be missing out on paid work because of me,” Ollie said, worriedly. “If you need to take a lesson, I can hang around or find myself something to do.”
“It’s fine,” Rhys reassured him.
“Well, at least let me pay you if we go surfing again. I know you said I didn’t have to, but I’m not comfortable taking your livelihood away from you,” Ollie started insisting.
“And I’m not comfortable having the man I’m fucking give me a cheque, so I think you’ll find that my concerns about the implications of renting out my ass trump your little quibbles.” Rhys turned over on the bed so he could face Ollie and softened his voice. “Seriously, take my word that a few days off will not make me broke. I’m not saying I need to hang around you nonstop, but I’ve had such a great time with you this week that I just wanted to make sure that if something came up with you and the boys and you wanted to invite me along, I’d be available and able to say yes.”
“Well, I can’t pretend that plan makes me sad,” Ollie said, before kissing him sweetly. “Except now we’ve run out of time to have sex.”
“Um, we’ve been talking for like three minutes. How quick did you think the sex would be?” Rhys asked, unable to keep the laughter out of his voice.
“If we hadn’t agreed to meet up with the others in exactly twenty minutes, I’d take you up on that challenge,” said Ollie, even as he climbed out of the bed.
“You know I don’t think lightning-quick sex is actually a challenge I intended to make,” Rhys replied.
“That’s because you haven’t had lightning-quick sex with me.”
* * *
They met the guys, minus Jai, at the market’s entrance. God, Rhys hoped they didn’t expect too much. The Byron Farmers Market was a nice and popular food market, b
ut at the end of the day it was just a food market.
“Please tell me there is coffee available at this thing,” Kris asked Rhys, as they exchanged kisses.
“Coffee, chai, turmeric shots and ginger nectar. You can even get some delicious pastries if that’s what your heart desires.”
Seeing the need for caffeine in at least half the group’s eyes, Rhys led the way to the coffee stall first. There was a decent line up in front of him. This time of the morning, the early morning crowd had already done their dash. However, the parents with young kids, and those who were here post-swim or surf, combined with later risers, made up the post-nine-AM market clientele.
When they got to the front of the line, Rhys murmured his order to the organized Luke. He was determined they weren’t going to be the customers from hell who stood at the front of the line debating the merits of their choices. Luckily the others followed suit, and soon they all had hot coffees in their hands.
One of the local buskers, and luckily one who could carry a tune, was on the guitar next to the coffee place, with several North Coast children dancing wildly.
Rhys noticed Billy laughing next to him and leaned forward to hear what was amusing him. “Sorry,” Billy said, almost choking through his laughter. “I should be used to it, living in Surrey Hills. But that kid is so much more fashionable than me. It’s one thing to be upstaged by your boyfriend fashion-wise, it’s another to be put in the fashion shade by an under-four.”
Rhys joined him in his laughter, looking at the three-year-old rocking it out. With the kid’s long hair, felt hat, vans, sheepskin coat, and skinny jeans, the small child had a wardrobe that would make any self-respecting hipster jealous. “Welcome to the world of the surprisingly well-dressed child. He’ll probably be heading off in this year’s Range Rover soon.”