Chapter 3
Rowe leaned against the wall next to the two bathrooms and crossed his arms. Judging by the sounds coming from inside, he wasn’t getting in there anytime soon and his bladder was threatening to jump ship. One had obvious sounds of double occupation and he listened closer to the second door, only hearing the shower. He considered sneaking in to use the toilet until he heard a muffled moan. Dammit.
Everyone was enjoying their vacation. A lot. Hell, he would have awakened Noah with another blowjob if he hadn’t needed to pee so badly.
“We’re on the love boat,” Noah griped as came up behind him. “Gotta piss like a racehorse too?”
Rowe smiled, taking in the sexy, tangled mess of hair all over his head. After a day in the sun, the lighter strands had faded blond. It looked good, even in its current rat’s nest form. “Looks like we’re going outside.”
Noah just grunted and turned to go toward the door, but the first bathroom opened and Snow and Jude stepped out. “It’s all yours. I think we left some hot water.” Snow winked and followed Jude down the hallway.
“Sounds like you left more than that,” Rowe called after Snow as he shoved Noah into the room first.
“You coming in?” Noah shot him a grin and Rowe remembered a morning when Noah had stepped out of the shower they were using together to pee and the sound had made Rowe have to go immediately—even with the water on. Noah had teased him unmercifully about it since.
He rolled his eyes. “Just go. I’ll see if anyone started the coffee yet. Hurry.”
The scent of coffee and baking cinnamon rolls made his mouth water as he reached the kitchen. He’d picked up the pre-made rolls himself from the awesome bakery Ian’s former pastry chef had opened. He wanted bacon to go with it and knowing Lucas, there would be some. He walked to the stainless-steel refrigerator, admiring the dark wood and granite counter tops of the galley-style kitchen. He liked the breakfast area at the island, too, and decided to talk to Noah about remodeling their kitchen. He was pulling the package of bacon out when Noah yelled that the bathroom was his. His screaming bladder made him jog. By the time he took care of business, including a quick shower, the scent of bacon had joined the cinnamon.
Grinning, he opened the door to the bathroom and caught Noah on his way back.
“Damn, I missed your shower. I figured everyone else has had a turn in there today. Might as well keep everything in rhythm.” Noah pressed him into the door for a kiss and Rowe snagged his fingers in his messy hair and opened wide to let him in.
Noah melted against him, his wicked tongue fucking into Rowe’s mouth, his hands gripping his biceps. He smelled of sunscreen and the chlorine from the hot tub last night clung to his hair, but underneath was that unique Noah scent that drove Rowe nuts.
A wolf whistle sounded. One Rowe recognized. He pulled his mouth back and glared at Snow, who was leaning against the wall across from the bathroom.
“Don’t stop on my account.”
This time Noah spoke up. “Fuck, you’re relentless. From what I heard, you’ve had plenty of action today.”
“From what I heard last night, so have you. Damn Noah, I’m impressed you can pull those sounds from my friend here.”
“Pervert.” Noah kissed Rowe one more time and pushed him out of the room. “You’d better go rescue the bacon from Lucas while I hit the conditioner for this mess.” He pointed to his head and grinned.
Snow threw his arm around Rowe’s shoulder as they headed toward the tall barstools next to the island. Andrei, Lucas, and Jude were busy pouring cups of coffee, juice, and setting out the rolls. Fragrant steam rose from the doughy puffs of perfection. Rowe’s mouth watered and he reached into the pan, cursing as the molten topping singed his fingers.
It didn’t stop him. “Fuck, I love these things.”
Snow watched him stuff his face as he sipped his coffee. His light blue eyes held a wicked speculation and Rowe’s gut twisted. He knew that look. And he was pretty sure he didn’t want to know what was about to come out of the surgeon’s mouth.
“It must be interesting to be bisexual. I can’t even imagine.”
While Rowe choked on his roll, Andrei snagged a piece of bacon but spoke before eating it. “What can’t you imagine about it?”
“Being attracted to both sexes.” Snow shrugged. “I can see when a woman is beautiful, of course. I’ve just never wanted to have sex with one. The closest I’ve ever gotten to contemplating it was with Lucas’s lawyer—but even then, the thought was fleeting.” He paused. “And kind of scary.”
“She’d chew you up and spit you into snowflakes.” Lucas put a piece of bacon on his plate, stared at it, then added three more. He set his plate on the counter and Snow snatched one of the pieces, earning a thunderous frown from his best friend.
Snow merely grinned and ate the bacon slowly.
“So would her husband, by the way,” Lucas added.
“I never said it was a real possibility. I just find her sort of fierce confidence sexy.” He smiled when Jude kissed the back of his head and settled onto the barstool next to him.
Andrei shrugged. “I don’t think it’s strange at all,” he murmured. “Being bisexual. Feels natural to me.”
Rowe finally got the dough dislodged from his throat. “Me, too. And to tell you the truth, I don’t really think about it, Snow. I’ve always found both sexes attractive, but I also seem to lead in emotionally more first. I’ll be attracted, sure, but once my heart is involved, that person is all I want.” It was his turn to shrug. “It is what it is.”
“Ya sap.”
“Don’t even get me started.” Rowe stole one of Lucas’s slices of bacon and pointed it at Jude. “This one here turned you into the King of Sap.”
“Hey,” Lucas protested. “There is plenty of bacon on the stove.”
“Yours is closer.” Rowe reached for his last piece and Lucas smacked his hand. Hard. Wincing, he rubbed it, gave Lucas his best puppy dog eyes, and sighed when they failed to work. He got up and circled the island to get more. “We’ve all turned into a bunch of saps.” He thought about him and Lucas last night, drunk and being all kinds of mushy and frowned at the plate of bacon on the stove. Then he grinned. “Fuck it, I’m happy. Ya’ll need to shut up.”
“Ya’ll?” Snow drawled out. “Been hanging out with Hollis too much?”
“He’s cool. Even if he does sometimes call every pop a coke.”
“Yeah,” Jude asked, “What’s up with that?”
“It’s a southern thing,” Rowe answered. “I asked.” He put several pieces of bacon on a new plate, then grabbed two more cinnamon rolls. When Noah came into the room, he handed him the plate. “Want to take the jets out for a race?”
“Always,” Noah answered as he set his plate onto the breakfast bar.
Lucas immediately stole a piece of bacon.
###
Noah whooped behind him, jetted past, then pulled off an impressive one-eighty. Rowe sped up, his ass hitting the seat hard as the water grew choppy from a passing speedboat. He couldn’t help but grin when Noah aimed his ski into the waves, his laughter loud enough to hear over the motor and the splashing water. He threw a grin over his shoulder, all white teeth and dimples in suntanned skin and Rowe felt the familiar tug in his heart. He’d been sad lately and trying to hide anything from Noah was a futile endeavor.
The man noticed everything.
And he’d gotten the truth from Rowe and set up something to make it better.
Rowe was determined not to ruin their mini-vacation, so he picked up speed to catch his boyfriend. They raced side-by-side, took some of the curves of the lake at slower speeds. Walls of green trees surrounded them and the sun sparkled like a sea of diamonds on the lake’s surface. Rowe enjoyed the heat of the sun and the cool splashes of water on his skin. He loved the joyful laughter from Noah that occasionally sounded over their motors. He vowed to live in the now as much as he could. With that in mind, he spotted a narrow inlet with a private-looking beach and veered in that direction, knowing Noah would follow.
They anchored the watercrafts and walked up the beach. This cove had more sand than the one they’d picked for the boat, but it was still nestled among trees and fairly secluded. He could see boats and Jet Skis racing about, but they had a little privacy here.
“This is nice,” Noah said as he grabbed their towels and some water bottles from the storage compartment. He walked up the beach, spread their towels out, and lay down on one. Rowe walked at a slower pace, enjoying the image of all that tanned muscle spread out before him. Noah had wide shoulders, a sexy narrow waist, and thick thighs covered in light brown hair. Rowe loved his thighs. Loved the vulnerable, soft skin on the inside just below his groin. He liked to nuzzle and lick and whenever he sucked on the spot where his legs met his torso, Noah would writhe and moan and gasp.
“I love the way your swim trunks show off that hard-on.”
Rowe looked down to see his black shorts tented out obscenely and grinned. He wiggled his hips, knowing he looked ridiculous. Noah merely held out his hand to beckon him closer. He stretched out next to him and hard dick or not, he really just wanted to lay there with him. Bask in the sun and just be together. “Ignore it for now.”
“That’s like asking me to ignore a plate of bacon. Just ain’t gonna happen.”
Chuckling, Rowe turned on his side and propped his head on his elbow. He placed his other hand on Noah’s chest, enjoying the hair under his palm. Noah met his gaze and something moved between them, something more than the heat that kept them all over each other constantly. It made his breath catch.
Noah touched his finger to his tented shorts. “I love that looking at me makes that happen to you.”
There was something in his voice, some kind of relief that dug into Rowe’s gut. “You still doubt my attraction to you.” He didn’t form it as a question because he was too damn surprised.
“With as often as we go at each other?” Noah reached up to thread their fingers together on his chest. “No, I don’t.”
But it was there in those blue eyes just the same. Rowe leaned over to softly press his lips to Noah’s. He didn’t open his mouth, didn’t push his tongue inside. He just kissed him slowly, feeling the soft, firm lips, letting their connection buzz between them. “I want you,” he whispered. “All the time. I will always want you.” He pulled back to find Noah’s smile, sweet but faint.
“You may meet another woman someday, Ward.”
He meant it. Rowe could see it in his expression. See that he’d just accepted on some level that he could lose Rowe to a woman. He shook his head. “I’m not built that way. When I fall in love, it’s for good. I don’t even see other women. Or other men for that matter.”
“You’re telling me you don’t find other men hot? Not even Andrei?”
“Yeah, he’s hot. I find lots of people hot—men and women—but that doesn’t mean I want to sleep with them. I want only one person. And that’s you. I’ve always been this way. I give my heart and that person is it for me.” He kissed him again. “I’m happier than I thought I’d ever be. I want to build a life with you. Just this morning, I was in that kitchen on the houseboat and thinking about talking to you about doing some remodeling to our house. Or maybe even looking for something a little bigger. I’m not married to the place, and starting completely fresh is appealing.”
Noah nodded. “Someplace with a bigger yard for the dogs.”
“There are so many things I want us to do together. I even think about us having a kid maybe. Someday.”
The man froze under his hand. “Children? Really?”
“I said, kid. Singular. There are a lot of kids out there who need homes.” Rowe pulled a wet curl off Noah’s cheek. “But who knows? We may love being parents and decide on more.”
“Huh.” Blue eyes stared into his. “I’d like that.”
Rowe wanted to make him happy, wanted it with every fiber of his being. He knew that he would never be entirely over the death of his wife, but he also knew there was plenty of room in his heart for this man. He’d loved Noah for years but hadn’t been ready to admit it to himself. That hesitance had hurt Noah so badly. He’d spend his life trying to make up for that, even though Noah never said a word about it. There were emotional layers to this man that touched Rowe constantly. He made him see the world in new ways.
“I love you, Noah.”
Noah came up to bring their mouths together again. God, he tasted good. This time, they opened to each other, tongues sliding lazily together. They did nothing else. Just kissed and kissed and he didn’t pull back until he heard the motor of a passing boat. He smiled down at Noah. “Let’s swim.”
“You just want an excuse to slide all over me under the water.”
“Fuck, yeah.” Rowe stood and tugged Noah to his feet.
They spent the next couple of hours swimming and napping in the sun. They even sneaked into the trees for quick hand jobs when all the slick skin and sliding finally got to them both. They came out when a boat motor sounded close enough to get them caught and found a bunch of twenty-somethings setting up a volleyball net in the shallows just down from their Jet Skis. They were invited for beers and a game. They stayed for five.
Hunger finally sent them back to the boat and as Rowe raced along the water next to Noah, he kept glancing over and something told him that Noah had really ditched that worry over Rowe and another woman. He could feel the change in the man and had all afternoon as they goofed off in the water. Good. He’d lucked out when it came to landing this man, and he never wanted Noah to doubt him again.