Somehow, Rhett hadn’t expected Cole to vanish while he showered. He read the note Cole left, promising to return by lunch. Rhett flipped it over and scrawled something similar on the other side of the page. He wasn’t a kid who needed his hand held and he had things he wanted to do while he was here.

He went to his suitcase and fished out his camera, a Nikon that he’d saved up forever for. His boss, Macy, had given him a crash course in photography after he’d bought it and the rest he learned through a combination of watching her and experimenting.

Rhett skipped breakfast, he wasn’t entirely hungry after his morning of mortification, and left the hotel. He walked along the beach, taking photos of things that interested him. White sand clinging to his feet. A low hanging palm frond. Anonymous footprints. His toes digging into the sand.

The harder Rhett tried to not think about earlier, the more he inevitably thought about it. About waking up next to Cole and those three nanoseconds where he’d forgotten this was pretend, that he wasn’t supposed to be snuggled up next to Cole using him for a pillow and basically humping his leg.

He’d escaped to the water when Cole scrambled into the shower to get away from him. Rhett frowned and took a picture of a single palm tree and endless blue sky. The hotel room had felt too small with both of them in it, and Rhett went outside, needing to feel something on his skin that wasn’t Cole.

He lowered his camera and sighed. It hadn’t worked at all. Rhett could still feel the way Cole’s skin had been warm against his. The way his body wasn’t hard or soft, but was instead the sort of perfection Rhett thought he’d only been dreaming about.

Arriving at the same market he’d been to the day before, Rhett took his time again, strolling through, eyeing the colorful fabrics. His heart tightened when he saw a particularly colorful pot that he could put Lucy in. He snapped a picture of it, sure it would never survive in his suitcase, and left it behind.

Rhett came to the end of the street market and stopped. Tahiti wasn’t the same without Cole and his musical laugh, without his perfect sort of company that was neither too chatty nor too quiet. Cole had made Tahiti beautiful. He’d loved experiencing things with Cole and without him, Rhett’s surroundings diminished from being paradise to being a too-hot beach too far from home.

He returned to the empty hotel room and tucked his camera away. He dug his e-reader out and curled up in one of the chairs to read. It was nearly lunch and Cole was due to return any minute. Rhett tried to focus on his book, but ended up staring at the words, listening for the door to open. He suddenly felt like a kid with a crush, trying too hard to look relaxed and ultimately giving themselves away with how not relaxed they really were.

He set his e-reader aside and, though it was too early to dress for the wedding, decided that another shower might be prudent. He’d walked along the sandy beaches slathered in sunscreen that smelled of coconut and he’d probably sweated too much.

He refused to touch himself this time, despite the urge that thrummed in his blood and lived under his skin—to come with Cole’s face in his mind and his name on his lips. He couldn’t do that after this morning. Instead he ignored his dick, giving it a perfunctory wash before scrubbing himself clean. Not wanting to linger in the spray, lest he give into the urge to think of dangerous things, he stepped out and wrapped a towel around his waist.

He shaved, not that he really needed to. His facial hair grew thick, but slowly. Ryan joked with him that it took him three days to grow a five o’clock shadow. Rhett always thought he was just jealous because it took Ryan three hours to grow one.

He should call Ryan, he thought as he cleaned the last of the shaving cream off his face. Or Penny. Just so he could talk to someone who wasn’t Cole. Someone he could actually think around.

The bathroom door swung open and Rhett leaped back, a startled squeak spilling out of his lips even as his brain registered that it was just Cole. After he’d calmed, he smiled and laughed, because it was funny, but he was also ridiculously happy to see Cole.

“Hi. Holy crap, you scared me.”

Cole’s smile wasn’t as bright and Rhett wondered how uncomfortable he’d made him that morning. He felt as if the life were draining out of him.

“Um. About this morning. I’m sorry, Cole. I swear I didn’t mean to use you for a human body pillow. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.” Rhett felt as if he were about to start babbling. He gripped his towel, insuring it wouldn’t slide off and embarrass himself even more.

“It’s fine, Rhett. I promise.” Cole moved toward him and he skirted away slightly, trying to angle himself to slip past Cole.

“Okay. Um. I should get dressed.”

“Rhett, wait.”

Whenever Cole said his name, Rhett couldn’t breathe. He wanted Cole to say his name over and over again. His name was suddenly more than a name. When Cole said it, it became a spell that only worked for Cole. Rhett stopped moving.

Cole reached for his face, cupped his cheek. His thumb stroked over a patch of Rhett’s skin. Tender. Electric. The touch was so many things. Cole pulled his hand away far too soon and smiled at Rhett, showing him his thumb.

“You had some shaving cream.”

An illusion. Like everything else.

“Thanks.” Rhett said, his voice sounding too tight, too thin. He found himself unable to fake happiness in that moment. He dropped his gaze and slid away from Cole. “We’ll be late.”

“Right. Yeah. Be right out.”

While Cole showered, again, Rhett did his best not to think of him naked while he slid into the suit Cole had helped him pick out for the wedding. Rhett thought the suspenders made him look a little too nerdy, but Cole had grinned at him and proclaimed there to be no such thing as too nerdy. Rhett slipped his tie on and tightened it as Cole came out of the bathroom, freshly showered and already dressed in his suit.

He was gorgeous. Rhett wasn’t sure that he’d ever seen Cole Mallory look so good or so dressed up. The suit fit him perfectly, accentuating the length of his limbs, his broad shoulders, and his trim waist. Cole fastened the button of his jacket and tugged at the sleeves.

“You look fantastic,” Cole said, his gaze raking over Rhett slowly, heating every inch of him from across the room.

Rhett suddenly wished he’d jacked off in the shower. “So do you.”

Then they said nothing. Until Cole started to laugh. His fingers fluttered at his hairline before he pulled them away and shoved them in his pockets instead of messing his hair. “We need this to not be awkward, Rhett.”

Rhett nodded. “I know.”

“How do we make this not awkward? Things haven’t been weird until now.”

Rhett shrugged a shoulder and tore his gaze away. He reached for his jacket to find Cole suddenly in front of him. Close enough to smell his cologne, to feel the heat radiate off him, to almost feel the air puff out of his mouth as Cole’s hand reached for his.

“Look at me, Rhett.”

He couldn’t possibly do anything but.

Rhett looked at Cole, who was both too sincere and too intense. “Tell me what to do to fix this.”

Rhett exhaled. His breath shaking, his whole body vibrating from the emotional ferocity of the moment. He looked at Cole, and blinked, and tried not to smile.

“Hump my leg. It’s only fair.”

Cole’s eyes widened, then he laughed and pulled Rhett into him, hugging him tight, laughing into the curve of his neck, his arms winding around Rhett. Their bodies shook as they laughed, releasing all the pent up tension of the morning. When they finally composed themselves, Cole released Rhett and dashed a tear out of his eye. “That was perfect.”

Cole beamed as Rhett slid his arms into his jacket.

He buttoned it and took Cole’s hand automatically. “Lead the way.”

“I feel as if I should warn you.”

Rhett laughed. “I promise to keep my eyes out for crabs. I won’t be scared so easily a second time.”

Cole chuckled, but squeezed Rhett’s hand. “My grandmother is old, cranky, and in a mood. She asked about you this morning.”

“That doesn’t sound so bad.”

“She wanted to know why we weren’t together. She can’t even get your name right, but expects you to live in my pocket.” Rhett could hear Cole’s voice tighten as he got more and more heated. “I hate putting you through all of this, Rhett. I’m asking a lot.”

“You’re not asking anything that I didn’t agree to do.”

“My sister was horrible to you.” Cole grimaced and it looked as though he was going to continue, but Rhett stopped him.

“She’s always horrible, Cole. She’s horrible to everyone. I’d be worried if she were nice to me, to be honest.”

“You didn’t agree to take abuse from my family.”

Rhett suppressed a laugh. “That’s what happens when you get married, Cole. You sign up for better or worse. It’s fine. I promise.”

“But, Rhett,” he started to say but Rhett shushed him.

“Stop,” he said, pulling them to a stop and stepping in front of Cole, their fingers still linked. He let go and reached for Cole’s face, learning that it was soft, with a bit of stubble along his jaw. “Stop. It’s okay.”

“But they’re going to expect things from us. From you. A certain level of...you know…”

Rhett smiled, his thumb stroking a trail across Cole’s perfect cheekbone. “Then let’s give them what they want.”

Rhett leaned closer, tasting Cole’s breath on his skin. Cole trembled, or maybe it was himself, he couldn’t tell. The only thing he was sure about in that moment was the feel of Cole’s lips as they finally touched his own. Tender and soft, tentative at first, then more insistent. Long and slow, the moment stretched out until it was so big Rhett felt as if time could stop and he could live right there, like this.

Rhett pulled away and blinked at Cole, then reluctantly pulled his hand away from Cole’s face. “We’re going to be late.” Cole nodded and Rhett gave his hand a squeeze.

“It’s going to be fine, I promise.” Rhett said, vowing to do his best today to make sure he kept that promise. He wouldn’t let Cole down.