Too much sun and booze and too little food and common sense. That's what Brian had when he stumbled into the arms of the fine as fuck silver fox. He didn't have a type, not unless you counted Zack as a type. God, Zack. He could have sworn he saw Zack standing over by the bar during that last song. He was just trying to burn off the booze without falling overboard. Maybe he should have stayed off the dance floor. Maybe he shouldn't have accepted one more beer from the silver fox and his partner. He wasn't looking to be a third in their evening entertainment plans. He wasn't looking for anything.

God, Zack. He needed to stop with Zack. It was just confusing the hell out of him. He needed to let Zack figure it out for himself. He didn't need to be... Foxy Daddy pulled him into a slow song and he forgot what he was thinking. He was taller than Brian but thinner. The other one, his partner was about the same size as Brian. It would be interesting to go with them and do what they wanted to do. And he knew what they wanted. They'd told him. In explicit detail.

He'd never been part of a threesome before. And he sure as hell never taken two dicks at once. He didn't think he could. Or wanted to. He wasn't that adventurous.

Hell, he wasn't adventurous at all when it came to sex. He like his adventuring to be outside of the bedroom.

He liked waking up, cuddled in Zack's arms.

Jesus.

Zack really was standing over by the bar.

Brian's heart thumped in his chest at the sight of his friend. It was time to go home. Time to go be with... Zack.

Foxy Daddy grabbed his ass and pulled him tight against a very impressive package that Brian was not interested in. Before Brian could dislodge his hands, the man's tongue was in his mouth.

Brian's brain short circuited. Too much drink. Too much sun. He kissed the man back. For some fucking reason, he thought it was Zack. But Zack had never shoved his tongue down Brian's throat before. He'd never tried to fuck Brian on the dance floor before either. As if they didn't have husbands watching.

Husband.

He pushed the guy away. Wiping his mouth, he stumbled over his own feet. "Motherfucker. I said no."

"The way you kissed me said otherwise." The guy grabbed Brian's wrist and tried to drag him back. "Who was that?"

"Not your business. Get your fucking hand off me." Brian shook the guy off. He read the anger in the guy's eyes and wished like fuck he wasn't mostly drunk and completely stupid.

"Whatever, princess, you're not the only piece of ass on this ship," his partner slithered to his side, he wasn't as pretty as Brian had thought earlier. Or as young. A couple of chickenhawks looking for something young. Brian wasn't that young and he certainly wasn't a twink. God help any kid that walked in here with these two on the loose. Maybe they had a taste for straight acting jocks... who the fuck knew.

"Is that supposed to make me change my mind? As if I'm so insecure I'd just hop right into bed with the two of you. Or drunk enough. I'm not that damned drunk. And I'm not a fucking princess."

He'd had enough of this damned day. If he hurried he could find Zack and they could go get something to eat. And he'd... what? Explain what just happened and beg for forgiveness.

They weren't fucking married.

He didn't owe anyone an explanation.

Especially a man who didn't know he was even... in love with him.

Silver fox daddy grabbed him again and pulled him back. His eyes lost their anger. "Who was he?"

Brian blinked at the abrupt change of tone. "Who?"

"The one who walked away. I saw the way he looked at you. Boyfriend?"

Brian took his hand back and rubbed his wrist. He was shaking and he didn't know why. "No. Best friend. Would have been more. I don't know, it's complicated right now."

"He doesn't know he's gay?" The other partner chimed in. Guess they were done prowling.

"No." Brian nodded. His head spinning. "He doesn't."

"Is he worth the heartache?" Foxy rubbed Brian’s other arm and they swayed together to the music, as if they hadn't just been trying to seduce him and this was normal.

Brian looked back at the bar where Zack had been. There must have been something in his eyes because the partner sighed. "You have six more days, princess. Go convince him. Hope it ends well for you."

The song ended as abruptly as all songs end in a club. They never really end or begin, they just sort of emerge from the previous and fade into the next. The slow song stopped being slow. The beat dropped and silver fox and his partner danced away into the growing crowd.

Brian stood there in a daze rubbing his bare arm. He had six days left aboard this tub. The days he could manage. He wasn't going to survive six more nights.

He left the bar. The dude from the first night, shit he couldn't remember the guy's name, came in as he was leaving. He was fine as fuck. And he sure as hell remembered Brian. He wrapped his arm around Brian's neck and pulled him close. "Hey... Brian... it was Brian, wasn't it? I never forget a hottie."

"Fuck off, Larry." Brian broke free of Larry's neck lock with a couple of bumbling twists. He had to catch up with Zack. He didn't have time for this shit.

"It's Gary, asshole," the guy shouted over the music.

"Whatever," Brian shouted back still moving toward the entrance.

He stumbled out of the pink flashing neon into the brightly lit common area into a crowd of people moving the wrong damned direction.

He had to fight his way out of the crowd and into a clearing just to catch his breath. The huge windows overlooking the ocean outside showed that night had fallen. Hell, how long had he been in that bar? A couple of hours. Maybe three.

Since five ship time. He knew it was five ship time because he had to ask what time it was. He thought it was around noon. His body wasn't liking this time zone.

Not at all.

Which way was the right way?

He was turned around and confused. People moved around him, parting like he was Moses and they were the sea.

He needed aft. Which way was aft?

His stomach growled. It had been far too long since he'd eaten anything.

He was drunk and hungry and... stupid. Add in lost.

He was never lost.

Brian did not get lost.

On land.

This wasn't land.

And his inner compass didn't work in a moving city.

He found aft.

He scanned the people moving that way for Zack's familiar head. He couldn't remember what Zack was wearing.

A powder blue oxford with cargo shorts and his loafers. He looked like he just threw on whatever he found on the floor.

Knowing Zack, he probably had.

He didn't see Zack.

Maybe Zack had gone the other way to the big buffet in the front of the ship.

It wasn't on this deck.

Could have been in the back of the ship.

He had no fucking clue where he was going.

He found the elevators that would take him to his level. He had to check his door card for the level. He couldn't remember what level he was on. Or his room number.

He found his level and punched in the number.

He got out on a level with very narrow corridors that didn't look at all familiar.

The family on the elevator looked at him funny when they passed him.

He got back on the elevator and looked at the buttons. His floor was still lit.

It was the next floor.

The door opened on the familiar corridor. It was wider and brighter and there were more attendants milling about.

"Good evening Mister Sorensen." One of them greeted him as he passed.

God, he wished they'd stop calling him that. It was like rubbing salt and lemon juice in a wound.

Salt and lemon juice... lime... tequila. Margarita.

Fuck, he was still drunk.

He pulled out his card and tried to get it in the slot. He couldn't. He leaned against the door and pounded his head into the thing. One of the nice lady attendants who seemed nice... she took his card and slid it into the slot like it wasn't broken and pushed the lever. The door opened and he fell inside.

"Are you okay, Mister O'Daly?" She leaned over him, his card in her outstretched hand.

"I'm good. Too much tequila," he said, knowing he looked like a fool. He wished he was making a better impression. Not that he wanted to impress her. She was beautiful. But not his type. At. All. Just that... "You called me Mister O'Daly."

"Doctor Sorensen explained what happened. I'm sorry for the confusion." She tucked his card into his hand. "We'll try to do better."

"It's okay. I don't mind so much. I mean... if he played for my team... maybe you know. He doesn't. He was going to marry my sister. The evil one. She was screwing our best friends from school... the night before. I mean. I couldn't let her hurt him like that, could I? I am so fucking drunk. I shouldn't have said fucking. And if he... I don't mind being Mister Doctor Sorensen, you know, when I'm drunk. Mostly." He was rambling. His stomach churned and the ship lurched. Okay. Time to get up. Time to stop embarrassing himself. "Do you know where Zack went?"

"To dinner, I believe." Her hand was so very thin in his huge hand, yet she had the grip of a... something with a strong grip.

Zack went to dinner without him.

Okay.

Not okay.

Zack had come looking for him and found him drunk and deep throating some guy's tongue. It was not okay.

"Well, I guess, I'll order room service then. Later. When I am not so drunk. Thank you for your help." He held onto the door while she walked away, smiling, as if she dealt with drunks all the time.

She probably did.

But this was first class and she had to be nice to drunk rich fuckers... not like him, he was just a drunk fucker. He was poor... poor as fuck. Why in the hell would Zack want someone like him anyway?

His stomach cramped, the churning moved higher into his chest. He closed the door and dragged his sorry ass the six steps into the tiny bathroom and spewed chunky tequila into the toilet. Tequila and corn. Why was there always corn?

* * * * *

The shower was going when Zack let himself into the room. The pink flamingo camp shirt lay on the floor outside the bathroom. The rest of Brian’s clothing formed a trail to the toilet. The room reeked of vomit. He looked around, but didn’t see any on the floor. Must have been a recent purge. Zack could smell alcohol and sweat on his clothes.

He walked past the bathroom without letting Brian know he was back. He didn’t want to end up in there with him scrubbing his back. He set his bag down on the bed and took his shoes off and put them in the closet. They had a pile of dirty clothing that was getting bigger and smellier by the day. All of Zack’s recently purchased summer clothing was down there. He was wearing a pair of shorts for the second time with one of his oxfords because all the short sleeves were dirty.

Either he’d have to go find that shop again or find a laundry. He’d have to find out if there was a service on the ship. Or they’d be dragging Brian’s vomit drenched clothes back through customs in six days. No seven, there were six nights left.

He had his shirt off before he remembered that he was hungry and had gone out to find food. He’d never found food. He dropped his shorts and found a pair of the lightweight shorts he had for sleeping in. He’d call for room service as soon as he determined Brian’s condition.

He didn’t want to think about why Brian was here showering now. If he did, he’d have to think about why he felt numb. He knew that it was just a kiss. There hadn’t been enough time since he left the bar for there to be anything more… unless—

He crumpled up his shorts and tossed them into the closet. He was hot and tired and he needed a shower and he wanted food. He grabbed the room service book from the dresser and climbed into the bed to sit beside the phone. He was half-heartedly paging through the menu when Brian came out of the bathroom dressed in nothing but skin. He scrubbed his hair with the towel. He swayed a little. And cussed a lot.

Who was Zack to pass judgment? He’d been right there just three days ago. No, four days ago. He was getting his days mixed up. He had no idea what time it was. Or what was going on in the world. He’d been out of contact with everyone and everything for four days now. Five if you count the wedding and turning off his phone in the limo on the way to the airport. He hadn’t turned it back on since. Maybe he should turn on the TV and see if he could find a news channel. There were seven days left until his flight home. And Brian was standing in front of him naked and he’d been kissing another man… the way Zack wanted to be kissed… his dick and his head were not exactly on the same page. He should be pissed. He was… not pissed… okay, he was pissed. But not for the reason he should be pissed. What damn reason was there to be pissed that was sane? He was pissed because his best friend was kissing someone who wasn’t him. There was only one way to justify that. He was fucking jealous and angry about it, but he was turned on by the view in front of him. And his dick was tired of his brain getting in the way.

His dick saw what it wanted and to hell with his brain. His dick wanted dick. Could dicks want dicks? Wouldn’t they want other body parts? If Brian was a girl his dick would want pussy. Brian didn’t have a pussy. He had a dick… oh god, shut the fuck up.

Brian tossed the towel to the floor with another muffled curse word. He stumbled once before he reached out for the foot of the bed, his gaze landing on Zack, and going straight to Zack’s dick. Brian didn’t say a damned thing. He didn’t even have the grace to look guilty. He acted like Zack hadn’t just seen him with his tongue down another man’s throat. Or that guy’s tongue down Brian’s. He wasn’t sure whose tongue was in whose mouth. He just knew there was tongue. And why would Brian look guilty? He didn’t know that Zack had seen him with another man. He steadied himself on the bed with his hands and placed a knee on the bed. Then the other knee. He crawled up the bed. His eyes still trained to the painful bulge in Zack’s briefs. And that bulge just got more painful the closer Brian crawled.

Zack didn’t know what to do. On the one hand, he was pissed. On the other hand, he was about to get his dick sucked and he really liked when Brian had sucked him off. His dick just got harder the closer Brian came. He wanted to reach down and stroke himself. He needed to pull his dick out of his briefs. They were already too tight before, now they were unbearable. He hated the damned things anyway. Ronnie had bought them. She said it’s what men wore now. She made him burn his Fruit of the Looms. Oh, god, what should he do? There was a hot naked man climbing his body and he was going to get his dick sucked… and Brian didn’t stop at his dick. He kept crawling, straddling Zack’s legs as he climbed his body. When he got to his torso, he put his hands on the headboard and kept coming until he was almost sitting groin to groin on Zack.

Zack tried to control his breathing. He was going to hyperventilate if he didn’t get it under control. Brian still looked down at his dick, yet he didn’t touch Zack at all, anywhere. He was naked and not erect and straddling Zack’s lap, his face not even an inch from Zack’s, his head bent like… he was ashamed.

“I didn’t kiss him,” he said, drawing in a quick breath afterward. “I didn’t kiss him. I didn’t want him to kiss me. I didn’t do anything but dance with him. I danced with lots of guys. It wasn’t anything. Just dancing and drinking. I got drunk and this guy thought it was something that it wasn’t. He kissed me. I’m sorry that you…” he stopped talking and finally looked Zack in the eye. “I felt like I was cheating. I feel guilty for something I shouldn’t feel guilty about. But I do. And I’m confused. I’m so very confused right now. I want you so much, Zack. I want you in ways I can’t even explain. Not just sex. I want you for that, but I want more than sex. I… just can’t keep feeling like there’s something when there can’t be anything. I can do casual. I don’t think I can do casual with you. Not anymore. I want to be with you. But… Zack, I don’t think I can go back to being just friends if we fuck. And I hate feeling like I hurt you while I’m the one hurting.”

A tear slipped over one eyelid to hang suspended from the fringe of dark auburn lashes that rimmed his eyes. He had such beautiful eyes. Zack had to look away. He turned his head long enough to toss the room service book onto the bedside table. He had to control this or lose his own shit. “This is the tequila talking, Bri.” God, he was an asshole.

“So? What if it is the booze talking? It’s what I feel. I felt it before I drank the ship’s supply of hooch.” Brian didn’t budge an inch. He stayed right where he was, hovering over Zack without touching him, without a hard-on while Zack couldn’t hide the one stretching out for his friend’s attention. “I love you. And I want to be with you. But I hate you for almost marrying my sister and not me. I hate you for this expensive fucking honeymoon because I can’t have it. It’s not my honeymoon. It’s hers. They call me Mister Sorensen and I crave that. I didn’t even know I wanted any of this until that bitch… that woman said we weren’t natural. I wanted to be sitting there on that deck holding your hand and you’re rebounding from my damn sister and that’s why your dick is hard. It’s not for me.”

“So, this is our Come to Jesus meeting? The one where we end… everything. God, fucking asshole, I don’t want to end everything. Just because… I don’t know what I’m feeling. Okay. I don’t know. Pissed. God, I was pissed. I was so pissed and I don’t know why I’m pissed. I saw you kissing someone who wasn’t me. I feel so fucking… kicked in the nuts. I knew you hadn’t slept with him. I knew that. But I thought you did. And it made me hurt… I thought I was numb. Okay. I’m sorry. I don’t know what I’m doing right now. You walked out of the shower and I’ve seen you naked a million times, but there you were and my brain and my dick started a war and I think my dick is winning because this is the stupidest fucking come to Jesus meeting ever. I don’t want to lose you. And I want you. I want you to kiss me like you kissed that guy. And I don’t know why because…” Zack ran out of steam and let his head fall back against the headboard with a thud. Maybe that would knock some sense into him. “But I’ve always known, haven’t I? I just chose to… we’ve always had something, haven’t we? More than friends, I mean?”

Brian finally relaxed against him. He leaned over and touched his forehead to Zack’s. “I never touched any of our other friends like I touched you if that’s what you mean. I never did any of the things I’ve done with you with a single friend from home. I never wanted to. I was so afraid of losing you to tell you how I felt. I was scared that you didn’t like me the same way. I was afraid you were just using me to…”

“Get off,” Zack finished for his friend and closed his eyes. “I wondered, you know, if it was normal what we did. Or why I wanted it so much. I never thought that you were gay. I never considered that I might be into guys. I never thought about why I wasn’t interested in girls either, so don’t get excited.” He opened his eyes to find Brian staring at him, a smile in his eyes, and on his lips. “And your sister is an erection killer.”

“You were the one who was going to be stuck with her,” Brian said, his voice taking on a teasing tone.

“Can we please agree not to bring up my unfortunate almost nuptials? Especially when we’re naked? That would be awesome.” Zack couldn’t find anything funny about the situation. If he had married Ronnie, she would be the one sitting naked on his lap. And his erection died an ignoble death. Ronnie wouldn’t have let him touch her. He was sure of that now. He’d had four days to think about it. “I think she was marrying me for my money.”

“I concur with that diagnosis, doctor. My sister is a selfish bitch.” He winced and closed his eyes for a long moment, the guilty look he’d worn several times came back and quickly disappeared. “I just want you to know I’m a selfish bastard too.” Brian grinned at him, and reaching inside his briefs, he grabbed Zack’s dick in one roughened hand and dry stroked him until Zack was rock fucking hard again. “I don’t give a shit about money. I just want you for this.” He closed his eyes and angled his face so that their lips touched. “And because I love you.”

Zack closed his eyes and sighed into Brian’s open mouth. His tongue delved into Zack’s mouth and Zack almost cried. The soft touch of his lips and slow sweep of his tongue enough to stab Zack in his heart. He reached up searching blindly for Brian’s face, he stroked his thumbs over Brian’s jawline and ran his hands through his friend’s hair and down his neck and over his shoulders. He touched Brian everywhere he could reach.

Brian pulled away and dragged in a deep breath. His skin flushed a mottled pink under his freckles. “Damn,” he whispered softly, almost as if he were in awe. “Kiss me again. Just like that.”

Zack looked up into his eyes and saw… everything. Longing, lust, love, fear… so much fear. He saw himself there, reflected in those emotions swirling in green eyes. He dragged his hands down Brian’s back, tracing every inch of his skin with fingers so sensitive he felt every goose bump and shiver. They sat staring at each other for a long moment with Brian still holding on to the headboard on either side of Zack’s head. “Touch me, please.”

Brian lowered his head to meet Zack’s lips again, his body collapsed onto Zack as if he’d given up the fight that kept him hovering in Zack’s orbit. He twined his hands in Zack’s hair and Zack kissed him. Skimming his tongue into Brian’s mouth as if he needed the taste of him to survive. He kissed Brian until there was no air left and they broke apart to grab lungs full of air. He held him gently, caressing him, exploring him, learning the feel of every hard muscle under silken skin. He didn’t notice the slight movement of Brian’s hips until his own joined in the dance. He kissed Brian, holding him so tight there was no room for even their sweat between them. “I’m going to come,” he whispered against Brian’s mouth, falling back into the kiss before the last word left his mouth. Brian clawed at his back, dragging him off the headboard until he tumbled backward onto the bed. Zack following him to press him into the mattress.

Brian wrapped his legs around his waist and sighed into Zack’s mouth as they moved together, their hot bodies sliding in perfect rhythm. “I love you, Zack,” Brian’s whispered confession turned to long, loud moans as Zack ground his body into Brian’s. His hands under Brian, holding him tight as he arched his glorious body against Zack and fell apart, taking Zack with him.