Zack remembered waking up from a dream with his dick so hard he could barely move. He’d dreamed about Brian. Brian kissing him. Brian in bed with him. Looking at him with those crystalline green eyes of his. And Zack had wanted the dream to be real.
He could pretend that he’d dreamed of Ronnie but confused her for Brian. Ronnie had hazel eyes that ran more to brown. Brian was the only purely green-eyed O’Daly in the bunch. He couldn’t pretend his dream lover was anyone but his best friend.
When Brian had stepped into the shower Zack was still in the thrall of the dream. The way he’d used Brian to get off— hell, he couldn’t even look the man in the eye at breakfast and later as they went through the shops on the ship. Brian didn’t seem to notice. He happily went through the clothing selections handing over shorts and lighter weight shirts for Zack to try on. He had two pairs of swim trunks when the shopping was over. And flip flops. He’d never owned a pair of flip flops in his life, but these were nice. Leather with a cork bottom and non-slip sole. He’d been horrified when Brian said he should get a pair, he’d pictured the cheap rubber things he saw in gas station dollar bins.
“Dude, you need a pedicure,” Brian had said when he’d traded his loafers for the sandals. “Maybe we should keep that spa appointment.”
They kept the appointment. After this morning, Zack didn’t want a stranger’s hands on his back, or anywhere else. Just thinking about Brian’s hands on him made him hard. He didn’t want to end up embarrassing himself on the massage table so he let Brian have that appointment. He did get the pedicure. And ended up aroused anyway. Just from some woman’s hands on his fucking feet.
When she was finished, his feet were as smooth as a baby’s bottom and his toenails were neat and trimmed and painted with clear polish. She’d offered him a color and he’d been tempted, right up until Brian came in and sat beside him.
“Honey, you look so pretty.” Brian teased as he sprawled in the seat beside Zack. He took Zack’s hand and examined his fingers. “You should get a facial. It’s fabulous. I’ve never had one. When I get home, I think I’m going to add that to my budget. Might help with the constant sun damage I have.”
“Redheads shouldn’t work in the sun,” Zack agreed, but he loved Brian’s constant almost tan. And how his freckles stood out from the reddish color of his skin. All over. Except for his ass. The freckles there were dark on the white field. And here he was sitting in a spa thinking about his friend’s ass.
“I’d die if I couldn’t be outside,” Brian said, still holding Zack’s hand as he leaned back in the Pedi-chair. “We should go for a swim now that the rain has stopped.”
Zack tried not to show his horror at the suggestion. Sunlight hadn’t seen parts of his body since he was ten years old. “Do we have to?”
“Why exactly did you come on this cruise if you aren’t going to do anything? I swear, Zack, you are going to turn into a hermit one day.” Brian slipped off his flip flops and wiggled his toes. “I should get mine done. I’d like green polish I think. Been a long time since I polished my toes.”
“Do I even know you?” Zack gaped at his friend. Brian was there, the tall, slender carrot top of a man with the gorgeous green eyes and an infectious smile. The one who dropped out of college after a summer job at a year-round tourist place in California to work there full-time. The Brian, who was into dirt bikes and skateboards and skinned knees and baseball, wanted his toenails painted green.
“Do you really want an answer to that question?” Brian turned serious as the pedicurist finished with Zack. “I guess I’ll schedule one for later, I’m starving. Let’s go get lunch somewhere.”
Zack signed the bill, left a tip, and slipped his feet into his flip flops. He ignored the fact that he was in public wearing shorts that showed his pale legs. “Maybe some sun wouldn’t be too bad. I haven’t been swimming in years.”
“We’ll have to go buy out the ship’s supply of sunscreen, because, dude, you are pasty,” Brian said, giving him one of his smiles as he reached for his hand again. “Come on, babe, food first, then sunburn.”
Zack followed him holding his hand as if they did this all the time. He didn’t let the stares bother him. Fuck them. If Brian didn’t mind, then neither should he.
Another rainstorm popped up while they ate, Zack wasn’t too upset by it but Brian almost pouted. “It’s the tropics, it rains here,” Zack told him on the way from the restaurant to the casino. “And we have nine more days to get to the pool. Plus, there’s a pool at the hotel in Nassau. And even then, there are beaches at every port. I’m sure you’ll have your chance to get me in a swim suit.” Why did that sound dirty to him? Must have sounded dirty to Brian too. He smiled a wicked grin and winked at Zack.
“I hadn’t thought of that,” Brian said with a gleam in his eye. One that made Zack’s body do weird things. “Wonder if there are any nude beaches on one of those islands? Remind me to check the itinerary when we get back to the room.”
He’d seen Brian nude. Just this morning. Why did the sudden mental image of lounging around on a beach with a naked Brian make his mouth go dry?
“Sure thing, babe,” Zack said, because his brain had short circuited. “Uh, in the meantime, I’m going to lose some money.”
They split up in the casino. Zack gravitated to the Black Jack table with Brian’s parting words. “No drinking. I mean it, Zack. Save it for tonight.”
Zack nodded, he didn’t like Brian giving him orders, but his friend was right. He was still feeling the hangover from day drinking yesterday. “Fine. Meet you back in the room. And, Brian, just charge anything you want to the room, it’s all covered.”
Brian gave him one last sensuous grin and left him to the dealer’s mercy.
He’d probably find him doing something dangerous, if he knew Brian. Maybe rock wall climbing or bungee jumping off the aft deck. Did they have rock walls and bungee jumping on this ship? He didn’t even know. He’d have to find out before Brian signed him up for something that would give him nightmares the rest of his life.
Zack played for an hour or so, lost a couple hundred bucks, and called it a day. He wandered around the casino for a bit and left when he realized he was looking for Brian. He pulled out his cell phone, but there was no service out in the middle of the ocean. Bored and tired he went back to their stateroom. A pretty woman in ship’s uniform nodded at him as she bustled through the corridor. “Good afternoon, Doctor Sorensen,” she said and hurried past him.
He let himself into the room and noticed that it had been cleaned while they were out. A towel folded in the shape of a swan sat on the foot of their bed.
“Have you noticed that everyone on this ship knows our names?” Brian said from the sitting area over near the balcony. He’d opened the doors again, proof enough of his need to constantly be outside, Zack guessed.
“First class perks I suppose,” Zack emptied his pockets and walked across the room to take the seat next to Brian. “What’s up? I thought you’d be hanging off a bungee or something by now.”
“Everything is closed due to rain,” Brian sighed and flipped the page in the travel brochure. “And that perk is starting to seriously creep me out. Makes me wonder if they know what we do in here or something. By the way, you and Ronnie are scheduled to take a shopping tour and then a beach stop tomorrow. And that is seriously fucking lame.”
Zack kicked off his sandals and dragged the coffee table over the prop his feet on. “So, what else is there to do?”
“Mayan ruins. You’re going to freakin’ Mexico and not going to see the ruins? What is wrong with you people?” Brian sounded disgusted with him.
“Ronnie planned everything.” Zack shrugged as if it didn’t matter. “If you’d rather see the ruins, then change the tour reservations.”
Brian looked at him as if he had the key to a candy store. “Seriously? You don’t mind?”
“I’d rather traipse through the jungle than go shopping any day. God, I’m starving, what the hell is wrong with me?” Zack’s stomach took that as its cue to grumble even louder.
“There are snacks in the fridge. I picked up some things at the mini-market. Bananas. Chips. Stuff. I think I got some of your favorites. But don’t eat too much, we have dinner reservations in two hours.” Brian got up from his chair and moved to the phone. “Are you sure about the Mayan tour?”
“Yeah, yeah, go ahead.” Zack went to the mini-fridge for a snack. He grabbed a bottle of water and one of the bananas and a bag of cheese crackers, while Brian spoke to the person on the other end of the phone. “You know, if there’s anything else you want to change, go ahead while you have them. Except for Nassau. Don’t change Nassau.”
Brian gave him a thumbs up and about twenty minutes later he finally hung up the phone. “We are scheduled on the first tour bus out in the morning. Which means early. Really early. You okay with that?”
Zack just smiled, he loved seeing his friend like this. Hell, he loved seeing Brian in any mood, but excited and worried were new combos and something about Brian being worried about upsetting him made Zack’s stomach flutter in a weird way that had nothing to do with hunger.
“Aw, it’s nice that you care what I think.” Zack tried to tease. He didn’t know how. That was Brian’s thing.
“You say that now, let me know how you feel when we’re hang gliding over the rainforest in a couple of days,” Brian said with a wicked gleam in his eyes.
“You didn’t?” Zack felt the blood drain from his face.
Brian just smiled and climbed into his lap to steal a bite of his banana. Zack got hard just watching his friend slide a fucking banana past his lips.
“You want some, baby?” Brian said softly, holding the banana back for him to take a bite. He leaned over Zack and he lost himself in the clear green pools that were Brian’s eyes.
Brian touched the banana to his lips and Zack took a bite. Brian took the next bite. Who the fuck knew that sharing a fucking banana with someone could be erotic?
The knock on the door, followed by the shout of housekeeping, broke the spell. Brian got up and went to answer the door. He came back with a stack of towels for the bathroom, and wouldn’t meet Zack’s eye for the rest of the afternoon.