Chapter 24
Bodie found them a room at the Place d’Armes—the hotel was a little off the square, a little quiet, and there was a pool and parking.
They had damn near a week to tourist and pretend to be here for fun and not work.
So far, Cole had been all wide eyes and smiles. He’d lost count of the number of times his lover had asked, “What is that?” And they’d only been here a day. Cole was an excellent tourist.
They’d watched buskers and had a tarot reading, they’d had cafe au lait, they’d gone to a toy store and bought an alligator puppet, and they’d booked a ghost tour.
“So when do we get beignets?” Cole asked, sipping on some frozen coffee concoction he’d bought from a street vendor. “Are they a breakfast thing? A dessert thing? They sound so good.”
“Cafe du Monde. It’s a twenty-four-seven deal. We can go now.” He was easy. There was something open and exciting about this city, something that electrified him.
He didn’t want to live here, but visiting? That was one of Bodie’s favorite things.
“Let’s do it.” Cole’s hand slipped into his and held on gently.
Okay. Whoa. That was…
Could they have a thing like this? Holding hands on the long-term?
Damn, he hoped so.
He squeezed Cole’s fingers.
“Can you have a bite? I don’t want to be mean and eat in front of you.”
“I’ll totally have a bite. We’re having barbecue shrimp for supper, right?” He was craving that spicy goodness.
“Mhm. You promised.”
“Let’s go. We can stop and get you a beignet and then wander up to the hotel, maybe get in the pool or just nap?” He was a believer in sleeping through the hottest part of the day down here.
“Good idea. Get into some air-conditioning.” Cole’s hand shifted in his but didn’t let go. “I love that you’re happy showing me around.”
Of course he was. He wasn’t just into Cole. He liked the man. They would be friends, even if they weren’t lovers. “What did you think of your first tarot reading? Scary or cool?”
“Uh, Tarot? Is that the card thing? Like fortune telling?”
“Yep. The one where she said you were going to find true love.” He grinned and winked at Cole.
“Nobody said that. But I’m glad they didn’t, because I wouldn’t have believed them anyway. You’re a wonderful surprise.”
“Am I?” He loved when Cole said things like that to him, just out of the blue.
“Babe, if you don’t know by now…” Cole bumped shoulders with him.
“I do.” He just liked to hear it, if he was honest.
“Mhm. So you just want to hear how much I didn’t want to call you back, even after fourteen-zillion messages, but I did anyway because you were so earnest and persistent. And how we could have missed this opportunity if you’d just made one less call or if I hadn’t managed to pick up the phone.”
“Man, that would have sucked. Seriously sucked.” He wasn’t going to give up on Cole though. No way.
“Knowing what we know now, that would have been a disaster.” Cole tugged on his hand, playfully. “Fortunately, you did and I did and now we’re eating and drinking our way through NOLA.”
“As one does.” They made it to the Cafe du Monde, the air redolent with powdered sugar. He was breathing in carbs, no question.
“Oh. We could just park here for a week.” Cole drifted toward the counter. “Carb heaven.”
“I know. It’s wild. I’ll have a bite of yours, but one day, I’ll just stay here and eat all day.” Bodie winked at him, because he knew better. If he was going to gorge? It was going to be pizza.
“Yeah, okay, pepperoni boy.” Cole laughed and put a hand on the counter. “Hi. We would like one to go please.”
“You want a cafe au lait too?”
He shook his head. “Too much sugar for me.”
“No, thank you. We had one already today.” And Cole had a half-finished frozen coffee in his hand anyway.
They went to stand and wait for their number to be called, and they had so much to watch—from buskers to tourists to the mules pulling carts on the street outside.
“I can see why people love it here, but I can also see needing a break from all the chaos after a couple of days.”
“Yeah, and this isn’t the busy time of year.” Bodie had been to Mardi Gras, and it had been damn near impossible to breathe.
“I can’t imagine.” Cole was looking around, turning this way and that, taking it all in. “And I thought the events were good for people watching.”
“Right?” Bodie pointed out the busker painted in silver pretending to be a statue. “Hell of a way to make a living.”
“Wait, that’s a real person?” Cole squinted. “Oh my God. That’s cool.”
He nodded and made a note to toss a couple of bucks in his hat. “Can you imagine having to stand that still?”
“Not around you.” Cole’s tone was flirty.
“Oh, man. I would drive you out of your mind, teasing and playing.” Bodie chuckled softly, because he could imagine that, playing with Cole, teasing.
“Nope. Not gonna happen. I already know I’m losing that game. Not that you’d win.”
He didn’t follow. “If you lost, then I’d win by default, right?”
“I meant if the tables were turned, cowboy. If I was doing the teasing, you would lose.” Cole rolled his eyes and chuckled. “Rodeo champ is so used to winning…”
He flexed as they called Cole’s number. “You know it. Once a rodeo champ, always a rodeo champ…”
Cole stood close behind him as he paid for their beignet and whispered in his ear. “That flex is so fucking sexy.”
His belly went hard, tense, and it felt so good to hear. “You’re the only one that gets it.”
“Good. Because the competition would be fierce otherwise.” Cole stepped back, putting a little daylight between them. “I’m glad this place is so full of people that we can just blend in.”
“Yeah. I hear that.” He had his gimme cap on today, not his Stetson. He wasn’t at work. “You want to eat and walk?”
“If we can. That’s a lot of powdered sugar. I guess we can shake it off back at the hotel.” Cole was easy, following along as he moved away from the counter.
“We can eat here if you want. I’m easy.” They headed away from the window. “The tables are super sticky, though.”
“Yuck.” Cole shook his head and held the door open for him. “Let’s take our chances on a walk.”
“Sure.” He wanted to take a kiss, but there was no way he could do that.
Dammit.
They got away from the cafe crowd and Cole slowed him down a bit. “I want a bite.” Cole pulled him close to a building and out of the way of the crowd and opened his mouth like a baby bird. “Ah.”
“Ooh…” Feeling just about daring, he pinched off a bite and popped it into Cole’s waiting mouth.
Cole winked at him as he chewed. “Mmm. So good.”
“You are. You make me reckless.” And that was a little bit worrisome, but also irresistible.
“You’re a gay dude in a gimme cap. You’re one in a million right now. And nobody recognizes me in shorts and a T-shirt; I’m the khakis and dress shirt guy. We’re not being reckless, we’re being normal.”
“Khakis and dress shirt guy. I like those shorts on you. They do great things for your ass.” It seemed like a good time to say that.
“Why thank you. I thought so too. I put them on with you in mind. Gimme another bite.”
“Nom nom nom?” he teased, then fed Cole another nibble.
Cole’s tongue caught the tip of his finger and Cole grinned as he chewed. “Nom.”
His cock jerked, threatening to fill. “Be a good cowboy, now.”
“Sorry, not sorry?” Cole laughed and nudged him back onto the sidewalk. “Just having some fun.”
“Yeah, me too.” He could get used to this, in fact, laughing and flirting with Cole. “How’s your beignet?”
“Amazing. Really sweet. That last bite tasted a little like cowboy.” Cole grinned. “Did you try it?”
“I didn’t.” He really wasn’t a sugar guy. Give him cheesy spicy any day.
“You’re missing out.” Cole took the plate from him. “I love that we ordered one and got three. I don’t think I can eat all of this.”
“You can have it post-nap or post-swim.” He licked the powdered sugar off his fingers.
“And that’s all we have to do today.” Cole took another bite, despite the protest that it was too sweet.
“We are footloose and fancy free, lover.” He dared to lean over and steal a kiss.
Cole kissed him back, but he was all wide eyes and pink cheeks. “Now who’s being daring?”
“That would be me—the adrenaline junkie.” That was an easy answer.
Cole snorted. “Point taken, champ. I’d hold your hand again, but I’m all sugary. Where are we? Are we near the hotel?”
“About two blocks up.” It was sticky and hot, and he wanted to get in the AC, cool off.
“Let’s go cool off, maybe get suits on and hit the pool.”
“Hell, yes. Did I tell you I heard our hotel was haunted?” It had been a monastery and a scary boys’ home, once upon a time.
“No, really? How cool is that? Is there a ghost tour or something?”
“Oh, there’s a ghost tour, a vampire tour, an adult paranormal tour…” He loved this shit.
“Sign me up! Let’s do one after dinner.” They turned and headed for the hotel. “The creepier the better.” This was fun. Cole was game for anything.
“Oh, then the ghost one first, then the adults-only vampire tour after. We’ll do a double feature!”
“And then sleep late. And have brunch at the pool. God, I love vacation.” Cole stopped at the front doors and looked at the building. “It doesn’t look haunted.”
“No, it just looks like a building. The courtyard is a little fascinating at night, though, especially late-late. The swimming pool is completely enclosed by the hotel walls.”
“Oh, so maybe the pool is haunted,” Cole teased. “Looking forward to finding out.”
“Ooh… Spooky…” He’d have to pinch Cole’s butt in the pool and hear him squeak.
“Oh. Cool air.” Cole sighed as they went inside. “That’s heaven.”
“Yeah.” For guys used to low humidity, especially, New Orleans was like walking through soup.
“Uh…” Cole turned in a slow circle. “Oh—that way. Elevator. I think my brain is melting.”
“Good thing we have a room in this section, isn’t it?” he teased. He loved this old place, though. Honestly.
“It is. I might have made you move us otherwise.” They stepped into the small elevator and rode it up a couple of floors. “Visiting a place like this, I can understand why people siesta.”
“I hear you. That and why they party at night when it’s cooler.” They got to the third floor, opened the hotel room door, and immediately started stripping down.
Cole set down the beignet on the little desk and tugged his shirt off over his head. “Will this dry off if I hang it in the bathroom?”
“Dry is a strong word. Maybe dry-ish?” This place was the definition of damp.
“So, no then.” Cole laughed and went to hang it up anyway, then came back in his briefs and nothing else. “I need to pull out my swim trunks.”
“You want to swim or nap first? I can do either.” He sat and took off his boots. Damn, his socks were nasty.
“If we’re getting in bed, we need a shower.” Cole was hanging his clothes over chairs, counters, anywhere they might possibly dry. It was cute.
“Let’s jump in the shower. I don’t want to go back out in the hot right now.”
“Me either. Come on, cowboy, let’s cool off together for a change.” Cole grinned and stripped out of his briefs.
“Mmhmm… cool off, warm up, all the things.”
He took a soft, slow kiss. “Love you, Cole. Thank you for coming here.”
Cole didn’t rush their kiss, or anything else. “Oh, babe. I’ve got the fun part. I’m seeing this place with someone who loves it. Thank you.”
He winked, rubbed their noses together. “Anytime. Any time at all.”