Chapter 14
“Holy shit, dude, is that a fucking kissing booth?” Lucas grabbed my arm, emphatically pointing to a wooden stand adorned with a huge, pink, lip-shaped sign.
“Uh…” I shifted from side to side on my toes, trying to see around the people in front of me. “Puppies. Thank fuck. Could you imagine if it was a real kissing booth?”
“I can,” a voice said behind me. I turned to see a laughing Cole, bracing one arm over the other as he stood behind a table under a tent that said Oceanside Bar and Grill. “I can also not-so-proudly say I’m the reason for that germ-ridden monstrosity, and yes, it was, in fact, a kissing booth at one point. I’d say it was a complete disaster, but it also happened to be why Aiden kissed me for the first time.” His cheeks were red framing his giant smile.
“Seriously?” I said with a chuckle. I was still amazed how cool he was around me. He’d gone out of his way to make me feel comfortable that night at Noah and Hunter’s. I still hadn’t had the guts to go to SandBar, afraid I’d be cautiously looking around all night for that lying, cheating, sack of shit. My delicate eyes would implode if they set sight on him again.
“That kiss was pretty epic. Drakeula was in line to kiss Cole, and—oof.” Ford held his stomach where Cole just smacked him. “I mean…uh…” His head whipped toward the neighboring tent, a hand cupped to his ear. “What was that, Noah? You need me over there?” Noah was sitting down with not a single person at the table, looking at Ford like he’d lost his mind, but I laughed as Ford casually raised a hand to his friend. “I’ll be right over, buddy.” Sheepishly, he looked back at me, shaking his head as he pointed to Noah. “I’d love to stay and chat, but Noah needs me. Gotta go.” He darted over to the other tent, leaving Cole staring after him in disbelief.
“Oh my god, I’m sorry about that,” Cole said, shaking his head in amusement.
“Nothing to be sorry for, Cole. You can’t help what that asshole did, but at least it lit the flame for you and Aiden.” I shoved my hands in my back pockets, scanning the crowd for dark hair and gorgeous brown eyes.
I hadn’t seen Enzo since that completely confusing, yet totally amazing night at his place. We’d texted over the last few days, but I also needed time to think things through. He wasn’t just making me rethink all my hesitations. He was incinerating them, one by one, and it all started with that scorching kiss in his kitchen. I’d been able to fool myself into thinking he was still in the category of just friends until his mouth met mine. I didn’t stand a chance after that. Honestly, it scared me how much I thought of him over the last few days.
I listened to Stacey’s advice and pushed aside how I’d been hurt before which, to be honest, was the driving force behind the claim that I wasn’t looking for anyone. So, they basically canceled each other out. One big issue was still out of my control, though—probably the most important issue. He didn’t live here. Hell, he didn’t even live on this side of the country, for fuck’s sake.
But there was another part of me that wondered what the fuck I was doing. I wanted him, no question about it, and like the genius I was, I’d fled his house instead of seeing where this thing between us could go. Preferably naked. And sweaty. And sexually obliterated.
“Wait. You’re Cole? Cole Cole?” Topher blurted, yanking me out of my wicked fantasies that included a man who most definitely leveled up in my mind. Topher rolled his lips in when Lucas, Stacey, and I groaned and his brain caught up with his mouth. He flicked a nervous glance to me and shrugged, obviously remembering he’d done the same thing when he’d met Enzo. “I’m two for two, huh?”
“Uh, yeah, Toph.” I rolled my eyes and snorted, patting my friend’s back so he knew it wasn’t a big deal.
“I prefer to go by just one Cole,” the guy said jokingly, not taking offense from what he must have known was a slip-up from Topher. “Cole Sullivan-Rafferty, actually. My husband is down there at the SandBar tent.”
“Spoiler alert,” a deep voice said to my right, “he loves pointing out that Aiden is his husband. I figured that out pretty quickly.” I made the mistake of looking directly into those brown eyes with flecks of gold. They immediately drew me in until everyone else faded away. “Hi,” he whispered.
“Hi.” Fuck, was I being awkward? I was being totally awkward, wasn’t I? Lucas answered that question for me.
“Well, since our best friend has forgotten we’re even standing here, I’m Lucas.” He reached his hand out to Cole, breaking the Enzo-induced trance I’d been trapped in. “This is my fiancée, Stacey.” He slid his arm around her shoulders as she said hello, then he hiked a thumb at Topher. “And this filterless genius is Topher.” Topher lifted his hand in a sheepish greeting.
Enzo glanced past me to my friends and waved, saying, “It’s nice to see you all again,” but quickly turned those gorgeous brown eyes back to me. Enzo took a step closer to me. I got the feeling he wanted to do more, but he was still holding himself back. Considering the epic fail of a somewhat public kiss he’d had the last time, I didn’t blame him for being nervous. I wouldn’t push him, though. Any public displays of affection needed to come from him. His choice would never be taken away by me. He said play it by ear, right?
The unexpected rollercoaster of emotions I was on right now only enhanced the feeling of being mentally tossed around the other night with him. My mind slid back to when Enzo had thrown my world off-kilter. There was a whole lot to unpack from everything he had told me. Things that kept me up all night, tossing and turning, dreaming absolutely naughty things about him only to remind myself that I had only been the second man he’d ever kissed. It was a fucking amazing kiss, but it didn’t change the fact that he was a closeted gay man.
Drake hadn’t been in the closet when we were together, but unknowingly to me, he’d kept our relationship hidden from a few select men. Or, at least, from one man in particular. The way those other guys had acted, seeking me out and threatening me, I was pretty sure Drake had led them to believe I was the boy toy on the side. Cole was the only one Drake had gone out of his way to introduce me to as his boyfriend. Of course, after that last debacle at SandBar when Drake tried to embarrass Cole and Aiden in front of half the town, I finally woke the hell up and connected the dots. I didn’t think Enzo would ever treat me that way, but I also wasn’t under the illusion that he would change his entire life for me.
But, tonight, we’d be alone at his place, and he wouldn’t have to hold himself back from anything he wanted. A shiver ran over me at the thought of being in his arms again.
“First time at the Love and ValenTides festival?” Enzo asked, his voice deep and raspy.
“It’s our first time at any Coral Pointe festival. They don’t mess around, huh?”
He laughed, shaking his head. “Nope. Not even a little bit. I’ve only been to one other one. Their Knead a Little Christmas Bake Sale is no joke. Pretty sure I gained ten pounds in one night.”
I couldn’t help scanning my eyes down his muscular, toned frame. How he looked so delicious in jeans and a plain gray tee was beyond me, but my mouth salivated and it wasn’t from the smell of fried Oreos. By the time my eyes made the trip back up and met his, he had an intense look on his face. Two scoops of heat and longing, with a sprinkle of apprehension on top. Fuck if I didn’t want to scrape that top layer off and dive right into that Enzo sundae. Show him how fun it could be when you took heat and longing and added mouths and hands…and other willing body parts. Talk about toppings…
“We’re gonna walk around, Ev. You coming?”
Here? Now? I hope I will be tonight when the gorgeous, dark-haired man in front of me licks every inch—Topher elbowed me, giving me a look as he waited for me to respond.
“Uh, yeah.” I laughed nervously, hoping Enzo wasn’t able to read my mind or feel the phantom tingling sensation on his tongue from what I’d just pictured it doing to me. “You’re coming with us, right?” I asked him, a sudden panic hitting me that he wasn’t going to.
“Yeah, I’ll come with you.” We both said goodbye to Cole. Enzo shoved his hands in his pockets, sending a twinge of frustrated relief through me. I wanted him to proudly hold my hand so badly, and not just for my benefit, either. He deserved to live his life the way he wanted to. But at least his hands wouldn’t be hanging there, teasing me. Didn’t stop me from noticing how close they now were to the bulge between his legs.
I was so fucking screwed.
We followed behind my friends, my body as close to Enzo’s as it could be without running into him. He removed his strong hand from his pocket and set it against my lower back, guiding me through the crowd. The warmth from his palm seeped into my shirt and danced across my skin. The man was killing me and he had no clue. I wasn’t sure he even realized he had his hand pressed to my back in such an intimate way. Wasn’t that the goal, though? To let himself just be and not second-guess his every move?
“Hey, Enzo,” a guy called from our right. As soon as Enzo steered me in the direction of the Beaches ’n’ Cream ice cream stand, the guy’s light eyes dropped and focused on the way Enzo was touching me. I swore I saw disappointment flash across his face, but he schooled his reaction and plastered on a huge smile. He was cute in a surfer boy, sun-kissed, gorgeous eyes that were too focused on my man, kind of way.
My man? Enzo was not my man—but he sure as hell wasn’t this guy’s either, with his perfectly tanned skin and his dimples-when-he-smiled audacity.
“Hey, Joel. How ya been?” Enzo gave the guy a friendly smile—emphasis on the word friendly, thank you very much. Thank fuck, the smile he gave me held so much more. It was clear as fucking day he was completely oblivious to the way Joel was looking at him.
Joel’s blue-green eyes flicked to me, quickly flicking back to Enzo. “I’m good. Are you going to introduce me?” I had to give the guy credit. It took him maybe two point five seconds to wipe the dejected look from his face and replace it with a smile that seemed genuine.
“Right. Sorry. Joel, this is Evian.” Enzo turned to me. “Joel owns Beaches ’n’ Cream.”
Ironic considering the fantasies I’d just had about having Enzo for dessert.
“I own it with my sister, who’s around here somewhere.” Joel held his hand out to me and I shook it. “We took it over last summer and recently revamped the flavors. Would you like to try something?” The shift in his mood went a long way in preventing me from licking Enzo just to prove to the ice cream man he was mine. Fuck. Enzo wasn’t mine. I wanted to tack the word yet on there so badly, but I had to keep some semblance of common sense.
“I’d like to try something,” Topher said, wiggling his way between me and Enzo to get closer to the ice cream. Wait…nope. Not closer to the ice cream. If the look on Topher’s face was anything to go by, that wasn’t the kind of cream Topher wanted from the guy. Topher stretched out his tattoo-covered arm, waiting for Joel to shake his hand. “I’m Topher. I love long walks on the beach, rock music, pocket-sized dogs you can hold in one hand, and guys in coral and white striped shirts.” Topher winked, glancing at Joel’s striped Beaches ’n’ Cream tee. “Oh, and marshmallow. I love marshmallow everything.” Knowing my friend, he was holding himself back from reiterating how he loved white, sticky things. He sure as hell wasn’t afraid to put himself out there.
Joel took his hand and flashed that dimpled smile again as he laughed, but this time, it was focused on Topher. “Joel,” he said. “You can try anything you want.” His cheeks flushed as he clarified, “Samples of ice cream, I mean.”
“Too late. You already said anything I want.” Topher wiggled his eyebrows but, thankfully, put the guy out of his misery. “Got anything with marshmallow?”
Joel seemed to snap out of it and finally let go of Topher’s hand. “Uh, yeah. We have High Tide and Low Tide options, which just means with or without booze.”
“Definitely High Tide.”
“I’ve got Totally Lit S’mores which is toasted marshmallow ice cream, topped with Kahlua fudge sauce and a graham cracker crumble, or…”
I turned to Enzo as Joel told Topher the options. I wasn’t sure I was getting my friend away from this table now that he set his eyes on the sandy-haired ice cream shop owner. “They seem to be hitting it off.”
Enzo studied Joel, as if he was seeing him through new eyes. “Are you saying that Joel…?”
“If I had to bet money, I’d say, yeah, he’s into guys. Maybe girls, too, for all I know. I don’t want to label him.” I looked back over my shoulder just as Topher took a small cup with whatever flavor he’d chosen, watched Joel’s half-lidded gaze focus on Topher’s mouth as he took the bite, and smiled. “But he’s definitely looking at Topher like he wants to be that ice cream right about now.”
“Huh,” Enzo huffed, still staring at Joel like he was trying to figure him out. I refrained from telling Enzo I first thought Joel was into him. For one, I sure as hell wasn’t giving him ideas that he should keep his options open. Two, they seemed to be friends, and since Enzo hadn’t been here long, that meant they were new friends. Enzo needed more of those and there was no way in hell I was throwing a wrench in that. Besides, I had no claim over Enzo.
We walked around the festival, sampling everything we could, talking…laughing. I didn’t know if Enzo realized it, but he already seemed like a local. Pretty much every stand we went to, they knew his name, or at least knew he was Burke’s cousin. I couldn’t help the hope that flared to life inside of me that maybe he’d feel so at home that he’d never leave.
By the time we were ready to say goodbye to my friends—physically guiding Topher away from Joel’s table so the man could work—the sun had already set and some tables had started to close up shop. To say I was nervous to go back to Enzo’s was an understatement. I was pretty sure every butterfly in the state currently resided in my belly, and I was not above giving them an eviction notice.
Stacey hugged me tight, whispering in my ear, “Remember what I said. I’m always right.”
I snorted. “Oh, honey, who told you that? It wasn’t Lucas, was it? That man will say anything to butter you up.” I shivered and cringed. “Shit, I really hope you don’t use butter. That’s just?—”
She slapped a hand over my mouth, laughing as she said, “I’m going to save you from yourself right now. Butter? Really?” Then she shivered.
I hadn’t gone into too much detail with my friends about how things had changed with Enzo. Not that there was much to tell at this point, but I did tell them about the kiss—and how I’d felt it from my hair down to my red-polished toes. And, of course, they knew I was going home with him, but I wasn’t making a big deal out of it.
Of course, I had no way of controlling Topher’s trap. Where was the ice cream man when I needed him?
“Good luck on your quest, Ev,” he singsonged, emphasizing the word with an impish grin.
Lucas took care of the situation, wrapping an arm around Topher’s neck in a headlock and pulling him away. “We know better than to give him sugar after six o’clock. Bye!”
I laughed at my friends’ antics but froze when I turned around and came face-to-chest with Enzo. I leaned my head back to look into his eyes and had no idea how to read his intense stare or the flex of his jaw. Fuck. I searched for something to say until his mouth curled up on one side and his gaze dropped to my mouth.
“Everything okay?” I asked, my voice trembling and unsure.
“Never better.” He’d told me enough about his life that I knew those two simple words held a hell of a lot of weight. “You ready?”
“Definitely.” I wasn’t really sure what we were talking about, but with Enzo, I was definitely ready for anything.