Chapter 25 Dare
TWENTY-FIVE
DARE
After taking care of my needs, and Zach's, and baking the pies for Autumn, I spent the rest of the day trying to catch up with work and failing miserably. Zach's hands, or his lips, or his cock kept distracting me. I felt all spent and worn ragged by nighttime, but I couldn't stop touching him.
It was like I'd been reborn anew at forty-five, after five long years of celibacy. Up until today I lived under the assumption that my breakup and age were having an effect on my biology considering I'd gone from thinking about sex all day to once a day, to twice a week, to a couple times a month.
But no. Turns out my biology is just fine. If anything, it works worryingly well which might explain why we spent the night drifting between fucking, cuddling, and sleeping on repeat.
When we woke up the next morning, I thought I would feel groggy and exhausted—and I did—but for the most part I felt...young again. Excited. Exhilarated.
"Good morning, sexy," Zach rolled into my arms and planted a soft kiss to my lips then licked his own as if he was trying to get another taste of me.
I responded in kind and wrapped both arms tightly around him, pressing him to me. As I indulged in his mouth I could feel his cock harden against my thigh and mine reacted to his growing desire.
"Oh noooo," Zach croaked and laid on his back again.
"What happened?" I asked.
He closed his eyes and, with a smile, shook his head.
"Nothing. I just...I can't stop getting hard."
"And that's a problem..." I started and reached for his bulge that stretched his underpants so much it threatened to rip through them. "Why?"
He pursed his lips and choked a laugh then grabbed my arm and removed it from his groin.
"It's not," he cried. "But we can't spend the whole day in bed again."
"Says who?" I frowned.
"Your crops? Your clients? Your pets?"
"Screw them all," I groaned and grabbed him by the back of his neck and kissed him hard and deep.
"You don't mean that," he mumbled between mouthfuls of him.
I took another moment wrapped up in him before I put an end to it and agreed with him.
I did have shit to do. And I didn't mind doing them. For five years I never really complained about having to spend the whole day on my feet, but now...
"You're right. I've neglected the fields and my clients."
"Well, it wasn't your fault. You've been sick."
I rubbed the sleep of my eyes and got up.
"Still. It's time to go back out in the field and deal with whatever awaits."
"Can I come?" He sat up in bed and looked at me with puppy dog eyes.
"Sure. But I can't make promises on what happens to you out there." I narrowed my gaze with a smirk.
Zach grimaced.
"If you think I'm doing anything naughty out in the freezing, muddy blueberry field you've got another think coming." He rose from the bed and put his hand on my chest for a moment before pushing me out of the way and running into the bathroom.
"Hey!" I shouted. "I was going first."
All I heard from the other side of the bathroom door was laughter. Laughter that filled my heart to the brim with happiness.
I carried that feeling through the rest of the house, as I released the goats and the dog outside to do their business, and as I poured myself a coffee.
I even carried it with me all the way out in the fields as we both worked on trimming and deadheading, but the more I savored this feeling, the more another one pulsed alongside making my heart ache and my mind reel.
Because I was used to happiness having an expiration date.
I knew now Zach wasn't anything like Wyatt.
I'd always known it, to be fair, but was just too stubborn and too hurt to see it.
The problem was I could picture a life with Zach, which wasn't a problem per se but it was a thing that stumped me because there was one thing threatening what we could have right now.
Victor.
Yes, Zach and I might realize we were incompatible in the long run.
Maybe we'd realize we were too alike or too different, or too.
..something and go our separate ways at some point, as scary as that sounded, but the more immediate problem was his ex.
A problem that needed to be dealt with if we had a chance of making it long enough to figure out whether we were incompatible or not.
"Are you okay?" Zach asked when we sat down to have our sandwiches for lunch.
I nodded. I lied. I changed the subject, but the thought never left my mind. All this time I'd done little to find the bastard and be done with him. I had been relying on Wyatt and the others to do something about Zach's problem, but that wasn't enough.
It had never been enough, but that is especially true now. I needed to act. To do something. To find that bastard and get rid of him for good.
With that resolution clear in my head, I made a plan, and by the next day, it was time to implement it. I left Zach at home, in his happy place—the kitchen—and went into town.
"Well, if it isn't my favorite blueberry farmer!" Hwan explained as I walked into his bubble tea shop.
"Hey, handsome. I'm not sure that's much of a compliment considering I'm the only blueberry farmer in town."
Hwan giggled while brushing his bubble-gum pink hair out of his eyes, and waved me off.
"Yeah, but you are the best."
I rolled my eyes at him, and he offered to make my favorite tea, blueberry and taro milk with tapioca pearls.
"Before I forget," he said when he brought it over to the table where I'd sat down with Parker, his fiancé, and Teddy, his employee. Both of them had been my teammates, once upon a time. "I need more jam or I won't be able to make your favorite drink."
I chuckled and raised my cup at him in acknowledgement, and he retreated back to the counter to serve his next customer while we talked shop.
"What's up? Is Zach okay?" Teddy asked and I put him at ease.
"We need to find this guy," I said. "Zach might be okay, but for how long? He's had to stop living because of that asshole. We need him out of the picture so Zach's safe and happy again."
"And you? Are you okay?" Parker asked.
I took a deep breath before I answered.
"I'm keeping it together for Zach, but I can't stop being scared something will happen, that Lombardi will do something and take him away from me."
Parker grabbed my shoulder and squeezed, nodding gently at me.
"What do you have in mind?" Teddy asked and Parker pulled his hand back and furrowed his brow, making him look even more rough and sinister.
He'd always been a little rough around the edges but falling in love with Hwan had changed him. It might not be obvious as I spoke to him, but the fact he was working here, wearing the silly pink aprons, talking to me about feelings and all, that was a different Parker altogether. A softer Parker.
"I don't know. I just know we have to look for him," I said and after taking a sip of blueberry and taro, I stared at the table and went through my thoughts from yesterday.
"He must be close. Yeah, he's hiding but he must be hiding in plain sight.
How else would he know to attack Luna's Lodge and the insurance brokers'? "
"He's around," Teddy nodded. "You think Main Street?"
"Or around here?" I pointed outside to the boardwalk.
Parker grimaced.
"But surely if he's around here, he's seen you too. If he's trying to find Zach, wouldn't he have followed you back?"
I sighed.
"I don't know. My theory certainly has holes, but I can't shake the feeling that he's close. Zach felt like he was being watched the other day. And sure, maybe he's paranoid—"
"Rightfully so," Teddy added.
"Rightfully so, of course, but what if he's onto something?"
"I think you're right. I think we need to look for him," Parker said and looked behind me as Hwan approached and put his arms around his fiancé.
"Did you tell him the good news yet?" he asked in Parker's ear.
I shook my head at the same time as Parker and looked at Teddy who simply smiled but didn't answer either.
"What good news? What happened?" I asked. I glanced at their rings and raised an eyebrow. "I know you got engaged already."
"No. Not that," Hwan said and Parker smiled.
"We've been approved as foster parents," Parker said.
I sat back and glared at them.
"You have? That's...that's...aren't you worried? About all this shit going on? Aren't you worried about bringing a child here?"
Hwan pursed his lips and took a deep breath as Parker spoke.
"Of course we are. But...we can't stop living because of these assholes. It's fucking terrifying, but we don't know if this will ever end. And we can't just live in limbo, so we’re taking control of our lives and doing what we need to be happy."
"It is scary, but having you all guys around, having each other's backs, it helps," Teddy added and I considered his words for a moment.
He had a kid too. A nephew that had already been through hell and yet he was still here, still living, still being happy with his boyfriend.
"Yeah," I said. "I mean, congratulations, guys. I didn't mean to be a Debbie Downer."
Hwan shook his head.
"Trust me, sweetie, it's nothing we haven't talked or worried about before."
I stared at him for a few moments and I couldn't believe his resilience, his attitude about the whole thing. He and Parker and everyone on this island had been through so much and they were still able to see the light at the end of the tunnel.
It shouldn't be this damn hard to be happy. To defy the odds.
"Excuse me," someone said and we all turned our attention to the woman standing behind me. "Could I leave some of these here for your patrons?"
She handed Hwan a stack of papers and he accepted them before he even checked what they were. When the woman left, he put them on the table, and we were all greeted by a picture of Jake Wilson. This was clearly one of his flyers for his mayoral campaign.
"That's it," Parker exclaimed and Hwan jumped.
"Don't do that! You startled me," he said and tapped him across the shoulder.
"Sorry, boba. I just...I have an idea," Parker said and since everyone else ignored the pet name, I did too. It was cute though.
"What idea?" I asked.
He picked up a flyer and smiled.
"You think this guy is hiding around here. Well, I just came up with a way to fish him out," he said and I listened to him as he laid out his idea.
I really, truly hoped he was right and that it would work and that most importantly no one else would get hurt in the process.
But most of all, I hoped we'd finally find him so I could put an end to his reign of terror over Zach.