Chapter Nine #2
“I’m not!” Of course, now he was. Tim was staying in a pod behind Cody and Liam’s house, which was only a couple of blocks away. Was he asleep?
Is he thinking of me?
“Guess it was worth missing that epic party our last night,” Cam said, bumping Lachlan’s shoulder with a laugh.
“Where’d you go?” Ryan asked. “Can’t believe I wasn’t there.”
As the others regaled Ryan with the tale, Lachlan sat and watched the dark waves roll in. It was high tide—higher than usual—with big rollers washing up the sand. He should’ve been having a laugh with his mates, but melancholy settled over him.
He took a deep breath, and his ribs twinged where he’d hit the water coming off the ski. For a moment, he let himself imagine he and Tim were back in Bali, miles away from reality. Tim’s baritone in his ear, his lips so close as—
Lachlan leapt to his feet as Daz, now naked, raced past, splashing into the water as laughter echoed behind them. Lachlan didn’t stop to ask questions, just sprinted forward and grabbed Daz’s arm before he reached the shore break.
With the higher tide, the water was around their waist, feeling surprisingly cold as Lachlan yanked Daz back.
Daz tried to tug free. “I’m being baptized!” he shouted.
Lachlan shouted, “Ry, help me!”
But Ryan was truly pissed, only laughing with the others. Anger and fear energized Lachlan in equal measure as he fought to get Daz back onto dry sand.
“Lachie, stop being such a wanker and let him have fun!” Sounder shouted.
“Yeah, Lachie,” Daz whined, pushing at him. “I need a swim! I’m getting baptized!”
Lachlan had no idea what he was on about, and he didn’t care.
All that mattered was keeping him safe. Swimming and alcohol were dangerous at the best of times—a sunny day with flat surf and sober lifeguards on patrol.
Let alone in the dead of night with a lifeguard who’d had his own fair share of drinks.
He sure as hell felt sober now. Daz was shorter and less muscular, but the strength of a drunk could never be underestimated. “You can get baptized in the morning!” Lachlan shouted as a big set rolled in, knocking them off their feet.
Sputtering, Daz flailed around on the sand, and Lachlan hauled him to safety, shouting, “Enough!”
“Lachie’s going to go have a sook,” Brodie sang, laughing.
Ignoring him as another wave neared, Lachlan screamed at Ryan, “Ry, fucking help me!”
As if Lachlan had slapped him, Ryan seemed to wake, blinking as the others still laughed. He staggered forward on shaky legs, taking Daz’s other arm.
“Oi!” Daz shouted. “Getting sand in my crack!”
“Tough shit!” Breathing hard, Lachlan shoved Daz down with a hand against his chest. “You’re not going in the water. None of you are! You want to drown?”
Jacko scoffed. “Chill out for once!”
Ryan rubbed a hand over his face. “Lachie’s right.” As Brodie muttered something, Ryan gave him a sour look.
Relieved that at least a semblance of sense had returned to the party, Lachlan wrestled Daz into his clothes, getting sand all over their wet skin.
Sounder burped loudly, swaying on his feet. “It was just a joke.”
Lachlan ignored him, glancing at Ryan and finding him looking guilty and miserable as he helped pull Daz to his feet.
The party was mercifully over, and Lachlan didn’t care if they thought he was a buzzkill. At least everyone would get home alive.
Daz shivered as they shepherded him to the house. Halfway there, Daz stopped to vomit on the footpath, and Ryan and Cam got him to the gutter at least. Everyone seemed to be sobering up, though Brodie still slurred a song and walked ahead with Sounder.
At the corner of their street, Lachlan stopped and tersely asked Ryan, “You got this?”
Ryan nodded. “Lachie, mate…”
“Thanks,” Daz said, looking pale in the streetlight. “Dunno what I was thinking there.” He tried to laugh. “El would kill me if I drowned before our wedding.”
“You’re welcome,” Lachlan said, not waiting for a reply before continuing down the street and up the hill. He shivered violently and stood under a long, hot shower when he got home. He was the one who needed the baptism.
Naked in bed under the covers, Lachlan closed his eyes determinedly.
It was late, and he was going to stop thinking about Tim, and Ryan taking too long to help at the beach, and Daz acting like a pork chop, and Tim, and what he was doing with his life after quitting the firm, and if his parents would be disappointed, and Tim, and how his mates should absolutely know better than to go in the water after drinking.
And Tim.
What would he think? What would he say? What was he doing right now? Was he asleep? Was he alone?
The idea that he might be in bed with someone was a gut punch. It had no right to be, but Lachlan thought he might spew.
“Go to sleep!” he muttered, but the same mess of thoughts ricocheted through his mind on an endless loop.
His phone had gotten damp during the tussle with Daz, but it still worked, thankfully.
Before he could stop himself, he tapped out a message.
He didn’t have Tim’s personal mobile number, but he knew Tim had Teddy’s work phone as the head lifeguard.
He needed to say it to someone, and he couldn’t wake Bel.
It was pathetic that he didn’t have anyone else to confide in. He reminded himself he didn’t actually know Tim. They weren’t even mates, let alone anything more. He was Ryan’s dad. He was his new boss!
But Lachlan couldn’t stop thinking about him. They couldn’t ever touch again, but couldn’t they talk? He felt so lost, and Tim was safe.
Jesus, maybe he did have daddy issues.
He hit send anyway.
Tim was probably fast asleep. He wouldn’t even see the message until the morning, when Lachlan would feel like a right pork chop, knobhead, wanker. Groaning, he switched off his phone and rolled over.
Except when he turned back and checked the screen a minute later, Tim was typing a reply.